Recipe: Pho-King Good Chicken from Nigel Slater

I adore simple, fresh tasting recipes with modest affordable ingredient lists.
And that is exactly what you get from Nigel Slater's Eat. This sunshine-yellow cloth covered book of fast food is my current obsession and today I'm going to share my version of his 'Roast Chicken Pho'. I'd tweaked things here and there to make sure they are 100% gluten free and added things to suit my tastes.

1 tablespoon of soy sauce (gluten-free soy sauce can now be found in most supermarkets)
1 tablespoon of local honey
1 tablespoon of mirin (or if like me you have no idea what that is dissolve a small amount of sugar in white wine vinegar - thank you google)
4 chicken thighs (or 6 legs!)
800ml stock (homemade is best but if you are stock-less a Callo Stock  Cube will just about suffice)
6 'coins' of ginger (That's slices to me and you)
juice of 1 lime
3 whole star anise
1 garlic clove
shredded greens or chard or pak choi
rice noodles
bean sprouts
half a long red pepper
2 spring onions
100g of rice noodles

Mix the soy, honey and mirin (or alternative) in a small roasting tin and marinade the chicken (I left mine for about an hour).
Transfer the chicken into a cast iron pan and brown the skins slightly before popping into a preheated oven at 200C for about 30 minutes.
Warm the stock, ginger, lime juice, star anise and garlic.
Stir fry the veg and noodles lightly adding a small ladle of stock.
Remove the chicken from the oven - slice off the good meat and pour the sticky brown sauce over the noodle and veg concoction.
Fill the bowls with a nest of veg, noodles and chicken then top with a healthy ladle of steamy stock (I drained mine as I didn't fancy having chunks of garlic and/or star anise in my broth.

As I said...a Pho-King Good Chicken dish with lots of spice and plenty of veggies.
Please let m know if you give this a try - I'd love to see pictures and hear suggestions/improvements!

Planning / Shopping / Cooking Gluten Free #1

Adapting to any new diet is hard work. Adapting to a gluten free diet is very hard work.

As a busy teacher I have found the last 3 three weeks very difficult, I have not been organised, I have spent too much money on poor quality food and I have not been getting the nutrients my body needs.

Enter The Summer Holidays. Six glorious weeks of time for me, myself and I.

Whilst I still need to find time to write a dissertation, re-decorate our spare room and give my vegetable patch some long overdue love I am determined to use some of this time to get organised in the shops and in the kitchen.

Over the next few weeks I intend to document my trials and errors at meal planning, gluten-free shopping and cooking - I'd love to see your attempts or hear your top tips for organising a gluten-free kitchen so please do share away!

Stage 1 - Recipe books & a Meal Planner

I am a creature of habit and find that creating new rituals is always a good way to start anything new. I have an extensive collection of beautiful cookbooks and spent the morning pouring over them with a large cup of tea in hand. I also find Pinterest to be infinitely useful when looking for new ideas - click here to see my pins or even better make your own account and follow me. Having chosen a few recipes I jotted them down onto this lovely sunny meal planning pad from Knock Knock which comes with a large strong magnet on the back ready to go straight onto the fridge. I then consulted the recipes and jotted down any ingredients I didn't already have.

This week I have planned for four main meals and a range breakfasts and lunches - we have a busy weekend ahead and I'm not yet sure what/when/where we will be eating.

Tuesday: Roast Chicken Pho from Nigel Slater's Eat
Wednesday: Aubergine Curry from Nigel Slater's Eat
Thursday: Courgetti & Lime and Coriander chicken 
Friday: Autumn Harvest Wild Mushroom Risotto 

For breakfasts: Fruit salad, Smoothies, Homemade Granola and Avocado Toasts

For lunches: Baked Sweet Potato with feta cheese and beetroot, Vietnamese Rice Rolls, Roast Balsamic Veg with Quinoa. 

All naturally gluten-free, nutritious foods which should leave us both feeling energised and ready for Tramlines this weekend!

Step 2 - Shop

I then popped over to the supermarket to pick up the items I would need. I usually prefer to head to a local farmer's market for produce but after a weekend in bed due to excruciating joint pain I missed the boat and headed to Sainsbury's instead.

TOP TIP: If you're like me and can't go to the supermarket without buying things you don't need ditch the car and go on foot. I took two large bags-for-life and didn't allow myself to stray from my shopping list - I knew I had to carry everything I had bought on the two mile walk back to my house so didn't pack my bags with any unnecessary items.

One of the complaints I hear a lot from people adapting to a gluten free lifestyle for the first time is the cost of the food - my advice is to steer clear of the 'Free From' isle and head to the fresh produce instead. I purchased everything below for less than £40.

Step 3 - Cook

The hard work is done! I now know what I am going to eat and when. The food is ready and waiting in the fridge and all I need to do is check my meal planner and pull out the correct recipe.

Whilst cooking from a recipe every night may seem over the top my aim is to try as many new things as I can reviewing and adapting as I go, then, come September I will have refreshed my repertoire and will be ready to start the new term with a few more gluten-free dishes at my fingertips.

I hope to review as many of the above as I can over the coming week and will feedback on what worked (and what didn't).

Do you have any go-to gluten free dishes that always find their way into your kitchen and onto your plate? I'd love to know about them!

