Tag: coeliac

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Lunch Out & About: Eat a Pitta

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“Bristols best falafels”, and they’re totally gluten free! Eat a Pitta is my current lunch obsession. You can find their stalls in central Broadmead, the lovely St Nicks market and soon to be on Gloucester road. You can choose a salad box, which they cram full of various chickpea, tomato, carrot and cucumber salads, and then add some of the hot homemade falafels on top. Topped off with hummus and a variety of sauces or salsas, it really is just the perfect summary lunch that is super filling. The food is really clean, fresh and tasty. Crispy falafels with a moist (sorry) centre and hummus make a wonderful pair.

Everything apart from the pittas, cous cous and tabbouleh is GF. If you’re coeliac or sensitive ask for the box to be made specifically gluten free, they then pick all the salads and ingredients straight out of the boxes at the back to avoid any cross contamination from the front counter.

The lunchtime queue is always huge, however they’re very efficient so no fear, you still get your falafels and hummus quickly!

This is just a quick post really to say, if you haven’t tried Eat a Pitta yet, definitely stop by! I’m not the usual vegetarian/salad lunch buyer, but as I said this has sucked me in and I can’t get enough!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

 

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‘On The Go’ Snacks

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Let’s be honest, we can’t always be ultra prepared with our home made gluten free, sugar free, low calorie, macro friendly snacks to get us through to the next meal time. Sometimes you just have to nip to the shop and grab the first thing you can to help you get through that walk home, the last hour at work or a long car journey. This is something that is easier said than done in a gluten free world! I really struggle when I want something quick and easy to eat that’s not a proper meal.

I’ve come to realise I have some definite go to sweet and savoury products that are found in most supermarkets and corner shops. I’m not saying they’re the most healthy of options, but smalls snacks like this don’t really count, do they?!

  1. Eat Natural Fruit and Nut Bars – I would say these are the easiest bars to find because the majority of shops stock them. So for something sweet I often fall to these. This bar is a mix of coconut, apricots and almonds and goes very well with a cup of tea! I also really like the protein nut bar and the ginger and dark chocolate ones. Very filling and tasty! 247kcal, 23.8g carbs, 3.5 protein, 14.7g fat per bag 

 

2. Metcalfes Milk Chocolate Rice Cakes – I have really had to wean myself off these slightly. A few months ago I was a little bit obsessed and eating a few too many packets a week. But they are a great snack, especially with a cup of tea. Most Sainsbury’s sell them and I can always find them in service stations! 83kcal, 10.9g carbs, 1g protein 3.8g fat per bag 

 

3. Urban Fruit Coconut Chips – Sriracha Chilli – I would have to say these are my current fave and they’re in every Tesco express around town. Great mix of sweet, crisp coconut with that chilli kick but not too filling. I have used them recently as my cooking dinner snack. Speaking of Urban Fruit I also love their bags of dried fruit – if you see the pear and apple mix, grab them! An absolute gem that unfortunately are not the ones sold widely. 122kcal, 4.6g carbs, 1.2g protein, 10.4g fat per bag 

 

4. Pop Chips – Sea Salt and Vinegar – Just yes! I really miss salt and vinegar crisps as so many tend to have barley in them. This is the perfect replacement! Baked not fried, so that instantly screams healthy to me, totally gluten free and a really strong vinegar taste. 120kcal, 1g protein, 4g fat per bag

 

5. Aldi Chilli Rice Snacks – These are probably the hardest to get your hands on as they are only sold in Aldi.  But I would totally recommend picking up a bag if you need a mid shopping snack! I’m not ashamed to say after every weekly shop I eat a bag in the car on the way home!! Tortilla shaped rice based snacks – thin, crispy, with a big sweet and tangy flavour. 181kcal, 29g carbs, 2.8g protein 5.9g fat per bag 

 

 

Let me know if you have any other yummy recommendations for me!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Bottomless Brunch with my Hen – Avenue, London.

