Baked Pumpkin With Black Sesame Seeds And Thyme

It’s pumpkin season here in Western Australia and I love this way of baking it, it just looks so pretty!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1/2 large butternut pumpkin, peeled and seeded

1-2 teaspoons oil

2 teaspoons black sesame seeds

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt flakes

Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Slice the pumpkin and then cut into chunks.

In a bowl, combine the pumpkin and oil.

Spread the pumpkin over the prepared tin.

Sprinkle over the sesame seeds, thyme, salt flakes and pepper.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through and colouring a little.

Lemon Infused Salt And Pepper

One of the best cheats to have in your pantry here! Fantastic on fish, prawns, chicken and summery salads.

I make this quantity and then store the extra in an airtight spice jar for another day.

Ingredients

6 teaspoons salt flakes

Zest of 4 lemons

20 peppercorns

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Centigrade. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Measure the salt and lemon zest onto the baking parchment.

Bake for 15 minutes until the lemon has dried out and is really fragrant.

Allow to cool a little and then pour into a mortar, add the peppercorns and grind to a powder.

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.

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.

Stuffed Potatoes With Hidden Veggies

Sometimes I like to jazz up the humble potato by stuffing it myself, it saves the boys arguing about their preferred fillings as everyone loves these and I can sneak some extra vegetables into them!

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

6 large potatoes, baked with skins on

20g butter

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 medium carrots, grated

75g grated cheese, Parmesan or something with a strong flavour

2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half and carefully scoop out the cooked potato keeping the skin intact. Place the skins on a lined baking sheet and the cooked potato into a bowl. Mash lightly with a fork.

In a frying pan, heat the butter and add the onion, cook for 10 minutes over medium heat then add the garlic and carrot and cook for a further 3 minutes. Tip the onion mix into the potato.

Add the cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Take spoonfuls of the stuffing and fill the skins.

Slide the potatoes back into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

 

 

 

Slow Roast Lamb With Ancho Chilli And Garlic Marinade

Spring is finally here in Western Australia and lamb is back on the menu!

This is a great recipe of you are feeding people who aren’t too keen on chilli, bags of flavour and not too spicy. It is also slow cooked so, ideal if you are entertaining as you really have very little to do once the lamb is in the oven.

It can easily feed a bigger crowd, just add more side dishes but the leftovers are divine too, I’ll share my Mexican Stir Fried Rice recipe soon using leftovers from this lamb!

I serve this with steamed rice, fresh salsa, salad, guacamole, tostades and refried beans, that way everyone can have as little or as much as they like!

Serves 10.

2.5kg leg of lamb

3 red onions, peeled and sliced into 1cm rings

3 dried ancho chillies

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

200mls water, just under boiling point

8 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1.5 litres chicken stock

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Centigrade. Line the base of a roasting tin with the onion rings to create  a rack to keep the meat off the base, initially.

Prepare the marinade now. Place the chillies in a heat proof bowl, add the nearly boiled water and cider vinegar. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Once the chillies have soaked, carefully lift them from the water, remove the stem and seeds and return to the water. Now add all of the remaining ingredients except the onions, lamb and stock.

Using a stick blender, whizz the marinade to a thick paste.

Take the leg of lamb, using a sharp knife, stab it multiple times to at least 5cm at its thickest part.

Pour the marinade over and push it down into the cuts, make sure all of the meat is covered, underside too.

Lay the lamb onto the bed of onion rings, pour the chicken stock around the lamb, seal completely with foil and slide into the oven.

Bake for 6 hours, turn the oven up to 200 degrees Centigrade, spoon off as much of the fat as you can and return the lamb to the oven to crisp up a little, around 30 minute

Now, using tongs, pull off large chunks of meat and drop them into the pan juices, as you come across the bones remove them all. You should now have a pan of meat, juices and onions, I give this a gentle stir and then serve.

 

Garlic And Fennel Meatballs With Onion And Balsamic Sauce

As a family we love meatballs in sauce but sometimes I want to get away from the rich tomato sauces that the boys favour and this is when I reach for my Balsamic vinegar. By the end of cooking you have a mild vinegar flavour with a lovely sweetness from the onions and Balsamic.

You can make this ahead of time and just do the final simmer or bake before serving.

To make this gluten free I simply use gluten free penne.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1kg minced pork

6 garlic cloves

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

salt and pepper

30mls olive oil

4 onions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves plus three sprigs

100mls balsamic vinegar

350mls water

a small handful freshly chopped parsley

Method

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic, fennel, salt and pepper until you have a paste.

In a large bowl, combine the pork, thyme leaves and garlic paste. Use your hands to combine the meat, thyme and paste very well.

Form into small, walnut sized balls, I get around 32 meatballs. Set aside.

In a large oven proof frying pan, heat the oil and add the onions, cook until they are soft.

Tip the onions into a bowl and set aside.

Add a little more oil to the pan if you need it and then add the meatballs, cook over a medium to high heat until they are sealed on all sides.

Return the onions to the pan, add the balsamic vinegar and water and bring up to a simmer, now, you can either cook this on the stove top, around 30 minutes gently bubbling away to reduce the sauce or pop the pan into a preheated, 200 degrees Centigrade, oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve with pasta.

 

 

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.

Cheesy 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.

Makes 48.

Ingredients

2 eggs

150mls sunflower oil

350mls milk

350g tapioca or arrowroot flour

140g Cheddar cheese, grated

1 teaspoon salt

a pinch of cayenne powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Grease two mini muffin trays, to give you 48 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.

Christmas Mincemeat Cake – Gluten Free

I make this cake as my gluten free Christmas cake but it is lovely any time of the year if you have mincemeat lying around!

The cake doesn’t last as long as a regular Christmas cake but it does freeze very well uniced. As I’m lazy, I don’t ice it normally but towards Christmas I will bake another one, cover it with marzipan, gluten free, and ice it. That will then be the family cake so we can all eat the same thing!

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

225g caster sugar

275g gluten free plain flour

2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 tablespoons brandy

2 eggs

500g mincemeat

Method

Prheat the oven to 170 degrees Centigrade.

Line the base and sides of a 23cm cake tin.

Process the butter and sugar.

Add the eggs and brandy and process again.

Add the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and process.

Add the mincemeat and pulse to only just combine.

Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour, check the cake isn’t burning, bake for a further 30mins.

Cool on a wire rack, remove the paper once the cake is cold.