change . . .

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so . . . gradually, slowly, I can feel life shifting, changing - and it's changing all because I decided to go live the life I had imagined.

When I realised that my life is what it is because of my expectations and the choices I make, and that those start with thoughts, it was all very simple!

I needed to start making choices based on what I really wanted, instead of what I thought I could have . . .

Well, that may sound very simplistic, and it is . . . once I realised that if I wanted my life to be a certain way it was no good making choices that didn't reflect that. If you want beautiful things in your life, you'll never have them while you choose second best in the belief that it's the best that you can have - if it's not right, don't compromise. If you compromise your dreams then you have a life full of compromises and not the beauty, love, and bright energy that we all carry inside us, but so often hide, just because someone else says they don't like us that way!

It's taken me a long time to get here, and every lesson learned has been a blessing . . . but now it's time to claim 'me' back. Now that I know that it's me who creates it, it's time to go live that wonderful life; without apology and with grace and love . . .

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The way I think about food is changing too - although way back in the 80's I got interested in the principles of the Hay Diet as an approach to eating better, and it grew my life-long fascination with the connection between food and well-being. Food as sustenance as well as just great taste; surely one of life's great pleasures is sharing food with those you love!

With so many fabulous blogs out there, an alternative take on what we eat is so easy to explore now, with exciting and inspiring ideas and so many wonderfully creative people . . . so here's a start with some fantastic grain free pancakes that will leave you energised and wanting more, instead of full and flumpy like the traditional heavy ones made with wheat!

After all - wheat's not the only grain - think outside of the box!

Grain Free Banana Pancakes

(very slighlty adapted from the wonderful straight into bed cakefree and dried blog)

Ingredients:

1 large banana
1 large free range egg
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup arrowroot
ground almonds - any nuts will do, but I had almonds to hand

Directions:

• Blitz all ingredients except the nuts and the arrowroot in a food processor
• pulse in arrowroot briefly until mixed
• slowly add the ground nuts - I used almonds - until you get a fairly thick batter - think drop-scones or american pancakes!
• heat your skillet and lightly oil, then drop in about 2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time and cook over a lowish heat to avoid them burning before they're cooked through

I topped mine with some home-made salted caramel that I still had from making cupcakes a while back, and some toasted almonds for crunch - yum!

                     "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the      life you have imagined"

Henry David Thoreau

                                                                 

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pea green and a new camera app!

Yes, it's true ...... I have a passion for peas!

One of my favourite ways of eating them (and there are so many!) is in a pea guacamole. Especially at this time of year, when it makes a welcome change to eat food that not only looks good, but tastes fresh and zingy too!

It's really so simple to make, and can be paired with so many things. As a dip it's lovely with tortilla chips and summer crudites - or stir in some creme fraiche and heat to make a creamy sauce for pasta or chicken - or, thin down with olive oil to make a punchy salad dressing.

Today I've added it as a side with a steamed curried fish parcel This is a brilliant, quick, no fuss way to cook fish - and also requires next to no washing up!....

Both recipes are based on versions on a theme from various sources, and tweaked to my own tastes, as ever! ........ and the colours looked so vibrant together that I couldn't resist getting creative with a new camera app

Pea Guacamole
200g frozen peas - cooked for 5 mins and cooled
half a red onion
2 cloves garlic
half a teaspoon cumin
juice of 1 lime
1 small red chilli
half a small bunch of fresh coriander
olive oil
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method
- place all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth
- drizzle in olive oil to the required consistency
- cover and chill until ready to serve

Fragrant Curried Fish Parcels
2 firm white fish steaks
1 tablespoon thick natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon curry paste of your choice
1 tablespoon creamed coconut
juice of half a lime
a couple of tablespoons of chopped coriander

