Fabulous fish bites

I applaud parents who can get their children to eat plain fish.  Mine both did as babies but now will only eat fish fingers or smoked salmon. This can be tricky if you are gluten or grain free!  So I was delighted when we discovered that home-made fish fingers made with almond flour were delicious - both kids asked for seconds.  If you don't eat potatoes these could be served with celeriac chips but my kids are also happy just to have a big portion of vegetables.  (If you are trying to get soup or bone broth into your kids this dish also goes well with a mug of homemade tomato soup)

You could use plain flour if you tolerate gluten but almond flour is slightly sweeter than standard flour and works well - the resultant crumb has a similar taste to the ones you can buy in the supermarket which is handy for fussy kids.

We use cod or haddock. I also like coley but the kids find the taste too strong. Salmon would probably work too.

We fry them in grass fed beef dripping - you could use olive oil if you are happy to use that for high temperature cooking.  If we have veggie friends over we use ghee.

When we buy fish from fishmongers that has expertly boned we find we can make almost perfectly shaped fingers. Or we buy cod cheeks from our local fishmonger Out of the Blue.  They are succulent and really good value because a lot of people don't want such small pieces of fish.  They are also very easy as there is no chopping involved! If it's a fish my dad has caught that I have to prep we end up with very odd shaped bites but they still taste great!

Ingredients

Approx 100g almond flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg (can manage without if cupboard is bare!)
1 fillet of fish per person cut roughly into chunks or 150-200g of cod cheeks per person
Beef dripping (ideally organic or grass fed)


Instructions

• Either put the flour and seasoning in a bag and add in the fish pieces giving them a good shake until they are coated in flour, or dip fish in egg then into a plate with the flour and seasoning
• Add to a hot frying pan with plenty of beef dripping
• Cook for a couple of minutes on each side until the fish is cooked and outside crispy

Feel good fudge (Hazelnut, cashew, peanut, almond - whatever you fancy!)

I used to love a few chunks of Chocolate in the evening or a little pick me up if I was rushing around in the day.

This treat feels naughty but is actually full of good things - nuts, honey and butter.  Also a few chunks is usually enough as it is so sweet so one batch will do us a family for a week.

I sometimes make mine with crunchy Hazelnut butter because I like the texture but if you prefer you can use smooth nut butters.  Most nut butters would work (peanut butter is lovely but our nutritionist is not mad on it so we try to keep it as an occasional treat).

I originally made this with 170 grams of honey and I have dropped that now to between 50-100g as you really don't need much because of the sweetness of the nuts and the coconut.

This fudge is ready for the fridge in less than five minutes. However as the mixture is not boiled at a high temperature the fudge is soft a room temperature so needs to be stored in a freezer.

I don't make my own nut butters as I can buy the Meridian jars from a local store at a good price. They are 100% organic nuts with no other added ingredients.


Ingredients

I small jar / appox 170 of Meridian nut butter such as almond or crunchy Hazelnut butter (or other if preferred).
100 grams of honey (you can reduce this for a less sweet version)
115 grams of butter or coconut oil
Optional: 1/2 tsp of vanilla  (I don't use this with Hazelnut.  I have used it with peanut and with cashew)


Recipe 

• Line a shallow (preferably glass) dish with greaseproof paper (or grease pan well)
• Melt the butter and honey in a pan and stir until well mixed
• Take the pan of the heat and mix in the nut butter.
• Pour into the dish, cover with clingfilm and cool in the fridge
• Move the cooled pan into the freezer to harden
• When hard break the fudge into pieces, resist the urge to eat the lot and put back into the freezer 

Lemon biscuits

A lot of nut biscuits have a very similar taste and whilst the kids don't complain, I get bored.  Other biscuit recipes whilst tolerated by my children are a bit 'too alternative' for friend's kids.   However these taste like a traditional biscuit and the lemon really lifts the flavour.

This recipe makes about 24 biscuits.  I double or even quadruple the ingredients and then store the dough in plastic bags in the freezer.  It is a time saver and means I only have to clean the dreaded Magimix once.  

Ingredients

225g almond flour 

1/8 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

4 tbsp / 60 grams of melted butter or coconut oil 

105g honey

1 tbsp of lemon zest (use an unwaxed lemon) 

1 tbsp of lemon juice

Approx 50 grams of sultanas (we like lots in our biscuits!) Could substitute with raisins or leave out

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C.  You can melt your oil or butter in an ovenproof dish whilst oven warming
• Mix ingredients in a bowl or a food processor until you have a dough consistency (will be moist)
• Make small balls of dough in your hands and then flatten into rough cookie shapes 
• Place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper

Instructions 

Oxtail casserole

Oxtail is highly recommended by our nutritionist because you get all the goodness of the meat and bones seeping out into the sauce.   I adapted this from a Hairy Biker recipe.

If you are in a hurry you can make this in 3 hours, or if you really want to get the maximum out of it you could slow cook it for 8/10 hours.

This can be made in advance and warmed up or made in bulk and frozen.

