Gluten free in Hay on Wye...

As a very small town in the midst of Wales I was dubious as to the gluten free options that I was going to have whilst staying there. Known for its near 28 book shops and related book festivals, the food in Hay on wye is not famous or very much talked about.

Despite this predetermined hesitation, I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised to see so many more gluten free options that what I expected to fuel all the book shopping!

Lots of research went into choosing the dinner menu for the first night of our stay as whilst we had my gluten intolerance and pescatarian preferences to consider we were determined to find somewhere that my whole family would enjoy (Including pleasing some big meat and gluten lovers). We finally chose a place and went to try it...

The old black lion

This pub was super close to the town house we stayed in with lots of different gf options in both the starters, mains and desserts. The menu is also clearly sign posted with gf, df, vegan and vegetarian signs to. The staff was really understanding and acommdating being happy to change dishes to suit my dietary preferences. They had loads of delicious sounding gf options including having the option of a selection of breads, grilled chicken ceaser salad, soup of the day and smoked duck breast to start. The mains include chargrilled ribeye steak, roast lamb rump, and roast pork loin. To end the meal some possible desserts include Dark chocolate mousse, cheese and biscuits and a selection of ice creams and sorbets.

On the night that we went I decided to go for the seared sea bass fillet which was served with new potato and pancetta salad and a pepper salsa. As I am pescatarian I asked for the pancetta to be taken out which they did super easily without issue. I also ordered the roasted carrots and broccoli to go along with fish.The fish had a wonderfully crisp skin with some soft flavourful flesh, served with a salsa full of soft cooked peppers full of flavour topped with new potatoes. I was initially dubious about the potato as I usually don't like new potatoes nut these ones where soft and fluffy with a slightly crisp skin. The dish was drizzled with a olive oil and balsamic glaze which was the perfect dip to the dish.

The side of carrots and broccoli where really good too. The broccoli was quite a plain tender stem broccoli however the carrots where roasted perfectly with a slight char of the outside with a soft tender middle and were full of a well seasoned flavour. Overall the food was really lovely here perfect space for dinner. We did need to make a reservation as they were busy so if your eager to try them definitely call up before hand!

We weren't sure where to go for are second night dinner as we had loads of possible options open to use places like the swan and the three tuns or returning to the old black lion but in the end we decided to go to...

Tomatitos tapas bar

This tapas bar was super busy so whilst we did have to wait for a table it was defiantly worth it. The menu was clearly sign posted with gf, vegan and vegetarian signs and changes regularly. I tried loads of the different dishes:

1. Mushrooms in sherry

These mushrooms where one of my favourite things that I tried, soft and full of flavour with a wonderful garlic hint to them as the sauce was full garlic pieces.

2. Aubergine fries drizzled in honey

These where AMAZING! You definitely need to try these if your in this bar in hay on wye, they where gloriously crisp on the outside and soft in the middle with an amazing sweet and salty flavour from the crisp salty batter soaked in a lovely sweet honey.

3. Patas Bravas

These potatoes are little pockets of crispy heaven, they're light and crispy full of fluffy potato in the middle with a crispy exterior, they definitely gave me a great impression of paths braves trying it here for the first time.

4. Calamari

This bar was also my first time trying calamari. The harder texture of the squid took a while to get used to but it went amazingly with the crispy coating on the outside which made it really surprising to be gluten free.

5. Méditerranéen vegetables

This was a dish of roasted vegetables such as onion, pepper and tomatoes topped with a feta cheese crumble. This one had a strong vegetable flavour with soft vegetables in a well seasoned sauce.

6. Mixed dressed leaves

These leaves where a welcome accompaniment to the other cooked dishes that had more of a sauce or flavour the leaves added bursts of freshness into the dish.

This tapas bar is definitely a spot to try, they had loads of other gf options like beef stuffed peppers, fried fish and salsa verde and green beans with squash, hazelnut and parmesan.

Wedding

Whilst I was in Wales I also attended a wedding where I had this tofu burger full of hummus, spinach and tomato. With a bun that tasted not like cardboard and that didn't fall apart I suprinsigly enjoyed it. The tofu was grilled and thick with a lovely fresh accent from the spinach and tomato with a creaminess from the hummus. While this was a simple one it was defiantly enjoyed and has inspired me to start experimenting with these ingredients and different burger fillings.

Thank you so much for reading and if you have visited hay on wye and have any other recommendations please let me know over on my Instagram @rubysgfkitchen!

Thank you for reading,

Ruby X

What is a tea muffin?

