Green Olive, Garlic & Rosemary Pancakes and a Giveaway

I was recently gifted a lovely selection of olives from Fragata. Some black, some green and some stuffed with garlic. There was also a jar of hot peppers which I am longing to try out with some houmous and falafels. Fragata specialise in Spanish olives and other mediterranean products. 

I love olives, in sandwiches, on pizza, or munched on their own, but rather than just eating them in their natural form, I wanted to try something a little different. After a short ponder between scones, muffins or pancakes, I settled on pancakes. Having pancakes for a lunch is a weekend treat of mine that I hadn’t yet done this year, so pancakes it was to be. I usually make sweet pancakes, so the idea of savoury salty olive pancakes intrigued me.

The green olives stuffed with garlic sounded particularly good and I decided to pair it with fresh rosemary as olive, garlic and rosemary sounded a great flavour combination. I made the batter for the pancakes using brown rice and chickpea flour, the latter having a very savoury taste and slightly dense texture. This seemed fitting for savoury pancakes and I thought its earthy flavour would be lifted by the salty tang from the olives.

To accompany my pancakes I wanted something light and fresh and went with a fresh milky ricotta cheese that I flavoured with fresh rosemary and lemon zest. This worked really well, its light fresh flavour adding a delicious contrast to the savoury salty pancakes. 

I loved the flavour the green olives gave to the pancakes. Unless you look closely you can’t really tell they are there, as they hide camouflaged in the batter, but when you bite into one, a sharp salty tang and that wonderful fresh olive flavour fills your mouth in a most satisfying way. The garlic wasn’t too pungent (as I feared it might be) and gave a subtle hint of flavour. The ricotta then neutralises the saltiness from the olive, getting you ready for the next bite. Simply delicious. 

Giveaway

The lovely people at Fragata are also offering one of you the change to win a sample of some of their products. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what your favourite olive is and how you like to eat them. Competition open to UK residents only. Only one entry per person. Competition closes at midnight on Saturday 8^th February. The winner will be chosen at random. Please leave a way for me to contact you should you win. Good luck!

Green Olive, Garlic & Rosemary Pancakes and a Giveaway

Ingredients

50g chickpea/gram/besan flour

30g brown rice flour

1 tsp baking powder

115ml milk

10 garlic stuffed green olives

10 leaves fresh rosemary

¼ tsp dried oregano

Freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp oil

To Serve

100g ricotta

Zest of ¼ lemon

7 leaves fresh rosemary

6 cherry tomatoes

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cut the tomatoes in half and place cut side up on a foil lined baking tray. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then turn off the oven and place two serving plates into the oven to warm. Also put in another place topped with a sheet of kitchen roll to hold the pancakes and keep them warm as you make them.

Spoon the ricotta into a small bowl and add the lemon zest. Finely chop the rosemary, add to the ricotta and mix together well. Store in the fridge until required.

To make the pancakes, weigh the flours and baking powder into a bowl and mix together. Chop the rosemary and add to the flour along with the oregano and a few twists of black pepper. Don’t add salt as the olives are salty enough.

Slowly add the milk, whisking well to remove any small lumps of flour. You should end up with quite a thick batter.

Chop the olives into rounds so you have a ring of olive filled with a small piece of garlic in each slice. Fold the olives into the batter.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Drop level tablespoonfuls of the batter into the pan, trying to get a few bits of olive in each one. (It’s best to do this in small batches) Cook for 1 minute before flipping over and cooking on the other side until lightly golden brown. Remove the pancakes from the pan and transfer them to the plate lined with kitchen roll that’s keeping warm in the oven. Repeat with the leftover batter. You should get around 6 pancakes from the mix.

To serve, divide the pancakes between the two serving plates. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the herby ricotta onto each plate, you can quenelle them by shaping it between two spoons if you want to be fancy. Scatter around some of the roasted tomatoes and finish with a little fresh sprinkling of lemon zest and rosemary if desired.

