Nov 30, 2021 | Anna's Best Recipes, Dressings, rubs, spreads, sauces & more, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
I love this! First tasted at Christmas in 1989 in Italy while I worked (briefly) as an au pair. So many interesting new foods and flavours. This one was a keeper. If you are a foodie you will definitely enjoy…
Makes 600ml stuffing (enough to stuff the body cavity and neck of a 1.8kg bird) with about 1 cup of leftovers which you can use to make my delicious stuffed mackerel fillets for another dinner. Another thing I like to do at Christmas is add a little bit of chicken bone broth to any stuffing that didn’t fit in the bird. Just enough to wet it and allow you to compact it. And then bake in a parcel in the oven at 180C for around 40 minutes. Give that similar gorgeous meaty flavour and moisture as you get when its been cooked in the bird.
260g cooked peeled chestnuts
or
130g dried peeled chestnuts , soaked overnight, then boiled til tender, drained
1 heaped dsp fresh thyme leaves (or a 1 level tsp dried, but fresh is much nicer)
1 rounded dsp chopped sage
2 heaped tbs chopped parsley
A few good grinds of black pepper
1/4 level tsp Himalayan or Atlantic sea salt
60g onion, finely chopped so it cooks properly (1/2 a medium onion)
Knob of butter (around the size of a walnut).
- Process or mash thoroughly the chestnuts until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs, tip into a bowl with the onion, herbs and seasoning.
- If using butter, melt it gently. Add your butter to the bowl and mix well. This stuffing can be stored for a couple of days in the fridge before using.
Why this is better for you:
Chestnuts are lower glycaemic index (lower sugar) than bread so are a much healthier alternative. They also contain potassium, which helps your body neutralise the effects of eating too much meat at Christmas. Fresh herbs are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, support friendly gut bacteria and are anti-ageing – good news especially at Christmas!
Nov 30, 2021 | Anna's Best Recipes, Cakes, biscuits & bars, Desserts & drinks
This is perfect for your SC diet if you want to make a delicious pastry-based dessert. I’ve adapted it for metric from the original Us recipe. Thank you to Jen Brown for her original recipe at https://www.alifeofhappenstance.com/easy-almond-flour-pie-crust/
This case can be pre-baked up to two days before planning to fill it. Simply cover with tinfoil or eco-friendly wrap and store in the fridge.
If your system can handle dairy, butter (or better still, clarified butter) can be used in place of coconut oil.
240g blanched finely ground almond flour (I blitz ground almonds for a few minutes in the food processor to get it nice and fine)
½ teaspoon salt
55g melted coconut oil (make sure it’s not hot)
1 large egg
9″/23cm tart case/pie dish or deep pyrex plate (+ extra coconut oil to grease)
1. Preheat oven to 175C/160C fan and grease a 9 inch/ pie dish. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the melted coconut oil and egg. In a large bowl whisk the almond flour and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and use a rubber spatula or your hands to combine.
3. Form the dough into a ball and place in the center of the greased tart case. Use your hands to evenly press the dough into the bottom of the tin or dish.
4. Evenly press the dough up the sides of the tart case. If it seems a bit thinner in certain areas, simply take some dough from the thicker areas and press it where needed.
5. Once the dough has been pressed into the bottom and sides of the tart case, use your fingers to make sure the edge of the pastry is even all along the top. Then you can use a fork to press decorations into the crust or use your fingers to make a fluted design with the edge.
6. Use a fork to poke holes along the bottom and sides of the crust before placing on the middle rack of the oven and baking for 12 to 15 minutes. The case should be a very light golden brown.
7. Allow to cool completely before filling.
Nov 30, 2021 | Anna's Best Recipes, Cakes, biscuits & bars, Desserts & drinks
Don’t know about you but I’m really looking forward to Christmas and have started my baking already. This recipe is the nicest mincemeat and doesn’t boil over during baking. It’s adapted from Rose Cousin’s recipe but I’ve adapted specially for the SC diet. I’ve been making this for years because I love it. Somehow high sugar gloopy mincemeat stopped doing it for me. Store this mincemeat in a sterile glass jar. If you intend to store for more than a week or two, allow the mincemeat to cool a little before adding a tablespoon of brandy/whiskey. Mix well just before bottling. You can sterilise jars by boiling the lids in water and heating the jars themselves to around 80C in the oven for 15 minutes.
