Tag: dinner

How to make amazing rotissere / BBQ style chicken even if you’re working or just plain busy

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Mixing spices
Chicken in the crockpot
Laying out the veggies
Chicken broth
Ready for the oven
Corn in broth
Thick gravy
Amazing slow cooked corn
Moist left over over chicken
Gorgeous roast chicken

This creates amazing melting-off-the-bone roast chicken with crispy skin and fantastic gravy. For best results (and practicality) it uses both a slow cooker and a oven. (The alternative is 5 hours in the oven but then you won’t get the amazing corn!).

Ingredients

  • Spice blend
    • 2 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp smoked paprika
    • 1 tsp onion powder
    • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
    • 1/2 tsp white pepper + 1/4 tsp black pepper (or just fresh grind in tri-colour peppercorns)
    • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
    • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 chicken to roast
  • Vegetables to roast (i.e. potatoes, zucchini, carrot, whole peeled garlic, corn-on-the-cob).
  • Oil (I like rice bran oil)
  • Potato flakes or cornstarch (for the gravy)

Allergy friendly: soy free, dairy free, gluten free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Tip: Whole peeled garlic is often sold in large bags; consider portioning it out into little bags and freezing it. You can pull it out of the freezer each time you have a roast.

Directions

  1. Mix the spice blend together.
  2. Peel the onion & top’n’tail it.
  3. Make sure the chicken is ready for cooking (i.e. giblets removed).
  4. Rinse the cavity and pat dry with a paper towel.
  5. Rub the spice blend over the chicken inside and out.
  6. Put the onion inside the chicken cavity.
  7. Put the chicken into the slow cooker.
    • A note on timing: You can rub the chicken the night before, wrap it in a plastic bag, and marinade it overnight in the fridge so that all you have to do in the morning is pop it in the slow cooker. The choice on whether to put the cooker on Low or High depends on how long it will be in there and how long you want to have it in the oven. My chicken wasn’t 100% defrosted so I had it on High in the slow cooker for 5 hours and then in the oven for 1.5 hours.
  8. Prepare your vegetables to roast.
    • I chop the potatoes up and put them in the steamer in the microwave for about 10 minutes to give them a bit of a head start before placing them in the roasting pan.  You can brush the veggies lightly with oil before placing the chicken on top – they just need a touch to keep from drying out before the fat from the chicken starts to drip out.
  9. Carefully pull the chicken out of the slow cooker and put it in the roasting pan. Baste it with the juices from the slow cooker.
  10. Roast the chicken for 60-90 mins. Start the oven at 180-200’C; you’ll be able to drop the temperature to 150’C and cover the chicken in tin foil once it has browned. Keep basting the chicken periodically with juices from the slow cooker.
  11. Put the corn-on-the-cob in the slow cooker (in the chicken juices) as soon as you take the chicken out. Cook on High for 60-90 minutes.
    • The juices will only cover the bottom of the corn; this is fine. It comes out cooked, still with a good steamed firmness, sweet, and lightly flavoured by the chicken broth.
  12. Once the chicken, roast veggies, and corn are all cooked, you can use the juices in the slow cooker to make gravy. You can use flour or cornstarch, or try potato flakes.  It’s not just that these are gluten free, it’s that they thicken the gravy quickly and don’t go lumpy like cornflour sometimes does. Add potato flakes gradually (leaving the slow cooker on) and stirring; I made my gravy quite thick.

Leftover roast chicken can be used for the next night, sandwiches, to make chicken fried rice, or as a pizza topping on a flat or scone base.

Prawn Fried Rice

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Ingredients

  • 2c cooked rice (refrigerated from previous day)
  • 1 1/2c frozen vegetables
  • 1 1/2c prawns
  • Dried ginger
  • Sliced green onion
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Fish sauce
  • Oil (I like rice bran oil)
  • optional: coriander, chilli, lime slices.

This is the kind of recipe that you may want to make on the spur of the moment because you have leftover rice, or it may be something that you prep the night before so that you can whip up lunch or dinner the next day quickly.

In terms of prep time, the rice needs to have been cooked and cooled long enough. This changes it to resistant starch which will help it to stir fry. My personal preference is basmati rice (both for taste and that it holds together well in a wok); I made this with long grain white rice and it worked well enough but some of the cooked grains for break apart.

My prawns were frozen so I had both those and the veggies covered on the bench for the afternoon to defrost. They were cool when they went in the wok but not frozen so this leads to a quick cooking time.

Tip: I find that sliced green onion freezes well. I portion it out in little bags and then pull it out as needed for stir fries and pizza.

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free, treenut free, gluten free. May not be suitable for people with fish or shellfish allergies.

