Sweet or Savoury?

Back in July I was sure that my pending redundancy would herald a flurry of blogging, but strangely not. It's been such a busy time; job hunting, training courses, baby massage instructor practice, and time in Glasgow with my post-hysterectomy mum, have meant that the time has flown by. I have found time to cook, but it hasn't been anything overly inventive or memorable...

As autumn arrives, and I toy with the idea of switching the central heating on, I have returned to my soups and stews. The slow cooker has been dusted off and multiple packets of Annabel Karmel Gluten Free Pasta Stars have been purchased. I have even managed to raid the Musician's herb garden to add something extra to my stocks. So why it it that with all my comfort eating, I still struggle to gain weight?!

I have discovered that Walkers Cheese and Onion crisps are now suitable for Coeliacs', when did that happen?? I have been making up for lost time on that one!

I have resolved to make Christmas presents this year, unemployment has cut the pressie budget significantly. So, shall I make chutneys or chocolates? Sweet or Savoury? What do people want at Christmas time? I have made some test chocolate, complete with lumps of icing sugar(!), but until the Husband tries it and deems it edible, I don't know if it's any good. If it has worked, I can start to experiment with different flavours! To be continued!

Broad Bean Bonanza!

I have been wrong! It turns out I do like broad beans after all. (Grandma would be so proud). After seeking out the broad bean recipes from What to Eat Now, I ended up using all the beans to make hummous! I have included the links for the dishes from the show, because they did look delicious.

Broad beans stewed with beef

Broad bean frutalia

I wanted to make hummous, but my husband used all the chickpeas in a bizarre frying/creating chickpea popcorn incident and I didn't restock for fear he'd do it again! So, I turned to the broad bean. It was a revelation. The broad bean tastes as deliciously green as it looks and the texture made perfect hummous. This recipe is a bit of guess work, because I didn't measure anything.

Broad Bean Hummous

2 cups, shelled broad beans (fava beans)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp sesame oil (ideally you should use tahini paste, but I didn't have any)

6 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

Blanch the beans in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and allow to cool.

Remove the skins from the beans and put in a food processor with the garlic, sesame oil, lemon juice, cumin and salt.

Blitz. Trickle in the olive oil to form a smooth paste consistency.

Taste and season if necessary.

I suggest serving with warmed pitta (I'm a fan of Sainsbury's Free From Pitta), or tortilla chips as a pre-dinner snack, or as part of a mezze-style main meal.

Peas in a Pod

I realise that I mentioned that I was planning to have an organic veg box delivered some time ago and haven’t actually commented on it since. As my Husband and I plan to move to a different area (his job is going well, mine will be redundant in 2 weeks, so we’re moving to be closer to his workplace) I am wondering what will become of my vegetable deliveries.

I have been having fortnightly deliveries from Riverford Organics since October last year, and I have to say I have been delighted with every one. The produce is fresh, tasty and great quality, and the seasonal boxes mean that I have eaten a variety of vegetables throughout the year. Thanks to Riverford, my Husband learned that Brussels sprouts grow on stalks, like giant broccoli, not in rows in the ground, like tiny cabbage! I discovered how much I enjoy Jerusalem Artichokes, and have massively increased my consumption of kale, broccoli and cabbage. I have been forced to be imaginative with my menus and have avoided falling into a rut, buying the same vegetables week in, week out. Now that the summer months are upon us, the Seasons Box is bursting with tomatoes, lettuce, and peas.

My latest challenge is broad beans. I remember being a child on my grandparents farm in Norfolk, podding broad beans with my brother. Neither of us actually liked the beans, but enjoyed bursting open the pods and popping the fat beans out of their soft, furry homes. The smell of the pods on my hands instantly takes me back in time to that farmhouse in North Walsham. My Grandma always let me leave the broad beans on the side of my plate. I am less lenient with myself. My palette has matured since then, and I think I should be willing to try things that I may have disliked as a child. Valentine Warner’s “What to Eat Now” TV show this week featured Broad Beans, and he made a couple of dishes originating in Egypt. I will check out the BBC Food website to see if they are on it. Otherwise, my Jamie At Home recipe book does have some ideas for broad beans that I can try. I will endeavour to post any successes here at a later date.

