A bumper harvest!

The apples on our trees are ripe early this year. The beginning of the summer was quite a hot one so we're about a month or so in front with the fruit. This is quite cool as I normally have to wait until nearly October before I can start using them.

While the crop isn't as vast as last years, ( I had to give away at least four bags full!) there's still plenty to be going on with. For some reason, despite both of our trees being the eating apple variety, we always harvest a hybrid type of fruit. It's like a cross between a cooking apple and an eating apple. It cooks down like a Bramley but is less sour and so you need less sugar when you bake it into a pie.
My first job whenever I get a large amount of fruit is to make jam. My boys love jam and even my colleagues at work look forward to a Victoria sponge with home made jam in the middle.
 Usually I try to get a batch of strawberry jam going but that depends on how much the price of them goes down at the end of the summer. One year I was able to buy 4 small boxes of strawberries for 80 pence! There was a lot of jam making going on that autumn! The price of Strawberries all depends on the type of weather we've had in the summer. If it's been a wet one then the price tends to drop quickly, or so I've found.
 As for blackberries, why buy them when they're scattered all over the cities and villages. We live next to a large park which always has a massive amount of blackberries growing wild. You can collect so many that last year I packed my freezer with them. In fact I still have some left and together with my lovely apples blackberry and apple jam was my first culinary port of call this week.
It's an easy recipe and if you can get hold of Silver Spoon Jam Sugar it's even easier.
Apple and Blackberry Jam ( In imperial measurements)
Ingredients:

• 1lb  apples ( peeled and cored before weighing)
• 1 lb Blackberries
• 2 lb Sugar ( Jam sugar or preserving sugar is best)
• Jam jars, rinsed and placed in a warm oven to sterilise and warm.

1. Finely chop or grate the apples and add to a large saucepan.
2. Wash the blackberries and discard any that are unripe or damaged.
3. Add the blackberries and the sugar to the apples and cook over a medium heat. DO NOT add any liquid to the ingredients, the juice from the fruit will prevent it from sticking. Stir occasionally until the mixture begins to bubble.
4. Turn up the heat slightly until the mixture begins to boil. Turn the heat down and allow to simmer until it begins to gel.
5. To test the setting of the jam place a small plate or bowl in the fridge until it is cold. Remove from the fridge and dribble a spoonful of the jam mix onto it. If it wrinkles when you push it with your finger it is ready. If not continue to boil for a few more minutes and try the test again.
6. Once it has set turn off the heat and stir to distribute the fruit evenly. Ladle into warmed jam jars, once the jam has cooled, if using ordinary jars (not kilner ones) place a small disc of grease proof paper on the top of the jar before screwing the lid on tight. This will keep the jar airtight and the jam fresh.

The jam will keep for months if unopened; once opened store in the fridge and try not to let anyone get bread crumbs or butter in it otherwise it will go mouldy.
Another good way of using up apples is to bake a gluten free apple and cinnamon cake.
The really cool thing about this particular cake is that it uses dates instead of sugar so it's great for anyone following a low sugar diet.
Apple and Cinnamon Cake  ( this recipe is adapted from Michelle Berriedale-Johnsson's book The everyday wheat and gluten free cook book.)
Ingredients:

• 100g low fat spread
• 200g dried dates
• 225g tart eating apples, peeled, cored and grated.
• 2 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 level tsp mixed spice
• 75g sultanas
• 2 medium eggs
• 175ml milk ( you can swap this for soya or rice milk)
• 250g rice flour
• 2 heaped tsp of baking powder.

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Grease and line a round or square 8 inch cake tin.
2. Put low fat spread, dates, grated apple, cinnamon and mixed spice into a food processor and blend thoroughly.
3. Fold in the sultanas and eggs alternately with the flour and milk.
4. When well mixed transfer to the tin and bake for 30-40 mins until the cake is brown and a skewer comes out of the cake clean.
5. Cool on a wire rack.

This cake freezes really well and is great with either ice cream or custard.
 Well that's apples for you, I hope you have yourself a bumper crop of whatever you're growing or tending, enjoy!!

I'll bring you flours....

