Recipe: Banana-Almond French Toast

There's no escaping it. Autumn is definitely upon us. The leaves have been shaken from the trees and the deliciously telling scent of woodsmoke is hanging in the now decidedly chilly air.

For many of us here in the weather-beaten UK, the happy-go-lucky spirit of summer has headed south for the winter along with the birds, as we button our coats and grudgingly flick the 'on' switch for the central heating. But for me, there's a certain beauty to the colder months of the year. Bonfires, snow (if we're lucky), and cosying up on the sofa in your fluffiest knitwear with a great book in your hand or movie on the TV, supping from a delicious mug of hot chocolate. Throw in a log cabin, a real wood fire, a couple of cats and a blanket, and you have my idea of heaven.

Anyway, cold mornings deserve the most heartwarming of breakfasts, and few could be better than the sweet, sticky comfort of this banana and almond (or, as my husband calls it 'banalmond') french toast.

So, grab a whisk and a bowl for this easy and quick recipe, and treat yourself to a great start this weekend!

Ingredient (makes 4-6 slices)

4-6 slices of thick-cut gluten free white bread (I used Udi's White Bloomer)
250ml whole milk or lactose-free alternative. Almond milk would work VERY well!
2 large eggs
1tsp vanila extract
1tsp almond extract
3tbsp sieved icing sugar
50g flaked almonds
2-3 knobs unsalted butter
3 ripe bananas

Method

Pour the milk, eggs, extracts and 2tbsp of icing sugar into a wide, flat bowl. Whisk well. Take the slices of bread and leave them in the liquid for around 3 minutes on each side, until they've absorbed all the lovely flavours.

Heat a frying pan on a meduim heat, and add a knob of butter. Take each slice out, on at a time, and coat both sides with the flaked almonds, before placing in the frying pan. While the slices are cooking, peel and chop a banana, dust with a little icing sugar, and pop into the pan next to the bread to caramelise. Leave each slice for 4-5 minutes, and carefully turn.

When each side has turned a beautiful golden brown and the banana chunks are soft, remove from the pan and place on a plate. Top with the bananas and serve immediately, or leave in a warm oven until the remaining slices and bananas are cooked.

Serve topped with a dusting of icing sugar, golden syrup or maple syrup for a delicious, warm start to the day. Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

If you've tried this recipe, please tell me what you thought of it. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Did you make any changes? Did you try a different fruit? Feel free to add any comments below!

Recipe - Single-Serving Chai Tea

The balanced blend of spicy warmth, soothing sweetness and a creamy texture make this the perfect start to the day, especially if you're feeling stressed and over-wrought from the working week, or if you're feeling a bit under the weather.

Most people will be aware that chai tea is an Indian drink. And for those who are acquainted with the traditional Indian chai tea, I should state upfront that this is probably not going to be very similar to what you had in India (I use assam tea, rather than ceylon or darjeeling, for example, as I prefer the full-bodied flavour), but it makes a very comforting drink on a cold, wet weekend. Or any day, in fact!

Ingredients

A thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
2 cloves
3 peppercorns
3 cardamom pods
1 small cinnamon stick, or 1tsp ground cinnamon
500ml cold water
2 Assam teabags
300ml whole milk
35g golden caster sugar or demerara sugar

Method

Put the water in a medium-sized saucepan and put it on a medium-high heat. 

Using a teaspoon or knife, gently scrape the bark away from the ginger. DON'T peel it! The anti-inflammatory goodness in ginger lies right under the skin, so you'll lose that if you get out the potato peeler. Once you've removed the bark, slice it into thin slices.

Using a pestle and mortar, if possible, lightly crush the other spices, to release their flavour.

Add the crushed spices and the ginger to the water. If you're using ground cinnamon, throw that in as well (warning: using ground cinnamon does mean a skin will form on the tea, but it can be a lot cheaper than buying cinnamon sticks and it doesn't really impact the flavour). Bring the water to a slow boil and let the spices stew in it for 3 minutes. Then add the teabags, reduce to a simmer, and leave for 5 minutes, so the tea has time to strengthen.

Remove the pan from the heat and take out the teabags. Pour in the milk and sugar, stir well to make sure the sugar dissolves, then return to the heat. As soon as it starts to boil again, it's done.

