My lovely wife does not in any way have a sweet tooth- other than for donuts! Every time we’re given boxes of biscuits or chocolate they are either re-gifted or she takes a tiny nibble from one corner of one biscuit… and then the whole box gets thrown away once it inevitably goes stale. Clearly my inability to eat sugar doesn’t help but even as a child I wasn’t a great fan of sweet things.

Cake-y things on the other hand: sign me up!

I’ll be there with ribbon on top! (I don’t know why that’s special, I’m normally keeping my hair back with some form of ribbon anyway)

But Claudia also doesn’t like cake and I can’t have sugar or flour… As much as I love baking there doesn’t feel much point unless we can both eat what I’ve made. Cue the quest for the perfect donut!

Deep fat frying is out of the question because there is no way in hell I’m dealing with a boiling vat of liquid pain and I’m not allowed to buy a ‘healthy fryer’ or air fryer until space can be made in our ridiculously small kitchen. Which leaves me turning to baking and the world’s cutest mini-donut pan. Fortunately this also means they’re gloriously un-greasy- which should definitely be a word. Hitting other checkboxes, they are also low carb, sugar free and gluten free, since I’m going to be using my new favourite baking ingredient: Sukrin’s peanut flour!

This most excellent of flours ensures the donuts are moist but still light and yeasty… without any actual yeast to bother my stomach (a resounding groan all round for the annoyance that is my stomach)

These mini donuts are so more-ish you’ll want to eat them all but they do keep well in the fridge.

Ingredients

 

60g (1/2 cup) peanut flour
30g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar substitute
110g (1/2 cup) melted unsalted butter
3 eggs
55g (1/4 cup) coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

topping
2 tbsp coconut oil
30g cream cheese

• Preheat the oven to 180C degrees
• Mix peanut flour, sugar substitute, baking powder and salt
• Add the eggs, coconut milk, butter vanilla extract.
• Blend together until there are no lumps!
• Grease the donut tin with butter before pouring in the mixture
• Bake for 20 minutes until firm
• Allow to cool and remove from the tin
• Mix coconut oil and cream cheese together then spread over the top of the cooled donuts.

Notes

If you’re unfortunately peanut-averse or allergic then try substituting rice flour or even sesame flour (although the second will give you a runnier mixture and closer texture in the finished product).

This mixture makes 12 mini donuts or 5-6 regular sized ones, depending on how high you fill each pan.

Following a Low FODMAP diet doesn’t have to be boring or tasteless just because onion and garlic are out of the question! Having cut those two things out I’ve had a flavour revelation in my life in that I now get to eat lots of yummy things but not worry about horrific pain afterwards. It took me so long to work out that these were a problem for me because they are in near literally every dish I was making!

I’ve always loved food from south east Asia but since marrying my wife, who is half Malaysian, I’ve started to make more and more dishes inspired by their regional cuisines. These dishes are amazingly easy to adapt because they still taste great without the allium vegetables that carry a lot of western recipes.

Laksa is one of the most popular dishes in the Peranakan (also known as Nonya) staple. The Peranakans were descendants of early chinese migrants who settled in parts of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, inter-marrying with local Malay people to create a culture that combines the two societies. Nonya, an old Malay term of respect and affection for a woman of prominent social standing, is often used to refer to the cuisine of the Peranakans.

Nonya food blends Chinese ingredients with the distinct spices and cooking techniques traditionally part of the Malay community. The food is tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal. Laksa is all of these things being a spicy rice noodle soup based on either rich coconut milk or sour asam/tamarind with chicken, prawns or fish.

My one issue with nonya cuisine is that it can be too sweet (and for someone who can’t have sugar that’s quite an issue!) but I’ve made this dish diabetes friendly by using unsweetened sauces and a stevia based brown sugar replacement from Sukrin. This chicken laksa took a bit of experimenting to get right but it’s now such an easy go to dish I make it every other week!

Ingredients

 

For the paste:

2 tbsp oil

2 red chillies, de-seeded

1 inch ginger, roughly chopped

2 stalks lemon grass (or 1 tsp lemon grass paste)

2 teaspoons unsweetened peanut butter

400ml coconut water

400ml water

For the filling:

8 chicken drumsticks (or a mix of thigh and drumsticks)

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp tamarind paste (or the juice of a lime)

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp Sukrin brown sugar replacement

large handful of beansprouts

1 red pepper cut into strips

dried rice noodles for 4

Topping:

green tops of 4 spring onions

small handful of coriander and mint leaves, roughly chopped

1 lime, cut into wedges.

