Recipes Cooking

Lovely, toasty gluten-free English muffins. I kid you not.

I opted for baking the muffins on a sheet lined with my trusty Exopat (using a liner keeps those overly sensitive gluten-free flours from scorching on the bottom). I'm using English muffin rings to help shape the dough (I purchased them at Amazon). A reader suggested on Twitter I could use cleaned out tuna cans, but. That seems a tad unappetizing (intellectually, I know tuna cans would work; emotionally, all I keep visualizing is the mystery neighbor in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park who piles his smelly used tuna cans out in the hallway).

Using Alton's basic template the first batch turned out very dense, with no rise and no crunchy edges- though the dough looked promising (pictured above, rising). Dense was not a quality I wanted in my muffin. So I tried again, this time using my own original Gluten-Free Bread recipe as a template (I'm loving the combo of sorghum, potato starch and millet as a flour base for yeasted breads these days). The result was better- but still not quite there.

After a third attempt I realised that the issue might be moisture. I was creating a dough that resembled wheat dough, and I could shape it a bit and pat it into the English muffin rings, but the result was heavy and more resembled a gluten-free hockey puck.

The fourth try was the charm (sometimes perseverance pays off). I added more warm water to the dough (than seemed wise), until it was more of a thick cake batter than a stretchy playful dough.

And sweet bi-locating John from Cincinnatti! It worked.



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My gluten-free maple meatloaf is homespun comfort food.

Have a safe and tasty weekend!

And be good to your bones.

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Mmm, chocolate!  Lovely Cadbury Chocolate, there really is nothing quite like it.  Im a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to my Cadbury flavours, I tend to go for Fruit and Nut or plain Dairy Milk.  I would never have picked up these two flavours, but I surely wasnt going to refuse them when they were offered for review!


The Cadbury Dairy Milk with Daim was the bar I preferred, I enjoyed the contrast of the smooth melting Dairy Milk and the crisp, crunchy pieces of Daim bar.  Ive never really understood the appeal of the Oreo, I can see that they are the cookies of childhood for our US cousins, but we have prefectly good sandwich cookies in the UK. Anyway, I found the Dairy Milk with Oreo a bit too sweet for me and the filling had no contrast, being soft.  I scoffed it down anyway, but I wouldnt choose it. Everyone has their own favourites and Cadbury have plenty of new flavour combinations to choose from, something for everyone.  Personally the Dairy Milk Crunchie is calling to me....

The New Covent Garden Soup Co. are well known for their delicious chilled soups and they have introduced some new Skinny Soups,  I was sent Skinny Souper Green with Italian Basil Pesto


New Covent Garden Soup Co. Pulled Pork and Bean Soup is Soup of the Month for November and a substantial spicy meat and bean combination.  I served it with Quesadillas for a tasty and filling lunch.

Its always a particular pleasure for me to review Scottish products like this Scottish Rapeseed Oil from Borderfields.  Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil  is a home grown substitute for olive oil with a healthy balance of omega 3, 6 and 9.  It also has half the saturated fat of olive oil and no additives.

Borderfields Cold Pressed Scottish Rapeseed Oil is ideal for all kinds of cooking, baking, stir frying and drizzling.  I used it to roast some pumpkin chunks for a Kale, Pumpkin and Smoked Cheese Tart the oil has a lovely creamy flavour but it doesnt overpower the flavours of the food you cook in it.  I also roasted some the pumpkin seeds with spices to make a tasty snack.


Borderfields Cold Press Rapeseed Oil is available across the UK at Asda, Sainsburys, Aldi and Morrisons and at Tesco in the North and Scotland.
RRP of £3.99 for 500ml bottles:

I picked up this pack of Extremely Chocolately Honeycomb Crispies at Marks and Spencer, I didnt realise that they were designed to be low calorie for the Count on Us menu planner, when I chose them, but I have to say I was quite impressed.  Each square is individually wrapped (ideal for lunchboxes) and they are 120 calories per crispie.  They are nice an crunchy and you can really taste the honeycomb.

I was supplied with the following products for review:  Cadbury Dairy Milk with Daim, Cadbury Dairy Milk with Oreo; Covent Garden Soup Co. Pulled Pork and Bean and Skinny Souper Green with Italian Basil Pesto; Borderfields Scottish Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil.  

I purchased the Extremely Chocolatey Honeycomb Crispies and am sharing my review because I enjoyed them and thought you might too.

I was not paid for any of these reviews and all opinions are my own.