Royal Wedding and Strawberry tart

Congratulations to Will and Kate on their wedding.

Where and how did you celebrate the royal wedding?
I went to some friend’s house to see it on TV and taking it all in, I brought a strawberry tart to the celebration and it was a great and memorable day.

Strawberry tart

Crust:
250g plain flour
2 tablespoons icing sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
100g dairy free margarine
5-6 tablespoons cold water

Custard filling:
550ml Lactofree whole milk or another dairy substitution
4 tablespoons corn flour
100g sugar
3 big or 4 small egg yolks
1 vanilla pod (cut in half length wise)
¼ teaspoon salt

30g dairy free dark chocolate
400-500g of fresh strawberries.

Preheat oven to 175C/335F/Gas Mark 3/4.

Mix the plain flour, corn flour and salt together, then crumble in the margarine and add the water a little at the time until you get a firm dough. Cover with cling film and put in freezer for ½-1 hour to cool down and firm up, but not freeze.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 2mm thickness, and transfer dough to the pie dish.
Trim edge and poke little holes in the dough in the bottom using a fork.
 Bake for about 15-20 min. Allow to cool completely.

To make the custard: (Can be made the day before and kept in the fridge)
In a bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks with a 50ml of milk and set aside.
In a saucepan, whisk together the milk, sugar, corn flour, vanilla pod and salt, and heat until just before boiling while stirring.
Whisk the hot mixture into the egg yolks in a thin stream while whisking it together. Strain into a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly until custard is thick and bubbles appear in centre.
 Transfer to a medium sized bowl and cover with cling film, pressing it directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Place in fridge until completely cooled.

To assemble the tart:
Melt the chocolate and brush it on the inside of the tart.
Fill with custard, decorate with strawberries

Le Pain Quotidien

Having the Vegan Mezze Platter and my boyfriend having duck
(don't know if his was dairy free though).

I think I have loved this place since the first day I looked through the window of the restaurant in Soho, so defiantly love at first sight. Then when I went there to eat my love just grew even bigger.

Le Pain Quotidien is a worldwide chain of restaurants that originates from Belgium, and serves everything from breakfast, lunch and dinner, but also works as a bakery, patisserie and a bit of a delicatessen/pantry with jams, chocolate, tea’s and much more.

The food is French (Belgiun) and uses the best and freshest ingredients that really come out in the taste.  And as a lactose intolerant sufferer, they have marked the menu with dishes that are vegan (meaning no animal products including dairy), and when I have asked about certain dishes containing dairy the waiters have always been super quick to find out for me without you seeming like you are in any way a bother.

One of my best memories of London was when I celebrated my birthday with a picnic by the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park, I had called the restaurant at Exhibition Road a few days before to ask if it was possible to have one of their picnic boxes without any dairy, and it was no problem at all, they just replaced the items containing dairy with ones that didn’t.
It was a perfect day, a warm summer day in August spent with good company and good food, I couldn't have asked for anything more.

For more information visit www.lepainquotidien.co.uk and for picnic boxes click here to see what they offer

Rocky Road

This is another adaptation of  a Nigella Lawson recipe Rocky Road, that is quite simular to the Chocolate peanut crunch squairs I have posted before, but quite different in taste.

200g digestives or rich tea biscuits, dairy free (mcvitties light and some supermarket brands are dairy free)
100g mini marshmallows
300g dark chocolate dairy free
100g golden syrup
60g coconut milk - skimmed (see here)
30g Coconut oil
 

1.       Chop the digestiv biscuis up in small pieces, about the size of the marshmallows, and mix with the marshmallows in a bowl.

2.       Put the Chocolate, golden syrup, coconut milk and coconut oil in a small saucepan and let it slowly combine while stiring over a low heat.

3.       Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the digestives and marshmallows and combine gently using a wooden spoon.

4.       When all the peanuts and honey combe is covered in the chocolate mixture, spread it into a 20 x 20 cm baking tray lined with baking paper and pad it down with the back of the spoon. Put in the fridge to set for a few hours and cut into small squares.

