Paul Flynn's Family Food

The other night we were invited along to the book launch for Paul Flynn's "Family Food" in association with Lidl Ireland in the gorgeous 10 Lower Ormand Quay...

The event was intimate event with a more than a touch of elegance, while remaining simple and focussed on what we were all there for... the food! 

It's not secret I love books. A whole table full of cook books was just so tempting. People were hovering and swiping one when they thought no one was looking. They provided a lot of entertainment to those standing in the immediate vicinity! 

The author himself, Paul Flynn of Tannery Restaurant and Cookery School, was doing laps of the room and making sure every was greeted. He caught us studying his recipes. Yes, studying the recipes! We had obviously grabbed a book and were about half way through it. 

Yep, that's me in there with Paul and I nabbed him to sign my copy of the cookbook.. cheeky I know!

Gluten free substitutions are high priority for me, top priority to be exact, and I have to tell you there's nothing in this book that's you can't cook or substitute. All the ingredients are from Lidl Ireland, which is where the majority of my weekly shop comes from anyway. Easy ingredients and simple cooking is what this book is about. Paul said that he wanted to bring cooking back to the family. There are a lot of one pot dishes to save washing because washing is not what's important. However, particularly for the desserts you will have to substitute from other than Lidl... definitely if you (like me) can't make pastry and need to pick up the gluten free pastry in Dunnes or Avoca!

Lidl started working with Paul in 2012 to create recipes that aided their shoppers make the most of their food. The cookbook was born from this idea. I found a particular statement in the introduction to the book to ring true as I perused the recipes. They state: 

"No matter how little time you have on your hands, or how inexperienced you are in the kitchen, you'll find a host of tasty, nutritious and affordable recipes in this tempting selection."

The book, which is Paul's fourth cookbook, has some amazingly tasty looking recipes separated into six sections: No Time, Take Your Time, Family Time, BBQ Grill Time, Party Time, and Time for Something Sweet. 

Before we get to the recipe part there is a section on Flavour Combos. It gave us just a brief taste of what we could expect in the rest. On top of the ones I have pictured there's also pork, bacon, duck, lamb, chorizo, salmon, and mackerel diagrams with their own possible flavour combinations. 

I'm going to pick out a few recipes to give you a taste (yes I said it!) of the what the book offers....

In the "No Time" section I found a warm chicken salad. I do a version of this myself at home so it's right up my alley! He uses a demi baguette from the bakery cut into chunks. I don't see any problem with getting some of the gluten free bread or the rolls from the bakery and using them as a substitute. In fact, I'd probably prefer the bread to add a darker flavour than the rolls. 

Out of the "Take your Time" section I've chosen the chicken and turnip curry. This does take a lot more time to cook, because it's curry, but having made curries from scratch using butternut squash as the base I'm dying to try this one out. I did notice something else with this one: there's a little note about making it vegetarian friendly. Cut out the chicken, use a vegetable stock cube, and add chickpeas if you like. I would have added chickpeas anyway to this curry.

A note on the stock cube, instead of the cubes recommended, grab the Knorr stock pots as they're gluten free. Most stock cubes are packed full of the glutens and make you seriously ill.

The last recipe I'm going to give you a sneak peak of is the Baked Fusilli. I know it's pasta, but substitute it with the gluten free fusilli and a Knorr stockpot in Lidl and you're golden. I love their gluten free pasta because it tastes like pasta! I find using a little more water than ordinary pasta, constant stirring, and 8-9 minutes is perfect to prepare it to prevent sticking. Remember to check the meat for gluten ingredients. Chorizo is normally fine, but always be safe and look at the ingredients. 

Paul runs a restaurant, townhouse, and cookery school in Dungarvan, which is in Waterford I know and not Dublin. We questioned him on his restaurant food. You never know we may get to go on a break at some stage! The rooms look pretty lovely on the website. He said his restaurant staff are informed of every ingredient in every dish, so they completely cater for all diets, and not just gluten free. Good to know if you're heading to Dungarvan at any stage and looking for good grub!

*****Competition Closed!*****

So, would you like a copy of the book to try for yourself? It goes on sale today, or you could try win one here... Interested? The lovely people of Lidl have kindly bestowed us with two copies of the book to give away to some lucky, lucky readers.

Simply share, retweet, or like on any of out social media: Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Remember the cookbook isn't specifically gluten free, BUT it's totally adaptable for some awesome meals AND those you adapt it for need never know it's gluten free! 

Closing date: 11.59pm Friday 28th March 2014

Winner will be announced after the close of the competition

Check out our T&C's here

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS:

Angela Mahon

Melanie May

Ladies get in touch via the FACEBOOK or TWITTER so we can let the lovely people of Lidl Ireland know where to find you for you prize! 

CONGRATULATION!

:D