Spelt Naan Bread

Posted on 20/05/2012 by

Every 5 or 6 weeks we have an Indian Night here in Casa GraciesBakes. I adore Indian food and we are lucky enough to have a good one in Drogheda – Punjabi House – that do take out. So every 5 or 6 weeks we get a take out. We are really boring when it comes to ordering and I am pretty sure that they know what we are going to order when we tell them our name! One of my favourite parts of getting a take out meal there is the enormous naan breads that we get. They are soft and doughy and perfect for transporting food from plate to mouth, as well as mopping up any of the delicious sauces left on the plate.

We haven’t had a take out since I have been trying to eliminate wheat from my diet so I decided that I would attempt to replicate the lovely doughy naan. I discovered a recipe jotted in one of my many notebooks and did a bit of fiddling with quantities and ingredients. I am delighted to say that it turned out great. Not as good as when someone else does the hard work of course, but nearly!

I used Spelt Flour and soya yoghurt. If you want to make this with wheat and dairy you can just use plain white flour and natural yoghurt in place of these two. But believe me when I say that even the most determined wheat and dairy eaters would be hard pushed to tell the difference!

For the naan bread you will need the following ;
7g Dried Yeast
300 – 350ml warm water
500g spelt flour, plus more for dusting.
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp natural soya yoghurt
2 tbsp olive oil

To make the bread place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix together. Make a well in the centre and add your yeast, yoghurt and olive oil. Mix into the flour and add the water about a third at a time. I find with Spelt flour that I need all of the water in the recipe. Your dough will be quite messy at this point but shouldn’t be soaking wet. Add the final third of the water a little at a time so that you don’t add too much water – you can always add more if you need to but you can’t take it back out if you put too much in!

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface – again use the spelt flour to dust the surface. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until you have a springy and smooth dough. As you would with any other bread.

Place the bread in a large bowl that has about a table-spoon of olive oil in it. Move it around and ensure that it is coated with oil to ensure that it doesn’t stick. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in a warm place for an hour. I usually pop it into the oven with just the light on – it creates enough heat to activate the yeast without killing it.

After an hour your bread should have doubled in size. Flour your work surface again and place the dough on it. Knock the gas out of it and knead gently into a round. Cut into 4 pieces and roll out each on to about 5 mm high. Leave to one side and cover with a clean tea towel for about 5 minutes. Cook in a frying or griddle pan on a medium heat until golden before turning.

You will find that your first naan will take the longest time to cook – as you add more to the pan the residual head in the pan will cook them faster so you will need to keep an eye on them. Many times i have been caught out on this and found myself in a kitchen full of acrid black smoke. NOT the most appetising of situations.

Once cooked, keep warm in a medium to hot oven for a couple of minutes and serve with the food or dips of your choice.

I served this with a lovely Channa Masala, a recipe I picked up on Eat Live Run. It is a simple and tasty recipe. Make life easy on yourself and have all the prep done in advance with all the ingredients chopped and laid out ready to go. Honestly, you will thank me for it. I also subbed out the butter for olive oil in the original recipe to make it dairy free but it is good either way!

If you wanted to add flavour to your naan bread try adding 2 crushed garlic cloves to the mix at the flour stage. Or a small bunch of chopped coriander. Ensure that it is mixed through really well in the flour before adding the yeast stage. As the dough sits for an hour, the flavours will develop nicely.

Whether you enjoy Indian food or not, these naan breads are great for dips. Tear them apart with your hands or cut them into shapes. Either way – Enjoy!!

Orls

PS – I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Pat Whelan from James Whelan Butchers at the All Ireland Marketing Awards on Thursday night. I have been following him on twitter for a while and it was great to finally meet the man behind the hashtag! It was also great to see him win the category of Small Business Marketing Award. Congratulations Pat & Team!!!

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Lentil, Beet & Red Onion Salad

Posted on 13/05/2012 by

I have been on my holidays for the last week. I didn’t go anywhere but had a blissful week off work which I spent cooking, gardening, baking, working out and getting my island/baking station fixed, during which I discovered I own 56 (yes 56) baking sheets, muffin tins and cake tins.

This has all been accumulated in less than 3 years.

My week off also allowed me the luxury of working out every day, at whatever time I wanted. I am generally a morning exerciser but at the moment that is not possible with a 5.40am alarm call so that I make the train. This past week has been bliss and has seen me get my sweat on quite a lot. I fitted in a race last weekend, a couple of 5 mile runs, some yoga, a weights session and then this morning I had my ass handed to me in a spinning class.

