Satay Burgers

Some nights there are too many comings and goings to allow us to sit down and eat dinner together.

Those nights the boys cook their dinner on the bbq and burgers are a favourite.

I’ve used pork in this recipe but minced chicken is delicious too. As the gluten rolls that we like are long and skinny, I just make the patties to fit the roll.

Makes six burgers.

Ingredients

500g minced Pork

3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

30g fresh coriander chopped

Salt and pepper

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and form into burgers.

Heat your bbq or pan over a medium flame.

Once hot cook the burgers, as it is pork, you need to cook it all the way through.

Roast Chicken With Maple Syrup and Mustard

When I made this recently I stupidly left all of the chicken on the dinner table without saving some for myself, my three boys and a friend ate the lot so it must be good!

Serves 4-6 depending on sides and appetites!

Ingredients

2.4kg chicken, cut into 10pieces or chicken pieces, skin on and bone in

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Combine the syrup, mustard, salt and pepper and then pour onto the chicken, covering it completely.

Place the chicken pieces, skin side up on the roasting tin.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, basting regularly until cooked through and crispy.

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.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Rub

It’s always handy to have a rub recipe up your sleeve!

This is one of my favourites, not too spicy and the boys love the sweetness.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon oregano, rubbed

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Freshly ground pepper

2kgs chicken wings, tips removed

Method

Combine all of the rub ingredients together.

Sprinkle the rub over all of the chicken and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Centigrade and line a baking tray with parchment.

Place the wings in the prepared tin, skin side up.

Bake for 60 minutes, basting regularly.

Creamy Chicken With Fresh Peaches

It’s peach season in Western Australia and these beauties are from the Perth Hills, near where I live.

Don’t be tempted to put the peaches into the sauce for longer, they are just warmed through or they go to mush!

If you want make this ahead of time cook up to the stage of the cream thickening and then turn the heat off.

Once you are ready to eat, bring up to a gently simmer, add an extra 100mls cream, simmer gently until heated through and then continue as below.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

40g butter

40mls olive oil

6 chicken thighs, bone in skin on

1 brown onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, sliced

400mls cream

300mls chicken stock or water

3-4 large peaches, skinned, stoned and diced

1-2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Method

In a large frying pan with a lid, heat the butter and oil over a medium to high heat.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.

Once the fat is hot, add the chicken, skin side down. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crisp.

Turn the chicken and again cook for 4-5 minutes.

Remove the chicken and set aside. Drain most of the fat out of the pan, leave a couple of teaspoons worth in the pan.

Heat the pan over a medium heat and add the onion, cook until soft, scraping the dark bits off the bottom of the pan as you go.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Return the chicken to the pan, turn a few times in the onion mixture.

Turn the chicken skin side up.

Pour in the cream and stock, bring to a gently simmer, cover and simmer for 30minutes.

Check that the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. If the sauce is still a little runny, remove the lid and simmer uncovered.

Stir in the peaches, just heat them a little, sprinkle over the parsley and serve.

Green Chicken Burgers

You always need a good chicken burger recipe and this one is a cracker.

Made on the BBQ or in a pan it works well both ways.

Makes 6 burgers.

Ingredients

500g minced chicken

75g chickpea flour

30g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks chopped

2 spring onions/green onions, sliced finely

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 jalapeño, deseeded and finely diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and place in the fridge for at least two hours.

Heat a little olive oil in a non stick pan over a medium to high heat.

Form the meat into six patties.

Place the patties into the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes and then turn and cook for a further 4-6 minutes until cooked through and golden.

Serve with some fresh aioli in a gluten free or regular bun.

Roast Chicken With Creamy Lingonberry Sauce

Six ingredients make this a seriously tasty dish that’s as simple as combine, bake and baste.

If you don’t have lingonberry sauce, cranberry sauce works just as well!

You can mix the ingredients the day before you bake them if you want and this freezes well, just add a little more cream when you reheat it gently in the oven.

If you aren’t keen on chopping up a chicken, drumsticks, wings and thighs will work just as well.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.8kg whole chicken, cut into 10 pieces

4 tablespoons lingonberry sauce

2 tablespoons gluten free Worcestershire sauce

4 garlic cloves, crushed

250mls cream

Salt and pepper

 Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

In a roasting tin, combine all of the ingredients.

Cover tightly with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes covered.

Remove the foil, baste with the sauce in the pan and return to the oven.

Bake for a further 30 minutes, basting regularly.

Once cooked and golden, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Peanut And Lime Chicken Wings

In my house the boys go through real fads with what they will eat on their toast!

One of them went through a spell where lime marmalade was his spread of choice but it has gone out of favour so I wanted to use the leftovers up, coupled with peanut butter, garlic and soy sauce it makes a very tasty marinade!

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.8kgs chicken wings, tips removed and jointed

120g peanut butter

80g lime marmalade 

50mls gluten free soy sauce

4 garlic cloves, crushed

Method

Combine all of the ingredients and leave to marinade for 2-8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade, line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Tip the wings and marinade onto the sheet, turn them skin side up.

Bake for 45 minutes, marinating with the pan juices regularly.

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.

Double Oregano Chicken

The oregano is growing like a weed in the garden just now so I am trying to come up with ways to use it up.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

8 large chicken thighs, bone in, skin on

15g fresh oregano leaves

6 garlic cloves

12 sun dried tomato halves

5g fresh parsley leaves

2 tablespoons dried oregano

45mls olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Whizz all of the ingredients, except the chicken, in a food processor to give you a thick paste.

Smear the paste all over the chicken and pop into the fridge to marinade for 4-8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Place the chicken in a roasting tin, skin side up. Cover with foil and slide into the oven for thirty minutes.

After thirty minutes, remove the foil and baste the chicken with the pan juices, bake for a further 30-40 minutes, basting regularly, until the chicken is cooked through and well coloured.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.