A Few of My Favourite Things

Whenever something goes wrong in my life, my brother evokes the Mother Superior from the Sound of Music and reminds me "whenever God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window". So, with redundancy looming, and the battle with ill-health feeling like one step forward, two back, I thought I'd take a leaf from his book.

Short of dancing down the street with a guitar case, singing "I have confidence in confidence alone...", I have resorted to my favourite things. (I don't actually own a guitar, and the neighbours might call the police if I dance and sing in the street.) Anyway, Maria and the Von Trapp children definitely felt better when they tried it. So, here goes.

My husband's voice on the phone. My parents, both on the line when I chat to them. Hearing that my brother and sister-in-law might visit. Roast chicken, the smell, the crack of the crisp skin, the moist succulent meat, everything. Bunny. The Gilmore Girls, any episode, any series. A happy budgie. My computer working. Re-reading Christopher Brookmyre novels. Spring (or should that be summer?) cleaning. Tinkyada rice pasta. A cup of tea. Hot and Sour Soup with rice noodles. Revising and realising I've actually learned something! A massage gone well. Cooking for other people. Spending time with my Maid of Honour. Photographs. Cola cubes. Feeding the ducks. Cheese on (ener-g) toast. NOT setting the alarm for the next morning. The fact that my Husband is excited about his work. Terry Wogan. Finally getting the template right on my bag. Finding clothes I forgot I had. Ginger. The Sound of Music. Dick Van Dyke, any era (young - he's like my uncle, older - I want him to be my grandfather). Sleeping through the night. The Mentalist. Tomatoes. Tamari. Visiting Glasgow. The Musician and the Actor. Wholegrain mustard. Raspberries.

Wow, I do feel better!

barbecues, gluten, and pavlova

It's barbecue time again. I know this because I have been to two over the weekend. I also know this because I am still suffering from gluten poisoning from the first one. I brought gluten free sausages with me, but they appear to have been cooked alongside all the gluten-containing bbq foods so I might as well have eaten them in a bun! At the second barbecue, this one at the Musician and the Actor's house, the Musician apologised for having "utterly failed" at finding suitable food for me. It was absolutely fine though, as I wasn't hugely in the mood for bbq food. All was made right by pavlova, made by the queen of pavlova, it was brilliant! A double-layered creation with fruit and fruit coulis, and slightly sweetened whipped cream. Utterly delicious. I completely forgot that I was feeling rubbish, such is the power of great Pavlova!

I've had two accidental gluten poisoning incidents since the colostomy, one was my own fault for not reading an ingredients list properly, a recipe had changed - previously gluten free, not any more. This weeks' bbq was worse. The colostomy means I get dehydrated more easily, so I feel awful quickly. My stoma nurse taught me to eat a banana, packet of crisps, and drink a glass of cola, it rehydrates you because it contains potassium, sodium and sugar. I wish I knew that 2 years ago, it really does work!

Calorie Boredom

I am afraid that I have become a calorie counter... In an attempt to put on weight I'm counting calories in order to eat at least 2500 calories a day. Recently, my weight has plateau-ed and I could really do with putting on another stone. I am keeping a food diary to make sure I eat enough every day, but now it's starting to dominate my conversations. I know at any given point in a day just how many calories I've eaten and which foods are the higher calorie options on the menu. Food is no longer fun, it's fuel. I can't enjoy something unless I know how much it's contributing to my daily target. I get panicky when I reach dinner-time and I'm not at least half-way through my quota. I love food, this is not right, I want to rediscover the enjoyment. I know it's not forever, but it's already boring me. 1175 calories so far...

Summer is here?

Officially, winter is over. Daylight Savings Time is a clue, so is my veg-box provider discontinuing their Winter Box. The part of my brain that is supposed to start craving salad and barbecue food at this time of year does not know. I'm still in the mood for soups and stews. What's wrong? I have on many occasions confessed my love of comfort food, but surely I need to get over this soon? I'm trying, my next veg-box will contain the salad box, and I'm attempting to go down the cold-meat-and-coleslaw route for lunch these days.