Now I haven’t done a spinning class in about 2 years, and I am ashamed to say that I rocked into the class like I did them in my sleep. I mean how hard could it be right? I work out a lot, I am fit, I can run 5 miles without trouble. A spin class will be a piece of cake right? Wrong….

To say I nearly died may be a slight exaggeration but not much. The instructor barely broke a sweat while screaming orders at us to stand up, sit down, sprint, sprint, sprint, while I was nearly passing out. I had jelly legs after the class but in a super good way. I will definitely be back. But when I have regained the use of my legs.

Almost instantly after getting off the bike, my appetite came out of nowhere and floored me. I had the perfect thing in the fridge to recharge my batteries. After a heavy work out, a mixture of carbs and protein is the best way to repair your muscles and body. This French Lentil, Beetroot and Red Onion salad is a lovely snack with some Rye Sourdough bread, or as a side salad with some tasty burgers.

Once made, it will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

To make the salad you will need
190g French or Green Lentils (Use these over the red lentils as they will hold their shape and texture once cooked)
One Bay Leaf
One medium red onion, diced
One cooked beetroot, diced (I use the ones that come in a vaccuum pack from supermarkets)
Salt and Pepper

For the dressing you will need
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I use a lovely Jerez Sherry Vinegar I picked up in Madrid last year)
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

To cook the lentils, Measure them in a cup or measuring jug. Rinse them in cold water in a colander and place in a large saucepan with the bay leaf. Cover in double the volume of cold water as they measured in the cup/jug. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 20 minutes over a med – high heat. Test after about 15 minutes to see if they are close to being done. THey should be soft but still have a bite to them.
Once cooked, drain into a colander, remove the bay leaf & discard, and rinse again in cold water to stop them cooking.
Leave to one side to cool.

While the lentils are cooking chop your red onion & beetroot into small dice and set aside.

To make your dressing, simply add the wine vinegar of your choice to the olive oil & mustard and whisk. Taste and add salt and pepper until seasoned as you like it.

To assemble add the beet and onion to the cooked lentils in a large bowl, and pour over the dressing and mix gently ensuring that the lentils are coated.

Taste again and season if necessary.

This salad makes a perfect snack, or side dish for summer parties and gatherings and I can guarantee you that everyone will love it.

To make it even more decadent, crumble some yummy feta over the top & mix in – if you are adding feta however, don’t season until you have added the cheese as feta is salty & it could throw the seasoning. For all you meat eaters out there, you could add some fried and diced bacon but again, don’t season until you have added the bacon.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week. If it lasts that long.

On that note, I am off to ice my legs. And everything else. I have a feeling that my first day back at work tomorrow might be a sore one…

Wish me luck!

Orls xx

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Rhubarb Crumble

Posted on 05/05/2012 by

Gosh – I am mortified that it has been so long since I have been around here. I can’t believe that the last couple of months have been and gone and that it is the first long weekend of the Summer! Can you?

It has been a busy few months that have been tinged with sadness as we said goodbye to my gorgeous and beautiful Grandmother. We cried, we laughed and we celebrated her life. 10 children, 30 odd grandchildren and a couple of grandchildren is certainly worth celebrating.

Work has been very busy and I just found myself wanting time for myself. During the last couple months, I also was advised that I have a slight intolerence to Wheat and Dairy. I knew about the dairy myself but after a hectic Christmas period, I didn’t just fall off the wagon as wait for a comfy landing and proceed to fling myself off it. I was advised to cut all wheat and dairy from my diet for a while and see whether it helped. Cutting out milk, cheese and yoghurt hasn’t been a problem – I had been dairy free before and it was just a matter of being careful and mindful of the choices I was making, but wheat? Well that has been a different story and I have found it really tough.

This weekend, we’re heading to my parents for dinner and I offered to bring a dessert. I had bought some lovely rhubarb and wanted to use that. I had been drooling over some amazing recipes on Like Mam Used to Bake in the last while and decided that with a little imagination I could make a wheat free and dairy free crumble. I made a test run this morning (yes crumble for breakfast – it is definitely a bank holiday)

To make the Crumble Topping you will need
- 160g Oatmeal flour* ( simply take 160g porridge oats and blitz in a food processor until completely powdered)
- 80g chilled non dairy spread. I use Pure Soya Spread
- 80g light brown sugar
- 40g porridge oats*.