Hot Cross Buns

20-24 buns

2 teaspoons dried active yeast
100g sugar
2 eggs
500ml Lactofree Milk
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon all spice
100g raisins
100g candied citrus peel
100g dairy free margarine
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 kg (2 pound) plain white flour

1 egg white + 1 tablespoon of water whisked together for brushing

For crosses:
150g icing sugar

Water

Heat up milk until finger warm (not warm or cold to the touch).
Transferee milk to a bowl and add yeast, let it stand for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to dissolve.
Ad Sugar, egg, nutmeg, all spice, salt, margarine and lemon peel to the milk mixture and whisk together.
Ad the flour a little at the time until the dough comes together and you are able to turn it out on a flowered work top to start kneading.
Turn the raisins and candied orange peel into the dough and knead lightly for about 5 minutes or until the dough becomes springy to the touch.
Transferee to a lightly flowered bowl and cover let it rise for 30 minutes or till doubled in size.
Turn dough out on the work surface and divide dough into 20-24 pieces of dough (depending on what size you want), and roll into balls. Place in a lined baking sheet to rise for a second time, 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size.
Cut a cross in each roll using a sharp knife, or cutting using a scissor, and brush each bun with egg white and water
Bake for about 20 minutes in a 200 degree hot oven.

When cooled, mix icing sugar with a little bit of water at a time till you get a thick icing and transfer to a piping bag or a freezer bag with a little corner cut off, and pipe the crosses on the hot cross buns.

Happy Easter

Shooting Star

Denmark is famous for their open sandwiches, and one of the more special ones are Stjerneskud or Shooting star in English.

This is a great dish to make if you are having friends over for lunch like this Easter or as a great lunch to celebrate the royal wedding with friends.

Makes 4

4 plaice filets coated in breadcrumbs (see further down)
Dairy free margarine

4 Plaice filets plain
100ml white wine
100ml water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

200g prawns
4 slices of sandwich bread
4 teaspoons of caviar
4 lettuce leaves
12 fresh asparagus

100g lactofree soft white cheese
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Breaded plaice: in three different plates ad plain white flour, a whisked egg and white breadcrumbs
Cover the Plaice filet in flour, then dip in egg and end with covering in bread crumbs. (or for the lazy version, by readymade ones).

Dressing: Mix soft white cheese with ketchup and lemon juice. Add Salt and pepper to taste.

Fry the Breaded Plaice in some margarine until golden brown and crispy.
Steam the Plain Place filet in white wine, water and lemon juice.
Blanch the asparagus in some boiling water for 1-2 minutes and transfer to some ice cold water for a few minutes, then drain.
Fry bread slices in the pan where the plaice where fried with a little more margarine until golden brown.

Assemble by laying the bread on a plate, next breaded plaice, then steamed plaice, dressing, prawns, caviar and garnish with a slice of lemon and accompanied with the asparagus.

Sandwich bread

There is just something about making your own bread, the comforting smell it brings to the house and the amazing taste that only comes from fresh baked bread made with love.

Makes one bread

400ml Lactofree milk
50g dairy free margarine
2 teaspoons dried active yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons golden syrup
200g wholemeal flour
450-500g plain white flour

1.       In a pan heat milk and margarine until it comes to finger temperature (when it doesn’t feel warm or cold to the touch).

2.       Pour the milk into a bowl, add the yeast and let it stand for 5-10 minutes for the yeast to dissolve and activate.

3.       Stir in the salt and golden syrup and ad the whole meal flour.

4.       Slowly add the plain flour a bit at a time until the dough sticks together, then turn out on a floured work top and knead in more flour until it doesn’t stick to your hands anymore.

5.       Knead the dough for about 5 minutes till it becomes flexible and springy.

6.       Transfer to a bowl and cover, let rise for 45 minutes or double size.

7.       Turn out on the work surface and knock back a few times, then roll into a sausage the length of the bread mold.

8.       Butter the bread tin with a bit of margarine and transfer the dough to the tin.

9.       Let it rise for about another hour or till it has doubled in size.

10.   Heat up oven to 200⁰C.

11.   Bake the bread for about 25-30 minutes, when you turn it out of the tin it should sound hollow when you tap the bottom.

