Recipe – Gluten Free Lemon Polenta Cakes

I’ve been experimenting with polenta cakes for a few weeks now, and think I have finally cracked it, with the help of recipes from the Telegraph and Waitrose… I think a blend of the two works best – and you should give it a go to see what you think too!

A yummy treat, with the most delicious icing you’ll ever taste!

Ingredients (Makes 12)

For the cakes:

• 7oz/200g ground almonds
• 3 medium eggs
• Zest of 4 whole lemons and juice of 2
• 4oz/115g polenta
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt

For the icing:

• 300 ml double cream
• 8 tbsp lemon curd

To decorate:

• 50ml water
• 2 tbsp caster or granulated sugar
• Rind of 1 lemon, sliced finely

Method

For the cakes:

• Preheat the oven to 150C. Line a muffin tray with 12 fairy cake cases.
• Put all the cake ingredients in a food processor and whizz to a smooth batter.
• Spoon into the lined tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with no uncooked batter on it.
• Remove the cakes carefully and stand on a rack to cool. DO NOT ICE UNTIL CAKES ARE COMPLETELY COOL.

For the icing:

• Lightly whip the cream until only just holding its shape.
• Spoon the lemon curd over the cream and stir together lightly until the cream is streaked with lemon curd.
• When the cakes are completely cooled, spoon onto the tarts.

For the decorations:

• Pare strips of rind from the lemon and cut them into fine shreds.
• Put in a small saucepan with 50ml cold water and the 2 tablespoons sugar and cook gently for 5 minutes until slightly softened. Leave to cool in the syrup.
• Drain the lemon shreds and use to decorate the cakes.

TIP: Use 2 slightly warm table spoons to decorate with the cream icing. Also you should have enough icing left for some lucky person to have a yummy bowl-licking treat post-baking!  :)

And that’s it! Delicious, gluten free cakes that are really simple to make, look beautiful and are absolutely scrumptious too!

Happy baking!

Recipe – Indian Chickpea Curry (Chole)

This is another recipe that I found online to use up some of the many tins of chickpeas that we have in our store cupboard. It’s so good that it’s become a dinner favourite! Enjoy!

Chole is a North Indian chick pea dish. The base is a tomato gravy and to this you add either canned chick peas or if you prefer dried ones which you have soaked overnight. In this recipe we will be using canned chick peas. Like most Indian curries you can adjust the spice so that the dish is spicy or mild depending on your taste. This recipe will make the Chole on the milder side.

Ingredients

1 can chick peas
2 medium sized tomatoes diced
1 tsp tomato paste
1 medium sized onion diced
3 cloves garlic diced
½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp sugar
¾ tbsp salt
½ tsp ginger paste
½ tsp turmeric powder
pinch asafetida powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp garam masala
3 tbsp oil
1 cup water
** Please note: In this recipe I am using a pressure cooker. If you do not have one, you may also just use a pot.

Directions

In your pressure cooker/pot heat 3 tablespoons of oil.

Once the oil is sufficiently heated, add ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds.

Allow the cumin seeds to sizzle in the oil. Once they have turned golden brown, add a pinch of asafetida powder. Follow this by adding ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder.

Add the onions and sauté until they have turned golden brown. Follow by adding the garlic. You do not need to sauté the garlic, as overcooked garlic tends to loose its flavour.

Add the tomatoes in and allow the mixture to simmer on medium heat until the tomatoes have melted and the mixture is fairly uniform. Follow by adding 1 teaspoon of tomato paste and mixing.

Add in the chick peas.

At this point we can add all the spices – salt, ginger paste, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala and a pinch of sugar. Mix thoroughly.

Add in 1 cup of water.

At this point – If you are using a pressure cooker put the lid on securely and turn the stove on high. Different pressure cookers behave differently in terms of how they release steam. In my pressure cooker, the pressure is released in the form of a “whistle” (steam shooting out), intermittently. In some pressure cookers, when the pressure is at maximum, the steam is continuously released – so basically the “whistle” does not stop. To simplify things, just cook the Chole in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes.
If you are using a pot, leave the stove on medium heat and put the lid half on (if you put the lid on securely, it will boil over). Allow the Chole to simmer for 20 minutes.

At this point if you are using a pressure cooker make sure you wait until all the pressure is released before opening. This is very important. If you have some chopped cilantro (coriander), you may add it as a garnish. Serve with basmati rice, naan, roti… whatever you desire!

Recipe – Low Fat Banana Bread

I’m not a huge fan of cake, but this recipe makes a beautiful cake-like bread which is perfect with a nice cup of tea in the late morning or early afternoon. I also add in 250g of sultanas soaked in rum, which make it even more indulgent. Enjoy!

This no-guilt treat is surprising moist and has a wonderful flavour. It’s also a great way to use up over-ripe bananas. For a little variation, you can add nuts or sultanas.

Ingredients

200g (7 oz) plain flour
140g (5 oz) caster sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 egg whites
3 bananas, mashed
4 tablespoons apple purée or sauce (OR some sort of homemade jam – I use rhubarb jam and it’s delicious!)
OPTIONAL ADDITION: 250g sultanas and 2 shots of dark rum

Preparation method

1. OPTIONAL: Put the sultanas in a small pan and add the rum. Bring to the boil, then turn off and allow to stand for at least one hour, or preferably over night (to allow the fruit to absorb the rum).

2. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 20x10cm (8×4 in) loaf tin.

2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. Add egg whites, bananas and apple purée; stir just until combined. Stir in the sultanas. Pour batter into prepared tin.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean. Turn out onto wire rack and allow to cool before slicing.

Tip:

If your bananas are already black but you can’t make a cake right away, simply pop them in the freezer. Defrost the bananas whenever you’re ready to bake!