•      Skin the chicken and lay salted skin on a rack in a baking tray ready to go in the oven later. Preheat oven to 180C/350F
•      Blend the laksa paste ingredients in a small food processor until smooth
•      Put chicken skin in oven for 45 minutes.
•      Warm a large, heavy based pan on a medium heat and gently fry the paste for 1-2 mins.
•      Add coconut milk, water, chicken, fish sauce, tamarind/lime juice, turmeric and brown sugar.
•      Bring to the boil then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
•      Once chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened, add the beansprouts and red pepper. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
•      Follow the cooking instructions for your rice noodles.
•      Divide rice noodles between 4 bowls and ladle in laksa. Top with the chicken skin, sliced spring onions, coriander and mint leaves and wedges of lime.

Notes

By far the best way to keep fresh ginger is to buy it in bulk and freeze it. You can chop it into 1inch portions before doing this but I tend to freeze it whole because that makes it easy to grate. The best way to chop it when frozen is to use a breadknife… just don’t try to do so whilst taking a photograph because you will drop something and it may or may not be your very expensive camera that you will then panic about for a while. Deep breath though; it was fine and I learnt my lesson. Ish.

I personally don’t get on well with sugar, we have a long-standing beef, but if you do then by all means use sweetened peanut butter. I don’t think the recipe calls for it but the unsweetened stuff is harder to find so don’t go out of your way. Equally, whilst this version is diabetes friendly, you can use regular brown sugar if that works for you.

‘Light’ coconut milk is a con- you’re paying the same price for less coconut and more water- so just buy the regular stuff and add your own water at home.

 

It’s been ten years since I ate a slice of bread. I can remember it now… Frenchay Hospital Children’s Ward, the constant streams of not-particularly-hot-but-still-somehow-perfectly-crunchy-to-the-right-amount white toast. Always well buttered too. I’m not sure how nurses have that skill but perhaps ‘Excellence in Toast Buttering’ is a module in nursing school?

But then I became ill-er. And my stomach worked less. And I could no longer have those faultless triangles of cardboard-y goodness.

I now eat a gluten-free, low carb version of the FODMAP Diet. It’s a mouthful to say, even harder to explain but at least it means that my recipes work for the majority of people- because if I can eat it, there’s a high chance you will also be able to!

Unfortunately that doesn’t leave a lot of space in my eating for bread. Ah bread, how I loved you… Ahem. An ode to bread this is not. Oh no, this is an ode to something so much better than bread! This is an ode to the wonder that is (drum roll please)… Cloud Bread! Better than bread because it doesn’t attack my body and just as tasty. It’s also referred to as Oopsie Rolls and it’s the perfect low-carb thing to eat when you feel a hankering for a sandwich.

 

Truthfully, I always make these with the intention of batch cooking enough for a week and gorging on sandwiches but they’re so darn tasty they never make it past the first 24 hours. Finally something I can mop up sauce with! As you can imagine, I eat a lot of saucy things within those 24 hours.

Recipe

 

4 large eggs, separated
½ tsp cream of tartar
55g cream cheese (I use a lactose free brand)
½ tsp sea salt

Optional Extras: 1 tsp herbs of your choice, ¼ tsp garlic powder.

• Heat the oven to 150C/300F.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Separate the egg whites and egg yolks placing in two different bowls.
• Add cream cheese to the egg yolks, beat with an electric whisk or stand mixer until fully blended. Beat in the salt and herbs with garlic if you are using them.
  Remember to thoroughly clean your whisk before using it in the egg whites!
• Whip the egg whites. Add the cream of tartar and beat on high until firm peaks form.
• Gently fold the firm meringue into the yolk mixture. Try not to deflate the meringue as we need a foamy, firm texture.
• Spoon onto the baking sheets in ¼ cup portions. Try to create even 4 inch circles and make sure to leave space around each circle.
• Bake for up to 30 minutes until golden on the outside and firm.
• Cool on the baking sheets for several minutes before removing.

Notes

The cloud breads can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days… if you can resist for that long!

I buy the Dr Oetkr cream of tartar sachets and they’re a revelation! Each one is a teaspoonful so they’re great for following a recipe when you have the ‘can’t be arsed, why isn’t baking like cooking so I can just chuck it in and see?’ genes. I point no fingers.

This recipe is very adaptive and can be changed to suit your palate. If you prefer a hefty garlic kick then go for it and add a little more powder to the mixture. I’ve found through my Low FODMAP diet that eating garlic is NOT a good idea for me (no matter how much I might like it!) so I tend to avoid. The breads work well with an Italianate mixture of dried herbs and I find the flavor a little reminiscent of pizza, which is very exciting. I’m easily pleased. I love these breads. I hope you do too!