Tahini and Basil Sauce

This’ll be the last I’d say.

Three of four Secret Garden Roses are teeny.

It feels suitable, you know?

This is just their first year though.

A rose planted in memory of a friend.

A lot of growth, but no strawberries.

They’re such bright spots of colour.

Simple, fast, well if you discount growing the basil.

Yo, Dear Reader, I’m honestly surprised I got any basil with the way the first part of the year went, but here I am harvesting in October, not that I’ll complain. One year I went overboard making pesto, the year with the heatwave I think, and ended up with well over a year’s worth. So over time I’ve devised ways to utilise the fresh basil that aren’t just pesto because no matter how good anything in the extreme can become soul-crushing, or at least taste bud crushing. I’ve played around with my limited pantry and recently I’ve been varying my meals a little bit more again, I’m healing in a lot of ways, Dear Reader, and I’ve been mixing a tahini and coconut sauce for drizzling, you can pour it too, even just splatter it around I won’t judge. I’d love it with lemon, but that isn’t happening, so when I had yet more basil and no juicy mangoes I decided to take a chance. I’ve mixed basil with coconut milk, no coconut cream in the shops currently, for curries and this is just an extension of that idea. Yes, there is a lot of garlic, I could say two or four, but why lie, Dear Reader? I like garlic and this sauce is so simple you can adjust freely anyway. It’s a simple herby, salty and slightly creamy sauce that I just pour over seasoned chicken and rice or pasta. I still think along the lines of Getting The Good Into Ya with every meal and using the harvest is always important. Winter’s creeping in, Dear Reader, so I’m making all I can out of what I have and stocking the freezer. That’s all for today, Dear Reader, I’ll be back again later, until then stay safe and take care.

I’ve been cramming everything in there and it’s now taking shape.

Rain and sun over and over today. Glad I’ve smothered the back weeds.

They’re so much better after a year.

Spurge, a wildflower it seems. I’ll leave it.

Not finished yet.

Ingredients

150ml Coconut Cream or Coconut Milk
60g Basil
60g Tahini
24 Cloves Garlic, Peeled (Less or more to taste)
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Make around four 75g Servings.
Can be frozen.

Method

1. Add everything to a food processor and blend until mostly smooth. Separate and either freeze immediately or keep in the fridge. Serve hot or cold.

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Same, Old Same New: Jack The Coconut Reductionist and Tahini Garlic Chicken

Make a paste or whatever…*Slides down onto floor*

Yo, Dear Reader, hmm? I’m not lazy! How dare you, I’m just using coconut milk anyways and you know I have to try it every single way possible, remember this is just me cooking for me and that involves repetition, lots and lots of repetition…and coconut reduction I guess. Okay, that’s it for today…what? But I told you what to do! I didn’t?

No I am not getting lax with these posts! *Slides down onto floor*

Okay, serious…ish post time. This is a really rough rework of Tahini Garlic Chicken, which went quietly into that good night once I quit citrus, long before that I ate it much too often and ended up in excruciating pain. Yeah, the original was that good, if you can make that first at least, this is just a fun way to eat herbs and coconut milk without any jarring taste conflicts. I also sauteed some sweet potato with some smoked salt, which is really simple, but delicious. For this I went for haste as I just wanted something fast and light, relatively light that is, the herbs from above recipe, a tablespoon of tahini, half of honey, you need something to cut the tahini’s sharp bitter taste, citrus works wonders on it if you’ve never tried, splash of olive oil and grated garlic. Mix that into a paste, stir up the chopped chicken and let it fry slowly for ten minutes, you want it just cooking gently, the coconut milk will go on at a higher heat to reduce and will cook it the rest of the way. The seeds butters aren’t as good at thickening as nut butters are, but you can use that to make a more reduced sauce even when the seed butter is added early on, which is what I did. You can smell he herbs all he way throughout and they do hold their taste even after a long cook, I time it all by the rice, so about half an hour, give or take. I fiddle with the heat as I go, keep it simmering but not boiling or you’ll split the coconut milk.