Method

- mix together curry paste, yoghurt, coconut, lime juice and coriander and rub the marinade into the fish. Cover and chill for as long as possible - at least half an hour -
- to cook - set oven to 200 C / Gas 6
- place fish onto a double layer of baking paper, or foil and cover in the remaining marinade
- wrap the fish up into a parcel, being careful to make sure that it is sealed
- cook for 15-20 mins, depending on the thickness of the fish. It is cooked when the flesh has turned opaque

serve straight away with rice, green salad or the colourful pea guacamole

chocolate puddle cookies...and fluffy pink marshmallows

Is it wrong to eat Chocolate Truffle cupcake for breakfast?......

well.....I just couldn't resist when I'm surrounded by them! Over the last couple of days I've baked and iced dozens of cute Valentine Chocolate Truffle cupcakes - chocolate heaven, seeing them all lined up neatly, ready to be boxed and delivered in time for Valentine's Day.

I always love delivering the cupcakes.....to see the smile on people's faces, but delivering the Valentine ones has been especially enjoyable. I've dropped them off with an air of planned subterfuge, and have shared the sense of excited anticipation as I've handed over the gift boxes filled with decadent chocolate treats, knowing that they will later be presented to unsuspecting loved ones!

So,...... with all these chocolate truffle cupcakes in production I found myself left with surplus Pink Velvet cupcakes . and lots of egg-whites that needed using up, and.....the obvious solution was Pink Cloud cupcakes!! Moist fluffy raspberry vanilla sponge, topped with clouds of the pinkest marshmallow meringue frosting

......and these little fluffy pillows of delicate pink raspberry marshmallow using this marshmallow recipe from James Martin.....I'm a sucker for anything pink and edible, especially when it's so pretty!

Coincidentally, I'd also come across this recipe for Chocolate Puddle Cookies the other day on one of my favourite blog sites while looking for some healthy dinner ideas - honestly! (it's amazing how easily distracted I become with chocolate) It was a perfect coming together of serendipitous circumstances; a recipe for fudgy chocolatiness, and spare egg-whites.....

These are soooooo good. I couldn't wait for them to cool, and had to have one while it was still warm from the oven. It was chocolate heaven, soft, fudgy, and dense in the middle, and what's even better - they don't contain any wheat so they're gluten-free, a perfect indulgence, so that even those chocolate lovers with a wheat intolerance don't have to miss out, or compromise on chocolatey bliss!

hazelnut truffle torte....in search of the ultimate chocolate cake!

In my truly altruistic (well, that's what I tell myself anyway!) quest for the ultimate chocolate cake I have tried many, many, many recipes; searching for that all-elusive tangible experience of dense, velvety chocolatiness; not too sweet, not too bitter - not too heavy, not too dry. Just lately, I've decided to go along the gluten-free route, and following on from the truly indulgent chocolate mousse cake, I was after something a little more firm, that would cut and serve more like a traditional 'cake'. Of course this meant trying out lots of recipes - it's a tough job!........and, in the end I settled on the best bits of all of them. The result is a VERY rich, dark and wicked, truffley chocolate 'cake' that gives you the just the sense of hedonistic guilt that only a true chocolate lover would settle for!

So here it is.....

hazelnut truffle torte

(by Alfie)

400g good quality dark chocolate

6 eggs

50 g caster sugar

175g ground hazelnuts

250mls double cream

topping

75g good quality dark chocolate

2 tablespoons double cream

25g butter

• to make the cake, grease and base line a 20cm deep spring-form tin, and set the oven to Gas 2 / 150 C / 325 F
• break the chocolate into pieces and put this together with 50mls of the cream in a bowl set over simmering water until it has melted
• whilst the chocolate is melting, whisk the eggs and the sugar together for 5-7 minutes until it is thick and creamy and will leave a trail across the top of the mixture
• slacken the melted chocolate mixture by adding a little of the egg/sugar mixture (about 2-3 tablespoons) until it becomes a bit more runny, and then stir the chocolate and the egg/sugar mix in together with the ground hazelnuts
• whisk the remaining cream until it forms soft peaks, and then quickly fold this into the chocolate batter so that it is all amalgamated
• pour into the lined tin - if your tin is not completely water-tight you will need to wrap it in foil
• place the cake tin into a roasting pan and pour in enough hot water to come half-way up the cake tin - about 2cms
• bake in the oven for about an hour until a skewer comes out clean

for the topping

• melt all of the ingredients together over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool and thicken just slightly, and then pour over the cake
• decorate with whatever takes your fancy, and enjoy........but be warned, you know what they say about too much of a good thing!

blackberry vinegar

I don't know about you, but I love the contrast of salty goats cheese with the sweet acidity of fruit. Somehow it seems to cut through the heaviness to produce a combination that's perfect!