STRAIN!!!!! This is why:

Don't really want to be slurping all that down, now, do ya!?

And there we have it! The beautiful, warming, soothing flavours of chai tea in a suitably sized mug-bucket. Enjoy!

Recipe: Vegetarian Chilli (or, Chilli Sin Carne)

In other words...chilli without meat!

As usual, there's a story behind this.

My mother-in-law is an AMAZING cook. She'll deny it, I'm sure, but their house always smells like something delicious. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I popped in and she was making chilli con carne. My GOD the smell! I'd been wanting to try making chilli con carne myself for a while but seeing it being made gave me the nudge I needed to try it.

I had no idea how many different ways there are to make chilli until I decided to try it myself. After scouring the internet, looking at an awful lot of recipes, I eventually settled on the key components, and then fiddled around with the recipe until I was happy with the quantities of each ingredient.

My favourite thing about this recipe is its versatility. Sure, you can have it with rice...but you can include tortilla chips and cheese when serving to give it something extra. You can make homemade oven chips, throw the hot chilli on top, sprinkle over some mature cheddar, and have chilli cheese fries (ohhh my God, SO good!!). You can even add it to a fluffy baked potato. Because it can be reheated in the microwave, you can also take it to work for lunch. No more reasonably-tasty-but-slightly-limp sandwiches!

Another great thing is that it makes a HUGE batch - enough for 5-6 hungry people, and the leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a good 4 days.
 
Don't be put off by the list of ingredients - it's actually very simple to make.


Ingredients

2 onions, finely chopped
1tsp chilli flakes (if you can get it, throw in a diced ancho chilli and 2 diced chipotle chillis, or 1/2tsp chipotle paste)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2tsp olive oil
2 large bell peppers, finely chopped
1 pint dehydrated soya mince, measured in a jug before adding water (Tesco Wholefoods does a gluten free soya mince).
2 heaped tsp paprika
2 heaped tsp turmeric
3tsp ground cinnamon
3tsp dried coriander leaf
2tsp ground cumin
2tsp ground coriander
400g carton sieved tomatoes (passata)
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 tins beans (I use one tin kidney beans and one cannelini beans for variety)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Heat the olive oil on a low heat in a large stock pot or saucepan. Add the onions and chilli, and allow to sweat for around 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and transluscent. Add the bell peppers and garlic, allowing them to sweat and soften for a few minutes, and stirring occasionally to prevent browning. Add boiled water to the soya mince and leave for a minute or two so the mince can absorb the water. Strain off, then add to the mixture in the pan. Throw in the sieved tomatoes and chopped tomatoes, then add all the spices. Turn the heat up so it's a medium-high heat.

Cover the pan with a lid and allow to simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick. Rinse the beans thoroughly, then add them. Give it all a good stir, then cover again and leave to simmer away. If you leave the lid on, you should be able to let it simmer for quite a long time, making this great to prepare an hour or so in advance of serving, if desired. When you're about half an hour from wanting to eat, leave the lid off and make sure you stir it often.


Serve hot, and in whatever way thrills you the most - whether it's with chips, rice or jacket potato. Most of all, enjoy!

Recipe: Vegetarian (or not!) Tacos

Ever REALLY wanted a taco but thought you can't have them because you're a veggie or a coeliac or both? Or even that it's just too difficult? Well, think it no more because what follows is the easiest, tastiest way to make gluten free tacos that can also be vegetarian AND lactose free, if you happen to be avoiding milk. Interested? Let me photo-tempt you:

 

Now, first I have to tell you that this recipe is the result of desperately wanting Mexican food a few years ago and not being able to find much. Actually, there is a wealth of recipes for coeliacs when it comes to Mexican food and all you need are gluten free tortillas (my favourites are by B-Free because they're delicious AND low in fat - get in!), and a little imagination. So, this is what happened after I came across a recipe for beef tacos and combined it with my recipe for vegetarian bolognese. It is a bit of a cheat, as two of the ingredients are ready-made, but that makes it great for busy mums and worker bees alike. Ready? Here goes:

This recipe makes enough for 3-4 mouths (unless you're super hungry!)

