BF goes GF - A Guest Post from the Long Suffering Boyfriend

When M eventually figured out what was causing her ongoing discomfort, I was whole-heartedly willing to do whatever I could do be her wingman and help her navigate through this new world of wheat free living. Many wheat dodgers out there may think I'd be daft to utter the words 'Don't worry, we'll do this together'. That moment of madness, those words that crossed my lips would mean no more toastie loaf with my bacon sandwich, no more biscuits for dunking in tea, no more pizza ... (you probably know where I'm going with this). I love my food. We both do and we were really unsure how this new diet would change our habits.

My love of food means I also love to cook. Not one to pass up on a challenge, I was optimistic that I could support this new regime of avoiding the W word. Need it be so hard? The problem we have, as most people do these days is that we lead a busy lifestyle. A lifestyle that isn't catered for when you try and avoid wheat so it means cooking from scratch. It is certainly rewarding being able to accomplish some home cooking but not always something you want to do when you walk through the door at 6.30pm after a tough day in the office.

So one evening after work I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do for dinner. We'd both had a rough weekend so were ready for the big hug that is comfort food to make us all better.

I nipped into Sainsbury's express for some help and inspiration which led me to my light bulb moment. Overjoyed at my ideas I couldn't wait to tell M of the storm I was cooking up for her this evening. When she jumped in the car I smugly told her 'I'm going to make you GF toad in the hole tonight!'

Now, whilst I'm normally fairly modest, when it comes to whipping up Yorkshire Puddings I'm pretty darn good. Even family on the other side of the world in Australia would be happy to tell you that I make a mean Yorkshire. Could I crack the wheat free holy grail though?

M and I have been experimenting with Doves Farm GF flours which have proven to be a really reliable substitute for regular flours, so I was chuffed to see that Sainsbury's had some in stock.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 225g of Doves Farm plain flour
• 1/2 tbsp salt
• 3 eggs
• and 300 ml of semi skimmed milk.

Get the oven heated up to 230c/Gas mk 8. Get a 12 hole pudding tin, put a tablespoon of oil in each hole then get them in the oven to heat up the oil. Start preparing your batter by sifting the flour into a bowl. The tip is to make sure you sift from a height to get loads of air through the flour so the puddings rise up while cooking. Add the eggs, salt and milk and whip it up until you have a smooth batter. When the pudding tray is hot, take it out of the oven (don't forget your oven gloves) and ladle in the batter to about 2 thirds full. The batter will sizzle in the oil when you pour it in. Cook the Yorkshire puddings for 20 minutes until they have risen and are golden brown. make sure not to open the oven door while they're cooking otherwise they might sink!

I served them up with some Black Farmer GF sausages, some home made mustard mash and a good drizzle of Bisto wheat free gravy (gluten free gravy is available at most supermarkets too).

Hopefully a pretty foolproof meal when your ready for some easy home cooking.

Enjoy!

MQ