Dairy Free Zone

Shipton Mill

sian — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:31:30 +0000

For those of you who have become enthusiastic bread bakers, but who find the issue of carting heavy bags of flour home from the shops (having paid over the odds for it), becomes a real bore, I have found a solution. All my bread flour now comes mail order from Shipton Mill with free delivery for batches of 30 kilos or more.

Now that sounds like an awful lot of flour, but don’t panic, there is a solution. What you need to do is get a few people to order together. It doesn’t take many to get through that much flour and it doesn’t have to be 30 kilos of the same flour, just an order which comes to a total of that. So, show someone else how to do the no-knead bread, then order together. I’ve found that three people who bake occasionally can easily get through 30 kilos of flour in a surprisingly short time. Since delivery is free for anything over this, you can just order that much and not have to store vast amounts of it at any one time.

If you bake every day for a family of more than four, you’ll find that 30 kilos goes like snow on a hedge! If you think about the recipe, which calls for 540g of flour, you will get just under two loaves out of a kilo bag. I get just under four out of a bag of organic light malted flour (which is our bread favourite) because I use it half and half with plain white bread flour. (I get a better rise that way.) When you start to add it up, you suddenly find that 30 kilos is only going to last about two months, baking a loaf a day! Suddenly 30 kilos doesn’t seem so much, does it! If, like me, you end up baking two loaves at a time sometimes, or you throw in a no-knead fruit loaf for breakfast, suddenly 30 kilos becomes just about five weeks’ supply!

It’s dead easy, you can order on-line and it arrives within a couple of days even from the other side of the country! It takes the hassle out of making your own bread and that just has to be good, doesn’t it!

Just enough time to make a Simnel cake

sian — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:01:37 +0000

If you’re quick, there’s still time to make a Simnel cake for tomorrow. This is a definite favourite in our family: we’re all marzipan fans! Look for the recipe here and have fun both making and then eating this seasonal treat.

It’s Hot Cross Bun Time!

sian — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:00:44 +0000

Hot cross buns, fresh from the oven are among my favourite things to eat. Today I shall be making a batch with my children ready for tomorrow. You can make them in two ways. Last year I put up my quick version using a bread machine. I intend making some of these this morning so that they are ready in time for tea; however, I’m also going to put together a batch for tomorrow made by the overnight method. These are for you if you’re going to be out a lot, as you don’t have to be there at any specific time. It really is the most flexible baking method I have ever found and (as those of you who have been visiting this site for a while will know) I’m a real enthusiast. This is a bread-making technique which deserves to be more widely known. It’s easy, the results are brilliant … and you really should try it!

Recipe: No-knead Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

540g strong bread flour
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup soft light brown sugar
1tsp salt
½tsp yeast
1tsp ground cinnamon
½tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup sultanas
¼ cup glaceed peel (optional, can be replaced with the zest of half an orange/lemon)
370mls water, warmed to not quite ouch on the finger
2 tbsps flavourless vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
a little flour for rolling
1tbsp flour and a little water mixed into a thick paste
1-2tbsps apricot jam, melted

Instructions

Put the flour, both sugars, the salt, yeast, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl and mix them all together very thoroughly.
Stir in the sultanas and the peel (if you are using it).
Add the water and the oil and mix a little. This cools the mixture a fraction.
Add the egg and mix it all together very thoroughly using one hand. Keep the other hand clean to turn the bowl as you mix and then to hold the butter knife which you will need to scrape the mixing hand clean of dough.
You should end up with a very sticky dough that is soft but not sloppy.
Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and leave it at ordinary room temperature to rise for at least 5 hours, but it is perfectly OK to set it up at lunch time and leave it overnight. Do not put it in the airing cupboard or near a radiator. You want slow rising at a lower temperature.
Line a couple of baking trays with silicone paper.
When it is ready (and when you it suits you), tip out the dough on a floured board and scrape out the bowl.
Gently fold in the edges towards the middle until you have a non-sticky surface which you can handle.
Gently squish it out with your fingers into a sort of rough rectangle. Fold one narrow end into the middle, then fold the other end over the top of this and gently squash it all together on the board.
Tear off lumps to make into buns by rolling them gently in your hands. How many you get will depend on how big you want your buns. Remember that they will rise again and double in size before baking. I would expect to get about 10-12 out of a batch, but every batch is slightly different.
Place each ball of dough on one of your trays when it is ready. Remember to leave space between them to allow them room to rise.
Using a VERY sharp knife to slash the tops of the buns with a cross. You need to get a blade as sharp as possible or you will just drag the dough.
Cover the buns with clingfilm and put the trays somewhere warm to rest. Leave them for about an hour, or until the buns have doubled in size.
Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 7, 220°C, 425°F with an empty tray at the bottom of the oven.
When the buns are risen, turn the oven down to Gas mark 6, 200°C, 400°F and bake them in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. To check whether they are cooked, take one out and tap it on the bottom with a knuckle. It should sound hollow. If it doesn’t, it needs to go back into the oven for a couple more minutes.
When they are cooked, put them on a cooling tray and try to resist them until they are cool enough to eat!

