Gluten Free Eating in Bruges, Belgium

Myself and a group of friends went for a city break last week to Bruges and had an amazing time :) I thought I would write a blog about it as when researching food I had found lots of negative reviews and even one saying it was one of the worst places they had every visited to be gluten free! Needless to say knowing it was famous for Beer and Waffles which are famously not Gluten Free I was a little apprehensive and as we went on the Euro Star made sure that most of my suitcase was filled with food rather than clothes, but it turned out to be a much easier experience than I had anticipated!

On the first night after wandering around we ended up in an Italian restaurant (which I will try to find the name of) and the staff were brilliant, the chef asked what kind of flavours I liked and made me up 2 varieties of tomato based sauce to accompany my starter and my main!

Grilled Scallops in Tomato Sauce

Garlic and herb  Chicken with pick and mix salad

The second night after getting on Trip Advisor I had found a place called 'Beer and Ribs' which had amazing reviews and booked a few weeks in advance which I was glad I did as for a larger group they already had limited space!  I had already emailed to find out what the ribs were marinated in, they did 4 different types smokey BBQ, Chilli, dry rub and chocolate and beer, the latter being the only one unsuitable because of the beer but that sounded good to me! It got better on arrival as a plate of nachos and all you can eat ribs for 18 Euros is a bargain and the nachos were pure maize so I got to eat almost exactly the same as everyone else :) Genuinely the best ribs I have ever eaten, smokey BBQ literally fell off the bone so could not recommend it more highly! 

Nachos to share with a variety of toppings

Meaty perfection!

Lunches admittedly were a little more tricky and not a huge range of 'safe' options but there was lots of salads and omelettes which I stuck to and took a roll with me, which for a weekend was more than adequate!

Hardest bit of the weekend was watching everyone with their amazing looking waffles covered in chocolate and cream BUT I found so much amazing dark chocolate it more than made up for it, even chocolate covered

marshmallows and also some lovely Macaroons in a beautiful shop off the main square and have come back well stocked up with buttons from the Chocolate Museum! 

The other thing that is worth a mention is the 'Frites' museum- all about potatoes and chips which made for an entertaining trip for the group of us, could be very educational if you are a veggie fan but the best bit was hands down tasting the chips at the end which are all cooked in front of you and individually fried :) Nothing tastes better than food you know won't make you ill! 

So all in all- don't panic! I know experiences all vary but I wanted to share how positive mine was and that I found there is much more to Belgian food than unfriendly waffles and beer. I didn't even have to use my language cards as everywhere we went into English was very well spoken with a good understanding of Coeliacs and being Gluten Free! 

Veggie Burgers!

Been piling up recipes so thought it was time to get back to sharing some :) Had fancied a veggie burger for ages but the last few I have looked at in the shops have had wheat in so thought I'd just knock some up myself! 

For 6 large patties I used:

1 can of Chickpeas

100g Quinoa

1 Carrot

1 Courgette

1/2 Red onion

Free from flour for dusting 

Oil of choice for cooking                                                        

                    First step was to drain the chickpeas and then mash them up with a fork

Then grated up a carrot, a courgette and chopped up the onion

Put the Quinoa on to boil with some salt and seasoning

And stir fried the veg for about 8 mins until soft

I then stirred the quinoa into the mashed chickpeas, and stirred in the softened veg before splitting the mixture into 6 and having put some flour on my hands formed them into burger shapes

I wasn't sure whether they would be better baked or fried in the pan so I tested one of both! Fried one for about 3 mins on either side in a hot pan with a little oil and the other I baked at 200 for 20 mins

           
                                         

The one on the left was the fried one which predictably came out a nicer colour and a little crispier but I liked the crust that formed on the baked one with the soft middle so I would happily recommend either!

Dairy free Chocolate Banana 'Ice cream'

There are 2 awesome things about this, first the main ingredient is fruit so it's basically heathy and the other is that you only really need a few other ingredients to make it yummy! 

Pop a sliced up banana in the freezer for an hour or two, then stick it in the food processor and tadaaaa banana like frozen goodness! 

The first one I just added honey and then popped it back in the feeSer for half an hour before munching

 and although not quite up to Ben and Jerry's standards considering it is basically just fruit I'm not complaining! 

Second time I was a little naughtier and added a tablespoon of peanut butter, tablespoon of coco powder and then topped with some sprinkles :) 

Valentines pudding idea perhaps?! 

Gluten Free PUFF PASTRY- It really is Genius!!!

Yesterday, all my dreams came true- Genius announced that they have made a new pastry range which is now being stocked in ASDA stores, including shortcrust, pies and most exciting of all 

PUFF PASTRY! 