12.   Let to cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Cheese Omelette

Do you have a lot of eggs like me after blowing egg for Easter craft, why not have an omelette evening then, it is easy and so tasty.

If you are blowing out eggs and using that for the omelette, make sure to take the right precautions, look here for some tips.

Pr. Person:

3 eggs
50g of Lactofree semi hard cheese
Salt and pepper
Oil or dairy free margarine
And filling of choice (in this picture the filling is pepperoni and spring onion, my boyfriends choice, where I went for one with just spring onion).

1. Heat the olive or margarine in a small non-stick frying pan. Tip in the filling of your choice to fry if needed. Lift out of the pan on a plate.
2. Place the pan back on the heat and swirl the eggs into it. Cook for 1 min or until set to your liking, swirling with a fork now and again.
3. Sprinkle on the filling and cheese over one half of the omelette. Using a spatula or palette knife, fold the omelette over. Cook for a few moments more, lift onto a plate and serve with some salad.

Click here to see Jamie Oliver demonstrate how to make a perfect omelette.

Coconut Macaroons

An easy little treat for the weekend or for Easter.

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

100g caster sugar

Pinch of salt

200g shredded coconut

150g dairy free chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3.
2. Beat the egg whites until frothy - no more - then add the cream of tartar and carry on beating, Missus, until soft peaks are formed. Add the sugar a teaspoon at a time and whisk until the peaks can hold their shape and are shiny. Fold in the salt and coconut. The mixture will be sticky but should, all the same, hold its shape when clumped together.
3. Form into golf ball-size domes, and transfer to a lined baking sheet.
4. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until they're just beginning to turn golden in parts.
5. Once baked leave to cool. 
6. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave, and dip the coconut macaroons in the chocolate and put back on the backing paper for the chocolate to set.

Booja Booja Chocolate for Chocolate lovers

When I lived in Denmark, the best thing I could ever think of eating was the champagne truffles from the sweetest little chocolate shop called PB Chocolates in city centre, where not only where all the chocolates amazing the staff in that little shop where some of the sweetest sales staff I have ever meet, they were always up for a chat about chocolate and talked so passionately about it. I often think of this little shop and about the amazing champagne truffles that I no longer can have, and it still makes me smile.

Accidently emptied it before I had a change to take a picture

But lucky me, there is actually a company called Booja Booja that makes dairy free champagne truffles and I literally felt like I had won the lottery first time I saw these on a shelf. The company seems to put so much heart behind the ingredients and products, and  you can certainly taste it in every bite.
On top of being dairy free, they are also gluten free, cholesterol free, vegan, GMO free and organic, and they certainly hold their own against any fine chocolate truffle on the market.

So far I have tried the Champagne truffles and Cognac banana truffles that I can highly recommend, but are defiantly going to try all the other flavours as well.

If you are still looking for an Easter egg for someone this Easter, why not give them one of Booja Booja’s hand painted Easter eggs. I have definatly put a few on my wish list that's for sure.

For more information about Booja Booja chocolate truffles see here

Homemade pasta with mushrooms and cream cheese sauce

Making homemade pasta can be such a fun family or couple project to do. Kids will love turning the wheel of the pasta maker and for couples there is something so romantic about cooking together.
This recipe is for an easy and delicious sauce for topping any pasta, but taste extra good with homemade pasta.

Serves 4

Pasta  (in this picture it is home made from Jamie Oliver’s recipe, where we used 1 egg + 100g flour per person. Get recipe here.)

500g mushrooms sliced
300g Lactofree Soft White Cheese
2 big handfuls of chopped parsley
2 cloves of garlic pressed (can be left out)
150-250ml of pasta water (water that has been strained from the pasta after cooking)
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
Olive oil

Put the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water to cook.

While the pasta is cooking, sauté the mushrooms in a little bit of oil until they start to brown, then take the pan of the heat and wait till the pasta is done.

Strain the pasta, keeping some of the water for the sauce.

