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.

Red Chilli Rice

I love this rice for popping into burritos along with what we call taco coleslaw.

Apart from being a gorgeous colour, this rice has bags of flavour and can really stand alone if you are having it as a side dish.

Leftovers reheat well and I send the boys to school with rice filled wraps too, anything to fill them up!

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

1 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes

1 small onion, peeled and quartered

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 chipotle chilli in Adobe sauce

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried dill tips

1 lime, juiced

75g butter or oil

400g basmati rice

750mls water

Method

Combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chipotle chilli, oregano, dill, lime juice and salt in a food processor and whizz to make a loose paste.

Heat the butter in a pan that you will use to cook the rice.

Pour in the tomato paste and simmer gently for 30mins until dark and thickened.

Add the rice to the pan and cook for 1 minute and then add the water, stir, cover and bring up to the boil.

Simmer for 18 minutes, turn the heat off but leave the lid on.

After 10 minute rest, remove the lid, stir the rice and serve.

Mojo Chicken

This is my version of the Cuban dish, Pollo Con Mojo.

The boys have lots of fun with the name, heaps of Austin Powers jokes while trying to eat dinner!

By cutting the chicken down like this it cooks more quickly and using the spine as a rack stops the meat getting too burnt in the caramelised orange juice.

Any leftovers are fabulous for quesadilla fillings the next day.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1.8kg chicken

200mls freshly squeezed orange juice

1 lime, zest and juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 garlic cloves

1 green chilli, deseeded

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

salt and pepper

Method

Turn the chicken, breast side down. Take a pair of poultry sheers and cut down either side of the spine, I find it easiest to cut down from the parsons nose end! Set the spine aside. Turn the chicken breast side up and push down the breasts to flatten the chicken.

Now make the marinade, combine all of the other ingredients and whizz in a food processor or use a stick blender to make the marinade.

Combine the chicken and marinade in a bag and pop in the fridge for 30mins-2hours if you have time.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade

Take a roasting tin and place the chicken spine on the base, top with the chicken and then pour over the marinade.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, basting every 20 minutes. If the wings are colouring too quickly, wrap them with a little foil.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

 

Spice Rack Chicken

This is a super quick spice rub that really packs a punch.

I have baked this in the oven but the chicken barbecues extremely well too, just turn regularly and baste with the remaining marinade.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.4kg chicken, cut into 12 pieces

75mls olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

4 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

4 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and allow to marinade for 2-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Spread the chicken pieces out on the tray with the skin side upwards.

Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, baste a couple of times during the baking time.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

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.

Chipotle Chilli And Sundried Tomato Roast Chicken

Only a week of school holidays to go so time to get back into sharing what I’ve been up to in the kitchen these last few weeks!

As many of you know, I’m a BIG fan of flattening whole chooks like this, it’s really quite easy with a pair of poultry shears or kitchen scissors, you just cut up each side of the spine, trim around the skin, flip the chook over and squash the breasts down with the palm of your hand. I then loosen as much of the skin as I can to then pour the marinade right in against the skin for maximum flavour and to give you some really juicy chicken.

Dont waste any pan juices or the bones either! I pop the removed spines under the chooks to roast at the same time and then once we are done, all of the bones and pan juices go into the pressure cooker to make an amazing smoky stock, great for tomato based soups or even dirty rice!

Serves 10-12.

Ingredients

2 x 1.6kg chickens, spines removed and flattened

2 chipotle chillies in Adobe sauce plus and extra tablespoon of sauce

10 Sundried tomato halves

4 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 tablespoon dried oregano

100mls olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the chicken first. once the spine has been removed, I use poultry shears, flatten the chicken breasts with the palm of you hand. Next, slide your fingers up under the skin over the breasts, legs and thighs, loosening it as you go.

In a processor, whizz up the chipotle chillies and sauce, Sundried tomatoes, garlic, smoked paprika, oregano, salt, pepper and oil.

Now, por the marinade into a piping bag or a food prep bag. Cut the corner off and use the bag to squeeze most of the marinade under the skin of the two chooks. Rub the remaining marinade over the outside over the skin while rubbing the marinade under the skin to make sure it goes into all of the nooks and crannies!

