Beef curry

The whole family love this one and it's mild enough for my 3 year old but tasty enough for adults (who you could always provide with extra chillies on the side if they like a kick ass hit from their curries)

The onions and peppers melt into the sauce meaning its a great dish for kids how wont eat veggies if they can spot them a mile off.

Our curry powder is put together at a local health store so we know it doesn't have any extra ingredients.  Otherwise it is probably best making your own mix of spices and saving it in a glass jar.

The amounts below are for 2 meals for a family of 4 as I like to freeze half.   As with all curries you can change amounts of ingredients / add extra vegetables very easily.

This works well with the cauliflower rice or basmati rice if you can eat grains

Ingredients

1 -1.5 kilos of braising / casserole beef (depending on how meaty you are feeling!)
2 large onions
2 large red pepper
3 heaped tsp of medium curry powder

4 garlic cloves (crushed)
Approx 1/2  inch piece of ginger grated (we always say top half of thumb!)
2 bottles of passata (approx 1.3litres)
Tbsp of ghee / beef dripping / olive oil 
Fresh coriander for serving

Method 

• In an oven proof dish fry the onions in ghee / oil / fat until they have colour (5-10 minutes)
• Add the crushed garlic and stir round for one minute 
• Add the curry powder and stir around to ensure the onion is well coated
• Add the beef and brown 
• Put in the peppers, grated ginger and the passata.
• Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer

To cook you can either:
Cook on the hob for approximately an hour until the meat is tender and you have the thickness you would like
Cook in the oven at GM 4 for 2 hours
OR
Slow cook for 5-8 hours depending on your cooker (our slow cook is so gentle we could leave it on for the longer period but it may vary between appliances so keep an eye on it the first time you make it)

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander just before serving

Poached chicken and chicken stock in one!

It is lovely to make a chicken stock from a carcass and flavour the stock with vegetables and herbs but for a basic stock in a hurry this 'recipe' is perfect.

What is fab as you can use this to make a big batch of chicken soup or use the stock for something else and have poached chicken as a meal / lunch meat.  Therefore it fits my criteria of making two things at once - I spent the first six months on our gluten free diet trying to find new recipes and exciting things to cook. Now my energy is based around cooking good food very simply and quickly so we can have more time freed up - it is no good being on a great diet if you are totally stressed because you are stuck in the kitchen all day every day!

 I am going to try mincing it up next week to make satay chicken or chicken sausages.  Poached chicken is also very easy to digest making it an ideal food for the intro stage of any healing diet.

Ingredients

Chicken
Seasoning
Water

Method (if you could call it that!)

• Get a large stock pot.  Throw in a chicken breast side down.  
• Cover with water and bring to the boil then simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours.  The chicken will now be cooked
• Remove the chicken and take off all meat and skin (dont worry about making this look pretty)
• Throw all the bones back in the stock pot and simmer for at least another 1.5  hours 

Chicken soup

Here is a basic chicken soup recipe with some carbs which can be severely lacking on GAPS or SCD if you are not careful!

This is great if you have had a tummy bug or just feel your digestion needs a rest.  I have suggested an amount of stock but basically you fill the pan to what you feel depending on whether you like a thick or thin soup.  I like to have it chunky but the kids prefer it blended.

I poach a chicken and then use the stock and meat from this to make double portions of this.  It's a handy lunch for my husband and I to have on school days when the kids take a packed lunch.  You could throw in some chillies or other ingredients as desired.

Ingredients

1-1.5 litres of chicken stock (homemade ideally)
Cooked chicken chopped into small pieces including chicken skin (approximately a handful per person, more if you want a thicker soup)
1/2 butternut squash
1 large onion
3 medium carrots
1/2 broccoli (optional)  Stalk removed
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Cut up the carrots and squash into small chunks.
• Break the cauliflower into small florets
• Chop the onion finely
• Put all the vegetables in a pan and add the chicken stock 
• Bring to a boil then simmer for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are just tender
• Add the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes
• Ensure chicken is piping hot before serving 

Fairy cakes / basic cake recipe

This recipe is my go to recipe for plain sponge cakes.  They can be frozen and put in lunch boxes or jazzed up for parties.  You can add dried fruit, lemon, blueberries, chopped nuts to taste.

