The search for gluten free bread or the making of WMD’s (weapons of minor destruction)

The truth is I’m intolerant. No not of everything, merely wheat. I’d love to say I’ve adjusted to a wheat free life but I cannot. I miss bread more than anything else, I could happily live without cake, biscuits and pasta, but life without a crumb of the good stuff is quite depressing.

Before I am bombarded with comments about wheat free substitutes readily available in most supermarkets, I have tried many of these alternatives but find they lack either or both the taste and texture of the real thing not to mention they are expensive.

My current mission then has become one of making my own bread starting with basic white rolls, first using some of the packet mixes one can buy that usually require addition of an egg and water. Once mixed the resulting paste resembling white plaster should have alerted me to impending disaster. If not feeling doomed at this point I continued, hoping that the mix would firm up somewhat when proving. I was proved wrong, my dough failed to thrive as no rising occurred, the mix just got stickier so I spooned it into the tins, shoved it in the oven and hoped for the best.

The smell from the oven was heavenly and bread-like enough to induce salivation. A knife and butter awaited the emergence from the oven and I paced around like an expectant parent awaiting the birth of their first-born. 

Hurrah forty minutes later I had my prize, tapping the underside of the rolls they sounded hollow, I felt this was a good omen. I plunged the knife into the warm dough, the  texture seemed good and it smelt wonderful. Butter slathered, I sunk my teeth in. It’s not polite to groan, eat and wretch simultaneously but such was my disappointment I succeeded. It would be wrong to say there was no flavour but what there was wasn’t nice, like eating industrial grade sponge used to stuff sofas. Texturally, when warm it was pretty much as bread should be. When cold it became an entirely different entity, with a crust so firm it could not be crushed with a fist. I hate food waste but I feel putting this out for young birds would inhibit their ability to fly and ducks may sink to the bottom of ponds following ingestion.





Here ends my first serious attempt at gluten free bread cookery. I’ve been sent another recipe from a friend, I have some more unusual ingredients to buy before I try it but be sure, whether a success or failure, you’ll be first to know. 

The Italian Job



Papa Cino’s Review

I generally steer clear of Italian restaurants as I don’t eat pasta or pizza but colleagues at work recommended this restaurant and there was much more to the menu so we gave it a go.
The cellar restaurant is on the corner of Fish Street and Dychurch Lane right in the town centre.

Walking down the steps I wanted to love it. I have great memories of some lovely cellar restaurants I’ve visited in the past, they feel somehow exclusive, tucked away below ground as many people wander straight past the low-key doorways, unaware of the activity going on below . We were greeted by friendly staff creating a warm atmosphere, although the lack of air conditioning on an already warm evening may have added to this somewhat.

The decor is almost comically dated, as if a set designer on Doctor Who had been asked to recreate a seventies mediterranean eatery with the budget of whatever they could find down the back of the sofa.  The restaurant feels quite cramped, with little space between tables compromising privacy. We were seated next to the metal railings separating the entrance and the dining area which did leave us feeling a little like caged in monkeys. We were, thankfully, able to repress the urge to fling our own faeces at passers by.

My companion and I are not the most decisive when it comes to food and wine, often leaving the waiting staff doing just that, but the waiter suggested a bottle of white wine which was superb and wasn’t drowned out by the subsequent food choices of duck and lamb with which I would normally have chosen a richer red number.

Anyway, on to the food. The simple duck salad as a starter was substantial but tasty and refreshing with a zesty dressing while my partner had goats cheese crostini, simple but delicious, again a very generous serving

The chosen mains arrived swiftly, duck confit and slow cooked lamb in red wine and rosemary jus both served with smooth garlic mash. I have attempted the red wine and rosemary combo on several occasions and it’s easy to overdo the rosemary making sauces medicinal but this was perfect, rich and glossy and moreish. The lamb was enormous so unwillingly I had to sacrifice the garlic mash.



The duck confit once again was plentiful, perfectly cooked and paired well with the savoury garlic mash. I had worried the cranberry jus may be over sweet but it was well balanced and I devoured the plateful in what I’ll assume is a new world record.





Desserts once again were overlooked, we can rarely manage a three course meal, especially when they are this generous but friends have said they are definitely worth a go if you have a sweet tooth and some room left.

The meal came to around £42 excluding the wine that we both feel was excellent value but what impressed me most was the staff and the service. They were delightful, funny and charming and knowledgeable about their product.  The decor may be more dated than ancient Rome but I loved the service and food. It’s a shame the building has not been maintained to the same standards as the food but we had a fantastic evening.

