Category Archives: Sunday Adventurous Gourmet

Raspberry Pie with Crème Anglais

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An easy, delicious pie. The crème anglais will take a little time but can always be substituted with ice cream or whipped cream flavoured with vanilla essence, if you’re in a hurry.

For a Sunday menu, why not serve an appetizer of Stuffed Mushrooms, followed by a Roasted Balsamic Tomato Soup together with Oat and Rasin Rolls and with a sweet ending this Raspberry Pie with Crème Anglais.

Serves 4

Crème Anglais:

250 ml whole milk
½ vanilla pod
30g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
35g caster sugar

Raspberry Pie:

250g frozen raspberries
125g butter
150 ml brown sugar
150 ml gluten free flour (not selfrising)
200 ml rolled oats (glutenfree)
Some fresh raspberries for decoration

Start by making the Crème Anglais:

  1. Infuse milk with 30g sugar and vanilla pod by combining in a saucepan (slice the pod open and scrape out the vanilla beans – add both the pod and the beans to the milk) and letting come to a boil (do not let it come to a full boil, take it off the heat just when the bubbles starts to form). Let cool a bit.
  2. Whisk egg yolks and 35g sugar. Pour ¼ of the infused milk into the egg mixture (in order to temper the eggs). Stir. Then add the egg/milk mixture into the pan containing the remaining infused milk.
  3. Place the pan on low heat. Stir continuously with a spatula in an 8 motion. Take care to stir the corners too. Do not boil! The mixture will slowly thicken and the foam will disappear. The sauce is ready when the mixture is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon.
  4. Strain the mixture into a bowl in order to stop the cooking. Let cool and then place in the fridge.

Pie:

  1. Preheat the oven to 175C
  2. Melt the butter
  3. Mix the dry ingredients.
  4. Gradually pour the melted butter into the dry ingredients (you may not need all of the butter) and stir to create crumbs. The crumbs should be wet/moist – if too wet add some more oats.
  5. Place the raspberries in four lightly greased individual pie dishes. Spread the crumbs on top.
  6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Cod Casserole with Thyme

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Balanced light flavours, serve as a starter or a main course. Decorate with lumpfish caviar or some prawns. Serve with moist potatoe dinner rolls. And why not finish the meal with a Cheesecake Ice Cream?

cod casserole 2 IMG_5018

Serves 4 as a main course

500 g Cod fillets, in pieces, skinless and boneless

Butter or olive oil to fry in
Pancetta diced, 75 g
1 turnip, diced into small cubes
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 tsp thyme (dried)

500 ml fish stock
200 ml single cream
50 ml dry sherry
Salt and pepper
Shrimp or lumpfish caviar and dill to decorate

  1. Fry the pancetta in a casserole pot 4-5 minutes. Add all prepared vegetables and fry another 5 minutes. Add the thyme and stir.
  2. Add the liquids, let simmer for 20 minutes. If more liquids seem to be needed, add some water (but remember, it is a casserole, not a soup).
  3. Add the cod, let slowly simmer until done (5-7 minutes).
  4. Serve in bowls and decorate either the side of the bowl or the casserole itself with prawns or lumpfish caviar.

Potatoe Dinner Rolls

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“These rolls surely cannot be gluten free “ – people tell me all the time.

Why not make them and see for yourself? You can make them as a loaf (in a tin) or as rolls.

Serve with Cod Casserole with Thyme.

The secret to this recipe is the Psyllium Husk (read more about this here). You may use Xantham Gum instead but some people find it hard to digest.

Makes around 12 rolls.

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175 g cooked, mashed potatoe
5 dl water warmed to 37C
50 g fresh yeast (or 2×7 g dry yeast but then you need to heat the liquid to around 40 C – see instructions on the package)
1,5 tbsp ground Psyllium Husk (or 0,5 tbsp Xantham Gum)
300 g (or about 600 ml) gluten free flour (not self rising).
½ tbsp ground anise
½ tbsp ground caraway seeds
½ tbsp ground fennel
(or, some other spices you may prefer)
80 g (or about 150 ml) buckwheat flour (contrary to its name, this does not contain any wheat and is totally gluten free)
200 ml gluten free oats
salt
75 ml maple syrup
2 tbsp cooking oil (rape seed or sunflower)
optional: 100 g of chopped walnuts

  1. Boil the potatoe, mash and let cool
  2. Combine the water, yeast (if you are using fresh yeast, stir with care to completely dissolve) and Psyllium Husk and let stand for 10 minutes.
  3. Add all other ingredients and knead the dough in a large bowl for 10 minutes. The dough should be quite loose and sticky.
  4. Cover with a towel and let proof in warm place for 30 minutes. The dough will double in size.
  5. Push the dough down into the bowl to let some air out.
  6. Oil your hands well and shape 12 rolls, which you then place on baking paper on an oven tray (you will need to add oil to your hands around every third roll, otherwise too sticky). Make 2 parallel shallow cuts on each roll (helps the bread to rise evenly) and sprinkle some flour on top (for decoration).
  7. Cover with a towel and let proof for another 30 minutes.
  8. Heat the oven to 225C.
  9. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes. During the first few minutes of baking, throw in 5-6 ice cubes at the bottom of the oven (I usually place a small tray for this purpose at the bottom of the oven). This will creates some steam, enabling the bread to rise a bit extra and forms a nice crust. When they are done, the rolls should feel light and sound hollow when tapping on the bottom of the roll.