It goes well with butternut squash chips, cauliflower mash, roasted celeriac or celeriac gratin.

Serves 4

Ingredients 
Approx 800grams / 2 lb oxtail (our butcher sells it by the tray and I use one tray)
2 medium onions
2 garlic gloves
2 medium carrots
2 celery stalks
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
300 ml red wine (or add more stock)
500ml beefstock (homemade if GAPS)
2 tbsp of tomato puree
Beef dripping

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 2 (or Slow Cook setting if cooking for longer)
• Brown the oxtail in beef dripping in a casserole dish (start with 2 tbsp dripping and add more if meat begins to stick) 
• This will take 5-10 minutes - remove and set aside when browned all over
• Put the garlic, onion, celery and carrots in the casserole dish, add more dripping if necessary, and cook on a low heat for 5-10 minutes until slightly softened
• Return the meat to the pan, add in the stock, wine. tomato puree, bay leaves and thyme.  
• Season with salt and pepper
• Cover the casserole and bring to a simmer then place in the oven.
• Cook for 3 hours at GM 2 or 8-10 hours on a Slow Cook setting

Ginger Biscuits (Christmas biscuits)

These biscuits could be made into tree decorations, a gingerbread house or even just eaten!

300g almond flour

113 g butter

1 egg

100g honey

1 tsp of all spice

2 tbsp of ginger

1and a 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda 

Preheat oven to gas mark 3

Mix wet ingrediants in blender

Mix dry ingrediants in a bowl

Gradually add dry ingrediants to blender until have a dough

Put in refrigerator for at least half an hour

Roll out or press into cookie shapes with hands

These biscuits are meant to have a strong ginger taste.  If you like a plainer biscuit you could half the amount of all spice, ginger and cinnamon

Put biscuits on paper in oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown

Leave to cool on rack (will harden as they cool)

Coconut flour cakes

These make a great change from nut flours and are just the right size for lunchboxes.  They do not taste overwhelmingly of coconut and its a versatile recipe to which you could add different fruit, lemon, cinnamon etc.  Coconut is extremely absorbent and you need very little flour (so although it is expensive to buy it lasts a long time)

Coconut flour can be lumpy so I use the magimix.  I sometimes mix by hand initially then wait five or ten minutes and whizz in the processor - the coconut flour absorbs the moisture over five to ten minutes and doing a second mix seems to result in a lighter batter that will rise more in the oven

This recipe makes 12 muffins and the cakes can be frozen.

Ingredients

40g coconut flour
75g of softened butter or coconut oil
4 large eggs
2 tbsp honey
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
Approx 50g of raisins or sultanas (we like lots!)


Instructions 

• Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 / 350F / 180C
• Mix eggs and honey and softened butter in either a large bowl or a processor
• Blend in salt, flour, bicarbonate of soda  (ensure all lumps are removed)
• Mix in raisins 
• Spoon mixture into muffin cases (I use 2 at a time to prevent burnt bottoms)
• Bake for approx 20 mins.  
• To check if they are cooked see if a cocktail stick comes out clean.  They should also be springy to the touch.  They will look 'wetter' than a cake made out of ordinary flour due to the different properties of the ingredients 

Mince pies

I was trying to emulate a Gordon Ramsey plain shortcrust pastry recipe I used to use (using wheat flour). I prefer not to have sweet pastry as I like the contrast with the mincemeat.  However if you would prefer something sweeter replace the water with honey.

I am not sure how long these would last as almond pastry does tend to go a bit soggy.  I make the mincemeat in advance and then make a big quantity of pastry which can be separated out and frozen.  I presume the mince pies can be fully made and frozen too.   

As I find it hard to get the pastry as thin as I would have with wheat flour I prefer not to use full lids as it feels like the wrong ratio of pastry to filling.  Instead I use small shapes, stars etc. 

Pastry
1 egg (beaten)
12 ounces almond flour
3 ounces cold butter cut into pieces
3 tablespoons cold water 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional beaten egg for brushing 

Mincemeat 

500g mixed fruit (sultanas,raisins and currants) 
150g dried apricots
100g organic dates
grated rind of 1 unwaxed lemon
grated rind of 1 unwaxed orange
50g flaked almonds
1 tbsp mixed spice 
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
4 tblsps whisky (GAPS legal) or brandy (not GAPS legal)  (optional) 

4-5 pears peeled and cored (about 250-300grams) 

To make mincemeat:
Blend pears in food processor and set aside in a bowl

Blend the apricots and the dates in the processor

Add all the other dry ingrediants and spices and mix

Add in alcohol and pears and mix again

Store in sterilised jars.  (If freezing jars leave space at the top for the mixture to expand)

To make pastry / pies 

Preheat oven to gas mark 2

Put all the pastry ingrediants in a food processer and mix until dough consistency

Put in fridge for at least half an hour then role out into required shapes.
Fill with mincemeat and top with a shape

Brush with egg

Put in the oven for 30 minutes (These could probably be cooked for 20 minutes at gm3 but as almond flour burns easily I prefer to take it slow)