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My beautiful big sister got married on the 18th June 2016. But, before I go into all the exciting details about that, let me take you back to the beginning of June when I was in charge – the hen party!

As head bridesmaid, it fell on me to organise a wonderful send off for my sister. Food, prosecco and dancing was my main theme and this was to be repeated throughout the day. The idea was to start where every Saturday should begin, at brunch, and drink prosecco in the best way, the bottomless way. I decided on London, the brunch centre of the UK, and started researching where to go!

After looking through google and timeout suggestions I narrowed my choices to Bad Egg, Bourne and Hollingsworth Buildings and Avenue. They all looked lovely and seemed to provide what I was looking for however, following recommendations from friends living in London and TripAdvisor reviews I finally decided on the latter. The general consensus was that Avenue are extremely attentive and you totally get your money’s worth – which when it comes to prosecco is very important.

Groups of 8 and under are booked online, if any bigger you can call and reserve your table there. No payments are taken in advance they just require credit card details as a deposit if the party doesn’t turn up.

The brunch menu offers 2 courses for  £23.50 or 3 for £26.00 you then add on bottomless prosecco for £15 per person. Honestly, it really is bottomless. Your table is booked for 2 hours and at no point in that time was my glass empty! The staff were all great and brilliantly attentive. I only had to take a couple of sips and there would be a nice man leaning over my right shoulder to top up my glass!

Now to the food! The brunch menu is a sort of American style lunch affair, varying between smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, pancakes and buttermilk chicken burgers. Of course, not everything is gluten free friendly but I felt happy with my selection. They can substitute any of the bread/toast for gluten free replacements. Unfortunately all granola, waffles, pancakes and burgers were off limits.

I chose two courses and started with eggs royale. The gluten free bread is by no means groundbreaking but it was a good portion and the hollandaise sauce was really tasty. Every brunch should have a pudding so my second course was mint ice cream with hot chocolate fudge…delicious.

We booked for 13:15, it was extremely busy already by then so I would definitely recommend booking first. Despite the tables of excited hen parties and group after group of girls with cocktails and prosecco, we still felt the waiters looked after us really well and were at no point left trying to catch their eye for service.

For us it was the perfect way to start the weekend. I have to confess my planning got rather lax onwards from this and we ran late for everything else! Don’t expect to have a productive afternoon after you fall out of a bottomless brunch! Find Avenue on St James’s Street round the corner from Green Park and Piccadilly tube stations. Grab your best girlfriends and guys and book a table! I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon – can you?

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Turtle Bay – Delicious Cocktails and Kind of Gluten Free

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Some friends of mine and I booked a table at Turtle Bay in Bristol on Saturday night for some cocktails and University reminiscing.

We arranged the table for 19:30 and both the bar and restaurant were packed already. Unfortunately we just missed out on happy hour 241 cocktails which runs until 7pm every day. But, I’d hear so much about the cocktails here that we all order some anyway. I had the Jammin’ – white rum, apricot liqueur, fresh mint, ginger, lemon, apple juice and apricot jam. No complaints, we all enjoyed our choices and they went down very quickly.

Turtle bay do have an allergy menu, which at first glance has pretty much every dish marked with wheat or gluten. From what I could work out none of the starters were gluten free – but I had a good smell of everyone else’s which looked and smelt great – not awkward at all for the group! There are some main dishes on the menu that just have flour written in the gluten box. I was told that these could be GF as the flour is just for the roti and the dish can be served without this. So, that gives you pretty much all the ‘one pots’ to choose from!

Unfortunately all the jerk dishes are off limits as soy sauce seems to be used in all of the sauces.

I took my time deciding between goat curry, curry shrimp and mango or Trinidad curry chicken. I finally went for the latter; spiced chicken breast, cooked in coconut milk with spices, garlic and scotch bonnet.

Turtle Bay say “we like it hot,” and they certainly do! Proudly, I have got a lot better at eating spicy food and really enjoy a meal with more spice in now. This curry was just teetering on the side of too hot for me! Saying that, it really was delicious and I ate the whole lot.