Cooking time (duration): two lots of about 10 minutes + rising time

Diet type: Dairy-free

Number of servings (yield): 12

Meal type: breakfast, snack, whenever you fancy!

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Teatime in Great Malvern

sian — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:47:09 +0000

The Bluebird Tea Rooms on the main hill in Great Malvern are a wonderful find. They offer dairy-free cakes (they also have gluten-free things on offer) and a traditional tea room atmosphere. The setting is lovely and the food is good. You do need to be prepared to wait for a table at busy times of day, but the wait is worth it. The tea is good and the cakes we had were excellent.

A lovely way to wind up a day on the hills.

Blue Bird Tea Rooms 9, Church St., Great Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 2AA

Telephone: 01684 561166

For other choices, see our reviews page of places to eat out

Cherry Oat Munchies

sian — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:31:59 +0000

These make a great alternative to a slice of cake in a lunchbox. They taste delicious and the oats mean that they’re good for slow release energy to get you through the afternoon. They’re quick and easy to make, they keep for about a week in an airtight box: can’t ask more than that!

Recipe: Cherry Oat Munchies

Ingredients

9oz / 250g Tomor, softened
1¾oz / 50g caster sugar
3½oz / 100g light muscovado sugar
5½oz / 150g self-raising flour
8oz / 225g porridge oats
7oz / 200g glacé cherries
1¾oz / 50g sultanas

Instructions

Get the Tomor out of the fridge and put it somewhere warm about 1/2 an hour before you want to start cooking.
Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180C / 350F.
Line 2/3 baking sheets with silicone parchment. In a bowl, beat together the caster sugar, the light muscovado sugar and the softened Tomor until they become pale and fluffy. (If you have forgotten to get the Tomor out earlier, zap it in the microwave in a small bowl for 30 second bursts until it looks soft, but isn’t running all over the bowl.)
Stir in the flour and oats and mix them well in.
Roughly chop about ¾ of the cherries.
Stir in all the cherries and the sultanas.
Shape the mixture with your hands and pat the cookies slightly flattish on the baking sheet. Try to leave them a little rough on top as this gives a lovely rustic, crunchy finish. The mixture is sticky, but not impossibly so.
You should get about 20 munchies, but it does depend on how big you want them! They will spread slightly while cooking and if they’re too close together, they end up as squares instead of rounds; but I’ve never yet found that square sides make them last any longer in the tin! If you’re making them for an occasion, be sure to allow space between them for the spreading so that you end up with lovely round munchies.
Bake them for 15-20 minutes until golden and smelling divine.
Allow them to cool on their trays for 5 minutes, then gently remove them to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

Preparation time (duration): 15 minutes

Cooking time (duration): 15-20 minutes

Diet type: Dairy-free

Number of servings (yield): 20 ish

Meal type: snack

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Somewhere else to eat in Great Malvern

sian — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:06:07 +0000

For good Thai food at lunchtime on a Saturday, you could try The Red Lion.

