Sweet Potato Rostis (makes 4 rostis)

April 23, 2017August 4, 2018Leave a comment

Sweet Potato Rostis by The Fat Foodie

I’ve been on holiday for the past week and one morning after a very long lie-in I really fancied something quite indulgent for breakfast. I’d bought a large bag of sweet potatoes at the supermarket and was looking for ways to use them up so I decided to make sweet potato rostis that I could fill with a baked egg and serve alongside some rashers of smoky bacon. That’s what days off are all about, right?

I always have lots of nuts and seeds in my larder because I find them to be a very useful source of iron and they can be added on an ad hoc basis to so many dishes. So, I thought the addition of sesame seeds to the sweet potatoes would go well, adding a toasted flavour to the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes.

I cooked my sweet potato rostis in little tartlet tins, thinking that the tins would help the rostis to bake into a hard flan shape that would hold the baked eggs whilst also crisping up the rostis, but sadly the tins didn’t make the rostis bake into that shape. However, I’m still pleased I cooked them in the tartlet tins because they helped form a bowl for the eggs to be baked in. One rosti is a low FODMAP portion.

These sweet potato rostis respond well to a very generous seasoning of pepper, resulting in a crunchy, but sweet, satisfying bowl of potato in which to encapsulate your chosen fillings. I’ll definitely be making these again in a heartbeat.

Sweet Potato Rostis with a Baked Egg by The Fat Foodie

Ingredients:

2 grated sweet potatoes (no more than 280g grated weight in total)

4 tbsps gluten-free flour (I use Dove’s Farm G/F flour because it’s made with low FODMAP ingredients whereas many other gluten-free flours are made with high FODMAP options.)

4 tbsps sesame seeds

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan/400F/Gas mark 6.

Grate your sweet potatoes into a large bowl and then add all of the ingredients and stir well.

Divide the mixture between the tart tins (or a large baking tray, if you’re not using the tart tins) and bake for around 25 minutes until the top of the rostis are crunchy and the base is soft.

Add your eggs and put the rostis back in the oven until the eggs are cooked to your liking. (Equally, if you’re having bacon with them you could chop the bacon up and add it to the eggs before you bake them.)

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Rostis with Baked Eggs and Smoked Bacon by The Fat Foodie

Orange and White Chocolate Pavlova (serves 10-12)

October 26, 2016August 4, 2018Leave a comment

Orange and White Chocolate Pavlova by The Fat Foodie

This orange and white chocolate pavlova is one of the easiest desserts you could ever make and I’ll bet it’s one that’ll be eaten the quickest too. I don’t know about your house, but few sweet things are demolished faster in our household than a pavlova, particularly one which merges a good zesty fruit with sweet sugary shards of meringue and rich, lightly whipped cream.

The combination of creamy orange curd spread over layers of thick meringue which is crisp, but still just slightly chewy, and sandwiched by silky whipped cream is a great marriage altogether. Although I’ve used orange in my curd you could easily opt to use lemon, lime or even passionfruit instead and any of them would give you a great result.

As this was made as a treat for my family I didn’t make it a dairy-free version, but if you can’t tolerate dairy you could easily adapt the recipe by using non-dairy versions of the ingredients such as oat cream, coconut cream, non-dairy butter and dark chocolate instead of white chocolate.

Orange and White Chocolate Pavlova by The Fat Foodie

As easy as this orange and white chocolate pavlova is to make there are just a few small, but important, rules you must follow in order to get the best results:

1.) Don’t get any fat in the egg whites. Egg whites will not whisk properly if there is any fat in them whatsoever, so crack each of your eggs into a small bowl before tipping the egg whites one at a time into the bowl you’ll be whisking them up in. That way if you accidentally break an egg yolk you’re only throwing away one egg rather than the whole bowlful. Also, make sure your bowl and electric whisk beaters are spotlessly clean of any residual fats.

2.) Use room temperature eggs as they will be much more voluminous than fridge-cold ones.

3.) Use caster sugar. The egg white bubbles are so delicate that they’ll break more easily if they’re in contact with large pieces of granulated sugar. Therefore, using the smaller sized caster sugar granules will help to retain as much air within the egg whites as possible.

4.) Add a little cornflour to stabilise the egg whites and to create a slightly chewy texture to your meringue.

I made my meringues the night before I was intending to make the pavlova which meant that they could cool down slowly in the oven overnight, ensuring their crust did not crack very much, but you could just use them immediately once they’ve been cooked and have cooled down. Trust me, if you follow these tips you’ll be rewarded with beautiful, big meringues that’ll be just begging to be topped with whipped cream and an assortment of fruits.

