Baked Egg and Zucchini Cups

These are versatile little cups that we have for dinner when the non gluten free boys are having quiche.

This recipe makes 6 standard muffin cups.

Ingredients

3 large eggs, beaten

70mls milk

130g grated zucchini

30g ground almonds

15g fresh coriander, chopped

1 red chilli, shedded and sliced finely

Salt and pepper

1-2 teaspoons black chia seeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Take out a muffin tin and cut squares of baking parchment to line 6 of the muffin holes.

Squish the paper up under a running tap and then shape to line the holes.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chia seeds, in a bowl.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins and then sprinkle over the chia seeds.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until risen, they will sink again as they cool.

Baked Ricotta With Oregano

This is a great gluten free alternative to quiche and savoury tarts.

If you don’t have Pecorino Romano, a sheeps milk hard cheese, Parmesan works brilliantly too and the oregano can be swapped with fresh thyme.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

750g smooth soft ricotta

4 eggs, beaten

150g Pecorino Romano, finely grated

12 oregano sprigs, leaves picked and roughly chopped

Freshly ground pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Grease a 21cm side sprung loose bottomed cake tin. Line the base and sides with baking parchment, make sure that you have an overlap on the base to ensure nothing can leak out.

In a large bowl whisk all of the ingredients reserving a little cheese and oregano to top the ricotta.

Spoon the ricotta mixture into the prepared tin, smooth out the top and then sprinkle over the reserved cheese and oregano.

Place the cake tin on a baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes and then turn the oven down to 160 degrees Centigrade and bake for a further 15-20minutes until the ricotta is golden and set. 

Allow to cool a little in the tin before gently loosening the sides and pulling off the baking parchment.

Breakfast Tacos With Harissa Potatoes And Corn

A seriously tasty breakfast taco, heaps of flavour and filling too!

Serves 2.

Ingredients

Oil

10 cooked baby potatoes, quartered

1/4 cup fresh corn

1 tablespoon Harissa paste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander

4 eggs

4 corn tortillas

Salt and pepper

Method

In a frying pan, heat the oil, add the quartered potatoes and fry for 5 minutes until they begin to colour a little.

Add the harrisa and corn to the pan and stir through with the potatoes, cook for 5 minutes.

Now, if you are using a big pan, move the potatoes and corn to the side and fry the eggs in the pan or oil another pan and fry the eggs.

Once the eggs are cooked, stir the coriander through the potato mixture, season well and divide between the tortillas, top with an egg and enjoy!

Beef Jhal Faraizi

One of the best ways to use up leftover roast beef and potatoes.

This has a bit of heat to it but if you like your food spicier then, throw a sliced red chilli in when you are cooking the onion.

Serves 4-6 depending on sides. When it comes to frying the eggs, I take a straw poll of those eating and just cook enough for them with no spares!

Ingredients

900g potatoes, cooked and peeled

1-2 tablespoons oil

500g cooked roast beef, cut into 0.5cm dice

1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chilli flakes

2 medium or 1 large red onion, diced

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 handful fresh coriander

6-12 fried eggs depending on appetites

Method

Boil the potatoes with their skins on, drain and set aside to cool.

Once cool enough to touch, peel the skins from the potatoes and dice roughly to 1cm.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, I use a 32 cm pan for this.

Add the seeds and chilli flakes, once fragrant, add the beef and onion.

Cook over a medium heat until the onion has softened.

Now add the potatoes, turmeric, salt and pepper. Turn the heat up high and let the potoatoes catch a little on the pan to get some colour.

If they aren’t  browning up enough for you, turn the grill on and slide the pan under, being careful not to melt the handle!

Once the potatoes have some colour, stir through the coriander, fry the eggs and serve with the eggs on top.

Zucchini Slice

School has finally gone back in Western Australia for the start of the new school year. I am tempted to do a little happy dance!!!

As ever, I have been on the hunt for a gluten free savoury to go into the lunch boxes and this one has been voted by the boys as a winner!

For a vegetarian option, omit the bacon and add grated sweet potato or just increase the zucchini, carrot and capsicum.

You can serve this warm or cold and it easily cuts into 8-10 pieces.

Ingredients

420g zucchini/courgette grated

200g carrot, peeled and grated

6 large spring onions, finely sliced

20g chives, chopped

180g capsicum/ bell pepper, diced

300g sliced bacon, diced

180g cheese, Cheddar, grated

110g Parmesan, grated

150g chickpea flour, also called besan

2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

4 eggs, beaten

125mls milk

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade. Line the base and sides of a small roasting tin, roughly 20cm x 32cm.

Whisk the egg and milk.

Combine the chickpea flour and baking powder in a large bowl, slowly whisk in the egg and milk mix.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix, season well with salt and pepper.

Spoon into the prepared tin, level out with the back of the spoon and bake for 40 minutes until golden.

Allow to cool a little before cutting.

 

Parmesan and Chive Waffles

One of the boys was given a waffle iron for his Christmas so we have had fun trying to come up with gluten free waffles.

These were a real favourite and got them away from the maple syrup and nutella for one breakfast at least over the festive season!

Makes 6-8 waffles depending on your waffle iron size.

