Bread - the best of the bunch (almond flour)

Bread is a very tricky subject if you are gluten free / grain free.   It is one of the few things my children said they missed (more than chocolate or sweets) and we spent a fortune trying different commercial breads that just didn't hit the mark.

As we are currently grain free we have no option but to make our own.  I have tried coconut flour, almond flour, GAPs bread, paleo bread etc.  I have ended up coming back to the one of the first recipes I found by Lois Lang, beautifully titled 'Lois Lang Luscious bread'.  I avoided the recipe initially because it required me to drain homemade yoghurt to make dry curd which just seemed like another faff in a long week of domestic faffery (soaking beans, making yoghurt etc).  However it really is worth it because this bread is the nearest I have found to normal bread - even my dad, will eat it!  The sourness of the yoghurt is a good contrast to the sweetness you get with almond flour which is what puts me off a lot of other nut 'bread' recipes.

However let's have some honesty here.  There are so many people raving about non-grain bread online but in reality they are still different and slightly more cake like in structure. For this reason I prefer this bread toasted and slathered in butter.  Then it is the perfect accompaniment to a soft boiled egg or some liver pate.  My son is very happy to have it fresh as a sandwich.  My husband likes cheese on toast.  My daughter likes it with jam.  Which kind of proves the point about family cooking - even the simplest meal requires variation to suit everyone's taste!!!

What is great about this recipe is it is easy to double up and freeze one.  You can also make one bread mixture but split in two, adding different herbs into both.  So for example I often use two 11b loaf tins and make one plain bread, and one with caraway which makes a yummy 'rye' bread which I find much more palatable untoasted.

I have reprinted the recipe here because although it is available online it is the American version and they (lucky buggers) can buy dry curd.  Also,  in the original recipe the 'dough' is quite firm where as with drained homemade yoghurt the mixture is a lot runnier.  I spent ages trying to sort this out until I realised it baked fine.

The measurements for making dry curd are approximate because it depends on how watery your homemade yoghurt is - I would always err on the side of using more as there is nothing worse than dripping something for 8 hours and not having enough!

'Rye' bread with caraway

To make the drained yoghurt or 'dry curd':

• Line a colander with a piece of muslim, a clean napkin or a teatowel.
• Place the colander in a bowl so that there is enough space between the colander and the bottom of the bowl for liquid to drip through
• Pour approximately 350ml of homemade yoghurt into the cloth. Cover with a plate or cloth
• Leave for 8 hours for the whey to drip through the cloth. (Do not need to refrigerate) You are left with a thick creamy 'dry curd

To make the bread 


Ingredients

250g almond flour
70g of melted butter (or ghee)
245g drained homemade yoghurt
1 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 medium eggs

Method 

• Preheat oven to 350c / Gas Mark 4
• Put the eggs, yoghurt, baking soda, salt and melted butter in a food processor and blend till smooth.  
• Add in the almond flour and mix well
• Pour into one lined 21b loaf tin and bake for 1 hour in the middle of the oven.  Alternatively separate into two 1 1b loaf tins and cook for 45 mins.
• Check that a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
• When cooked take out of the tin and leave to cool on a rack 
• 
  

Variations:
Based on one  21b loaf  - adjust accordingly for smaller / double loaves

• 1 tbsp of caraway seeds to create a 'rye' bread
• 2 tbsp of linseed or flax seed 
• 75 grams of dried fruit (with an optional 2 tbsp of honey) to create a tea bread 

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