In short a tea muffin is exactly what it sounds like- A muffin flavoured with tea. Now I know it sounds weird, I mean a tea flavoured muffin really? But you would be surprised to know how well this familiar flavour works in muffin form. This recipe could not be easier and leaves room for your own changes to make these muffins perfect for you and your tastebuds.

The idea for a tea flavoured muffin came about quite randomly after I was set a project in food tech to make an ultimate version of your chosen recipe. So I chose muffins and as I thought about different flavours that I could do, having cycled though a savoury muffin trial (Very very unsuccessful will not be attempted again) I thought why not combine a cup of tea with the sweet treat that lots of people enjoy with it! Once I made them my apprehensive family became obsessed so I thought that I would share the recipe.

AND these muffins are gluten free and can easily be made dairy free to and nobody will be able to tell. This makes them perfect for lots of different occasions obviously they are great for afternoon tea, but they could also be a great quick breakfast option or easy snack or dessert to!

To make them dairy free all you have to do is ensure that you use either oil or dairy free butter and ensure that you use a dairy free milk. To make this vegan you would need to do the dairy free substitutes as well as change the two eggs for a vegan substitute. You could change the eggs to something like:

• 2 Tbsp Ground flaxseed and 6 Tbsp Water

• 1/2 Cup of Applesauce

• 1/2 Cup Pumpkin puree

• 2 Tbsp Chia seeds and 6 Tbsp Water

• Artificial egg replacer from a supermarket

• 2 Mashed bananas

I haven't tried these egg substitutes so if you do let me know how it goes as I would love to know!

Theres lots of changes and additions that you could do with these muffins, so I thought that I would suggest a few ideas in case you want to try any of them:

• You could add a filling to the muffin such as Jam or creme pat

• You could add an icing to the muffin for example a creme cheese icing

• You could experiment with topping the muffins with different things such as different fruits or chocolates

• You could add fruit or chocolate into the batter

• You could use different flavoured tea bags like chamomile, mint, earl grey, Jasmine etc

Let me know if you make these and what you thought and if you made any fun changes to the muffins. Anyway here's the recipe...

Ingredients

• 2 Medium eggs

• 125ml Oil or Melted butter

• 250ml Your chosen milk

• 250g Caster sugar

• 400g Gluten free self raising flour

• 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder

• 4 Tea bags

• Fruit to top (Optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 Fan and Line 2 muffin trays with muffin cases (This recipe will make around 13 large muffins or more smaller ones depending on how big you want to make them).

2. Put the milk and tea bags in a pan on a low medium heat and heat for 15-20 minutes. Once heated pour into a bowl and leave to cool.

3. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with an electric beater. Add the oil and milk and beat again until combined.

4. Beat in the sugar to the liquid mix until combined.

5. Sift into the mix the flour and baking powder and beat until just combined.(Be cautious not to over mix as this will make rubbery muffins!)

6. Distribute the batter into the muffins cases (I use an ice cream scoop to make this distribution even but this makes quite large muffins so if you'd like smaller ones then use a smaller utensil like a tablespoon or a few teaspoons).

7. If decorating with fruit add to the top of each muffin before baking.

8. Bake the muffins for around 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of them comes out clean (Cooking time will depend on the size of the muffin).

9. Let them cool a little bit and then take them out the pan and enjoy!

Thank you for reading,

Ruby xxx

My Free From Experience of Florence...

Florence was full of amazing foods, with bundles of knowledge about gluten free food preparation, making eating out feel safe and far less stressful. Many gluten free spots had the Italian celiac association accreditation which was super helpful as it could easily be spotted on signs and menus. To make finding these restaurants even easier the Italian celiac association has a super useful app that gives both accredited food places to eat and places to buy food on the go i.e. in supermarkets.

I definitely found some favourite places to eat on my Florence trip, allowing my to try new foods that have become some of my favourites, so here are some details to everything I got to try.

1.Raw vegan Firenze

Starting off with one of my faveirote places that I tried whislt in Florence, this provided some amazing breakfast and snack options whilst I was there. It was a street away from our apartment so was perfect place to grab breakfast before exploring the city. I tried a couple different things from this cafe, which is both vegan and gluten free! They also had a range of savoury dishes including poke bowls, burgers, wraps and pizza which sounded amazing.

Protein Bar

This protein bar was covered in sesame seeds, and full of nuts and crunchy puffs of quinoa with a sweet date flavour. I really loved this bar, it was sweet, crunchy and satisfying. However I do recommended to store it in a freezer so that it remains solid and the dates don't soften to much especially if it is hot!

