0 Chestnut maple snowflakes

For quite a while I  have been wanting to experiment with chestnut flour, I think this stems from a holiday memory in idyllic Tuscany, when we stayed in a house over looking a chestnut grove and in it was the cutest rustic drying house. I was fascinated with the gnarly trees, the nuts and the recipes they were used in, chestnut flour is used in Italy to make pasta, pancakes and cakes amongst other things.

Chestnut flour is naturally gluten free and is something you will need to seek out if you want to bake with it as its not routinely stocked in most health food shops, this is possibly due to a shortish shelf life but you can obtain it easily by mail order and most shops will happily order it in for you. If you are baking for a coeliac ensure the flour is truly gluten free.

Chestnuts are synonymous with the festive season so I decided to come up with a biscuit recipe which uses this lovely flour, combining it with maple syrup to give a lovely smoky earthy flavour and use my lovely snowflake cutters to give a seasonal twist to this bake. 

This recipe makes about 12 to 15 cookies, depending on the size of the cutters you use. These would make a lovely gift wrapped in cellophane and lovely festive ribbon or a parchment package. Don't expect a crunchy biscuit these are more tender, the snowflakes aren't overtly sweet either.

What you need

• 12 tbsp chestnut flour (I used Shipton Mill) and little extra for rolling out purposes
• 3 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 egg 
• Icing sugar for sprinkling purposes

What you do

• Mix all the ingredients in a food processor
• Tip out on to a floured piece of baking parchment, roll out to just a little thinner than a pound coin and using a cutter to cut out the snowflakes.
• Place on a baking tray (I use a silicon sheet to ensure they don't stick) 
• Bake in a pre heated oven at 180c for 10 -15 minutes until just turning golden
• Cool on wire rack, they firm up more on cooling
• Sprinkle with icing sugar or ice with glace icing if you like.
• Store in a tin

This month we are linking up with Treat Petite created by Cakeyboi and hosted this month by The Baking Explorer, the theme this month being Christmas. 

                                                             

                                                              

We are also linking up to Family Foodies hosted by Bangers n Mash and Eat your Veg, the theme being festive foodie traditions, as these snowflakes are liable to become a new tradition in this household as they are delicious and ideal to baked as a gift particularly for adults.

                                      

And lastly December's Teat time treats hosted by Karen over at Lavender and Lovage and Jane at Hedgecombers. This months theme is Glitter, sprinkles, candles and shiny stuff, this bake I think qualifies as it has lots of sprinkled icing sugar and the staging includes candles.

                                         

                                                                

Detail: Chestnut maple snowflakes

0 Roasted red pepper and garlic soup

Recently I managed to snaffle a couple of beautiful sweet pointed red peppers at the local shop for a bargain price, so as we love roasted peppers I decided to make a warming soup.

I love roasting red peppers as its really enhances the flavour of the pepper and intensifies their sweetness, We love them in our household even using them on rustic bread as a sandwich filling with a splash of balsamic and a couple of basil leaves to create an amazing flavourful vegetarian snack.

This soups uses the roasted pepper flesh along with a couple of  roasted garlic bulbs as the basis of a tasty hearty soup which is rich in antioxidants and all things good for you. Its also an amazing colour as you can see from the photographs.

What you need

• 2 large red pointed peppers - split, seeds removed
• 2 bulbs garlic - sliced across
• Fresh rosemary and thyme
• A little olive oil or virgin rapeseed oil
• 1 white onion - peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 medium potato - peeled and diced
• Vegetable stock ( I used Essential Cuisine)
• Salt and Pepper - to taste
• Creme fraiche or yogurt - omit if you want diary free

What you do 

• Prepare the pepper and garlic and rub with a little oil before placing on a baking tray, strewn with some fresh herbs and a little salt and pepper
• Roast for 20 - 25 minutes at 180c until the pepper skin is slightly charred and blistering
• Remove from oven and cool fully on the tray
• Once fully cool remove the charred skin from the pepper flesh and squeeze the garlic cloves to remove the cloves from the papery skin
• In a large saucepan in a little oil saute the onion and the chopped potato for a few minutes, now add the roasted red pepper flesh and garlic cloves 
• Add enough vegetable stock to cover the vegetables and simmer until the potato is soft
• Blitz using a stick blender until you have a smooth consistency 
• Add as much additional vegetable stock or water to thin to your preferred soup thickness.
• Re heat and taste for seasoning
• Serve swirled with creme friache or yogurt 

We are linking up to No Croutons Required hosted this month over at Lisa's Kitchen 

Extra Veg challenge hosted this month over at Fuss Free Living

November's family foodies hosted over at Eat your Veg 

Credit Crunch Munch hosted this month by My Little Italian Kitchen 

Detail: Roasted red pepper and garlic soup

0 Chicken chow mien

As you have probably gathered by now, I am not a fan of takeaways and ready made sauces preferring to make my own. Not only do they taste much better, they are less expensive and you are in control of the ingredients. As a child I enjoyed the occasional takeaway and one of my Dad's favoured dishes was a chicken chow mien along side a char sui pork.

In adulthood I started making chicken chow mien as a quick and easy supper dish that could be quickly whipped up on return from work, the vegetable ingredients are infinitely variable depending on whats in season (or more likely whats in the fridge!), as long as you have some source of protein and some noodles you have the basis of a chow mien.

Its also recipe that is easily converted to gluten free buy substituting rice noodles and tamari for the egg noodles and soya sauce. Its extra tasty served with prawn crackers or kurups if you are wanting more of a Chinese banquet. This recipe can be on the table well within 30 minutes so is very family friendly too and is a fun dish as it features noodles which are normally popular with youngsters.

The recipe also uses five spice, typically a blend of star anise, cloves, cinnamon,sichuan pepper and fennel, but some have ginger, turmeric or nutmeg in the blend. I adore the fragrance of five spice I think its the star anise that makes it so special , but may be its the blend of yin and yang or the balance of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and pungent all in one mix.

What you need

• Chicken ( or prawn or tofu or quorn), cut into bite sized pieces
• Cornflour - about 1 tbsp
• Five spice - about 1 tbsp
• Wok oil / Sesame seed oil
• Vegetables to stir fry (I used welsh onion, red pepper, mange tout peas, courgettes, mushrooms) - chopped ready
• Soya Sauce (or Tamari if you need gluten free)
• Noodles ( use rice noodles if you want gluten free)

What you do

• Firstly have all your ingredients to hand
• Tosh the chopped chicken in the cornflour and half the Chinese five spice
• Put the noodles on to boil as per the instructions on the pack (normally between 3-7 minutes)
• Heat your wok or large frying pan containing the wok oil until very hot, add the marinated chicken and fry quickly until starting to colour golden
• Add the vegetables, the rest of the five spice and stir fry until everything is cooked
• Season with soya sauce
• Switch of the heat and add the drained noodles to pan, mix thoroughly
• Serve immediately on warmed plates sprinkling with more soya sauce if you like.

My lovely cakey foodie friend Clare over at Good Egg Foodie has just launched a new blogger campaign "Spice Up your life" for cooking with spices. As our recipe is using Chinese five spice it should definitely spice up your life.

                                               

I am also linking up to Fab Fast Food March family foodies challenge , for recipes that are family friendly and on the table in under 30 minutes over on Bangers and Mash and Eat Your Veg

                                                 

Detail: Chicken chow mien