Sunday Dinner - Why Miss Out?

A challenge of having to live gluten free is to find ways of making your favourite foods from pre-coeliac days safe to eat.

I think my all-time favourite meal would have to be a traditional Roast Dinner. Today is the perfect day for this. We don't have to go out anywhere, it's a beautiful Autmnal day outside, I have a nice warm house with my lovely family all wrapped up inside and a few hours to spend in the kitchen. A roast is just what I want.

Many newly diagnosed coeliacs may think that they can no longer enjoy a 'proper' Sunday Lunch, but most parts of a roast dinner should be safe for coeliacs anyway. There is no gluten in fresh meat (unless it is seasoned with something unsafe), there is no gluten in fresh vegetables. It's the part of a roast that make it fantastic that need some thinking but CAN be made (and even bought!) gluten free. Yorkshire puddings, stuffing and gravy. Even bread sauce can be made with gluten free breadcrumbs.

Yorkshire pudding

I have tried (and failed) various recipes for these, but I never seem to have much success. I can get the taste right, but the texture and appearance is usually more akin to a very light muffin! If you want to make your own with a prepared mix, this one from Foodamentalists is great. I have never failed using their mix.

If you want ready-made yorkshire pudding, Dietary Specials make some, available to buy in most large supermarkets.

Stuffing

I admit, I have yet to try making stuffing from scratch. I haven't done it because in our house, it's only me that likes it and it just seems like too much effort for one person! I do love stuffing though, and it just so happens there are some pretty good gluten-free ones. Take a look in your local supermarket's Free From section. There are packet mixes such as Mrs. Crimbles and Hale and Hearty, but my favourite is Marks & Spencers fresh stuffing. Did you know that ALL their fresh stuffing is gluten free? (Look out for a further post on how well M&S caters for coeliacs in the future)

Gravy

When it comes to homemade gravy, it depends how you would usually make it, but it might already be safe anyway. If, like me, you make it using meat juices, stock and flour, you can continue to make it this way but use either cornflour or gluten-free plain flour to thicken it. Ensure your stock is either homemade or using a gluten-free stock cube.

Instant gravy can also be bought gluten-free. Personally, I'm not too keen on the dedicated gluten-free ones I've tried myself but this is just my opinion. Again, have a look in your supermarket to see what is available.


And there we go, with a few little tweaks, you CAN have a 'proper' Sunday Roast!