Mount it up, higher and higher!

Bonus: (Yesterday’s, but shhh) Sweet Omelette and (This is a recipe, I think) Caramelised Banana (It was!).

So, a simple herby flavoured dish, I’m so used to coconut that I don’t find it jarring anymore, but your tastes may vary, I use the milk for reductions when I’m using nut or seed butters, but use the cream for richer sauces where it only reduces. Most of this is born from the fact I couldn’t use the most common free-from thickeners, but as it all tastes so good I’m not complaining. I’ve updated the sweet omelette page, which is fairly low traffic as it was a much earlier posting. It’s a great recipe, unusual, but worth looking at. I usually  make curry twice a week so you may see a few more reduced recipes, as I say this is purely me playing around for a dinner, I’m sharing to teach what I can’t teach in more traditionally formatted recipes while also giving myself a break from those. They take a lot more to create and type up than you’d imagine. Being flexible in your cooking can help counter any feelings of boredom or irritation at being on a free-from diet as restricted as mine. Maybe not completely, but it helps. Until later, Dear Reader.

Same Old Same New: Mild To The Max

Mix it all up and just slather it everywhere.

I never actually run out of much because, Dear Reader, I write the shopping list, do the shopping and that will never happen. I don’t like hunger and outside of the set things I eat daily and weekly there isn’t anything I can just grab so I never let it happen. I do occasionally run low, I buy a lot of fruit and vegetables that wouldn’t stay fresh if I buy too many, so sometimes I’m left wondering what I’ll make with what I have. Today I wanted something mild tasting, not to be mistaken for bland, something warm, since the weather is miserable, filling and just gentle. So I took this and this and smashed them together.

I found a shallot, so add shallots.

The carob chicken is intense due to the prevalence of aniseed flavours, I mitigated that by using garam masala as the spice instead of the Five Spice, just a rough teaspoon this all rough, Dear Reader, I used a tablespoon of honey and carob syrup, surprisingly this isn’t noticeably sweet, the honey cuts the tahini’s sharp taste, I mixed all that with a little salt, pepper and garlic granules, it’s just a thick paste, but I rubbed it all onto the chicken anyway, you’ll have to scoop it all into the pan when frying, but it cooks better when mixed first.

I’m sparing this carob syrup, so much that I forget to use it.

I used an onion, garlic, I love garlic, and a shallot, fried in olive oil this time, rather than butter. Tossed the chicken into the pan on a low heat, keeping it from caramelising too much, again: mild, left that to cook for a while, this was being cooked alongside the rice so times vary, I love this post format as this is how I often cook, Dear Reader, rather than he methodical posts you often see accompanying recipes, I do that for my Dear Reader who wants to learn, but you can lean here too, just in a less structured way.

Coconut cream because it’s all I had.

I tossed in the coconut cream, which was thickened by the tahini and peanut butter, about half a tablespoon each. There can be an issue getting the sauce to reduce when using nut or seed butters, you’re better to let the coconut cream or milk residue first and then add them, otherwise you’ll have to crank up the heat and potentially spilt the cream, which isn’t bad, but it can be very oily and might not be that pleasant. The whole thing just simmered away, I occasionally tossed the chicken about, more for something to do than for any real purpose, though flip it at least once to ensure and even cook.

Anything like this ends up either Golden Brown or Sunny Orange.

As for the taste? It was just a gentle, warming dish.It is funny how you can add too much to a dish and destroy the balance and here there was a very simple flavour, that tasted just right, if there wasn’t enough it’d be noticeable, but it isn’t so strong that you notice the flavour all that much either. I’m no great expert on spices, Dear Reader, I’ve learned a lot over the years, but I still add too much, forget to taste. There are so many useful spices and I try to vary it, there are many health benefits to everything I use, it’s why I eat what I eat, I just no longer think of that as I cook, I just do it and enjoy it. Hopefully I’ll have something new soon, Dear Reader, I did make scones and quinoa bread, I used teff and buckwheat and it is very tasty as a combo. Worth thinking of for future recipes. Until later, take care.