Allow the chicken to marinade for 4-24 hours if you have time.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.

Lay the chooks in a roasting tin, breasts up.

Roast in the oven for 80 minutes, basting regularly until the skin is supe crisp and the meat cooked through.

Allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving to give you supe moist meat.

Cajun Salmon

Golly gosh!

This will really knock your socks off!

This is a fab way to make three salmon fillets feed 4-6 people depending on your sides, we have this with a quinoa salad to fill the boys up!

I make a salad base of mixed leaves, avocado slices, coriander and I finish the salmon off with a squeeze of lime juice. By breaking the fillets up it goes so much further in our house!

You can make this ahead of time and just let the salmon sit in the fridge in the rub and leftovers make brilliant sandwich fillings.

Ingredients

3 large skinless salmon fillets, around 700g

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade, line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Wash and pat dry the salmon, check for bones and I like to remove the fatty underside too.

Combine the herbs, spices and salt on a plate.

Turn each salmon fillet over in the spice mix until thoroughly coated, place on the baking sheet and repeat.

Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes depending on thickness.

Butternut Pumpkin with a Spicy Crust

This recipe came about in an effort to get the boys to eat more vegetables and it worked!

Now a firm favourite in our house I often make double and and the extra goes into my vegetarian enchiladas.

Ingredients

1 butternut pumpkin

80g ground almonds

100g Parmesan, finely grated

1/2-1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade.

Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Cut the pumpkin in half lengthways. Remove the seeds, peel and slice, around 1cm thick.

Lay the slices onto the prepared baking sheets.

Combine the almonds, Parmesan, chipotle chilli powder, oregano, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the cheese mix over the pumpkin and bake for 30-40 mins until the squash is cooked through and the topping crisp.

Mexican Pulled Beef

What can I say!

Falling apart beef, ideal for stuffing into burritos, tacos, pittas and dare I say, pies.

Slow cooking achieves the melt in the mouth texture and you just need tongs to serve as you pull it gently apart, top with a spoonful of the pan sauce, heaven!

Not too spicy but with a massive hit of flavour. The boys love this served with rice in a burrito with avocado and sour cream and for the gluten free option I have it with rice.

If you want, add 2-3 drained tins of black beans for the final 30-45 mins to make the meat go even further.

This quantity serves 12-14, I make this quantity and then  freeze half for an easy dinner another night.

Ingredients

2.5kg piece of beef, I use blade, cut into very large chunks, around 10cm

3 ancho chillies

100mls olive oil

6 onions, sliced

6 cloves garlic, chopped

120g chipotle chillies in adobe sauce, around 3 chillies and their sauce, diced

750mls passata or sieved tomatoes

500mls water

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons brown sugar

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 150degrees Centigrade.

Boil the kettle, place the ancho chillies in a heat proof bowl, pour over the boiling water and allow to soak for 30mins. Once softened remove stem and seeds, dice roughly.

In a large oven proof, lidded pan, heat the oil and add the onions.

Cook the onion over a medium heat until soft and caramelised, around 30mins.

Add the garlic and cook for 10mins.

Pour in the passata, ancho chillies, chipotle chillies, water, oregano, cocoa, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Bring up to the boil.

Add the beef to the pan. Stir well.

Cover the pan with a piece of overlapping baking parchment and then the lid.

Pop in the oven and cook for 4 hours.

Remove the lid and paper and allow to cook down, in the oven, for a further 30-45mins.

Pull the beef apart with forks or tongs and serve.

Chicken Fajitas

Fajitas are a fantastic quick meal, I make my gluten free corn tortillas, recipe in the blog, to wrap the meat in, along with lettuce, capsicum, and a few slices of jalapeño chilli.

Ingredients

4 large skinless chicken breats, cut into thin strips

2 limes

4 teaspoons dried oregano

4 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

2 jalapeño chillies, finely diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 red onions, sliced

Method

Combine the chicken, lime zest and juice, oregano, smoked paprika, thyme, chipotle, jalapeño and oil in a ziplock bag.

Set aside for 4 hours in the fridge.

Heat a large frying pan over high heat.

Tip the chicken and marinade into the hot pan along with the onion slices.

Cook over high heat until the chicken is cooked through and coloured a little.

Serve with wraps.