quinoa and mushroom loaf (nut roast/turkey substitute)

So, you have someone visit who won't eat the turkey and can't eat dairy or nuts...and they need all their food to be gluten free.  You still want to give them a delicious protein portion to go with their roast potatoes and sprouts...here is a possible solution.

I wrote up a recipe for quinoa, butternut squash and cashew loaf.  Using some of the batch of quinoa I had cooked for this and the cranberries I made a second nut-free version with mushrooms and egg. This is a mild savoury loaf with the mushrooms and quinoa held together by the batter produced from the flour and egg.  The quinoa texture is still discernable.  Test the flavour when you have made the mixture by frying a small amount.  Add more seasonings if you want a punchier flavour.

The quinoa, mushrooms and egg as well as the lentils in the flour combine to make this a high protein dish.


It is always a good idea to have an alternative to turkey as people may be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or just not like turkey.  I had a look at a few recipes on the internet, including the useful evaluative series at the Guardian. I wanted to use roasted butternut and cashew, so also looked at the River Cottage nut roast.  I also fancied including cranberries, and found this pretty-looking recipe from Jamie Oliver.  I wanted this dish to be a complete protein source - it seems to me that too often the vegetarian option in restaurants hasn't thought through either the flavour balance or the nutrient balance.

I cooked a whole 300g bag of qunioa, rinsing thoroughly first, to make both recipes.
I cooked 300g of fresh cranberries for a couple of minutes with the juice of a satsuma, 1tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp chilli jam.  This was used in both recipes.

Ingredients

325 cooked quinoa (all that was left)

250g chestnut mushrooms, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1 tbsp oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 eggs

1 tbsp soy sauce (check gf- I use Sanchi Tamari)

pinch mixed herbs

1 red onion, chopped

50g flour ( 40%urid, 40%tapioca, 20%cornmeal)

Cook onions over gentle heat until soft.  Lift out of oil and use the same oil to cook the mushrooms until softened.  You may need to do this in batches.  Add more oil if needed. Cook the garlic in with the last batch of mushrooms.

Mix all the ingredients together.  The flour and egg will give a cakey mix to hold the quinoa and mushrooms together.

Dollop mixture into the prepared mini-loaf tins with cranberries at the base or cook in a large loaf tin lined with baking parchment.

Cook at 180C for 25 minutes.

This is very good cold.  It holds together well so would make a good lunch box or picnic food.

Turkey alternatives- vegan quinoa, butternut squash and cashew nut roast

It is always a good idea to have an alternative to turkey as people may be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or just not like turkey.  I had a look at a few recipes on the internet, including the useful evaluative series at the Guardian. I wanted to use roasted butternut and cashew, so also looked at the River Cottage nut roast.  I also fancied including cranberries, and found this pretty-looking recipe from Jamie Oliver.  I wanted this dish to be a complete protein source - it seems to me that too often the vegetarian option in restaurants hasn't thought through either the flavour balance or the nutrient balance.

I made two versions, I'll post the second, including mushrooms, later.
I cooked a whole 300g bag of qunioa, rinsing thoroughly first, to make both recipes.
I cooked 300g of fresh cranberries for a couple of minutes with the juice of a satsuma, 1tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp chilli jam.  This was used in both recipes.

Ingredients
600g cooked quinoa
250 roasted butternut squash (peel, chop, rub with oil, roast in hot oven half hour)
250g cashew nuts, chopped (quick blast in blender, be careful not to powder)
1 red onion, chopped, cooked until soft in 1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder (make sure gf)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4tsp pepper

cranberry 'topping'

Mix all the ingredients and check seasoning. As you stir the mixture the butternut squash pieces will break up  If any are too large just cut them. You want a mixture with some contrast but no large lumps.

You can eat this as it is to test or fry a small blob to give a crisp outer to test what it will be like when baked. You may well want more salt as I eat very little (just enough to stop my tendency to low blood pressure). You may also want to reduce or remove the cumin if you don't like its distinctive earthy taste. Try some sage as an alternative.

Place a layer of the cranberries in the bottom of your dish and pack the quinoa mixture on top.  I used individual baking cases - the sort often used for lemon drizzle, as some of these are being given away.  I made eleven individual nut roasts from this mixture, filling the containers to just below the surface. Drizzle a little oil on top to help it go crisp and brown when baked.

before baking

Bake in the oven with other things you are cooking for about 20 minutes.  These can be frozen; just get out of the freezer a couple of hours before you want to cook them if they are the individual size. These tiny individual portions are easy to tuck in next to other items.  Leave them to rest ten minutes before serving.

This nut roast has a light flavour and slightly crumbly texture.  It would go well with the other traditional items on a Christmas dinner.  Just remember to have some gf vegan gravy to go wit it.