So, when I found a recipe for raspberry vinegar I knew I had to give it a try.....well actually I found several recipes for raspberry vinegar, or raspberry 'shrub' as it was known in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was a popular drink and is actually very refreshing in hot weather, served with ice! I know it may sound strange to have a fruit cordial with a vinegar base, but the acidity cuts through the sweetness in a very pleasing way. Apparently, it's even good for sore throats diluted at 1 dessertspoon to 250mls of water!

Anyway, not one to be able to leave a recipe alone, I thought it would make a great fruit vinegar to use in dressings too, so I cut the sugar down in the last stage to keep the tartness. There were blackberries on sale in my local market and I couldn't resist using these instead, just because I love their deep, jammy colour!

Blackberry shrub

The vinegar itself is very simple to make..... you just put your blackberries (or whatever fruit you choose to use) - I used about 500g - into a kilner jar or bottle and cover them with white vinegar.

Leave them to stand for a week, stirring well each day. Then strain the fruit and add one pound of sugar to one pint of liquid ....or in metric, about 500g sugar to 500mls of liquid (though I think it sounds much more evocative in imperial measures!) and boil it up for about 20 minutes, until it gets syrupy. Finally, skim off any white foam, and pour into sterilised bottles, then seal when it is cold. As I said, to make it more of a fruit vinegar I put in less sugar - about half of the amount used for the shrub.

Goats cheese and mango salad with blackberry vinaigrette

Now, you've got your gorgeous burgundy jewelled fruit vinegar...... so here's an idea of how to use it... mix two parts blackberry vinegar to three parts oil (rapeseed is a good oil to use because its delicate flavour won't overpower the fruit) to make a basic vinaigrette that's a little heavier than normal on the vinegar. Liberally drizzle the dressing over a goats cheese and mango salad, all that lovely palate of colours and saltiness and acid fruitiness....then, just sit back and enjoy!

asparagus dip

This has to be one of my most favourite things, ever!.....it's very green, and garlicky; refreshing and clean tasting, it's not at all heavy or cloying like some dairy based dips can be, and it goes well with just about anything from baked potato, to crudites, to oat cakes, and yes, even hard boiled eggs! Don't believe me?....then why not give it a try!

It may sound like a weird combination of ingredients, but it's rich, nutty, almost smoky taste is very addictive. I've been making this dip for years without much change to the original recipe from a book called 'Food Combining for Vegetarians' by Jackie Le Tissier.

Food Combining is a system of eating rather than a 'diet', and was formulated by Dr Hay in the early 1900's; basically, you eat fresh, unprocessed foods, and you don't eat protein foods and carbohydrates at the same meal. As you can probably tell from the other recipes on the Blog, I don't Food Combine in everything I eat!, but I do try to mostly follow the guidelines, and I certainly feel a lot better for it when I do!

Asparagus Dip

1 350g can of asparagus (reserve liquid)

100g ground almonds

2 cloves of garlic

a pinch of smoked paprika

about 1 tablespoon of reserved asparagus liquid from can

Place all of the ingredients, except for the reserved liquid, into a lquidiser and whizz until smooth. You may need to add more, or less, apsaragus liquid to the mix to get your desired consistency. Don't be tempted to make it too runny though, because this can make it separate when it's served.