One for Curry Lovers

This lamb dhansak recipe may not be truly authentic but it is delicious. I cook it regularly in a slow cooker as the spices develop throughout the long cooking time but equally it can be put in a large casserole dish with a lid in the oven.

Warning: Cooking this dish will fill your house with the smell of rich warming spices. Don’t be tempted to eat it sooner, it’ll be worth the wait. You may never order this from a takeaway again. I haven’t.
It requires some preparation the night before cooking and a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and good upper body strength but it’s so worth the effort.

Lamb Dhansak




Ingredients

For the meat marinade
600g lamb cut into large chunks
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 cardamon pods
2 inches cinnamon
1 tbsp black peppercorns
½ tsp black mustard seeds
2-3 kashmiri chillies (seeds removed if you want to tame this a little)

For the curry sauce

3 large onions (chopped)
1 tin tomatoes
6 cloves garlic
1½ pints water
1 tbsp mango chutney
1 tsp tumeric
200g split yellow peas
100 red lentils
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
2 tsp garam masala
Handful of chopped fresh coriander
Juice of one lemon

• Grind all the spices for the marinade to a fine powder, coat the meat and cover with clingfilm in the fridge for at least 2 hours, I leave this overnight.
• Brown the lamb pieces in batches in a hot frying pan with a little oil and set aside on a plate.
• Fry off the onions until slightly browned. Put ⅔ into the slow cooker or casserole dish, add the meat.
• Add the remaining onions to a food processor, along with a tin of chopped tomatoes, the garlic and 1 ½ pints water and blitz until smooth. Add to meat and onions.
• Add tumeric, mango chutney, split peas, red lentils and bay leaves. Stir and put on low setting on the slow cooker, or place in oven set to 140.
• Leave to cook unaided for 6 hours in a slow cooker, or 2 hours in a conventional oven.
• Add garam masala, salt and pepper to taste, coriander and lemon juice, stir well, serve.

A China Crisis 

Imperial Oriental House

22 Castillian Street, Northampton

Wandering around town on a Sunday afternoon, my partner and I began to feel peckish. We considered our tried and tested options, a pub lunch or a quick snack, but neither appealed. With indecision being a trait we share we wandered some more, coming across this restaurant. My partner had been several years before and we decided to try their set buffet menu, reasonably priced for a lunch.

Our first impressions were not great, there was only one other set of diners, but it was late-ish afternoon so once seated we ordered drinks and perused the choice of two set priced options.
The waiting staff pounced immediately for our food order and were politely sent away, the choice of crispy duck or lamb needed careful consideration.

We decided on the lamb, but first we had the mixed starters, standard Chinese fare of a platter of spring rolls, ribs, sesame prawn toast, crispy seaweed and what what described as Chicken Samosas, that turned out to be a single squished prawn in a massive wrapping of pastry. Aside from the latter offering the rest were tasty and hot, as was the lamb when it arrived swiftly after, mildly spiced, I cannot guess at it’s Mongolian authenticity as the menu described, but it was good and made a nice change from crispy duck.

The mains included special fried rice, stir fried vegetables, beef in black bean sauce, chicken in cashew nuts, prawns in chilli sauce and egg noodles all served on small dishes to share. We tucked in eagerly but were disappointed by all. The beef in black bean sauce was edible, but apart from the cashew nuts being picked through to avoid the strangely spongy chicken, the remaining food remained barely tasted.

Had I cleared the plates from a table such as this, I would have asked if something was wrong with the food and as regular restaurant goers we expect staff to at least ask if we enjoyed our meal. This did not happen, plates were cleared as soon as the chopsticks were lowered and the bill was paid.
As we wandered back through town, past our rejected options offering Sunday roasts and the like, we sighed in unison and with lighter wallets and unsatisfied bellies made our way home.

Mexican Chilli Pie

This is a hybrid of a chilli and lasagne and makes a delicious change from either. You can use pork, beef or vegetarian mince for this, I generally use the pork mince, it’s often cheaper than good beef mince and the chilli based sauce seems to work better with pork. It takes some preparation but it’s worth it...