I have to admit we all went particularly quiet while eating, sipping water, wine and milky cocktails after each mouthful – Turtle Bay is definitely not for those who can’t stand the heat.

After reading a few GF reviews before going I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the dishes I could eat on the menu. There are some posts out there telling you to avoid the restaurant completely. I probably wont return any time soon for food on my own but, if you’re going with a group wanting fun cocktails and good atmospheric music its a great Saturday night spot. They have restaurants all over the UK, have a look and I’m sure there will be one within a stones throw from you.

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

 

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Bubble and Squeak brunch – chorizo and poached egg hash! 

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Bubble and squeak is no longer just the meal your dad fries up on Boxing Day with all the Christmas Day leftovers. I’m seeing it on menus in all the most popular brunch spots.

I jumped in and braved bubble and squeak for breakfast last weekend at ‘Canteen’ in London’s Old Spitalfields market. It was one of the few gluten free items on the menu and I loved the idea of fried ups and poached eggs for brunch, unfortunately I was so disappointed. I was brought out a tiny portion that honestly tasted of so little I put salt on before I took each mouthful. But, this is not a moaning post!! As a result of last weeks fail, I was inspired this weekend to cook up some squeak myself, with what I hoped would have a much bigger, tastier ending.

Raid your fridge for any old vegetables and jump on the bubble and squeak hype with me.

Here’s the recipe I ended up with..

– Ingredients –

1 sweet potato

Half a red onion chopped

Handful of curly kale

50gs of carrot and broccoli

3 eggs

20gs of chorizo chopped

50gs of chestnut mushrooms

Salt and pepper to taste

– Instructions –

Chop your sweet potato up and put on to boil.

Throw which ever other vegetables you’re using into a pan and boil together – in this case the kale, broccoli and carrot. Pop the mushrooms in a separate frying pan and sauté.

Once the potato and veg have boiled, drain and put in a mixing bowl to cool slightly. Add in the chopped onion, salt, pepper and one egg. Mash up together until most of the veg has broken down.

Put on a pan with water to boil for your poached eggs.

Heat another frying pan with about 1tspn of olive oil, when hot, transfer your mashed mix into the pan. Shape and flatten out slightly.

Add the other two eggs into the boiling water to poach. I don’t bother with any of the little tricks like vinegar or spinning the water backwards. Just put both eggs into the water, boil for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and leave for another minute. Place the eggs on a piece of kitchen roll to drain off excess water.

Assemble everything as you like and eat! It was a perfect Saturday lunch for me and put bubble and squeak firmly on my brunch menu.


Perect poached egg? I was overly proud of this one!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Pão de Queijo aka. Cheesy delicious balls 

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So, my obsession started February 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. When travelling in Brazil for 2 weeks I carried out some extensive gluten free option research which led me to tasting and falling in love with these. Pao de queijo’s are a Brazilian cheesy dough ball, they’re crisp on the outside and amazingly cheesy and soft on the inside. They’re found in street stalls, kiosks and supermarkets all over Brazil so it’s far too easy to pick up one, or two, or three when going for a stroll.

I then hunted them out around South America, learning the names for them in each country I went to – chipa in Argentina and cunape in Bolivia. It even helped with my Spanish as I got very good at the phrase “donde peudo comprar cunapes” – where can I buy cunapes!

As my friend and I ordered 8 each from the airport Starbucks on our way home, I vowed to learn how to make these. Now I’m instantly  transported straight back to 18 hour bus rides, beach trips and city tours with endless pao de queijo snacks.

So here we are, I have my recipe and its too good not to share. Gluten free or not, you have to give these a go. They’re made from naturally gluten free tapioca flour, it’s extracted from the root of the cassava plant found in northern Brazil. Now, it’s not the easiest of flours to get your hands on. The recipe is best done with sour cassava flour but I couldn’t find this anywhere. Normal tapioca flour works just as well but has a slightly less bitter taste. Most health food shops have it on their shelves.