For the stewed rhubarb you will need
- 2 bunches or 10 stalks of Rhubarb washed and chopped
- 3-4 tbsp caster sugar
- 5 tbsp water

*Please note that unless oats are stated as being gluten free, they are not suitable for anyone with a gluten intolerance or allergy. However, they are suitable for a wheat intolerance. Please check your labels if you have gluten allergies.

To make the crumble place the oat flour in a large bowl. Cut the chilled spread into the flour and work into it using your fingers until you have a coarse breadcrumb like substance. Add the sugar and oats and mix in. Don’t overwork the mixture. Set aside until you need it. Or place in an airtight bag for up to 2 days.

To stew the rhubarb, place the chopped pieces into a large saucepan, add the sugar and water, stir and place on a low to medium heat. Stir occasionally until broken down and stewed. Leave some pieces chunky as they will cook more when in the crumble.

Pour the stewed rhubarb into an oven proof dish- or into 6 ovenproof ramekins
Top with the crumble, covering the rhubarb and place in a preheated oven at 180C for 40-45 minutes (or 15 minutes if individual ramekins)

Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. For all you non dairy free peeps, serve with whipped cream. For those of you who want to remain dairy free, serve with natural soya yoghurt.

Serve, and enjoy.

Have an amazing long weekend. Mine will be filled with Running, family, friends visiting from Seattle (yay).

I hope to be back soon with more yummy food that I have adapted to try to say as dairy and wheat free as I can.

Orls.

PS – I recently wrote a guest post for the lovely WhatSheWears.ie on running, getting started and what you need to get going! Pop on over and have a look.

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Pumpkin Pancakes

Posted on 19/02/2012 by

I just can’t believe it is already the latter end of February. Where have the last 2 months gone?
I just blinked and they are already over.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Greek Yoghurt & Caramelised Mango & Blueberries

I started a new job just after Christmas in Dublin and I must be honest, the commute has been taking its toll on me as can be seen with the lack of activity here on the blog – and can also be seen in the terrible meals I have been eating – if you can call them that!
I leave the house at 6.30 each morning. Breakfast has never been a problem for me. I have to have it – simple as that.So I start each day with porridge with a dash of honey and a teaspoon of peanut butter for protein. However, I arrive home at just after 6.30 in the evening and all I want to to is eat something and sit down. And I must confess that mostly this past week I have eaten either cereal or a piece of toast for dinner.
No wonder so that my bloodwork came back with a terribly low iron count!

I have great plans to sit down and work out a weekly meal planner but as of yet that hasn’t happened. Some day it will. In the mean time, at the weekend I have been trying to eat balanced meals that encorporate some more nutrients that I am picking up during the week. I am trying desperately to eat lots of fruit, but recently it has been making me feel a little unwell – I think my whole body is just rebelling against such early starts. But as things aren’t going to change on that front anytime soon, I need to over-ride that.

During the weekly shop I spotted all the pancake ingredients front and centre when you walk into the supermarket and it suddenly dawned on me that Pancake Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday) is this week. I have been sitting on this recipe for a while as I hadn’t the patience to make it – or so I thought. Turns out it takes 5 minutes to throw the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk them up. The result, when cooked, are super light, American style fluffy pancakes that would be lovely served up any time of the year for an indulgent breakfast, or even a brunch.They are the perfect vessel for getting some fruit into your diet – you could serve them with fresh chopped fruit – plums and pears, or with berries. You could also serve them on Pancake Tuesday with Nutella and chopped bananas and nuts sprinkled.

These pancakes are also vegan. I have used a flax egg and soya milk but you could just as easily use regular milk and normal eggs. Don’t be put off by the veganism of the pancakes – you really wouldn’t notice the difference at all.
Firstly, if you are using a flax egg, mix one teaspoon of ground flax seed with three teaspoons of water and leave aside for 10 minutes. When you come back to check, it will have a thick and gloopy texture.

For the pancakes you will need;
75g Wholewheat Spelt Flour,
40g Buckwheat Flour
150ml Soya Milk (Or regular milk)
100g Pumpkin Puree (I use the Libby’s brand which I find in Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St, Dublin)
1 tsp Honey
1 flax egg or one normal egg.
1/8th tsp Baking Powder.