Ingredients

2-3 dried chipotle or smoked chillies of your choice
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried oregano
1 red pepper, chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
500g mince (pork, beef or vegetarian)
100ml red wine
200 ml stock (I use beef stock with beef mince, chicken or veg stock is better with pork.
1 tin tomatoes
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tin pinto or kidney beans
6 corn tortillas
Salt and pepper

For the cheese sauce

75g butter
40g plain flour
300ml milk
50g cheddar
½ tsp smoked paprika

• Soak dried chillies in hot water for 20 minutes, remove seeds and chop very finely.
• Finely chop one onion and fry in a little oil with a bay leaf until soft, add chopped garlic and continue to fry gently for another minute.
• Add red pepper, ground cumin and coriander, fry for 2 minutes.
• Add mince and fry until browned, add chopped chilli and tomato puree.
• Add wine, stock and tin of tomatoes and season..
• Add oregano, brown sugar and beans, simmer with lid off for 20 minutes.

For the cheese sauce

• Melt butter in saucepan, add flour and stir for 2 minutes
• Add milk and whisk until thickened.
• Add most of the cheese and smoked paprika
• Take off heat once melted and season with salt and pepper.

To assemble

• Add one third of the mix to an ovenproof dish, cover using 2 tortillas.
• Spread over one third of cheese sauce and repeat.

Place in preheated oven at 180 for 30 minutes and serve

Garnish Rage- Or Over Gilding a Lily

I’m a home cook and I like to think I produce good hearty tasty dishes and in general this is true and presentation is often way down the list when getting things onto the table as quickly as possible.

However when I pay to eat out, good food presentation is part of the entertainment or theatre, it’s what we’re paying for. I’m not talking delicately arranged towers of food artfully drizzled with jus surrounded by patterns created by someone with a steady hand and careful use of a toothpick to produce art on my plate. These things are art. I often feel guilty if the plate itself could be exhibited in Tate Modern, surely my greedily launching into it with abandon is a criminal offence, or maybe a social one.

No, I like clean, unfussy plates, warmed when they should be with more than six chunky chips in regimental formation or a jellified blob of mushy peas, or more commonly tiny baby salad, sorry micro leaves... I digress, the point of this minor rant is garnish, or more succinctly over-garnish on plates.

I will elaborate on this by mentioning in brief a recent meal in a Chinese restaurant we had been looking forward to trying for a while, largely due to their promise of ‘healthier’ Chinese food. My partner and I am a duck fiends, so crispy duck was duly ordered and the waiting began. We waited and we waited and yes, we waited. Forty minutes later and most of the bottle of wine consumed, the dish arrived. The duck was not worth the wait, however dear reader, I hope you agree, the garnish more than overcompensated... I still chuckle uncontrollably when I stumble across this picture.





Can anyone top this? We would love to see other garnish craziness. Can you do better? While I too am prone to an over-scattering of coriander of a brown tinged curry, can anyone else match so brilliantly the garnish to the dish.
We challenge you!

‘Back of the fridge’ Egg Fried Rice

Firstly, I’m not suggesting using the suspicious looking medical cultures growing in certain fridges, things in pots you thought you might use one day. But the lonely pepper, the two spring onions, the leftover roast chicken you’re not quite sure what to do with, you get the idea, these are ideal for something like this.

This is a great ‘not quite payday’ supper dish as the ingredients can be changed at will depending on what lurks in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. The recipe easily serves three hungry people but there’s often enough leftover to take for lunch the next day. It may not be truly authentic but it’s very tasty and we think, better than average takeaway offerings.

I’ve provided a recipe based on the contents of my fridge that needed using up but adapt as you like. It’s really quick to cook so make sure all the ingredients are chopped before you start cooking.




Ingredients

250g cooked and cooled long grain rice
Vegetable or chicken stock (we use a Knorr chicken stockpot capsule for this)
4 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped into thin strips
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 birds eye chillies, finely chopped
2 cm grated ginger
1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper
50g peas, defrosted
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
Few drops of sesame oil
Salt and pepper
3 eggs, whisked and seasoned with salt and pepper

Method

In a small pan with a drop of oil make an omelette, when cooked, set aside.

In a wok or large frying pan heat a little vegetable oil and fry off the bacon.

Once brown add chilli, garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes on a high heat.

Add onion and peppers and stir fry for 2 minutes, then add peas and continue to stir fry for another minute or two.

Add cooked rice and mix well. Add both light and dark soy sauce.

Chop up omelette and add to rice mix, stir. Add few drops of sesame oil and season with pepper to taste. Only use salt once tasted as both the stock and the soy will season the dish.

