Shepherds pie (but with a variation on the mash!)

I am not quite sure when it became folklore that kids like mash. When my daughter gagged at the sight of mash I thought it was unusual but have since spoken to many parents whose children are the same. Even if you like it, sometimes you feel like a less starchy option or just want a change. 

So this recipe is essentially the meat part of shepherds pie and I freeze it like this to give me the option to choose the topping on the day.   My kids like it with rice, My husband likes it with celeriac gratin. Just because we can never agree on anything in our house my favourite is swede or potato mash (heavily buttered and with tons of pepper).  Cauliflower mash would also work well.   If you are going for some sort of mash you could always add this to the dish before freezing so you have less to do on the day you eat it. 

High quality full fat lamb mince is essential. A glass of red wine adds depth but is not essential. The recipe specifies passata but the resulting dish is not overly tomato tasting. However the passata could swapped either partially or fully for lamb stock if you prefer.  

I am not generally a fan on mushed vegetables but in this recipe using a food processor to get a very finely chopped vegetables does work well. It also makes it easy to disguise the vegetables from picky eaters (I am not just talking about kids here, I know if wives who hide vegetables in their husband's dinners too!) You could even add more carrots or other vegetables such as mushroom or red carrot if you need to up the vegetsble quota. 

(I don't bother getting the special grater attachment out for magimix) I just use normal large blade).

I make at least triple the amounts below in one go and fill the freezer.   

Ingredients 

500g lamb mince 

1 large onion

1 large carrot 

2 sticks celery 

2 cloves of garlic 

1/3 bottle of passata (approximately 250ml)

1/2 tsp dried or fresh chopped rosemary 

Ghee or olive oil for cooking 

Method 

-Peel the carrots, garlic and onion and wash the celery 

-Chop the vegetables in half then process until finely chopped. 

-Add enough ghee or olive oil to cover the base of the pan and on a medium heat cook the vegetables for about ten minutes until softened 

-Add in the mince and stir round, till all the meat is browned 

-Add the rosemary, passata and seasoning 

-Turn down and simmer for half an hour (this develops the taste but you can miss this step out if in a rush and it will still be good) 

Luscious liver pate

Let's make one thing clear - I am generally not a fan of liver.  Indeed organs in general are a problem for me, despite lots of people telling me how marvellous they are for me I can't get past the texture or the smell.

However I love this liver pate!  It's smooth, delicious and versatile - working with almond crackers, sourdough or oatcakes.

It's also very easy to make.  I had the fear with this dish for quite a while as my husband had always prepared liver in our house.  Now I quite enjoy making it in the evenings when the children are in bed and I can watch something on Netflix whilst I cook!

Liver is a fantastic source of nutrients such as iron, folate and B vitamins (especially B12).  It is also high in Vitamin A.  In theory our bodies can make vitamin A from plant sources by converting beta carotene but in practice our bodies are often very poor at this (especially if you have any digestive issues) so it's good to eat foods that are a direct source.

This recipe will make enough pate for 1 large or 4 small terrines.  I tend to go for small and then I can freeze three, thus having enough pate for around a month.  Or a standby starter dish if I decide to have some friends round to eat!

I would go for the very best livers you can find.  It cost me around £5 for the organic liver needed to make this recipe so it goes quite a long way.  (I bought mine from Graig Farm)

Ingredients

450-500g organic chicken livers (rinsed and chopped in half)

160g of butter 

1 onion 

1 clove of garlic 

1 medium chilli 

Salt and pepper to taste
Bay leaves and peppercorns to garnish

Method

- Add 2/3 of the butter to a large frying pan and gently fry the onions in the butter until they are translucent 

- Add in the chicken livers, garlic and chilli and fry until cooked through - should take around 10-15 minutes 

- Blend the mixture in a food processor and then spoon into containers leaving at least 1cm clear 

on the top. Press down with the back if the spoon to get a flattish surface 

- In a clean pan melt the remaining butter then pour it over the pate (I find this easiest to do it with a large dessert spoon)
- Garnish (if you care to!) with bay leaves and peppercorns

- Leave to cool and then cover and keep in the fridge

Blueberry muffins

There was a horrible moment when I first made blueberry muffins as I folded in the fruit and saw the batter turn a murky blue  colour.  I was relieved to see that when cooked they become a beautiful golden colour! 