Perhaps it's the fact that the house we live in is cold all year round, or that every time the sun fights it's way out it rains, or maybe it just that the extra stressfulness of my life is pushing me to seek solace in warm and starchy comfort food. Whatever it is, I'm still a big fan of chicken. Roasted, poached, grilled, or pan fried, I'm happy. Then there's the stock. Risottos and soups are abundant. My craving for comfort food, at the moment, is constant. I finish one meal and I'm planning my next. I'm always hungry! I suppose it's a good thing, it'll help me put on weight. My dietitian is still concerned for my weight and I'd be happy to gain a kilo, or five. And yet, my weight has stayed the same all month, not an ounce, or gram, have I gained. Rubbish.

Well, I'm hungry and I have some chicken and pasta in the fridge...

Simple Pleasures

"What is it about chicken, coleslaw, and some kind of potato product that is so satisfying?" My husband's musings last night over dinner at Nando's. Maybe it's the soft, therapeutic warmth of well cooked chicken, the creamy, slightly oniony crunch of coleslaw, combined with the cheering full-up feeling from the starch, that makes it the ultimate comfort food. Maybe it was just the thoroughly relaxed atmosphere that we were able to dine in, thanks to Nando's gluten free food (check out http://www.nandos.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=model.faq&cat=CU&description=Contact_Us) and the server who double checked everything in the restaurants' dietary information book. I had wrongly assumed that Nando's was off the menu, but actually, most of the menu is suitable for Coeliacs!

My husband had a point about chicken. Tonight, I poached a chicken (RSPCA Freedom Food Endorsed, of course) in chicken stock with chopped carrots, celery and onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a sprig of rosemary. I chopped more carrot, onion, and celery, gently sauteed until soft, added some of the beautiful, moist chicken meat and the poaching broth. Then, the last of Mrs Leepers Rice Alphabets made a delicious, nourishing supper. I'm a self-confessed comfort food addict and this was truly one of the most pleasing meals I've eaten in weeks.

And, as an added bonus, there's plenty of chicken left to make a salad for lunch tomorrow - with leftovers, and enough stock left to make another pot of soup (I'm thinking about cock-a-leekie with quinoa). Maybe even enough for a risotto?

Life Lessons

You learn something new every day... Or so the saying goes. Today has been an above average day.

Lesson #1 - Maize pasta will not behave like rice pasta in soup. It will go mad, break up and stick to the bottom of the pan. My soup now has the consistency of set jelly and has turned yellow. Must send an order for more Mrs Leepers rice alphabets to the in-laws in America.

Lesson #2 (not for the feint-hearted) - If you are very tired and wearing a pediatric colostomy bag in bed, be prepared for 3am shenanigans. The bag filled up, came off and my stoma kept on going. Putting my hand in it was the first I knew about it. After my bleary-eyed clean up operation, I had to remove my still slumbering husband from the bed, change the sheets, replace him, then find some warm pyjamas (the heating having long switched off) before crawling into bed to shiver myself back to sleep. Not the best start to a day!

Lesson #3 - If you are female and filling up your car radiator in a public car park, everyone will have an opinion on what the problem is. Even if you ALREADY KNOW what the problem is.

I accept that these lesson will not change the world. But, if even one person reading this thinks twice about putting maize pasta in turkey noodle soup, then my work is done.

In LoveMore

Yay! I have found the elusive LoveMore gluten free products in my local Waitrose. They appeared in the Coeliac UK food and Drink directoty updates late last year, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I even went as far as calling the company to find out if they had any local stockists.

Why, you may ask, all the fuss? Two words, Puff. Pastry. Something I believed was lost and gone forever for me as a Coeliac. The idea of making my own puff pastry didn't appeal (warm hands and no patience) and it seemed that no gluten free bakeries were up to the challenge. Until, that is, LoveMore. I am currently munching my way through a box of Savoury Straws - puff pastry cheese straws - and they are delicious! Light, flaky and just cheesy enough, they are sure to become a favourite. I have plans to try the Palmiers and Frozen Puff Pastry Block, all available from goodnessdirerct.com. Soon, I can start work on recreating my long-lamented Greggs chicken bake! Steak pie, apple strudel, sausage rolls, beef wellington, the possibilities are endless.

Now all I need is for someone to produce gluten free spring roll wrappers and my search will be complete!