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.

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.

Pumpkin And Parsnip Soup

A very smooth soup deserves some garlicky crispy crumbs to elevate it to something really quite fancy!

I use gluten free fresh bread that I crumb but use regular if you can.

Serves 12 and leftover soup freezes really well.

Ingredients

50mls olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

900g pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and diced roughly

500g parsnips, peeled and diced roughly

275g potato, peeled and diced roughly

2 litres vegetable stock

salt and pepper

CRUMB TOPPING

100mls olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

200g gluten free breadcrumbs

4 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Method

In a large stock pot or pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft.

Add the garlic and cook for one minute, add the pumpkin, parsnip and potatoes, stir well and then cover.

Allow the veg to sweat for 20minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the stock, salt and pepper and bring up to the boil, simmer gently for 30 minutes until all of the vegetables are soft.

Allow to cool a little and then whizz using a stick blender until smooth.

To make the garlicky crumbs, heat the oil in a frying pan, once hot add the garlic and cook over a medium heat for around one minute.

Add the breadcrumbs and cook until crispy.

Stir through the parsley, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the garlic crumbs over each bowl of soup.

Pasta With Cherry Tomatoes And Salmon

Fish is expensive compared to other meats here in Western Australia so I love a recipe that allows for the fish to go a bit further! By popping the cooked salmon on top of the pasta it doesn’t disintegrate and disappear and I think looks rather pretty with the smoked paprika covering.

I buy salmon with the skin on, it tends to be cheaper and as it is baked first it’s easy to remove the skin and scrape off the fatty brown meat. The skin also protects the surface of the salmon while it bakes.

The salmon can be cooked ahead of time which is what I do when the weather is so hot!

Serves 6. Use gluten free pasta if needed.

Ingredients

500g dried pasta

400g salmon, 2 fillets, skin on, bones removed

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

salt and pepper

30ml oil

1 red onion, sliced

6 anchovies, drained

a pinch of chilli flakes

350mls passata/sieved tomatoes

300g cherry tomatoes, halved

1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Take a large piece of foil and top it with a sheet of baking parchment.

Place the salmon on the parchment, season the salmon with salt and pepper and then sprinkle over the smoked paprika.

First wrap the fish in the paper and then the foil so that it’s completely sealed in the paper.

Pop this package onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave the parcel sealed for 10 minutes.

Once you are ready to cook dinner…..,,

Bring a large pan of water up to the boil and cook the pasta as per the packet instructions.

In a large, I use a 32cm deep frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat, add the onion, anchovies and garlic, cook until the onion is soft, stir in the chilli flakes.

Pour in the passata and cherry tomatoes and stir over a high heat until the tomatoes are beginning to go squishy, around three minutes.

Pour the cooked pasta into the tomato mix, stir well.

Break the salmon up over the pasta and sprinkle with parsley.

 

 

Sweetcorn and Edamame Warm Salad

One of my freezer and pantry salads here!

We have this as a salad or as a wrap filling with rice and sometimes meat to make a kind of burrito.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

50mls olive oil

3 small onions, peeled and quartered

5-6 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole

500g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted

450g prodded edamame

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

3 large tomatoes, seeded and diced

salt and pepper

Method

In a large frying pan with a lid, gently heat the oil over a low heat.

Add the onion and garlic, stir well and cover for 15 minutes, checking that the onions aren’t sticking to the pan.

Once the onion has cooked, it will now be falling into individual pieces, add the sweetcorn, edamame, chilli and seasoning, stir well and cover again for 5 minutes.

Now allow to come down to room temperature and stir through the chopped tomato and serve with a little coriander over the top.

Bacon And Bean Sausage Rolls

At this time of year I like to fill the freezer with a variety of sausage rolls ready to go for unexpected guests and sudden events that require a plate of nibbles.

There is something very comforting about a sausage roll served with a little tomato ketchup! I’ve already shared my other favourite recipes for sausage rolls but this is a new one for this year. Whether  you justify this as trying to get more pulses into the kids, flavour experiment or what’s available in the pantry and fridge, this is a winner!

I buy puff pastry that comes in sheets here, around 25cm square. Each sheet of pastry is protected by a sheet of plastic, this is what I then use to wrap the two long rolls that are made with one sheet. Frozen like this it’s easy to remove and defrost as large or small a quantity as you need.

This recipe makes 64 mini sausage rolls or 16 regular.

Ingredients

8 sheets puff pastry

750g rindless back bacon

1kg minced pork

425g tin of baked beans in tomato sauce

120g fresh breadcrumbs

1 onion

5 teaspoons dried sage

salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

black sesame seeds to garnish

Method

Defrost the pastry at room temperature.

Process the bacon finely, followed by the onion and breadcrumbs.

Now, unless you have an enormous bowl, use a large tray with sides to mix the sausage.

Tip the bacon, onion, breadcrumbs, pork, sage and beans with sauce onto the tray.

Season very well with pepper and salt depending on the saltiness of your bacon.

