Category Archives: Dinner Recipes

Gluten Free Battered Fish Recipe

Some of you may know that I’m pretty lucky to live near a chippy that does gluten free fish and chips every Sunday [I’ve blogged about it here] but I am aware some of you aren’t so lucky and do miss the amazingness that is… chip shop style battered fish!

Fish and chips have always been my all time favourite food, so you can imagine how gutted I was when I discovered I had coeliac disease! They’ve been such a big part of my life growing up! For starters, I lived near by ‘Bob’s Chippy’ when I was a wee little nipper and every Friday, before the street lights came on [as that’s when we had to be home], we’d wait outside Bob’s to open and get ourselves a late night bag of fish and chips! Plus, my dad ended up opening his very own Chippy a few years later, called Neptunes, and I ended up eating so much fish and chips that it was coming out of my ears! [slight exaggeration, but trust me, I ate a hell of a lot that I’m surprised I wasn’t a fish shaped chubster!]

So if you fancy battering some fish [not psychically beating the fish up… lame joke, please forgive me] then here’s my super easy gluten free battered fish recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 75ml Milk
  • 120ml Warm Water [enough to make a mixture that resembles pancake batter]
  • 100g Plain Gluten Free Flour [and some extra for dusting]
  • 1 teapsoon of Gluten Free Baking Powder
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Some Fish Fillets [I used Cod, but I encourage you to try other varieties of fish too!]
  • Vegetable Oil

Method:

  1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the Milk and Warm Water 
  2. Add the Plain Gluten Free Flour, Gluten Free Baking Powder, Salt, Pepper and give it a good mix! 
  3. Get your Cod Fillet and dust the extra Flour all over the fish until it’s covered 
  4. Now dunk the floured Cod into the Batter Mixture 
  5. Heat up the Vegetable Oil in either a deep fat fryer or a pan until the oil is hot enough to fry the Cod [to test this, carefully drop a little piece of gluten free bread in the oil, if it sizzles and rises to the top - it’s ready!]
  6. Carefully and gently, lower the Cod into the hot oil and fry until golden! 
  7. Now serve with chips, mushy peas and a big dollop of ketchup! 

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Basic Chinese Stir Fry Sauce

Chinese dishes are one of those cuisines that us coeliacs have to say a heart rendering goodbye to when we’re diagnosed. Although I’ve pretty much forgotten what it’s like to eat Chinese food from a take out, I do miss the amazing Chinese restaurants in China Town, Manchester.

Another thing that proves difficult when you want to have Chinese food at home is finding a stir fry sauce that’s gluten free or is suitable for those on a gluten free diet. I’ve lost count the amount of times me, Mike and ‘Wheat Pete’ have stood in the aisle in Asda reading and re-reading packets of stir fry sauce to see if it contains any nasty wheat and gluten. Although I have yet to find one, I do know they’re are some stir fry sauces out there that are fine - but it’s like finding a needle in a haystack!

So the other day Mike and ‘Wheat Pete’ had planned to have a stir-fry; they bought their stir fry sauce, their noodles, chicken and a big box of stir fry vegetables.  I didn’t have the foggiest idea what I was going to have but as soon as I saw the Amoy ‘Straight to Wok’ gluten free noodles, I knew I had to have a stir fry as well, but what the chuff was I going to do about the sauce?!

Then it hit me… I could make my own easy gluten free stir fry sauce and that’s what I did!

So because I was cooking for both me, Mike and ‘Wheat Pete’, I had to use two frying pans in the end as to contaminate mine dear gluten free stir fry with gluten!

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:

  • 2 Cloves of Garlic [chopped]
  • A little Oil for frying
  • 200ml Vegetable Stock [make sure it’s gluten free]
  • 2 teaspoons Corn Starch [dissolved in a little water till you form a paste]
  • 2 tablespoons Gluten Free Soy Sauce [I use Asda Free From Soy Sauce]
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon of Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of Ground Ginger
  • Ground Pepper to taste

For the Stir Fry:

 

Method:

  1. Heat the Oil in the pan over medium heat and add the chopped Garlic 
  2. After a minute or so, add the Vegetable Stock and give it a good stir
  3. Add the Gluten Free Soy Sauce, Corn Starch ‘paste’, Lemon Juice and stir together 
  4. After a couple of minutes, add the Sugar, Ground Ginger and Ground Pepper and bring to a boil then take off heat. 
  5. In another frying pan, add a little oil and fry the chicken until cooked thoroughly 
  6. Now add the Stir Fry Vegetables and cook until wilted and slightly brown 
  7. Now it’s time for your home-made gluten free Chinese stir fry sauce! Pour over the top and fry for a couple of minutes 
  8. Add the Amoy ‘Straight to Wok’ Noodles and give everything a good stir 
  9. Serve and enjoy your Chinese Stir Fry! 

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Spicy Chickpea Burger

Since after my 25th birthday (and having my quarter life crisis meltdown) I’ve embarked on a healthy eating regime. Now before you accuse me of being an imposter or send out a search party to find the ‘real’ me, I can assure you guys and gals, it’s still me!

So my healthy eating regime consists of ‘no bad carbs’ in the evening. So I can still stuff my face with gluten free bread and pasta for either breakfast or lunch but then it’s brown rice, sweet potato and a  bucket load of vegetables, salads, meat for dinner. This probably won’t last long as I’m already craving gluten free pizza and the most ironic thing since being all healthy is that I’ve been struck down a cold which is only best described as the plague - did someone say ‘sods law’?

One of the things I’ve been eating loads since being all healthy is chickpeas! They’re cheap, pretty tasty and can be bashed and mashed into a whole manner of things such as gluten free falafel, chickpea curries, chickpea salads or spicy chickpea burgers!

Ingredients:

 

  • 1/2 Small Red Onion [finely chopped]
  • 2 Garlic Cloves [finely chopped]
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon  of Ground Coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
  • Small tin of Chickpeas [220g]
  • Small handful of Fresh Coriander [optional]
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of Gluten Free Plain flour
  • 1 Egg [beaten]
  • Vegetables to make a salad [optional]
  • Brown Rice  [optional]

Method:

 

  1. Add a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the Onion and Garlic 
  2. Once the Onion begins to soften, add the Spices [Ground Cumin, Ground Coriander and Cayenne Pepper] and mix it all together with the fried Onion and Garlic 
  3. In a bowl, mash the Chickpeas together with a fork 
  4. Add the Onion, Garlic and Spices with the Chickpeas and mix together 
  5.  With clean hands, mould the Chickpeas into a burger shape, dip into the beaten Egg and then coat in the Gluten Free Flour and put back on the frying pan for a couple of minutes to cook. 
  6. Meanwhile, assemble the Salad with Brown Rice or whatever side you want with you Spicy Chickpea Burger 
  7. Finished!  

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