For the first time in about 4 years I am actually looking forward to sitting down to Christmas dinner. I have the whole affair mapped out from Christmas eve to Boxing day with military precision. The fact that I will be able to sit down and enjoy a dessert with everyone excites me the most, and yes I will be doing a different dessert for each of the three days. Making puddings is a rare treat for me so I intend to savour every maple sweetened second.

With Christmas wrapped up and firmly under control, my thoughts have turned to New Years Eve. For which I am not prepared at all. Unsure what people typically eat on New Years Eve, I came to the conclusion that it is mostly scaled down versions of regular foods on oversized plates. Finger food, party snacks, bite size morsels on tiny sticks.  I started to compile a list of the mini foods I fancy for the festivities and decided that having had 'make a quiche' on my AIP to do list for some time, mini quiche would make the shortlist. I would be lying if I said I hadnt impressed myself with the result.

I'm so proud of how it turned out that I kept calling my husband into the kitchen to say 'but just look at my quiche one more time'. It's rich, sweet, savoury and creamy without even the faintest sniff of an egg or dairy product in sight. Its also very adaptable for vegetarian or vegan versions and you can play with filling combinations to your hearts content.

I hope to see miniature versions of these popping up at AIP New Years Eve parties everywhere.

Oh, and while I have you, today is the last day to vote for me at the UK blog awards! If you haven't already you can find my competition entry here - I really appreciate your support. And if you have already - huge huge thanks :) Emma

You will need:

A blender
Loose bottomed quiche tin (mine is 18cm)
Baking paper or cling film

Ingredients:

For the custard
1 cup of courgette peeled and cubed
1 cup of swede peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon of gelatin powder (See my favourite brand below. Sub with agar agar for vegan alternative)
1/2 a cup of water
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Himalayan sea salt


For the chicken and sage filling
3 free range organic chicken breasts diced into chunks
A generous handful of fresh sage leaves
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 generous handful of chopped spring greens
1 tablespoon of coconut oil (see below)
2 tablespoons of garlic oil
Himalayan sea salt

For the pastry

1.5 cups of sifted tiger nut powder
1/2 cup of arrowroot powder (see below)
1/2 a cup of beef dripping (I bought mine from Waitrose. For vegan sub with coconut oil)
1/4 cup of ice cold water
A good pinch of Himalayan sea salt

Method:

To make your pastry

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for fan assisted, 200 for conventional.

Add the sifted tiger nut powder, arrowroot and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the beef dripping and use your fingers to combine the fat and flour breaking down any lumps as you go. Slowly start adding the ice cold water a little at a time until you are left with a dough. Wrap this in baking paper and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge. You can either roll this out and transfer to your tin or, to avoid crumbling pastry press directly into your tin. You want the pastry to be around 4mm thick all over. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes. remove this from the oven and set to one side.

To make your 'custard' filling

Steam or par boil your cubed courgettes until tender. Add to the blender with the lemon juice, a good pinch of salt, 1/4 of a cup of water and a tablepoon of coconut oil. Blend on high speed until completely smooth. Remove from the blender and reserve this liquid to one side.

While you are making your courgette mixture, boil the cubed swede in salted water until they begin to soften and you can easily pierce them with a knife. Once soft, add these to the blender with 1/4 cup of water and a tablespoon of coconut oil. Blend on high speed until you have what resembles a thickened custard. Add the courgette mixture back into the blender with the swede. Add a good pinch of salt to taste and leave in the blender as you will return to this later.

For the chicken and sage mix

Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the diced chicken pieces. Once these have begun to cook add the sage leaves, rosemary and a pinch of salt. When the chicken is about 5 minutes from being fully cooked through, add the chopped spring greens and  garlic oil and stir throughly to combine the flavours. After about 5 minutes the greens will have wilted. Make sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked through before removing the pan from the heat. Remove any stalks from the rosemary and pour this mixture into the pastry case.

To the mixture in the blender add 1 tablespoon of powdered gelatin and blend until everything is fully combined.

Pour this custard over the chicken mix in the pastry case.

Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until both the pastry and the custard mixture is golden brown.

