Gluten Free Fish and Chips, Southwold Pier, Southwold

I hadn't had 'chip shop' fish and chips since going gluten free. We've had home-made ones which have been really tasty, but there's something very British about having fish and chips at the seaside. Today, we took a trip down to Southwold in Suffolk. It's a beautiful place, the pier has little shops selling handmade souvenirs, it's home to Adnam's ale which has a large flagship store selling all sorts of wonderful produce and the harbour is dotted with little fishmongers and smoke-sheds.

Southwold

Southwold pier has three places to eat; The Boardwalk restaurant, The Beach café and The Clockhouse. On the first Saturday of every month, coeliacs get to fulfill their fish and chip cravings! Both the Boardwalk restuarant and The Beach café serve gluten free fish and chips. The fryers are cleaned beforehand and fresh gluten free batter is prepared. You can even get battered gluten free sausages (I'm definitely going back to try one of these)! The fish and chips were excellent, a light, crispy batter around fresh tasting cod and beautifully cooked chips... and you can't have fish and chips without a side of mushy peas! It was great to see somewhere catering so well for coeliacs and the regular pundits didn't seem put off by the gluten free day either; the place was bustling. Hopefully more places will see how successful this is and get in on the act.

Gluten free fish and chips at Southwold Pier

Leek and Gorgonzola pasta with crispy chilli breadcrumbs

I do enjoy blue cheese, but unfortunately my fiancée does not. Needless to say, when she's out for dinner with friends, it's one of my go too foods. I don't often blog recipes because I'm usually following them rather than creating them, but I thought I'd share this really simple supper which uses classic combinations and is ready in minutes. For those who also don't like blue cheese try this with some ricotta.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 onion diced
2 leeks sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
4 tbsp olive oil
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
200g gluten free pasta
125g Gorgonzola cut into pieces
1 slice of gluten free bread (the crust works well)
2 dried red chillies
Salt and pepper

• Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and sauté for 2 mins. Then add the leeks, garlic and thyme and season.
• Blitz the bread and dried chillies in a mini-chopper or blender. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and add the bread crumb mix. Keep the mix moving so you don't burn it
• Now get your pasta on. I used Juvela fusilli which I put into a large pan, poured on boiling water and boiled for 8 minutes. When done, add this and a couple of table spoons of the pasta water to the frying pan with the leeks. Stir in the Gorgonzola and remove from the heat.
• Pour the pasta, leeks and Gorgonzola into a bowl and scatter over the chilli bread crumbs. If you've got a few thyme flowers scatter these over to help show off your presentation!

Leek and Gorgonzola pasta with crispy chilli breadcrumbs

Heinz goes gluten free

Heinz's PR company got in touch and asked if I wanted to review a couple of their new gluten free products. As this is my first 'product' review as such, I feel the overwhelming need to justify it! Not everyone agrees with receiving free samples but I've promised an unbiased review. Can a review be unbiased when you've received a free sample I hear you ask, well you'll have to be the judge of that I'm afraid. If it helps other gluten free people understand their options, then so be it.

The fact that companies such as Heinz are joining the gluten free market clearly demonstrates it's become big business. Currently, the small 'free from' section in supermarket aisles is full of smaller niche brands you don't find elsewhere during your shop. So what do Heinz bring to the mix? Well a tasty pasta for one thing. I tried the penne (they also sell macaroni and spaghetti) and it had a good texture and taste. For those who don't have access to the brands available on prescription it also gives you more choice than the handful of brands available at the moment. It cooks well too, gluten free pasta likes to stick together - literally - but this posed no problems. I found Heinz's choice to launch a range of gluten free pasta sauces a slightly strange foray into this market. We rarely buy ready made sauces but I can certainly understand the convenience, but more often than not are most pasta sauces not gluten free anyway? It seems particularly strange when there are other areas so severely lacking in options (a quick ready to eat pasta salad?). I found the sauces a little sweet for my palate, The Tomato Frito reminding me slightly of one of Heinz's most popular products, tomato soup. The Tomato and Oregano one was more flavoursome. They would provide a decent base sauce if you want to add more ingredients, some roasted Mediterranean veg or some smoked streaky bacon would go well. Its not gourmet food, but what it does provide is convenience, which the gluten free market so often lacks. With the sweetness, I think Heinz's pasta and sauce will especially appeal to people with gluten free children, providing a quick and tasty meal.

So judge the review how you want. After all, that's all I've tried to do with the products in it.

Rhubarb and Custard Eton Mess

Eton Mess is one of my favourite desserts. Its popularity on menus is often something of a saviour too, since coeliacs frequently struggle in the dessert department. One blogger has even started their own campaign comically titled 'fruit is not a pudding'. So often fruit, a miserly excuse for a dessert, is dished out to gluten free people up and down the country by those lacking the awareness or creativity to dish up a coeliac friendly pud. So back to Eton Mess, I love it, and like I said it's usually naturally gluten free.

This recipe is ridiculously simple, although the dedicated dessert king or queen can complicate it as much as they like by whisking up their own meringues or custard. The slightly tart rhubarb helps to offset the sweet components nicely. If you are gluten free, don't forget to double check any shop bought ingredients. Quantities are all fairly approximate as you can layer it up how you like it.

Ingredients (serves 6 - 8):

300ml double cream

500g ready to pour custard

6 meringue nests

800g rhubarb

Bar of white chocolate

A sprinkling of caster sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees, chop up your rhubarb into small, bite sized pieces and put in a single layer in a baking tray. Sprinkle over some sugar and place in the oven for 15 minutes. The rhubarb should be soft but not mushy, you want it to hold together. Set aside and leave to cool. Now whisk the double cream till thickened, then fold in 3/4 of your custard, to create a slightly marbled effect. Crumble up your meringue nests and coarsely grate the white chocolate. Now it's simply a case of assembling your mess and that's completely up to you! I started with a layer of rhubarb, followed by a layer of the cream and custard mix, a little more of the custard, crumbled meringue and then white chocolate. Just repeat until you reach the top. Best served in tall sundae glasses.

Rhubarb and Custard Eton Mess

Relish, Newton Flotman, Norfolk

Going out for Sunday lunch often promises so much, but invariably fails to live up to expectations. Pubs and restaurants up and down the country suddenly decide to turn out over cooked meat and mushy vegetables. Thankfully, Relish at Newton Flotman in Norfolk is not one of those places.

On a Sunday they do 2 courses for £16 or 3 for £20 and for the quality of the food, it's great value. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing over whether to have a starter, dessert or both! In the end, the decision was made that you can always tag a dessert on the end but you can't really go back and have a starter - good logic! To start I had beautifully cooked pigeon, blushing and tender, served on a bed of lentils with celeriac purée. It was a well crafted dish that got the meal off to a great start. My dad had a mushroom and tarragon dish with a soft poached egg that also looked great.

Pigeon on a bed of lentils with celeriac purée and pea shoots

For main, I couldn't resist the haunch of deer with a port jus. When cooked well, venison is one of my favourite meats and this was cooked superbly, the meat tender and succulent. All the accompaniments were well cooked too, crisp and fluffy roast potatoes and vegetables cooked to retain their full flavour. It was a generous portion too, so much so that we decided we didn't quite have room for dessert - maybe the logic wasn't that great after all! There were no problems catering for my gluten free requirements either. Everything was cooked fresh so dishes could be easily adaptable. Inside, Relish has a modern feel while still retaining it's country feel and the service was spot on too. We'll definitely be going back, especially since they also do pizza Sundays and can do gluten free pizza. They also do an 'experience menu', which sounds rather tempting!

Sunday lunch - Haunch of deer with a port jus