Cover, and refrigerate until needed (it will last two to three days in the fridge) although this tastes much better if it's eaten at room temperature. Try it piled onto a baked potato with a fresh crunchy green salad, or as a a dip served with crudites.

pea, feta and spinach salad

This salad is so fresh, and vibrant; it is just simple, uncomplicated, good food. Just recently I've had a real hankering for peas....yes, I know, peas! Perhaps it's the longer days, and a promise of Summer (what, you hadn't noticed because of all the rain?), or maybe it's just that they taste so good, all bright green and sweet, and bursting smugly with their own goodness.

This gorgeous, verdant, salad is adapted from a recipe by Bill Granger (Pea, Feta and Mint Salad), but I'm not overly keen on mint, so I left that out, and also adapted the dressing so that I could add garlic (of course!)

The combination of the flavours works beautifully together, and even just looking at it makes you feel instantly healthier! It's colours are jewel like, and although we ate it as a simple lunch, just with a hunk of crusty bread, it would make a wonderfully vivid and appetising side to grace any meal.

Pea, Feta and Spinach Salad

(adapted from a recipe by Bill Granger)

200g fresh peas

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

30g pistachios

50g baby spinach leaves

75g feta cheese

Blanch the peas in boiling water for about two minutes, and then refresh immediately in cold water to stop them losing their lovely bright green colour.

Cook the onion in the two tablespoons of oil until soft and golden (about five minutes). Whisk together the remaining oil and cider vinegar for the dressing, and season with garlic, salt and pepper.

When the onions are cooked, mix them with the peas and pistachios in a bowl, and toss together with the dressing.

Lightly mix in the spinach to coat the leaves with the dressing and then sprinkle with the crumbled feta to serve.

individual smoked salmon and watercress tian

Ah..... the Great British Bank Holiday!

Rain again.....but that didn't stop us enjoying it, after all, we wouldn't let a few showers spoil the fun! Not much chance for basking in sunshine in the garden, but, undeterred, we still managed to conjure an illusion of Summer with these individual smoked salmon tian; perfect with a light salad of mixed leaves, dressed with garlic vinaigrette, and freshly made crunchy coleslaw on the side - who cares about the rain when you can create Summer in your kitchen!

A Tian is basically a tart without the pastry crust, named after the half glazed french Tian dish that it was traditionally cooked in. Not only does this mean that it is very easy to make, but...you also get all of the wonderful rich, savoury, flavour of a tart, without all the work of making pastry and lining tart cases etc! Whilst there is obviously still a place for tarts and quiches, these little Tians make a wonderful short-cut, and they're great if you can't eat wheat, or you just simply don't want the extra fuss, or 'packaging' of the pastry crust. They hold together surprisingly well even without a pastry case, so they are also perfect for picnics and packed lunches. (Bet you can't guess what's in my lunch-box for today!....)

Because I wanted small, individual, Tians I improvised and cooked them in my muffin pan. The combination of delicate smoked salmon and punchy watercress is so evocative of lazy Summer eating, and it's all held together with a smooth, creamy textured custard, tinged with garlic and freshly grated aromatic nutmeg (this has an amazing ability to bring out the flavour in any creamy sauce)

Individual Smoked Salmon and Watercress Tian

(Cabbage Roses and Cupcakes)

5 eggs

2 tablespoons creme fraiche

150mls single cream

1 tablespoon parmesan cheese

120g smoked salmon

half an 85g bag of watercress roughly chopped (plus a few sprigs for garnish)

1 clove garlic

half a tsp grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Set your oven to 180C / Gas 4. Then, in a large bowl, blend together the eggs, cream, creme fraiche, and parmesan. Stir in the garlic, nutmeg, and watercress, and then season to taste. If you don't have a non-stick pan you may need to oil it a little before pouring in the Tian filling. Pour the filling almost to the top of each muffin mould.

