FreeFrom Recipes from Indigo

The winner of theFreeFrom Eating Out Awards' new Pathfinder Award for ground-breaking work in catering for those on freefrom diets is being awarded to Executive Chef Dominic Teague at Indigo, the restaurant at top class Covent Garden hotel, One Aldwych.

Last year Indigo reopened after refurbishment with a totally gluten and dairy free diet but, for three months, they did not say a word – and no one noticed! Neither their long established regular customers nor any new customers coming to try out the restaurant. When they finally 'came clean', the freefrom world went mad – and Indigo's bookings shot up by 30%!

To read the full story go to the FreeFrom Eating Out Awards site here. Alternatively, visit Indigo with us and see how Chef Dominic developed the new menu – and the rest of the staff and the guests reacted – and watch chef put together one of their signature dishes.

Meanwhile, Chef has shared two of Indigo's most popular freefrom dishes with us so that you can try them out for yourselves. Beer battered day boat fish, Crushed peas and tartare sauce and Chocolate mousse, honeycomb, almond milk ice cream.

Beer battered day boat fish, Crushed peas and tartare sauce

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Serves 4

4 x 120 g fresh white fish

Batter flour

• 50g gluten free plain flour (Doves Farm)
• 25g rice flour
• 25g potato flour
• 10g corn flour
• 10g gluten free baking powder
• 1g xanthan gum

• ½ egg
• 120g batter flour
• ½ bottle gluten free beer (330ml)

Method

1. Mix all the flour ingredients together
2. Mix a little of the beer into the flour mix.
3. Add the egg and whisk in the rest of the beer till smooth.

Crushed peas

• 200 g peas
• 5 g dill
• 5 g mint
• olive oil
• salt

Boil the peas, cool and blend till roughly chopped
Add some olive oil, salt and the chopped herbs.

Tartare sauce

• 100 gms homemade mayonnaise                                        
• 20gms finely chopped Shallots                                           
• 1 tblsp chopped Parsley                                                        
• 25 gms chopped Capers                                                         
• 25 gms chopped cornichons                                                  
• salt to taste

Mix everything.

To serve

Dip the fish into a little gluten free flour and coat with the batter. Deep fry till golden brown approx. 4 mins at 220C. Drain on a cloth, warm the peas, arrange on plate and place fish on top. Serve with tartare sauce, chunky fries, lemon and vinegar.

Chocolate mousse, honeycomb, almond milk ice cream

Serves 12 (so you will have plenty left for tomorrow!)

Chocolate mousse

325g 70% chocolate
30 g coconut butter
6 egg yolks
50g water
pinch salt
pinch nescafe
7 egg whites
100g sugar

Melt the chocolate and the coconut butter together.
Over a bain marie make a sabayon with the egg yolk, salt and nescafe whisking till light and fluffy.
Make a French meringue with the sugar and whites, whip to stiff peaks.
Fold the sabayon into the chocolate and then the meringue, pipe into rings and set in the fridge.

Honeycomb

10g honey
10g golden syrup
60g caster sugar
10g water
4g bicarbonate of soda

Place all ingredients in a pan except for the bi carb and boil to a light caramel (150 degrees).
Whisk in the bicarb and pour onto a silpat mat to cool.
Once cool store in vac pac bags.

Almond milk ice cream

200g almond milk
30g flaked almonds
1g Maldon salt
30g fondant
10g glucose
5g sugar
2g stab 2000

Heat milk, fondant and glucose to 40 degrees, mix together the sugar and stab2000 whisk into milk and bring to the boil.
Roast almonds to dark golden colour, add to the milk and put on an ice bain marie to cool.
Once cool pass and freeze in containers.

Chocolate and sea salt cookies

108g soft plain gluten-free flour
18g gluten-free cocoa powder
3g bicarbonate of soda
50g coconut butter
74g light brown sugar
30g sugar
1g maldon sea salt

Mix together all the ingredients mix to a smooth paste
Bake in the oven @160 degrees half fan, half power.

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