It must be pretty difficult being gluten intolerant, watching everyone else tuck into whatever they fancy and missing out on tasty grub all the time. Which is why I decided to restore some balance when I cooked dinner for the first time in my new weasel den.
The trick was to find something everyone would enjoy, but that was also gluten free for my gluten-intolerant Mammy.
I decided a chicken dish would be most likely to please everyone’s palette and picked up this nifty little recipe from BBC Good Food, which I tweaked a bit to suit my own tastes.
Gluten-free Italian Stuffed Chicken (for five)
Ingredients
200g full-fat soft cheese
Handful chopped black olives
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon of Oregano
Some chopped sun-dried tomatoes
5 ripe tomatoes
Olive oil
Recipe
1.) First of all, mix the soft cheese, olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic and oregano in a bowl.
2.) Next, use a sharp knife to cut a slit along the side of each chicken breast, then stuff with the soft cheese mix.
3.) Pop on a baking tray and season the chicken. Top with sliced tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil.
4.) Roast for 20 minutes at 220C, or until the chicken is cooked through entirely.
I served the Italian chicken with roast potatoes, side salad and some crusty bread, plus a bottle of my Portuguese favourite Vinho Verde. The trick with the roast potatoes is too cover in olive oil and season, then cook on a low heat for 2 hours until they are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.
Think making a gluten-free dessert is a bit of a challenge? Try this super easy recipe for a chocolate brownie from Delicious and you’ll see how easy it is.
Gluten-free Chocolate Brownie Dessert (makes 6 portions)
Ingredients
100g good quality dark chocolate
3 medium free-range eggs
70g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
25g pecans
1 teaspoon of ground coffee (I used Sainsbury’s Fairtrade Colombian Coffee)
Crème fraiche and raspberries for serving
Recipe
1.) Use the vegetable oil to grease an 18cm square cake tin.
2.) Melt the chocolate over a bowl of simmering water, stirring gently.
3.) Separate the eggs, whisking yolks and sugar until pale.
4.) Add melted chocolate, almonds, coffee and pecans and stir.
5.) Whisk the egg whites until they form peaks, then gradually add to the mixture.
6.) Pop in the oven for 18 minutes at 180C, keeping watch to make sure it doesn’t burn.
7.) Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares and spoon some crème fraiche and raspberries on top to serve.
Let me know if you try out either of the recipes? Enjoy!
Wandering Loulou 