Directions

  1. Cook your rice the day before. Personally, I like to use the rice cooker with water, salt, and rice bran oil.  As your rice cools give it a bit of a fluff (easier if you’ve used some oil in the cooking) and put it in the fridge to cool overnight.
  2. Prepare your vegetables. If you’re using frozen veggies then it’s a good idea to put them in the fridge at the same time as the rice so that it can defrost overnight. Alternatively, you might want to use something like grated carrot.
  3. Prepare your prawns. If frozen, make sure that they’ve defrosted slowly. Give them a rinse and pat dry.
  4. When you’re ready to cook, heat your wok nice and hot with some oil.
  5. Add the prawns and a pinch or two of ginger.
  6. Prawns aren’t as temperamental as squid but they don’t need a long cook time. About 5 minutes for prawns (and less if using shrimp instead).
  7. Add your vegetables.
  8. Add the rice. Keep moving it around to separate and coat the grains.
  9. Add a dash of fish sauce. Add sugar and salt to taste.
  10. Keep moving everything around so that it doesn’t stick; add more oil if needed.  Serve when hot through.
  11. Serve with condiments if desired (like chopped fresh coriander, fresh chillies, lime slices etc.).

Scone Pizza Base

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SCONE PIZZA BASE

I’ve posted previously with a recipe for making a thin pizza base; a scone pizza base makes a wonderful thick pizza base and brings back warm memories for me of my Poppa in his kitchen making this in the summer holidays. Pizza is also a great way of using up leftovers.

Ingredients

  • 3c standard plain flour
  • 6 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 75g butter
  • 1 to 1 1/2c milk
  • Optional: Add some chopped fresh basil and dry oregano to the flour.

Allergies: soy free, egg free, peanut free.

NOTE: Lots of pizza pastes have added sugar, additives and other things. I prefer tomato paste that’s 99.5% tomatoes + salt and nothing else. The latest pizza had tomato paste on 1/2 and basil pesto on the other 1/2. I added finely diced red onion, thinly sliced zucchini & mushrooms, diced roast pork, and grated cheese. I love adding finely sliced asparagus stalks (the bottom half) when they’re in season.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 200’C.
  2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt into a bowl.
  3. Cut butter in until it resembles breadcrumbs.
  4. Add milk and mix quickly until it resembles a soft dough.
  5. Turn out onto floured bench and knead a few times. Roll out into a flat base. (You may want to move onto a lined or greased baking tray before adding the toppings).
  6. Apply your choice of pizza toppings.
  7. Bake for 10 minutes. Check. Cook for another 5-10 mins until golden.

Roast Pork Sirloin

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dav

Ingredients

  • Pork Sirloin roast
  • 4 crushed garlic cloves
  • 4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary / 2 tsp dried
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Optional: potatoes, carrots, zucchini etc. to roast.

Allergies: soy free, egg free, peanut free, dairy free, gluten free.

Directions

  • Prepare any vegetables that you want to roast. Personally, I used potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. I was useless at cooking potatoes and avoided doing so (using kumara instead) until I learned the trick of parboiling them (or similar). I chop them up and put them in the steamer in the microwave for about 10 minutes to give them a bit of a head start before placing them in the roasting pan.  You can brush the veggies lightly with olive oil before placing the pork on top – they just need a touch to keep from drying out before the fat from the pork starts to drip out.
  • Mix the garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper together. Moisten with a dash of olive oil. Rub it all over the pork.  Optional: I’m told that if you like garlic, you can also cut small slits in the pork fat and stick whole garlic cloves in to get some yummy roast garlic.
  • Place the fat side down. Place it on top of the potatoes etc. if you have any in the pan.
    • NOTE: I was rather puzzled when I read the initial recipe I was using as my pork roast was rolled and tied with string – it had fat all over! I shrugged and just chose a side to face up. Turns out this was an error (check out the photos below). If your roast is rolled up, cut the string and lay it flat with the fat facing the bottom of the pan. One end will be thicker as this cut is basically pork sirloin chops + pork belly.
  • Cook at 200’C for 30mins.
  • Check on the veggies and turn the roast over so that the fat is now on top. Roast for 25 mins.
  • Remove and stand for 10 minutes.

So… I’d never cooked one of these before and the rolled pork did seem to resemble the photo I saw on the internet. I didn’t realize that the string was supposed to be cut and the meat lay flat so the cooking (and learning) process took much longer than expected. My main concern was that the pork would dry out (a near thing!) so I was doing a lot of checking and basting towards the end. I also began to appreciate why some of my friends have a meat thermometer rather than needing to slice into the meat to check.

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I steam my potatoes in the microwave for about 10 mins before putting in the roasting pan.

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Oops – I put the pork in rolled up (as it came). The veggies cooked but the pork was still pink when I unrolled it. All I’d managed to do in an hour was to start cooking the fat on each side of the roll!

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Rolling it out flat the meat and fat finally began to cook. After another 30 mins at 200’C there was definitely progress. By this point I was hungry and decided to speed things along.

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ROAST PORK SIRLOIN

I trimmed off the fat (just leaving a thin layer to provide moisture). I cooked it for about 20 mins at 180’C (basting regularly) and then grilled it to brown the thin layer of fat.

