A Spanish Inspired Salad with Artichokes and Chorizo

This salad is certainly of Spanish inspiration and is loosely based on a recipe by Delia Smith. It may be Spanish in inspiration, but I have used local ingredients wherever possible, which admittedly in April isn't that often! I love the tastes of the Mediterranean as I am sure you will now have realised, but Spain is one of my favourite countries in the 'Med'



To Serve 4

300 g chorizo sausage, diced
Handful of black pitted olives
280 g jar artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half
Handful crispy lettuce
Handful wild rocket leaves
Handful seedless grapes, cut in half
410 g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
6-8 small tomatoes, cut in half

Dressing

2 tbsp olive oil from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped

Dry-fry the chorizo in a small pan over low heat, this will remove a lot of the saturated fat from the chorizo. Leave to cool

Combine the salad dressing ingredients in a screw-topped jar, leave to one side

On a large platter, arrange the crispy lettuce and rocket leaves, add the grapes, tomatoes, artichokes, olives and beans, scatter the cooled chorizo over the top. Drizzle with the dressing

:)

Soba Noodles with Lobster and an Orange and Ginger Dressing

I've been going to try out gluten free noodles for a while, but have only just given myself the push to try cooking something that for me, is a new direction. I guess I've been collecting the ingredients along the way, because virtually all the ingredients for this dish were in my house, including the lobster. I bought a frozen one a few months ago when I saw some one at a good price. If I didn't have the lobster I think I would have bought some crayfish at the local fish market and used them instead

This recipe is very loosely based on one by Bill Granger in his book 'Holiday', but has undergone a considerable adaption to make it gluten free



To serve 2

250 g Soba buckwheat (gluten free) noodles
8 oz lobster tail, shell removed, meat cut into slices
1 tbsp sesame seeds
4 spring onions, sliced diagonally

Orange and Ginger Dressing

2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp gluten free tamari
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp runny honey
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp sesame oil

To make the dressing, in a screw top jar, stir together the orange juice, rice wine vinegar, tamari and ginger, add the honey and oils, shake vigorously to mix the ingredients

Cook the soba noodles in a large pan of salted water according to the pack instructions - beware the water may well froth up beyond what you are expecting, so use a very big pan

Rinse the noodles under cold running water and drain well

Put the cool noodles and lobster in a bowl and toss together. Add about half the orange and ginger dressing and half of the sesame seeds and half of the spring onions, toss well to coat in the dressing

Divide between two plates and add the remaining spring onions and sesame seeds - also add more dressing if it needs it

I had about half of the dressing left over!!!

From a Sandwich to a Salad

In the old days when I thought I would be able to eat whatever I wanted for life, my favourite sandwich was a bacon lettuce and tomato on wholemeal (BLT). Then in 2001 and 2002 I took trips to Australia. On the second trip, I went to Cairns on the Gold Coast and discovered my new favourite sandwich, this was about the time I was starting to get digestive system problems, but I still didn't know that gluten was the source of my problems. My new favourite sandwich was to be a bacon, avocado and tomato on wholemeal

I've now dispensed with the wholemeal bread and am turning a sandwich into a salad, it has to be healthier anyway, without all that stodgy bread!! The way I cooked in those dim and distant days has changed somewhat, as have the ingredients I am likely to use. Bearing that in mind: the lettuce has turned into wild rocket leaves, the bacon has turned into pancetta, which has been dry-fried to let some of the saturated fat leak out and I have added a few lentils to increase the natural fibre content

The dressing is a classic one of lemon and olive oil from Jamie Oliver, which I keep in my fridge, in a screw-top jar ... a good shake and ts ready to go!



This recipe is adequate for one person as a main course salad - double up the quantities if you are serving more than yourself

1 tbsp pre-cooked Puy or other lentils
75 g pancetta, dry-fried and left to cool on kitchen paper
A large handful of wild rocket leaves
A few cherry tomatoes, halved
Avocado

Dressing

2 tbsp lemon juice
5 tbsp olive oil
Few grinds of sea salt
Few grinds of pepper

Dress a plate with the wild rocket leaves and the tomatoes
make the dressing by putting all the ingredients into a screw-top jar and giving it a good shake - this will make enough dressing for half a dozen salads
Peel the avocado and cut into chunks, place the chunks in a small bowl and toss them in a drizzle of the dressing
Pile the avocado on top of the rocket and tomatoes, then scatter the pancetta and lentils over the top

Yum! A sort of BLT salad :)

Cassoulet of Pork and Toulousian Sausages

I went out for lunch in a local restaurant a few days ago and ate the most fabulous cassoulet. Not your average classical French cassoulet but more a cassoulet that made me think of Moroccan flavours. It was mainly duck and very good sausage with very few beans, but the broth was unbelievable - spicy but not hot with a tang of tomatoes



Now I want to remind myself of the flavours of a traditional French cassoulet, if there is such a thing as traditional cassoulet. Cassoulet should contain duck and should have duck fat as an ingredient. I don't fancy a heart attack any time soon, so have reduced the cholesterol element by using a vegetable oil and omitting the duck. Cassoulet should also have about half a pound of breadcrumbs added after the two hour coking phase, I decided to forego them



To serve 4 - 6

1 lb 2 oz belly of pork, skin separated from meat and cut into half inch dice
8 GF Toulouse sausages (Sainsbury's)

Bean stock

1 cup haricot beans
1 cup butter beans
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
Sprig fresh thyme
sprig fresh rosemary
whole carrot

Cassoulet

2 tbsp sunflower oil
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 tomatoes, skinned and diced
1 onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper


In a large saucepan, add the onion, garlic, carrot, thyme, rosemary, beans, diced pork and pork skin, bring to the boil and simmer for 70 minutes

