Bacon, Beans and Eggs

A slightly deceptive title!

This is super for breakfast, lunch or dinner served over toast or a baked potato for a gluten free option.

You can make the bean mix the day before, refrigerate and then warm through gently before continuing with the eggs.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

400g bacon, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 x 420g kidney beans, drained and rinsed

750mls passata or sieved tomatoes

400mls water

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 tablespoon maple syrup

salt and pepper

6-12 eggs

Method

In a large frying pan, cook the bacon over medium to high heat until it is a little crispy. remove bacon but leave the fat in the pan.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook until softened.

Return the bacon to the pan and add the  beans, passata, water, tomato paste, maple syrup, smoked paprika and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper

Bring up to the boil and then let gently simmer for 30mins until the sauce is thickened. Check the seasoning.

Make slight wells in the bean mix and crack an egg in, repeat for each egg.

Cook the eggs until the white is set and the yolk is still runny.

Serve over toasted bread or a baked potato.

Fried Potatoes with Eggs

We recently got some new chickens and this is the third double yolk egg they have given us! I find with the girls eggs that they are too bulbous once cracked in the pan so I have to flip them over to cook all of the white, I only turn them for a few seconds before flipping them back and serving.

I often cook extra potatoes, either boiled or baked as these were, as they are so handy for leftovers, so, here are last nights baked baby potatoes.

Serves 4

Ingredients

40g butter

12 cooked baby potatoes, sliced into thick chunks

4-8 eggs depending on appetite

salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

A few chives, snipped with scissors

Method

In a large frying pan heat the butter.

Once hot, add the potatoes and cook until golden on both sides.

Move the potatoes to the side of the pan.

Crack the eggs in the pan, season with salt and pepper, smoked paprika and chilli flakes,  fry turning if you want.

Spoon potatoes onto your plates, top with the eggs and sprinkle with chives.

Potato and Carrot Fritters with Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Chilli

These are very popular in our house, the smoked paprika and chipotle powder certainly take them to a different level of smokey and mildly spicy deliciousness!

I love these fritters served with an avocado and poached egg or a salad and stuffed mushrooms. Lovely for breakfast lunch or dinner too!

Makes 12-16 fritters.

Ingredients

3 large potatoes

3 large carrots

1 onion

6 eggs

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

salt and pepper

vegetable oil to fry in

Method

Using a food processor, grate the potatoes and carrots, place in a sieve to drain the excess liquid.

Using the processor again, process the onion until finely chopped.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, add the onion, smoked paprika, chipotle chilli powder and season well with salt and pepper.

Heat a large frying pan with your oil of choice.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade. Line  a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Add the potatoes and carrots to the egg mix, combine well.

Take forkfuls of the fritter mix, it will become very runny so just leave the excess liquid in the bowl.

Place the forkfuls of fritter into the pan, don’t over crowd your pan, maybe four at a time?

Spread out with the fork and fry until golden.

Flip over and repeat on the other side.

Once golden, slide onto the prepared baking sheet and pop in the oven while you repeat with the remaining mix.

 

 

Steak and Bacon Pâté

Whether you call this pâté, paste or spread it is a lovely versatile recipe that can be dressed up or down.

To dress it up, serve in small ramekins topped with melted butter and beautiful bread for dinner parties or dress it down, dolloped on gluten free crackers or as a sandwich filling for the school lunch boxes.

To cook it you need to steam the meat for four hours, until it is falling apart. I use a large 8litre pan and a large Pyrex bowl with a saucer under the bowl to lift it away from the heat source.

As this recipe makes a large quantity of pâté I normally freeze half in two smaller boxes for a later date.

Ingredients

1kg steak, diced

600g bacon, back and middle cuts, diced

8 anchovies in oil, drained

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

Method

You need a large pan, with a lid,  that your heatproof bowl will fit in and a plate or saucer on the base.

Place all the ingredients in the heat proof bowl.

Turn the saucer or plate upside down and place in the base of the pan.

Place the bowl on top of the plate and carefully pour water into the pan, around one third of the way up the bowl.

Cover with a lid and bring up to the boil, allow to simmer for 4hours, covered.

Check the water level regularly, top up with boiling water if needed.

After 4 hours, turn off the heat and allow to cool completely.

Once cool, process the meat in batches until smooth and spoon into ramekins, jars or boxes.

Smokey Beef Chilli with Black Beans

This is my all time favourite chilli dish, it can be made ahead of time at each stage, freezes well and feeds a crowd!

It is also surprisingly quick to make up before it goes in the oven for a long slow cook. I don’t brown the meat and instead leave the meat in the onion, garlic and spices overnight before throwing in the tomatoes and water, bringing it up to the boil and popping it in the oven.

I buy jarred peeled capsicums, lazy I know, I just check for seeds and then dice them, much easier than peeling fresh and saves time too!

I like my chilli quite thick so I often cook it uncovered for 90mins for the final stage but 60mins gives you a bit more liquid if that’s how you like it.

