Pork And Mango Meatballs

Anyone who has read my blog knows we like a meatball in this house and these are no exception.

One of those fun recipes that evolve as I’m digging through the fridge looking for inspiration. The cream thickens to make a sweet yet savoury sauce, I serve these over rice.

Choose any mango chutney that you would happily eat on its own, not one that’s loitering in the fridge because it tastes awful!

Makes 18 meatballs and feeds 6.

Ingredients

500g minced pork

130g mango and ginger chutney

280g zucchini, grated and liquid squeezed out

1 red chilli, deseeded, halve lengthwise and sliced

10g fresh chopped chives

2 teaspoons ground cumin

Salt and pepper

250mls cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the cream in a bowl.

Form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs.

Lay the balls in a roasting tin and pop into the oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until beginning to colour.

Take the roasting tin out of the oven and pour in the cream, swirl it around the meatballs, turning them as you go.

Return to the oven and bake again for 10-15 minutes until the cream has thickened and the meatballs have coloured.

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.

Toor Dal

There is something extremely comforting about dal. 

Leftovers keep well in the fridge and I happily eat this the following day for breakfast but then I do have more of a savoury tooth!

Serves 6 as a side dish.

Ingredients

200g toor dhal, rinsed and drained

800mls water

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt to taste

50g ghee

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 dried chillies

1 shallot, finely sliced

Method

In a medium pan, bring the dal and water to the boil. Skim off the foam, add the turmeric, stir well and then leave to simmmer, partially covered, for 50-60minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the dal is cooked, heat a small frying pan over high heat.

Add the ghee and once hot add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and chilli. As soon as the mustard seeds start to pop, add the shallots and fry until golden.

Pour the fried seasoning and ghee into the dal with a little salt, stir well, check for seasoning and serve.

Coconut and Cranberry Balls

In the days before healthy bliss balls, I can remember my Mum making a version of these, raisins instead of cranberries and dipped in chocolate. 

This recipe makes 25 balls. They are small but trust me, you don’t want them too big, these are rich sweeties!

Ingredients

110g butter

150g icing sugar

80g desiccated coconut

130g cranberries

25g 70% coco solids chocolate

Method

In a food processor, cream the butter and sugar.

Add the cranberries and coconut and pulse until combined.

Form into balls and place, spaced out, on a piece of baking parchment.

Now melt the chocolate, I cheat and melt it carefully in the microwave.

Take teaspoons of the chocolate and drizzle over the balls.

Allow to cool and then store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Swedish Meatballs With Gravy

The challenge was set by my youngest son to come up with a gluten free meatball just like Ikea’s and apparently these are winners. To make them completely authentic I serve them with mashed potato, some green Veg and a dollop of Ikea’s finest lingonberry jam!

The quantity is big but I always think that when you are going to the effort to make meatballs you should always make extra for the freezer, your hands are dirty anyway!

This recipe makes 90 meatballs with sauce and that’s enough to feed 18!!!!!

Freeze the excess in foil trays or ziplock bags with the sauce on them for a quick defrost and bake dinner another night.

Ingredients

MEATBALLS

1kg minced beef

1kg minced pork

150mls milk

60g fresh gluten free breadcrumbs

2 onions, peeled and grated

2 teaspoon dried thyme, ground in a mortar and pestle

3 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons oil

GRAVY

100g butter

6 tablespoons gluten free plain flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

500mls red wine

1.5 litres beef stock

50mls gluten free Worcestershire sauce

275mls cream

Salt and pepper

Method

Combine the beef, pork, milk, breadcrumbs, onion, thyme, salt and pepper. Use your hands to ensure that it is totally mixed.

Set aside in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade. Line two baking trays with baking parchment.

Form the meat into small balls, set aside on a third baking tray.

Heat a large frying pan, I use a 32cm pan, this is a BIG quantity, over a high heat, add the oil and once hot start frying the meatballs in batches. Cook until coloured all over and then using a slotted spoon, remove and pop them onto the prepared baking trays lined with baking parchment.