Let cool completely on a rack before eating. Keeps well for another day!

Cheesecake Ice Cream

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Instead of making a traditional Cheesecake, why not try this ice cream version? It is a perfect dish to make ahead of time and freeze in small silicon muffin cups for a nice presentation of individual servings. Serve after Cod Casserole with Thyme.

Cheese Ice Cream-0454

 

3 eggs
200 ml sugar
A few drops of vanilla essence
A dash of salt
200 g of Philadelphia cream cheese
300 ml whipping cream

You need 3 bowls:

  1. Bowl 1 – Whisk the egg whites into a stiff foam
  2. Bowl 2 – Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the Philadelphia cheese
  3. Bowl 3 – Beat the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks.
  4. Combine the egg yolk mixture with the cream. Carefully fold in the egg whites.
  5. Pour into silicon muffin cups (or into anything you’d like to serve the ice cream in).
  6. Place in freezer until set (4-6 hours depending on what size containers you use).

Take out of freezer just before serving. Remove silicon cup.

Serve as they are, with some fresh berries and/or with some gluten free digestive biscuit crumbles on top.

Zucchini Blinis with Smoked Salmon and Lumpfish Caviar

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For a festive Sunday brunch, serve with Gluten Free Crisp Bread with Dips!

Zucchini blinis

After an overindulging weekend, I like to cook something healthy, yet elegant, for a Sunday brunch with friends. These Zucchini Blinis offer a lighter option than the rich buckwheat version.

Serves 4

2 small zucchinis/courgettes, grated
A handful of shredded spinach leaves
3 tbsp of soy flour
1 large egg

150 grams of cottage cheese
3 tbsp half fat crème fraiche
½ finely chopped red onion
½ finely chopped green pepper
4 tbsp grated lemon peel (take care only to use the outer layer of a un-waxed lemon, the white part is bitter)

4 slices of smoked salmon

50 g black lumpfish caviar

Zucchini blinis makingIMG_5025

1. Mix soy flour and egg to a smooth batter.
2. Squeeze the water out of the grated zucchini, add spinach and combine with the egg batter.
3. In a bowl, mix together all ingredients for the cottage cheese sauce and set aside.
4. Pan fry the zucchini blinis on medium heat in a little olive oil (or butter if you prefer). Use a spoon and gently flatten each blini to form a small round cake with a diameter of about 9 cm (3,5 inches) each. About 2-3 tbsp of batter is about right for each blini. Let it brown for 2-3 minutes on each side. Make 8 blinis.
5. Place one blini on each plate, add rolled up salmon, a dollop of the sauce, a tsp of caviar and cover with a second blini.

Gluten Free Crisp Bread with Dips

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For a festive Sunday Brunch. To be served with Zucchini Blinis.

These crackers will take about 1 hour 15 minutes to make.

crisp bread Makes one large oven tray.

150 grams mixed seeds (when in a hurry, I simply use Waitrose Love Life mixed seeds) plus a handful for the decoration.

100 grams gluten free flour (I prefer a mix of 70 grams quinoa flour and 30 grams of buckwheat flour but any gluten free mix will work as long as it’s not self-rising)

1 tablespoon of ground spices (I like to mix fennel, caraway and anise)
2 teaspoons of course sea salt
2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
200 millilitres boiling water

  1. Heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius
  2. Mix all dry ingredients together
  3. Add the water and the oil
  4. Mix well together
  5. Place the sticky dough on greaseproof baking paper covering an oven tray. Put another sheet of baking paper on top and press on the dough to form a thin layer covering the whole tray.
  6. Sprinkle some more coarse sea salt on top (optional) and a handful of seeds.
  7. Pre cut in squares and place in oven for about 50-60 minutes.
  8. Cool on rack and break apart in squares.

Tuna dip:

1 can tuna fish in water, 120 grams
5 small gherkins, finely chopped
1 teaspoon French mustard
2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
Mix.

Tomato dip:

3 tomatoes, medium sized, finely chopped
½ red onion, finely chopped
½ avocado, chopped
A few drops of lemon juice.
Mix.

Salmon dip:

100 grams smoked salmon, in pieces
3-4 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon creamed horseradish
Mix.