Corned Beef, with a Leek, Chive and Onion Stuffing

The stuffing mix was retrieved from a kitchen cupboard (a Sainsbury's 'Taste the Difference' offering, which also contained wheat as a key ingredient). Easy to make - add 160mls of water, and allow to stand in a bowl for fifteen minutes. Stir together. Add some olive oil. Then bake the stuffing in a roasting tray for twenty minutes at 200 deg C (middle shelf).

Served with boiled potatoes (prepared earlier) and a mixture of baked beans and chopped corned beef, cooked in a steamer for about twenty minutes at a low to medium heat. Plus a salad of red pepper slices, and some diced raw spinach.

Dressed in a dusting of white pepper and coriander leaf. Delicious!

Lamb and Green Bean Soup

Lots of  Egyptian green beans in the kitchen. So I made a spicy lamb and green bean soup. No actual lamb in the fridge and freezer, so the lamb flavour came from stock. In addition to chopped green beans, the dish is made with tomato passata (about 200g),  two chopped onions, five carrots, one red chilli, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of basil, a small handful of Khorasan wheat (for flavour and thickening), a quarter cup of green mung beans (green lentils could be substituted), and freshly ground black pepper. 

Two days after making the soup I roasted a lamb leg joint in the oven, and so the last of the soup had some actual lamb in it, in addition to the lamb stock. 

Lamb and Green Bean Soup

Basa Fish with Minted Peas

Basa fish is a form of catfish found in parts of Indochina, including in the Mekong river. This pair of Basa Fillets came from a fish farm in the Mekong Delta. The fillets were bought at Sainsbury's, and came coated with a batter made with wheat flour. 

Basa fillets are often boneless, which these were. The oven was preheated to 220 deg. C., and the fillets were placed into a roasting tray after the tray was brushed with sunflower oil, and placed in the middle of the oven for 18 minutes, as recommended. Minted peas were suggested as an accompaniment, but I had none of those. But I did have dried mint, and some garden peas, so I minted my own. I allowed the peas to heat slowly in water with the mint over twenty minutes, and the result was perfect.

Served piping hot with a little white pepper.  

Basa Fish with Minted Peas

Tomato and Celery Broth

Some bargain vegetables were bought in the local co-op on a Sunday afternoon, including salad tomatoes, carrots and leek. With celery from the fridge, I had the ingredients to make a tasty tomato and celery broth. 

Chop up one mid-sized leek, four sticks of celery, shred half a dozen salad tomatoes, and 750 grams of carrots.  Add to 2 litres of boiling water, and cook for half an hour. Add two ham stock cubes, and one vegetable stock cubes. Plus a teaspoonful of black pepper. I also added a handful of Khorasan wheat (Kamut), for flavour and thickening (adding that means this is not a wheat-free recipe). 

After the first period of cooking, mash the contents of the pot. Cook for another 45 minutes under glass at a low simmer. Add some shredded basil leaves, and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes before serving. 

Tomato and Celery Broth

Pork and Beans

Served on Genius wheat free bread, The photograph was taken before Genius had production problems in 2015, I was not convinced they had a proper grip on what those problems were (they blamed the bakery, rather than the production process. Though they did talk to me during that period, when I was trying to find out why the quality of their bread had declined). Now, I would make my own wheat free bread.

Cumberland pork sausage (fried or grilled), baked beans in tomato sauce, with white pepper. Served without butter. Not a wheat free meal, since pork sausages usually contain wheat. I used to live close by a supermarket which supplied wheat free sausages. These outlets appear and disappear.

Tinned pork and beans used to be normal before WWII on both sides of the Atlantic. After the war started, baked beans were available as just that in the UK, and in the end became a favourite.

Pork and Beans

Pork Sausage with Spring Onion and Mushroom Gravy

Pan-fried pork sausage cooked the previous day (so this is not a wheat free dish). The sausages were added to a gravy made with a dozen chopped spring onions and about fifteen halved mushrooms. Cornflour was used to thicken the gravy,and a ham stock cube was added. 

Allowed to simmer for 30 minutes, with regular stirring to prevent the gravy sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Ten minutes before serving, a pinch of dried rosemary was added to the gravy. 

Served with unskinned potatoes, boiled for just over twenty minutes in water with a teaspoonful of sea salt. 

Pork Sausage with Spring Onion and Mushroom Gravy

Egg and Bacon, with Spelt and Buckwheat bread

Not wheat-free, with a spelt-buckwheat loaf under the bacon. But easy to substitute wheat-free bread. 

Egg and bacon is a reminder that it is not the end of the world if you have to change your diet if you have an intolerance to wheat, or have an immune response to gluten. Some delightful things you can still eat. 

