Baked Almond Crusted Prawns

Posted on January 27, 2013 by glutenfreesalafi

Inspired by local Essex boy, Jamie Oliver. He has some good ideas, particularly if you like rustic food and can’t be bothered with fussing over presentation. Rustic food needs to be phographed well but as always, I can’t be bothered. If you try this recipe out, do send in some pictures inshaaAllaah.

Ingredients
Ground almonds/almond flour
Salt
Crushed red chillies
Roasted garlic and herb mix seasoning
Chopped flat parsley (optional)
Pinch of cayenne (optional)
Pinch of Paprika
Lemon zest
Prawns
Egg

Method
In a small bowl mix all the ingredients together but NOT the prawns and egg. In another small bowl, lightly whisk the egg. Dip the prawns into the egg and then place them into the ground almond mix. Remember to use one egg for adding the prawns to the eggs and then putting the eggy prawns into the ground almond mix. Then use the other hand to cover the eggy prawns with the dry mix. Use separate hands to avoid eggy-almond hands.

Place them on a non-stick tray and very lightly spray this with oil. Pop the prawns in the oven for approximately 12-15 minutes mak on gas mark 4 and you should turn them half way through to give them a nice even ‘tan’.

Serve with veg and a nice wedge of lemon. Squeezing fresh lemon juice on top of these prawns is just delicious!

Washed prawns, whisked egg and ground almond mix… and a bit of the oven tray

Close up of ground almond mix

Ready to go in the oven

Just out the oven with a tan

Dished up ready to eat! Remember to add loads of lemon – yum!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Posted on January 14, 2013 by glutenfreesalafi

I actually don’t like chocolate cake but because it was paleo and looked good I figured I may as well try it out and perhaps it’ll get me off my chocolate waffle addiction (yeah right).

Making this cake, with thanks to Rebecca over at the Barefoot Coconut for the recipe, was pretty fun and very different to what I normally do. I’ve never had to whisk just egg whites and it felt strange making a cake for myself.

My thoughts on this cake: At first it did have a bitter smell and taste to it, I thought I baked it for too long as it ended up needing 28 minutes. I initially had it warm but later in the evening I had another slice (they were tiny, honest!) and it tasted much better. It’s a really rich cake so you can’t have a lot in one go and if it’s just for one person, I hear it freezes well. I’ve frozen mine, not defrosted a slice yet but when I do I’ll edit this post to give you my verdict then. Oh, I forgot to mention, it’s more like a brownie than a cake but that’s a good thing if you like them. I think in total I got about 14 slices out of a 9″ round cake. Won’t be baking this for a while I think!

Now you have the recipe, here’s how I did it (kind of… didn’t show you everything, just the fun bits)

Whisk the egg whites into fluffy clouds

Turned upside down to make sure they’re stiff enough. I’m not nasty enough to hover it over my head (or brave enough!)

Melted butter and chocolate is so glossy and nice. Added vanilla, honey and something else to this… forgot what so check the recipe! Added raw honey btw, almost got through the whole bottle!

Seriously, that’s one way to get through honey you’re not keen on but know it’s good for you. For me, it’s an acquired taste but living according to the Sunnah is very important… even if it does come in the form of a chocolate cake

Fold the glossy melted choc mix in with the fluffy cloud-like egg whites. It does look a little gross at first I’ll admit and it takes a lot of folding to make sure you mix it properly. Every time I thought I was done I found another large unmixed bit of melted choc! Got there eventually… I think

Egg whites and melted choc folded together. Looks much more appealing now!

Put it into a 9″ baking tin. I use reusable greaseproof sheets. Unlike my normal GLUTEN cakes this fell out the tin nicely and wasn’t stuck to the sheets. Much easier when it came to cleaning up. Awesome.

Cake baked. It did smell a bit strange and bitter to me. The size was overwhelming for someone who doesn’t actually like chocolate cake *gulp*

Out the tin – nice smoothish edges and sides

Chillaxing before being attacked….