Recipe – Fiery Lamb / Goat Curry

I stole this recipe from a friend (thanks Nick!) but it’s so delicious that I wanted to share it. It’s actually not that hot, in that you can still enjoy the taste. I used extra hot dried chillies and still managed – although I would suggest going for the 25 chilli version to start with, just in case! So anyway, here’s the recipe – enjoy!

Not for the faint hearted...

As the name suggests, this is a very hot dish, not for people with a weak constitution. This is one of the few Indian dishes that contains heat in every sense – both ‘chilli hot’ and ‘spice hot’. You can decide the amount of heat you’d like. Discard most of the seeds from the chillies if you want to reduce the heat, or keep them in if you want it really hot.

Serves 3 or 4
25-35 dried red chillies, stalks removed
11/2 tsp cloves
150g ghee or vegetable oil
250g plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted
20g ground coriander
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp salt
3 cinnamon leaves or bay leaves
6 green cardamom pods
5 black cardamom pods
75g garlic cloves, finely chopped
250g onions, finely chopped
1kg leg of lamb or goat with bone chopped into 2.5cm cubes
750ml lamb stock or water
30g coriander leaves, finely chopped

Set aside 3 or 4 of the dried chillies to use later; put the remainder to soak in 125ml water. Also put aside 4-6 of the cloves and 1 tbs of the ghee. Mix the yogurt with the cumin seeds, ground coriander, chilli powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat the rest of the ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the remaining cloves, the cinnamon leaves and the green and black cardamoms. When they begin to crackle and change colour, add the garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes or until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring constantly. Stir in the meat and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain the red chillies and add to the pan.

Continue cooking for 10-12 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the meat starts to brown. Now add the spiced yogurt and cook for another 10-12 minutes or until the liquid from the yogurt has evaporated. Add the stock or water and bring to the boil, then cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer until the meat is tender. Check the seasoning. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

To prepare the tadka, or tempering, which boosts the flavours, heat up the reserved ghee or oil in a large ladle over a flame (or in a small pan) and add the reserved cloves and dried red chillies. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the ghee changes colour and the spice flavours are released. Pour the contents of the ladle over the lamb curry, sprinkle with the chopped coriander and serve.

A-MAZE-ing

A letter to the manager of Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant in Mayfair, London:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing this email to thank you and your staff for an absolutely wonderful evening at Maze last night (06th April). I had booked the meal in order to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday, and I’m so glad I did as your team made it such a special evening. Every single member of staff we met throughout our visit was polite, welcoming and generally happy to help. The waiting staff were attentive, knowledgeable, and were smiling all evening – which makes all the difference.

The food we had was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t know too much about the restaurant when I booked, but the tapas concept worked really well and the quality of the ingredients and the dishes themselves was great. Everything was presented pristinely, the portion sizes were just right, and the food itself was absolutely delicious! Your wine listis also one of the best we have come across (and we’re familiar with a fair few!) and had everything anyone could ever wish to drink with their meal.

Finally, at the time of booking I had made a note that the booking was for my boyfriend’s birthday and your staff kindly provided a birthday dessert and chocolates for him at the end of the meal. This was such a lovely gesture, and is something I am really grateful for. However, perhaps the highlight of the entire evening was the kitchen tour, which your waiting staff kindly offered to arrange with the head barman (who was an absolute star!). The tour was such a great experience, and it was truly a privilege to be allowed access to the kitchen area. Everyone was really accommodating and welcoming, and it was the perfect end to an otherwise faultless meal.

Thank you so much again for such a fantastic and unforgettable experience. I will definitely be recommending Maze to everyone I know from this point onwards (as I have all morning!) and can’t wait to come back for another visit.

Kind regards,

Carly

Fantastic Mr [Fox] Chicken!

Jackpot!

- Take one £2 coin.
- Add a willing Sainsburys employee and a good stock of £1 scratch-cards.
- Stir in a good helping of luck (and a shiny new penny to do the scratching with!).

And what do you get? £21! GET IN!

Orangu-Chan

Most of you will know that my lovely boyfriend makes beautiful music in his spare time. Up until now he’s mainly focused on pop music both within his former band, Circa, as well as a solo artist, whereby he writes, performs and produces tracks to rival the likes of Justin Timberlake and Calvin Harris. Fewer of you will know that he has also written music tracks for videogames such as Supercar Challenge. And probably none of you will know that he also recently volunteered to write the music for this short documentary, charting the plight of Orangutans in Borneo and the amazing work of International Animal Rescue.

Enjoy!

x

Duck Tales – Eggstremely Eggciting News

Since the cold snap, Hueyetta and Louie had been living inside with us. They had a make-shift pen in the kitchen, which they had started breaking out of by the end… After that we invested in a proper pet-pen, which was much better until they worked out how to unzip the doors… But, now that the mornings are a little less frosty, they’re back outside in their duck pen and are loving it. (More on that to come in another blog post!).

Anyway… just before the duckies moved out, they had started “getting jiggy with it” – particularly awkward when you’re trying to cook dinner and you have to ducks going at it in the corner of the kitchen… And even worse was the fact that try as he might, poor old Louie couldn’t seem to stay on long enough to finish up. It’s been about 2 weeks since this naughtiness began, and back then we started to think about eggs. Ducks should start laying when they’re about 6 months old and tend to lay an egg every other morning. Our Hueyetta was born in August, and she seemed fairly happy and healthy so we were counting on eggies in February – and sure as eggs is eggs, this morning we were blessed with the news that we are now proud grandparents to Eggburt!

Mother and egg seem healthy and happy, and Hueyetta & Louie were back to their naughtiness by the time we left for work this morning. So all being well, in a couple of months time we might even have some fertilised eggies to incubate and hatch for some new additions to our ever-growing brood.

x