Balls!

Hectic is how I would describe life at the moment. I have this idea that at some point life will slow down a little, I'll have a little more time and I'll get things done that I've been wanted to get around to doing. It never seems to happen though, something is always going on.

There are some things that can be done to save a little bit of time here and there. One of those things is leftovers. Not something that should be happening to much in the world of amine sensitivities, but it can be done. No one in this house would normally want to eat the same thing for dinner twice in a week, but if you reinvent it and use it for lunch boxes, well, that's a different story.

Risotto is something I can never make the right amount of. I don't think I've ever really tried to be honest. But risotto is also pretty uninspiring reheated. So what do you do with it? You turn it into balls!

This is not so much a precise recipe as a general guide. There are those that would argue that arancini should have a centre and they would be right, but there really isn't much for us failsafers to put in the centre. So they remain centreless.

Arancini - Risotto Balls
Ingredients

• 1 quantity leftover risotto.
• Egg - probably one unless you have a tonne of leftovers
• salt
• crumbs

Method

1. Heat oven to 180℃
2. Once leftovers are reasonably cool add some extra salt to taste and mix in beaten egg. All of the mixture needs to be moist, but not sloppy.
3. Roll into balls of desired size and roll into crumbs.
4. Place on baking tray and bake for approximately 20 mins (depending on size) or until hot through. (Alternatively, you could shallow fry them in a frying pan)

 These make for a great lunch box filler. Make sure you freeze them once they are cool enough with paper in between layers. We put them into lunchboxes straight from the freezer and they are thawed by lunchtime. It puts a bit of variety into lunches that could otherwise consist of rice cakes every day.

Variations
Dairy/amines - Do it properly and place a cube of mozzarella in the centre of each ball.

More Soup.

I'm totally loving this cold weather. There has been frost in the mornings in the reserve next door and this evening I watched fog rise up there too. This weather just makes me want meals like this. Soup that is thick and heavy and warm, that warms your belly and is just good for your soul.

This recipe is almost a straight rip off of a Jamie Oliver recipe from his first book. There were minor modifications to make it failsafe and due to ingredients I had on hand. It is incredibly easy and has few ingredients. Hubby is very soup critical and he gave it a big thumbs up. Unfortunately it seems Miss 3 has decided she doesn't like soup and mostly ate toast. Mr 7 also scoffed the lot.

This made enough for us with a little left over, so would probably happily feed four adults for dinner.

Chickpea and Leek Soup
Ingredients

• 3 medium leeks, split lengthways and sliced finely
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
• 2 400g cans of chickpeas, rinsed (you could soak dry ones for 24hrs. I was not that organised)
• 2 Tbsp failsafe oil
• salt
• 1L home made stock (veg or chicken or water with a bit of whiskey if you don't have stock)

Method

1. Cook the potato until tender (boil or steam)
2. Warm oil in large pot. Add the leeks and garlic and a big pinch of salt. Cook very gently until very tender (about 15mins)
3. Add the chickpeas and potato. Stir in and cook for a minute.
4. Pour in the stock and simmer for about 15mins. Add salt to taste.,
5. Now you can serve as is, or puree the lot, or puree some and mix back together (this is my preference as you get the lumpy bits as well as the thick creaminess)

  
Variations- Salicylates - Add a grind of pepper

It really doesn't need any other variations. It's great as is!

Not Quite Curry

So my son had a friend over today who is Indian. He was telling me about the food he normally eats and it got me craving curry. Hubby and I had real curry about a month ago when we went out for our anniversary, we go out so rarely that something so incredibly un-failsafe is a fitting choice. But I wanted curry tonight so I experimented with what I can use here and the results were surprisingly good. Actually, it was seriously delicious.

Clayton's Chicken Curry
Ingredients

• 1 large leek, split lengthways and sliced finely
• 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 Tbsp failsafe oil (or ghee if you can tolerate it)
• 600g chicken breast, diced
• 2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup rice milk
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads
• 1/4 cup gin (optional, you can just add more rice milk)
• 2 Tbsp ground raw cashews

Method

1. Heat rice milk and add saffron and let soak. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan and cook leeks and garlic until soft and pale gold.
3. Add chicken and seal on all sides. Stir in salt
4. Add gin and rice milk with saffron, cover and gently simmer for about 20 mins or until chicken is cooked and tender.
5. Add ground cashew and cook for another few minutes.
6. Serve with steamed rice and flat bread.

Variations - Dairy - use cream instead of rice milk.
                    Salicylates - add a tsp of garam masala with the salt and a Tbsp of fresh coriander to garnish


This was so easy to make and everyone liked it, so I think this will be a regular feature at dinner time.

Poh-Tay-Toes

What's taters, precious? What's taters, eh?

Amusingly, since the Lord of the Rings movies I have trouble saying "potatoes" properly. More often than not it is said Samwise style "poh-tay-toes".

Ridiculousness aside it is a really lucky thing to have potatoes as part of this diet, they are such a versatile vegetable - "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew... Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish". Or you can turn them into soup.

This soup is such an obvious failsafe choice and one that we didn't even try until our second failsafe winter. My boy never liked soups, so I didn't even bother at first. Now he loves this one and it makes great leftovers. Since there are no amines in it, it can be kept in the freezer longer than meaty leftovers. Bonus! Last winter he took this to school for lunch in a little thermos tub with some gluten free bread to dunk in it.

Potato and leek soups with a crusty bread roll

Potato and Leek Soup
Ingredients

• 2 large leeks (I had about 600g chopped)
• 2 Tbsp FS oil
• 4 large potatoes (I had about 1kg peeled)
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups rice milk
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Parsley or chives to garnish

Method

1. Trim leeks and halve lengthways, rinse and slice thinly
2. Peel and thinly slice potatoes
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan and gently saute the leeks for about 5 mins.
4. Lay the potatoes on top, cover and cook over a very low heat for about 30 mins.
5. Stir in the salt, water and rice milk.
6. Increase the heat and bring the soup to boiling point stirring often (so that it doesn't stick) and then turn down low again.
7. Partly cover with lid and cook gently for 20 mins.
8. Puree in food processor or with stick blender. Cooling as much as necessary first.
9. Return to pan and heat until desired serving temperature is reached.
10. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with fresh snipped chives or parsley and serve with your favourite bread.

Variations- Dairy - Use butter and milk

This lovely bread roll was made from a recipe by the very talented Kersten and can be purchased from her facebook page.