Smoothie

From the wide range of smoothie flavours, I tried the number 6 smoothie, which was thick and creamy with a banana flavour that had hints of the tropical fruits of mango and pineapple flavour. I really loved this one however the banana was quite strong so I don't think banana haters would enjoy it! You can also choose any of the smoothie flavours and ask for it to be made into a smoothie bowl.

Peanut balls

These were sweet, full of crunchy nuts and the flavour of peanut butter and chocolate.

Brownie

This brownie was almost moose like with a soft fudge texture and chunks of oats and nuts. It also had avocado and courgettes which I was super surprised to not be able to taste.

Ice cream

This ice cream had to be one of the best things I had in Florence, it was super smooth, thick and creamy. I off course had to try all the flavours, my faveirote was definitely coconut, and my second was chocolate with the lime and mint coming in third and the mango fourth. Each scoop is served with fruit and desiccated coconut (or cocoa nibs if you get the chocolate). Each flavour felt fresh, with a strong flavour and was super creamy and thick.

2. Babae

We stumbled upon babae as a hunt for there famous wine window, however after exploring the menu saw that it had some great looking food options to. Every dish on the menu was clearly labelled to be gluten free, vegetarian or vegan. We ate here for dinner twice in our trip as it was a super easy and delicious options that had a variety of options that could please everybody. Babae were also very prompt on knowledge about cross contamination, assuring me without being asked that care to prevent contamination would be taken in the kitchen. My dishes included:

Crispy cauliflower

This dish was coated crispy cauliflower served with a spinach hummus. It was full of flavour, the hummus smooth and creamy with the cauliflower being crisp on the outside and super soft in the middle. I ordered this with the side salad which was a simple mix of vegetables but still super fresh with a mix of crunchy vegetables. I also got the corn ribs, which were fresh and flavourful.

Tofu and cauliflower rice

The second night I tried the cauliflower rice in a turmeric and pepper coconut sauce topped with grilled tofu. Having never had cauliflower rice before I was dubious, however this was really good the cauliflower was cooked perfectly, the sauce full of flavour and the tofu was crispy on the top. Trying this in Florence has defiantly inspired me to try to recreate it at home!

3.Lorenzo de Medici

This restaurant was based in the considerably more tourist area of Florence, its a super convenient spot to grab a lunch or dinner whilst shopping and exploring. The menu was full of gluten free options including salads, fish,bread, pasta and pizza! I went here for dinner on my first night in Florence and enjoyed an amazing pizza and salad combo.

Pizza

Personally I love tuna on pizza so I decided to get the tuna and onion pizza. The base was relatively thick, however it was fully cooked and even got a 'this doesn't taste gluten free' by my sister who very much enjoys her gluten. The crust was crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, with my only complaint being that it was slightly burnt and the base being slightly thicker than I generally prefer. The star to this pizza was the tomato sauce, it was thick and full of a seasoned fresh flavour. Topped with creamy vegan cheese, crispy tuna and caramelised onions this pizza gave me a wonderful first impression of the food Florence gf had to offer.They also served the gf pizzas on different collared plates to the normal pizzas which was very reassuring that my pizza could not be mixed up with ones with gluten In them.

Fresca Salad

Though simple this salad was super delicious, with fresh and crunchy vegetables including lettuce, sweetcorn, tomato and chicory. It was a great side to the pizza, fresh vegetables cutting through the warm doughy pizza.

4.La pepiniere ristorante biologico

Having found this restaurant in my search for restaurants online before going to Florence, it was a great place to go after we did a long night walk up to a central point where you can get an amazing view of the city. Going at sunset we got quite hungry by the time we made it back to the city, so this place was perfect. It was open till 11 and was full of gluten free options from polenta triangles to falafels to pizza it had lots to choose from.

Pizza

I went for the vegetable pizza which was topped with vegan cheese, mushrooms and green peppers. The base was thin and soft, with a really soft and fluffy crust. This pizza was full of flavour from the combination of the tomato sauce, cheese and vegetables. I definitley would have loved to try more of the food options from here whilst I was there.

5.Supermarkets

Aside from the restaurants the supermarkets also had a variety of options, full of amazing fresh fruit and vegetables and clearly labelled packaged foods and isles with gluten free foods. This included snacks like bread, crackers and biscuits.The supermarkets were helpfully located through the city in varying sizes making for easy places to pick up easy options.

Overall Florence for me was a great place to find some amazing gluten free options, and has definitely given me some inspiration for recipes i'd love to try to make in the future. My trip definitely inspired me to want to explore more of Italy and see the other food options it has to offer.

Thank you for reading, I hope this was helpful!

Ruby xxx