In a bowl place your flours and baking powder and stir. In a separate bowl mix your milk, pumpkin puree, honey and egg or egg replacement and whisk until combined.
Create a well in the centre of the flours and pour in your wet mixture. Whisk until combined. The batter will be a lot thicker than a regular crepe batter and this is what makes the end result a thicker fluffier pancake. If you would like a thinner batter add a little more milk a bit at a time until you reach the consistency you want.

To cook, heat a heavy based frying pan to a medium heat. Melt a little butter or add some sunflower oil to coat the pan. Wipe the excess from the base of the pan with some kitchen towel before cooking. Next add your batter. Drop a half a soup ladle of batter to the pan and smooth the top into a circular shape and allow to cook for 2 minutes. Gently flip and allow to cook on the other side for about 1 more minute.

Remove from the pan onto a warm plate and continue to cook until all the batter has been used. You can make the pancakes as large or as small as you like.

Heat blueberries & chopped mango in a frying pan. Sprinkle with sugar and allow to start to caramelise. Don't stir the mix. Just shake the pan.

Serve with chopped fruit, honey or maple syrup for drizzling, some greek yoghurt or even bacon. I served mine with some mango and blueberries which I had caramelised with some sugar.

The end result is a lovely, light and relatively healthy breakfast or brunch. Not only is pumpkin loaded with vitamin A and antioxidant carotenoids, particularly alpha and beta-carotenes, it’s a good source of vitamins C, K, and E, and lots of minerals, including magnesium, potassium, and iron. Meaning that you are also getting plenty of nutrients. Which is certainly something I need to do a little more.

I hope you enjoy these pancakes – whether on Pancake Tuesday or at the weekend for brunch.

Enjoy,
Orls

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New Year, New Start

Posted on 08/01/2012 by

I have been ridiculously quiet on the blog for the past few weeks. I have not once had the urge to open WordPress, log into my account and write. I don’t know what that says. Maybe I just needed the break. Apart from the couple of Christmas recipes I posted, I didn’t really want to post any more.
And it was great.

I spent the Christmas break spending time with family. Getting excited that Santa had been to visit, and laughing with my Gran who was sipping Baileys by the fire at midday. Sure why not.

I went to the wedding of a dear friend in Kildare and it gave the perfect chance to get all dolled up and spend time with good friends laughing, joking and of course having a good old boogie.

Himself and Myself all dressed up.

I baked a delicious tray of fudgey brownies for New Years Eve dinner in my parents house – and spent the next few days nibbling on the edges that I had cut off to make them more uniform. Recipe will follow shortly. I will go into a chocolate coma if I have to make them again without an event!

An Acre of Brownies

I took advantage of the lovely crisp days and ran for miles with the dogs. I ran up and down the Head, I ran round the block twice, with one dog each time so they wouldn’t trip me up, and I ran the beach.

Clogherhead Beach

And this morning, Mr. C and I took the dogs up to the gorgeous village of Carlingford and walked some of the Slieve Foye loop. We only got half way and turned around as there were lots of sheep and we thought the dogs would drive them bananas (they were both on leads the whole time). We didn’t reckon on meeting a little herd of woolies on the way back down meaning both dogs pulled on their leads for well over a mile until the sheep finally disappeared up another hill. We will be going back though as the mission was to exhaust the dogs – they have been sleeping on the couch for the last 3 hours & aren’t going anywhere soon! Mission Accomplished.

The Cooley Peninsula from the Slieve Foye Loop.

And with that, the last three weeks of Christmas holidays passed in the blink of an eye. I am starting a new job tomorrow. I am excited about the upcoming year. I have a lot of personal goals I would like to achieve. Running more is top of the list. I completed 10 races last year, which was my goal. This year, I want to run faster. Not record breaking fast, but faster than I do at the moment. I also want to eat better than I have in the last while. Over the last couple of months I have been pretty lax about the amount of dairy I have been eating. Dairy makes me wheezy and makes my asthma a bit of an issue. It is something that I know will make a difference so I want to jump back on that bandwagon and clean up my eating. It will be hard though. I love cheese. When I don’t eat it, I don’t miss it, but when I spend a month snacking on Brie and raspberry chutney on crackers, it is tough to contemplate. But it will also mean I don’t wheeze like a 20 a day smoker!

I also plan to blog in the midst of everything. I can’t promise there will be much in the next few weeks. The new job will involve a commute to Dublin. I haven’t have more of a 30 minute door to door commute in the last 3 years so it will be a bit of a culture shock. To help make the commute more bearable, and to ensure that we are eating decent dinners I will be relying on dinners made at the weekend, and frozen, or in the (fabulous and best present ever) slow cooker like the yummy Veggie Chilli
And for a breakfast or mid morning snack I will be throwing some of my granola in a tupperware container to mix with greek yoghurt. It takes a little time to make but lasts for weeks!