Put the pan of mushrooms back on the heat and add the pressed garlic and sauté for a minute, then add the soft white cheese and some of the pasta water and let it all melts together and cook for a few minutes (adding more pasta water if needed) until you get a creamy sauce that is a bit on the runny side, so the pasta has something to soak up.

Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste (the pasta water will have added some salt, so taste before adding spices), and then turn in the pasta and parsley in the sauce.

Hey presto, dinner is served.

Chocolate I would recommend

I love chocolate so much, and milk chocolate is probably one of the things I miss the most in my lactose free diet, but luckily there are some good dark chocolates out there to eat or use to make scrumptious treats with.

These are the chocolates I normally buy that I have found so far.

My absolute favourite is Willie Harcourt-Cooze chocolate, and if you haven’t tried his chocolate you need to try it, he is so passionate about his chocolate and it really comes through in the taste.
He does two different products his Willie’s Supreme Cacao that is 100% pure cacao, mostly used for cooking, and Wille’s Delectable Cacao that is bars ranging between 69%-72% cacao, and these you can use for both cooking but also for eating, and they  taste absolutely amazing, melt in your mouth smooth with the most different adventures tastes.
The bars only contain cacao and raw cane sugar, so no soy or bad things. 

For more information visit www.williescacao.com

The other chocolate I use a lot in cooking, it is a bit cheaper for when I make cakes or other things where the type of chocolate doesn’t make a big different in taste, is Waitrose’s own continental  plain chocolate that is 72%, it taste good and is great for cooking.

It does however contain soya, but it seems like there isn’t a lot of chocolates out there that doesn’t contain soya.

For more information click here

Garlic barbecue marinade

Enough for about 4 chicken breasts

3 garlic cloves (pressed)

2 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons ketchup

4 tablespoons worcheshire sauce

2 tablespoons English mustard

2 teaspoons chilli sauce (or finely chopped fresh chillies)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together

Add the cubed meat to the marinade and let it marinade for minimum 20 min, then pierce on to skewers (if using wooden, remember to let them soak in water beforehand) plain or with a selection of vegetables.

While grilling brush the remaining sauce on the skewers every few minutes, they should take between 6-8 minutes, depending on how hot the grill is, but to make sure take some meet of a skewer and cut through to see if cooked.

The Lass O'Richmond Hill

Is there anything nicer than going to a good pub for Sunday lunch when it is amazing weather outside.
If you live in London, or are going to London at some point, Richmond is an amazing place to visit, it has so many things to explore, like the city center with all the little side streets that holds some lovely independent shops, the walk along the thames and Richmond park, that is in my mind one of the most tranquil places in London with a huge amount of deer’s freely walking around.

Just next to Richmond park near the entrance at Richmond Hill, is a lovely newly renovated Young’s pub, that is just like a pub should be, good seasonal food, picnic baskets. local beer on tap, smiling and friendly service, good parking in the back, outdoor seating back and front in the summer, and 3, yes 3, fireplaces inside for when it is cold in the winter, what more can you ask for.

Now down to the verdict of eating here when you have special food requirements, 4 out of 5 stars in my book, when telling the waiter that I couldn’t have any dairy he immediately said he would go and ask the kitchen and if I had any preference dishes or if I wanted to know which ones was dairy free. Ended up having the Sunday lunch with chicken, and it was really good with perfect cooked chicken, highly recommend.

For more information visit www.lassorichmondhill.co.uk

Lactofree

If you haven’t heard of Lactofree and you are lactose intolerance and live in the UK, this will make a big difference to your life.( If you are not living in the UK most countries have a similar product, see below).
Lactofree is real milk that has been added lactase enzyme that makes the lactose clump up which makes it possible to sift away 99.95% of the Lactose in the Milk, so you are getting the taste and nutrients of real milk but without the lactose.

It was so amazing for me to find this product, especially because I seem to have somewhat of an intolerance to soymilk as well, so this meant that I could have milk in my tea, on cereal, yes well everything where you normally have milk.
Besides the milk (semi-skimmed and Whole), Lactofree also have a semi hard and soft white cheese, small yogurts with strawberry and raspberry and are now also making small portion packs of milk.

