Banana & walnut bread

After a few loaves, I'm fairly confident with my banana bread. I made a loaf to bring down to my in-laws over Christmas so I could have something to eat for breakfast while I was there for the holiday.

Banana & walnut bread

And here's the recipe that guarantees to satisfy. 

Cranberry orange coconut sauce

Cranberry, orange, coconut sauce

Orange cranberry cake (1)

Conscious that most of my baking efforts have been lemon/lime based, when I saw fresh cranberries available at the local supermarket, I got a couple of boxes and picked up some clementines as well to make a festive orange cranberry cake.

Baked cheesecake with almond biscuit base

Baked cheesecake was a firm favourite of mine till I went wheatless. I hadn't tried baking any cake/pie base/crust using nut flours as I wasn't entirely sure how it would work out. After making several batches of chocolate chip cookies using almond flour with great success, I felt confident enough to give making a wheatless cheesecake base a go. So this experiment is really about the base.

Pan fried mackerel, seafood sausage, flash-fried duck liver & heart

Oven roast chicken with vegetables

Roast duck & rendered duck fat

Madeira cake with coconut & lime frosting

One of the cakes I discovered after moving to Ireland was Madeira cake. I was told it was a sponge but I thought it felt slightly denser than the sponge I was used to back in the East (like the 'traditional' birthday cakes in Taiwan). Still, Madeira cake became my favourite tea cake.

Pan grilled lamb chops with vegetables and potatoes

Smokey chicken & rice (2)

Grilled boneless lamb chop with potatoes and vegetables

Grilled mackerel with garlic, chilli & lemon

Almond flour pancakes with Jazz apple slices & Greek yoghurt

Apple & berry coconut crumble 椰酥烤野莓蘋果

I'm not a fan of crumble but Husband is, so for the weekend, I made a flourless crumble for both of us to enjoy.

Lime & coconut cake

Ever since tasting the coconut and lemongrass cake at Kate's Kitchen in Sligo town, I've been trying to figure out how to recreate this delicious cake. I decided to use lime (the juice and zest) instead of lemongrass (which would require a food processor that I don't have to purée). And I figured that the almond flour and shredded coconut would provide enough oils/fat on their own that I could leave out butter/coconut oil.

Korean BBQ beef and vegetable stir-fry

Popcorn, perfect each time

Smokey chicken & rice (1)

Cheesy herb biscuits

Following the success of my first batch of cheesy biscuits, I made more with a bit less salt, different and more cheeses, and additional herbs.

Dark chocolate chai cake (2)

My second attempt at this cake. Decided to reduce the amount of sugar slightly and use the Greek style yoghurt I had in the fridge.

35th birthday dinner

organic strip loin, rosemary potatoes roasted in goose fat, sugar snaps, cheesy garlic biscuit, salsa pepolata

dark chocolate chai cake

Salsa pepolata

Chilli & ginger beef stir-fry (2)

Cheesy garlic biscuits

After trying to make my first savoury baked goods in the form of flatbreads for a venison burger and not being entirely convinced that it was a like-for-like substitute for buns, a friend posted on her Facebook pictures of low-carb cheddar biscuits she made and inspired me to attempt another savoury bake.

Barbary duck with spicy mango salsa and potato & courgette chips

Pan-fried seabass with spicy mango salsa and couscous

Shredded chicken with mixed peppers 彩椒雞絲

Ginseng chicken soup 人蔘雞湯

Chicken stock

BBQ pork chop with roasted vegetables

Thai red curry with turkey

Potato pasta bake

Tuna puttanesca with brown rice penne

Coconut custard cake

Two dear friends came over from London for a visit last weekend, so in addition to spending a couple of days tidying up the apartment and making up the study/guest bedroom, I was baking like nobody's business.

Honey sesame cookies (coconut flour)

I adapted the chocolate chip cookies (coconut flour) and substituted the cocoa nibs with raw black sesame seeds to make these honey sesame cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies (coconut flour)

One of the things that I occasionally miss since going wheat-free is chocolate chip cookies. I'd never baked cookies from scratch before, even though I was told it was baking 101. Last week, the craving got the better of me and I decided to make some using coconut flour.

Poulet en cocotte (3)

Lamb leg steaks with sautéed kale and spicy roasted Rooster potatoes

Turkey & vegetable balti

Chocolate chip cookies (almond flour) (1)

Feeling that the chocolate chip cookies made using coconut flour wasn't exactly on par with wheat flour versions, I decided to try an almond flour version. 

Chilli & ginger fillet beef stir-fry (1)

Banana pecan & walnut bread

A second go at a flourless banana bread with a few changes from the previous version: 1) use of butter rather than coconut oil; 2) use of fine sea salt rather than coarse sea salt and much less of it, too; and 3) 1 extra ripe banana.

Spicy meatball & aubergine bhuna

Minced meat is a regular in my freezer/fridge because it is so versatile (e.g., chilli con carne is an all-time favourite). When I have time (and am up for it), I like to make meatballs. This is a version I made a few days ago.

Dark chocolate chai cake (1)

Wanting something chocolatey but not sweet, I made a dark chocolate chai tea cake. This cake was largely adapted from my earlier Green Earl Grey truffle cake.