Christmas dinner stress-buster; Tesco ready-made gf turkey gravy

When I catered for large parties with the full turkey, eight vegetables, two types of potatoes etc. I used to buy two turkeys.  I would cook one the previous week and use the bones to make stock so that the gravy would be a minimum effort activity once the main turkey was cooked- I'd just add the stock to the gooey brown mess at the bottom of the roasting dish, give it a quick stir on the stove, and that would be it.

 With a big kitchen and  large chest freezer this sort of catering was easy.  Now I live in a flat I am looking for space as well as effort saving techniques.  While I was shopping today I noticed an array of ready-made gravy, thickened with cornflour.  I decided to test this tonight with a roast chicken and vegetables.

cold gravy

Th gravy can be heated in the microwave or on the hob.  It ha a pleasant thickness without being cloying. The flavour is a little odd for me, as it has star anise as well as pepper.  I'm never sure about my views on star anise, but every time I buy this spice I end up not using it.  However this hint of star anise is just that, a hint, and I doubt people would be troubled by it as part of the meal.  Just remember to be able to tell them that is what the flavour is if they ask.

This gravy can also be frozen. The one I bought today (Dec 12) had a use by date of Dec 27.

Gluten free mince pies: M&S, FreeFrom and Hale & Hearty

It is nearly Christmas and the stores are full of red and green-wrapped seasonal food..much of which is unsuitable for people who cannot tolerate wheat and gluten.  However, there is an increasing range of gluten free food readily available so I decided to run some comparisons.  Today I tested three mince pies, two bought from a speciality store - the kind that sells both rice cakes and vast arrays of vitamins, and the other from Marks and Spencers.  I have been increasingly impressed with the efforts MandS are making to minimise allergens where they really are not needed in a recipe. In doing so they are making many prepared foods available to people like me, so that we don't always have to cook from basic ingredients.

For readers outside the UK, a mince pie is pastry filled with a rich spicy mixture of dried fruits, traditionally eaten at Christmas.

We tested the three mince pies both hot and cold, and considered flavour, texture and ease of handling. All three, I am pleased to say, would be acceptable both hot and cold.  However, they did differ quite a bit, on these three characteristics and also in their packaging.

Prices for a box of four:
M and S £2.49
Hale and Hearty £3.85
OK Foods £2.25

cold pies cut in half

hot pies cut in half

These three mince pies looked quite different, which made it easy to remember which was which in the testing.  The MandS one is an open tart with a small spice-dusted marzipan star on top.  The HandH one is also open, but has a pastry star dusted with icing sugar.  The OK one is a closed tart with a full pastry lid.

The flavours and handling characteristics of these tarts differed when they were hot and cold.

M&S mince pie

MandS: these tarts looked pretty though the filling looked a bit stingy.  They had a soft almost pliable pastry which made them easy to handle, and a rich spicy filling.  The flavour of the nutmeg was quite strong, and it might almost be too much for people who don't like spice - I found my own homemade mince one year, made to my taste with lots of spice, was not enjoyed by my sister.  Given the strong flavour of the filling the tarts did not need any more filling to be balanced.  The marzipan star was firm and gave an interesting contrast to the light pastry and the gooey filling.  These were good hot and cold, but the tart citrusy flavour didn't come out in the cold tart.

These tarts are presented in a cardboard box without an interior cellophane wrap.  They had a shelf life of about a week from when I bought them.  They can be frozen and used within a month.

Other allergens: nuts, cow's milk and eggs.

Hale & Hearty mince pie

Hale andHearty
These mince pies are not only gluten and wheat free but also contain no soya, milk or sulphites and are suitable for vegetarians.  While they say gluten free they also say tested to below 20ppm, which suggests they are possibly made in a facility which also handles wheat and so might not be suitable for super sensitives.  I haven't had any reaction yet and ate these half an hour ago, so judging by my delicate system they are ok.  Update from company Just to assure you that our mince pies are made in a dedicated gluten free facility and are milk free too!
20ppm means we comply Food Standards.
These tarts come in two separate cellophane wraps inside the cardboard box, so would be excellent for slipping into your bag to take to a party.  They have a shelf life of five months from when I purchased them.

These tarts were the prettiest, I think, with the pastry shell filled to the very top with the mincemeat and a white dusting of icing sugar.  They held together very well both when hot and cold. If you were having a party and didn't want crumbs all over the place these would be the ones to go for. The filling was mellow and well balanced- it didn't have the punch of the MandS one but I think anyone who liked mincemeat would find this acceptable,  My tasting partner, who isn't gf, said these were what he would expect from a mince pie.

