Chicken With Salami

Some nights you just need something quick that uses up what’s in the fridge.

This concoction is great popped on top of a big salad.

I’ve used a felino salami here but just use any salami that you enjoy eating.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

800g diced chicken, breast of thighs

200g salami, finely diced

1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges

Pinch chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

100g baby spinach

Method

Heat a large, non stick pan over medium heat.

Once hot, add the salami and fry until the fat begins to render. Now add the onion and cook until just beginning to soften.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the salami and onion from the pan and set aside.

Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the chilli flakes.

Cook until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

Return the salami and onion to the pan, stir through.

Add the spinach to the pan and stir through, as soon as it wilts serve.

Cheese and Chorizo Puffs

These little Brazilian breads are an absolute delight and so easy to make.

The batter also keeps for a couple of days on the fridge so you can make them fresh as you need them.

Makes 60-70 mini muffin sized puffs.

Ingredients

100g chorizo

170g cheddar, finely grated

350g tapioca flour

350mls milk

150mls oil

2 eggs

Method

Cook the chorizo over a high heat until crispy, use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan and place on some kitchen paper to remove excess fat. Allow to cool completely.

Grease 3 x 24 mini muffin tins if you are using all of the batter.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Once the chorizo is cool, place in a food processor and pulse until it creates a chorizo crumb.

Now add all of the other ingredients and whizz to form a batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared tins, no more than two thirds full.

Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Cheese And Bacon Puffs

I have shared my cheese puff recipe before but these combine two of my all time favourite foods.

These little gems are crispy on the outside, slightly gooey on the inside and utterly delicious!

I like to use a smoked bacon as it gives more flavour.

Makes 48-60 mini muffin sized puffs. Leftover batter happily lives in the fridge for 48hours.

Ingredients

200g bacon

350g tapioca flour

170g Cheddar, grated

2 eggs

150mls oil

350mls milk

A pinch of cayenne pepper

A little salt

Method

Over a high heat, fry the bacon until crispy and the fat has rendered.

Spoon the cooked bacon onto some absorbent kitchen towel and squeeze to get as much fat out as you can.

Place the bacon in a food processor and pulse to create bacon crumbs.

Now add all of the remaining ingredients and whizz to form a thick batter.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Grease 2 x 24 hole mini muffin tin, I just use the fat from the bacon!

Fill the muffin hole to two thirds and pop the tin in the oven.

Bake for 15-18 minutes. 

Depending on the size of your muffin tins you may have batter leftover, you can repeat the above or cover and keep it in the fridge, it will last 48 hours.

Warm Cheese Dip

The magical combination of cheese and chilli in a dip.

This is one of those fab dips that you can make ahead of time and just pop it into the oven to warm up again. It freezes well and if you want to make it a bit more substantial add some cooked chopped meat, this one has some cooked chicken stirred through. Pulled pork, chorizo and slow cooked beef work well too.

Ingredients

50g butter

1 large onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

3 tablespoons gluten free plain flour

375mls milk

1x400g tin crushed tomatoes

200-300g cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper

Method

In a large pan, melt the butter, add the onion, cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the flour, smoked paprika, chipotle chilli and oregano to the pan and stir over medium heat for 1 minute.

Add the milk and tinned tomatoes and stir constantly until thickened.

Turn off the heat, add most of the grated cheese and stir until the cheese has melted.

Serve now or pour into oven proof dish, top with the remaining cheese and bake in a 200 degree oven until the cheese has melted and is golden.

Chickpea Pizza Base

Another pizza base!

I love how quickly these can be made and then personalised and the base only has three ingredients, chickpea flour/besan which I always have a box of,water and salt, too easy!

This pizza is topped with passata, chorizo, Parmesan and spring onions.

To make this vegan, just use oil in your pan and select your usual toppings.

Makes 5-6 pizza bases.

Ingredients

275g chickpea flour

750mls water

Pinch of salt

Butter and or oil

Method

Measure the flour into a large bowl.

Make a well in the centre and slowly whisk the water into the flour to form a very runny batter. Set aside for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, heat your grill or broiler to high.

Take a non stick, oven proof, 22/24cm frying pan and heat over medium to high heat with 10g butter and 10mls oil.

Whisk the batter, season and whisk again.

Once the butter has melted, swirl around the pan and add 200mls of batter.

Swirl the pan and pop back on the heat.

Cook for 3-4 minutes until the surface appears to dry a little.

Now slide the pan under the grill, my pan doesn’t have an oven proof handle so I have it sticking out away from the heat!

Grill for 3-4 minutes until colouring.

Now you can choose to top the pizza and grill again to melt your toppings or as I do, make all the bases and then bake them in a 210 degree Centigrade oven until the toppings have melted, less than a minute for the pizza in the picture.

Party Pizzas

These super cute pizzas were originally planned as a party food for my youngest sons birthday party this week but he has decided to have a Mexican feast instead! 

I am delighted that I can still share them with you, they are gluten and nut free. Great as school lunch box fillers and you can make them ahead of time and top them later.

This recipe makes 6 10cm pizza bases. I just topped mine with a little passata, mozzarella, tomato and oregano but let your imagination run wild.

Ingredients

100g Greek natural yogurt

1 egg, beaten

50g rice flour

50g potato starch

20g buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees centigrade. Slide a baking sheet into the oven while it heats up.

In a bowl, whisk the yogurt and egg.

Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until there are no lumps.

Remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and cover with a piece of baking parchment.

