gluten free

Spicy Carrot Soup

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I’m challenging myself to try and make better versions of stuff I haven’t been 100% happy with before, and use what’s in the house, (yes, I’m going stir crazy already).

I tried to make spicy carrot soups before and always thought the consistency was a bit weird. I think I have now cracked it. Adding a potato to the soup helps make it a much nicer creamier consistency. It’s still really healthy, and delicious served with big slabs of buttered soda bread (not as healthy given how much I enjoy butter).

Ingredients

1 Potato (cut into cubes)

4 Carrots (sliced)

1 Stalk of celery (chopped)

1 Onion (chopped)

1Tbsp Oil

1 Stock cube

1 Clove of garlic

1 Tsp Ground cumin

4-5 cm Piece of fresh ginger (grated), or 1 Tsp of ground ginger

1/2 Tsp Chilli powder (optional)

750 ml water

Salt & pepper

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a pot, and add the vegetables and dried spices, cook over a medium heat until the onion begin to turn clear
  2. Crumble in the stock cube and add the water. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, add the garlic and fresh ginger if you are using it
  3. Simmer for another 5 minutes, and check the seasoning
  4. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a blender, or do what I did and use a hand blender to blitz the soup until you have a smooth soup

Rumbledethumps

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Rumbledethumps fresh out of the oven.

This recipe comes from one of my co-workers Ruth. She knows I love a good recipe and was kind enough to share this. It’s one of the things I like about food. Everyone needs to eat, and everyone has a favourite food. Many of my recipes come from people who just wanted to share something they really enjoyed.

This is a traditional Scottish recipe, and was probably developed to use up left over vegetables. I wasn’t that organised so I made this from scratch, but if you plan ahead and have left over veggies then this can be really quick to make. The name supposedly comes from the fact that cabbage and turnip can make some people a bit “windy”. Rumbledethump refers to the noises they may make. Thankfully this wasn’t my experience.

Rumbledethumps are traditionally fried, I oven baked these to make them a little healthier.

Yummy as a meal in itself.

These make a great side dish or are delicious served with a fried egg.

Makes 8

Ingredients before being combined.

Ingredients

500 Grams Potatoes (peeled and cubed)

200 Grams Turnip (peeled and cubed) – in England this is known as swede, but in NI we call it turnip)

1/2 Onion (finely sliced)

125 Grams Cabbage (finely sliced)

1 Egg yolk

50 Grams Cheddar cheese (grated)

2 Tbsps Oil

Salt and pepper

Ready for the oven.

Method

  1. Cook the potatoes and turnip until soft, drain and mash roughly before allowing to cool
  2. Add 1 Tbsp of oil to a pan and gently fry until soft, allow to cool
  3. Combine all the ingredients (except the remaining oil), in a bowl. Check the seasoning, I found this recipe needed quite a lot.
  4. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Get your hands into the mixture, and make 8 equal sized patties.
  5. Set the patties onto a greased baking sheet. Brush with the remaining oil and bake for 25-30mins

Macarons with Chocolate Ganache Filling

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Yummy and dangerously addictive.

Anyone one who follows this blog will probably have guessed that I usually don’t do dainty.

But trapped in the house on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I decided to rustle up something different . Macarons are cute little almond meringue cookies, and can have a variety of fillings including butter cream or jam. I have used chocolate ganache, which sounds fancy but is basically just cream and chocolate.

If you’ve seen macarons for sale they can come in a variety of rainbow colours, and can be eye wateringly expensive. This is a bit of a rip off considering that while they might be a bit fiddly they’re not especially difficult to make. They also make great gifts.

Always handy for gifts.