Ingredients

1tsp olive oil
1 small onion or 1/2 large onion, diced
Fresh chilli, minced (choose amount based on desired spice level)
3/4 large bell pepper (any colour), diced
Dehydrated soya mince (Tesco Wholefoods is gluten free)**
1/2 250g carton passata/sieved tomatoes
400g chopped tomatoes
Old El Paso/Discovery (now Santa Maria) Crispy Taco Shells
1/2 pack Discovery Taco Seasoning

Method

Make sure everything is nicely chopped.

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on a low heat, then add the onion and chilli. Cook slowly until the onion has softened and become transparent. Don't let them colour!This should take around 5 minutes. Then add the bell pepper and slowly cook them until they've softened. Again, this should just take a few minutes.

Next, pour your soya mince into a heatproof jug and stick the kettle on (with water in it, obviously!). For 3-4 people, the soya mince should be just under the 1/2 pint mark before the water is added. When the kettle has boiled, pour in enough water to reach just past the 1 pint mark. The soya mince will swell as it takes on the water, so it will fill the jug.

Let the soya mince sit for around a minute, then pour through a colander/sieve to remove the excess water, and pour the mince into the pan with the veg. Give it a good stir to mix, and add the chopped tomatoes and passata/sieved tomatoes. Give it another stir to make sure it's all combined. Turn up the heat on the pan to medium, throw in the 1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning, stir and leave to cook. Make sure you give it a stir every few minutes so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

In the meantime, turn the oven on to 200 degrees C. When it's pre-heated, place the taco shells top-side-down on a tray. DO NOT LAY THEM ON THEIR SIDES!!! They soften a little under the heat, so if you lay them on their sides they'll close up and you'll never be able to stuff them. Trust me, I speak from experience! You'll want 2-3 taco shells per person, depending on how hungry everyone is. Let them cook for around 6 minutes, or until they've darkened slightly in colour.

The taco filling is ready when all the liquid has disappeared from the pan. You can eat it while there is still liquid there, but the liquid can seep through the taco shell or run out the bottom and believe me when I say it is scalding hot! So it is best to dry the mixture out as much as possible first.

When it's all done, remove the pan from the heat and spoon the mixture into the shells and, if you're not lactose intolerant, top with grated mature cheddar cheese. Serve immediately.

And there you have it! Delicious gluten free, vegetarian tacos with very little fuss.

Enjoy! 

** If you aren't veggie, you can, of course, use fresh minced beef instead. Just don't pour boiled water on it!

Recipe: Guacamole-Loaded Potato Skins

Sometimes, we want our dinner to be interesting without all the faff of creating something with Michelin star appeal, especially if that dinner is being served at a barbecue, party or movie marathon. And with all the great weather we've been having (as I'm typing this it's grown cloudy. Mother Nature is SO out to get me!), I have the perfect party snack that will add interest in your event without adding too much to your waistline or taking too much from your bank balance. Sound good? Read on!

Personally, I'm a BIG fan of the baked potato. Crisp, crunchy skin on the outside, and that delightfully fluffy white centre combine to make it the perfect vessel for your choice of filling, be it tuna and mayo, spicy chilli or the traditional baked beans and cheese. But this campfire classic can get a little dull after a while, so let's jazz it up a bit with my Mexican loaded potato skins!

Ingredients

6 medium-sized Rooster/King Edward/Maris Piper potatoes (I used Roosters)
2tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 small onion, peeled
1 fiery red chilli
bacon bits, if desired
1tsp smoked paprika
40g light mature cheddar cheese (or LactoFree if avoiding dairy), coarsely grated
2 ripe avocadoes
1/2 fresh tomato
fresh lime

Method

Start by setting your oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F/Gas Mark 6.
Repeatedly stab your potatoes so they're covered in holes, then mix the olive oil and 1tbsp salt together and rub it all over the potatoes. Place them on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and turn every 30-40 minutes for 2 hours.

When they're really crisp on the outside (or just starting to crisp if you're feeling sensitive of tooth), take them out of the oven and cut each potato in half. Scoop out the insides of each and dump in a bowl. Dice 2/3 of the small onion and sweat in a frying pan with 1tsp olive oil (if you're using bacon bits, you can dry-fry the onions alongside the bacon bits and they will provide all the fat you need) until they're soft and transluscent, then add them to the potato fluff. While you're at it, throw in the paprika, the cooked bacon bits, if using, and the cheese. Mix everything together until well combined, and season to taste.