Hibiscus & cinnamon jello 洛神肉桂凍

Peanut butter & banana popsicles

We've been experiencing an unusually warm summer for the last few weeks. At the start of the heat wave, I tried my hands at making popsicles. I even managed to find moulds at TK Maxx to pour the batter in (even if I think they are meant for making ice pops for kids).

Lemon and lime loaf cake with citrus glazing (1)

I managed to get really juicy lemons and limes last week and have been enjoying homemade lemonade with crushed mint and ice at home. Very refreshing in this unusually warm Irish summer. To kick off the weekend, I took advantage of this wonderful batch of citrus fruit and baked a lemon and lime loaf cake with a citrus glazing.

I made something similar for the first time a good few years ago, a zesty lemon pound cake. But at the time, I wasn't overly concerned with avoiding wheat (and so I used cream flour) or using only natural ingredients (hence the addition of lemon essence). I do remember it being rather tasty, and so I decided to make another one using coconut flour. 

Poulet en cocotte, encore une fois

This is my second time making this chicken in a pot. I made a few changes from the last time, and it totally paid off in taste.

Good Friday dinner: mackerel

As Husband is a semi-practising Catholic, even though he's not a fish fan, I remembered to pick up some mackerel and sea bass this week in anticipation of dinner on Good Friday. 

Rib eye steak

A few friends and colleagues have raved about the quality of fresh produce at Aldi and Lidl. While I don't usually shop there, mainly because they don't ever seem to stock most of my regular grocery items, I did pop in Aldi on my way back from the Beacon Hospital last. The Aldi out in Rockbrook is very neatly laid out and well stock. I had a look at their fresh meat section and was pleasantly surprised to find some quality cuts. I picked up a couple of Angus rib eye steaks (which I had never bought or cooked before) and Wicklow lamb rump steaks along with a few other items.

Grilled lamb loin chop

I had some celeriac left over from making the soup a week ago, so I chopped it into rough-shaped chunks, boiled it, and using a hand blender and mixing in some rosemary-infused extra virgin olive oil, made it into a purée.

Leek, celeriac & potato soup

Celeriac seems to be very 'in' with the contestants on MasterChef: The Professionals have  been using it left and right for the last two seasons. The stumpy vegetable has never appealed to me in the produce aisle, but last week, I decided to get one.

Green Earl Grey chocolate truffle cake

A good friend gave me a jar of fancy chocolate truffle sauce. I didn't really know what to do with it until I spotted the can of Fortnum & Mason Green Earl Grey tea leaves sitting in the press. The same friend also gave me an electric mixer a while ago after finding out that I'd been sticking to loaf cakes because I had to do everything by hand. So I decided to try my hands at making something other than a loaf. This green Earl Grey chocolate truffle cake is what I came up with. As per usual, the recipe is adapted from one using wheat flour, and I swapped regular Earl Grey (black tea) with Earl Grey Green (green tea).

Stir-fried beef mince in lettuce cups

As I'm trying to steer away from wheat and hence no more pasta, I had to come up with a new way of using my weekly mince, with which I used to make spaghetti bolognese. I came up with this light and tasty stir-fry dish.

Gingerbread loaf

Ginger is a versatile spice, wonderful in marinades, tea, and cakes. One of my favourite ways of using ginger is simply boiling thin slices of it in water and drink it with a squeeze of lemon and a drop of honey. I'm also partial to gingersnaps and gingerbread.

Banana pecan bread

I've been contemplating eliminating wheat from my diet for some time. For the past two years, I've been using wholegrain spelt flour mostly to make cakes, breads, sauce, etc. But then I learned from Dr William Davis, author of the (in)famous 'Wheat Belly' that spelt is still a form of wheat, and while not as harmful as modern wheat, it isn't necessarily good either. This hastened my resolve to seek better alternatives, such as almond meal and coconut flour. However, the former is rather dear and the latter difficult to find.

Soy-ginger salmon with spiced sweet potato mash

Tired of the usual pan-fried salmon with dill, parsley, or lemon butter, I went Asian this time with a ginger and soy sauce marinade.

Poulet en cocotte (1)

Since the electricity price hike (5.9%) was announced last September (this was after a price increase of 14.8% the previous year), I've been using less of the oven for cooking. In fact, from when the price increase came into effect till the end of 2012, I only turned on the oven around five times, four of which were for baking a cake. Though I quite like and have got very accustomed to cooking with my trusty sauté pan and griddle, one thing I do miss sometimes is a good roast chicken.

Vegetable biryani

I felt that I hadn't had enough vegetables in the last few days, so for dinner last night, I made a vegetable biryani. This is my second time ever making it, having rather enjoyed my first attempt. 

Chilli con carne

This is classic comfort food in our home. The dish is wonderfully aromatic and with just the right amount of kick to awaken any palate. I sometimes substitute, to a great degree of success, the steak mince with turkey mince for a lighter taste. 

Rainbow carrot cake

I bought a pack of rainbow carrots before the holidays and didn't manage to cook them. On New Year's Day, I decided I'd better use them up before they went off, so I turned to an all-time favourite - carrot cake.

Honey garlic spare ribs 蜜汁排骨

Pan fried tofu

One of my favourite foods is tofu, particularly the firm variety. The easiest way to cook tofu is to throw it in stew or soup, which I do sometimes when I cook gimchi jjigae. But when I have a bit more time, I often opt to pan fry it.