– Ingredients –

1/2 pint semi-skimmed milk

150ml vegetable oil

280g tapioca flour

1tspn salt

2 eggs

Pepper to taste

– Instructions – 

Preheat the oven to 230º celsius, grease a baking tray and set aside.

Place the oil, milk and salt in a large pan and boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. This took me about 5-8 minutes. Take off the heat as soon as you see large bubbles appearing in the milk.

Add all of your tapioca flour to the milk and oil and stir in until there is no dry flour left. You will have a very gelatinous, lumpy mixture. Transfer the dough into a separate bowl to start cooling.

If you are a lucky enough person with a standing paddle mixer then great, add the dough to that and use a medium speed for the next few steps. If not, do not worry it can be done by hand – it’s hard work, but don’t get dispirited you do get there! I just chose not to do arms in the gym for this week after the dough ball work out.

Beat the dough with a wooden spoon until it becomes smooth and is cool enough to touch for a couple of seconds.

Whisk each egg and add separately, waiting until the 1st one has been completely combined. Again, work hard! Really beat the eggs in and you will see the dough change and become smoother. Repeat with the second egg.

Do the same again and add in your parmesan cheese and pepper. You will finish with a sticky, stretchy dough that can look a little lumpy – not to worry.

Time to make your balls. Pull out small 1-2″ sized balls and roll into shape in your hands. I made about 14 from this recipe mixture.

Place on your baking tray, pop in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 170º celsius.

Leave to bake for 20-25 minutes, they should rise and become golden brown.

You’re done, theres a lot of instructions but you’ll be surprised how easy it actually is to make!

They’re definitely best served hot, but equally are great the next day as rolls for your sandwiches. Dip in a spicy, tomato sauce like they do in Brazil, eat with a hot cup of coffee like in Bolivia or cover in butter like we did at the Airport!

Promise me you’ll try them, then book some flights to Rio – it’s truly an amazing City. I will be going back.

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Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Figgy Oat Bars

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Figs have got to be my favourite fruit around! Fresh figs, dried figs, fig salads, figgy pudding I love them all. Their season in the UK is normally from late June to October, luckily for me dried figs can be found all year round!

To save my bank balance slightly I needed to find a way of making my dried figs last longer, if not I tend to work through the bag in one or two days! I’ve started using this recipe to make oaty, figgy, crunchy, soft, delicious bars meaning I always have a fig supply in my cupboard.

Being high in potassium, iron, fibre and a great source of vitamin C and fibre they’re a brilliant raw food to add to your diet. I’ve paired them with oats for a perfect quick snack with a cup of tea, as part of your breakfast or heat up and top with Greek yoghurt as a desert!

Most of all, the recipe is crazy simple and takes no time at all to whip up!

– Ingredients –

The Filling 

150g dried figs

50g dried, pitted dates

100ml hot water

Juice of half a lemon

1 tspn. cinnamon

2 tblsp. honey

The Crust

200g gluten free oats (obviously normal oats work great as well!)

Pinch of salt

30g sugar

1 tspn. baking powder

1.5 tspn. cinnamon

1 banana mashed

100ml almond milk

Dash of vanilla essence

– Instructions –

Preheat your oven 180ºC

Cover your dried figs and dates with the hot water and leaved to soften in a separate bowl.

While they are soaking, mix all your dry ingredients together – the oats, salt, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.

Aldi are stocking gluten free oats at the moment! I couldn’t be happier, for one they’re about half the price of other supermarkets. But also, I’ve really missed the rolled oats which I’ve found a lot harder to find. I much prefer to bake with these compared to the ground oats. So please aldi, keep these in the store!

In a jug whisk together your mashed banana, almond milk and vanilla essence, then add to the dry ingredients and mix together. Set this aside while you make the filling.

Drain the figs and dates and place in a food processor or blender. Add in your honey, lemon and cinnamon. Blitz up until smooth, you may need to add more water to get the consistency you want.