Spoon the fluff back into the potato skins and place back in the oven for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, make the guacamole. De-stone the avocadoes and scoop out the creamy insides into a bowl. Finely mince the remaining 1/3 of the onion and the tomato, and add both to the avocado. Season with roughly 1/2 tsp of salt and the juice from half a lime. By the time you've finished, the potatoes skins should be ready. Yay!!

Take the skins out, top with big spoonfuls of the guacamole and serve immediately on a beautiful platter before you 'accidentally' eat them all, with some fresh veg on the side if you wish.

Enjoy!

Coeliac Awareness Week Day 2 - GF, DF Carrot and Ginger Soup

Ahhh soup.

When it's cold and rainy outside, there's little more comforting than the smell of a fresh soup, cooking away on the stove. And this soup is one of the best, I promise you (as long as you like carrots and ginger, that is). It requires some prep but it's 100% worth it, and it'll leave your home smelling like 'proper home cooking' for a couple of days. Best of all, it's gluten AND dairy free!

It's slightly sweet because of the carrots, yet has a warming sense because of the ginger, and it's just thick enough to really satisfy hunger, especially served with slices of crusty white rolls or soft white bread.

Here's What You Need for 4 servings:

1200g fresh carrots
10 shallots or 2 smallish onions
4 cloves garlic
2 baking potatoes
a large chunk of ginger - around 1inch x1 inch
2 low-sodium stock cubes
2tbsps dried/fresh thyme
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to season

Let's Make Some Soup!

Set the oven to 200degrees C/400degrees F/ Gas Mark 6.

Peel and chop the carrots into thin slices, so that all the pieces are roughly the same size (around 1/4cm thick) and place in a large roasting tin. Peel half the shallots and chop in half, or peel one onion and cut into 4, then chuck in the tin to keep the carrots company. Poor, lonely carrots. Spear the two baking potatoes a few times with a sharp, thin knife, then squash in with the carrots or just pop them on a separate shelf on an oven-proof tray.

Sprinkle the carrots, onions/shallots and garlic with the thyme, salt, pepper and oil, then put the lot in the oven for an hour, giving it all a good mix, and turning the potatoes, halfway through.

In the meantime, take the remaining shallots/onion and peel them. Do the same with the chunk of ginger, then give them a quick whizz in the food processor so they're chopped up nice and finely. Wheeeee!!

When the carrot mixture and potatoes are cooked, remove from the oven and leave to rest for a mo. Heat 1tbsp of oil in a LARGE pan on a low heat, then throw in the chopped ginger and onion/shallots. Let them soften for a little, stirring frequently so nothing burns. Cut the potatoes in half, scoop out the now soft middles and put the fluffiness into the pan. Give another stir, then add the carrot mixture.

Boil up a litre of water, pour over the stock cubes, let them dissolve, then pour into the large saucepan. Bring to the boil and let it simmer for about 10minutes or so, depending on how patient you are (cos at this point it smells AMAZING!).

Once you're sure all the carrots, etc, are tender, take a hand blender to the lot and LET RIP! For Gawd's sakes, where an apron for this part or you'll get carrot splatter all over you and you'll never get it out. Trust me. I have experience here. Blitz away until it's all smooth and creamy and delectable.

At this point, you can either let it cool completely and freeze it for later, or you can re-heat it and serve it piping hot with a big chunk of fresh gluten free bread. SO good! I think I know what I'll be doing with it...

(Decorative sprig of basil optional)

Smooooooothie - a recipe!

Wohoo!! Winter is ending and Spring is poking a sneaky toe round the door. The weather is warming up and thanks to our very mild winter, the summer fruits are making an extra-early appearance this year.

To celebrate the early fruity fayre, I managed to track down a large supply of strawberries, so here's a fantastic fresh fruit summer smoothie that's loaded with healthy stuff. Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 large fresh strawberries
1 large ripe banana
1tbsp good-quality natural yoghurt (NOT low-fat - it commonly has more sugar AND fat!)
150-200ml fresh orange juice

Roughly slice the strawberries, and chop the banana in two. Throw in a generous tablespoon of the natural yoghurt, top up with the orange juice and blitz thoroughly in a blender. Add a straw and serve immediately, with some ice cubes if you want to make it reeeaallly cold.