Preheat the oven to 160 centigrade / 300 Fahrenheit / gas mark 2

Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp of oil in a heavy based casserole, lightly saute the diced onions and garlic until softened

Remove onions and garlic from the casserole and place in a large bowl with the diced carrots and tomatoes

Add a further tablespoon of oil to the casserole and fry the sausages until browned, remove from the casserole and cut into three pieces, place in the bowl with the carrots, tomatoes etc

Drain the bean stock, reserving the stock for later use

Place all the other ingredients from the bean pan in a large roasting tin, discard the carrot, onion, pork skin, herbs and garlic

Pick out the pork and place in the casserole dish and lightly fry until golden brown, then place in the bowl with other vegetables and sausages

Add half of the beans to the casserole, add the meat and vegetables from the bowl and the herbs, then add the remaining beans. Add the stock, filling to the level of the beans, add some boiling water if necessary

Put the casserole without the lid in the preheated oven and cook for two hours

Check seasoning, I added one teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper at this point

Serve

Blueberry and Chocolate Cookies

Following on from my success with the peanut cookies, I decided it was cookie time again. I'd seen some fabulous blueberry cookies in my local Farmers Market and I've been longing to have one. But oh no I cant do that! I have to devise my own. Then I found the recipe devised by Mike of Gluten Free Blog fame and though I could be onto a winner. I took his strawberry and chocolate cookie recipe from his book, Gluten Free and Wheat Free Gourmet Deserts, and turned it into blueberry and chocolate cookies, then added whole blueberries. You know what .... they taste fabulous! I've used blueberry preserve and whole blueberries to ring the changes, cut down on the butter content and used very low fat cream cheese


Mikes book is fabulous, I've used a few of his recipes now, he has everything in there from an award winning carrot cake to cheesecakes. It is perfect for somebody who is just starting out on the road to gluten free and just as perfect for somebody like me who has been gluten free for about six years and just lost their baking mojo! If, like me, you want Miles book to make life easier and tastier, you can find info on Mikes book here



1/4 stick (2 oz) butter
1 cup sugar
3 oz cream cheese (I used Quark, which is very low fat cream cheese)
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups rice flour (Doves)
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup blueberry preserve
Handful fresh or thawed frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 190 degrees

Cream together the sugar, butter and cream cheese

Add baking powder, flours and cocoa powder, mix thoroughly

Add blueberry preserve, add mix until you have the consistency of cookie dough, add the blueberries and mix them in

Take small handfulls of the dough and roll into balls a little over an inch in diameter, place on a cookie pan lined with greaseproof parchment, press the cookie down until it is a little less than half an inch thick

Cook the cookies for 15 minutes or until cooked. Leave on the tin to cool for a couple of minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool

Yumyum!

Soda Bread

I have Irish ancestry! My great-great grandfather is Irish and was born in Cork which I have recently been able to get evidence of via genealogical research. I've also been to Ireland on a few occasions. That should give me the credentials to be cooking Irish food. If you haven't been to Ireland, add it to your 'to do' list, it's a beautiful place, full of history and beautiful sights!

Moving on ...... I've been wanting to try cooking some Irish unleavened bread. So here is the first attempt, soda bread

This is based on a recipe from Healthy Gluten Free Eating by Darina Allen and Rosemary Kearney, supported by Coeliac UK



10 oz rice flour
4 oz potato flour
1 scant tsp bicarbonate of flour
1 heaped tsp gluten free baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp Castor sugar
1 free range egg, lightly beaten
12 fl oz whole cow's milk

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees / 450 degrees / gas mark 8

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl

Whisk the egg and buttermilk together

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour most of the milk/egg mix in. With a plastic spatula mix the flour into the milk/egg mix by stirring the flour mix around the edge of the bowl until the ingredients are mixed together. Add the remaining egg/milk mix if necessary

You should have a softish dough, but it should not be wet and sticky - do not over mix, once the dough starts to come together as a ball, move to the next stage

With rice-floured hands, lightly knead the dough ball to get an even shape, place on a floured baking tray and press the dough down to approximately 2 inches in height

With a knife cut a cross in the dough, prick with a knife at four angles (to let the Irish fairies out)

Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180/350/Gas 4 and cook for a further 30 minutes or until coked. When bread is cooked, when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow

Fruity North African Salad from FAIRTRADE

During the recent Fairtrade Fortnight, I bought the Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook, which I would advise anybody to but, as it is fabulous. I was going to write about the Fairtrade Foundation then, but felt it was pretty much saturated, hence writing now after the initial event, but none the less still valid

I buy Fairtrade products whenever I see them as an alternative to the standard products available. They are sometimes a tad more expensive, but I like to think that the few pence extra that I pay goes to help a community somewhere in a developing country, rather than lining the pocket of a fat-cat exploiting the communities in developing countries

Rant Over!!! Here is my recipe!!! I say my recipe, it was actually developed by Anna Hayward from Hay on Wye, Powys. Most of Anna's ingredients whereas mine are a mix of locally sourced organic and Fairtrade where possible



To serve: 4 as a main course - 4 - 6 as a starter / appetiser

175 g rice
1 organic orange
1 tbsp Fairtrade honey
410 g tin chickpeas, drained
50 g dried cranberries
50 g sultanas
50 g dates, chopped
2 large organic tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
1 pepper, finely chopped
3 - 4 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander

Cook the rice according to packet instructions, drain and place in a large bowl
Whisk the orange juice and honey together, and pour over the warm rice, set aside to cool
Add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl after a few minutes and mix well
Allow the salad to stand for half an hour so that the dried fruit has a chance to plump up
Divide into bowls

:)