Brazil nut & parsley pesto

I made this because I miss spreads! This easy pesto is great as a spread, on vegetables, in soups, on salads, as a dip or as a pasta topping if you are able to tolerate it. 

BRAZIL NUT & PARSLEY PESTO

100g brazil nuts

43g flat leaf parsley leaves (weight doesn't include the stems which should be discarded)

50g extra virgin olive oil (or another nice tasting oil you tolerate well)
Pinch of sweet paprika (optional)

1. Blitz the brazil nuts and parsley leaves in a blender or in a mortar and pestle

2. Add oil and paprika (if using) and blitz again

3. Keep in a sealed container in the fridge. If it dries out a little, add another dash of oil and stir through.

Enjoy ❤️

Trial and error...

I posted a recipe yesterday that may or may not have caused me to react. I did eat more than one unfamiliar food in the same day (not very clever of me) which means that I cannot be sure which one caused the reaction. I have been upfront about this in an update to the relevant post and have vowed to eat the same food again in a more clinical way (alongside known safe foods) so that I can share a more definitive finding. 

I only post recipes that adhere to the protocols outlined in the mastzellaktivierung list. How full a person’s ‘histamine bucket’ is will determine how much of certain foods (white vinegar in this case) we can tolerate. I am unbelievably reactive right now which means I am the perfect person to be the canary in the mine for others. My aim is not to confuse what is already a confusing condition. But I do feel complete honesty is important, particularly when my (possible) reaction to a food may be life-threatening for some. 

MCAS is tricky. Ingredients we can ingest “a small amount” of are tricky. If you bear with me, I promise to continue to share everything I learn – and to continue to be your (very honest) canary in the mine ❤️

Home made ricotta

I have recently discovered that the "safe" dairy items listed on our trusted low histamine list are not actually good options for those of us outside of Europe. The milk we purchase has a mix of A1 and A2 beta casein and it is the A1 that is the liberator of histamine from our already agitated mast cells. Enter A2 or camel milk! These two milks are almost entirely devoid of A1 beta casein and so are considered a safe food. 

Building on this discovery, I decided to purchase a couple of litres of A2 milk and make myself some lovely home-made ricotta. As long as you have all of the required equipment on hand, this is a dead simple dish that is undoubtedly going to bring joy to those who have been missing dairy as much as I have. 

HOME-MADE RICOTTA

1900ml/67 fl oz A2 milk

84ml/3 fl oz white vinegar

Muslin cloth

Candy thermometer

1. Pour milk into a heavy based saucepan with candy thermometer attached

2. Heat, stirring, until it reaches 90°C/194°F
3. Remove from the heat and add vinegar
4. Stir through and watch as the curds separate from the whey
5. Set a sieve lined with muslin cloth over a large bowl

6. Almost immediately, you can begin to spoon the curds into the sieve with a slotted spoon

7. When you have the majority of the solids transferred, pour the rest of the liquid through the muslin to catch all of the solid bits. I like to push the curds I have already collected to the side of the sieve to keep them from getting soaked

8. Gather up the muslin and squeeze the ricotta over the bowl to expel the excess liquid

Use as you like! As a dip, a spread, mixed through a salad, on vegetables or as ricotta gnocchi - I will post my recipe for this soon! The whey (liquid) can be used to make pancakes for others. I did sneak one but am fairly sure most of the vinegar ends up in the whey so left the rest to my family to eat. I used this recipe for the pancakes and it was delicious.

Enjoy ❤️

Apple chia pot

I am trying very hard to cut out all sugar but it is a tough gig. This lovely (and ridiculously simple) concoction satisfies my sweet craving and has the added bonus of being chock full of nutritional value. During the day I will eat it as is and at night when I am tired and craving a sweet hit I will ditch the apple and add a swig of Maple syrup instead. Adding both also works.

APPLE CHIA POT

1 tbsp/21g/.74oz chia seeds

100ml/3.4 fl oz coconut milk

1 smallish apple
Dash of Maple syrup (optional)

1. Tip chia seeds into a glass or very small bowl

2. Add coconut milk and leave for 5-10 minutes or until the chia seeds have absorbed all of the liquid

3. Grate the apple and stir through well (or skip the apple and head to step 4 for a sweeter and much faster snack)

4. Add the Maple syrup if using and stir through

Enjoy ❤️

Camel milk - a potential mast cell stabiliser?

Coffee is high in histamine and so I am aware I shouldn't drink it. The thing is that we bought a pretty whiz bang coffee machine last year and so for some time I have been enjoying two long coffees every day. Even the move to a strict low histamine diet didn't inspire a change to my daily caffeine intake - until now.  