Eat and enjoy. Makes 6 pancakes

Serves 2 as a light lunch, or mini ones could be used as canapés. 

Note: Fragata did not pay me for reviewing their products and I was under no obligation to give them a positive review. These thoughts and comments are my own.

The Cochin Indian Restaurant, Bedford

This weekend I have been down south visiting my family. It was my sister’s birthday last week and my mothers this coming week. Yesterday all the family gathered together to celebrate. In the evening we went out for an Indian meal at a restaurant I’d read about called The Cochin.

It’s a little different to your typical curry house in that all the food has some southern India influence, Kerala specifically, and includes special dishes like Dosa, Thali and a range of Indian Keralan tea shop style snacks as starters. Another thing I liked it that all the dishes were particular in what they included, there was no list of curries, Bhuna, Balti, Masala etc, that you then picked your meat, fish or veg to go with, each dish on the menu was made a particular way and called after its traditional Indian name. Everything is cooked fresh to order meaning you could really see and taste the different ingredients and spices.

Upon arrival, I mentioned I couldn’t eat anything containing wheat or gluten and before I had even finished speaking the waiter said “oh you’re gluten free, that’s not a problem. You can have this, this or these dishes from the menu” I found this very reassuring and trusted they knew what they were talking about. Thankfully a lot of Indian food is naturally gluten free, so I had a fantastic selection of dishes to choose from.

We decided to share a couple of starts between 4 of us. We selected Idly a rice flour based steamed little cake that came served with 2 chutneys and a savoury sambar for dipping. The Idly themselves were bland (not dull, just unspiced) and soft, but were great for absorbing all the spices in the chutneys. Not something I’ve tried before.

The other starter was a very intriguing sounding Banana Boli, (banana fritters) – yes on the starters! They were large sliced of banana dipped in a thick spiced batter of sesame, fennel, cardamom and turmeric and deep fried. These sadly weren’t gluten free, but everyone else pronounced them delicious. We suspect they may have been plantain rather than banana, as they were definitely savoury rather than sweet and were served with a red onion pickle and a spicy dip.

For mains I selected a potato masala dosa. I had my first dosa in a Sheffield restaurant last year and have been longing for another one ever since. They are a paper thin crisp pancake made from fermented rice and lentil flour. They are cooked on an enormous flat hot plate before being topped with your filling of choice and skillfully rolled. The middle part softens around the filling, while the two hollow parts either side stay wonderfully crisp. They are served with a selection of chutneys and sambar. You typically eat them with your hands, tearing off a bit of the crisp pancake, scooping up a bit of filling and dipping it in the chutney.

When my dosa arrived I couldn’t believe my eyes. They are traditionally long, but this one was simply enormous, it was about a meter long and stretched over the edge of the tray and even over the edge of the table, it must have been about a meter in diameter before it was rolled! It had a wonderful flavour, the dosa itself being quite plain, the mildly spiced potato filling adding substance and texture and the chutneys or sambars adding heat, savoriness or creamy coconut depending on which one you dipped. It was delicious and I somehow polished off the lot!

The rest of the part shared a lamb & spinach curry, a chicken stew (which was actually mildly spiced with nuts and coconut) and a lamb & caramelised onion dish. They were all pronounced delicious and full of flavour.

Another thing I loved about the restaurant is that they also offered two rice based, naturally gluten free breads – thick fluffy rice based pancake-style looking Appam or Kallappam, which is the same bread mixed with cumin and shallot. This is such a nice change to the usual offer of naan, of which that wasn’t even an option, Chapattis and flaky Parathas or Poori being the wheaty bread choices.

Overall it was a fabulous meal and wonderful to spend some time with my family. If you’re ever in the Bedford area (or Hemel Hempstead where they have a sister restaurant) and fancy some traditional authentic Indian food then head straight for The Cochin.

Note: I want to state that this review is purely my own. This was a family meal out that I enjoyed and decided to write about. The restaurant does not know I have written about my experience and I have received no incentive to visit or review them.

