Cally Festival Crispy Chocolate Flapjacks

Cally Festival Crispy Chocolate Flapjacks

The Cally Festival was so much fun but after a sleepless night getting everything ready for the big day, myself and Mrs NMFS are exhausted! We were so pleased to meet so many nice people and the comments we received on the day were such a lift. It was nice also to show that gluten-free cakes are as tasty as anything else and also that you do not need too much sugar!

We were buoyed by the reaction and would consider showcasing our produce again and we might even consider offering cakes to order. Compared to other gluten-free cakes on the market, people were surprised at how we undercut the prices of non-gluten-free cakes so we will continue to be competitive with our prices. Please feel free to contact us if you have any requests!

Ingredients:

175g dairy free margarine

200g golden syrup

150g light muscovado sugar

350g gluten free porridge oats

1 lemon, finely grated zest

1 tsp ground ginger

100g milk chocolate chips

50g gluten-free corn ball cereal

Preheat the oven to 160C. In a large saucepan, melt the margarine, syrup and sugar together. Then add the oats, lemon zest and ground ginger and leave to cool for a few minutes.

When cool add the chocolate and corn balls and pour into a lined and greased 30x20cm baking tray.

Pop into the oven for 35 minutes until pale golden brown.

Golden Pagoda, Chinatown, London

Golden Pagoda, Chinatown, London

Chinatown draws tourists visiting London with its colour and the offer of a taste of the Orient. It ought to be a showcase for the best that oriental cuisine has to offer. It is very unfortunate therefore that we are yet to find a stand-out restaurant there. In fact, the Golden Pagoda is the worst restaurant we have had the misfortune to have been to.

The only redeeming feature is the not offensive decor, the rest that it has to offer is bordering on offensive. The decor is standard fare in Chinese restaurants so nothing to shout about but it does not hurt the senses.

The food, service and menu though definitely hurts the senses. From the ‘in your face’ and inattentive, rude, patronising waiter who we had the misfortune to serve us and who we tried to go to great lengths to catch the eye of someone else to serve us to the food that tasted worse than a supermarket ready meal. We were actually wishing that we had bought a ready meal. Something we never usually buy!

We started off with vegetarian spring rolls as a starter. They were oily and over cooked. The dipping sauce was insipid and far from fresh.

I really enjoy sweet and sour prawn balls. This dish put me off it. The batter was oily and the sauce was tasteless.

Mrs NMFS liked the sound of the fried stuffed aubergine green pepper and bean curd with prawn paste. It sounds nice but when served up tasted very bad. The ingredients did not taste fresh and the sauce tasted unhealthy.

I did not want to give prices for these dishes as I in no way want to advertise this place. It is overpriced though. We paid relatively alot for food that was very poor. Somehow a service charge is mandatory which is probably the only way anyone would want to pay it. I did question it but was directed to the front of the menu which states as much.

A place to avoid even though for some reason it seemed to be busy. Our search for a good restaurant in China Town continues…

Golden Fruit Salad

Golden Fruit Salad

This fruit salad is inspired by the Pastel Fruit Salad from before and combines more of the juicier fruits out there.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 pineapple

1/2 cantaloupe melon

1/2 honeydew melon

2 plums

1 lime

Wash the plums and peel the pineapple. Cut together with the melons into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl.

Wash the lime and lightly grate the peel over the fruit. Cut the lime into half and squeeze over the fruit. Mix to combine. Leave for some time for all the flavours to leap out at you!

So readers, do you prefer lemon or lime squeezed over fruit?

Cally Festival Goes Gluten Free!

The Cally Festival marks the first time that the Caledonian Road will be closed off this Sunday 3rd July to provide the stage for a variety of entertainers and market traders, one of whom will house myself and Mrs NMFS! Apt therefore that it will mark our first foray into market trading.

It does feel a bit scary as literally we have no experience but we do have an ambundance of enthusiasm and a vision of what we want to create - a gluten-free option that is yummy without alienating the majority. The bottomline is that our creations will be tasty and as healthy as cakes and biscuits can be due to the lower sugar content and use of healthy ingredients. It aims to show that a freefrom diet need not be free from yumminess!

So please feel free to spread the word and come down to the Cally Festival and say hello to me and Mrs NMFS. Hopefully we will have something tasty to tempt you with!