Same Old, Same New: Tahini Mango Multitask

Jack, this isn’t a garden post, stop posting pictures of birds.

No.

Great bird pictures – Dear Reader

Ah, Dear Reader, I’ve often said that I am a terrible food blogger because I’m just too stubborn to follow a sensible pattern when talking about food, but as you’re all still here I guess you’re okay with that. Still it all ties in together, today I was on one side of the kitchen preparing Braised Red Cabbage, the other making a mixed and match of a dinner, including the mango tahini sauce which I will get to, and in the middle I was watching birds. There is no multitasking, Dear Reader, in spite of whatever title I have chosen, it’s all just time management. I’m at the stage where I’m more than a dab hand at anything in the kitchen, where if you were to talk to me about food preparation I’d know to keep quiet because I’d either bore you with the details or insult you by not allowing any braggadocios claims, it seems to be a sickness of the Irish that they will know anything that you happen to, without actually knowing anything at all, so if left alone I can work miracles. Or create good food, whatever.

No for me, but for someone who dislikes a lot of food. It’s good in other words.

Concealed Chicken and vegetables.

Blended and frozen mango cubes are helpful for single cooks.

It’s just rice, but I just really like rice.

If most people looked at what I eat they’d assume it wouldn’t be conducive to weight-loss, that’s because most people are idiots, Oh, that wasn’t me, that was the birds typing that! Okay, joking aside there is some truth in that, people generally fall into strange ideas about food, tell them they can have cake and lose weight, grow taller, become beautiful and they’ll worship you, tell them they don’t understand food, but you’d gladly help and they’ll ignore you. Food is complex, vastly more than we’re lead to believe, but like anything you can learn about it, you can, like me, tailor a diet to your own specifications, but as I’ve often said there are no shortcuts and if your first instinct when listening to me, a weight-loss success story amongst other things, is to assume I’m wrong then you are just an idiot. I can say that because, well it’s true, but also because regardless of how I phrase it it will never matter, people with made up minds will never listen and that’s fine, they can go, well just go, but I will put in the work for you Dear Reader, you’er always singular, it’s quirky, because it may help you because you’re willing to learn. We all start at zero, those who go from one step to another learn slowly, but true.

Those cartons weren’t much good after the rain.

I filled this from one and the other burst above the bed.

I’m often cagey about posting what I eat, but never how much, I don’t want anyone thinking they can just copy this diet of mine and achieve a success, nor do I ever conceal anything. I could take a little of everything and make it really, okay somewhat presentable, and you, much like me that was, would believe that represented a portion. Food blogging is something more art and artfulness than real food and real people, that has it’s place, but there’s a huge difference between disclosure and cultivating an image. You get honesty from me, with it you get whatever else I feel like too, hence the birds, seems a fair trade. So, the sauce is a variation of a variation of a etc, I use tahini a lot as I usually eat a lot of protein in my meals, over time I worked out what I needed by listening to m body, not it’s wants, but what made it work better, feel better and be better. It’s great because though the idea is based on a Tarator sauce even without lemon or any acid you still have a way to moisten, flavour and add nutrition without excess bulk. The recipe is pretty simple, it’s:

50g Mango Puree
1 Tbsp Tahini
3 Cloves Grated Garlic
1 Tbsp Honey
Salt to Taste

That’s it. I like to change up the sweeteners, add more or less garlic, other spices, whatever I’m having it over I try to match as much as I can. I don’t like straight tahini so I usually cut it with a sweetener, lemon helps, but as I say I can’t use it. Mango’s sweetness, almost meaty?, combines with the sharp tahini to make a really much deeper sauce than it should be. This makes a great spread too, in any variation, it can be made thick or thin by just adding more or less liquid. A tahini sauce over cold pasta and chicken is my go to go out meal. Not exactly the most complex meal, Dear Reader, but at least once a week tahini is my go to sauce base. That’s it for today, I’ll be back again soon, until then take care.