Once all of the meatballs are sealed and on the trays slide into the oven and bake for 10 minutes until cooked through.

While the meatballs are cooking make the gravy.

Add the butter to the frying pan, once melted add the flour and tomato paste, cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, scraping all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan.

Now add the wine and stock, whisk over a medium heat for 7 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and cream, heat through.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and either add them to the gravy or place in a serving dish and pour over the gravy. Serve hot.

 At this stage I use foil trays for the meatballs going in the freezer, pour over the gravy, chill and freeze.

The Real Deal Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets

A ridiculously long name for these but it so fits the bill!

It might sound like a large quantity in this recipe but honestly, make at least a kilo of these! They don’t last so, to tell the truth, I use a couple of kilos of chicken, bake and freeze the leftovers, they freeze brilliantly for a quick dinner another night and can be gently reheated from frozen, too easy!

The bread that I use is a bit of a heavy wet loaf so by whizzing it with the polenta you get a lighter crumb rather than wet globby balls! 

And remember, use the heels and crusts of the loaf, it adds a little colour and saves any waste of what is always an expensive ingredient here in Australia.

Makes 42-50 depending on size.

Ingredients

450g gluten free bread

160g polenta

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

1kg minced chicken

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1&1/2 teaspoons salt

Pepper

2 eggs

40mls milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Line three baking sheets with baking parchment.

In a food processor, whizz the bread and polenta until you have fine breadcrumbs. 

In a large bowl or on a tray, combine the chicken, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and 280g of the breadcrumb mix.

Whisk the egg and milk in a bowl.

Add the mixed herbs to the breadcrumbs, mix well.

Take small amounts of the mince mix, form into a nugget shape or rough circle, dip in the egg and then in the reserved breadcrumbs to cover.

Lay the raw nugget onto the prepared tray and repeat with the remaining mix until it is all used up.

Bake in batches for 17-20 minutes, you might need to swap the trays half way through to get an even bake.

Serve hot.

Chocolate And Peanut Butter Brownies

Gluten free decadence here! 

If you don’t do peanut butter chips you can happily swap them for chocolate chips of omit them completely, this recipe will still work.

Makes 16 pieces.

Ingredients

125g butter

125g 70% coco solids chocolate

330g caster sugar

115g ground almonds/almond meal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g peanut butter or chic chips plus extra for topping

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade. Grease and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin.

Melt the butter and chocolate, using a bowl over a pan of water or I just do it carefully in the microwave.

Weigh out the sugar, almonds and baking powder in a large bowl.

Whisk the eggs in another bowl and whisk in the vanilla extract.

Now, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold them in.

Spoon the batter into the lined tin, sprinkle over a few more chips and bake for 35 minutes.

Allow to cool a little in the tin before removing.

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.

Homemade Honeycomb

Sometimes a treat is in order and this is certainly a treat!

We happily eat this as is but if you want to be really decadent, drizzle a little melted dark chocolate over the honeycomb, then it really is “to die for”! I like to crumble it a little and sprinkle it over vanilla ice cream too, yum!

You need to move briskly when making this so have the bicarbonate already measured out and the baking sheet lined, use a medium to large pan as the honeycomb rises rapidly as soon as you add the bicarbonate and whisk it in.

Makes a slab, 25 x 15cm.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon honey

175g caster sugar

70g liquid glucose

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Method

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Measure the honey, sugar, glucose and water into a pan.

Heat the pan over a high heat, do not stir! Just swirl it around a bit if you must move it.

Using a sugar thermometer, watch the temp rising, as soon as it hits 150 degrees Centigrade, take it off the heat and whisk in the bicarbonate of soda.

Immediately, tip onto the prepared tin and leave to cool and set.

Break into shards to serve.

The honeycomb will keep in an airtight box for a few days if you have any left!