During my last visit to the dietician we talked about Coeliac disease and how, like eczema, you can have varying degrees of it. I've always thought that this was a bit of a myth myself as surely if you're allergic to gluten then you're allergic to gluten right? Apparently not.
Some peoples immune systems only attack wheat gluten, while some attack other kinds as well as wheat.
I must admit I suspected as much but was a bit concerned about confusing wheat intolerance with coeliac disease. But, as the dietician said " a problem with wheat is more often than not the inability to digest gluten and other wheat proteins." So the two are quite cosy bed buddies it would seem.
Whether or not my problem with certain grains is due allergy, intolerance or some other freaky auto-immune problem I'm still waiting to find out. In the mean time one thing I have noticed is that I don't have the nasty symptoms with ALL grains and that at least gives me some scope for cooking.
So this week I turn to flour in it's many forms.
It's funny really, my most favourite move scene of all time is from Stranger than Fiction, where Will Ferrell's Character Harold gives his love interest a box of different baking ingredients and declares " I brought you flours." It's brilliant and in a way that's what I'm bringing you today.


First on my list whenever I make pastry is Spelt flour. It's an ancient relative of wheat and does more or less the same stuff wheat does but unfortunately it's so bland you can't ever bake it by itself.
I usually combine it with Rye flour which gives it a nutty taste a bit like wholemeal bread; but you do need to add a little more water to your pastry or dough as it's a tough and thirsty grain.
 I also use Soya flour on occasion but again I usually combine it with other flours as it's sweet nutty flavour can get a bit much.
Rice flour is a good one for making tea breads and muffins but you have to watch the liquid in take of this gem. Too much and it's a squishy mess, too little and it's like dust.
Coconut flour is ridiculously expensive but again makes fabulous cakes; if you don't mind the overwhelming coconut flavour. Only buy name branded stuff though as the cheaper brands don't grind it fine enough and the texture is only one step down from dessicated coconut.
Amaranth flour is a powerhouse of nutritional goodness and a not too well known grain at the moment. It is gluten free and is a suggested grain for coeliacs.
I stumbled across it by accident, in the bargain bin at the health food shop near me. After doing some research I discovered that not only does it make a really good crunchy crumb for coating fish and adding a bit of substance to loaves and crumbles, it is also a dietary must have.
Not only is it rich in Amino acids, it contains up to four times more calcium than wheat and twice as much iron and magnesium. WOW!
 It tops my shopping list whenever I go on a health food run and I add it to all manner of things. You must remember though that Amaranth flour must not be eaten raw, it must always be cooked as it's impossible to digest it otherwise.
 You can add it to:

• Bread mixes
• Dumping mixes
• crumbles
• pastry

And many more. I recommend you try it if you get the chance. I usually mix it with Spelt and Rye as part of a bread dough mix and it gives it a nutty flavour.
I hope you get the chance to try out and discover other grains that will pep up your cooking as it can be a drag when everywhere is dominated by wheat.
 I hope you've enjoyed the flours, my little gift to you :)

Back to school....well nearly!

I've been cooking up a storm this week. I'll be back at work fully by the beginning of September and that means I'll be needing a good stash of lunches and breakfasts in the freezer to make the early mornings go a little smoother than they are now.
I've been thinking particularly about breakfast food. Nobody wants to wake up every morning to the same old, same old and even if you're a creature of habit it's at least nice to know you have a choice.
 My first experiment this week was muesli.
 I've tried various incarnations of ready mixed muesli bases and just added extra stuff, but nothing beats making you're own mix right from the start.
See, I really don't get on well with dried fruit so conventional gluten free muesli is really out of the window for me. A base that I can add fresh or stewed fruit to is more like it and this is what I've come up with so far: (I haven't given any quantities as it really is up to your individual taste.)
Muesli base

• Puffed rice
• Millet flakes
• Gluten free Rolled oats
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Linseeds
• Flax seeds
• Toasted coconut shavings
• Mixed nuts.

This is a good dry base to add anything you like to really and you can mix and match any way you please. I usually add them all together in a large storage tub and give it a good shake before each serving. You can eat it with plain yoghurt, original or vanilla floured rice milk. I've even known people to eat theirs with chocolate milk!
I often add stewed fruit to mine and making your own is far better than buying fruit spread from the health food shop as you can control the amount of sugar that's in it. It's also a great way to use up any left over fruit in your fruit bowl. You just simply peel and chop as necessary and simmer with a little water until it goes soft.