Tahini Gravy

You’ll see this again when I post the second recipe.

You see what I do? I think of my dear readers who can’t enjoy the astounding amazing cashew butter and I ponder, then a little voice pops up and asks about tahini, then a more sensible voice speaks up on the need to be weary of the intense taste and non-traditional uses of sesame seed paste and at that point I’ve left and gone to try an absurd recipe out. You know if we all tried making recipes for other diets we’d end up with a wild and varied collection of recipes. Still, we have gravy, we’ll always have gravy dear reader. You know how to make gravy don’t you de…you don’t? Oh. Well, read on!

The secret of great gravy is unknown to me, but I do alright. I made the spice more prominent in this to help mask the strong taste of tahini and it made it a strong but delicious gravy. The intensity of the spices fighting for a place of prominence on your taste-buds with the sharp tahini taste means whatever you pair this with it’ll elevate it, bland seeds are no longer an issue. Simple, almost every recipe is simple if we’re willing to admit it, to drop the façade of complexity that gives the impression that only an expert few can ever truly understand it, all to present a thin ostentatious veneer. Er, getting heavy there, dear reader. Sorry! (Not really sorry). As for this sauce, it’s tasty as I’ve said, gets nice and thick too, but if you keep it whisked it’ll stay smooth. I don’t often like hot tahini, but I’d happily make this again and again. So, that’s it for this post. I have one more recipe, but for now that’s all. Goodbye and good gravy.

Ingredients

1/2 Chicken/Beef/Vegetable Stock Cube
150ml Boiling Water
1 Tbsp Tahini
1/4 Tsp Sage
1/4 Tsp Thyme
1/4 Tsp Parsley
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method

1. Add all the ingredients to a jug and whisk until everything is combined and Tahini has dissolved.

2. Pour into a pot or pan and heat on medium, keeping stirred, until thick.

Garlic and Tahini Chicken

2017 Update: Due to a problem with Photobucket, see here, there will be a lot of recipes without photos. I will be slowly redoing the recipe pages, as best I can, but many other posts will be impossible to replace. I’m doing this in my own time, while continuing to update the blog with new recipes and posts. If you’d like to donate, any amount appreciated, you can do so here. The site will always be free, the recipes will never be locked behind a paywall, but this is a lot of additional work. I’m not demanding or begging, just putting it there so if you feel like repaying my hard work you have that option. I don’t make any money from the site, all that I do here is to help others, I couldn’t charge for that.

Over rice cooked with golden beetroot and shallots.

Yes, dear reader, yet another no marinade from a marinade recipe. I haven’t been experiencing any of the troubles that I consistently had with the marinaded versions, it’s just they were so delicious hat I found it hard to accept. But, you know me, I’m no fool, well I might be, but I’m not reckless or feckless with my health. When things go agly then I know to take control and find out how to get back to being better. It’s funny that no matter how often we hear the advice to eat nuts, seeds and vegetables we just don’t. I suppose it comes from not really having enough workable ways to incorporate them into our diets. I think I’ve done well so far, he recipes I list here are used either weekly or quite a lot. You’re never too old to learn and never too and never too well informed to take on new ideas. This is nearly the last of the new recipes I mentioned, I’ll still be watching fr new buckwheat groat recipes, and of course working on my own new ones, but when they get tested and posted is anyone’s guess. I hope to get into the garden more, perhaps the weather will change soon. So, onto the tasty bit.

I do have to admit that this does suffer taste-wise a little more than the previous no-marinade tweak, that’s the problem with herbs versus spices, they don’t take the heat as well, but that’s not to say it’s not flavoursome, just a trifle more simplistic compared with the deeper flavour of the marinade version. Still, the raw garlic and tahini will always and ever be worth the price of admission. If I’m honest, I think I prefer the non-marinade versions as they just don’t take so long. It’s a hassle to prepare everything and then wait considering it’s just for myself. So, again, another simple recipe packed with goodness What you serve it with really depends on you and your preference, I just happen to enjoy it with plain wholegrain rice. Until next time, dear reader, take care.

