Gluten free Soda Bread

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Gluten free Soda Bread

I used Gearóid Lynch’s recipe from his book My Gluten Free Kitchen to make a fab gluten free soda bread this morn. He helpfully has the recipe up on his website as linked.

For the flour mix, I used Aldi’s GF flour as well as their buttermilk.

Crust is super crunchy and bread is light and fluffy. Winner Winner.

Gluten free Banana and Blueberry Muffins

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Gluten free Banana and Blueberry Muffins

Very happy with this recipe taken from BBC Good Food. They rose perfectly and are lovely and moist.

To make the recipe gluten free I used gluten free versions of all the dry ingredients (self raising flour, baking powder etc) and added 1 tsp of Xantham gum. I also added a big handful of blueberries for a bit of extra fruit.

 

 

Gluten free London

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Gluten free London

I recently visited London for a few days and tried a few new places for gluten free grub as well as some old favorites.

The UK and Ireland are really amazing for gluten free options and awareness, the only thing we are missing really are the GF options at McDonalds and Burger King that they already have in Spain & Portugal.

Here are some of my gluten free London highlights:

Breakfast

Pret

Tried and tested and oh so handy, there’s a Pret on every London corner and for brekkie they had GF yogurt and granola as well as GF bircher muesli on offer.

Pret

Beyond Bread

These guys are a 100% gluten free bakery & cafe and have multiple locations around London including in Selfridges –  I tried a GF croissant, chocolate plait and a cinnamon bun (I shared, don’t judge me). They have a fab gluten free breakfast/brunch menu including waffles too.

BBbakery

Lunch/Dinner

Leon

Another handy option as there are multiple locations around London. Their menu is largely gluten free (and marked as so) including gluten free buns available for their burgers. I got the chicken meatballs with rice (small portion) and it was perfect for lunch.

Leon

Honest Burgers

A great burger with GF bun and added extras for coeliacs such as gluten free onion rings and their fries which are also safe for consumption. So so good.

HBdoor

HBburger

HBonionrings

I also had a pre theatre  GF pizza in Bella Italia (not pictured), a handy quick and easy option, much like Pizza Express.  I had wanted to get to Leggero but alas they were booked out, next time!!

Enjoy eating out in London :)

 

 

Gluten Free Berlin

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Gluten Free Berlin

I recently visited Berlin for a quick city break and wanted to share my experience for any of you gluten free peeps hoping to get fed while on hols there yourself.

First off,  I will be honest and say Berlin is not great for coeliacs. On every corner and in every subway station you will find shop after shop selling sandwiches and croissants but rarely a salad or a piece of fruit.  I found in a lot of places when I questioned about gluten free it was met with confusion, it’s obviously just not that common to have coeliac disease or be eating gluten free. In two places I managed to get sandwich fillings without the bread but only after much conversation and incredulous looks from the server. That being said I did happen upon some gems when I got there, it’s just they were few and far between.

I would strongly advise that you bring GF snacks and bread to keep you going, particularly on your day of arrival. I brought a fresh gluten free bread loaf and crackers from home which kept me going. I was able to find a huge variety of the Schar brand in the closest supermarket to my hotel so GF products are there if you need them.

supermarket2

In terms of places I found good for gluten free, here you go

Spreegold – Breakfast, lunch or dinner

I had breakfast here in the cafe. It’s a ‘healthy’ cafe with lots of fresh juices and avocados in just about every dish. I had a breakfast sandwich without the bread (after much discussion) as I had my own with me. Unfortunately, despite me even knowing the german for ‘no bread please’, it also came missing the bacon but I was just so happy to get some food I didn’t care. I had a lovely fresh juice too so was set up for the day.

 

spreegold


Steel Vintage Cafe – Breakfast or lunch

This was a fantastic find, right behind the Hitler’s bunker area (ie. a carpark) – what a location! As well as gluten free sandwiches, they also had gluten free beer.  I had the avocado smash with chive and radish on seeded GF bread. It was delish. The main draw for my husband was the bicycle shop side so it was the perfect place for us to stop for some lunch. There’s a nice vibe here.

 

SVBwindow

SVBbeer

 

SVBlunch

Vapiano

Another random but amazing find was this place. I’d liken it to Milano or Zizzi in Ireland/the UK except you order directly with the chef who cooks up your dish at the counter. They have super GF knowledge, it’s all over the menu. They do GF pizza and pasta but I went for a mushroom risotto. It was fab. Great value too, for 2 mains, a beer, bottle of San Pelligrino and a nice glass of Riesling it was €33.

Vapianochef

Some other recommendations:

Einstein Caffe – Appears to be a German Chain and the coffee is really good, it also opens late and serves wine and beer – what’s not to like!

