Chicken And Leek Pie With Potato Scone Crust

Leftovers needing jazzed up a bit?

 This is the recipe for you, using leftover roast chook and the insides of some baked potatoes, discard the skin, or some leftover mashed potato.

I have used homemade chicken stock from some roast chicken flavoured with lots of garlic and fresh herbs so the stock has heaps of flavour, if you are using powder or a cube, maybe add a little fresh parsley and garlic to the leeks when they are cooking for a bit more flavour.

The potato scones go beautifully crispy on top and mushy and chickeny on the bottom, yum!

Serves 8.

Ingredients

110g butter

2 large leeks, halved lengthwise, cut into 1cm pieces and washed thourghly

100g gluten free plain flour

1.2l chicken stock

800g cooked chicken or ham

TOPPING

500g cooked potato, mashed

100g butter

50g gluten free plain flour

1/2 teaspoon gluten free baking powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

In a large, shallow oven proof pan, heat the butter over a medium heat.

Add the leeks and cook for 10 minutes until vibrant green and soft.

Add the flour to the pan and stir continuously for one minute.

Pour the stock into the pan and stir until it thickens at boiling point.

Stir the diced cooked chicken through and set aside.

Now make the scones.

In a large bowl, weigh out the potato, finely diced butter, flour and baking powder, using your hands, gently work the mixture until a dough begins to form.

Flour your work surface with gluten free plain flour and using your hands, gently squash down the dough until 5mm thick.

Take a floured cookie cutter and cut discs, once there is no more space, reform the dough, squash down and re cut until you have enough discs.

Place the scones onto the pie filling and pop into the oven.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Tuna Mornay

The weather is beginning to turn autumnal here in Western Australia and with that comes the return of comfort food.

There is something very soothing about tuna mornay, memories back in the seventies and eighties of this being a bit of a go to dish in my childhood home, minus the capsicum/bell pepper and certainly not gluten free. 

Now that I make it for my boys it has become gluten free, has the corn  and capsicum in it and a few good dollops of whole grain mustard to give it some kick.

This makes 12 serves, now that may seem excessive but it freezes really well so I use the make one freeze one mantra for an easy meal possibly through the coming school hols?

Ingredients

150g butter

1 large onion, peeled and diced

250g capsicum/bell pepper, diced

3 large ears of corn, kernels removed

120g gluten free plain flour

1 litre milk

3 level or heaped tablespoons whole grain mustard

200g cheddar, grated

Salt and pepper

2 x 425g tins of tuna, drained and loosened to form chunks.

340g gluten free penne pasta, cooked as per the label

TOPPING

50g cheddar, grated

65g gluten free bread made into breadcrumbs

Method

Cook the pasta as per the label. Drain and cover.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade.

In a large pan, melt the butter over a medium heat, add the onion, capsicum and corn kernels and cook until the onion is translucent.

Add the flour to the pan and cook, stirring for 1 minute.

Pour the milk into the pan, still stirring. Bring the sauce up to the boil gently, stirring all of the time.

Take it off the heat as soon as it has come to the boil and thickened.

Now stir the mustard and cheese through and season with salt and pepper.

Add the drained pasta to the pan and the tuna, stir briefly.

Spoon into your oven proof serving dish or dishes if you are making a spare one for the freezer.

Combine the cheese and breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top.

Pop the pasta dish into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Mexican Corn On The Cob

The picture really doesn’t do this corn justice but quite honestly, it doesn’t last long enough for photos to be taken!

With a household of boys if you serve food on a stick or with a bone they will eat their fill of it without complaining, I’m sure it harks back to caveman days!

These are moreish, you can use the whole cob but these half cobs are cute and if you are feeding smaller mouths, a little more manageable.

I have given instructions for cooking indoors but these work well on the bbq. Peel the husk  off, remove the fronds and put the husk back over the corn and bbq. Once cooked, unwrap, dip in the sauce, sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

6 corn cobs,husk and fronds removed, cut in half

150g sour cream

110g mayonnaise

1/2 lime, juiced

15g fresh coriander levels, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

Salt and pepper

60g Parmesan, grated

Method

Boil the corn for 5-6 minutes in salted water until cooked.

In a bowl, combine the sour cream, mayo, lime juice, coriander, garlic, salt and pepper.

Heat a large dry frying pan over high heat.

Tip the corn into a colander to drain.

Now add the corn to the dry pan and turn regularly until it has coloured.

Stick a small skewer into the end of each cob half.

Using the skewer, pick up the cob and dip it in the sour cream dip, swirling it around to cover it.

Place on a serving plate and repeat with the remaining corn, sprinkle over the cheese and serve. 

Homemade Honeycomb

Sometimes a treat is in order and this is certainly a treat!

We happily eat this as is but if you want to be really decadent, drizzle a little melted dark chocolate over the honeycomb, then it really is “to die for”! I like to crumble it a little and sprinkle it over vanilla ice cream too, yum!

You need to move briskly when making this so have the bicarbonate already measured out and the baking sheet lined, use a medium to large pan as the honeycomb rises rapidly as soon as you add the bicarbonate and whisk it in.

Makes a slab, 25 x 15cm.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon honey

175g caster sugar

70g liquid glucose

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Method

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Measure the honey, sugar, glucose and water into a pan.

