Greek Meatballs

What’s not to love with these meatballs, sneaking veggies into the kids, they freeze really well for dinner another night, baked, not fried and dinner served in a pitta, flat bread or roll is always a winner in our house!

If you are in barbcueing season, lucky you! These cook well on a BBQ, squeeze them onto skewers to make your own kofta or flatten them to make delicious patties.

Makes 28-30 balls. Serves 6.

Ingredients

70g gluten free fresh breadcrumbs

500g minced lamb

280g baby spinach

3 garlic cloves, peeled

15g fresh parsley leaves

100g spring onions/scallions/green onions

Zest of 1 lemon

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

If you have time, make the meatball mix a few hours before cooking but if not just carry on!

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Centigrade, line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Cook the spinach until just wilted, I use the microwave. Allow to cool enough to handle it and then squeeze the water out of it.

Blitz the bread in a food processor. Tip into a large bowl.

Now add the cooked spinach, garlic, parsley and spring onions to the processor and blitz again, tip into the breadcrumbs.

Now grate the lemon over the spinach, add the lamb and season well.

Using your hands, combine all of the ingredients really really well.

Form into small walnut sized balls. Lay on the prepared baking tray.

Slide into the oven and turn the heat down to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the outside has coloured and the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve with salad and fried haloumi in wraps, pittas or rolls or allow to cool, pour them into a zip lock bag and freeze for another day.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

This is easy to make, has tonnes of flavour and is a huge hit with my boys.

Uses wise, I have slow cooked pork and beef with it, brushed it onto meat and chicken on the BBQ, stirred it through noodles for a quick after school feed and middle son uses it as pizza sauce!

I triple the recipe to give me four jars of sauce as it keeps well if you sterilise your jars and lids.

Ingredients

15mls oil

1 red onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

50mls balsamic vinegar

75g brown sugar

250mls passata

50mls gluten free soy sauce

50mls gluten free Worcestershire sauce

1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped roughly

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Method

In a medium pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion, cook for 7-10 minutes and then add the garlic.

Cook for two minutes and add the balsamic vinegar, scrape any caramelised bits off the bottom of the pan and simmer the vinegar until it has reduced by half.

Now add the sugar, passata, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chilli, cumin and oregano.

Bring up to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until thickened and darkened.

Sterilise your jars now if you are making extra.

Use a stick blender to whizz to a lump free sauce.

Pour into sterilised jars if you have made extra.

Chicken Wings With Ras El Hanout

Ras el Hanout is one of my favourite spices at the moment, a combination of coriander, paprika, cumin, rosebuds, caraway, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, nutmeg, cardamom and cayenne.

It gives this recipe a wonderful flavour and buying a premixed jar of spice mix saves me mixing my own!

Leftovers, if you have any, are a hit in my boys lunch boxes.

You can marinade the ingredients up to 24 hours ahead of time.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

2kg chicken wings, tips removed

150mls Greek yogurt

6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons Ras El Hanout

Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade and line two baking trays with baking parchment.

Combine all of the ingredients.

Divide the wings between the trays and bake for 30 minutes, baste the wings with the pan juices and return to the oven for a further 45-50 minutes, basting as much or as little as you like.

I like to let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving and you can sprinkle over pomegranate or coriander.

Chicken Wings With Pomegranate Molasses

If you like your wings full of flavour and on the sticky side, give these a go!

I buy my wings whole and then remove the tips and cut through at the joint so each wing gives me two “chicken nibbles” as they are called here.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1kg chicken wings

3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons oil

3 large garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 large red chilli, sliced finely

salt and pepper

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a zip lock bag and pop into the fridge for 2-24 hours.

Once you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade and line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Spread the wings out over the prepared trays and bake for 20 minutes.

Spoon the juices over the wings and return to the oven for 10 minutes, repeat the basting and bake until fully cooked.

Paprika Chicken Skewers With Haloumi

Perth, Western Australia, has a heat wave coming this weekend! That will mean minimal cooking inside, lots of barbecuing and salads for us!

Get the kids involved in making these as it is a bit mind numbing! Make sure they have an apron on and no white shirts in sight as the paprika infused oil does not wash out easily!

Makes 22-26 skewers. Serves 6.

Ingredients

6 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

3 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2-1 teaspoon ground chilli

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

salt and pepper

60mls olive oil

1.2 kg skinless chicken thighs, fat removed and cut to 1cm dice

180g Haloumi, cut I to 20-30 cubes

1 large red onion, cut to 1-2cm pieces

Method

Combine all of the ingredients except Haloumi and onion in a large zip lock bag and leave in the fridge to marinade for 2-24 hours.