I love these as quick breakfast or lunch box addition. 

If you are dairy free just omit the small amount of butter - last time I made these I forgot it accidently (it had been left in oven melting) and they turned out fine. 

I like the warmth you get from adding all spice or nutmeg (my all spice is a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove).  This could be left out or exchanged for plain cinnamon. 

I like to use frozen blueberries as they are cheaper, more convenient and normally have more flavour. 

Ingredients 

250g ground almonds 

80g honey 

45g butter 

4 large eggs 

1 tbsp vanilla 

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

Pinch of salt 

1 tsp mixed spice 

100-125g blueberries 

Method 

- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/160c fan /180c for muffins or Gas Mark 3/140c for smaller cakes 

- Melt the butter in the oven 

- Sift the almond flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl 

- Mix the eggs in the food processor.  Add the honey, vanilla and melted butter and mix again 

- Add the dry ingredients to the blender and combine 

- Pour the batter into a large bowl and very gently fold or stir in the blueberries 

- Spoon the mixture into the cases and put in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes.  Check to see if toothpick comes out clean, if not give another five minutes and check again 

The 'no it's not soup kids' noodle bowl

We have 'done' soup in our house. After two years of bone broth and soups the kids are rebelling and will only eat tomato soup. The solution to getting the gelatinous goodness of stock into them was either bribery or trickery.  We went for the latter and hey presto 'noodle bowls'. Which definitely in no way resembles any likeness to a concoction of stock, vegetables, chicken and herbs aka soup!

To be fair, it is different in that most of the vegetables are left raw which gives the dish a delicious crunch and leaves you with a holier than thou feeling, (although it is also fab served with a very crisp dry white wine!)

You need to have some chicken stock and cooked meat already so it's perfect for leftovers. It's super quick to prepare and therefore great for weekend lunches.  (We have had it in the evenings too but some people don't tolerate lots of raw food late at night).

What's great is how versatile this dish is as you can choose different vegetables for different people and make the adult version more spicy with the additional chilli.  

As the food is served immediately after meat is added to broth I don't heat it through but if you prefer you can heat it up in the stock - ensuring it is piping hot. 

The ingredients below should serve four. If your are grain free you can serve without the noodles or with courgette noodles.

We use tamari instead of soy as its s gluten free traditionally fermented product  - tastes the same but may be stronger so go easy if you are using it for the first time! 

Ingredients 

2 litres of chicken stock

1tsp Chinese 5 spice

A thumbnail of  ginger, chopped

1large clove garlic, chopped

1/2 red chilli seeded & chopped (optional)

1 1/2 sweet peppers, chopped finely

1 bunch of spring onions finely chopped

1 pak choy 

1 carrot, chopped into thin batons 

Chicken or other left over meat, sliced.

3 bunches buckwheat or rice noodles.

Tamari sauce 

Method 

-Bring the stock and five slice to the boil.  (You can separate this into two pans if you wish to have one 'chillified' and one plain) 

-If you are using rice noodles they can now be cooked in the stock, buckwheat noodles are best cooked in a separate pan, rinsed in cold water and then added to serving dish at end 

- When noodles have couple of minutes to go add the pak choi and the garlic. 

- When the noodles are ready ladle them out into the bowls. Layer the meat and vegetables over the top. Then ladle over the remaining stock to fill up the noodle bowl. 

- Add desired amount of tamari sauce upon serving 

Buckwheat crackers

The best thing about these crackers is you would never know they are buckwheat!  That sounds derogatory to the poor buckwheat plant (a relative of the rhubarb family and not an actual wheat) but having made bread with buckwheat there can be a strong earthy taste that is off-putting for some people.