Organic where possible:
450g peeled cored eating (not cooking) apples – Cox’s are fantastic for flavour
225g unsulphured sultanas
225g unsulphured raisins
110g currants or chopped unsulphured apricots
Rind and juice of 1 orange (if avoiding citrus, use apple juice instead)
1/2 level teaspoon allspice
1/2 level tsp Ceylon cinnamon
¼ tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
A little cloudy apple juice
1. Mix together all the ingredients in a large cooking pot with lid
2. Simmer very gently ½ hour
3. Taste and adjust the spice levels – I often like to add a bit more more cinnamon and allspice.
SCD pastry is hard to work so its best make 1 large pie base, pre-baked, then filled with your mincemeat and a lovely crumble topping before being baked again for a short time. You can also treat the mincemeat just like a crumble – that is, put it in a pie dish or deep ovenproof plate, liberally sprinkle over the topping, bake until golden and serve with shipped additive-free coconut cream (from health shops).
Crumble topping: https://www.annacollins.ie/scd-crumble-topping-for-mince-pies/
Pastry base https://www.alifeofhappenstance.com/easy-almond-flour-pie-crust/
If you don’t like coconut oil but are sensitive to dairy then you can use clarified butter for the pastry. Make this by very gently heating the butter, skim off the foam on the top and chill in a tall drinking glass or jug, then allow to solidify. You will use only the solid part to make your pastry. Discard the white liquid part underneath and rinse off any that’s clinging to the solid butter fat. This white liquid is where the problematic milk proteins and disaccharide sugars are found. Most people with IBD can tolerate SMALL amounts of normal butter but large amounts (found in pastry) can just be too much.
When baking your mince pies
Bake 20-25 mins at 185C fan/200C until golden
Put a baking try over the next rack in the oven so the pies cook evenly through.
Why this is (somewhat) better for you:
While I’d love to say this is a health-giving recipe I can’t really because its very high in natural sugars. Although it doesn’t contain refined sugar it IS very high in natural sugars from the dried fruit. BUT this mincemeat is free of low grade oils (like vegetable suet or sunflower oil) and refined sugar – both of which fire up inflammation in you. If you choose organic dried fruit you avoid sulphur dioxide (preservative) that wreaks havoc on so many peoples digestion around Christmas time. This preservative is converted by pathogenic bacteria in your bowel into irritating sulphites, which can cause gas, bloating and general unwellness in your gut. Non-organic grapes (raisins etc.) are also very heavily contaminated with herbicides that cause your gut to leak toxins and undigested food into your bloodstream.(increased intestinal permeability). This process predisposes to and perpetuates inflammatory conditions from autoimmunity to mood issues and many more besides. Pesticide residues in grapes damage the nerve supplying your gut and are linked to a range of neurological diseases (e.g. Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone). Choosing food free of undesirable contaminants is a great step towards better health. Here’s to a happy and a healthy Christmas. I will certainly be enjoying healthier mince pies – probably far too many.
Nov 30, 2021 | Anna's Best Recipes, Cakes, biscuits & bars, Desserts & drinks
I love this crumble which I make often for apple crumble. This quantity will top one 9 inch (23cm) diameter tart made in a pie dish or pyrex plate with possibly a little left over. You want the topping to mostly cover the mincemeat so it doesn’t burn. PS Sometimes I cheat on the topping, adding a few chopped hazelnuts or walnuts to the mix…
If this is for individual mince pies (rather than one big one) there’s no need to prebake the pastry base.
Pinch of Ceylon cinnamon (optional)
50g virgin coconut oil (or clarified butter, if you want dairy)
25g (teaspoon) runny honey
50g ground almonds
50g flaked almonds
1. If you have a food processor but the ingredients except the flaked almonds in a food processor and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Empty into another bowl and stir in the almonds.
If you don’t have a food processor, rub the ingredients together (except for flaked almonds) by hand then stir in the almonds.
2. Sprinkle evenly over pie case/s you have already filled with mincemeat and bake at 165C fan/180C until golden, taking care the topping doesn’t burn.
Why these are better for you:
Because these pies don’t contain refined sugar (if you use my mincemeat recipe) they don’t immediately start to drain your body of nutrients like magnesium (for mood) or selenium (needed for fat-burning thyroid hormones). The nuts, although cooked (and therefore no longer containing much in the way of healthy oils!) do contain protein, which helps prevent the dips and peaks in blood sugar that can make you feel tired or narky. Coconut oil is not damaged by baking so its still healthy in the finished product. The medium chain triglycerides in coconut oil are useful for energy levels as they are used directly by your body instead of being stored as fat in your cells. Virgin coconut oil rules!! Ceylon cinnamon (but not normal cassia cinnamon sold as “cinnamon”) helps your body regulate blood sugar. This helps reduce the risk of peaks and troughs in energy, brain function and mood throughout the day. It also helps reduce your likelihood of developing diabetes possibly because it modifies your gut bacteria. Yes, your gut bacteria control EVERY aspect of your health from blood pressure, heart health to mood and immune function – not just your digestive health.