(Because the salmon is heavy and sinks to the bottom of the mixture, I found it easier to divide the salmon between the muffin moulds after pouring in the egg and cream filling to make sure that it was evenly distributed). Finally, place a decorative sprig of watercress on the top of each Tian and bake for 20-30 mins until they are just set and golden brown.

pistachio meringues with blackberry and elderflower granita

Meringue is one of those things that I find very therapeutic to make, the added bonus being it's always so wonderful to eat too. In the Winter it's comforting with a heavy unctuous chocolate or toffee topping, and in the Summer (well, the sun has been out for a couple of days, so we could be forgiven for thinking that it must be nearly Summer!) what better way to finish off a meal than with a sweet, crisp meringue, dotted with nubs of bright green pistachios, and then piled high with floppy clouds of double cream, and topped off with a tart and refreshing granita?

Firstly, start by making the meringue the day before.

75g shelled pistachio nuts

4 egg whites

200g golden caster sugar

1 tsp cornflour

1 tsp white wine vinegar

Line a baking tray with baking parchment and heat the oven to 120C / Gas 1. Tip the pistachios into a shallow baking tin and toast in the oven for 7-10 minutes. Blitz in a food processor or chop roughly and then set aside.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry. Gradually whisk in the sugar a spoon at a time until it's all been incorporated and the mixture is no longer gritty. Quickly whisk in the corflour and vinegar, which you have mixed together into a paste, and then lightly fold in about three quarters of the pistachios.

Spoon the mixture onto the baking tray to make four round shells with a slight hollow in the middle for the filling. Then sprinkle over the remaining pistachio nuts, and bake low in the oven for about an hour, or until they are firm and crisp on the outside. If they brown too quickly you may need to turn the oven down, or put the tray lower down in the oven. When they are cooked leave in the oven to cool - preferably overnight.

To make the Granita.......

225g blackberries (or other soft fruit of your choice)

250mls elderflower and blackcurrant cordial

juice of 1 lemon

....simply puree the fruit with the cordial and push through a fine mesh sieve. Add the lemon juice and then pour into a shallow container and freeze for about an hour. By this time the granita should be starting to freeze around the edges.

Gently stir the crystals with a fork and then put the container back into the freezer. Keep doing this every half hour, taking care not to crush the crystals too much otherwise you will lose the lovely 'grainy' texture.

When the mixture has reached the consistency of a firm slush it's ready to be eaten.

Finally, when you're ready, assemble the meringue with the cream and granita and serve straight away. I know I'm definitely looking forward to a long, hot Summer. It's the perfect excuse for eating lots more lovely meringue with refreshing fruit granita!

decadent chocolate mousse cake

Is it a cake - or is it a mousse? Well, whichever it is, it tastes delicious! When I saw this recipe by Annie Bell I knew I had to make it. What is it, I wonder, about our love affair with chocolate, perhaps it's the velvety texture, or is it the irresistibly rich and decadent taste that wraps itself around your tongue, and into your psyche, leaving you helpless to resist?

This gorgeous cake cum mousse is a very simple cake to make, and it looks stunning. I love the way that the sides bulge under the weight of the just-set, unctuous, moussey, chocolate centre, hinting at the delights within. This is chocolate heaven, and I make no apology at all for posting this luscious recipe; it may be gratuitous in it's extravagance, but it's worth every calorie!

Chocolate mousse cake

Recipe

2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

150g golden caster sugar

450ml double cream

1 and a half tablespoons rosewater

300g good quality dark chocolate

Heat oven to 140C/ Gas 1, and then butter a deep sided 20cm cake tin with a removable base (the 'cake' is so soft when it's cooked that it's best not to try and get it off the base!)

Whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar until very pale - almost white, in fact, and doubled in volume. Meanwhile heat the cream and the rosewater to boiling point and then pour over the broken chocolate pieces. Stir gently every so often until the chocolate has melted and then add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and sugar and mix together. Pour into the prepared tin and then bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on your oven) until the cake is just set and still has a bit of wobble in it!

Leave to cool in the tin and run a knife around the top to release the crust if it has stuck to the tin. As it cools the top will crack a little but I think makes it look even more appealing! Eat this on the day that it's cooked to get the maximum gooey moussiness, although this will keep well covered in the fridge for a couple of days. Allow it to come back to room temperature before serving.