Share on Twitter @TheSteelPlate

Gluten-free Summer #1

Summer is a fantastic time to go gluten-free.

For those of you that have followed my story you will know that this isn't the first time I've eaten gluten free. After 4 weeks of pain, fog and discomfort I feel like I can now free my body of gluten and move forwards to a healthier and more energetic summer.

Whether this is the first time you're going gluten free, the second or if you just fancy trying some healthy summery snacks the following foods show you how you can enjoy the summer without feeling deprived!

This weekend I will showering the blog with a short series of Gluten-free Summer posts. Let me know if you try them and tell me which ones you enjoy! If you're a tweeter send me over a picture of your delicious gluten-free treats @thesteelplate

Cream tea              Summer fruit meringue cheesecake with iced green tea.

Scrap the scones and try this simple desert instead:

half packet of gluten free biscuits of your choice (try M&S for a treat)
50g butter
2 tubs cream cheese
100g icing sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla essence (invest in a good one - it is so worth it)
3/4 meringue nest (if you're brave you could even make your own)
a range of fresh fruits
(for the tea)
3 green tea bags
fresh fruit of choice
fresh herbs of choice
ice
water

Bash the biscuits
Melt the butter and stir in the biscuit bits.
Press the biscuit mixture into a tin and chill for 30 mins
Whisk the cream cheese with the icing sugar
Fold in the fresh fruit
Break up the meringues and fold the pieces into the cream cheese and fruit
Spoon the mixture on top of the cheesecake and top with a few springs of mint and some grated dark chocolate

Boil the kettle and make a large pot of green tea (Use a infused one for a slightly fruity flavour)
Let the tea cool and fill a large jug with fresh fruits (I love orange and lemon) and herbs like mint and rosemary.
Chill in the fridge and finish with ice and edible flowers.

Enjoy!

#1 Cookbook Review : Plenty More - Yotam Ottolenghi

When I first started eating Gluten-Free I dived hurriedly into the 'Free-from' isle of my local supermarket in search of substitutes and replacements for my favourite gluten filled indulgences. After a few weeks of smugly chomping on gluten free bread, buns and biscuits I began to recognise that taste. That 'I'm almost the same as your favourite food only I taste a little bit like an egg carton' taste.

I also found I was spending £££s more each week...my belly still felt empty, and so did my purse.

I turned to the internet for advice and found an abundance of blogs written by people, who, like me had found supermarket substitutes lacking. A stand-out article, for me, came from Shauna of 'Gluten-Free-Girl'. Her comments on 'New to Gluten-Free?' really opened up my eyes to the fact that going gluten free really wasn't about looking for alternatives on the shelves of the supermarket, but instead about creating alternatives at home. Fresh, healthy and naturally gluten-free food.

I have always loved cooking and decided to tackle the challenge head-on. So, instead of spending my money on GF substitutes I headed over to my local book store in search of a recipe book.

One of my first, and best, purchases was Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More (and at only £12.00 on Amazon it is fantastic value!).

Plenty More is an ode to vegetables; what Ottolenghi calls a 'Vegi-Renaissance'. Packed full of nutritious, naturally gluten-free vegetarian recipes that are easy and practical for a busy household. This inspiring book, however, is so much more than a vegetarian cookbook - it boasts 284 pages of mouth watering meals - from salads to slaw this book has something for everybody.

The book is curated beautifully with  the recipes divided into twelve sections: Tossed, Steamed, Blanched, Simmered, Braised, Grilled, Roasted, Fried, Mashed, Cracked, Baked and Sweetened. Here I will feature three of my favourite recipes and how I have enjoyed them:

1) Red Onions with Walnut Salsa - With a humble ingredient list and a simple method this has become one of my favourite dishes. The chilli cuts through the creamy goat's cheese with ease creating something subtle and sophisticated. We've been devouring this on summer nights with barbequed chicken, lamb kebabs and juicy steaks - who needs hot dogs?

 

 

2) Honey-Roasted Carrots with Tahini Yoghurt - I adore a recipe that transforms a humble vegetable like the carrot. This tasty dish is cheap to make and sends any Yorkshire Pudding based grief packing when you sit down to your Sunday lunch. We ate a pile of these sweet beauties last week alongside a juicy roast chicken. Even my carnivore boyfriend agreed - the carrots really were the main event. And if you're still not convinced, the recipe produces enough Tahini Yoghurt Sauce to last a week - I poured it onto my quinoa the next day for lunch and the result was very pleasing.

 

 3) Meringue Roulade with Rose Petals and French Raspberries - 'Light, pretty, festive and special' - I couldn't have put it better myself Yotam. This dessert really is breath-taking. It does take a little more time, and a touch of skill, but it's intentional rustic appearance can hide a multitude of sins. It's really the flavours that make this dish so special. The only tweak I made was swapping the regular cornflour for GF cornflour (something I do still visit the free-from isle for). I think this dish is perfect for finishing up a summer garden party - your guests will be so in awe they won't even notice the lack of pastry or sponge!

 

 

 



I can't wait to spend the rest of the summer trying and testing some more of Yotam's delicious creations.

Have you tried any new cookbooks recently? I'd love to hear your recommendations.