Tag Archives: gluten free blog

Review – Handmade Burger Co.

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A burger place that can do real gluten free burgers? Yes, you aren’t dreaming.

You can order it with a gluten free bun or without a bun and coleslaw or mixed leaf salad. But remember to mention that you are gluten free, whichever way you order your burger, as the beefy patties contain a non gluten free Worcestershire sauce – but as they make the burgers to order, they’ll do the gluten free one without the sauce.

There’s a wide range of burger choices and the gluten free options are specific to each restaurant, so ask for their gluten free menu when you get there.

I choose the New York Deli burger without the bun – I love coleslaw, so I happily replaced the bun with it, they’re good enough without the buns anyway, you don’t feel like you’re missing anything, and I’m not big on Genuis’s bread and that’s the usual one that restaurants use – and we ordered plain and peri-peri chips to share.

Note; you don’t get the chips with the burger, all you get is the burger on the plate, so don’t forget to order side dishes but the sides are big enough to share.

I love pastrami, so that really hit the spot for me, but the rest of the burger fell a bit flat. The American mustard doesn’t have much flavour and makes the burger taste like it’s missing something. It was so big, I ended up taking half of the burger home and put English mustard on it when I had it for lunch the next day, it was much much better, it really brought out the flavour of the rest of toppings beautiful.

I think my disappointment with the burger is more to do with the burger I chose than the restaurant because my parents loved the burgers – my first trip was there second becuase the restuarant in Manchester isn’t that far from the hospital, where I’ve been spending more time than I appreciate in the past few months – and they couldn’t praise them enough.

I definitely loved the chips and the coleslaw and would return just for them anyway. My slight disappointment with the mustard wouldn’t stop me from returning. If I go back, I’ll be choosing a differnet flavoured burger.

Life’s too short to eat bad food.

Happy Eating!

Xx

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Review – Cafe Nero

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A coffee shop with something differnet to offer coeliacs. Finally! 

Drum roll please! 

A risotto! And it’s good!

Although the label itself doesn’t say it’s gluten free, as you can see, it is. I’ve checked the ingredients, and do every time I have it, and it is most definitely gluten free. 

You collect it from the fridge and they heat it up for you, so it feels like a real lunch. 

It’s got a really good flavour and mushrooms really come through and hold their own against the starch of the rice. The mushrooms are large, and there’s plenty of them,  the sauce keeps the rice moist and the rice is real risotto rice and not long grain rice as some people try to cop out with. The only complaint I have is that you can’t really taste the spinach but this is a minor problem and absolutely doesn’t take away from the taste of the dish. 

I’ve started choosing this over the wraps/sandwiches at the other coffe shops and even the Marks and Spencer’s one. 

Honestly, I don’t have much to say about this one, because it’s surprisingly good – but maybe that’s just for a coeliac product – and I don’t have anything to criticise about it. Just, well done, Cafe Nero. Now, I’m just waiting for more than one flavour of it. *bats eyelashes sweetly, hoping to convince them*

Life’s too short for bad food.

Happy eating!

Xx

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

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I’ve got a lovely Cheesecake recipe for you. It’s sweet, chocolate-ly and rather impressive when presented. Also, I hope you aren’t counting the calories if you try this recipe, there’s a lot of cream, cheese and chocolate in it. But it’s all worth it. This has been a recipe my Mum has made for years, I can’t remember a time when this cake didn’t exist in our family, so I don’t know where she originally got it from. But it really does taste like home to me. 

This cheesecake serves 8 people, or 10 if you’re being a bit stingy. 
INGREDIENTS 

275g chocolate chip cookies, crushed (I use Tesco’s free from buscuits and you should use your favourite)

150g plain cooking chocolate

350g cream cheese (make sure this is at room temperature to make it easier to mix)

75g caster sugar

50g chocolate to decorate

75g butter

45ml water

11g sachet gelatin

3 large egg yolks (again at room temperature)

700ml double or whipping cream
METHOD

1. Melt the butter in a pain and add the crushed buscuits. Put the stumbled moisture into a spring form tin 0r a tin that the bottom can be removed on and press down well. Chill this in the fridge while you complete the rest of the recipe. 

2. Melt the chocolate. Sprinkle the gelatin on to the water. Heat the bowl gently until the gelatin is dissolved and clear. 

3. Put the cream cheese, egg yolks and sugar into a blender and blend until smooth. In a seperate bowl whip 450ml of the cream (this is 425g on the scales if you’re weighing it out) until just thick. Stir in the cheese and divide into two bowls. Add the melted chocolate to one bowl and divide the water/gelatin mixture between the two bowls. Place alternate spoonfuls of each mixture onto the buscuit base. Make swirls in the topping using the handle of a wooden spoon. Return to the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, until it’s set.

4. Melt the extra chocolate (the chocolate to decorate in the ingredients), pour onto grease proof paper and spread to an 8-10cm square. When set, cut the chocolate into triangles or small squares (usually about 8, really how ever many slices you want to get out of the cheesecake). Decorate with the remaining cream and the triangle/squares of chocolate. (we usually whip it and pipe it on to the edge of the cheesecake, placing the chocolate on top of each swirl of cream).


Now, slice it, plate up, sit back and enjoy!

Happy baking and let me know what you think of it.

Life’s too short to eat bad food!

Xx