This dish is made with strips of smoked bacon, hash browns, spring onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, a slice of toasted spelt and buckwheat bread, a fried egg, French's American mustard, and black pepper. 

Spelt and Buckwheat Loaf

Bread loaf made with 500 grams of flour: 400 grams of spelt, and 100 grams of buckwheat. The flour was mixed in a glass bowl, together wth 7 grams of Allinsons' yeast, two teaspoonfuls of table sugar, two teaspoonfuls of table salt. 

350 mls of warm water was folded into the roughly mixed flour over three or four minutes. Two dessert spoonfuls of olive oil were then folded in to the dough, The dough was mixed with an electric hand mixer for five minutes, gradually increasing the speed of the blades.  

The dough was allowed to stand for an hour in the glass bowl, which was long enough for it to double in size. It was beaten down, and allowed to stand for another thirty minutes. Then the dough was poured into a silicon bread tin. 

The top of the loaf was given a little texture with a fork, and poppy seeds were sprinkled on to the surface. When the oven was at the correct temperature the loaf was placed in a metal roasting tin to keep the silicon bread tin flat. Into the oven!

Baked for 40 to 45 minutes. 

Spelt and Buckwheat Loaf

The bread ready to go into the oven preheated to 195 - 200 deg. C

Chicken, Mushroom and Black Bean Soup

Found some cheap chestnut mushrooms in town this afternoon, so this dish is the result.

I had some leftover roast chicken in a black bean sauce, to which I added chopped red chilli, a chopped clove of garlic, two spring onions, and 300 grammes of chopped chestnut mushrooms. I also added some water, a handful of khorasan wheat (also known as Kamut), and two dessert spoonfuls of oyster sauce. Cooked for forty minutes at a low heat under glass. Delicious!

A note from 20 May 2018. This is my most popular dish by a mile, and I don't know why. Sometimes I withdraw the recipe for a bit, to see what else might take its place at the top of the list. I did that over the past month, before restoring it. And it is back at the top in just a few days! It is a really delicious soup, which I've made a number of times since posting the recipe. Enjoy!

Chicken, Mushroom and Black Bean Soup

Spicy Chicken, Chive & Tomato Soup

Made with the remains of an arrabiata sauce and chopped and skinned roast chicken, along with the chicken jelly in the roasting dish (after removing the fat). I added two more chillies, two shredded vine tomatoes, and a handful of finely chopped fresh chives. Also a pinch of paprika, freshly sliced garlic, chicken stock, fresh basil, and a sprinkling of dried oregano. Plus a handful of khorasan wheat grains (skip this if you want a wheat-free soup). Simmer for 45 minutes.

Spicy Chicken, Chive & Tomato Soup

Red Pepper and Leek Soup

Thin slices of red pepper, some sliced green pepper, two small chopped leeks, one carrot, two shredded vine tomatoes, garlic, one third of a cup of khorasan wheat, paprika, a half-cup of tomato passata, black pepper, vegetable stock, chicken stock, dried sage, and dried oregano.  

Stir-fry the vegetables for twenty minutes at a moderate heat, then add water and the khorasan wheat. Simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally, Add the passata, and simmer for at least another half-hour. Add more water if necessary. Serve with a topping of finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and freshly ground black pepper. 

Red Pepper and Leek Soup

Spelt Loaf with Poppy Seeds

Recipe for Roman Army style Bread:

500g Wholegrain Spelt flour
half tsp of salt
1tsp of quick yeast.
1tablespoonful of honey.
400ml of warm water.
1tableslpoonfull of olive oil.

Method:

Mix flour and yeast and salt in a large bowl.
Dissolve the honey in the water and mix with the flour.
Add the oil to the dough.
Knead the dough for a few minutes.
Divide the dough between two 500g bread tins.
Cover and leave dough for 25 minutes.
Bake in preheated oven (200C) for 40 to 45 minutes.

That's it! You may have to leave the dough to rise for much longer if you don't use quick yeast. But you can wait until it is ready to be baked, whatever yeast you use. I left it for several hours.

Spelt Loaf with Poppy Seeds

Five Vegetable Winter Soup

Began as a leek and potato soup, but I needed to use some onion, carrot and swede. Also added chicken stock and some spelt. Served with tabasco sauce and *lots* of freshly ground black pepper.

Five Vegetable Winter Soup

Beef and Green Pepper Stew

Sliced topside beef cooked for four hours in a slow cooker, with cubed courgette and one and a half green peppers. Plus one quarter cup of spelt grain (so this isn't a wheat-free recipe), and two vine tomatoes, chopped. A couple of chillies, plus two garlic cloves were added, beef stock, plus dashes of smoked paprika, black pepper, and one pinch of rosemary.

Beef and Green Pepper Stew