Apple & Spice Baked Breakfast Porridge

Breakfast is my absolute favourite meal of the day. I love it and all kinds of breakfast related foods. It is my comfort food and I could quite happily eat breakfast foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week and not get bored. Porridge is actually one of my favourites, I find it so comforting, warm, milky with a little bite to the oats. My treat is to sprinkle on a few dark chocolate chips and wait for them to melt before tucking in!

Considering my love of porridge and breakfasty things, it is amazing that until yesterday I had never tried baked porridge. This is more commonly know as baked oatmeal, but as it’s made with chunky oats rather than ground (oatmeal), I think porridge is a better name for it. You bake it as you would a baked rice pudding, stir your oats together with lots of milk, bake it in the oven and hey presto – a delicious flapjack style porridge is yours to enjoy!

As the porridge bakes the oats swell and become plump and compact, meaning its spoonable or even sliceable once removed from the oven. One of the best parts for me was the way the top became golden brown and lightly toasted during baking, creating a thin chewy, slightly crisp top layer with the soft and milky swollen oats beneath.

I decided to jazz up my porridge by adding sultanas, dried apricots, fresh apple, pumpkin seeds and spices. This added a wonderful array of textures and flavours. As the recipe contains no added sugar the fruit adds a lovely natural sweetness, the seeds a pleasant crunch and the spices a delicious warming flavour. The apple created little pockets of soft moistness with a slight tang, while the dried fruit added a lovely chew and intense sweetness. I absolutely loved it!

Eating a slice of baked breakfast porridge on its own felt quite indulgent, but to make it even more decadent I drizzled my slice with a little brandy sauce that I had leftover from Christmas. In my defense it needed using up and I actually ate this for lunch rather than breakfast so I didn’t feel too guilty. The fact I went on to devour nearly half the tray, now that I did feel a little bad about, but I just couldn’t resist it.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to try baked porridge – it’s a breakfast revelation! I can’t wait to try out some other variants. Imagine pear with dark chocolate chips or fresh blueberries with vanilla; served with lemon curd and fresh yogurt mmmmmm.

Porridge – how do you eat yours?

Apple & Spiced Baked Breakfast Porridge

Ingredients

150g gluten free oats

40g sultanas

30g dried apricots

10g pumpkin seeds

1 eating apple (I used golden delicious)

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

500ml milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Place the oats, sultanas, pumpkin seeds and spices into a 15 x 20cm baking dish. Chop the apricots into pieces roughly the same size as the sultanas and add to the mix.

Chop the apple into small cubes 5-10mm in size. Place into a small dish and microwave on high for 1 minute until slightly softened, alternatively do this in a small pan with 1 tbsp water.

Add the apple to the oaty mixture and stir everything together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Pour over the milk (it will look like a lot but don’t worry).

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed by the oats and the top feels firm to the touch and is golden brown.

Serve in large wedges while still hot, with a little extra milk, cream, yoghurt, fresh fruit or syrup as desired.

Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge and eaten cold or reheated the next day.

Feeds 2-4 people depending on appetite

The Red Deer, Sheffield Review

The Red Deer is located just off West Street in Sheffield City Centre. My boyfriend A and I were trying to think of somewhere new to try for dinner and a quick internet hunt revealed the Red Deer as a good place to try.

The pub is quite traditional and olde-worlde inside, a wooden bar, little stools nestled around wooden tables and a range of local ales. Instead of feeling dated, this gave it a relaxed and cozy atmosphere.

The menu consists of a range of classics – fish & chips, sausage & mash and burgers, but with a few more modern dishes thrown in – sweetcorn fritters and crab linguine. Their menu mentioned gluten free bread, so I was sure they would have some awareness of coeliac disease. I talked through the menu with the bar staff who checked with the chef what could be made gluten free. I was thrilled to discover that their chips/fries were gluten free as they had their own separate fryer! I knew instantly I wanted some, as it’d been months since I’d had proper chips. The lighter bite options included nachos topped with a bean chili, which always used to be a favourite of mine. Sadly the nacho chips themselves weren’t GF, but they were more than happy for me to have the bean chili with chips instead of nachos.