…Attacked!

Et voila! Oh it looks so good maashaaAllaah! Topped with raw honey, raw cream and served with yummy fruits. Makes it feel oh so much healthier and good for you!

Stuffed Omelette Calzone

Posted on January 7, 2013 by glutenfreesalafi

I mentioned yesterday how I was going for a blood test, I had this gluten sensitivity/coeliac disease blood test form from Sept 2012 when I was told to consume gluten for 10 days straight in order to be tested. I decided against it and later discovered that gluten can lurk about for up to 6 months or something so figured I could have a blood test now. Plus with all these negative remarks about a paleo diet (because I eat fat and I’m not afraid of it!) I figured it was time for me to personally bust a few myths like “you’re cholesterol will be high” and so on. I want to prove paleo is a diet that everyone should adopt. Mostly because of the health benefits but also because it is a part of our Deen, Islaam (See previous post and download the audio inshaaAllaah).

If you follow me on Facebook you’ll also see that I’m expecting a raw milk delivery tomorrow inshaaAllaah… so excited! I’ll post more about this in the coming days, that is, the benefits of raw milk and what has been mentioned about it in the Sunnah. Yes, dairy is not a paleo food, however I can see why – when we’re talking about supermarket dairy and similar! Raw milk on the other hand is full of goodness, I doubt anyone can deny it having done some research. So I’m going to revive this Sunnah and take care of myself properly inshaaAllaah.

So anyway, I was hungry last night after a very early and very light dinner. Fasting for this blood test did not help and after that I went food shopping. Hungry old me bought an array of fruit, veg and meat and then I was stumped about what to have for breakfast. I eventually decided on a beefy omelette type thing after reading the Barefoot Coconut’s Facebook post whilst I was sat in the waiting room of the blood test centre. I came up with a new concoction: a stuffed omelette calzone. Aptly named because it contains a stuffing, the outer bit is made using an omelette and the shape or concept of it resembles a calzone. You know, the semi-circle stuffed pizza thing.

I apologise in advance for my lack of measurements. As usual I eyeball everything and today’s mixture should make 3 small omelette-calzones or 2 normalish sized ones. It depends on the size of your frying pan – I use a smaller than normal one!

Ingredients
Stuffing:
Minced beef (or other mince, finely dices meat, etc)
Half a small onion, chopped
Mixed herbs – dried or fresh, whatever you have handy really
Salt and pepper

Fresh garlic or it you’re rushed for time, garlic granules
Crushed red chilli flakes
Light spray of oil just so it doesn’t stick/burn

Omelette:
3 eggs
Spring onions, sliced (I used leeks, bit of the top and bottom)
Fresh Corriander
Dried, crushed corriander seeds and cumin seeds
Crushed red chilli flakes – fresh green chillies finely chopped are best
Salt and pepper
Chopped tomatoes
Sliced Mushrooms (I forgot to add the latter two ingredients, oops)

Prep
Mince beef: pop it all into a saucepan, mix until cooked, shouldn;t take long as you’re not making a ton
Omelette, whish all ingredients in a small bowl. It’s not rocket science really. See images below and captions for further instructions.

Pour some of the omelette mix into a frying pan, make it kinda thin and make sure you have a good mix of everything in the omelette

As the omelette cooks through, add soem mince beef mix to one half. Leave a ‘border’ so when you fold the other half of the omelette over it seals the stuffing in. The omelette needs to be wet still otherwise it won’t stick and seal when you fold it.

The omelette should be sealed once you’ve folded it. If the stuffing’s spilling out you’ve probably added too much. Helps to turn the gas off at this stage if you’re a little slow with it.

Dish up and serve with tomatoes which you forgot to add to the omelette mix *blush*

Serve the omelette-calzone cut in half to better your presentation skills #yeahright

Blueberry Pancakes

Posted on December 25, 2012 by glutenfreesalafi

Rating: Yummy, yummy, yum, yum, yum!MaashaaAllaah!