Once ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool. You can enjoy this warm and the filling will be soft and creamy. Alternatively leave this to cool then refrigerate to set your custard and serve chilled.

​Enjoy :)

With the official month of indulgence being well and truly underway, I have been on the prowl for festive treats. Unfortunately for myself and many others these days, dairy is strictly off the menu. But as one never to shy away from a culinary challenge, I have been working on ways to recreate some of my milky based favourites.

Enter my (no) Eggnog. Yes, in itself eggnog is a pretty bizarre concept. Often made using raw eggs and thick cream, this is a beverage for those whose digestion is made of stronger stuff than mine. Almost like a cross between a milkshake and a drinkable custard, eggnog is rich in Christmas spices and so creamy you are left feeling like you've just drunk your dessert.

This alternative is so rich and creamy and puts eggnog firmly back on the festive table for anyone following an AIP or low FODMAP diet.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of sifted tiger nut powder
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
3/4 cup of tiger nut milk plus a separate 1.5 cups
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla powder (see below for an AIP compliant version)
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground mace
Pinch of Himalayan sea salt
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoons of great lakes gelatin (see link below)

You will need:
A food processor with blender attachment
A fine sieve

Method:
To make your tiger nut 'cream', add the sieved tiger nut powder and coconut oil to the food processor and blend on a high speed to form a very smooth nut butter. Transfer this nut butter to your blender and add the 3/4 cup of milk a little at a time. Blend until a rich cream forms and reserve to one side.

To a medium saucepan add the remaining milk, vanilla powder, cinnamon, mace, salt and maple syrup. Whisk the ingredients together over a low heat before adding in the cream. Continue to whisk until all ingredients are combined and the liquid is beginning to simmer. You will know it is ready when the mixture begins to thicken slightly. Do not allow this to boil!

Remove from the heat and pass through a fine sieve into a large glass or serving jug. Sieving the mixture just ensures it is silky smooth.

At this point add the gelatin and whisk immediately into the mixture - this thickens it further.

Leave to cool or briefly refrigerate and serve with a pinch of mace or cinnamon.

The perfect treat to enjoy whilst wrapping the presents!

For me Christmas has always been about food. The unnecessarily over sized roasted bird, eating so many potatoes cooked in goose fat I could barely breathe, sampling every dessert as if they were tapas (but full size portions), after dinner chocolates that you absolutely must eat, even though your stomach reached capacity two courses ago. And then sleep. The kind of sleep induced by your entire body shutting down as it tries to fathom how to process everything you've just consumed. Then an hour later (while grandad is still snoring) the kettle goes on, the turkey sandwiches come out and round two commences.

Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease and embarking on multiple elimination diets, I  have missed this experience entirely. In writing my blog, I have realised that I am not the only one.

With this in mind, I have created an eBook of recipes based on the Christmas classics. All the recipes are gluten free, grain free, nut free, egg free, dairy free, AIP and low FODMAP compliant. Please note that I use a lot of tiger nut powder in my recipes as I do not tolerate any other flour. I believe that in many of my recipes you could adapt/substitute this for other flours that you tolerate.

I won't lie, producing this eBook has pushed me to the brink of insanity on a few occasions. I've lost my kitchen beneath mountains of dishes and clouds of arrowroot powder, I've taken my frustrations out on the sofa cushions when my photos won't upload, I've forgotten to take showers because I haven't moved from the kitchen for hours on end and I've appointed my husband as sous chef when the to-do list began to drown me. BUT it is completely worth it to feel I can be a part of the festivities on Christmas day, just like everybody else.  I hope that my recipes allow you to do the same.

I am not a chef, doctor or dietician. These recipes are simply my creations, taking the classics and adapting them to fit specific dietary restrictions, photographed by me, and tirelessly edited by my husband and family. Before embarking on any kind of elimination diet it is always advisable to consult with your doctor or a nutritionist.

I really hope that these recipes allow you to enjoy Christmas alongside your family and help you get into the festive spirit! I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on the recipes too.

I am currently selling the ebook here via blurb.co.uk, which includes a 10% discount code to use when you purchase any tiger nut powder from the lovely people over at The Tiger Nut Company! 

Emma x