Lovely served with cream, or real vanilla ice-cream - or if you want a bit of a tang to cut through the rich chocolate, try it with Greek yoghurt!

dacquoise with summer berry compote

I don't really know what made me think of it.....Dacquoise. Perhaps it was musing on a light dessert for a relaxing Sunday lunch; an occasion to be savoured as it doesn't seem to happen too often! Or maybe it was my general preoccupation with ground almonds, a sense that seems to shadow me like some half forgotten eidolon.

Well, anyway, whatever it was, it sent me searching through my own hand-written student notebooks; dog-eared recipe books bespattered and smudged with years of loving use as their pages have given up their well-loved treasures time and again. Yet, strangely, this was a recipe that I have had for well over 25 years, and have, as yet, never made! I don't really know why exactly I've overlooked it for so long. It became a family favourite of my class buddy from our sixth-form cookery classes (or Home Economics as it was then!) In fact, I remember her calling me on several occasions when she had been asked to produce this favoured confection, but didn't have the recipe to hand!

Despite this, until now, it had remained for me just so many ingredients on a page. Until today, that is....so I approached the task with interest, wondering what it was that could be so special about what is basically a meringue with ground almonds added to it. Following the recipe I dutifully whisked up the meringue, and folded in the almonds, and then set it in the oven and waited......

Well, I can certainly see why this became a favourite. The ground almonds offer a taste that is rather like amaretti biscuits and the texture light and crispy with a little chewiness - not as sickly as a normal meringue, and perhaps a little more 'grown up'. The original recipe from my notebook was filled with apricots and cream, although the delicate nutty flavour would lend itself to all sorts of different fillings. We had ours with summer fruits though (from the freezer, since we're not yet even fully into Spring! ) as I felt I wanted a sharp contrast to the sweet almondy meringue. I'll definitely make this again, though I don't think I'll wait another 25 years!

Dacquoise with Summer Fruit Compote

Dacquoise

3 egg whites

150g caster sugar

50g ground almonds

Filling:

250ml double cream - lightly whipped

100g summer fruits

sugar to taste

1 teaspoon cornflour

Heat the oven to 140C / 275F / Gas 1 and mark out two 20cm circles on sheets of baking parchment and place these on clean dry baking sheets.

Whisk the egg whites until just stiff, and then whisk in half the sugar so that it becomes smooth and glossy. Fold in the rest of the sugar and the ground almonds gently until they are mixed in evenly.

Carefully divide the mixture between the two circles, spreading them out gently - they will be quite thin. Bake for an hour, or until the paper peels away easily.

For the compote, put two tablespoons of water in a saucepan with the fruit and sugar, and simmer gently until soft (about 5 minutes). Slake the cornflour with a little water to a smooth paste, and then add to the fruits, stirring all the time to avoid lumps. Bring to the boil to thicken the mixture for two minutes and then leave to cool. Alternatively, if you want to do without the cornflour you can just continue to cook the fruit until the juices have reduced to a syrup.

Finally, sandwich the Dacquoise together with whipped cream, and pile the fruit compote on top allowing some of the sweet juices to dapple the sides. Finish off with a light dusting of icing sugar and some toasted almonds. (Try not to assemble this too far in advance or the filling will tend to make the Dacquoise lose it's lovely crunch)

Then sit back, relax - and enjoy this with even more cream.....if you dare!

Bento fun!

At the moment I've got an ongoing fascination with Asian food, with a real hankering for those lovely strong, clean flavours. I've also discovered the wonderful, and fun, world of Bento ( Japanese, meaning meal in a box ). There are so many blogs out there dealing solely with Bento. One I particularly like is Just Bento. I love the whole idea of the simplicity, mixed with the visual appeal; some Bento boxes I've seen are real works of art, like this one here - and like a lot of things japanese, there is a cuteness overload........not that I'm complaining!

