Gluten Free Ready Meals On Eurostar
On the Eurostar from Paris, I was very hungry. I had thought that there was no gluten-free food was available, but late in the journey on reading their on-board magazine, I found that they had two Waitrose ready meals in the cafe-bar.
They were not labelled as gluten-free, but was this an omission?
Mushroom Risotto is here on the Waitrose web site, where it is labelled as suitable for those avoiding gluten. The Chicken tikka masala shown here is also labelled as such.
It strikes me, that Eurostar are making a mistake somewhere.
Gatslow
There used to be adverts that talked of Gatquick, but on my flight out, it was one of the slowest experiences I’d had in any of London’s airports.
As I was travelling economy and the airport was extremely busy, I found it very difficult to find anywhere to sit.
One mistake I did make was to eat at Carluccio’s in Islington before I left for the airport, as I thought this would be easier, than queuing up at Jamie Oliver’s in the airport. It was easy and I had a good lunch, but if I’d gone to Jamie’s I’d have had somewhere pleasant to sit.
I thought Gatwick was getting better since it was sold, but it still isn’t fit for purpose!
Tagliatelle With Beef And Red Wine Ragu
This is a Lindsey Bareham recipe that I did for supper yesterday. I’d decided to do it in the morning, but when Waitrose were selling 400g packs of diced braising steak for just £2.25, I couldn’t resist making two portions of the ragu, with one for supper and one for the freezer.
I started by taking the whole pack of diced braising steak, which I seasoned and browned it in a couple of tablespoons of hot oil in my Le Creuset shallow casserole.
Browning The Diced Steak
The meat was then scooped out of the casserole and then 100g each of finely chopped onion and celery, together with some garlic, a tsp of thyme and a pinch of chilli flakes were then gently softened in the meat juices and tossed for five minutes.
Cooking The Onion, Celery And Spices
I then took 100g of finely chopped chestnut mushrooms and added them to the pan. I cooked this until it was all dark and juicy.
Cooking The Mushrooms
I then chopped the meat and added this to the pan.
150 ml of red wine was added and it was allowed to bubble up for a few minutes, before stirring in a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes.
It was then baked in the oven for 60 minutes at 160°C.
I served it with some of Carluccio’s gluten-free pasta.
Tagliatelle With Beef And Red Wine Ragu
My one mistake was perhaps not to put in quite enough wine, so it was perhaps a tad dry.
I shall make this again, I see the diced steak on offer at Waitrose. I know I don’t need to economise, but it shows you can make a delicious meal for two with £2.25 of steak, an onion, some celery, a tin of tomatoes, some spices and some wine.
This recipe also shows the usefullness of my shallow casserole. It is definitely something that I don’t regret buying.
Does This Mean I Won’t Get Dementia And Depression?
I have just read an article in The Times describing a diet for your brain.
They also publish the neurologist’s eating rules as down to Dr. David Perlmutter, in a book called Grain Brain.
So what does the diet advocate? A lot of things that I stick to fairly well, like certain fruits, vegetables and oily fish, with possibly a glass of red wine a day. But above all it says avoid gluten!
So far so good!
But then he’s an American from Florida!
A Delicious Way To Cook Salmon
Last night i cooked one of Lindsey Bareham’s recipes. it’s called Roast Salmon with Paprika, Garlic And Parsley.
I just put the salmon in a dish and after brushing it with olice oil gave it ten minutes in the oven at 200°C. I then covered the fish with a mixture of paprika, garlic abd fresh parsley.
Roast Salmon with Paprika, Garlic And Parsley
It was delicious.
Some might not like the broccoli I served with it, but that is personal taste. C wouldn’t have put her mouth, nose or fingers near it!
lindsey incidentally, has a new cookbook out called Just One Pot. You can buy it here from her web site. I shall be getting a copy!
Spitalfields For A Gluten-Free Meal
As I found at Nottingham recently, restaurants that can do a good gluten-free mea, tend to cluster. I’ve eaten in three places in Spitalfields; Carluccio’s. Leon and Pizza Express, but a new one called Canteen has opened.
Canteen In Spitalfields
All gluten-free meals are marked and they also state.
Other dishes can be made gluten-free on request.
Why don’t a lot more restaurants say that, as I know from experience many good chefs can make food gluten free.
A Street For Coeliacs In Nottingham
On Saturday, the fourteen of December, I went Nottingham to see Ipswich play.
As I often do in the city, I had a meal in French Living in King Street, as they know their gluten-free well.
They have now expanded to include a creperie that does gluten-free and King Street, where they are, now has two chain restaurants, which are safe for coeliacs.
So if you want gluten-free food in Nottingham, head to King Street.
I took the tram up the hill from the station. and then it was a short walk.
It will be interesting to see if other restaurants opening in the area, will also do gluten-free offerings.
Coeliacs And Health
I was reading a comment on this post when I had a thought.
Are coeliacs a rather unique health grouping?
Is there another disease, where most diagnosed sufferers eat so healthily?
I suspect too, that if you look at a database of coeliacs, that the level of smoking and drinking is lower than the general population, But I also suspect that applies to a lot of serious diseases like cancer, stroke and heart problems.
There are other factors that come into it too. I see the practice nurse every three months for a B12 injection. I hope they might spot something like a mole turning cancerous. But they always go through a simple how are you routine, whilst performing the procedure.
So analysing a database of coeliacs, you might find the results skewed because of a high proportion of healthy eaters, non-smokers and light drinkers, who see a healthcare professional regularly.
After all, it has been shown for example, that diagnosed coeliacs, who stick to their gluten-free diet have lower levels of cancer than the general population.
Is Putting Chilli Flakes Into A Shepherd’s Pie A Good Idea?
I made a pair of shepherd’s pies tonight; one for the stomach and one for the weekend. It’ll probably be Saturday after the football or Sunday evening, when the second one gets eaten.
As an experiment I modified the recipe, by adding a few chilli flakes.
Perhaps, it wasn’t for the purists, but it did impart an interesting flavour.
Bland it wasn’t!
Next time though, and there’ll be a next time, I’ll use a few less.
Cafe Breizh In Paris
I found Cafe Breizh last time I was in Paris, by searching for “gluten free creperie”. But I couldn’t find it physically.
So this time, as I crossed Paris to get the Eurostar, I just had to visit.
I was not disappointed after a bowl of cider and two gluten-free buckwheat crepes.
It’s a wonderful excuse to go to Paris for the day.
The Anonymous Widower 