While we waited for the food I noticed they had a stack of board games set to one side, which people could help themselves too if they wished. Indeed, a group of students behind us were enjoying a heated game of Risk, stopping only for beer refills and extra chips. I thought this was a lovely idea.

When our food arrived I was delighted to see that they had layered the chips with the bean chili, cheese and spicy jalapenos just as if they were nachos. I was expecting chips, on one side and chili on the other but this was much better. It also came with all the usual accompaniments of sour cream, salsa and guacamole. I was one happy girl and the chips were lovely. I admit not a patricianly healthy meal, but for a treat it was delicious. I mentioned to the staff when he came to collect they plates that they should offer chip nachos on their menu, and he said the chef had said the same!

 

My boyfriend A had chosen a burger, topped with a large field mushroom. He too was pleased with his freshly cooked chips and bowl of chunky coleslaw. He was also highly impressed with the bun the burger in; it was a slightly toasted good quality white roll, rather than the usual pappy sugary burger bun.

 

We stayed chatting for over 2 hours and at the end of the night we agreed we’d be making many a return visit. The food, like the surroundings, is simple and rustic but simple things done well are always highly enjoyable.

(Apologies for the quality of the photos, it was dark and they were taken on my phone)

And Now For Something Completely Different

* It’s Stir Up Sunday – Christmas Pudding making day on Sunday 24^th November, so get preparing! Here is a link to my GF ChristmasPudding that I make every year.
* Also, don’t forget to feed your Christmas cake with a bit of booze and tuck it away again for another fortnight.

Pumpkin Macaroni Cheese

After making the pumpkin doughnuts last week I had some pumpkin puree leftover. I ate a bit of it spread on toast (delicious with a pinch of cinnamon) but decided to use the rest to make something warm and comforting for dinner. What could be more warm and comforting than macaroni cheese? Only this macaroni cheese was given an extra autumnal twist from the earthy sweet pumpkin puree.

The sauce became a lovely golden orange colour when I added the pumpkin puree and produced an enticing roasted veg aroma. I grated in some freshly grated nutmeg which seemed to enhance the sweet nuttiness of the pumpkin. The puree itself somehow transformed the sauce from being delicious to something spectacular. It was so rich, creamy and velvety smooth that it tasted as though it had been made with cream, amazing considering the base was mainly vegetable puree.

Some people may be wondering what those little green speckles are in the macaroni cheese… they’re peas. I know adding peas to macaroni cheese is highly unconventional, but I love peas and think having a little freshness and pop from the peas, in contrast to the rich and creamy sauce is a welcome change, plus its colourful too. I’ve just thought, what with the sauce being pumpkin based and the addition of the peas, this macaroni cheese could almost be classed as healthy – not something you usually hear associated with macaroni cheese!

To serve, I spooned the pasta into deep bowls, topped with more cheese and gave them a quick bake in the oven. This created a golden and crisp top which I think is one of the best bits. It also adds another texture against the creamy stodgy (in a good way) sauce and pasta combo. The textures from crisp golden top, thick and creamy sauce and a little pop from the peas is delicious combination. The pumpkin had a wonderful flavour making the whole dish feel warming, autumnal and very comforting. This is perfect meal to enjoy curled up on the sofa as the rain lashes the windows outside.

Pumpkin Macaroni Cheese

Ingredients

20g butter

1 tbsp cornflour

130g pumpkin puree

300ml milk

2 handfuls grated cheddar cheese

100g frozen peas

Salt & pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

Gluten free macaroni pasta for 2 people

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C

Cook some gluten free macaroni, enough for 2 people, in boiling water until it is al-dente.

Meanwhile, add the butter to a large saucepan and heat until melted. Add the cornflour and whisk until smooth and a paste is starting to form. Add the pumpkin puree and mix to combine.