I chose apple and apricot this week for my cereal, I just took out what I wanted and froze the rest. If you want to be really savvy you could always freeze small portions in an ice cube tray and just pop a portion out whenever you want one.
My second adventure this week was with pancakes.
As you probably remember I really do not like eggs and I really don't like them in my pancakes, yack!
Anyway, in my pancake recipes I usually substitute the eggs for no-egg egg replacer or a little baking powder but you can just swap that for an egg if you're ok with it.
Given as the apples are falling from our trees early this year I thought apple pancakes might be a good way to use them up.
Apple and cinnamon pancakes.
Ingredients:

• 250g of gluten free self-raising flour ( pancakes come out fluffier than with plain).
• 1 tsp egg replacer or 1 egg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 large apple grated ( dessert apples are preferable)
• Enough soya or rice milk to make a smooth batter.
• Oil for cooking.

1. Peel and grate the apple and mix with the cinnamon in a small bowl.
2. In a separate bowl mix the flour and egg replacer if using/ beat the egg into the dry ingredients.
3. Add the milk slowly while mixing the ingredients until it makes a smooth batter. ( make it slightly runnier than usual)
4. Add the apple and cinnamon and mix well. The batter should be quite thick now.
5. Using a flat bottomed frying pan or a griddle fry ladle sized portions of the batter until golden brown on both sides and quite firm to the touch.
6. Serve with butter, stewed fruit or yoghurt.

These can be frozen too just remember to put a piece of grease proof paper between each one before freezing them so that they don't stick together.

ENJOY!!!!!

To Stevia or not to Stevia.....

....that is the question.
There's been a lot of buzz about Stevia in the last few years and it's started appearing in some of our food and drink.

But how do you rate it?
 I'll be honest I tried Truvia when it first came out, hoping that it would be a pure stevia extract I could use; sadly not as it has Erythritol in it which is a sweetener.
So instead I opted for the pure Stevia powder; you can pick it up on amazon for a few pounds.
I was thrilled when the packet first came but a little put out when I opened it. Natural Stevia, unbeknownst to me, is like a green powder substance, reminiscent of the henna powder I used to dye my hair red in my teens. It doesn't smell too great either, a bit like a cross between weeds and black tea, yack!!
According to all the blurb Stevia is supposed to be 300 times sweeter than sugar, which I suppose is fine in theory but in my experience it really depends on how you use it.
I've tried several recipes replacing sugar with Stevia and they've all  been a bit hit and miss.

Finding a conversion chart for it doesn't seem to help either.In fact I've struggled to find one that works.
So far my I've tried a straight swap, stevia for sugar, and I've had limited success. If I add just a teaspoon-it is supposed to be 300 hundred times sweeter!- I didn't get any flavour at all. If I added a dessert spoon I got sweetness with an after taste of compost ( not that I'm in the habit of eating compost but I think you get what I mean). I've tried all variations in between but with limited success.
I'm not quite on the verge of giving up but I've popped it back in the cupboard for now before frustration sets in.
I'd love to hear from anyone who's used Stevia successfully or even if you've used it and suffered the same fate as me. Maybe you've found a conversion chart that's bang on and you're flying the Stevia flag. Hopefully you can shed some light on the rest us!

Busy, Busy,Busy!

I've been rushed off my feet this week as we're having a clear out and DIY fortnight before I go back to work properly.
It's amazing how much stuff one family can accumulate in a year, especially arts and crafts stuff! My cookery folders have also out grown their usual shelf in my kitchen so I'll be sorting through those and relocating some stuff.
All this busy-ness hasn't stopped me from cooking though and along with decluttering our personal things I've been clearing out cupboards and freezers.
My first recipe this week is designed to use up any cheese you might have left over at the end of the week:
Cheese and Marmite Fingers
Ingredients:

• 250g of glutenfree pastry - you can use any of your favourite pastry blends here. If you have a couple of different flour bags coming to an end you can mix them together and make pastry the same way you always do.
• 1 tbsp Marmite - if you don't like marmite you can leave it out and add vegetables to your fingers instead such as onion or tomato or you could swap marmite for ketchup.
• 150g hard cheese or a good melting soya cheese.