Ingredients

For the mcarons

210 Grams Icing sugar

95 Grams Ground almonds

3 Egg whites (at room temperature)

50 Grams Caster sugar

1/2 Tsp Vanilla paste

Food colouring (this is optional, but it does help them look nice. I would recommend using gel or powdered food colouring)

For the ganache

100 Grams Dark chocolate

150 Grams Double cream

Method

  1. Add the icing sugar and ground almonds to a food processor and whizz for a couple of minutes
  2. Sieve the sugar and almonds into a bowl, and discard any bits of almond that don’t go through the sieve
  3. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until they form soft peaks Gradually add the caster sugar, vanilla and food colouring until you have stiff peaks (you’ve probably saw on cooking shows when the cook holds the bowl over their head and nothing moves)
  4. Start to fold in the sugar and almond mix with a spatula or large metal spoon in small batches
  5. When fully combined, transfer the batter into a piping bag
  6. On a sheet of baking paper, mark out circles about 3cm each. Put a dot of the batter on the four corners of a baking sheet and lay the baking paper on top (this will help it stay in place)
  7. Pipe a blob of the batter on the pre drawn circles until you have used up all the mix. I ended up using 2 baking trays
  8. Once you have piped all the mcarons, lift the trays a couple of inches and tap it down on the counter to get out any air bubbles. If you have any little tails of batter sticking up after piping, wet you finger and flatten them (it will stop them burning)
  9. Allow the macarons to sit out for 30 minutes, this helps them set and forms a skin
  10. Bake in an oven preheated to 150 degrees for 17 minutes, cool before filling
  11. To make the ganache, break the chocolate into small bits and put in a microwave bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave (blast for 30 seconds at a time, be sure not to burn)
  12. When the chocolate is melted, add the cream and stir until properly combined, allow to cool
  13. When the ganache is cool, take a palette knife and spread the filling on the underside of a macaron the sandwich with another. Continue until all the macaron halves have been sandwiched together

Triple Chocolate Verrine

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Rich and deliciously unctuous

This is a little teaser of the dessert for this week’s Supper Club. I like to test recipes before hand and this is a chocoholics dream.

I’m a total fan girl of Eric Lanlard (Cake Boy), his recipes are amazing. I wanted to try this for a while and eventually had a free day to try it. It’s not especially difficult, but it does take a while as you have to wait for the different layers to set.

I made mine in little jam jars. This is a really rich dessert, so you can make smaller versions in shot glasses if you don’t have an especially sweet tooth.

Top with some grated chocolate for a final flourish

Makes 4-6 jam jars, more if you’re using smaller glasses

Ingredients

Dark chocolate layer

75 Grams Dark chocolate

1 Tsp Caster sugar

2 Eggs (separated)

Milk chocolate layer

75 Grams Milk chocolate

1/2 Tsp Caster sugar

2 Eggs (separated)

White chocolate layer

2 Egg yolks

2 Tbsp Caster sugar

150 Gram White chocolate

250ml Double cream

Method

  1. Melt the dark chocolate and sugar in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat
  2. Separate the eggs, and whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they reach the stiff peak stage
  3. Quickly stir the egg yolks into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture
  4. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until fully combined. Pour into glasses making sure there is an equal amount in each glass. Put into the fridge to set for 2 hours
  5. For the milk chocolate layer, break into small pieces and melt along the sugar in a heat proof bowl over a simmering water. Remove from the heat once melted.
  6. Separate the eggs, whisk the egg whites to the stiff peak stage.
  7. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate and mix well
  8. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Top up the glasses that already have the dark chocolate and put back in the fridge to set
  9. For the white chocolate layer, add the sugar and egg yolks to a heat proof bowl and heat over a pan of barely simmering water, whisk for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until the mix looks light and creamy
  10. In a separate heat proof bowl, break up the chocolate and melt over a pan of simmering water.
  11. In another bowl (yes I should have mentioned that you’ll have a lot of washing up, but it totally worth it), whip the cream with an electric whisk until it forms soft peaks
  12. Add the melted chocolate to the egg and sugar mix and combine well
  13. Fold the mix into the whipped cream, and then add to the glasses. Chill for another 3-4 hours

I would recommend not serving this pregnant women, or very young children.

Possibly the filthiest brownies ever made.

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Fudgy brownie, topped with chewy marshmallow and then a layer of crunchy rice crispies coated in peanut butter and chocolate.