Slowly whisk in the milk and allow to come to a simmer, stirring occasionally. It should start to thicken into a thick and creamy sauce.

Add a generous grating of fresh nutmeg and some salt and pepper.

Once the sauce is thickened and creamy, stir in the frozen peas and three-quarters of the grated cheese. Stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the drained gluten free pasta to the sauce and stir to coat.

Spoon into two deep bowls or one larger dish and scatter over the remaining cheese and a little extra nutmeg.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden and crisp on top.

Eat and enjoy.

Sites of Santorini, Greece

I’ve just returned from a stunningly beautiful small island in Greece called Santorini, where I holidayed with my sister. The island itself is relatively small and yet holds a good variety of shops, restaurants, beaches and site-seeing possibilities.

I took along some Greek translation cards explaining I had coeliac disease and couldn’t eat wheat, bread etc. This helped a lot in restaurants, although the waiters still seemed to insist on bringing bread to the table. I even had one who insisted that some seeded bread was different to the normal bread, so I don’t think it was always fully understood. I also had to watch enviously as my sister tucked into the most delicious looking cakes, baklava, spanakopita, waffles, stuffed pitta bread on offer. Thankfully the islands fruit and yoghurt was amazing, so I didn’t go hungry.

On our first day we visited Oia. This town is located at the top of the island and is a bit more up-market than the rest of the island. We had a lovely time exploring the cobbled streets and admiring the truly spectacular views. All the buildings are painted white and the churches have matching blue painted roofs, which make a great contrast to the dark rocky cliff they are set into. Being built into the cliff means everything is very steep so we both developed some good walking legs by the end of the holiday, but it’s worth the climb for the wonderful views over the sea.

In Oia we found a lovely taverna to eat lunch in, which had the most spectacular views. I sat gazing out at the view, almost not believing I was really there.

I sampled my first traditional Greek salad. I was amazed at the enormous wedge of feta they placed on top, but it was very creamy and nicely salty, which you need in such hot weather. The base was very chunky cut tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and green pepper. The side of the plate was smeared with a black olive puree and everything was sprinkled in oregano and capers. It was so fresh and tasty, and even though it was swimming in a pool of olive oil it didn’t taste greasy at all. Just what you need on a hot day.

Another town, Perissa, had a beach famous for its black sands. We spent a very relaxing day swimming in the sea and reading in the shade of the palm parasols.

I enjoyed a dish of Greek yoghurt, honey and walnuts. The yogurt is Greece is amazing!! Its so thick and creamy, it’s almost like clotted cream, and yet a lot fresher tasting. The walnuts were crisp and almost had an oven baked flavour, but I think this is due to their freshness and the heat from the sun. I usually had honey and fruit for breakfast but did have it as a dessert a couple of times. The restaurants were exceedingly generous with the honey. It was almost too much, very sweet and slightly floral tasting.

My sister enjoyed a delicious looking waffle with ice cream and fresh fruits.

For dinner I had one of my favourite meals on the island in a restaurant called Stani in the main town of Fira, where we were staying. It was baked stuffed tomatoes and green pepper which had been filled with a creamy herby rice filling. I think the main herb was dill, which was a surprising choice but worked really well. Santorini is famous for its tomatoes, which are large, plump and full of flavour. You can see them growing amongst grape vines in the land surrounding the villages as you travel around.

The restaurants table clothes had been printed with a map of the island which was a great idea as it meant we could point and talk about where we wanted to visit next and how to get there.

In Akrotiri we visited its famous red sands beach which involved a perilous clamber over the rocky cliff to the beach below. Sadly it was a scorching hot day and there was not the merest hint of shade so we didn’t stay too long. We walked along the base of the coast to a lovely restaurant that had a short walkway stretching out into the sea which had the perfect lunch spot.

I sampled another local dish I’d been longing to try, Fava Beans, which are a chunky puree of yellow split peas. This was topped with fresh and sundried tomatoes, red onion and caper leaves, another Santorini specialty. These are the leaves of the caper plant which have been pickled and brined in the same way capers are. They added a great salty tang and the fava beans were creamy and similar to a milder version of houmous. I couldn’t eat the bread it came with so had some fried potatoes instead.

