Gluten Free Coconut Oat Raisin Cookies Recipe

Gluten Free Coconut Oat Raisin Cookie

These cookies are gluten free, low in sugar and low in butter but still taste delicious. Yes, it is possible. And you can skip the sugar and make it sugar free, it will still be sufficiently sweet.

But wait, there's more. This easy recipe requires no whipping of butter and sugar. Instead the butter is melted and mixed with other ingredients. 

Because there is no flour and little sugar, the cookies are very delicate. They will fall apart if you are not gentle. It is probably better to make these cookies much smaller, so you can have them in one bite.

Gluten Free Coconut Oat Raisin Cookie

Ingredients

125g butter (I used half butter and half oil)

2¼ cups rolled oats

1 cup desiccated coconut

¼ cup sugar

½ cup raisins (chopped, optional)

1 tablespoon (20ml) golden syrup

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons boiling water

Directions

1.      Process 1¼ cup oats until it has a soft flour like consistency. It takes a few minutes. You should end up with a cup of oat flour, but measure it just to be sure

2.      Melt butter and golden syrup in a saucepan

3.      In a small bowl mix baking soda with boiling water and add to the butter mixture

4.      Combine all dry ingredients then add melted mixture and mix well

5.      Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on baking tray and flatten slightly

6.      Bake at 180°C/360°F until golden brown and delicious, approx 10-15 minutes

Jardaloo ma Murghi (Chicken in Apricots) Recipe

 Jardaloo ma murghi

I tried to find the origin of jardaloo ma murghi (murgi) and for once the ever reliable Wiki does not have an entry. Based on what I read from a few sites, I guess this is a Persian dish but available in India, or an Indian dish with Persian origins. Adding curry to dried apricots sounds like fusion. 

Curried apricots sounds unappealing but the dish is really delicious. Apricots add slight sweetness, its not overly sweet.

The recipe below suggests making masala paste. I took a short cut and substituted with curry powder.

 Jardaloo ma murghi

Source: Good Food Channel

Ingredients

200 g dried apricots

250 ml water

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cinnamon sticks, 2.5cm long

2 medium onions, chopped

2 tbsp ginger- garlic paste

600 g chicken, boned and diced

1 pinches salt

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp coriander, chopped

For the masala paste (or skip this and use curry powder)

8 large dried chillies

1.5 tsp cumin seeds

1.5 tsp coriander seeds

2.5 cm cinnamon sticks

green cardamom

5 cloves

Directions

1.      Soak the apricots overnight in water until swollen and soft. Remove the stones if you like 

2.      To make the masala paste, grind all the masala paste ingredients with as little water as possible to make a thick paste.

3.      Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-based pan and add the cinnamon sticks. When absorbed and puffed a bit, approximately one and a half minutes, add the onions and fry until browned, stirring often, around 5-10 minutes.

4.      When the onions are browned, add the garlic and ginger paste, masala and fry, stirring often, until the oil, which has been absorbed, is released slowly around the edges of the combined masala and onions.

5.      Add the chicken and salt, and fry for 4-5 minutes or until half done.

6.      Add the chopped tomatoes and the soaked apricots (together with any soaking water), mix well, cover and simmer until the chicken is done. If the sauce is too thin, uncover and cook until it reaches the desired consistency

7.      Blend in the chopped coriander and check the seasoning.

 Jardaloo ma murghi

Mocha Meringue Recipe

Mocha Meringue

These meringues are the chewy type, actually the very chewy type. I suppose if you bake longer, it will get more crispy, but I didn’t try this.

I find standard meringues to be overly sweet so I used less sugar, and it turned out fine.

By the way, perhaps I am a little biased but these meringues look like something sitting on the side of the road that you don't want to eat, let alone step on. Once you get over the hesitation and actually try it, you won't be disappointed. I am referring to the mocha meringue, in case this was not clear. 

What would go well with this meringue is a new product from Arla, soft ice cream. See this link if you are interested in testing it.

Adopted from Emeril Lagasse and Cadbury Kitchen

Ingredients

1 egg white

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa, sifted

½ teaspoon instant coffee

¼ teaspoon white vinegar

Directions

1.      Heat oven to 120°C/250°F

2.      Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

3.      Add sugar a little at a time and continue beating until sugar has dissolved.

4.      Gently fold in cocoa, coffee and vinegar.

5.      Place the mixture on a sheet of baking paper. Bake for 45 minutes, turn off oven and let meringues cool in the oven for 1 hour. Do not open the oven door while the meringues are cooling.

Mocha Meringue

Blood Sausage Wellington / Sausage Roll Recipe

Black Pudding Sausage Roll

Or you can call it black pudding wellington, it sounds more gourmet and complex! Its anything but complex.

Making black pudding sausage roll is far easier than making regular sausage roll. You need 2 ingredients and get a delicious result with minimal effort. Though not so delicious if you don’t like blood sausage.

Even though I didn’t add anything to the black pudding, it wasn’t dry. Have it as is, or with some hot sweet sauce.

I haven’t given any amounts in the recipe. You can add more or less sausage depending on availability and preference.

Ingredients

Blood sausage/black pudding

Puff pastry

 Directions

1.      Dice the black pudding. About 1cm cubed should be sufficient.

2.      Lay the mixture along the centre of the pastry.

3.      Roll up the pastry around the black pudding mixture as tightly as possible.

4.      Bake at 200°C/400°F until golden brown and delicious, about 20-25 minutes

Black Pudding Sausage Roll

Easy Smoked Fish Cake Recipe

Smoked Fish Cake

This was my first attempt at making fish cakes. I never realised it was so easy to make.

The original recipe suggested pureeing the fish, but I preferred chunky bits. There is no binding agent like eggs so the cakes are quite delicate. You will not be able to hold it in your hands, let alone use it as a hockey puck. But its delicious when eaten with a fork.

Recipe source: Cook Book of Trial and Error

Ingredients

350g peeled potatoes

75 ml milk

350g smoked fish

15 ml lemon juice

5 ml dijon mustard

115 g breadcrumbs

Salt and black pepper to taste

 Directions

1.      Place the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain, mash with milk and season to taste.

2.      Dice the smoked fish. Add it to the mashed potato, along with the lemon juice and mustard. Mix well.

3.      Shape the mixture into fish cakes and coat with crumbs. Chill for about 30 minutes

4.      Shallow fry the fish cakes until golden brown on each side