Anyone who follows this blog has probably worked out that I try to make reasonably healthy recipes. However, I think there is always room for some filth in your life. A good basic brownie is hard to beat, and there are endless variations you can make. I like food with different textures, so when I saw a version of this from Yammies Noshery, I had to try to make them. Apart from the fact these taste like a little square of heaven, they’re also gluten free. So you can treat your intolerant loved ones to something other than a coconut macaroon. These are great for Halloween parties or judge because you feel like a bit of filth.

Ingredients

For the brownies

260 Grams White sugar

180 Mil Vegetable oil

4 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla bean paste

200 Grams Cocoa powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

60 Grams Chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)

For the topping

180 Gram Bag of mini marshmallows

250 Grams Chocolate

160 Grams Peanut butter

75 Grams Butter

400 Grams Rice crispies

These little nuggets of deliciousness melt and toast up to add another layer of flavour

Method

  1. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking tin, and preheat your oven to 180 degrees
  2. For the brownies, add the oil and sugar together and mix until we’ll combined. Whisk in the eggs, and vanilla, then add the cocoa powder and salt and mix until combined.
  3. Fold in the chocolate chips, and pour into your lined baking tin. Bake of 17 minutes (if you prefer a more cakey brownie leave them in the oven for another couple of minutes)
  4. Take the brownies out of the oven and sprinkle the top with mini marshmallows, and return to the oven for another 8 minutes
  5. The marshmallows should have melted and be looking slightly toasted around the edged
  6. Allow to cool before adding the next topping (I didn’t wait and it was a nightmare to spread)
  7. For the crunch topping, put the chocolate, butter, and peanut butter in a large microwave proof dish.
  8. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stir, taking care that the mix doesn’t burn
  9. When melted, add the rice crispies and mix until they are fully coated
  10. Spread the mix over the cooled marshmallow topped brownies and allow to set before slicing into small squares (these are seriously rich, and can always have another one if you can manage it)
Allow the marshmallows to cool be trying to spread the crunch topping

Parsley and Almond Pesto

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I was having one of those nights when I came home and there was nothing in the fridge that immediately lept out at me for dinner.

I cobbled this together from what I had at hand, and it was amazing. Gorgeous with pasta, its also fabulous drizzled over roast potatoes, or use it as a spread to tasty up sandwiches. This pesto is really versatile, I stirred some through plain boiled rice and the freshness of the parsley and slight hum of garlic totally transformed it. This takes 5 minutes to make and will live in a jar in your fridge for 3-4 days (if it lasts that long)

Bright green and full of flavour.

Ingredients

100 Grams Almonds

25 Grams Parsley (stalks and all)

100 ml Olive oil

25 Grams Parmesan (you can use vegan parmesan if you have dairy free diet)

1 Clove of Garlic (roughly chopped)

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. In a dry frying pan toast the almonds until they are lightly browned and smell nutty
  2. Add the almonds to a food processor and blitz until the almonds look like course sand
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients and blitz until we’ll combined, check if it needs salt and pepper. Some people like it super smooth, but I prefer it a bit chunkier. Serve with pasta or roast vegetables, save any left over pesto in an airtight jar in the fridge

Homemade Granola

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Shop bought granola can be expensive and sometimes a bit blah. This version is a feast of different tastes and textures. It’s also quick and easy to make, and tastes better than anything you can buy.

I like to team it up with some Greek yoghurt and fresh fruit for a quick and wholesome breakfast that will definitely keep you full until lunch. It also tastes really good sprinkled over ice cream for some crunch. This will keep well in airtight container for 10-14 days.

Rich aand crunchy, straight from the oven.

Ingredients

250 Grams Porridge oats

100 Grams Dessicated coconut

25 Grams Sunflower seeds

25 Grams Pumpkin seeds

50 Grams Pitted dates

50 Grams almonds

100 Grams Peanut butter

3 Tbsp Maple syrup

100 Ml Vegetable oil

Team your granola up with some Greek yoghurt and fresh fruit for a quick and satisfying breakfast

Method

  1. Add all the ingredients to a bowl
  2. Get your hands in and makes sure the peanut butter is rubbed thoroughly in the mixture
  3. Transfer to a baking tray, and put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, half way through take the mix out and stir the mixture to make sure it cooks evenly