Chocolate Shortbread (gluten free, vegan)

If you listen to any of the morbidly obese / Diabetes epidemic / fat tax chatter, then you know that comfort eating is wrong.

WRONG I say!

Feeling anxious, sad or angry?  You may not consume pleasurable foods to make yourself feel better, have some ground psyllium husk and a glass of juice instead!

Well here’s a surprising discovery…

Since we moved back to England, I have discovered that Leicestershire is a green and pleasant land.  And that those green and pleasant fields are full of cutesy, ickle lambs.

Which is lovely and picturesque but not so good if you are walking your hunting dog. 

And yes of course I keep my dog on a lead in the fields - especially after she killed three chickens in the village (whole other story) - but that doesn’t stop her scaring the bejeesus out of the lambs.

And do you know what lambs do when you scare the pants off them?

They run straight to their mums and start – wait for it – comfort eating.

Ha haaa! 

They don’t mention that in those sanctimonious, only-eat-when-you’re-genuinely-hungry books do they?

They don’t explain why lambs that have never picked up a copy of Heat magazine or worried about their BMI should go straight for delicious, comorting food when they feel panicked about how they will pay next month’s rent.

I possibly got confused there, but you see where I’m going don’t you?

Readers, the news from nature is GOOD.

Comfort Eating is natural in times of stress.  And I reckon it's probably OK when you're not feeling particularly stressed, or if you're just a bit bored.

So put down the celery, get into the kitchen and bake some badass Chocolate Shortbread! 

‘Comfort Eating – Condoned by Mother Nature’

Does it get any better than that? 

Chocolate Shortbread

I always find gluten free shortbread a bit tricky because it often comes out a tad soft. I've added sunflower seeds and linseeds because somehow I think that it makes them crunchier.  Well, it works in my crumble topping, so why not in shortbread?!  To make these with wheat flour, omit the rice flour, buckwheat flour and xanthan gum and use 260g of wheat flour.

175g rice flour

85g buckwheat flour

¼ tsp xanthan gum

40g cocoa powder

4 tbsps ground sunflower seeds

50g ground linseeds

200g dairy free margarine

120g Demerara /coarse sugar plus extra for sprinkling

• Grease and line a 25cm round cake tin and pre heat the oven to 170° Celsius
• Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing and add the dairy free margarine
• Rub the margarine into the flour and seeds until it looks a bit like fine breadcrumbs, but you’ll find that it starts to stick to itself as you go along.  Don’t worry that’s not a problem
• Transfer the ingredients into the cake tin and pat down with your hands until it is spread more or less evenly over the base
• Then use the back of a spoon to smooth it all down.  Prick all over with a fork, then use a round bladed knife to score the surface of the shortbread into 8 or 12 pieces.
• Place in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes
• Remove from the oven and carefully cut through the scores you made earlier, then sprinkle with some sugar. Leave to cool
• Serve or eat the lot yourself on a bad day.  And Feel. No. Guilt.
• Thank-you Mother Nature

© Pig in the Kitchen All Rights Reserved

An interview with Pippa Kendrick, author of The Intolerant Gourmet

Roast Butternut Squash, Coconut and Chilli Soup

Pippa Kendrick is really irritating.  For a start she’s pretty, funny and personable.  And now she’s published a cookbook for allergy sufferers of the take-me-to-bed-and-drool-over-me variety.

Actually, she’s published the cookbook that I used to dream of publishing.  Full of gorgeous pictures, thick, luxurious paper, lovely prose....sigh.  My husband saw her book and exclaimed tactfully: “She’s written the book you wanted to write!” 

But let's not dwell on that.

I met Pippa at a food festival last year and dammit but it's impossible to hate her.  I was genuinely thrilled to receive a copy of her book to review and I promise that I did not ask the following questions in a snippy, tight-lipped, ugly, jealous way. 

Why did you want to write this book?

Firstly, I wrote it because I have multiple food intolerances and I wanted to share my experiences of cooking for them with other people.  Secondly, I wanted to create the kind of cookbook that I wanted to read and cook from when I was first diagnosed (nearly 10 years ago); I wanted to make a lovely looking, generous cookbook that you could leaf through with pleasure rather than study earnestly.

You do include nuts in some of your recipes which may make my nut-allergic readers shudder a bit; who is this book for?  What are the allergies that you cater to?