Heat the pan over a high heat, do not stir! Just swirl it around a bit if you must move it.

Using a sugar thermometer, watch the temp rising, as soon as it hits 150 degrees Centigrade, take it off the heat and whisk in the bicarbonate of soda.

Immediately, tip onto the prepared tin and leave to cool and set.

Break into shards to serve.

The honeycomb will keep in an airtight box for a few days if you have any left!

Secret Stuffed Potatoes

The secret to these is the hidden zucchini that even the fussiest of children will not find as long as they like pesto!

I try to plan ahead for these and bake the potatoes the day before if I have the oven on.

Makes 16.

Ingredients

8 small potatoes, around 100g each, baked

300g zucchini plus two teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons pesto

A little grated cheese

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Grate the zucchini and sprinkle with the salt, mixing a little with your hand, set aside in a sieve over a bowl for ten minutes.

Take a potato and cut in half, use a spoon to scoop the insides out and set aside. Repeat with all the potatoes.

Now, roughly chop up the potato to make a mash, stir through the pesto.

Rinse the zucchini under fresh water and then squeeze all of the moisture out with your hands.

Add the zucchini to the potato mash and mix well.

Spoon the zucchini mix into the potato skins and place on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle over the cheese and pop into the oven.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.

Peanut And Macadania Nut Balls

Now, I know that these aren’t healthy but they are very tasty and easy to make when you suddely have to make morning tea for your child’s cricket team, I speak from personal experience here!

I like mixing the sugars up a bit, dark muscovado sugar is a great addition in these, just omit 50g of the brown sugar and add the muscovado instead.

Makes 36 balls.

Ingredients

50g butter

175g smooth peanut butter

150g macadamia nuts

200g brown sugar

100g caster sugar

100g desiccated coconut plus extra

Method

Melt the butter and peanut butter gently in a pan.

In a food processor, blitz the macadamia nuts until fairly finely chopped.

Add the sugars and coconut to the nuts and blitz again.

Finally pour in the butters and pulse until combined.

Pour some extra coconut onto a plate.

Take small amounts of the nut ball mix and squeeze into a ball, roll in the coconut and set aside. Continue with the remaining mixture.

Once you have finished, pop the balls into the fridge to set.

Hidden Veg Sausage Rolls

Sausage rolls are sooooo handy on the evenings when we are all coming and going.

In the past I have been a big fan of cheese and bacon rolls but I am currently experimenting with hidden veggies with the aim of making these at the school I work in.

I do make a gluten free version for my youngest but he ate them too quickly for the photo! His sausage mix is made with gluten free fresh breadcrumbs and gluten free puff pastry.

Makes 20 large sausage rolls or 80 mini rolls for party food.

Ingredients

130g wholemeal bread blitzed to make breadcrumbs, crusts and the heel of the loaf are fine

100g onion, peeled and finely diced or blitzed

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley leaves

300g carrots, peeled and grated

350g zucchini/courgette grated and all liquid squeezed out by hand

500g minced pork

1-2 teaspoons dried sage

Salt and pepper

5 sheets pre rolled puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade and line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, onion, parsley, carrots, zucchini, pork, sage and a good seasoning of salt and pepper.

Seperate the pastry sheets, divide the sausage mix into 10 balls. Roll each ball into a sausage shape and lay one on the top half and one on the bottom half of each pastry sheet. Repeat with the remaining sausage mix.

Use a sharp knife to cut each sheet in half. Brush the cut with the beaten egg and then roll the pastry towards the egg wash to allow it to stick.

Cut the roll into your desired size, brush with egg and sprinkle with a little black sesame seeds if using. Repeat with the remaining rolls.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Kerala Beef Curry

This curry is very popular in our house. It isn’t the prettiest of dishes but the flavour is amazing!

 I love the fact that the meat and veg are all in one pot and the boys love that they get to eat it with bread and poppadoms while using their fingers!

Serves 12, this curry freezes well so I tend to make this quantity and freeze half for a night off another day.

Ingredients

50g ghee

15 whole cloves

15 cardamom pods

20 black peppercorns

4x5cm sticks of cinnamon

2 medium onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised

30-40 curry leaves

Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1.75kgs diced beef, around 3cm

1 litre water

Salt

750g potatoes, kipfler are great, cut into 4cm pieces

1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

500g frozen baby peas

270mls coconut cream

2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with 3 tablespoons water

75g fresh chopped coriander, stalks and leaves

Method

In a large pan with a lid, heat the ghee, once hot, add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and peppercorns.

As soon as they begin to sizzle, add the onion and cook over a medium to high heat until colouring a little.

Add the garlic, curry leaves and ginger to the pan and cook for two minutes.

Add the beef to the pan and over a high heat, brown the meat, around 4 minutes.

Pour the water into the pan, cover, bring up to simmering and simmer for 90 minutes. Uncover for the last 30 minutes.

Now, add the potatoes, cayenne and salt to the pan, bring back up to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes covered and then ten minutes uncovered.

Carefully pour the cornflour slurry into the curry sauce and stir until thickened.

Now add the peas and coconut cream, bring up to a simmer and sprinkle over the coriander. Serve.