Sehri day 1 and day 2

Asalam alaykum

Alhamdulilah the first fast has been and gone.

I have to admit I found it really difficult to wake up the first morning. The fact that I tried to eat porridge with a fork kind of says it all really!

In true Ramadan Dinners style allow me to share this Ramadan’s first sehri with you. I had: 2 x mini sehri omelette cups made with pepper and feta cheese ( 2 mini cups amounts to 1 egg), porridge cooked and cooled (I am very slow at eating sehri and find it easier to grab porridge from the fridge), fruit salad made with flat white peaches, kiwis, blackberries and chopped dates, Greek yoghurt and of course water. I worry that we won’t drink enough so gave us each our own jug of water to drink. It is easier to see how much a person has drunk. You could easily do this with litre bottles of water.

This morning saw me have pretty much the same as yesterday. The only difference being I really struggled to drink water. I only drank half the amount and hope I won’t be too thirsty by this evening.

Omelettes
The mini omelettes are fantastic as they contain protein and water containing vegetables, better still no oil/fat is used to cook them at all. One egg creates two mini omelettes. This recipe easily sizes up and is easily useable if you are alone. Just mix the eggs in a bowl, throw in some juicy looking vegetables, a little cheese, some herbs, be sure to omit salt as this will dehydrate you and make you thirsty.
6 Omelettes
3 eggs
1/2 pepper chopped
Feta cheese to taste
First mix the eggs in a bowl. Then place individual silicone muffins moulds (easier to take the omelette out) into a metal muffin tray (these hold the shape). To distribute the vegetables evenly I place them directly into the moulds and then put the mixed eggs on top. Bake until cooked. Normally it takes about 7 – 10 minutes in a 250 degree oven but you could easily put them in while something else is cooking. Once cooked take them out of the mould and when cool store them in the fridge.

Inshallah I pray our fasts will be accepted.

Strawberry bread

Neither 100% cake nor 100% a bread ‘strawberry bread’ sits half way between the two. The smell of cooking strawberries and vanilla wafts through the kitchen and leaves you clambering at the oven door waiting for it to emerge. Based on a soda bread this is an easy to make method, the sweetness of the strawberries and the edge of the soda bread create a lovely balance. The melon seeds add a needed crunch and most importantly oats keep you filled up for longer.

150g pure oats
150g gf doves farm flour
50g live yoghurt
25g isapghol seeds dehusked
75g peeled melon seeds
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg
25g butter or margarine
4 tablespoons of milk
1 punnet of strawberries

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

First of all toast the peeled melon seeds in a heavy based frying pan until they begin to pop and are golden in colour.

Place all the ingredients with the exception of the strawberries and the milk, in a bowl and mix together. Then pour in the milk and leave to stand for a couple of minutes. The oats will soak up the milk quite quickly.

Then wash the strawberries, trimming their leaves, chop in halves (if small) or quarters (if large) then fold into the mix trying not to squash them but making sure to evenly distribute them.

Using a silicone baking sheet to cover a metal sheet pan and sprinkle with a little flour. Then place the toasted melon seeds on top of the flour. Place the mix on top of the melon seeds. You can lift the silicone baking sheet to help shape the bread and make it look tidy but it should be stiff enough to hold a position.

Bake for approximately 1 hour. It will be ready when the bread is golden, a crust has formed and the strawberries are oozing their juices.

Cool before serving with or without butter.

Pear and Berry Sehri Muffins

My mum has a pear tree in her garden. Every year without fail we are always left with a glut of pears, wondering what to do with them. After all there are only so may pears you can eat. With a windfall of pears after the recent rain, it seemed about time to start using those that had already fallen.

Ingredients
125g Sourghum flour
125g Doves farm gluten free flour
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
50g caster sugar
2 teaspoons of honey
100ml of rapeseed oil
250ml of summer fruit filling shop bought
2 eggs
4 small pears

Topping
18 blueberries or any fresh berry that is an ingredient of the summer fruit filling
50g of pure oats (suitable for coeliacs or gf non oat porridge)

1.If the pears are hard (mine were) they may need some preparation. Wash and chop the pears into quarters and then slices. Place the hard pears into a shallow frying pan cover with water and put onto a high heat, then allow to simmer gently. Once the water has evaporated and the pears are tender then add in a little more water you may need to adjust this depending on if the pears are still hard) to deglaze the pan. For hard pears add 20g of sugar at this stage and once the pears are covered seem tender and shiny take off the heat.

2.If you have fresh soft pears, wash and slice the pears, heat up gently in a frying to bring out their own sugars.

3.Heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade

4.Line 6 holed muffin tin with muffin cases sprayed with spray oil

5.Mix the ingredients, fold quickly with a metal spoon and be careful not to over mix otherwise the muffins become hard

6.Divide the mix

7.Place the toppings on to the muffins: a sprinkle of pure oats or non oat gf porridge. Push in the berries into the muffins so that they sit firmly

8.Bake for 20 mins.

9. Store in an airtight container for a couple of days alternatively freeze.