Ingredients

Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts, Chopped
1 Garlic Clove, Crushed and Chopped Fine
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 Tbsp Light Tahini
1/4 Tsp Sea Salt
1/4 Tsp Basil
1/4 Tsp Oregano
1/4 Tsp Marjoram or Sage

Tahini Sauce

1 Tsp Garlic Paste or 1 Garlic Clove, Grated
1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 Tbsp Light Tahini/Dark Tahini
Pinch Sea Salt
Water as needed

Method

1. Mix everything, aside from Chicken, in a bowl and then add the Chicken. Mix the Chicken into the sauce and set aside.

2. Preheat non-stick pan and when hot add Chicken. Cook for 15 minutes on a medium heat.

3. While Chicken is cooking mix together Sauce ingredients and whisk together until smooth and thin, adding water if too thick. Set aside.

4. Serve Chicken on Rice and then drizzle over Sauce.

Jerk Chicken Rub

2017 Update: Due to a problem with Photobucket, see here, there will be a lot of recipes without photos. I will be slowly redoing the recipe pages, as best I can, but many other posts will be impossible to replace. I’m doing this in my own time, while continuing to update the blog with new recipes and posts. If you’d like to donate, any amount appreciated, you can do so here. The site will always be free, the recipes will never be locked behind a paywall, but this is a lot of additional work. I’m not demanding or begging, just putting it there so if you feel like repaying my hard work you have that option. I don’t make any money from the site, all that I do here is to help others, I couldn’t charge for that.

I even made Harlequin Squash Fries.

Update February 2017: I added a Tahini sauce, tweaked from here, it goes extremely well with the jerk chicken, it really helps balance out the sweetness.

Changed, only slightly, from here.

Okay, who knocked off the head of my crocus? I’ll find you, you, you jerk. Ho-ho, what a segway. Seriously, I find who did it and they’ll end up in my compost bin, all three of them. Violence and new recipes, that, dear reader is why we’re here. The new recipe I mean, put down that bat. I’ve found out that it was indeed the marinaded meats that was causing discomfort, lemon as a standalone seems to be fine. That’s part of the reason that there a tahini sauce over this recipe whereas you might prefer it as a filling for a wrap or sandwich instead. I just wanted to test out lemon and the sauce was what accompanied the marinaded meat so here we are. I’m currently typing on my new keyboard and it’s much closer to my old one, the key are receding away happily under the dancing fingers. My copy of the New Band Maid album arrived today so the speakers are blaring out and alls right with the world. Well, close enough at least. I have a few posts to type tonight so be prepared for an overdose of yours truly. As if there could ever be enough of me, answer me otherwise and I’ll take up the bat, dearest reader.

I do keep inadvertently ending up with a typo worthy of Balaam whenever I type the word as, look it up, this is a family blog. These keys need to be smashed, so forgive me if any strange typos end up being missed. So, no marinade, no nightshades, no, no actually that is a problem, but here I am, humbled by my own majesty. I lucked onto this recipe and since there was only a little cayenne I could easily ditch it without affecting the final dish. This is pretty nice, it does have a bit of a kick thanks to the contrast between the sweet sugar, as (I almost missed that one!) opposed to sour? Er, forgive me!, and the warm spices. It’s pretty moist too thanks to the quick cook and resting. As I said it might be best as a sandwich filer, but today is pasta day and I don’t deviate from my routine for anything.

I’m probably going to end up searching for more suitable spice rubs in the future, there are a lot of recipes out there, but finding something to suit my exacting requirements is difficult. Nightshade intolerance seems to be pretty rare, I can’t find much about it that I don’t already know and I really struggle to find fellow nightshade bloggers, but I keep trying. It’s all we can do really. Not much left to add, dear reader, I have another recipe to pop up, something simple, nothing too exciting. See you then.

