Spiced cranberry bread

Here's another variation of the basic bread with sweet mixed spices (coriander, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cloves, and cardamon) and dried cranberries.

Spiced cranberry bread

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread (1)

Ever since I made the basic walnut bread, I'd been itching to try making a variation using cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts. And after a trip to Holland & Barrett to pick up a few missing ingredients, I got to working.

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread

Crispy duck with baked apples

Duck is my favourite meat, so much so that I had it as my wedding menu main course. I was particularly excited to find a whole Barbary duck in the supermarket. The Barbary duck, also known as Muscovy duck, is leaner than other breeds of farmed ducks and renowned for its plump, firm meat. I decided to roast the whole duck properly with apples and beetroots, not forgetting to render some delicious duck fat along the way. 

Crispy duck with baked apples, roast beetroots, and hasselback potatoes

Chocolate peanut butter cups

One of my favourite chocolate treats is Reese's peanut butter cups. When I got a big tub of peanut butter made with 100% peanuts, I could finally make my own peanut butter chocolate cups. 

Chocolate peanut butter cups

Basic bread (with walnut)

On the heels of my success with the chocolate-frosted yellow cake, I tried out another 'base' recipe from the Wheat Belly Cookbook, the Basic Bread. I had tried making loaf bread before using only coconut flour but it came out too dense for my liking (hence even though I have the recipe written down, I haven't posted it). This basic bread recipe called for garbanzo bean, or chickpea/gram, flour. I couldn't find ready-made chickpea flour in the shops here (I didn't try very hard, only looking at the usual shops I go to), so I got a bag of dried chickpeas and proceeded to make my own.

It was actually quite easy to do, as long as one had the tools - food processor, or in my case, a mini chopper, a coffee/spice grinder, and a sifter - good sound insulation in the kitchen (or whatever room you're working in), a bit of time, and lots of patience. I made two batches, using one for this bread and kept the rest in a air-tight jar for future use.

Basic walnut bread

Pan-roasted cod topped with pesto

Pan-roasted cod, topped with pesto, roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine, spicy Maris Piper wedges roasted in duck fat, blanched broccolini

Chocolate-frosted yellow cake

While I wouldn't call myself a cake lover, I do occasionally find myself hankering for cake. And that was what happened two weeks ago. I desperately wanted a slice of moist, dense, and fluffy cake. Being swamped at work and not really having an idea of how to make a wheat-free version, I picked up a toffee cake from the shops. While it tasted alright (not amazing, mind you), I paid for it with several days of discomfort and then more. And still, my craving wasn't satisfied.

So I bit the bullet and bought myself a coffee grinder so I could grind up golden linseeds as they seem to be called in several wheat-free, grain-free recipes. And boy, was I glad I did! Not only did the grinder work a treat for the linseeds, I also managed to make icing sugar without cornstarch with it, which was needed to make the frosting for my cake.

The cake I chose to make was a chocolate-frosted yellow cake. I came across a recipe for it in Dr William Davis's 'Wheat Belly Cookbook'. The cookbook has a good variety of recipes and is easy to use once you have the basic ingredients at hand. The wheat-free cakes I'd made so far were mostly loaf cakes so I wanted to try something new and a yellow cake looked like a good choice as it was versatile. I also wanted to try another kind of frosting (using something other than coconut cream/milk).

Chocolate-frosted yellow cake

Taiwanese stir-fried rice vermicelli 炒米粉

Taiwanese stir-fried brown rice vermicelli

Pizza with courgette crust

I've been flat out with work for the last few weeks. That and also it's been rather warm, I've been doing a lot of salads and fish for dinner. When I wrapped up a case yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a breather and head out to get the necessary ingredients to make pizza at home.

Pizza with courgette crust, topped with ventricina salami, chorizo, roasted red peppers, chestnut mushroom, red onion marmalade, goat cheese, and baby spinach