Flatbreads

Every single recipe in the book is free from wheat, dairy, soy, eggs and yeast, ¾ of them are gluten free and less than a 1/3 of them contain nuts.  Because I create my recipes based around all of the foods I cannot tolerate and because I like the texture that nuts can provide in intolerance-cooking, I have used them in a selection of the dishes.  My aim was to create the best recipes with all of the foods available to me, but I would never want to offend anybody and so intend to give nut-free alternatives for the second book.

Was it hard to create enough recipes to fill the book?

Not at all, writing the recipes is the pleasurable bit!  I love pottering around my kitchen, testing ideas, creating new recipes or finding ways of recreating classics.  I’m a bit of a food obsessive so I literally wake up thinking about recipe ideas and am usually straight into the kitchen given the opportunity - there’s nothing I enjoy more.

Roughly how many times do you trial each recipe?

Sundried Tomato Bread

It really varies; with some I will cook them again and again – eight or so times – just to tweak them.  With others, I’m so happy with the result that I’ll do it once or twice more and then that’s it.  I find sometimes that if you have to test a recipe too many times then it’s not meant to be, it’s better to walk away and forget about it, the answer will either come to you or it’s just not a recipe for the collection.

OK, so let’s be real; when you’re knackered you probably don’t knock up Paprika Pepper Chicken with Avocado Salsa (page 83).  What is your go-to allergy friendly quick meal on a rainy Thursday evening at 9pm?

Cup of tea, toast and jam (bread my own, of course ;) ) I’m also a big fan of quinoa, salad and hoummous – quick, easy, yum.  It’s not really cooking, more gathering, but that’s what I do when I’m knackered!

What can’t you be without in your kitchen? (if it helps, I can’t be without baking parchment)

Ooh, difficult.  Boringly, maybe my kitchen timer – it’s invaluable when recipe testing.  Otherwise, rubber spatula, just think how much would be left in the bowl if you didn’t use it?!

Tomato and Pesto Tart

What is your favourite dish from the book?

The Spaghetti Carbonara makes me happy.  It was a childhood favourite of mine and being able to have it again was quite comforting.  Otherwise, the Tomato and Pesto Tart makes me think of sunshine, summer and celebration.

The photos in your book are just beautiful, who took them?

JanBaldwin.  She is utterly lovely and ridiculously talented; all chat, chat, move this slightly, click, bit more chat, and then, perfection. I love her.

 I’m trying not to be bitter about your young, smooth skin with no sun damage, so let’s not focus on your age.  But if I may ask an off-topic question – woman to woman – where did you get the gorgeous blouse that you are wearing on the back cover?  (I’m not going to say anything about your un-creased cleavage.)

It’s from Whistles, an age ago, in the sale I might add.  It’s served me well!



Pippa, the smooth cleavage & the top from Whistles

 If you haven't bought Pippa's book yet, find it on Amazon and if you're not sure it's for you, just read those reviews and you'll be won over.

© Pig in the Kitchen All Rights Reserved



Simnel Cake, gluten free, egg free, dairy free

Chicks, a missing disciple and a very yummy cake

Where normally there is some witty prose, a mildly interesting anecdote or something so random you genuinely worry that I have early-onset Alzheimers; today there is nothing.

Inspiration has gone AWOL.  

It has sloped off with that other rotter, Judas, and is nowhere to be seen.

I could inflict some stream of consciousness, unedited blather on you but I still have some pride intact.

So I'm just going to hand you over to my Simnel Cake, she will take it from here.

Happy Easter!

Simnel Cake

I first saw a Simnel cake at my Mother-in-Law's house.  She does Easter in a big way and there are meringue nests a go-go, Easter egg hunts and Simnel Cake.  She explained to me about Judas not being allowed on the cake and I found it very funny to remove other disciples from her cake when her back was turned.  She did not find it quite so funny.  My trouble is that I always realise too late that no-one is laughing with me...