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Ground Allspice
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/4 Tsp Cumin
1/8 Tsp Ground Cloves
1/8 Tsp Cinnamon

Sauce

2 Tbsp Coconut Cream (If solid then melt in microwave)
1 Tbsp Tahini
1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Clove Garlic Grated or Equivalent in Paste
Pinch Salt, Cumin and Nutmeg

Method

1. Mix together all the Sauce ingredients until smooth and set aside.

2. Mix together all the dry Ingredients in a bowl and then dredge Chicken until completely covered.

3. Preheat non-stick pan, add Oil, and when hot add Chicken. Turn to medium-high and cook for 7-10 minutes or until Chicken is fully cooked. Rest in foil for a further 5 minutes.

Variations

Oil Free: Use a food bag to cook the Chicken, leave out the oil and replace with 30ml Water. When adding Spices add a pinch of any Gluten Free Flour. Bake at 175c (Fan) for about 30 minutes.

Tahini

I measured out the seeds but forgot about the loss of volume when grinding.

Yeah, I used 150g, but go for the 200g for about the same amount as store bought tahini. Okay, this time I used this as a reference and I’m glad I did as there are a few differences between nut butters and tahini. Firstly you don’t need to roast the seeds until dark, just a little colour and fragrance is all you’re looking for. I taste tested the seeds and you can tell when they’re done quite easily. Second you let them cool, toss them onto a plate or something so they cool faster. Lastly I went with olive oil rather than coconut, though you can still use whatever, as it pairs really well with tahini and I’ll be adding it to it when I use it. That was a terrible sentence. I blame this heat, which I am grateful for, as are the plants, but I always get a little muddled in hot weather.

Hard to tell but they are toasted.

I have an induction hob which always seems to give me grief whenever I try to toast anything in a pan so I opted for the oven instead. You could make this raw as well but I don’t know if there are other considerations when going the raw route. Be safe is what I’m saying. I would like to try black sesame seeds just to have a black tahini, sadly I can’t get those anywhere. Nothing much else left to add, I do understand this does assume you know what tahini is like, if you are new to it blend up a small batch to see what you think. I have a tag devoted to tahini and a large number of recipes that use it so you should find something to suit you. Tahini is a staple of my diet, I prefer it blended with garlic and oils, but you may enjoy it straight on bread or in hummus. Whatever you decide to go do consider adding a little tahini to your diet it’s a really worthwhile addition. One more recipe is coming maybe later or tomorrow. Until then.

The almost not quite stage, don’t stop here.

Go for the smooth and glossy stage.

It ends up about 3/4 filled, so you lose around a  quarter of the volume.

Ingredients

200g Sesame Seeds
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil or Other Mild Tasting Oil

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 175c (Fan) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Spread the Sesame Seeds out and then bake for 5-7 minutes, stirring to prevent burning as needed, until slightly fragrant and a little coloured. Taste to tell if done. Transfer to a plate and let cool completely.

3. Add the Sesame Seeds to a food processor and blend until a smooth glossy paste has been formed. Add Oil as needed to facilitate blending and stop every few minutes to prevent food processor over-heating. Store it in the fridge.

Tahini and Honey Chicken

2017 Update: Due to a problem with Photobucket, see here, there will be a lot of recipes without photos. I will be slowly redoing the recipe pages, as best I can, but many other posts will be impossible to replace. I’m doing this in my own time, while continuing to update the blog with new recipes and posts. If you’d like to donate, any amount appreciated, you can do so here. The site will always be free, the recipes will never be locked behind a paywall, but this is a lot of additional work. I’m not demanding or begging, just putting it there so if you feel like repaying my hard work you have that option. I don’t make any money from the site, all that I do here is to help others, I couldn’t charge for that.

I think a smaller pan works best. If it’s tightly packed it seems to cook better.