My sister tried Tomato Balls, which actually turned out to be thick tomato fritters served with a cheesy, yoghurty dip. Anyone know what this dip is? It wasn’t tzatziki. I tasted a bit and it was delicious and not something I've come across before.

Dinner was back in Fira at a wonderful restaurant we happened to stumble across. It was an open air courtyard set back from the road, filled with plants and wicker tables and chairs which gave it a nice secluded feel. They even had vines complete with large bunches of dark purple grapes growing from the overhead trellis.

I had a green salad which comprised of green apple, avocado, lettuce, green pepper and spring onions in a citrus and herby dressing that had an aniseed tang to it.

Afterwards we both treated ourselves to some gelato from the market square. Dark chocolate for my sister and I couldn’t resist the pistachio. So creamy and full of flavour. I think Greece is a great place is you like nuts, they are so fresh and seem to be in abundance.

Fira has an old port that you can book boat trips from to either visit nearby islands or explore the sea. We walked down the 600 steps, yes 600! that snaked down the cliff to get to the port. You can get a donkey ride down if you wish, but we decided to walk it. At the port we caught a very pirate-esque looking ship and set sail. 

After a short sail we stopped a short distance from a cove where we were informed there were hot springs to bathe in. We had to jump overboard into the sea – so much fun – and swim to the cove. The water started out freezing cold and then slowly got warmer the warmer the nearer we got. The worst bit was having to swim back again when the water got colder and colder, but once back on board we soon warmed up again. The springs themselves are muddy and sulphurous, the heat coming from the nearby volcano. This gave the water a brown hue and stained us and our swimming costumes a murky brown colour. (The stains in our swim wear didn’t come out in the wash, so don’t wear your best bikini)!

We then sailed to a nearby island which had a large volcano in the centre. We were dropped off to climb up the steep rocky slopes to the crater top. It is apparently an active volcano, but thankfully there were no trembles while we were there. The views again were spectacular.

Once back in Fira we treated ourselves to a sunset cocktail, which was lovely and refreshing, but probably not the best idea when you are hungry and a bit dehydrated. I don’t drink much and really felt its effects, thankfully it was only a short wavering walk to dinner. We ate in a taverna overlooking the sea and were treated to the most spectacular sunset. The sun looking stunning sinking below the small island opposite. Simply amazing.

Our final excursion was a visit to Kamari. We’d hired a quad bike and drove up a perilously steep and windy road to the very top of the island where the old ruined town of Old Thira resides. I’d recommend hiring a quad to get up here, it’s very steep and winding and even on the bike it took us nearly half an hour to get up there. I wouldn’t want to walk it. There was one hairy moment where we got stuck on a very steep bend after stopping to let a lorry pass us, we then didn’t have enough momentum to get up the slope and I had to hop off quickly (my sister was driving). As there are no barriers or walls of any of the roads and we were on the edge of a cliff this was a bit hair rising.

Thankfully we made it to the top and explored the old ruins. It was again quite a steep winding walk up along the cliff top and no fencing to stop you plumping off the edge, so not the best idea for young children. The views once again were stunning.

Once back on steadier ground we spent the rest of the day relaxing on Kamari beach before returning to Fira for dinner. I had another classic Greek dish of Dolmades, which are wine/vine leaves wrapped around rice. These came drizzled with a herby lemon sauce and were delicious. Salty, savoury creamy all at once.

I had an amazing time in Greece and was sad to say goodbye to it. The weather, views, sunsets and buildings were beautiful. I was a little sad about all the food I wasn’t able to eat, and it did make choosing places for meals a little more difficult, as they don’t seem to have any gluten free alternatives, even in the supermarkets, but the food I did have was delicious. I’m so jealous of their thick Greek yogurt, here even the expensive stuff doesn’t compare. It’s a holiday I’ll remember forever.