Anzac Biscuits

Anzac biscuits are one of those wonderful rare things: items born out of necessity and entirely successful.  Forget beautiful and useful (thank you, William Morris); my new watchwords are practical and delicious!  Anzac’s were created in Australasia, their function to feed the boys in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (hence, Anzac) fighting in Gallipoli in Turkey.  Made by the mother’s and families of those men, the combination of oats, flour and desiccated coconut meant (and still means) that the biscuits keep really well  - three months being the norm- I know! - without losing any of their texture and flavour over time.   A combination of brown sugar and golden syrup means that they have a lovely mellow sweetness while the coconut adds bite and a nice back note of taste. 

You’ll notice they are naturally egg-free which makes them incredibly easy to adapt; a little gluten flour here, some vegetable oil there and you have an anzac biscuit that tastes exactly as it should.  If you cannot tolerate even gluten-free oats then I’ve heard it recommended that you replace them with cornflakes, lightly crushed – ingenious, I think.  These biscuits are so simple to make, they’re the kind of thing children would enjoy making – all that squishing and shaping -, with supervision, of course.  For me, they’re simply a lovely biscuit, packed full of flavour and just right for dunking into a cup of tea – as all good biscuits should be.  Happy Baking!

ANZAC BISCUITS

Makes 12 biscuits

125g gluten-free plain flour

100g gluten-free oats

100g dark soft brown sugar

50g desiccated coconut

75ml sunflower oil

2 tbsp golden syrup

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp boiling water

Preheat the oven to 170c and line two baking sheets with parchment – if you only have one baking sheet, don’t panic.  Just bake the biscuits in two batches.

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and then stir in the oats, coconut and brown sugar until evenly mixed.

Place the bicarbonate of soda into a small bowl and add the boiling water.  Tip this mixture into the dry ingredients along with the oil and golden syrup.  Stir together as much as possible, the mixture will clump in places but still appear quite dry.

Take tablespoons of the biscuit mixture and squeeze together in the palm of your hands so that it binds into a ball – it will be a little crumbly – shape into a ball and press flat between your hands, then place on the baking trays, evenly spaced apart to allow them to spread a little.  Bake in the oven for 15 - 18 minutes, rotating the two trays after ten minutes, until golden brown and fragrant.

Remove from the oven and leave for 10 minutes to firm up before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tuna, New Potato and Salsa Verde Salad

I often get emails from people asking me what kind of food I would recommend for lunch.  And by lunch I don’t mean a laid back spread for more than two, beginning at lunchtime and ending at some point in the afternoon.  I, or rather, they, mean lunch at the office, sat at your desk, or out and about, sat on a patch of grass somewhere desperately pointing towards the sun, or in the car with half an hour to spare.  Lunch can be tricky, with so few restaurants and shops catering to food sensitivities, it is often easier, and certainly safer, to make your own.  I tend to keep lunch simple, unless I’m entertaining; salads, wraps, soups are all perfect lunchtime food.  As are leftovers from the night before, revamped into an exciting new meal – though I know this is contentious, some people being averse to leftovers in any form, though I can’t think why, personally.  You can find recipes for Corn Tortilla wraps or Flatbreads in my book, perfect for combining with Carrot and Fennel Salad and hummus, or cooked chicken and homemade pesto or avocado and smoked ham with alittle onion marmalade to add punch.  The combinations are, at the least, generous and if you have such a dish, plus a bowl of warming soup, then I’d call it a lunchtime feast.  Equally, a little something baked at the beginning of the week can offer you a treat for each day.  As in all aspects of life, if you’re a little bit organised and pre-prepared, an allergy-free lunch can be a easy, nourishing and most importantly, delicious thing.

This gloriously simple salad is packed full of flavour and I think the perfect thing to take in a tub for your midday meal.  Good quality tuna – and safely caught – new potatoes and the intense, fragrant piquancy of salsa verde are a sublime combination.  Pair it with a handful of green leaves, rocket especially, and some finely sliced sundried tomatoes and I’d call it a triumph.  At this time of year I would highly recommend Jersey Royles for your choice of potato, they’re the first in season and really delicious, although a little pricey.  But as the good people at Eat the Seasons say ‘Look at it this way; Jersey Royals aren't cheap, but the potatoes you'll be eating for the other ten months of the year are, so treat yourself!’  They make a good point, I think.

TUNA, NEW POTATO AND SALSA VERDE SALAD

Serves 2 for lunch or 4 as part of a larger spread

For the salsa verde

A bunch of flat-leaf parsley

A bunch of chives

A small bunch of mint

3 tbsp capers, rinsed

The juice and zest of ½ a lemon

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

400g new potatoes

160g good quality tuna in spring water or olive oil, drained

Place the parsley, chives and mint leaves in a food processor.   Add the capers, lemon juice and zest and olive oil.  Blitz until you have a coarse pasted and then transfer to a bowl.  Alternatively, finely chop the herbs and capers and mix together with the oil and lemon juice.  Chill the salsa verde until ready to use.

Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on their size, you want them to be in small, bite size chunks.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the new potatoes – when cooking potatoes it’s a good rule to know that if they are old potatoes you should place them in cold water and then bring to the boil before timing, whereas, when cooking new potatoes, you should add them to already boiling water and then time. 

Gently boil the potatoes until tender to a knife point – around 8-10 minutes - and then drain.  Transfer the new potatoes to a large serving bowl, flake in the tuna and then spoon over the salsa verde.  Fold together until evenly mixed and serve.