Spoon six equal quantities of batter onto the baking parchment and then using a wet spoon swirl with the back of the spoon until you have six 7-10cm circles.

Pop the tray into the oven and bake for 7 minutes.

Remove and top with your favourite toppings, return to the oven for 4-7 minutes until the toppings are hot and any cheese is golden.

Gluten Free Pizza Bases

Over the years I have tried out a few gluten free pizza base recipes but nothing ever seemed to work particularly well so I just avoided pizza after a while.

Now that my youngest has coeliacs too I really needed to get pizza back on the menu and this is the best base according to him! More of a deep pan pizza than thin crust,  it freezes well and we find it best to let it cool a bit before eating to avoid it snapping in the middle of the slice of you are using your hands or you could just use cutlery!

Please excuse the overload of toppings, the boys get to make their own pizzas and and meat features heavily!

Makes two 25cm pizza bases.

Ingredients

150g ground almonds or almond meal

100g chickpea flour

40g LSA, ground linseed, sunflower and almond

2&1/2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

280g plain Greek yogurt

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade and place a roasting tin on the bottom shelf. Boil a full kettle of water.

Line two pizza trays with baking parchment.

Take two bowls and place the egg yolks in one and the whites in another.

To the yolks add the almonds, LSA, chickpea flour, baking powder and yogurt, beat until you have a creamy consistency.

Whisk the egg whites and salt until forming stiff peaks, gently fold one third of the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Add the remaining egg white, folding in gently.

Pour the batter onto the prepared tins, spreading with the back of a spoon to form the pizza discs.

Take the kettle and fill the roasting tin half way with boiling water.

Place the pizzas in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and coloured.

Top the pizzas and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes until the toppings are cooked.

Cornbread With Fresh Corn, Jalapeños And Cheese

Perfect with a bowl of chilli or soup, this corn bread is easy to make and considering that it’s gluten free, pretty close to the real thing!

For the cheese I just use what hard cheese is needing used up in the fridge, a mixture is fine too, this one had cheddar and mozzarella!

Leftovers are great toasted under the grill with an egg on top for breakfast the next day!

Makes a 32x25cm loaf.

Ingredients

300g fresh corn kernels or frozen at room temperature

150g grated cheese

3 jalapeños, deseeded and diced finely

300g masa lista

160g gluten free plain flour

1 tablespoon gluten free baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

salt

2 eggs

500mls buttermilk

450mls milk

100mls vegetable oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade.

Pour the oil into a heavy duty, non stick roasting tin.

Once the oven is up to temperature, pop the roasting tin in to heat.

While that’s in the oven prepare the other ingredients.

In one bowl, combine the sweetcorn, cheese, jalapeños, masa lista, GF plain flour, baking power, bicarbonate and salt.

In a jug, whisk the egg and then add the buttermilk and milk, whisk well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir well.

Once the pan is very hot in the oven, take it out and pour the hot oil into the batter, mix well.

Pour the batter into the tin, spread out if needed and return the tin to the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 200 degrees centigrade.

If the bread is browning too quickly, cover the it loosely with foil.

Bake for 30minutes.

Allow to cool a little in the tin before serving.

Smoked Paprika And Cayenne Tortillas

Shop bought corn tortillas here is Oz have a nasty habit of splitting and being rather similar to cardboard in texture so I now make my own.

I invested in a tortilla press a while ago and the boys happily work in the production line to make bigger batches of these. If you don’t have a press, don’t panic, a couple of heavy books will work a treat too!

This recipe makes 12 tortillas but I usually triple the recipe as the tortillas will last for a week in a sealed bag or a few months wrapped well in the freezer.

Ingredients

220g masa lista, Mexican corn flour

325mls warm water

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

a pinch of cayenne powder

a pinch of salt

Method

Weigh the flour, smoked paprika and cayenne into a large bowl.

Pour the water in and using your hands, mix to form a dough.

Knead gently and then divide into twelve portions and roll into balls.

Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Do not add oil.

Take a piece of baking parchment that will fit over the press, top with one of the dough balls and then top with another piece of parchment.

Pull down on the press to flatten the dough.

Once the pan is very hot, peel the parchment from the dough and place it in the pan.

Cook for 30 seconds and then flip, cook again for 60 seconds and then flip one last time and cook for 30 seconds.

Set aside, covered in a clean tea towel and continue cooking the remaining tortillas.

Serve warm.

Cheese and Mustard Puffs

These are wonderful!

Delicate crispness on the outside and a slight goo to the inside, think Yorkshire pudding crossed with a cheese scone! Lovely with a bowl of soup but to be honest they are perfect straight out of the oven.

Gluten free and mere mouthfuls, possibly a little too easy to eat but that’s ok, you can make the batter and keep it for a couple of days in the fridge to use at a later date.

Dont be tempted to use pre grated cheese as the stuff that’s added to it to stop it sticking hampers the puffs rising.

Makes 30-36.

Ingredients

2 eggs

150mls sunflower oil

350mls milk

350g tapioca or arrowroot flour

140g Cheddar cheese, grated

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, gluten free

1 teaspoon salt

a pinch of cayenne powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Grease two small patty/fairy cake trays to give you 30-36 puffs.

In a food processor, process all of the ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared tins, fill to around two thirds.

Bake for 15-18mins, keep an eye on them, they like to burn.

Remove when pale gold, remove from the tin and allow to cool a little on a wire rack.

Serve warm.