Monday 29 July 2013

FODMAP list update

I just checked Kate Scarlatt's blog for updates on the Low FODMAP diet and I'm quite surprised to learn that instant coffee, chamomile and fennel tea, cocoa powder and carob are now high FODMAP foods! I don't really drink herbal teas but I drink instant coffee daily and use cocoa powder all the time in my cakes.

Do they affect me? I don't think they do... It just goes to show how individual and personal this diet is... Bell peppers are now a friendly FODMAP but since I started this diet I discovered that, for me, all peppers (red, green and yellow) are a source of bloatness.

I can't wait for the Monash University Low FODMAP app for Androids. They have developed one for iPhones, which cost around €8, quite costly for an app but I guess it's all for research...

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Dairy and Gluten Free Potato Starch Cake

This is a very, very light cake. Perfect for those on a low carb diet.

Ingredients:
  • 6 eggs, separated
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 4 tbsps icing sugar
  • 4 tbsps gluten free plain flour
  • 4 tbsps potato starch
  • grated zest of 1 lemon
Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line the base of a 23cm round tin. In a bowl add the egg yolks and sugar, beat well and add the flour and potato starch. Mix well and add the lemon zest. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixtures. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.


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Sunday 21 July 2013

Dairy and Gluten Free Carob Cake

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                            I just did a bit of research on the Internet and found out that the carob tree, also known as St John's bread, is a tree in the pea family and it is widely cultivated for its edible legumes. Legumes?? If I had known this before I probably wouldn't have bothered buying it. I don't eat legumes anymore since I'm on the Low FODMAP diet and I only tolerate peas in small amounts now and again. Plus, truth to be told, I much prefer chocolate. My husband didn't like the taste at all, he thinks it tastes like licorice... It doesn't really, the taste is hard to describe, it would definitely take some getting used to. Oddly, my son seems to like it. Go figure...

The carob pod contains a sweet, edible pulp and inedible seeds. After drying, the pulp is roasted and ground into a powder that resembles cocoa powder. It's commonly used as a substitute for chocolate but does not have the same flavour or texture of chocolate. Carob doesn't contain any caffeine or theobromine, two mild stimulants found in chocolate and contains three times as much calcium, however it also lacks the antioxidants found in chocolate. I don't know the exact nutrition values of carob versus chocolate but if I make this cake again I will substitute the carob for chocolate powder.

I found this recipe at the back of the carob powder packet.

For the cake

Ingredients:
  • 100g dairy free margarine
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1/2 tsp almond essence
  • 50g carob powder
  • 40g gluten free self raising flour
  • 40g ground almond
Method:

Grease and line 2 x18cm sandwich tins. Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and essences. Combine carob powder, flour and ground almonds and mix with the wet mixture. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture. Pour into the tins. Bake at 180C for about 20 minutes until just firm to the touch. Cool on wire rack.

For the filling


Ingredients:
  • 80g icing sugar
  • 25g carob powder
  • 40g dairy free margarine
  • 4 tsp boiling water
Method:

Mix carob, icing sugar, margarine and water until all are combined. Spread between the two cakes.

Note: the filling was a little liquid and I had enough for a thin spread in the middle and on the top. Then I added a few sprinkles for decoration.

Friday 12 July 2013

Almond, lemon & rosemary cake

This gluten and dairy free cake is perfect for summer. And what summer are we having!!! I can't remember a summer this hot in the fifteen odd years that I have been living in Ireland. Not as hot as my native Spain but I wouldn't want their 40C thank you very much,  I'm very happy with 25C.
So, with the late warm nights, the hot, lazy siesta afternoons and the fact I'm wearing sandals (no socks in sight!!) I just had to bake something with a Mediterranean feel to it. Almonds, lemons, rosemary... Perfect.
I think this recipe came from a magazine but it's been in my recipe book for so many years I can't be sure.
Ingredients:
For the cake
- 200g ground almonds
- 200g white sugar
- 200ml olive oil
- 4 eggs
- Grated zest of 1 large lemon
- 4  small sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
For the syrup
- juice of 2 large lemons
- same amount of water
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Beat all the cake ingredients and pour into a 23cm round lined baking tray. Bake for 45 minutes until golden. To make the syrup, simmer all the ingredients over a low heat, until it thickened. Turn out the cake onto a cooling rack. I used a spring mould do I removed the outer ring but left the base on. Prick the cake all over with a skewer and pour syrup over it.


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Sunday 7 July 2013

Gluten and Dairy Free Tapioca Pudding

Tapioca, also called manioc, is a beady starch obtained from the root of the cassava plant.It is gluten free, however always checked the labels; the tapioca packet I bought had been packed in a facility that handled barley, wheat and soya and therefore could not be labelled "gluten free".

The traditional tapioca pudding is made just like rice pudding and the taste is similar, what you are really tasting is the milk and sugar... It's quite handy to keep tapioca in your cupboard for those cases when you have run out of rice and I find it a bit quicker to cook.

Ingredients:
  • 100g Tapioca
  • 1 litre rice, almond or coconut milk
  • 50g sugar
  • 1 broken cinnamon stick
Method:
Place the tapioca and milk in a saucepan and bring it to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until it becomes thick and creamy, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Turn into a serving dish and brown under grill if desired.

Alternatively, ingredients may be placed in a deep oven dish and baked for about 1 and a half hours at 150C.

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Grape Clafoutis

This  French dessert is normally made with cherries but I had quite a surplus of grapes in my fridge and this recipe works really well with grapes.
It's a creamy dessert best served warm. I reheated leftover clafoutis for a few seconds in the microwave.

I adapted a recipe from Tom Doorley that appeared in the Mail on Sunday.

Ingredients:
- 40g butter
- 125g gluten free flour
- 3 eggs
- 300ml coconut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 500g seedless grapes
- Icing sugar

Merhod:
Preheat the oven to 170C. Put the butter into a roasting tray and put in the oven to melt. Mix flour, eggs, milk and sugar in a food processor. Add the vanilla. Spread the grapes evenly over the bottom of the buttery roasting tin and pour the batter in on top. Re-arrange the grapes evenly. Bake for 35 minutes, until the sides have puffed up and the batter in the middle has just set. Let it cool for a while, then sieve over some icing sugar.

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Wednesday 3 July 2013

Quick Apple Tart

Recently I had to delete the contents of my mobile and restart it again, re-installing apps and widgets. To my great disappointment I discovered that most of the free cookbooks from the GoodFood app are no longer free. Oh well... There is always their website..

Here is an easy recipe for apple pie that I found at the back of a baking powder. It's very cinnamony and light.

Ingredients:
-1 egg
-125g sugar
-20g oil
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
-75ml rice milk
-85g gluten free flour
-1 tsp baking powder 
-3 Golden apples
- sugar and cinnamon mix

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a shallow round 23 cm tin. Beat the egg, sugar, oil, vanilla and cinnamon until creamy.  Sift the flour with the baking powder and add to the mixture. Pour into the mould. Peel the apples, cut them into half moons and spread over the dough. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mix. Bake for 40 minutes approximately.

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