Personally, I love this smoothie, but I can't take the credit for it, as I first encountered it around 4 years ago at a very small smoothie shop in London, the name of which I no longer know. It was delicious so I rushed home and recreated it until I got it just right. Perfect for a sunny afternoon!

Step-By-Step To Perfect Banana Pancakes

A few weeks back, I posted my recipe for the perfect banana pancakes. Since then, I've revised and improved the recipe, so it's possible to get an even better result. So if you want to try something new for Shrove Tuesday, give these bad boys a go!

Ingredients

135g gluten free self-raising flour (I used Dove's Farm but there are, of course, others)
200ml semi-skimmed milk
2 large eggs
20g melted unsalted butter
3 large ripe bananas

Method 

Put the self-raising flour into a large mixing bowl. Gluten free flour tends to be extremely light, so you shouldn't need to bother sieving it (sometimes, coeliac disease makes life a lot easier!)

Throw in the milk and both eggs. The milk can be cold, but the eggs should be at room temperature. 

Cut off 20g unsalted butter 

 

 

Melt the butter. You can do this in a saucepan, but it's much easier to blitz it for 40 seconds at full power in a microwave. 

Pour the melted butter into the mix SLOWLY. It's tempting to chuck it in all in one go, but doing so will chill the butter and you'll get tiny lumps of solid butter in the mix. If that happens, the pancakes will be too firm instead of light and fluffy. So take your time with this.

 

Time for the bananas! Now, it's tempting to throw bananas out when they look like these two, but actually, the skin goes black long before they're bad on the inside. These guys were perfect for these pancakes.

Bananas that are just ripe will also work perfectly well. I took the last banana from this bunch.  

The riper the bananas, the easier they are to mix in because you don't need to mash them first (see how easy this is!?). Just lob the ripest bananas straight in. Less ripe bananas can be added a bit at a time, while the machine is mixing. Just break off a chunk of banana and drop it in the batter.

Once you've mixed it all in, the batter should reach this consistency. See the way it's dripping off the beater? It should be quite runny like this, but not be watery at all. If it seems a little thick, pour in a little more milk (slooowwwllly!) while mixing until the batter is looser.

One of the biggest mistakes, when making pancakes, is the heat on the hob. This is the setting I use every single time I make pancakes, and I begin heating the pan on this setting about 10 minutes before I want to cook the pancakes. Have you heard of the 'first pancake' rule? It suggests that the first pancake is always a throwaway because it's a bit rubbish. You can avoid wasting good batter by properly heating the pan first.

Next you need to grease the pan. I use Flora Cuisine but ultimately, you can use any form of butter or spread. The pan should be hot enough by now that the butter will melt and bubble like this, smoking a little at the same time. This means the pan is good and hot. Perfect timing! Once it's melted, use a couple of folded pieces of kitchen roll to wipe it all round the pan. You don't want to put pancakes in grease, or they'll be oily.

When you're ready, use a ladel to pour the batter into the centre of the pan. The ladel should be almost full for a bread plate-sized pancake but you could make a few smaller 'Scotch-pancakes' instead for children.

See all those teeny bubbles in the batter? These should appear after about 20 seconds and they tell you that it's time to flip the pancake. It will also start to firm up and change colour a little around the very edges. I find it's best to use a metal spatula or fish slice for this. Be confident, slide the tool under the pancake in the middle and....FLIP! (Note, there's no real point in trying to flip the English pancake way. Although it's distinctly more fun, it'll knock air out of this pancake and probably make a lot of mess, as there will still be liquid batter on the top.)

And this is what it should look like on the top. It should start to puff up a little as it cooks on the other side. It will take a little longer to cook on the bottom...roughly an extra 30 seconds, but you can always flip it to check and then flip it again to cook it a little longer.

To keep the pancakes hot while you're cooking, it's a good idea to have the oven on at 100 degrees C / 225 degrees F / Gas Mark 1/4. 

Et voila! The perfect American-style banana pancakes! Ready to top with Nutella, golden syrup or even a freshly stewed fruit compote.

Have a great Shrove Tuesday, everyone!