Ingredients:

For the meringues:

6 egg whites

375g caster sugar

2 tsps cornflour

For the orange curd:

1 large orange

The zest and juice of 1 orange

6 egg yolks

150g butter (or a non-dairy version)

225g caster sugar

For decoration:

A carton of lactose-free double cream (about 284ml) or a non-dairy version

100g white chocolate (you could use dark chocolate if you prefer)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas mark 4.

Put greaseproof paper on two large baking sheets.

Separate 6 eggs and put the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until firm and then whisk in the cornflour and sugar.

Spread three equal circles of meringue mixture onto the baking sheets.

Put in the oven and then turn the oven down to 150C/130C Fan/300F/ Gas mark 2. Bake for 1 hour and then leave the meringues to cool.

To make the curd:

Put all of the curd ingredients into a small saucepan and over a low heat gently whisk it together until it is hot and the curd leaves a thick coat on the back of a spoon dipped into it.

Strain it through a sieve into a bowl and leave it to cool.

To assemble the pavlova:

Break your white chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Leave the chocolate to melt by putting this bowl into a larger one filled with hot water. (Make sure no water gets into the chocolate though, otherwise it’ll seize and will be unworkable.)

Whip the double cream.

Put the first meringue on a serving plate and spread it with the cooled orange curd and then a layer of double cream.

Put the second meringue on top and put the rest of the curd on it, followed by another layer of cream (reserving a little cream for the top).

Put the top meringue on and spread with the last of the cream.

Put the melted white chocolate into a piping bag and drizzle over the top of the pavlova. You could just use a spoon to drizzle it over the cake though if you don’t have a piping bag.

Serve with aplomb to the astonishment and adoration of those around your dinner table and be prepared for people to come back for seconds or even thirds.

Orange and White Chocolate Pavlova by The Fat Foodie

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Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche (serves 4-6)

September 12, 2016August 4, 2018Leave a comment

Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche by The Fat Foodie

My friend and I had made a date to have lunch the other day, but for a number of reasons I couldn’t make it into town so she kindly came to my house instead. In return I promised I’d make us a tasty Mediterranean vegetable quiche for lunch and as she’s a vegetarian I figured I’d make use of some of the baby summer vegetables that were ready to be picked from my garden.

This year I’ve tried growing tomatoes (utter failure), courgettes (pretty successful, but very small), cucumbers (I managed to harvest a small one, but it was really nice), and aubergines (a simple ‘nope’ would cover the aubergine fiasco). Although the courgette plant was my favourite because it was the plant which yielded the most produce, my favourite part of the courgette plant was the flowers it produced. The spreading plant exploded with big, blousy blossoms that made me wish I owned a deep fat fryer so I could make crisp cheese-stuffed courgette flowers, but instead I had to settle for adding them to salads. I know you can bake stuffed courgette flowers in the oven, but sadly it doesn’t produce the same effect as that of a brief dunking in a bath of hot oil.

Courgette Flowers

I had three small, sweet courgettes at hand that I’d picked that morning and I thought they’d work well in a vegetable quiche. This Mediterranean vegetable quiche uses the Hairy Bikers’ parmesan and spelt crust that I’ve used before and it works very well with the courgettes and yellow peppers, adding a cheesy nuttiness to the creamy egg filling. The beauty of this recipe is that you can add whatever vegetables take your fancy, but broccoli florets, oyster mushrooms, sliced red peppers or fresh tomatoes are suggestions which would work beautifully.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

180g gluten-free flour (plus extra for dusting) (I use Dove’s Farm G/F flour because it’s made with low FODMAP ingredients whereas many other gluten-free flours are made with high FODMAP options.)

100g cold non-dairy butter

2 tsp chopped fresh lemon thyme

50g Parmesan (finely grated) or non-dairy version

1 egg yolk

1 tsp ice-cold water

For the quiche filling:

3 medium eggs & the egg white left over from making the pastry

30g of sundried tomatoes (finely chopped)

1 tsp of mild American mustard

30g green spring onion tips (chopped)

1 tbsp chives (finely chopped)

40g parmesan, Grana Padano (finely grated) or non-dairy version

3 baby courgettes or 1 small normal one (cut into thin discs) – no more than 240g of prepared courgette in total

200g red bell peppers (diced)

8 pitted green olives (sliced)

100g cheddar cheese (grated) or non-dairy version

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Method:

To make the pastry:

Put all of the pastry ingredients into a large bowl and then rub the butter in until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Add the egg yolk and cold water and mix until it forms a ball. (If you feel it’s too dry, add a little bit more water until it comes together).

Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and put it into the fridge for at least half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.

Line a quiche tin with greaseproof paper.

Sprinkle some flour onto your work surface and roll out the pastry until it’s the right size for the quiche tin.

Place the pastry into the tin, leaving the sides to slightly overhang the edges of the quiche tin.

Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork a few times (this releases any air that might get trapped underneath).

If you have them, fill the tin with baking beans, if not don’t worry about it.

Bake in the oven for about 15-20 mins, or until it’s golden brown. (Baking the pie crust first will ensure your quiche won’t have a soggy bottom.)

To make the quiche filling:

Put aside 50g of the grated cheddar and a small quantity of sliced courgettes and red pepper for decorating the quiche.

Mix all of the remaining ingredients together.

Pour the filling into the pastry case and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top before decorating with the slices of courgette and red pepper.

Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the egg mixture no longer wobbles when shaken.

Trim off any excess pastry from the side of the quiche and serve with a nice fresh green salad.

Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche by The Fat Foodie

A fresh, crisp garden salad by The Fat Foodie

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Cherry Cupcakes (makes 12-16)

July 15, 2016December 3, 2017Leave a comment

Cherry Cupcakes by The Fat Foodie

The other evening I was perusing the Twittersphere and I came across a link to BBC GoodFood’s 28 Classic Cake Recipes, a selection which purported to be ‘timeless old favourites and traditional bakes’. (If you’re interested the link can be found here.)

After assessing the list I was struck by the absence of cherry cake. There’s something quintessentially British about a light, buttery sponge (which we do so well) encasing morsels of fat, sugar-plumped glacé cherry. In my opinion, this is by far the tastiest way to consume these cherries as opposed to plonking them in cocktails or, if it’s Christmas in my household, in a homemade Snowball.

Cherries are listed at this level on the Monash FODMAP app as being moderate (yellow) in fructose, so if that’s a trigger for you I’d advise skipping this recipe. However, you could easily omit the glacé cherries and use 50g of completely low FODMAP dried cranberries in your cake mix instead. One cherry cupcake is a portion.

I had a tub of glacé cherries in the cupboard so I decided to make some cherry cupcakes to take into work for my colleagues. I always think it’s nice to know that there’s something tasty awaiting you when you go for your morning teabreak, or when you fancy a nibble of something sweet after your lunch, or if you need a sugary pick-me-up to go with a revitalising coffee in the afternoon. I think what I’m saying here is that it’s acceptable to eat cake at any time of the day. I’ve not named myself The Fat Foodie for nothing, guys.

All in all, these cherry cupcakes take no time at all to make and are the perfect accompaniment to any break time.

Ingredients:

125g butter (or non-dairy version)

100g sugar

2 eggs

100g gluten-free self-raising flour and a little extra to dust the chopped cherries (I use Dove’s Farm G/F flour because it’s made with low FODMAP ingredients whereas many other gluten-free flours are made with high FODMAP options.)

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp vanilla extract or flavouring

100g chopped cherries (or 50g dried cranberries)

6 halved cherries

Icing sugar

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.

Put 12 cupcake cases in a bun tray or on a baking sheet.

Chop your cherries into small pieces and mix them with a tablespoon of flour in a bowl so that the cherries are coated in the flour. (This keeps them suspended in the cake mix and stops them from sinking to the bottom of the cakes as they bake.)

Measure your butter and sugar into a mixing bowl and cream together.

Add the 2 eggs and vanilla and mix.

Add the flour and mix. (Gluten-free flour is notoriously dry, so if you feel the cake mix needs a little liquid then just add a little milk or rice milk to loosen it.)

Gently fold the chopped cherries into the mix until they are evenly distributed.

Divide the mix evenly between the 12 cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 12-15 mins.

You’ll know they’re cooked when a skewer poked into the middle of one of the cakes comes out completely clean.

Allow them to cool. When they’re cold, top them with a little bit of icing and a halved cherry.

Cherry Cupcakes by The Fat Foodie

The Fat Foodie

Making Low FODMAP Food Good!

Tag: #eggs

Sweet Potato Rostis (makes 4 rostis)

Orange and White Chocolate Pavlova (serves 10-12)

Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche (serves 4-6)

Cherry Cupcakes (makes 12-16)