So on that note, I will wish you all a very Happy New Year. I hope all your wishes, and plans/resolutions turn out the way you wish.

I am off to check out how best to spend my hour commute – I think though that it might be sleeping!

Orls
xx

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Happy Happy Holidays

Posted on 24/12/2011 by

Just a quick drop in, via iPhone to wish you all a very Happy, safe, healthy and beautiful Christmas wherever you are spending it, and with whomever you are spending it.

December has been a hectic month for me but I’m spending this Christmas with my wonderful family and am
thankful I get to. I’ll be thinking of those who are no longer with us and sending up a thought for those who find this
time of year difficult or sad for a number of reasons.I’ll ask you to do the same.

And on that note, enjoy your celebrations. Tell your loved ones that they are just that. Wish a stranger a happy time, smile. And most of all, mind yourself.

Here’s to a great Christmas, and a future of fun, good times & great food!

Enjoy,
Orls xxx

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Review – Really Good Organic Coffee from Cafe de Cuba

Posted on 24/11/2011 by

A couple months ago I was contacted by the lovely people at Cafe de Cuba and Fixx Coffee who had noticed that I drink a lot of coffee. Anyone who know me, knows I love my coffee. Love it.

Anyway, the team at Cafe de Cuba asked me whether I would be interested in reviewing some coffee – a new Organic coffee and a decaf that they were introducing to their lines. Of course, loving coffee as I do I jumped at the chance.

A couple weeks later I arrived home from work one day to find a fab hamper with a bag of Really Good Organic Coffee, a bag of Decaf coffee, and a sample bag of CHA teas, as well as a tin of CHA Pure Green Tea.

The Really Good Organic Coffee is just that. Really Good.
“Well balanced and extremely smooth, with subtle vanilla and chocolate flavours. Sourced from small Peruvian farms averaging less than two hectares in size, our coffee beans meets internationally defined organic standards”

At first, I found the coffee a little bitter and strong for my liking, but I think that was more to do with my “heaped” serving spoon quantities. The coffee is great. It is really smooth coffee and I really enjoyed it. It is available from the Cafe de Cuba website in 250g bags of either roasted beans or roasted and ground coffee. It is priced at €8.50 per bag.

Now, I have always been reluctant to order decaf. I would rather order nothing than have decaf in the past. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this coffee. I have drank a number of cups of decaf that have been watery, tasteless or just plain nasty but this decaf from Cafe de Cuba tastes really like good coffee. It is 99.9% caffeine free, which complies with EU standards. I have found it perfect for my mid-afternoon coffee break without it affecting my sleep. Which is always good. Again, it is available in 250g bags of roasted and ground coffee, or roasted beans. The roasted and ground coffee retails at €8 while the roasted whole beans are on special at the moment for €7.

The two coffees I was sent were mostly brewed in the cafetiere while I made a couple of the Really Good Organic brews in my moka pot. Both were great but the moka pot, as you can imagine was really strong. A lot stronger than I would usually drink and I had to water it down quite a bit. You may need to play around with the serving sizes to get the strength of coffee you want.

As well as coffees, Cafe de Cuba are also the exclusive distributors of CHA teas. The flavour varieties are all real teas – not infused, and have naturally extracted flavours in pure form. I can personally vouch for the Mango flavour which smells amazing, and has a hint of sweet mango about it, without it being overpowering. The CHA teas are for sale from the Cafe de Cuba website and are €6.50 per tin.

Overall, I loved all the products that I was sent by Cafe de Cuba. The bags of coffee seem a little pricey for drinking every day (especially in the quantities that I drink them in) but I do plan on picking up a fresh bag of each next time I am in Dublin to have in the fridge. Especially the decaf.

Cafe de Cuba have a great selection of gift packs at the moment on their website that would be perfect for the coffee and tea lover in your life this Christmas. They also ship worldwide and have a handy guide on their homepage letting you know when to get your order in to ensure delivery before Christmas. Why not mix and match the different coffees and treat yourself to a cafetiere while you are at it.

Enjoy,
Orls

I was sent a the coffees and tea above free of charge by Cafe de Cuba for reviewing purposes, but the opinions are my own.

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