Nov 30, 2021 | Anna's Best Recipes, Cakes, biscuits & bars
I made this on Sunday and its delicious (I did a taste test). It also happens to be gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free and refined sugar free. Do buy organic ingredients where possible especially for *raisins and sultanas.
I didn’t have the specified 10” tin so I used a 9” (23cm) one. The cake was a bit taller and needed a little extra baking time.
350g ground almonds or almond flour
1 rounded tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
80ml date syrup (I leave out as, for me, the cake mix was plenty sweet without it)
4 large eggs
5 tbs (75-80ml) runny or slightly warmed honey (so its liquid but not hot)
137g (150ml) virgin coconut oil
5cm fresh ginger, peeled
Zest of 1 orange, organic if possible
1 medium cooking apple
6 tbs (95ml) whiskey (+ optional 100ml to “feed” the cake).
200g dried unsulphured apricots (these are brown, not bright orange)
200g raisins
200g sultanas
150g dates
100g flaked almonds
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract (not essence, which contains gluten)
2/3 level pink salt
1 rounded tsp ground cinnamon
1 rounded tsp ground ginger
1 level tsp ground allspice
½ level ground cardamom
½ level tsp ground cloves
75g blanched almonds
25cm/10” diameter cake tin with removable base
Brown paper + greaseproof paper + extra coconut oil to grease
- Prepare your tin. Line the base and sides of tin with brown paper and greaseproof paper (oil the greaseproof with soft/melted coconut oil) allowing the brown paper to come at least 2” above top of tin. Wrap an outer collar of brown paper around the tin to come up as high above the tin as the tin itself. Secure with pins or paperclips. This outer collar and all the layers inside stops your cake burning at the edges before it’s cooked at the centre.
- Roughly chop the dried apricots and dates. Mix the chopped fruit with the raisins and sultanas and cover with the whiskey. Leave to soak while you prepare the rest of the cake.
- Switch on the oven to 160C (145C fan) – you’ll want the cake to bake near the bottom of the oven so arrange the shelves accordingly.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the ground almonds, bicarbonate of soda, salt and ground spices.
- Add the honey, eggs, vanilla extract, date syrup and the zest of the orange to a food processor. Blend until combined.
- Making sure the coconut oil is liquid (melt to lukewarm if it isn’t) add this to the food processor and blend again thoroughly.
- Add the dry ingredients, mix till combined then empty the mix into a large mixing bowl.
- Peel the apple and ginger and grate into the bowl (use the fine grater for the ginger).
- Add the flaked almonds, the whiskey soaked fruits and stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Spoon into the tin and flatten the top. Tip: wet the side of your hand and use this to smooth the top to perfection.
- Decorate the top with blanched almonds embedded into the cake in a pretty pattern
- Bake for around 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted.
- Allow to cool in the tin after removing the outer collar of brown paper.
- Once cool, remove from the tin leaving on the greaseproof paper.
- Place in an airtight container and optionally “feed” with whiskey every few days – about 5 times in all (I personally prefer my cakes without this additional feeding but it’s up to you).
Why this is better for you
This cake is free from refined sugars, toxic refined oils and other undesirables. Did you know that when gluten (in “normal” cakes) hits your intestine it causes leaking of intestinal contents into your blood. This happens to everyone, even people with no gluten sensitivity. Toxins, bacterial cell fragments and undigested food spills into your circulation. This causes increased inflammation (always present in anxiety, stress, mood issues, brain fog, skin issues, heart disease). It also has negative impacts on your immune system. Sugar in “normal” baking also increases inflammation and suppresses immunity. Your body will thank you for ditching it.
While this cake is “healthier” its still high in (natural) sugars. Unlike normal cake it does contain some protein (ground almonds) which helps slow down your body’s absorption of the sugars. Amazingly, the sugars in dried fruit affect your blood sugar less than eating wheaten bread. Whoever thought a piece of cake could be healthier than a piece of toast! Take it handy though because too many sweet foods, even “healthy” ones, cause metabolic issues.
For more info on the toxic residues in “conventional” raisins, see https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/raisins.php