I was a little skeptical when I saw this recipe online a few days ago, mostly because it involved ground almonds. I know pretty much every recipe I find or use involves ground almonds but that wasn’t what I expected when I had initially started at looking at GF and paleo options. I thought most people used coconut flour a lot and though I have it, it is rarely utilised! Anyway, I’m not complaining, the result is always something tasty alhamdulillaah!

I know it’s common for us Brits to have thin pancakes or crêpes but I’ve had the Ameircan type before and they’re quite nice too. However, you do have to be in a particular mood for them and they do become sickly after just one small one! These on the other hand aren’t so sickly and I genuinely prefer the taste over these over the gluten versions.

I have to admit, these pancakes turned into a little bit of comfort food for me. I was a little under the weather since my body was messed around by potatoes (I think) and I was a little put off food as I started over-analysing where I could have gone wrong or if I was accidentally glutened or dairy-ed. Did I mention I was going totally potato free for the next two months? Well, I am and I’ll eat them after that and see if it has any undesirable affects on my body. You see, I was a little naughty with these home made, over baked potato crisps I made and I reckon they messed me up. It’s the only food I had that I shouldn’t be allowed to have really so it’s my main suspect. Serves me right for having them! A part of me is interested in if potatoes are the culprit but another part of me might just go into shock after the next 2-3 months if my conjecture turns out to be a fact. No more spuds for life… like, properly!

In other news, it’s term holidays which means I get to hang out with my family for the next few days when they come over. We’ve prepared for large family meals, fun and desserts by stocking up on…?! Ah yes, gluten filled food! I opened the fridge this morning and I’m pretty sure my eyes almost jumped out their sockets. I can’t believe I used to eat that stuff. But I’m also confused as to why all my luscious fruit and veg have been buried under things that cause me harm. I don’t stress about cross contamination and thank God it’s all packaged gluten but it is a little off putting. And mean. Today I’m just eating a whole bunch of fruit, I daren’t take out any proper food to cook, not that I can find it in that mess!

Anyway, back to the pancakes, the reason you’re here:

Ingredients

2 eggs, I always use large eggs
1 cup of ground almonds
1 tspn vanilla extract/vanilla beans/paste/powder
1 tbpsn raw honey
pinch of salt
pinch of GF baking powder
pinch of cinnamon (optional but I think it enhances the flavour)
generous amount of blueberries (yum!)

Method

I just pop it all into a small measuring jug (it makes a total of 250ml in case you’re wondering) and whisk with a fork. Really simple. Do NOT add the blueberries at this stage…! Once your batter is ready, pour a bit into a non stick pan with a bit of butter, you need the butter. Spread the pancake batter out a little and drop on a scattering of bluberries (I add loads, they’re so luscious when they’re warmed through in this manner).
Gently lift one side of the pancake and it should have a nice golden colour, that’s when it’s read to flip. It should take no more than a minute and a half on both sides. If your pancake is too thick it will be a little raw and soggy in the middle so make sure you spread it out a little but not like a crêpe!

I add more blueberries than this after tasting the finished product!

Careful when you flip it, the raw side seems to splatter out a little so it’s not longer a round shape

Started off as a circle, honest!

Add a smidge of butter and drizzle of honey to keep them moist. I don’t really use maple syrup, not sure if it’s entirely paleo? *confused look*

Serve with sliced bananas (with blueberries it’s uber yum!) and I added some seeds… any seeds, whatever you have, just a sprinkle. You don’t have to but I thought it gave it a nice crunch

Gluten Free Salafi

~The dietary needs, food & drink of a gluten free Salafi according to the Qur'aan & Sunnah~

Category Archives: Recipes

Baked Almond Crusted Prawns

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Stuffed Omelette Calzone

Blueberry Pancakes