Gloriously Gluten Free: fresh & simple gluten-free recipes for healthy eating every day by Susanna Booth

In Gloriously Gluten Free experienced free-from cookery writer Susanna Booth puts her chemistry degree to good use by reworking traditional cooking methods to perfectly suit the specific nature of gluten free ingredients. The book contains over 100 recipes including salads, soups, savoury, sweet, indulgence and basics. It has the look of a cookbook that anyone would be happy to use that happens to be gluten free rather than a special diet one.

There is a succint section on gluten free diets with some really useful information on how to successfully convert recipes to be gluten free. Also included is a recipe finder so you can see at a glance what allergens each recipe contains. With most recipies accompanied by tempting full page photographs this is a innovative addition to the gluten free cookbook shelf.

For more of Susanna's recipes check out www.widecirclecooking.com

Gloriously Gluten Free: Fresh & simple gluten-free recipes for healthy eating every day by Susanna Booth is published by Hamlyn, £20.00 www.octopusbooks.co.uk

You can also buy Gloriously Gluten Free from Amazon here.

Mini Onion Quiches with Mustard Pastry
Corn, gluten, nightshade, nut, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free

Vegetable Cobbler
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, nightshade, nut, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free

Ice Cream Cones
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free

Mini Onion Quiches with Mustard Pastry

A nutritious alternative to wheat flour, gram flour is particularly good in savoury dishes. Here the mustard marries well with the sweetness of the onions and earthiness of the thyme. Try these little quiches for a picnic, in a lunchbox or as a party snack.

Makes 12

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 eggs
• 2 tspns thyme leaves, plus extra to garnish

Pastry

• 75g (3 oz) cold unsalted butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
• 100g (3½ oz) brown rice flour, plus extra for dusting
• 75g (3 oz) gram (chickpea) flour
• ½ tspn xanthan gum
• 4 tspns gluten-free wholegrain mustard
• 1 tbsp water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Grease the sections of a 12-hole tart tin with butter.
3. To make the pastry, place the rice flour, gram flour and xanthan gum in a bowl.
4. Add the butter and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
5. Stir in the mustard, then add the measurement water.
6. Using your hands, combine well to form a soft but not sticky dough, adding a little more water or rice flour if necessary.
7. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
8. Roll out the pastry to about 3mm (1⁄8inch) thick on a work surface dusted with rice flour.
9. Stamp out 12 rounds using a pastry cutter a little larger than the tin sections.
10. Alternatively, use a jar lid to cut round.
11. Press the pastry rounds into the tin sections.
12. (Don't worry too much about perfection, but if there are cracks or holes use a little of the excess pastry to fix them.)
13. Bake for 10 minutes, then leave to cool in the tin.
14. To make the filling, heat the oil in a nonstick frying pan, add the onions and cook over a medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until softened and starting to turn brown.
15. Beat together the eggs in a jug, then add the thyme leaves.
16. Stir in the warm onions, then use a fork to transfer the mixture evenly into the pastry cases.
17. Bake for 10 minutes until the filling has set.
18. Carefully remove the quiches form the tin, then serve warm or cold, garnished with thyme sprigs.

Vegetable Cobbler

This vegetable stew formed more or less my staple diet at university. I serve it here with dumplings, which bake in the stew while it cooks in the oven, and end up with crispy tops and fluffy middles.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbspn olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and finely sliced
• 2 celery sticks, finely sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm (½ inch) cubes
• 2 small parsnips, peeled and cut into 1cm (½ inch) cubes
• 2 courgettes, peeled and cut into 1cm (½ inch) cubes
• 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, cored, deseeded and sliced
• 5 closed cup mushrooms, sliced
• 400g (13 oz) can gluten-free baked beans
• salt

Dumplings

• 100g (3½ oz) pure vegetable fat, chilled in the freezer
• 150g (5 oz) gram (chickpea) flour
• 40g (1½ oz) cornflour
• 1 tspn gluten-free baking powder
• handful of parsley, chopped
• pinch of salt
• 60ml (2fl oz) water

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole, add the onion, leeks and celery and cook over a mediumheat for about 5 minutes until softened.
2. Add the remaining vegetables to the casserole and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until soft.
3. Add the baked beans, then half-fill the empty can with water and add to the pan.
4. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1½ hours.
5. Season to taste with salt.
6. Towards the end of the cooking time, preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.
7. To make the dumplings, grate the frozen vegetable fat into a bowl.
8. Stir in the gram flour, cornflour, baking powder, parsley and salt, then add the measurement water and knead to a soft but not sticky dough, adding a little more water if necessary.
9. Divide the dough into 8 equal sized pieces and shape into balls, then drop them into the stew.
10. Transfer the casserole to the oven, uncovered, and cook for about 35 minutes until the dumplings have browned on top.
11. Serve immediately.

Ice Cream Cones

These crunchy cones require no special equipment and are just crying out for a dollop of luscious ice cream. The key to success is careful measurement of the ingredients. Store the cones in an airtight container until needed.

Makes 5

Ingredients

• 55g (2 oz) potato flour
• 40g (1½ oz) icing sugar
• 40g (1½ oz) soft dark brown sugar
• ½ tspn sunflower oil
• ¼ tspn vanilla extract
• ¼ tspn xanthan gum
• 60ml (2fl oz) water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.
2. Mix together the flours, sugars, oil, vanilla extract and xanthan gum in a bowl.
3. Gradually stir in the measurement water until smooth.
4. Using a pencil, draw round a 15cm (6 inch) diameter upturned bowl or side plate on non stick baking paper to create 5 circles.
5. Cut the circles out, leaving a border around the edge for you to hold.
6. Lay the paper circles on a baking sheet.
7. Place heaped tablespoons of the mixture into the centre of each circle, then spread it out evenly to the drawn line using a palette knife.
8. Don't make the edges too thin and don't leave any holes.
9. Bake for about 17 minutes until browned and hardened.
10. Carefully remove the disks from the oven, then quickly grab the edge of the paper using a tea towel or oven glove and roll the circle into a cone shape.
11. Hold for a few seconds until the mixture cools enough to be handled; at this point you can peel off the paper and form a tighter cone, pinching the bottom to prevent ice cream from dripping out.
12. The cones are delicate so be careful.
13. Transfer the cones to a wire rack, seam side down, and leave until completely hardened.

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