Now its time to make up your bars. Spread half the oaty mix on a greased baking tray. This mixture will make about 9 small sized bars so judged how much to spread the mixture out.

Cover this bottom layer with your figs and then layer up with the last of the oats on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown. When warm press in lines which you will cut into when cool.

Its a healthy, nutritious match made in heaven – so get baking!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Curradine Barns -A Gluten Free Wedding Breakfast

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On the 27th May 2016 I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid for my best friends wedding as she married the perfect guy for her. They chose to be married at Curradine Barns, an insanely cute, romantic venue in Worcestershire. The red brick barns were a lovely setting for what really was a superb day.

Despite rumours of thunderstorms – the sun shone for us all day! The speeches were emotional and brilliant, the ceilidh band got the whole wedding dancing, the bride looked beautiful and most of all, the food was absolutely delicious.

We sat down after endless jugs of peach sangria and I eagerly glanced over the menu.

I have to admit my first thought was oh no, I’m going to be starving, second was I’m probably going to end up very drunk. I awkwardly pulled the events coordinator aside to just double check whether this menu was correct for me and would I definitely be able to eat something? She assured me that all the options would be made gluten free for me and the caterers were aware of any allergies – amazing!

To begin with I was given the best bread roll I have ever had. It had a perfect crust and was so light in the middle. I’ve now emailed the catering company to ask where it came from, so I will keep you updated!

The food was faultless. A huge, crispy scotch egg matched with apple puree to start. Melt in your mouth fillet of beef for main – we already know how much I love steak – and a refreshing stack of GF shortbread and raspberries for dessert. The shortbread tasted just like a regular one no grainy, crumbly texture that is often found in gluten free biscuits. I can safely say I cleared my plate on each course!

One of the best things for me, was having exactly the same menu as everyone else. No substitutes or slightly less impressive replacements just to make it gluten free.

The catering was provided by Galloping Gourmet who are in charge of the food and menus for all Curradine Barns events. They also cater for many other venues, so if you are planning the big day I would absolutely recommend having a look at where they work, whether you are gluten free or not! My boyfriend had the gluten full menu and repeatedly told me that it was the best scotch egg he has ever had!

After planning my best friends wedding at sleepovers for the last 6 years, the big day did not disappoint. I laughed a lot, cried a lot, danced a lot and ate everything – perfect!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

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Deep Fried Fishy Supper

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When you wake up on a Saturday morning, its raining, cold and you’re not in a villa in Greece you have to cheer yourself up somehow! The best way to perk up my spirits is with food. I decided to make a little seafood snack, sit on the sofa and dream of warmer climates.

No one should have to cut deep fried food out of their life, so the hunt for the perfect crispy gluten free batter is something I have worked on for a long time. Once you have it you can use it for everything – onion rings, calamari, chicken or as I did prawns and fishy bites. I made up two dips to go along with it – great as a starter or just as a Saturday afternoon snack! We ended up eating so much we had to move our dinner reservation to 2 hours later than originally planned!

So here’s my recipe for crispy battered seafood with a tomato and a mayonnaise dip.

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BATTER

– Ingredients –

150g plain gluten free flour

1/2tsp gluten free baking powder

Sea salt and pepper to taste

200ml soda water

1 egg

3 fillets of whiting – cut into bitesize chunks

250g fresh king prawns

– Instructions-

If you have a deep fat fryer turn on and heat to around 160ºc if not add 5cm sunflower oil into a large sauce pan and place on a medium heat.

Mix your flour, baking powder, salt and pepper with the soda water in a bowl. Once it has formed a paste whisk in the egg. You should see bubbles forming in the mixture from the soda water.

In batches mix your seafood into the batter and then gently place into the oil or fryer. Make sure the pieces aren’t touching each other and give the basket a few gentle shakes to stop it sticking to the base.