They did also use to do a natural yogurt that I really miss, but suppose you can always hope they will bring it back one day.

For more information visit www.lactofree.co.uk where you can also find you’re nearest stockist.
Other countries:
Denmark, Sweden Arla, Sweden Valio, Norway, Canada please let me know if you know of other countries and  companys that does a lactose free range and I will put it on here.

Chocolate Peanut Crunch Squares

Normaly a bit nicer looking, but left them out a bit to long before cutting.

This is an adaptation of Nigella Lawson’s sweet and salty crunchy nut bars and Hokey Pokey recipes, and is so easy to make once you have mastered honey combe making.
Taste absolutely heavenly and is great for any occasion, also great for filling a cardboard Easter egg with this Easter, just make sure to line the egg with grease proof paper before filling.

Don't be afraid of this recipe containing coconut milk if you are not a coconut fan, have served this to people that really do not like coconut and they loved it and couldn't taste the coconut milk.

Chocolate peanut crunch:

200g honey combe chopped into small pieces not bigger than a peanut size (recipe below)
300g Salted peanuts
300g dark chocolate dairy free
100g golden syrup

60g coconut milk - skimmed (see here)

30g Coconut oil

 

1.       In a bowl mix the peanuts and chopped up honey combe.

2.       Put the Chocolate, golden syrup, coconut milk and coconut oil in a small saucepan and let is slowly combine while stiring over a low heat.

3.       Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the peanuts and honey combe and combine gently using a wooden spoon.

4.       When all the peanuts and honey combe is covered in the chocolate mixture, spread it into a 20 x 20 cm baking tray lined with baking paper and pad it down with the back of the spoon. Put in the fridge to set for a few hours and cut into small squares.

Honey Combe:

200g sugar
200g golden syrup
1 teaspoon carbonate of soda

Normally when making honey combe just for eating and not as an ingredient in a recipe, you would add more carbonate of soda, but because this is going in the recipe, I am only using a 1/3 of what I normally use so they don’t break as easily.
It is a good idea to read the recipe through before starting and have all the ingredients and tools ready for this recipe.

1.       Put the sugar and syrup into a medium saucepan and stir together to mix. You mustn't stir once the pan's on the heat, though.

2.       Place the pan, on the heat and let it slowly come to a boil, let it boil for about 3-4 min on medium heat, it is done when the some of bubbles starts turning a bit darker almost a bit of a burnt colour.

3.       Take the pan of the hear, then whisk in the bicarbonate of soda, the mixture will bubble up and you need to work a bit fast here as you don’t want to ruin the bubbles but you also want to make sure the soda has been mixed with all the syrup.

4.        Turn this immediately onto a piece of baking paper, don’t spread it with a spoon or touch it in any way just let it do its own thing.

5.       Leave until set and cool, doesn’t take long but make sure it is completely set before using for the chocolate peanut crunch.

 

Alternative Easter egg

I want to jump right into blogging with a great idea for Easter, are you going to give an Easter egg to someone who can’t have dairy or maybe you yourself can’t have dairy and want to send a hint to someone about an alternative to a chocolate Easter egg? Then this might be a great idea for you.

First there are these amazing vintage looking cardboard Easter eggs, they are quite similar to the ones I use to get as a kid and besides being extremely cute, they are also reusable for a lot of Easters to come. They are also very versatile, you can pretty much fill them with anything you like and make this a much more personal Easter egg to give.
I found mine on Amazon by searching for cardboard Easter egg. The bigger ones are 15cm in size and the smaller one comes in a pack of four (but they are really small so only suited for something really small like small sweets for an Easter egg hunt, a note or money).

I have chosen this year to fill one of the Easter eggs I am giving away with funny and different sweets that are dairy free from cybercandy, they have everything you could wish for to fill an Easter egg up with exciting things, and just going through the website makes you feel like a kid in an amazing candy shop.

But other alternatives to put in these sweet eggs could be dairy free sweets or homemade allergy free sweets (that I will post some recipes for later this month), or maybe something non edible filling like gift cards, jewellery or underwear.

If you are buying online for this Easter make sure you do it in god time so you are not empty handed when Easter comes.