OK foods mince pie

The OKfoods mince pies are also dairy free.  These lidded mince pies were firm and succulent, but crumbled especially when hot.  It was difficult getting the pie out of the foil, and the lid came off. They would be good as a hot pudding with custard or cream.  The fruity mixture was treacley with no pronounced spikes of flavour. They were the cheapest as well, though not much cheaper than the MandS tarts.

Other allergens are nuts and sulpher dioxide and may contain traces of egg and peanut. They had a shelf life of three months from when I bought them.



In general I was very impressed with these tarts.  They are vastly superior to anything available in the stores a few years ago.  I would be happy to be served any of them.  My personal favorite was the Hale and Hearty as it was the perfect mince pie in texture and flavour, and was so easy to handle.  For a bit more drama the MandS one was a close second, but I think more people would find it over-spiced and might be startled by the flavour.  As a fresh food it also takes more organising to have available for an impromptu party.

.......

and after I got posted this I got sent  a link by Living Streets charity to a mincepie calculator ( how many have you burnt off by walking)  ...and if you enter soon you get a chance to win a Kindle..easier to read when walking than paperbacks as you can make the text big.

Excellent gf-friendly Christmas lunch at Holloways

My friends from the City & Guilds course I did a few years ago met for our December jolly at Holloways, an amazing store and cafe in the rolling hills in the Worcestershire, in a village called Suckley.  I had phoned the day before to check that they could feed me, and was impressed with the calm and informative way in which they said that they did have lots of food that was suitable for me.

Whilst it may seem strange, I had a surprisingly delicious curry while my friends ate turkey or nut roast dinner...not because that was the only thing that I could eat safely but because it was what I fancied.  I have actually got to the stage where I find it difficult to chose what to eat in restaurants because there was such a long period where all I was offered was bare salad- or even told there was nothing I could eat.  I didn't have a starter, but the other person who needed gf free food had a thick vegetable soup and gf rolls - they looked like DS ciabatta, which is almost the only packaged bread I buy for myself occasionally.

I had a desert as well, again a choice.  How difficult,  I chose meringue with mulled fruits minus the cream.  I also ordered coffee.  I wondered if they would fall down at this final hurdle- many restaurants seem unable to translate an order for a gf meal into a a coffee without a biscuit at the end of the meal.  The coffee came - with a mini meringue.  The waiter apologised that it was meringue overload; normally they would have given me a gf brownie, but as it had butter in and I had said no dairy (though it is not so big a problem for me) they had carried this through to the end.  I was very impressed.

I also found it quite surprising that I had no cross contamination symptoms, even from sitting with my friends eating flaky breads, stuffing and cakes.  I often find I feel ill just being near people eating glutened foods, so this is very impressive.

The general atmosphere was very pleasant, the staff attentive, inventive and willing to please.  It is a pity it isn't nearer - I'd make it a regular venue for lunch and coffee breaks.  They even had a blueberry gf cake - I spotted this as I paid my bill.  I gave the staff a 60% tip and sincere thanks.  It is a long time since I enjoyed a meal in a restaurant as much.

Cafe Rouge - what about a gluten free christmas party?

Last year I gave the Cafe Rouge a gold star for a safe and interesting place to eat - provided you can afford the time you need for the meal to be served.  This year I have to take the gold star away even though I did eat there and didn't get ill afterwards. They have had a year to improve and seem to have gone backwards in the choices they offer.

They do publish allergens on the Internet, though it the current one only lasts until Oct 11, so not much use if planning a Christmas meal.  For the first time, I was offered the list when I asked to check something.  However, it is in very tiny writing, and doesn't make it clear which component of a menu item isn't safe.  For example, I wanted a sorbet, then decided to check.  Surely it would be gluten free.  Sorbet is mentioned on the line 'icecream and sorbet' and states it has gluten in.  Is this just the wafer that would normally come with it?  No one knew.  I handed my raspberry sorbet over to someone else to eat.  I don't understand how they can carry foods where they don't know the ingredients.

I ate the duck a year ago - it was said to be safe.  This year that item has gluten in.  The only safe meals were the steaks (some of the sauces have gluten so check), the mussels, and the lemon sole.  After my courageous and unsuccessful attempt to eat a scallop last month I decided not to try a great dish of mussels. Didn't want to eat steak. Had to eat the lemon sole - which was fine, but the accompanying vegetables were too few and not well cooked.  Just as well I managed to give up being a vegetarian before I discovered it was gluten causing all the trouble.

I was eating there as it was a leaving party for an old acquaintance.  Glad to have gone as lovely to see everyone, but disappointed in the meal.

I wrote to ask Cafe Rouge why the duck was on the safe list last year and isn't now.  I have got no reply.