For all versions:
85g dried cranberries
250g raisins
250g sultanas
1½ tsps mixed spice
½ tsp vanilla extract or a squidge of vanilla bean paste
200g dairy free spread
200g sugar (dark muscovado if feeling lavish)
90ml brandy/port/rum (or apple juice) plus extra for soaking if you wish
approx 60ml / 4-5 tbsps Rice milk/milk

Gluten free
200g Doves Farm Gluten Free flour
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
¼ tsp xanthan gum
Egg free
4 heaped tsps Orgran 'no egg' egg replacer mixed with 8 tbsps rice milk
2 tbsps linseeds (either whole or ground)
¼ tsp xanthan gum

With eggs
Use 3 eggs

With wheat flour:
Use 200g wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder

For the icing:
250g yellow fondant icing
Icing sugar
apricot jam or marmalade
Pretty ribbon and kitsch chicks to decorate

• Grease and line a round, 16cm cake tin with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 160 degrees celsius / Gas 4
• Weigh out all the dried fruit and place it into a bowl.  If you like, add about 6 tbsps of rum/brandy/whatever to soften it all up and create a lovely smell in the kitchen.  Or you can skip this step if you’re of a more sober nature...
• Mix the egg replacing ingredients (if using) with the rice milk and set aside.  If using eggs, whisk them together and set aside
• Put the gluten free flour, xanthan gum (or wheat flour), mixed spice and baking powder into a bowl, set aside
• Put the dairy free spread and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Beat it together until thoroughly mixed and slightly paler in colour
• Add about a quarter of the eggs or the 'no egg' mix to the bowl, and sieve in about a quarter of the flour mix. Gently mix together until combined. Repeat the process until all the eggs or 'no egg' and flour has been incorporated
• Add enough rice milk / milk to give a soft dropping consistency
• Add the vanilla essence/vanilla bean paste and alcohol and stir until everything is mixed together
• Add the dried fruit and brandy mix to the mixing bowl and stir throughly
• Scrape into the cake tin, leaving a slight dip in the centre; the cake should rise to even itself out.  Place in the oven
• Bake for 30-45 minutes until the cake has risen but will not be cooked in the middle.  Cover the cake with tin foil and bake for a further 20-40 minutes until cooked.  The timings are approximate; your oven might be very different to mine
•  Leave the cake to cool in the tin and then turn out onto a cooling rack
• Dust your work surface with icing sugar and roll out the fondant icing to a thickness of about 3mm.  Use the base of the cake tin to cut a circle that will cover the surface of the cake
• Gently heat about 2 tbsps of apricot jam and spread a thin layer over the surface of the cake, then place the icing over the top
• Spend a happy 10 minutes fashioning balls of icing to represent the 11 disciples (remember Judas is NOT allowed on the cake) and stick them onto the surface of the cake with a dab of jam
• Add the ribbon and chicks et voila! Your Simnel Cake is looking marvellous
• And if during the Easter break you see my writing ability somewhere, please send it back to me in the Midlands.  Thanks

© Pig in the Kitchen All Rights Reserved

Chocolate and Beetroot Cake, gluten free, egg free, dairy free, vegan

Beetroot? Seriously?

 There are some days when the air is heavy with the promise of a discretionary purchase.  Yes, I’m talking about shopping.

Not the boring shopping where you’re chained to a scribbled list, but the truly thrilling kind where you know that you can’t justify the spend.

If you’ve ever watched a woman about to make a frivolous purchase you can hear the cogs turning.

Goes something like this...

‘Oh! That’s lovely! The perfect colour, I can’t believe it!  I’ve been after one for ages.  Bet it’s expensive...f$%*k me, yes it is!’

Turns item over in her hands...

‘But...’

(FYI ladies, the minute you say ‘but’ the game is up.  You should cut to the chase and go straight to the till.)

‘But I have been looking for one like this for so long.’

And then this is the part I love, the Rationalisation Economics.  Keynes definitely missed a trick...

‘And last week I didn’t drink for three days, so that saved about £10 and I didn’t buy those trousers a while ago which were £60.  And if I don’t eat chocolate for a month...yeah, I’m going to buy this!’

Love it, love it, love it. 

Particularly as we know that she’ll eat chocolate as soon as she gets home to celebrate her purchase.

I had a moment of discretionary spend bliss recently.                                 

It was a trip for essentials like birthday presents and some sports kit for my son.  Not frivolous at all.  My trip had gravitas.

And then I found myself in TKMaxx.

In TK Maxx you may as well set up a tab as you walk in because it is discount heaven.

I did well to resist fluffy cushions and thankfully they didn’t have Hunter wellies in my size.  But then I found the cookery books and it all unravelled...

There was the usual cupcake  - yadda - bake with your kids – yadda - ultimate slow cooker bible - yadda.  

And  then Bill’s book caught my eye.

‘Oh! That’s lovely!....’

Well you know the rest don’t you? 

One discretionary purchase later (two actually because a girl always needs some Ted Baker sunglasses at a knock-down price) I was in the car and speeding home to pore over this beautiful book.