Soak your wooden skewers for 30 minutes.

Preheat the barbecue flat plate to medium hot.

Prepare your first skewer, I like to start with onion and then chicken, onion, chicken, onion, Haloumi, onion, chicken, onion, chicken, onion, but that’s just me!

Prepare all of the skewers and then pop them onto the barbecue and cook, turning regularly, until the chicken is cooked through.

Barbecued Prawns With Smoky Chipotle Butter

These prawns are epic according to one of my boys!

The butter quickly melts over the prawns so I like to serve them with some of the melted butter spooned over the top to no one misses out!

Serves 4. You can make the flavoured butter the day before and keep it rolled in the fridge or make it and freeze it for a week.

Ingredients

800g large prawns, deveined, peeled but leaving the tail intact

100g butter

1 garlic clove

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano

2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Method

Make the flavoured butter first, combine all of the ingredients except the prawns in a processor and process until smooth.

Scrape the butter onto a large piece of platic wrap, cover and gently roll, twisting in the edges as you go.

Pop the butter into the fridge to harden.

Prepare the prawns and season with a little salt and pepper.

Heat the BBQ, once hot, cook the prawns.

Plate the prawns in your serving dish, top with slices of the butter and serve with slices of lime.

Garlic And Herb Lamb Fillets

This is a great speedy way of preparing meat and leaving it to marinade through the day until you cook it in the evening.

I like my lamb pink as you can see but really cook it the way you like it, the marinating in garlic will make it soo tender and tasty.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

4 lamb fillets, around 450g total

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a zip lock bag and leave to marinade in the fridge for 6-8 hours.

Heat a non stick frying pan or a barbecue plate until very hot.

Pop the lamb fillets onto the hot pan or barbecue plate and turn regularly until cooked the way you like them.

Allow to rest somewhere warm for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Herby Prawns

These are ridiculously tasty! You HAVE to eat these with your fingers as part of the enjoyment is the finger licking at the end!

I use shell on prawns, I then remove the shell, leaving the tail on, remove the vein and then butterfly the prawns to maximise the surface area for the marinade to cover.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1kg prawns, shells removed, deveined and butterflied

120mls olive oil

3 garlic cloves

handful fresh parsley

handful fresh oregano

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 2 lemons

salt and pepper

Method

Process the oil, garlic, parsley, oregano, zest, juice, salt and pepper.

Combine the prawns and dressing in a large bowl and allow to marinade for 30 minutes.

Cook in a frying pan or on the barbecue flat plate over high heat until the prawn meat is cooked through.

Serve immediately.

Sticky Balsamic Vinegar, Honey and Garlic Chicken Wings With Lime Dip

What is it with males and eating with their fingers?

Another favourite of the boys with extra dipping sauce on the side and some Cajun wedges.

These are oven baked but they work very well on the barbecue too.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

40mls balsamic vinegar

40mls oil

20mls runny honey

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

salt and pepper

1.2 kg chicken wings, tips removed, cut in two

Lime Dipping Sauce

1 lime, juiced

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

200mls sour cream

10g chopped fresh chives

salt and pepper

Method

Combine the vinegar, oil, honey, garlic, salt, pepper and chicken in a bowl, allow to marinade for a few hours if you have time.

Preheat the oven to180 degrees Centigrade.

Line two baking sheets with baking parchment and divide the wings between the two sheets. Reserve the excess marinade.

Bake for twenty mins and baste with the remaining marinade.

Bake for another 15mins, brush the wings with the juices on the trays.

Bake for a further 5-10 mins until fully cooked and the skin is crispy.

Allow to cool a little before serving.

To make the dip, whisk the juice and mustard in a bowl, whisk in the sour cream and chives, taste and season.

Serve the dip drizzled over the chicken with any extra in a bowl  on the side.

Lemon, Garlic and Parsley Chicken Wings

An all time classic marinade that just screams fresh to me.

Our lemon tree is laden at the moment and I suspect that lemons will be featuring a lot more in the coming weeks.

I have cooked these in the oven, it is winter here, but, they taste even better on the BBQ with crispy skin and garlic, yum!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1.4kg chicken wings, tips removed and cut in two

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 lemons juiced

large handful parsley leaves, chopped

50mls olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

In a large bowl combine the garlic, lemon, parsley, oil, salt and a good grinding of pepper.

Add the chicken wings, mix well and allow to marinade for 2-6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Lay the chicken pieces on the prepared tins. Brush over any extra marinade.

Pop into the oven and bake for 35-40 mins, basting every 10mins with the pan juices.

Allow to cool a little before serving.