You can head over to Genius to read all about it : http://geniusglutenfree.com/gluten-free-living/blog/new-gluten-free-pastry-range/ and you can find your nearest store stocking it here: http://www.geniusglutenfree.com/files/7813/9101/5988/Genius_Gluten_Free_Pastry_Stockists.pdf

I rushed down to my local ASDA with fingers crossed and there it was in the Free From section for £2.50 which to be honest was much more reasonable than I was expecting!

Found it! 

 Unfortunately, I could not will it to defrost any quicker so I had to wait until this morning to test it out! Sausage rolls are the one thing that I miss the most so that was the first thing on my mind! I decided to try one lot with 'normal' sausage meat (I used Debbie and Andrews) and one with Frankfurters as the skinless ones I used to use are impossible to get gluten free.

Debbie and Andrew's sausages, which I skinned

Children's Frankfurters, currently £1 in ASDA

So here it was, put down from free from flour and crossed my fingers that it wasn't going to fall apart when it started rolling, which it didn't!

In hindsight, I could of rolled it thinner but I was worried about over working it, but it fit 3 mini frankfurters perfectly in a row, i then whisked up an egg, folded it over in the middle and used the other half to shape the 2 sausages into one long tube to use for the other half.

Having folded them over, I pressed the edges down with a fork dipped in flour to close them up.

Then cut them in to pieces, far too tempting to eat them all otherwise! 

 Popped them on a baking tray, greased with a few sprays of one kcal sunflower oil and brushed them over with egg just to give them a bit of shine, popped them in the oven and then crossed my fingers that it wouldn't end up a big disappointment!

And after 20mins at 200- IT DIDN'T! :D Look at them!

Yes that is actual flakes! FLAKES!

and best of all? It tastes AMAZING! it has been along time since I have had pastry that tasted anywhere near this good- I am a very very happy Gluten Free Girl right now- diet is definitely going out of the window!

Breakfast Bites

Haven't been feeling too great for the last few weeks so have been trying to go back to food basics to see if it helps :) have seen a lot of 'egg muffin' breakfast recipes so thought I would give some ago! 

Sharing this as it's such a simple idea but felt a lot more satisfying than just have some scrabbled egg.

I used:

3 eggs

100g of mixed ham and turkey meat

Quarter of a red onion

Half a grated courgette

Splash of soya milk

A pinch of salt and pepper 

But the beauty is you can easily make them vegie or try out different combinations, just add whatever you fancy :) 

This mix fitted perfectly into this silicone cupcake mould:

And after 20 mins on baking on 200, they came out looking like this: 

Enjoy! 

Gluten Free Liquorice!

Yesterday, my 'Blue Monday' was turned on it's head when I discovered that a shop on my local high street does GLUTEN FREE liquorice!

I know liquorice is not for everyone but for me it reminds me of weekends and my grandparents and yumminess so I was particularly gutted to have to add it to the long list of things that contain flour. I know that you can get it online but I am often begrudging of the delivery prices which them make a a rather expensive treat, the shop is called Charlie's Sweet Emporium: http://charliessweets.co.uk/ their website shows where quite a few shops are in the UK and the very nice ladies serving told me that all their stores do a wide range, so after having a cheeky sample of a few i decided on a mix just to be sure and got all these for £3! (Well, I may of eaten a few before managing to take a picture...)

Vozar's- Gluten Free Restaurant, Brixton Village

The weekend I was taken to Vozar's for a celebratory meal and having pledged support to get it on it's feet I have been excited about a visit for months!!

It has developed from WAG Bakery which I'm sure many people are familiar with as I always see raving reviews about their cakes and bread but had not yet been able to sample it myself- this is their website so you can have a gander: http://vozars.co.uk/

I was a little apprehensive about what Brixton Village would be like but it is so easy to get to from the station and when you walk in Vozar's is right in front of you, a cute little cafe on the corner of a busy strip with lots of other lovely looking restaurants. 

Having been drooling over the menu for days I had already decided my boyfriend and I would be sharing the scotch egg and chicken strips to start, unfortunately they had run out of scotch eggs (very popular!) but I was nowhere near disappointed with the crab meat dish I chose instead:

                                       

Literally piled high with moist crab meat and underneath is pile was half a soft toasted roll! 

Chicken Strips- HEAVEN! These were exactly how I remember Schnitzel tasting, so yummy I could easily of had 2 plates of these for dinner! 

For our mains we had the Pork Belly, which as you can see looked (and tasted) amazing, served with and appley sauce and creamy mash 

                        

Now, at this point I definitely did not need pudding, but after a rest and this little one having been calling to me I gave in and ohhhhh was it good :) The crust was crisp but not dry and custard was the perfect very occasional dairy treat! 