Beeyootiful photos, brilliant writing and on page 93 a chocolate and beetroot cake to try.

Yay!  Praise Be to Bill, women and unplanned, discretionary spending!  I commend ‘Cook Eat Smile’ to you all.  Amen.

Chocolate and Beetroot Cake

I made this first with egg replacer and wheat flour.  Nearly fell off my chair because it rose HIGH and it was springy and well we really couldn’t believe an egg-free cake could look and taste so amazing.

And then the gluten free cake really made me work for my supper.  I’ve had to use quite a lot of xanthan gum to get the springy feel and I insist on the vanilla bean paste because it hides the taste of...not sure what.  Did I have a bad batch of GF flour?  Was it particularly pungent beetroot?  Dunno, but leave the vanilla bean paste out at your peril...

And are you cursing me for using what-the-hell-is psyllium husk?  Sorry.  But it’s my latest egg replacer of choice and although it seems expensive, you hardly use any and it will last for ages.  If you haven’t got any, use 4 tsps of Orgran no-egg, a tbsp of ground linseeds and the same amount of xanthan gum.

Haven’t tried this recipe with eggs yet, but substitute the egg replacer for 3 large eggs.

All versions:

300g cooked beetroot, finely grated
300g sugar
250ml vegetable oil
75g cocoa powder
1½ tsps bicarbonate of soda
100 – 150ml of rice milk (you’ll need less if using wheat flour)

a squidge of vanilla bean paste

Gluten free
250g Doves Farm gluten free self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp xanthan gum

With wheat flour
250g plain wheat flour
3 tsps baking powder

Egg free
4 tsps psyllium husk (if you buy them whole you'll need to grind them in a blender)
¼ tsp xanthan gum
enough rice milk to make a sloppy paste.  You’ll probably have to add extra milk as the psyllium is very absorbent
If you don’t have psyllium husk, see intro above for alternative egg replacer

With eggs
Use 3 large eggs (see above for disclaimer about eggs)

For the filling:
200g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
2 tbsps of  GF cocoa
2 squares of dark, GF, DF chocolate – melted
100g dairy free margarine (or butter)
2-3 tbsps cherry jam
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• Grease two 20cm cake tins and line them with baking parchment
• If using an egg replacer, mix up the psyllium husk, xanthan gum and milk (or see intro for an alternative egg replacer) and set aside
• Finely grate the cooked beetroot (don’t leave any lumps or the kids will find them)
• Preheat the oven to 180˚C/ gas 4
• Put the oil, sugar and vanilla bean paste into a large bowl and whisk either with a hand whisk or a KitchenAid (name dropping...)
• Check the egg replacer and add a little more milk if it’s really stiff.  Add egg replacer – or 3 eggs – to the oil and sugar and whisk again
• Add the grated beetroot and mix
• Add the cocoa powder, mix again
• Add the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and enough milk to give a soft dropping consistency.  If using gluten free flour, don’t hold back on the liquid; nothing worse than a dry gluten free cake
• Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and level the surface.  Bake for 30-40 mins until risen and springy to the touch. Check the inside is cooked by inserting a skewer
• Leave in the cake tins for about 15 minutes then turn them onto a wire rack to cool completely
• Make the filling.  Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl and add the margarine/butter.  Beat it together until it is smooth and then add the melted chocolate
• Put one of the cakes onto a serving plate and spread it with the chocolate filling.  Spread the other cake with cherry jam.  Very carefully place the cherry jam one on top of the chocolatey one and squidge together
• Dust the surface with icing sugar and chow down
• Isn’t shopping wonderful?!

© Pig in the Kitchen All Rights Reserved

Gluten free, vegan Chocolate Cake (with secret ingredient)

Look at this bad boy!

This is coming soon my darlings!

And yes I will reveal the identity of the secret ingredient.

And now I have to clean the house.  God I hate reality.

Pig x 

© Pig in the Kitchen All Rights Reserved

Carrot Whoopie Pies (gluten free, vegan)

These pies contain carrot. That definitely makes them healthy. Ish.

I was going to re-write this because I’ve missed Valentine’s Day by at least two  weeks, but then I thought that you’d probably forgive me.  Let’s hope so...

It happened in about 1983. 

The day dawned and there – miraculously - was a Valentine’s Day card.  Cute teddy picture, beguiling question mark, no other clue.

It triggered a perfect storm of adolescent angst and romantic yearning that lasted for years.

WHO had sent me the card?