We cooked the fish for around 5 minutes and the prawns for 3/4 – but you can just estimate when you think it’s done. The batter can look quite light in colour so don’t worry about that.

Once you’ve taken them out the oil, place onto a piece of kitchen roll to get rid of excess oil. Keep warm until ready to serve! I made my dips first which I would recommend.

SPICY TOMATO DIP

– Ingredients –

1 beef tomato

1/2 an onion chopped

1 clove of garlic

1tspn of dried chilli flakes

Squeeze of tomato paste

Salt and pepper

Handful of parsley

2tbsp of water

Gluten free soy sauce

– Instructions –

Heat 2tsp of olive oil in a frying pan.

Add the garlic and chilli flakes and stir as they start to soften.

Put in the chopped up beef tomato and onion, 2 tbsp of water and leave to soften.

Once the tomato starts to break up add in the paste, salt and pepper and soy sauce – just a couple of shakes and the parsley.

Leave until there is only a little liquid around the sides. Take off the heat and add to a blender or food processor.

Blitz up, taste and you’re done!

GARLIC MAYONNAISE 

– Ingredients –

4 cloves of garlic (we love garlic so this may change for you or depend on how much mayo you’re making)

200g mayonnaise

Juice of half a lemon

– Instructions –

Super easy! Chop of your garlic then mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Dust with some paprika to finish.

We ate the whole bowl while watching rugby, drinking cider and forgetting about the torrential rain!

Now you have a great, versatile batter recipe the only thing to do is try and control yourself from deep frying everything!

Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx

Bone Broth: The coeliacs natural healer 

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The first Awkward Dinner Guest blog post, and what a lovely title to start with!

Sometimes, no matter how careful you are gluten flare ups are unavoidable. Whether it’s cross contamination in a restaurant or your friend not realising that the soy sauce in the dinner contains wheat, flare up’s happen to everyone.  This inevitably leads to you lying on the sofa clutching a hot water bottle against your tummy, waiting for those horrible pains to stop and wishing for a speedy solution.

Unfortunately as we know, there is no cure or quick medication. However, I have found my new staple to managing the dreaded ‘glutening!’

BONE BROTH sounding less than appealing, has wonderful healing effects for the gut. Being high in minerals and nutrients it has been found to sooth the digestive system, hydrate and nourish the whole body. Best of all, I think it taste’s delicious either on its own in a big warming mug or used as a base for a meal.

This is the general recipe I stick to, but it can be altered as much as you wish. I’ve previously used chicken and lamb bones together if you have them left over from a roast it works great.

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– Ingredients –

1 whole free range chicken

Handful of carrots

1 onion chopped in half

2 sticks of celery roughly chopped

6 cloves of garlic

A selection of herbs – I like to use bay leaves, rosemary and parsley

2 table spoons of Cider Vinegar (or juice of a lemon)

Salt and Pepper to taste

– Instructions –

Put your left over chicken bones into a large sauce pan. The Londoners rock salt chicken is my firm favourite when it comes to roast chicken recipes, super juicy and super tasty http://www.thelondoner.me/2012/08/rock-salt-roast-chicken.html. I always use the bones left over from a dinner of roast chicken and sweet potato salad.

Throw in the rest of the ingredients and add cold water, enough so that everything is covered.

Place a lid on top of the pan and bring to the boil.

Once boiling, turn down to a low heat and cook for a minimum of 4 hours. If using any other meat bones I would cook for at least 6 hours. You can simmer the broth for up to 12 hours – just make sure you continue to top up the water that evaporates!

After the broth has cooked sieve it and pour into a separate bowl and cool quickly – a tip is to place the bowl in cold water in the sink, DO NOT put in the fridge while hot.

Once cooled you can scrape off the layer of gelatine that forms. Store in the freezer or use from the fridge within the next 2-3 days.

Simple! Now get creative! Like I said its lovely to drink on it’s own if you’re feeling under the weather or use as the stock for noodles, soups, risottos etc.

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Forever, The Awkward Dinner Guest

xx