Chicken Thighs with Creamy Mustard and Sage Sauce
Wednesday, November 06, 2024I love chicken thighs and legs in case you haven't noticed it yet. Bone in, skin on thighs / legs are so much juicier and have more flavour, but it really all comes down to personal preference! If you want to use chicken breast, go for it. Adjust the cooking time accordingly. The sauce used two types of mustards: wholegrain and smooth. So do expect it's full of mustard flavour. I used Maille, but you can use any other quality brands.
Tahini Butternut Squash Soup
Tuesday, November 05, 2024When the weather turns and the thermometer dips, a hot bowl of soup is just delightful. Though so creamy and rich, this gluten free butternut squash soup contains no cream (except a few drops of coconut cream for the garnish). The secret lies in the add of tahini. Serve with a slice of homemade bread and top with a few crispy sage leaves, for a hearty bowl of creamy goodness. It’s one of the easiest meals to make with just a handful of ingredients, and it’s almost impossible to mess up.
Mozart Cookies
Monday, November 04, 2024Deliciously festive cut-out cookies inspired by the classic Mozartkugel, a praline made from chocolate, pistachios, marzipan and nougat. It was created by Salzburg / Austria confectioner Paul Fürst in 1890 and named after the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The heart of the Salzburg Mozartkugel is made from green marzipan. Use raw pistachios for a better result.
50 Recipes to use up the Abundance of Carrots
Sunday, November 03, 2024Want to know how to use up carrots? It’s so simple to make any recipe a healthy one with this super healthy root vegetable packed full of vitamins and fiber. Try these fun and delicious recipes to make the most of this budget-friendly root vegetable that's versatile, sweet and nutritious and turn carrots into tasty meals and won’t break the bank either.
- Vegetable Ribbon Tart with Pesto and Ricotta
This delicious vegetable tart is filled with a layer of homemade pesto and ricotta and top with a spiral of thinly sliced ribbons of zucchini and carrots. Spelt flour gives the pastry a nutty flavour which works so well with the pesto filling. This vegetable tart is lovely for either lunch or as an appetizer.
Gluten Free Beetroot Chickpea Pancakes
Saturday, November 02, 2024Fancy a change and lots of colour in the morning? Then you should these beetroot pancakes for a vital start to the day. Not only are they beautiful to look at, they are also made with some healthy ingredients. You don't have to compromise on flavour and sweetness even if you are trying to cut back the consumption of refined white sugar. These pancakes are sweetened with honey and if you want it sweeter, then serve them with maple syrup. In case you want to avoid sugar completely, I would recommend using erythritol or xylitol, which gives a more natural sweetness and mouth feel.
Beetroot is very healthy and always looks great when used to colour food. The bright red colour is simply special. Any cooked beetroot works, use roasted beetroot if you prefer a deeper purple colour and richer flavour. I used chickpea flour as an alternative to wheat flour. This makes these pancakes lower in carbohydrates and richer in fibre, as well as being gluten-free.
Snow Peas, Cashews with Ginger and Chilli
Friday, November 01, 2024Fresh, crispy and sweet snow peas are really ideal for a quick stirfry. You can also add protein (chicken, prawn, egg or tempeh) to this simple dish. It's easy to prepare and ready within 15 minutes. Just simply shred the trimmed snow peas and toss with chilli and ginger for maximum flavour and crunch.
Snow peas, aka Chinese pea pods, are young and flat with very small peas inside (different from rounded snap peas) and typically available all year-round, but the peak season is spring through early winter. As their name implies, snow peas can survive frost and snow.
Baked Spinach and Tomato Omelette
Thursday, October 31, 2024This is a great breakfast or brunch on weekend or any time you have company. It is low-carb, high-protein, full of delicious baby spinach, cream, Parmesan cheese, and of course lots of eggs! Use a terrine if you have one, otherwise, a loaf pan will work just fine. I used a silicone loaf pan and it spread a bit in the middle since the omelette mixture was heavy. You can also make this in a 20cm round cake pan.
Coq au Vin
Wednesday, October 30, 2024Translating to rooster stewed in wine, coq au vin, a French classic was originally a peasant dish designed to make use of an old rooster that was too tough and sinewy to be simply roasted. It was a dish that was cooked low and slow. However, tough roosters have given way to tender roasting chicken in most recipes today. So it would be more accurate to call this Poulet au Vin. I wouldn't use chicken breast for this recipe as you can easily overcook them. So bone in thighs, drumsticks or whole legs are better to use for coq au vin.
Garibaldi Biscuits
Tuesday, October 29, 2024Garibaldi biscuits (unkindly called 'squashed flies' by children), named to honour Italian General Giuseppe Garibaldi, who fought for the unification of Italy in the 19th century, are made by sandwiching the dried fruit with thin shortcrust pastry. Then the dough is sliced into rectangles and baked until light golden. The chocolate glaze is completely optional. You can simply dust some Demerara sugar on top after brushing with egg white. If sultanas and currants aren’t to your taste, use your favourite dried fruit – just make sure that you cut it up to the size of a currant so it bonds suitably to the biscuit dough.
Carrot Salad with Truffle Balsamic Glaze Dressing and Smoked Almonds
Monday, October 28, 2024Chimichurri Chicken
Sunday, October 27, 2024The uncomplicated chimichurri, a classic Argentinian uncooked sauce, consists of a few spices, fresh parsley and plenty of garlic and acts both as a marinade and sauce. You can make the sauce in a food processor, but hand-chopping everything makes it look more rustic and especially fragrant. It is delicious drizzled over literally anything, from meat, cheese, to tofu and vegetables and fabulous with bread too. To make your chimichurri chicken particularly flavourful, I would recommend that you let the chicken marinate overnight in the fridge. However, if you are short on time or impatient, 30 minutes is minimum.
Biscotti Reginelle
Saturday, October 26, 2024Biscotti Reginelle, aka Biscotti Regina or Biscotti Inciminati, are classic cookies from Palermo (the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo), but they are popular all over the island of Sicily. They were named after Queen Margherita di Savoia, hence the name Biscotti Reginelle, which means Queen Cookies.
These delicious Italian cookies are not too sweet and are loaded with sesame seeds. The crunchy texture makes them the perfect accompaniment to coffee, hot chocolate, or sweet wine. To make these cookies even more authentic, use 100% of lard instead of a mix of butter and lard. Once completely cooled you can store these cookies in an air tight container for at least two weeks. They freeze well too.