Joanna Ellis was convinced that it was the sexy guy from the yacht club who had made vaguely inappropriate comments about how pretty I was.  And what a ‘cracker’ I was going to be when I grew up.  That was in the days before grooming and feminism, so I was just happy that a sexy seventeen year old was commenting on my 12 year old ‘cracker’ status.

Sorry, the feminist in me is spluttering and needs to say something.  Cracker?? Seriously?  What does that even mean?  Something you pull, play with, get bored of and then discard when she asks you to help with chores around the house?  Something that looks pretty but is of no real use?

OK, hush, hush, it’s ok. 

Pause.

There, the feminist is back in the box and I’m again pretending that the times have really moved on and I did not get called ‘Darling’ twice last week. 

All back under control and I’m being nice again, although I have rather lost the thread of what I was saying.

Ah, the Valentine’s card. 

Reader, for years and years and years I wondered who had sent me that card and I harboured a fantasy that one day the card-bearer would come and sweep me off my feet.  (Where do girls get these mad ideas from?)

It was not to be.

I eventually found out that Mum sent me the card.

I didn't know what to feel about that. 

Rage – obviously - that for bloody months she listened to me agonise about who could have sent me the card and said nothing. 

Sadness, because she died a few years after sending the card, so I couldn’t ever thank her for the sweet gesture.

And smug wisdom, because I knew better than my mother.  Namely that it is never, ever a good idea to send your children secret Valentine’s cards. It will provoke a maelstrom of agony and can never end well. 

So this year I baked whoopie pies for my darlings and also - because they were dirt cheap and rather cute – I bought them a mug each containing a small cuddly toy.  Which was much better than resorting to underhand Valentine’s cards.

Happy (late) Valentine’s Day.  

And if you foolishly sent your child a secret Valentine, ‘fess up now before you die.

Carrot Whoopie Pies

Note: This cake does not require eggs.  If you want to use wheat flour, substitute the gluten free flour for plain flour.

All versions:

175g grated carrots

1 medium apple

½tsp bicarbonate of soda
130g agave syrup (or 125g sugar)
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg (or a good grating of fresh nutmeg)
70ml vegetable oil

2 tbsps ground linseeds
3 tbsps rice milk

Egg free, dairy free, gluten free:

160g Doves Farm GF flour
1½ tsp GF baking powder

For the filling: (rough measurements, do rely on your taste buds)
150g dairy free margarine
175-200g icing sugar
¼-½tsp cream of tartar
squidge of vanilla bean paste or vanilla powder

• Mix the linseeds with the rice milk and set aside
• Grate the carrots and peel, core and finely grate the apple
• Put the agave syrup or sugar, linseed mix and oil into a large mixing bowl and beat together using a wooden spoon
• Add the apple and carrot and mix
• Add the flour, baking powder and spices and mix
• Place the mix into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.  This will help thicken it up slightly
• Heat the oven to 180˚ Celsius/Gas 4
• Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper
• Place small spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking tray and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon. 
• Cajole them into a vaguely round shape, but don’t worry too much
• Repeat until you’ve used up all the mixture
• Bake for about 12 minutes in the oven, they will turn slightly golden
• Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack

For the filling:

• Beat the margarine until it is soft.
• Sieve in the icing sugar and mix it all together to make a paste.  Add the cream of tartar (helps hold it all together) and the squidge of vanilla bean paste
• Place in the refrigerator and have a cup of tea (or write a Valentine’s card or something)
• When your ‘pies’ are cold, spread one half with the icing then gently sandwich the two halves together. Yummy! Repeat until all the pies are matched up
• If you manage not to sample one in the sandwiching process I’ll be really impressed.  I’m such a hog (oh, geddit?) I eat half a pie when it’s still warm and spread the icing over so that it melts.  And then you know when you take a bite and there’s some cake not covered by icing?  I add a bit of icing to that too. 
• Good thing I just discovered an off-road bike trail this week, I’m going to have to do tons of exercise to atone for my whoopie pie guzzling.

 © Pig in the Kitchen All Rights Reserved

Carrot Whoopie Pies (gluten free, vegan)

Let's make some whoopie

Of course I'm far too busy making whoopie to write you a ditty about Valentine's day and then follow up with the carrot whoopie pie recipe.  But I promise I will soon.  This week.  For deffs.

And by 'making whoopie' I mean watching Family Guy in the same room as my husband.  

You may now feel smug and more in love than me.

Whoopie!

Pig x 

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