My new regime has seen me wave goodbye (hopefully temporarily) to so many things I love (read: chocolate, bacon, seafood) and so the thought of letting go of something so deeply ingrained in my daily routine has taken a large amount of mental realignment. Sadly, the increasing sensitivity I appear to have to histamine, and an intense desire to get well, has made the decision for me. So a little over two weeks ago, I embarked on a caffeine reduction plan designed to minimise any further discomfort to my health. In other words, I am trying to avoid a caffeine deprivation headache!

Things are travelling along well, with my caffeine intake already more than halved. And as I have reduced the size of my coffees, I have also been reducing the cow's milk - the creamy half of my lovely morning brew. While cow's milk is not high in histamine, it is a histamine liberator which means the combination in my morning cup was a particularly nasty one. In the beginning, I transitioned my usual milk to coconut milk which was not fantastic. I consoled myself with the thought that if my coffee tasted less nice, I would be much less distressed at its departure.

Which brings me to today's development! As well as undertaking extensive research on histamine, I have also been learning about mast cells and in particular, how to stabilise them. Enter camel milk! I  stumbled across some research which found that camel milk had a positive effect on the stabilisation of mast cells and of course I was keen to test the theory for myself. 

Camel milk is expensive and also hard to find, so I have opted for the freeze dried powdered form. My package happened to arrive before my second (piccolo) coffee today which provided me with the perfect opportunity to try it out. It is not unlike cow's milk, with a slight aftertaste that is not at all unpleasant. I have decided that it is much, much nicer than coconut milk in coffee and if it is able to assist with the stabilisation of my mast cells, well that's what we call a win-win scenario! 

My plan is to continue to drink camel milk on a daily basis (even after my coffee has disappeared) and to be on the lookout for any ongoing improvement in my symptoms. In the meantime, I will enjoy my ever diminishing coffee intake with this interesting new find and promise to add a post script here once I have decided whether it was worth the significant investment.

Wish me luck! ❤️

Lamb and vegetable pasties

Making these is a labour of love and if you adore homemade pastry as I do, these are well worth the effort. I have not listed amounts for the filling in this recipe because it is absolutely interchangeable. All you need to know is that around two handfuls of filling will be enough for each pasty. Instead, I have listed what I used as a guide. I like a mix of lots of vegetables which can take longer to put together. How many different vegetables you use and in what quantities is completely up to you. 

Regarding the meat, I only used a very small amount of lamb (only around 30g per pasty) which might seem a bit stingy to some but it is the vegetables I tend to crave nowadays, more than likely because I know how much better they make me feel. Other meat such as beef or chicken could also be used and in a larger quantity if you prefer. Or of course the meat can be omitted altogether. 

I actually chopped way too many vegetables and so now have a container full in my fridge that I will scramble with a chia egg tomorrow morning. Waste not, want not! 

This recipe makes four because tonight was one of those rare occasions I actually ate the same meal as my family. If you are making your own pastry, any excess can be frozen if required. 

LAMB & VEGETABLE PASTIES (Makes 4)

Pastry

240g/8.5oz plain flour

180g/6.3oz butter

pinch salt

1/4 cup/63ml/2.1fluid oz very cold water

OR

4 sheets shortcrust pastry

Filling (a guide)

lamb

chicory

potato

pumpkin

green bell pepper/capsicum

red bell pepper/capsicum

carrot

broccolini stem

radish

zucchini

Flavouring
sweet paprika

Topping

1 tbsp coconut milk (or regular milk)

poppy seeds (optional)

To cook
canola oil

1. If you are making your own pastry, put the flour in a large bowl or in a KitchenAid/mixer bowl 

2. Chop the butter and add it to the bowl. If it is cold, add it to the bowl in very fine slices

3. Add salt

4. Rub together with your hands or mix with beater attachment until it resembles fine breadcrumbs

5. Add the very cold water and then combine until the mixture just comes together

6. Form a small brick with your hands

7. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

8. Chop your chosen filling ingredients into a very fine dice

9. Divide dough into four pieces or select one sheet of ready made pastry

10. Cut or roll into a circle at least 20cm in diameter

11. Cover one half of your circle with filling, leaving a thumb width clear around the edge. Pile filling high enough so that when you bring the second side over the top, it covers easily without stretching the pastry

12. Season as per your preference - I used a good sprinkling of sweet paprika

13. Dipping your finger into a small bowl of water, moisten the edge of the entire circle of dough

14. Bring the second side over the top and seal well

15. Starting at one corner, roll the edges up and pinch hard to seal

16. Brush with milk and scatter poppy seeds on top

17. Repeat

18. Place pasties on a cooking tray sprayed with canola oil

19. Bake at (200°C/392°F) for around 20 minutes or until lovely and golden brown

Enjoy ❤️