The Red Lion, 4 Saint Ann’s Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 4RG 01684 564787

We’ve eaten here three times now on Saturdays at lunch time and have had excellent Thai food. There are other dishes on offer, some of which are non-dairy, but it’s the Thai that we go back for. The landlady is Thai (owns and runs the restaurant next door, we think) and the cooking is authentic and safe (dairy-free-wise). Having googled the pub, I was surprised to find some very hostile reviews, but I can honestly say that we’ve never had anything but good service and excellent food. Each dish tastes distinctly different – as it should, but let’s face it, in many places all the Thai tastes the same and all the Indian dishes taste the same. Here, each dish has its own character and is freshly cooked. Yes, you have to wait, but not longer than you would expect for freshly cooked food. I haven’t been there in the evening when it may well be busier and therefore slower, but for me it’s a good place to go when you’ve been up on the hills all morning, are deep frozen and in need of some good food to thaw out with! Oh, and they have a choice of ales too. Doesn’t get much better than that!
For other choices, see our reviews page of places to eat out

Eating Out Dairy-Free

sian — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:34:58 +0000

It suddenly dawned on me a couple of days ago that what we could do with is a site which listed places where you could eat out as a dairy-free bod without being made to feel weird or a right nuisance and without having to put up withdry, over- grilled pork chop and green beans drenched in oil. (I kid you not. We were subjected to that at a restaurant with a good reputation and various marks of excellence… in France.) So here it is! Since no-one else is doing it, I’ll put anywhere we try and enjoy on the reviews page. It should grow with time, so do keep checking!

I can’t promise desserts at many places, unless you are still prepared to eat everlasting fruit salad. In this family we’ve eaten enough fruit salad to last us a lifetime, so we tend not to bother with dessert. However, that apart, all the places on this list are places we have eaten at and had a good reception, or stayed at and been made to feel welcome. We have eaten well and not been made ill! Always a plus!!

The first place to go on our new list is:

The Unicorn, 2 Belle Vue Terrace, Great Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 4PZ 01684 574 152

This is a traditional pub which serves well-kept real ale and good food. It isn’t a pretentious place. The staff are friendly and know their menu inside out. The food is all cooked on site and is good. It isn’t frilly, but personally I’d rather have it good than fussy. They offer everything from curry to cajun salmon and Somerset pork, all of which are dairy-free. If you want to be sure that your choice is safe, the staff know exactly what is in each dish as everything is cooked on site. The portions are amply generous and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. Even on Sundays, they have a menu on offer other than Sunday roast. We’ve now eaten there four times over the last year when we’ve been over that side of the country…and we shall be going back.

For other choices, see our reviews page of places to eat out

Viennese Fingers

sian — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:33:26 +0000

These are easy to make and taste DIVINE! They melt in the mouth and they make great presents for teachers at the end of term. You can put a handful in a little cellophane bag, tie it up with some gift ribbon and voilà, one individual present at less cost than a box of chocs and which will be much more appreciated because it’s homemade. That’s a win as far as I’m concerned! Alternatively… you could make a batch for your beloved on Valentine’s Day.

Viennese fingers cooling off

Recipe: Viennese Fingers

Ingredients

8oz / 250g Pure Sunflower Spread
2oz / 60g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8oz / 250g plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2oz / 15g pistachio nuts, skinned and chopped (optional)
2oz / 60g Kinnerton’s chocolate, smashed up into little pieces (I whack the sealed packet on the edge of the worktop: emotionally satisfying and very effective!)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to Gas 4 / 180C / 350F
Line several baking trays with silicone paper.
Fit a piping bag with a 1cm / 1/2″ ten point star nozzle.
Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the Pure spread with the icing sugar until the mixture is very light and creamy.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Sift the flour and the salt into the bowl and beat it in with a wooden spoon. You will end up with a soft dough.
Spoon it into the piping bag and twist the top round to keep the mixture in the bag when you squeeze it. Don’t over-fill the bag or you’ll end up wearing the mixture instead of having it on the trays! You need about a third of the bag left empty so that you have something solid to hang on to. Otherwise, the mixture squirts out in all directions. You can always put some more in the bag when you run out.
Pipe strips of mixture about 21/2″ / 6cm long, cutting off the strips at the nozzle with a sharp knife.
If you wish to use the pistachio nuts, this is when you sprinkle them on the strips of mixture.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until they are pale gold. Don’t over-bake them or you will spoil the melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Leave them to cool on their trays for a few minutes, then put them onto wire racks to cool completely.
While they cool, put the chocolate in a glass bowl placed over a pan of boiling water. Be very careful that the bottom of the bowl stays clear of the water or your chocolate will be spoiled.
When the chocolate is completely smooth, dip both ends of each biscuit into the chocolate. Put them back on the silicone paper to cool and set.