1.  Set the oven to Gas mark 4. Roll out your pastry between two sheets of cling film until roughly half a centimetre thick. Try to make it a rectangular shape as much as possible. Remove the top layer of cling film.
2. Grate the cheese (and onion if using. Thinly slice tomatoes if using them also) 
3. Spread the marmite ( or ketchup) thinly across half of the pastry - this works particularly well if you chill the pastry first - then sprinkle all of the cheese on top - don't forget to add anything else you'd like too.
4. Fold the pastry in half bringing the naked pastry down in top of the cheese and marmite to create a sandwich effect. Place on a baking tray using the bottom layer of cling film to manoeuvre it.
5. Score finger sized lines into the top of the pastry before placing into the pre-heated oven. Bake until the pastry is brown and crispy.
6. Slice into fingers along the score lines and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Another recipe I used this week that I hadn't used in ages was my own take on home made burgers. A while ago there was a scandal in the UK involving pre-packaged meat products and horse meat. There was such disgust and panic amongst shoppers that all beef burgers in the supermarket I usually use disappeared. This meant that for months I was unable to buy any which, to be honest,was quite lazy of me. Especially being as sitting in my cupboard was a barely used burger press, tut, tut.

So, using all sorts of different minced meats, lamb, pork, turkey and beef, I took to making my own. And when I found a rather large package of minced beef hiding at the back of my freezer over the weekend I dug out my burger press and there were burgers for everyone!

Cutting's Home made Burgers:

Ingredients:

• 500g lean minced beef
• 2 medium onions
• 1 and 1/2 glutenfree vegetable stock cubes
• 1 tbsp of olive oil/vegetable oil

Makes approx 6-8 large burgers or 10 small ones
This mixture is best blended in a food processor to combine it properly and give good solid burgers.

1. Grate the onions using the grater attachment on your food processor. Switch to the flat blade and add the minced beef- do not mix yet.
2. Using a mortar and pestle if you have one or the back of a large spoon mix the stock cubes and the oil together to create a paste and add to the food processor.
3. Blend the ingredients on medium speed until it resembles sausage meat. Taking large dessert spoonfuls either shape the meat into patties using your hands or a burger press.
4. You can freeze any burgers you will not be cooking just remember to leave on the waxed discs if using the press or freeze separately on a baking tray if shaping by hand.
5. Cook as normal burgers and serve with all your favourite dressings.

Well I hope that'll keep you going for another week, I'm off to clear out my porch now. The local charity shops will be getting quite a few goodies from our house this month!

Back from the land of the roses.

Sorry it's been over a week, I had no idea how hectic my holiday would be!
To say I need a holiday from my holiday is an understatement. We packed a lot in, especially food.
Before we left to visit my parents in Bulgaria, a friend of mine asked me if I ever worried about my food restrictions when I go abroad.
I'll be honest when I say that, at first, I was a little concerned but with the help of my family it has been quite easy to navigate.


Before my first trip away from the UK I spoke to some of my family who also have problems and asked their advice. One of my Uncles has severe coeliac disease and hasn't eaten the bread made here in the UK for many years, but when he travels to Turkey he can eat as much Turkish bread as he likes. As daft as it sounds the species of wheat they grow is totally different to ours and he's found that he can tolerate it quite easily.
 With this in mind I decided to try the bread in Bulgaria ( Turkey and Bulgaria are quite close to each other) and I found that, in small quantities, I can enjoy a piece of bread with little difficulty at all. I was nervous about it but as it turns out, if I'm careful my digestive system is able to cope.
 Not that I'm saying this is appropriate for everyone, but it has certainly proved the case with me.
 Of course there are some things I just cannot eat, things that are the same there as they are here.
The way I found to get around guess work and trying to decipher labels written in the Cyrillic language of Bulgaria was to lean on good old Google translate and find out what the word for corn was ( my only real problem food).
This helped me avoid it when buying any food, pre-packed or otherwise, but to be fair the Bulgarians don't fill their food with added unnecessary ingredients like we do.
Aside from all that, when eating out in any country the obvious rules apply:

1. Don't order anything in restaurants that has a sauce with it.
2. Don't eat pre-packed wheat products - Even if you can tolerate the local wheat that doesn't mean the pre-packed pasta and stuff is made from the same wheat, most countries import dried pasta.
3. If in doubt stick to plain meat, fish or vegetables.                                                                           And lastly, although not related to food intolerance but to food poisoning:
4. Whatever you do DON'T EAT THE RICE in restaurants. You can't guarantee it has been re-heated properly and trust me, no matter which country you go to they never cook it from fresh, just for you.

The only way to really make sure you can enjoy your holiday abroad is to opt for a self-catering apartment and take as much food with you as you can. I was lucky enough to be visiting family who, not only know my limits but also know directions to the nearest Lidl supermarket - they have rice cakes there :)

The point I am trying to make though is don't be afraid to travel abroad because you have a restricted diet. With a little bit of research and some common sense, you can enjoy a sunshine holiday just like everyone else.