I also like to use lemon which lifts the taste of the sponge which is heavier than a traditional sponge by virtue of the nut flour. (This can be missed out) 

They are totally edible with 3 eggs but the 4th egg makes for a lighter cake. 

Sponge is quite tricky with nut flour, it is common for cakes to not rise well or to burnt on the top and still wet inside but this is (fingers crossed) a failsafe.

Ingredients

250g almond flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
3 or 4 large eggs
45 grams melted butter 
80ml honey 
1 tbsp vanilla extract 
Zest of one lemon (optional) 
2 tbsp of lemon juice (optional) 


Instructions

• Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3 / 170C  (put butter in heat proof bowl in oven to melt)
• Mix the eggs in the food processor
• Add the butter, honey, vanilla and lemon and mix again.
• Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large mixing bowl
• Slowly add the dry ingredients into the processor.  The mixture will look very wet
• Fill muffin cases to about half way
• Put in the middle or lower part of the oven for approximately 20 minutes until they are golden brown and springy on top (or a cocktail stick inserted into the cake comes out clean) 

Vanilla 'buttercream'

This is a useful 'cream' for putting in a victoria sponge or to make fairy cakes.  It can also be used on top of a fruit salad.  The amount below give you a thin layer on a 7-8 inch sponge.

Ingredients

70g of drained yoghurt

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

2-3 tsp of honey

Method

Mix the ingredients together and taste.  If it is still too tart keep adding honey by 1/2 tsp until you get the desired sweetness.   Keep in fridge until needed.

Temperature Conversion chart

Oven temperature guide

Gas Mark	Fahrenheit	Celsius	Description
1/4	225	110	Very cool/very slow
1/2	250	130	---
1	275	140	cool
2	300	150	---
3	325	170	very moderate
4	350	180	moderate
5	375	190	---
6	400	200	moderately hot
7	425	220	hot
8	450	230	---
9	475	240	very hot

Victoria sponge cake / Birthday cake

I was dreading my daughters birthday as it was the first one since giving up gluten and with years of castle cakes / Thundercat cakes etc I know my daughter had high expectations! I know she misses out on lots of 'treats' and didn't want her to feel second best on her big day.  However I need not have worried as this was delicious, healthy and I got several requests for the recipe from other mums.  

I need to make the two layers separately as I dont have a mixer big enough to fit the mixture in one go and I don't get good results from my oven if I bake two cakes at once.  However if you don't have this issue you can just double the ingredients and bake both layers at once.

These sponges can be made in advance, wrapped in clingfilm and frozen - meaning one job that can be done well in advance of the party!

Ingredients

250g almond flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs
45 grams melted butter 
80ml honey 
1 tbsp vanilla extract 
Zest of one lemon (optional) 
2 tbsp of lemon juice (optional) 

Portion of vanilla frosting
Jam
Vanilla buttercream
Fruit for topping 

To make the sponge layers:

• Follow the instructions to fairy cakes to create the cake mixture
• Pour into a lined / greased 7 or 8 inch round tin for approx 30 minutes
• Take out and put on a rack to cool
• Repeat process for second layer

 


To create the victoria sandwich:

• When both layers are ready check if you need to take a thin slice of one of them to give you a flat surface.
• Place the cakes face down on a surface.  Cover one with Jam. 
• Cover other cake with a layer of vanilla buttercream 
• Carefully lift one cake and place on top of the other so the jam and cream meet together

For the topping:

• Make a portion of vanilla honey frosting (This can be done a few hours in advance) 
• Chop up strawberries into small pieces and half raspberries, and grapes  (or whatever fruit you want to choose)
• Put a thick later of frosting all over the cake - I like to put quite a lot around the edges so it drips down and gives the cake a decadant feel
• Decorate the cake with fruit
• Scatter the left over fruit around the base of the cake