The second best thing is the texture - they have a proper crunch which is often missing from gluten free snacks. 

The third reason is that they are a great alternative to the ubiquitous almond cracker. Almond flour is a lot more expensive than buckwheat flour, can be too sweet and also I don't want to eat almonds, in any form, every day. 

These crackers are delicious either rolled so thin they are almost like crisps or as a traditional thicker cracker for cheese or spreads.   They are perfect for a kid's snack time but equally would be an elegant accompaniment to a cheeseboard for a dinner party. 

Crackers only last a couple of days so initially making your own may seem like a faff.  However just like biscuits you can make the dough in bulk and freeze in portion bags.   Then they just need to be rolled out and baked for ten minutes - it's even just about doable in the morning if I am short of stuff for the packed lunches! 

I used ready milled organic buckwheat flour.  If you were going to replace flour with soaked groats you would need to reduce the water in the recipe to accommodate the liquid the groats will have absorbed. 

The ingredients below will make approximately a dozen crackers depending on preferred thickness. 

Ingredients 

128g buckwheat flour 

57g ghee  (or butter or olive oil) 

1/2 tsp salt 

50ml water 

Black pepper to taste 

Method 

- Preheat the oven to 160c fan / Gas Mark 4 

- Measure out the ghee or butter in an ovenproof dish and put in oven to melt 

- Mix the flour, ghee, salt and pepper in the processor 

- Slowly add the water until you get a dough consistency. You may not need all 50ml.  If your dough is too wet just add more flour until rectified. 

- For square / rectangle crackers: 

Place the dough in the middle of a piece of baking paper the size of a large baking tray 

Put a matching size piece of baking paper over the top and with a rolling pin roll over the paper until the dough underneath is the desired thickness.  

Remove the top layer of paper and with a pizza cutter or knife cut the dough  into shapes. Carefully transfer into a baking tray lined with baking paper 

- For round thicker crackers:

Make small balls with your hands then place on the baking sheet. Either with a flat implement or your hand squash the ball down into a round shape 

- Bake  for approximately ten minutes until going golden in colour. They should be firm to the touch but not too hard as they will continue to crisp up when they come out the oven. 

Variations: 

Add 1/2 tsp caraway seeds for a 'rye' taste 

Add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and 1/3 tsp rosemary for Italian style crackers 

Chocolate mousse (ssshh keep quiet about the avocado)

I would love my children to willingly eat avocado but there is not a hope in hell of that 'slimy' texture getting near their lips. However that texture is exactly what makes avocado such a great ingredient in chocolate mousse.

This is a throw it all in the processor kind of recipe.  Over time you will probably come to adjust ingredients to your palate adding more banana or honey for a sweeter palate or more cocoa/cacao for a stronger chocolate taste. 

I like the texture you get from the dates but if you are looking for a smooth texture (and unless your processor can achieve a very smooth date paste) you could leave them out, and add a little more honey if required.  

Raw cacao may be preferable from a nutritional point of view but the recipe works with pure cocoa powder too (I buy organic cocoa powder) 

In theory this should be chilled before frozen but I have eaten it straight from the bowl and if it's a last minute pudding when kids come round to tea I can't see they are going to complain about the temperature! 

Ingredients

6 dates 

6 ripe bananas (medium size) 

3 ripe avocados (medium size) 

2 tbsp honey (ideally raw or unpasteurised) 

1 level tbsp vanilla extract 

4 tbsp raw cacao or cocoa powder 

Method 

-Blend the dates in the food processor 

-Add the bananas and blend again 

-Prepare the avocado - cut in half, remove the stone and spoon out the flesh into the processor, avoiding any black bits 

-Add in the honey, vanilla extract and cocoa and blend to desired consistency 

-Divide into ramikins and cover with cling film (or small plastic pots with kids) and either chill in fridge or freeze for a few hours before serving. 

Looks pretty served with strawberry and mint

Chocolate birthday cake

So this was the first grain free chocolate cake I attempted and I left it until 8pm the night before my son's birthday so I was very relieved to find out it is delicious. (And firm enough to be cut into the requested batman shape!)