Use your hands to really work everything through, trying not to crush the beans!

Divide the the sausage into 16 portions.

Form each portion into a long sausage the width of the sheet and line at the top or bottom of the pastry sheet.

Take a sharp knife and cut across the middle of the pastry and then paint this area with egg.

Roll the sausage in the pastry towards the cut to seal and then move it back to its original position.

Repeat with the remaining sausage on that sheet and then roll them towards each other, making sure the under plastic avoids them sticking to each other.

Repeat with the remaining rolls and place them in a large bag in the fridge for an hour.

If freezing them for a later date, label the bag and pop them into the freezer.

If cooking them, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Brush the top of the sausage roll with the remaining egg and sprinkle over some sesame seeds.

Place on a lined baking sheet and bake, in batches for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

 

 

Tomato and Saffron Rice

The colour of this rice really says it all.

By cooking down the tomato to a paste you have an intensely flavoured base to this rice and you can make the paste ahead of time and keep it in the fridge if you have limited time. I also sometimes double the paste recipe and just freeze half for another day.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

450g fresh tomatoes, quartered

1 onion peeled

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 cinnamon stick

4 cloves

a large pinch of saffron

1 teaspoon salt

50g ghee or oil

300g rice

425mls water

Method

Process the tomatoes, onion, garlic and 50mls water.

Heat the ghee or oil over a medium to high heat, pour in the tomato mix, add the cinnamon, cloves, saffron and salt, stir well and bring up to the boil.

Allow the tomatoes to simmer, uncovered until all of the liquid has evaporated and you have a thick paste in the pan.

Stir the rice through the paste and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the cold water, stir again and cover, bring up to the boil and then reduce heat, cook, covered for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, turn the heat off but leave the rice, covered for 10 minutes.

Fork through the rice before serving.

Chicken and Sweetcorn Hand Pies

Leftovers come back to life in these fun pies.

I tend to make up a BIG batch and then freeze them to be reheated at a later date, normally evenings when we are all coming and going a bit too much!

Makes 12 pies.

Ingredients

450g cooked chicken, brown and white meat

400g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 red onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 jalapeño, deseeded and finely diced

250g cream cheese

20g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

salt and pepper

1 kg puff pastry sheets, 6 sheets

1 egg, beaten

smoked paprika

Method

In a large pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft, add the chilli and garlic and cook for two minutes.

Add the cooked chicken and sweetcorn to the pan and mix well.

Add the cream cheese and mix until the cheese has melted and coated the chicken. Season well and allow to cool completely.

Once the filling has cooled, stir through the coriander.

Defrost the pastry and cut each sheet in half, spoon one twelfth of the filling onto one half of the cut sheet, brush the edges with egg and seal using a fork. Brush the top with egg and sprinkle over a little smoked paprika. Repeat with the remaining filling and pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake the pies in batches for around 30 minutes until crispy.

 

The Best Gluten Free Toad In The Hole

Comfort food at its best!

My butcher makes award winning sausages and I like his French Toulouse sausages for this, made with garlic and pepper, the main thing is to get a pure pork sausage with no fillers and nasties!

If your sausages are smaller you may need to cut the prosciutto in half or have a few more slices.

As rich as this is, I serve it with some steamed veggies, that’s really all that you need.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

400g speck or streaky bacon, rind removed, cut into 0.5-1cm chunks

1 onion, chopped into wedges

1kg pure pork sausages, 6 large sausages

6 slices prosciutto

150g gluten free plain flour

2 eggs

250mls milk

100mls water

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Centigrade.

Line the base and sides of the tin so that the pudding can’t escape into the pan.

Add the chopped speck or bacon to the pan with the onion and pop into the oven for 20mins.

Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each sausage and add to the pan, bake for 15mins.

Measure the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre, crack the eggs in to the centre of the well and begin to whisk gently. As it thickens, pour and whisk the milk and flour in. Season well.

Once the sausage has baked for 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and very carefully pour the batter into the pan, going around each sausage.

Return the roasting tin to the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until the pudding has risen and is golden.

The pudding will deflate a little once you take it out of the oven.

 

Cream of Carrot Soup With Garlic and Fresh Thyme

Soup is such a comfort on a cold evening!

By adding potatoes to the soup you don’t need to use as much cream to get a smooth creamy consistency and I swear it fills my boys more.

I always make this quantity and freeze half for another day.

Serves 12.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1.5 kg carrots, peeled and chopped into discs

2 onions, diced

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1.8litres chicken or vegetable stock

200mls cream

salt and pepper

Method

In a large pan or stock pot, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the carrots, onions and potatoes, stir well and cover to allow the vegetables to sweat.

Once the onion is cooked add the garlic and thyme leaves and cook for 2 mins, stirring regularly so the vegetables don’t catch on the base of the pan.

Pour in the stock and bring up to a simmer.

Simmer until all of the vegetables are cooked.

Take the pan off the heat and using a stick blender, process the soup until smooth.

Add the cream, season and reheat gently.

Serve with a few thyme leaves sprinkled over.