This was taken out of a larger recipe found here. This is as stupidly simple as they come, but that why I love this kind of recipe. It’s versatile. I used it with quinoa for a simple, but packed and filling meal. It’s got tahini, quinoa and chicken, so that’s a lot of protein already. The quinoa also covers fibre, while the tahini also covers fibre as well as miscellaneous vitamins and minerals. The garlic and honey bring their own attributes to the dish (Great for a head cold), but Google will answer better than I can as to what those are. You could toss this on pasta, in a wrap, really any way you want. I think that’s one of the keys to eating like this every day of the year. Simple, well thought out meals that are jam-packed with as much variegated nutrition as possible. Everyone needs a different balance of vitamins, minerals etc, so, no this isn’t necessarily going to fit for you, but it’s adaptable and helps you use an ingredient (Tahini, duh) that you may not be familiar with. I usually like my tahini unheated, and my garlic raw too, but this coated the chicken so much that it made it absurdly tender for an un-marinated chicken breast.

That’s the funny part about eating well, it really is simple once you understand the food, but given the choice most people would rather be sold on the idea that they need a special plan and an “expert” to help them figure out all this confusing food. Tell them to eat this and it’ll do them some good and they look at you in askance, tell them they have to pay you for the recipe and that it’ll cure everything that ever ailed them and they’ll buy into it faster. Sad, huh? Yeah, I’m on an anti-stupid kick. I’m just going to help those willing to learn rather than bashing those too ignorant to be worth the hassle of bothering with. If you need me I’ll be the huge guy with the headphones (Wireless naturally) at this every day of the year and holding steady in every regard. Until later.

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts, Chopped
1 Tbsp Tahini
1 Tbsp Honey/Maple Syrup
1 Tbsp Olive Oil (Plus Extra for Frying)
2 Garlic Cloves, Grated
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method

1. Add Tahini, Honey, Olive Oil, Garlic, Salt and Pepper to a bowl and stir together until combined. Then add in chicken and mix together. Set aside.

2. Heat Olive Oil in a pan over a medium-low heat and add Chicken. Cook slowly, keeping stirred to prevent Honey burning, until Chicken is cooked through.

Variations

Cashew Butter: Replace Tahini with Cashew Butter and cook as normal. add extra Oil if sauce is too thick.

Peanut Butter: Replace Tahini with Peanut Butter and cook as normal. Add extra Oil if sauce is too thick. Optional: add 1 Tbsp Grated Fresh Ginger, 1/2 Scallion, Chopped, 1/2 Tbsp Fish Sauce and 50g Broccoli Florets.

7 Spice: Add 1/2 Tbsp Lebanese 7 Spice along with everything else. Cook as Normal.

Happy Anniversary Buckwheat Flour

Looking over my Facebook “Memories”, yeah, I don’t lead an exciting enough life to need that much reminiscing, I just found out that today marks the first full year of using buckwheat flour. If it wasn’t for a tip that it was in stock at a local supermarket I may never had bought, what has quickly become, my favourite free-from flour. It’s funny how important these ingredients come to be in your life. Some, like amaranth, sadly are like ships passing in the night, never to return. It’s one of the reasons I try as much as possibly with as many ingredients as I can get my hands on, you just never know when something will stop being stocked and if you’re too reliant on it it can be a major blow. I suppose I should do a little run through of my Buckwheat Flour recipes. I’ll link them as I go, so check them out.

Buckwheat and Rice Flour Pancakes

You can never have enough pancakes. Although I prefer to stick to plain, unsweetened Rice Flour ones, but a recipes a recipe. Reminds me of a commercial brand I once used to buy. (For a brief moment a typo rendered me an ex-pancake)

Buckwheat and Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I prefer the Squash version of this as it’s easier on my stomach. I’ve never actually eaten gnocchi in it’s usual potato form, I like this so I guess I’m not missing  much.

Buckwheat Bakewell Tart

Back in the fat days, which I will forever refer to them as, I used to eat these by the dozen. Literally. I’ve only made this once, it was really amazing, especially how the buckwheat complimented the frangipane topping with it’s dry crunch. It’d be even easier with the tweaks I’ve made since to the dough. Maybe for Christmas.