Ingredients

150g gluten free plain flour

2 and a 1/2 tablespoons gluten free baking powder

1 egg

290mls milk

70g finely grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons fresh chopped chives

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat your waffle iron.

Using a stick blender, whizz up the flour, baking powder, egg and milk.

Stir in the cheese and chives, season with salt and pepper. Not too much salt as the cheese can be quite salty!

Pour your regular quantity of batter into the waffle iron and cook until golden brown.

Top with ham/bacon and an egg.

Bacon And Egg Cups With Capsicum

We have been playing around with different lunch box options for the boys this weekend and these came back as a winner. Great in the school lunch boxes or as a breakfast option.

Makes 4 egg cups.

Ingredients

4 rashers streaky bacon, rind removed

4 eggs

30mls cream

40g cheese, grated

1/2 small red capsicum, finely diced

salt and pepper

Method

Line a six hole muffin tray with four paper cases.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Take a piece of bacon and line the sides of the paper case with it.

Beat the eggs and cream in a jug. Season well.

Sprinkle a little cheese onto the base of each prepared case, now sprinkle in one eighth of the capsicum on top.

Prepare all of the muffin cases as above.

Now, gently pour in the egg. Top with the capsicum and then cheese.

Slide the tray into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.

 

Baked Eggs In Potato Skins With Chilli

This isn’t really a recipe, more of a suggestion for a gluten and dairy free breakfast or brunch.

As we now have two coeliacs in the house I like to try and vary the breakfast options over the weekend when we have a little more time to linger over breakfast.

I tend to bake the potatoes the night before while dinner is in the oven as they are easier to handle cold the following morning!

Obviously the egg size dictates the size of the skins that you need, I’m using my girls eggs and they are very large, smaller eggs, just use smaller potatoes.

To bake the potatoes, I wrap them in foil and bake in a preheated 200 degree Centigrade  oven for 1 hour.

Makes 4.

Ingredients

2 x 350g large baking potatoes, baked

4 eggs

1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

a couple of pinches, fresh chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Cut the potatoes in half so you have two thinner halves, this makes them easier to stand.

Scoop most of the potatoes out, leaving a thin layer that hasn’t broken through the skin.

Lay the potatoes skins on a baking sheet, carefully, crack an egg into each skin, sprinkle with chilli flakes and season well.

Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes, I tend to bake for around 8 minutes as I like my yolk runny!

Remove from the oven, sprinkle over the parsley and serve.

Potatoes, Chorizo, Chickpeas And Eggs

I love tapas and this dish has lots of Spanish influence in it.

As I make this for my boys I tend to buy my butchers mild chorizo so I can add the chilli later on. Something worth remembering for people with coeliacs is checking that your chorizo is gluten free, it should be but sometimes wheat is added.

This serves 10-12 as part of a tapas meal. When I make it for our dinner as the main dish I just serve it on thick slices of rustic bread for the non coeliacs in the family and coeliac son and I just have it as is! Leftovers are fabulous, reheated the next morning with a fresh egg on top.

Ingredients

500g mild Spanish chorizo, skin removed and sliced thinly

1kg potatoes, peeled and diced, 1cm

1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2-1 teaspoon chilli flakes

3 teaspoons smoked paprika

400g baby tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

eggs

Method

I use a large, 32cm frying pan to make this.

Heat the pan over a high heat, add the chorizo and cook until crispy and the fat has rendered out.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the chorizo and then add the potatoes to the pan, stir well to coat in the fat and then turn the heat down to medium, fry, stirring frequently until fully cooked and crispy.

Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and set aside with the chorizo.

Pour most of the fat out, return the pan to the medium heat and add the onion, cook until soft and then add the garlic, cook for 1 minute and then pour in the rinsed chickpeas, chilli,if using, and smoked paprika, cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Add the halved tomatoes and most of the parsley. Season with pepper and check if you need salt.

Return the chorizo and potatoes to the pan, stirring well, heat through and then make wells in the mixture and crack however many eggs you need into the individual wells.

Cover the pan with a lid or foil and cook until the egg whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny.

Sprinkle over the remaining parsley and serve.

Vanilla Crepes

As my youngest has recently been diagnosed with coeliacs/celiacs I am back to experimenting with gluten free baking again.

We had these crepes, spread with a little softened salted butter and a drizzle of maple syrup. Brilliant for breakfast, dessert or as we had them for an afternoon tea treat.

Makes 24. If freezing, seperate each crepe with a piece of baking parchment so you can just peal off what you need.

Ingredients

225g buckwheat flour

50g caster sugar

4 eggs

400mls milk

150mls water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

30g butter, melted

softened salted butter and maple syrup to serve

Method

Put your crepe pan on to heat over a medium to low heat.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Make a well in the centre.

In a jug, whisk the egg, milk, water and vanilla. Slowly whisk in the melted butter.

Take your whisk and as you pour the liquid into the dry ingredients slowly draw the flour in from the sides to avoid lumps.

Pour just enough batter into the hot pan to allow you to swirl it round and cover the base of your pan.

Cook until the top looks dry and the edges are beginning to colour.

Flip over and cook the other side for a few seconds, just to colour it up a little.

Tip the crepe onto a plate, cover with a clean, dry tea towel and continue making the rest of the crepes.