I really can't reccomend this place any higher, it would be amazing to see them go on to have a larger premises but we will definitely be back!! 

Easy Peasy Pesto Pasta

This horrible weather led me to making this for dinner this week as after trudging in the rain I just wanted a quick fix of something yummy! 

A a 'Free Fromer' I am often looking for new weird and wacky ideas, but sometimes it's nice to go back to basics and just have a replacement of something 'normal'

The pasta I have used here is Sainsbury's Free From Fusilli which I find to be one of the best replacements, some baby salad leave and chicken diced and stir fried with a generous helping of this yummy pesto:

Part of Asda's new Free From selection I have found this to be a cheaper alternative (£1.90) to some of the other health store options and just as good! It says only to keep in the fridge a few days after opened but I often leave it a few weeks and after a quick mix it taste just as good as the first time :) 

Meaty Turtles!!!

My boyfriend and I are massive foodies and often like to have some fun with the food we make :)

This is one of our favourite creations:

This would be great for kids, free from or not :)

Essentially the Turtles are a meat feast! 

One here is made simple with a beef and egg patty mix with a few herbs and the other with turkey mince,  (a personal favourite of mine) and then topped with Mrs Crimble's Gluten free sage and onion stuffing- a total over indulgence! 

Using streaky bacon you then 'weave it' to make a bacon lattice which you place on top before popping in the oven, along with some of The Black Farmer Daughter's chipolata sausages which can then be cut cut up and popped in to make the head and legs- Ta Daaaaaa! 

First Free From Trip to Wagamama's

I aimed to do one post a week on here, but with all the eating out i've been doing over the holiday i'm getting a little carried away and I was so impressed with my dinner last night I just had to share!
I used to love Wagamama's and always ate there as a treat while at university but usually I now now that Duck Gyoza's and Chicken Katsu were not such a good idea!! I was excited but a little apprehensive  that a free from trip would not be quite as good but i had read good things online and so went with some friend's to the Wimbledon Branch last night.

As soon as I asked for the Dietary Advice folders our server brought them over, enquired as to whether I had used them before, which I said I had not. He then very kindly explained that one folder highlighted gluten free (and many other allergens) and the other then showed you the modifications that you could make if you wanted to, for example not having Teriyaki Sauce.

My server however recommended the new Chilli Squid, the work 'Deep fried' is usually a cause for concern but he assured me it was a celiac favourite and one of the Itame dishes which you can get in chicken, prawn or tofu and was described as'rice noodles in a spicy green coconut and lemongrass soup topped with stir-fried chicken, beansprouts, chillies, red and spring onions, bok choi, peppers and mushrooms.' which both sounded good to me so i took his recommendation and ordered the chicken itame and the chilli squid side and this was the result:

CHICKEN ITAME

CHILLI SQUID

Safe to say I was not disappointed,  in fact I was a very happy bunny! The Itame was much like a Thai green curry in flavour, the chicken moist and with the flat rice noodles it was both flavoursome and filling, and the Squid? Amazing, closest thing I have had to batter in 18 months and the sauce was also gorgeous, will definitely be back for more :)

Lighter Lunch- Fresh Spring Rolls

Losing weight is not something that comes easy to me but even I feel that I have definitely over indulged a little tooo much over the festive period! Currently on a library lunch break from trying to finish my latest assignment so thought I would share one of my favourite lighter lunch options :)

 First I stir fried some prawns with some Gluten Free soy sauce, a clove of garlic and abit of sweet chilli sauces just to give them some flavour, but you could also use chicken, pork, beef or tofu depending on your tastes








I would usually use vermicilli rice noodles to do thes but i'd run out so used rice instead which actually worked quite well, if you are using rice/ glass noodles them you just have to rest the nest of them in boiling water for about 10mins before ricing them in cold water and chopping them us, I also had an avocado in the fridge but they are great with spring onion, or finely sliced carrot, cucumber or a combination!

 I had picked up these Rice Flour Pancakes from Morrisons but have seen them in more supermarkets recently for about £1.50, you get a fair few in them and they last once opened. I  used a shallow bowl to soak them in hot water for 20 seconds before putting them on the chopping board, make sure you only do one at a time though because they are quite fragile!

I then took a handful of rice, compressed it together and placed it in the middle of the rice wrapper, added my other ingredients before rolling it up, taking care to fold the bottom and the top first so none of it spilled out.

 To get the effect of being able to see the prawns and avocado, place this on the wrapper first and bring all section in, so when you turn it over you can see through the wrapper.

These are my final 4 rolls, already to take for lunch, just need to add a splash of sweet chilli for a yummy sarnie alternative :)