Buckwheat Cakes

I used to live on oat cakes, which were all the while driving me to distraction with Dermatographic Urticaria. I had to figure that out all by my lonesome, same as everything else really. These are just as good, even better than to the no rash part. It’s a shame there aren’t more recipes using buckwheat flakes like this.

Buckwheat Digestive Biscuits

You know what I meant. Other people’s recipes. I used to live on Hob-nobs and digestives too, about a pack every two days. Man, I used to be hungry all the time. Celiac disease is messed up. These are great with a bit of butter (And an expectant Black Labrador whom my Father taught the habit of getting one, with butter no-less!)

Buckwheat Flour Bread

So versatile. This has spawned so many recipes, it’s almost staggering to imagine it came from the back end of some forum way back when. I’m glad I found this, even more glad I kept fiddling with it.

Buckwheat Flour Cookies

I love the fact that buckwheat plays a major part in the flavour of these, yet they still remains sweet. I love these made large with some Buttercream. Too good to make too often.

Buckwheat Flour Crepes

I think I prefer these as savoury crepes. The buckwheat just lends  itself well to spiced meat fillings. It’s shame they don’t freeze well.

Buckwheat Flour Crumble

I have way too many crumble recipes. Hopefully if all goes well I’ll have plenty of strawberries for crumble next year.

Buckwheat Flour Muffins

Another recipe that has gotten a lot of use with variations. Simple, but tasty, I guess I just really love the taste of buckwheat.

Buckwheat Flour Pancakes

Maybe I should’ve tried these as a savoury pancake, but they’ve never really clicked for me. Just one of those things, I guess.

Buckwheat Flour Peanut Butter Biscuits

Three flours, three recipes. Peanut Butter cookies seem to be mandatory for celiacs. I have a few recipes of this ilk to boast of at least. Not a bad biscuit.

Buckwheat Flour Scones

Another recipe that I wish would freeze or at least keep better. I really don’t know why this goes stale so fast. A shame, but if you’re feeling hungry, no great loss.

Buckwheat Flour Shortcrust Pastry

You know how I feel about this wonder. This gem of the ocean, this acme of free-from pastry. I thrill at its proximity. Bonus points to anyone who knows who I’m referencing.

Buckwheat Flour Soda Bread

I just find buttermilk, meh. I know I have a few recipes I’m not wild on, but if they work I save them. Simple. You never know when it’ll come in handy. I think this was a quinoa flour recipe first.

Buckwheat Flour Tortillas

Ah, my old standby. Well new standby. Whatever. When my supply of genuine Mexican tortillas dried up I did what any grown up would do, I complained a lot. Eventually I cobbled together a replacement, which has done well in all it’s varied uses.

Buckwheat Flour Treacle and Tea Bread

Treacle bread was a staple growing up. It was really great to get a recipe together for myself and to even take it in unheard of directions. Probably one of few Irish recipes here. Not that there were that many growing up, food was simple home-made fare or from packets., though treacle bread was never anything but baked fresh.

Buckwheat Flour Vegetable Bread

A handy way to get some good into you and what has become a delivery system for squash in many delicious ways. I’m still eating my way through my Gingerbread version.

Buckwheat Hobnobs

Quinoa flour made these work, but they started with all buckwheat and still use the flakes. A nice, knobbly biscuit. I should make some soon.

Buckwheat Piadine

What were these again? Kidding. A flat bread, right? *Checks recipe*

Buckwheat Soba Noodles

The weeaboo in my wanted these and the baker made them work. Still one more version in the pipelines, so stayed tuned.

Nutty Banana Buckwheat Bread

Started with a flax version, but I prefer the less egg heavy, more solid buckwheat version. I usually split this with a vegetable bread and have one each week. They all freeze well.

Microwave Buckwheat Cake

Sure, the Rice Flour version gets more use, but this started it all.

Slurry Curry

A tester for thickeners, but helpful for those who need to know what will thicken and, roughly how much to use.

So that’s it. Here’s hoping for another year of great buckwheat recipes!