Before we were gluten free I used to make a Jamie Oliver chocolate cake which was reminiscent of chocolate orange and delicious so this cake has a lot to live up to!

I have researched recipes in the web and amalgamated two - always a risky manoeuvre. Most recipes seemed to favour coconut flour over almond flour so I have gone with that even though I generally prefer the texture of sponge from nut flours.

The second time I made this I doubled the portions for a bigger cake (but I only used 1.5 times bicarbonate of soda and 1/2 tsp salt).   My cake needed 55 minutes - best to cook for 50 and then check

Here goes!

Recipe

113g butter / ghee. (Could probably use olive oil or coconut oil as well)
6 large eggs
255 g honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla
90g cocoa
56g coconut flour
Zest of 2 oranges

Method

- Preheat the oven at 140c (fan) / Gm 3
- Sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl
- In a separate bowl beat the eggs until frothy
- On a low heat, melt the butter, vanilla and honey together. Add in the cocoa powder and stir.
- Put aside one third of the cocoa mixture in a bowl to make the topping later.
- Add the eggs into the flour and mix well until there are no lumps (coconut flour is harder work than normal flour!)
- Stir in the orange zest
- Add in 2/3 of the cocoa mixture you set aside earlier
- Pour into a 9 inch tin. Ensure the tin is well lined / greased as coconut flour can stick to the sides.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 mins or until a skewer comes out clean
- Allow to cool
- Spoon the remaining cocoa mixture over the top. If it is too thick it can be thinned out using some natural yoghurt

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 
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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 

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) 

Spicy fried 'rice' (aka cauliflower but don't tell the kids)

When I originally wrote this post we were grain free - we now have rice again but still enjoy cauliflower rice as a lighter alternative.

Rice was always one of our favourites and fried rice was a weekly staple.  When I saw you could make mock rice with cauliflower I never believed this would fool my kids. However due to the addition of peas and spices they have never guessed it is vegetable based, let alone the dreaded cauliflower. Although it is called spicy rice it simply has flavour - there is no off putting hotness.  However if you are all hardened curry fans you could up the curry powder or add in some chillies.

It does require a bit of faffing about getting the water out of the cauliflower but honestly, its worth it when the kids eat it all and ask for more!

I have specified when to add curry powder, peas etc but have often forgot the order when trying to cook and do homework with kids and it still works fine.  The most important thing is to ensure the onions are soft before adding the cauliflower and not being shy with the oil. (It's a very healthy oil and a good way to get the right kind of calories into kids)

What I love about this dish is you can very easily serve the kids and then reheat later for adults, throwing in some additional chillies or serving with a chilli sauce for more adult palates.  It goes well with roast chicken, chops, even oily fish like mackerel and salmon.

We make it using coconut oil.  If you are not following GAPS  you could use olive oil (be careful with the heat)

We use a ready made curry powder because we can buy it from a local store where we trust it has no hidden ingredients.

Ingredients

1 cauliflower
1 onion, chopped (can use red or white but my kids object to red)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp of medium curry powder
Peas (enough for a decent portion per person)
Salt and pepper to taste
Coconut oil for frying

Recipe
1.  Wash and dry the cauliflower.  Whizz it up in food processor
2.  Using kitchen paper or a clean tea towel pat the cauliflower to remove some water
3.  Heat at least 2 tbsp of coconut oil in a wok. Once hot reduce to a low to medium heat
4.  Fry the onion for a few minutes until it is starting to go translucent.  Add the garlic and the curry powder and add for a few minutes.
5.  When the onions are soft add in the cauliflower.  You may need to add more oil. Cook for 5 minutes.  In another pan bring some peas to the boil and then drain.
6 Add the peas to the cauliflower and season.
7. Cook for another few minutes until the cauliflower tastes soft and cooked (I have found this can vary from cauliflower to cauliflower and heat used etc so it  is always best to go with what tastes right rather than rely on an exact timing)

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