Quick Notes

The number of biscuits you get out will vary from batch to batch depending on how enthusiastic you are when you are piping.

Preparation time (duration): 10 minutes

Cooking time (duration): 20-25 minutes

Diet type: Dairy-free

Number of servings (yield): 24(ish)

Meal type: snack

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Lunchbox Treats: Muesli Currant Bars

sian — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:09:07 +0000

Happy New Year everybody! Now that we’re all back into termtime and having to fill lunchboxes again, I thought a quick and easy traybake might go down well. My two love these and they’re easy enough for children to be able to make themselves. Commercial cereal bars frequently have a great deal of sugar in them, so is you’re trying to reduce your kids’ intake of sugar without them really noticing, this is one for you! And they’re really quick to throw together too.

This is another recipe from my mother-in-law and it has the old-style Australian approach to measurements which uses weight for wet or sticky ingredients and volume measured in cups or part cups for the dry ingredients. Don’t be put off by this. If you don’t have measuring cups, just use a teacup. After all, that’s how these recipes were originally made. Yes, the measurements will be a little less precise than with a scales, but this kind of recipe can cope with a bit of fuzziness here and there! If you really can’t be parted from your scales, 1 cup is more or less equivalent to 8oz / 240g. It’s not precise as the volume of 8oz of muesli is much greater than 8oz of sugar, but it’s close enough for it to work.

Recipe: Muesli Currant Bars

Ingredients

2oz / 60g softened Tomor
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
¾ cup plain flour
½tsp baking powder
1 cup muesli
2tsp lemon zest
2tbsp lemon juice
1 cup currants

For the lemon icing

1tbsp lemon juice
¾ cup icing sugar

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180C / F
Line/grease a baking tray. I tend to use foil so that I can lift out the finished baking to cut it on a board rather than damage the surface of my tin.
Cream the Tomor and sugar together until it is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time (with a table spoon of the flour for each egg) and beat each one in until the mixture is smooth. If the mixture starts to curdle, just add a little bit more flour.
Stir in the muesli, lemon zest, lemon juice and currants.
Pour the mixture into the tin and spread it out with the back of a spoon, firming it down gently until it is level and smooth.
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes until the top is golden.
Allow to cool in the tin.
When it is completely cold, cover it with lemon icing made by mixing the lemon juice with the icing sugar. The mixture should be thick or it will run all over everywhere. I find icing sugar seems to behave differently every time I use it, so be prepared to adjust the quantity of either sugar or lemon juice depending on how the texture turns out.

Preparation time (duration): 15 minutes

Cooking time (duration): 30 minutes

Diet type: Dairy-free

Number of servings (yield): 12+

Meal type: snack

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Autumn Soup

sian — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:18:27 +0000

This is a tasty soup, with the rich orange colour of autumn leaves. It makes a quick, tasty lunch served with a hunk of No-Knead Bread.

Recipe: Autumn Soup

Ingredients

a slosh of olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
12oz / 340g butternut squash, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 large sweet potato, diced
a pinch of mixed herbs
2 pints / 1 litre hot water or chicken stock if you have your own
2 stock cubes (Kallo organic are good) if you have no stock

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in your pressure cooker over a medium heat.
Soften the onion for about 10 minutes while you chop the other veg. Stir regularly to avoid burning them.
When the onion is golden and soft, add the garlic and herbs and fry off for a minute or two.
Toss in the rest of the veg and give it all a good stir about to coat it all with the oil, herbs and garlic.
Add the stock (or the stock cubes and hot water).
Close up your pressure cooker and turn up the heat to get it up to pressure.
Cook for 10 minutes at high pressure, then relase the pressure in accordance with the instructions for your particular pressure cooker.
When it has cooled just a fraction, whizz it with a hand-held blender, taste it and adjust the seasoning.
Serve with a hunk of fresh bread – and enjoy!

Quick Notes

You can adjust the proportions of the various veg in this to suit your own tastes. More sweet potato will give you a thicker soup.

Preparation time (duration): 10 minutes

Cooking time (duration): 10 minutes

Diet type: Dairy-free

Number of servings (yield): 8

Meal type: lunch

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