I serve it with rice, sour cream and a simple non spiced guacamole, avocado, lime and coriander.

I use leftovers to fill tortillas and top nachos or freeze in takeaway boxes as single potions with rice on the side.

Serves 10-12.

2.2kg beef, cubed into 3-5cm pieces

3 red onions, finely diced

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

5 chipotle chillies and their adobe sauce, chopped

3 tablespoons oil

5 skinned and deseeded capsicums

2 dried ancho chillies, soaked for 30mins in very hot water, deseeded and chopped

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

700mls sieved tomatoes

700mls water

4 tablespoons tomato paste

3x400g tins black beans, drained and rinsed

Method

Combine the beef, onion, garlic, ground cumin and ground coriander in a large bowl or plastic bag, cover and leave overnight in the fridge.

Heat a large pan over medium to low heat, add the oil and once hot, add the contents of the bag except the beef.

Cook until the onion is soft and then add the beef, capsicum, ancho chillies, cayenne and smoked paprika. Stir well.

Preheat the oven to 160degrees Centigrade.

Add the cocoa, sugar, salt, sieved tomatoes, water and tomato paste, stir well and bring up to a simmer.

Cover with a piece of baking parchment and then the lid and place in the oven, bake for 3 hours.

After three hours, add the drained beans, stir well and place back in the oven for 60-90 minutes uncovered, until the chilli has thickened and the meat is falling apart.

 

Lime, Oregano and Smoky Chipotle Roast Chicken

I seem to be cooking with a lot of limes at the moment, maybe it’s with the start of summer and the temperature rising. This chicken is in the oven for longer than normal, this is to allow me to runaround picking up and dropping off the boys at their various playing fields and it makes the most succulent chicken that I pull off the bones and chop, skin and all, and serve with tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa and sour cream. Leftovers are perfect for filling quesadillas and the stock from the bones  makes an amazing stock for black bean soup. Serves 8-10. Ingredients 2 x 1.2-1.4kg chickens 3 limes 4 tablespoons oil A handful of fresh oregano 4 cloves garlic 4 teaspoons chipotle chilli powder 2 tablespoons sweet smoked paprika 2 teaspoons salt freshly ground pepper Method Preheat the oven to160 degrees Centigrade. Process the zest and juice of the limes, oil, oregano leaves, garlic, chipotle powder, paprika, salt and pepper to make a smooth sauce. Place the chicken in a roasting tin. Take the squeezed limes and oregano stalks and place them in to the chickens cavity. Pour the sauce over the chooks and rub well in with your hands. Take a piece of baking parchment, the size of your roasting tin, scrunch it up and run it under a tap. Squeeze the water out and place it over the top of the chicken, tucking it into the sides. Now, cover tightly with foil. Pop in the oven for 2 hours. After two hours, remove the foil and paper and baste, return to the oven. Baste regularly for a further hour. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 20-30mins before taking the meat off the bone, with the skin attached, and chop into bite sized pieces.

Smoky Scrambled Eggs with Red Onion, Jalapeño and Avocado

Sunday morning breakfast is one of my favourite meals if we aren’t rushing to the boys sporting commitments!

While the boys have “spaceman eggs” the adults have something a little more civilised.

The wrap in the photo is gluten free but you could use any kind of bread or miss it out all together as they are quite filling.

Ingredients

15mls olive oil

1/2 red onion, cut into wedges

25g pickled  jalapeño chillies

2 eggs

50mls cream

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon mild smoked paprika

1 avocado, sliced

1 wrap

Method

Heat the oil in a small frying pan.

Add the onion and cook over medium to high heat until slightly browned and beginning to soften.

Add the jalapeños and cook for 1 minute, pour the  onions and jalapeños into a dish and return the pan to the heat.

In a jug, whisk the eggs, cream, salt and smoked paprika till well combined.

Pour the egg mixture into the pan and scramble the eggs.

Heat the wrap under the grill add the onions and jalapeños. Add the egg and top with avocado.

Sweet Corn Fritters

These are the best corn fritters, using fresh corn they have a lovely crunch about them but the whipped egg whites make them as light as a feather.

Use your imagination with toppings salsa, guacamole, black beans, ham, cheese, smoked salmon, bean stew, chicken and salad, the list goes on!

Makes 12-14.

Ingredients

3 ears of sweet corn, shucked

3 spring onions, topped and tailed, finely sliced

1 large red chilli, deseeded and diced finely

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

50g gluten free breadcrumbs

2 limes, juiced

4 eggs, separated

2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

Method

Heat a large non stick frying pan over a medium heat.

In a large bowl combine the sweet corn, spring onions, chilli, paprika, cayenne, gluten free breadcrumbs and lime juice.

Add the four egg yolks and combine very well.

In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.

Gently fold the egg whites into the sweet corn mixture.

Using a large spoon, spoon fritters onto the frying pan, do not over crowd.

Cook until the top looks set and then flip over and cook will medium brown.

Top with your favourite toppings and serve.