Einsteincaffe

Monkey Bar – Located in the 25 Hr Hotel in the Bikini complex, this is a rooftop bar which gets it’s name from the fact that it overlooks the Monkey enclose in Berlin Zoo. It’s v popular and apparently absolutely jammers in the evenings. We went for a drink on our way back to our hotel to chill out after a day of sightseeing and it was perfect. They do bar snacks and apparently are GF friendly although I didn’t partake. It’s a bit more expensive here but you’re paying for the view and the hype.

A place we tried that is known to be good for coeliacs but I wouldn’t recommend is Katz Orange, a German restaurant. They handled the GF side of things just fine, the food was just a bit mediocre for the prices charged. It isn’t bad, I just wouldn’t go back there myself. The restaurant itself is very cool, in a hidden location off street and was absolutely buzzing when we were there.

Enjoy Berlin!

A decent gluten free coffee cake

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A decent gluten free coffee cake

I tried my hand at a GF coffee cake today with really good results. I found this recipe from Odlums really straight forward.

To make the cake gluten free I used GF self raising flour from Aldi and added  1 tsp of Doves Farm Xantham gum to create some elasticity in this bad boy!!

I also added chopped walnuts to the topping because I’m crazy like that.

Easy peasy.

Irish Free From Food Awards 2017 – the winners!

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Irish Free From Food Awards 2017 – the winners!

I was delighted to be asked to take part in the judging process for the Irish Free From Food Awards for a second time this year.  It’s fantastic to be involved with an organisation who want to celebrate free from food that’s done really well.

Being a judge has serious perks as not only are you sampling tried and tested brands, you often also get to try new and improved products before they are released to the masses. A big thank you to John and Emma for letting me get involved and I’ll see you next year!

The awards ceremony was held last week and while I unfortunately couldn’t attend, I understand a great night was had by all.  Here’s the WINNERS LIST 2017 if you fancy a look see.

Some of my personal favourites made the grade so I thought I would share them with you.

  1. Bfree Sweet Potato Wraps Product of the year and Gold in the bread products category
    I’m pretty sure these guys would lose profits if I stopped buying them.I love them as wraps but they also make a mean quesadilla – well done to Bfree!
  2. 9 White Deer  Craft beer range- Innovation Award
    See my previous blog post on this full range of GF Irish craft beer, including a stout. Cheers to that.
  3. Origin Earth Crackers – Gold in Crackers & Crispbreads category
    The only GF cracker that tastes like a cracker to me. Still no Jacobs cream cracker sadly but they are really really good.
  4. Tesco Free From Batter Onion rings – Gold in Ready to cook category
    Dear Tesco, can you make a battered sausage next please, asking for a friend.
  5. Aldi Gluten free product range – Multiple awards
    Their porridge oats, award winning Zilch bread, biscuits and pasta are my store cupboard staples. Good job Aldi.

 

Gluten Free Beer range from 9 White Deer Brewery

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Gluten Free Beer range from 9 White Deer Brewery

The folks at 9 white deer brewery in Co.Cork were kind enough to send me some samples of their new gluten free range of beer, Stag Saor.  Yes, it’s a very hard life eh?

Within this range is Ireland’s first gluten free stout and it’s also Europe’s first full range of gluten free craft beers. G’wan the Irish!

I invited some friends to try the range with me and they all went down really well, even though I was the only coeliac in the bunch. It’s a good sign when you have genuine craft beer lovers confirming they wouldn’t know there was any difference with this range being gluten free.

The stand outs for me were the Stout and the IPA. The stout has really strong chocolate and vanilla notes and is surprisingly light. I would never have been a stout drinker par se prior to being diagnosed but I would definitely buy this again. My other favourite was the IPA which was light, balanced and fruity.

The standard ales and German Kolsh were tasty and balanced – they just wouldn’t be my preference in general for a beer. Overall, a huge thumbs up from me on the entire range, well done lads

You can locate Stag Saor stockists by visiting the brewery’s website.

DIY – Gluten Free Satay sauce

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DIY  – Gluten Free Satay sauce

This is an easy recipe and the chili is optional! This amount serves 2-4.

Ingredients:

3 generous tbsp Peanut Butter (I used Aldi’s own brand)

3 tbsp Tamari Soy sauce

1 tbsp Peanut oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 red chili – chopped finely

1 cup of Water to loosen

This is how we do it:

  1. Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl except the water
  2. Marinate meat/fish if you have time, if not, add straight to your stir fry as it’s cooking and allow to heat through.
  3. Add water gradually to loosen to taste – I would normally add a full cup but you might prefer a thicker sauce – to each his own!
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