Guest Post by RavenMcAllan for a Three Course Gluten-Free Menu!

Raven McAllan is here to share with us her journey to gluten-free eating and living and the recipes for a three course gluten-free (g-f) meal. Enjoy!

Hi all, this is Raven’s gluten free menu.

Why g-f? Well let’s back track ohhh about 12 years. Dd was doing her gap year in New Zealand, and when she went for a work visa (having gone at 17, too young) , she was discovered to be anaemic, and then coeliac.

So she came home, and we discovered a new way of living. She shuddered at the pasta (cardboard), ignored the bread, and mum baked with g-f four. Believe me gluten free stuff was no way as advanced as it is now.

Dd went off to uni, and the next year, then came home for the summer, and bet me I couldn’t go g-f for two weeks.

Oh yes I can, I said and I did. And then went back onto gluten.

Ouch. Big mistake.

We now have 50% of the family g-f  and the other two when at home have no alternative.

The only gluten in our house are hubby’s gluten filled bread and pasta, nothing else.

So dear readers (if I haven’t put you all off by now) is my quick go to g-f meal. Three courses of basic goodness, all gluten free.

I must add here I’m one of those bit-of-this-dash-of-that cooks, so bear with me...

Starter: Dead easy Mushroom Soup

This is my 'oh can we drop in and there are 1,2,3,4,5 of us' starter.

Box of mushrooms any sort, chopped. Leave 3-4 in big chunks.

Knob of butter, maybe half a teaspoon of oil.

Large (okay in my house very large) pinch of herbs. Ditto of garlic.

One stock cube either chicken or veg... in water. Season to taste.

So sauté mushrooms in oil and butter until soft. Add herbs and garlic and stir,

Add stock to cover. Simmer till soft ( or as I cook on an Aga, bring to boil, put in bottom oven for 2-3 hours)

If you have one of those fab soup mushers, use it. Otherwise mash down contents. (scientific eh?)

Add a dash of cream or milk. There you go. (Image is from the Internet, I'm afraid, but you get the idea!)

Mains... Now this is easy, honestly.

G-F Meatballs in tomato sauce (home made of course)

Now like I said I sort of don’t do measurements, sorry. But mix mince, g-f oats, breadcrumbs, some onion and mushroom together with a knob of butter. Not too sloppy. Dust in g-f flour, fry gently until you know they won’t fall to bits.

Make a tomato sauce with an onion, six-ish mushrooms, a carrot, a stick of celery and peppers (which add up to half a pepper) Sauté until soft and add passata, and herbs. Pour over meatballs and warm through.  

Serve with rice or g-f pasta.

Now for my favourite pud. And for this one I do weigh stuff. Sort of.

Raven’s g-f Fruit Crumble

Whatever fruit you fancy, cooked until soft in water and a wee (I live in Scotland) bit of sugar.

Now the measured bit...

In a basin, rub together,

170g of g-f SR four

¼ teasp salt,

70g marg or butter

60g sugar (demerara or caster)

Handful of g-f oats...

Easy... Sprinkle over fruit and cook for around 25-30 mins gas mark 4-5

Enjoy

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Love Raven

Thanks Raven! I must admit, I don't cook g-f very often, but I've had to on occasion for visiting guests and it's great to have some new ideas!

Monday Meal: Sauteed Veggies with Garlic, Coriander & Lemon Juice

This is actually a lunch dish, for me anyway, but as it is yummy and healthy I thought I'd include it! It's super simple, takes five minutes, and I'm happy to have it most days for lunches or leftovers.

Ingredients:

Veggies, sliced--I like red pepper, courgettes, and mushrooms but I've also used spring onion, sugar snap peas, and broccoli as well. Basically, whatever you fancy!
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed (I like it quite garlicky!)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

Sauté the veggies in the olive oil with the garlic for about five minutes. Add lemon juice and coriander, and voila! This was my lunch today (it was leftover from yesterday):

Monday Meal: Creamy Cider Chicken

I made this tonight, having found the recipe in a magazine in WH Smith entitled '£1 Dinners'. Of course, the £1 is slightly misleading, as it is £1 per person rather than £1 total. But this is rather tasty, and everyone enjoys it but two of my children who pretty much don't like anything.

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts
6 slices of streaky bacon (I use 4 large chicken breasts halved)
2 onions, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
300 ml apple juice or cider
500 ml chicken stock
100g creme fraiche
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon thickening granules
2 cooking apples, sliced

Method:

Wrap a slice of bacon around each chicken breast and fry in 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil for 10 minutes until browned all over. Add celery and onion and fry for a few minutes; then add stock and juice, bring to boil, cover, and cook in 180 oven for 40 minutes.

While it's cooking sauté 2 cooking apples, sliced, in butter until browned all over.

Take out of oven, add creme fraiche, mustard, thickening granules, and apples. Stir and cook on stovetop for 3 minutes.

I serve it with rice and salad.

Sorry it's a stock photo--I forgot to take a picture of our dinner!