Quite possibly the world’s best Cauliflower Cheese

A mighty claim I agree, but try it. The addition of the bacon (sorry vegetarian friends but you can leave it out and substitute vegetarian cheese), the hint of smoked paprika in a rich cheese sauce makes this weekday dish amazing.
I use Doves Farm Gluten Free plain flour to make the cheese sauce for those with intolerances. Goes well with sautéed or roast potatoes but equally well on it’s own, it’s certainly hearty enough


Recipe (Serves 4, or a very hungry 2)

1 cauliflower, broken into florets
6 rashers of smoked bacon
100g butter
75g flour
600ml milk
120g strong cheddar, grated
20g parmesan, grated
½ tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper

Method

Parboil the cauliflower florets until just beginning to soften, about 8 minutes should do it, drain and leave to cool slightly.

Melt butter and whisk in flour over a low heat, stir for about 2 minutes to cook out the flour. Add half the milk and increase the heat to medium, keep whisking. As the milk comes to the boil it will thicken. Add the rest of the milk and continue whisking until you have a lump-free consistency.

Reduce the heat to minimum. Add ¾ of the cheddar cheese, all of the parmesan, salt and pepper and smoked paprika and whisk until melted. Set aside.

Chop the bacon into thin strips. Fry the bacon until crispy.

Put cooled cauliflower into baking dish, top with bacon and pour on cheese sauce.

Top with remaining grated cheddar and bake in a preheated oven at 180 for 30 minutes.

Pulled Pork Tacos

This is a great recipe for parties as it’s easy to double up the quantities and is particularly good to just lay out the toppings on the table and let people help themselves. We like it spicy but feel free to reduce the amount of chillies if you like.


Ingredients

1kg pork loin cut into 1 inch cubes
4 whole cloves
6 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 chipotle chillies
I red onion sliced thinly into half circles
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
Salt and pepper
8 taco shells
Sour cream
Salad leaves
Grated cheese, preferably strong grated cheddar

Method

Put cubed pork into large saucepan, with peppercorns, cloves and a bay leaf. Cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes. Drain and leave to cool slightly.

Meanwhile soak chipotle chillies in hot water until softened. Retain liquid and chop chillies, removing the seeds and stalk (you can leave the seeds in but chipotles are quite fiery).

Using 2 forks shred the meat, set aside.

Fry onion and garlic in 1 tbsp vegetable oil until softened. Add cinnamon, ground cloves and shredded pork and mix thoroughly to coat in spices and warm through. If the mix seems a little dry, add chilli water to moisten. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook taco shells according to instructions.
Fill taco shells with salad, meat, sour cream, cheese and extra fresh chilli if you like and enjoy.

A Turkish Delight

Marmaris 

Location 29 St Giles Street, Northampton

This is not the first visit to this small town centre restaurant but we hadn’t been for a while and on the whole were not disappointed to revisit. The restaurant is small as the charcoal grills take centre stage wafting delicious meaty aromas around, enough on their own to draw people in.

Having eaten there before we both decided there was no need for a starter as the portions are generous. Instead we ordered the Kleftiko, a slow cooked lamb shank in a rich sauce and a Karisik kebab, a mammoth selection of chicken, ribs and shish served with rice and salads. The flatbreads that accompany many of the dishes are moreish and served with a roasted onion dip that I’m determined to replicate very soon.

The kleftiko melted, with the lamb falling off the bone and the sauce like distilled heaven, it’s by far the best dish we’ve tried off the menu and the bread is perfect for soaking up the juice with the only comment from my partner being a Homeresque appreciation. The ribs and chicken were moist, juicy and deliciously spiced and while the shish was a little under seasoned for me, it was a sensational dish with the accompanying salads making it appear healthy and a little virtuous.

Service was a little hit and miss, the white wine ordered arrived warm. The waitress did put it back in the fridge for us when asked but you would expect chillers to be available for the table, or wine to be suitably chilled when served.
Despite this, the staff are very friendly and engender a welcoming atmosphere. The food was hard to fault and, with the total bill with wine for two coming to under £40, a real weekend lunch treat that we wouldn’t hesitate to return to again.

Recommended for a quick bite or a relaxed meal with friends although the restaurant does fill up quickly, definitely would try the takeaway option for a healthier non-post drinking kebab fix-all freshly grilled in front of you, wrapped in the delicious warmed flat breads which make a fantastic alternative to pitas.