So, fired up with enthusiasm for my new-found infatuation I bought a Bento box, complete with cutlery and belt, and some cute 'Hello Kitty' pots for the soy sauce condiment. I know, but I just couldn't resist them in all their pink cuteness....not to mention the character moulds for making eggs shaped like rabbits and fish!

My Bento box for today is nowhere near as artistic as some, and a bit of a hybrid, but I thought it looked quite pretty....Teryaki Salmon on mixed salad in the top layer, and sushi rice with grated cucumber and a dressing of Apple Cider vinegar. Cider vinegar might sound a bit weird, but it really cuts through the starchiness of the sushi rice, and the combination of the sweet, salty, garlicky salmon with the soft rice, and the cool, clean-tasting cucumber really works!

...........and even better - it's good for you too!

Teryaki Salmon

(Recipe by Alfie)

For the marinade:

Half a 16oz bottle of soy sauce (or use Tamari to make this Gluten-free)

3 cloves garlic

half a teaspoon of ginger

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons of sake or cooking sherry

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together and put into a shallow dish. Put the salmon into the marinade - I found this was enough for 3 large pieces of salmon - cover and chill for four to eight hours.

When needed, cook in a moderate oven 180C / Gas 4 for about 20 minutes, spooning over the remaining marinade occasionally to stop it from drying out. Or, alternatively you can grill the fish, although I find this does tend to catch a little this way because of the high sugar content.

This is lovely and refreshing served with rice - sushi / brown, or even garlic rice, and a crunchy vegetable like carrot sticks, grated cucumber, or mangetout. We like Carrot Kinpira which is carrots cut into matchsticks and cooked in sesame oil until soft. Then you add soy sauce, and sesame seeds (and a little brown sugar if you like it really sweet!) cook a little longer to allow the flavours to develop, and then serve warm.

This style of food is so simple to do, but really delicious!

nutty pudding cake - no dairy,no gluten,no really!

It seemed a little bit incongruous, that slab of nutty fruit - or should that be fruity nuts, (depending on how you like to look at it), sat on my kitchen counter this morning. After all, Christmas and the Holiday season is long gone, all the tinsel and fire-glow, and plates laden with tantalizing treats, put away, while we find our thoughts turning to Spring and sunshine, and 'healthy' food!..........but then isn't all food technically healthy, or is that another discussion entirely?!

While sorting through my magazine clippings, which at the moment, are in freefall out of the battered box I keep them in, I found this recipe for dairy-free cake by Mary Cadogan. It looked so good that I thought I'd try it out to see if a cake without butter could, indeed, taste as good as it looked in the photo!

Hmmm... call me skeptical, but I wasn't convinced, having had fat-free cakes in the past that just haven't delivered - after all, the whole point of cake is that it's 'comfort' food, right?,rich and indulgent and sinful! I couldn't resist tweaking it a bit either, so I took out the flour as well, and replaced that with ground almonds, and substituted gooey vanilla prunes for the original apricots.

The result was a cross between rich fruit cake and Christmas Pudding, and boy does it deliver.......it's texture is very dense, well I suppose it is basically fruit and nuts!, but it doesn't skimp on the flavour.........and it's dairy free, and gluten free so you don't need to sacrifice gluttony for guilt even if you do have to watch what you eat!


Nutty Pudding Cake

200g pecans
100g hazelnuts
50g blanched almonds
200g juicy raisins
150g pitted chopped dates
150g vanilla prunes
150g glace cherries
100g ground almonds
2 tsp mixed Spice
1 tsp cinnamon
175g dark Muscovado sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp good quality vanilla essence


Grease and base line a 1.5 litre loaf tin.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a LARGE bowl (yes all that mixture WILL fit into the tin, trust me!). Add in the eggs and vanilla essence and mix really well until it all comes together in a lovely fragrant slump.

Pour into the tin and bake at 150C / / Gas 2 for about one and a half hours, or until a skewer prodded into the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out and leave to cool. Dust liberally with icing sugar - although B. felt that this may have been 'gilding the lily'! - and then store in and airtight container. This is so lovely and moist and will keep well for up to two weeks - if it lasts that long!