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All turned out well in the end with a good collection of roast pork.

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The fat I continued to cook to make crackling. The rendered fat and juices can be made into gravy or you can collect the fat as lard. Lard can be used for lots of things, for instance frying potatoes.

Excess roast pork can be frozen and kept for later meals such as pork fried rice or making pizza.

Grilled pork with strawberry balsamic glaze

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This is a great way to use strawberries that are still fresh but a little bruised. It’s also nice to use them in a savoury dish for a change – especially if you’ve been eating lots after going strawberry picking! It met with toddler approval 🙂

This recipe does create rather more dishes than I’d normally prefer so is best if both mother and child are feeling happy, healthy, and relaxed. If you’re looking for a last minute quick and easy meal when you’re both feeling tired or stressed then I suggest Welsh Rarebit.

Ingredients

  • 400-500g pork to oven grill (i.e. pork chops, sirloin steak, tenderloin etc.)
  • Bacon strips (optional)
  • Olive oil
  • 2 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1/3c balsamic vinegar
  • 2/3c sliced strawberries
  • Salt and pepper
  • Potatoes (optional)

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, gluten free, egg free, nut free.

Directions

  1. I served this dish with roast potatoes so I started with those knowing they would take the longest to cook. My preference is to cut the potatoes and pre-cook them in a microwave steamer. Then place them in a roasting dish lined with baking paper and baste with a little olive oil.
  2. Take the pork and sear at a high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side.
    • The purpose of this is to help seal moisture into the pork so it’s worth taking the time for the extra step.
  3. Place pork in the roasting dish with the potatoes. Wrap the pork in the bacon strips. The bacon isn’t essential to the recipe but if you happen to have it then it’s a tasty addition! I’ve read recipes that suggest the bacon also helps the pork to retain it’s moisture (but mainly it’s tasty).
  4. Bake the pork at 180’C for 30 mins.
  5. While the pork is cooking start on the strawberry glaze.
    • In a pot (or glass Pyrex jug) heat olive oil and garlic.
    • Add balsamic vinegar and 1/3c strawberries (reserve the rest of the strawberries).
    • Bring to the boil. Then simmer for 10 mins (stirring occasionally).
    • Add salt and pepper to taste.
    • Add remaining 1/3c strawberries.
  6. Baste the pork and then grill till the bacon is crispy. (I flipped it and grilled it on both sides).
  7. Serve with remaining strawberry sauce, roast potatoes, and greens. Freshly picked basil also goes well if you happen to be growing some on the windowsill.

Allergy: Egg free, peanut free, dairy free, soy free.

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Mediterranean Lamb for the slow cooker

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Ingredients

  • 400g lamb (small cubes)
  • Marinade:
    • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
    • 1/2 tsp black pepper
    • 1 tsp paprika
    • 2 tsp ground ginger
    • 1 tsp tumeric
    • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
    • 1 tsp cumin seeds
    • 1 tsp coriander
    • 1 tsp garlic flakes
    • 1 tsp honey
    • 1-2 T oil
  • 2T plain flour (or superfine white rice flour)
  • 1-2 T tomato paste
  • 1 onion (diced)
  • 1 large carrot (grated)
  • 1-2 T tomato paste
  • Dried dates, dried sultanas, dried apricots (or use 1/2 – 1 tin apricot halves).
  • Flaked almonds
  • 1/2c chicken stock

Directions

  1. Marinade the lamb overnight in the fridge (I marinade mine in the ceramic slow-cooker pot).
  2. In the morning you can brown the meat if you want but I always skip that step for sake of convenience and dishes!
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients in order and mix as you go. The exception is the apricots, I used tinned apricots (because they’re cheaper) and they can get added 30-60 mins before you finish cooking.
  4. Turn the slow cooker on. I put mine on around 8am on Low and then checked it periodically to add a little more water (I wanted to keep the consistency to thick gravy but you can add more liquid as per preference).
  5. Serve with your choice of carbs and veggies. If you’re in a rush then couscous is very quick, or you could choose rice or noodles; personally, I love the opportunity to make fluffy dumplings in the slow cooker so I made a double batch of cheese-garlic-mixed herb dumplings 🙂

 

As always, adjust the recipe to your personal taste. You can easily add more meat or a legume of your choice (i.e. chickpeas); don’t be put off by the long spice list if you don’t have all those in the pantry, there are lots of spice blends available at the supermarket if you prefer.

Allergens: Soy free (do check the chicken stock carefully though or use home made), dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free.

 

Beautiful fluffy dumplings

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Accredit to: French Tart.

I stumbled upon this recipe one day when looking for something to add to a slow-cooker stew and they were beautiful! The secret is using really cold butter (chilled or frozen) and grating it into the flour.

Ingredients

  • 120g self-raising flour
  • 60g chilled/frozen grated butter (or suet)
  • Cold water to mix
  • Salt & pepper to season
  • Optional: parsley, dried herbs, grated cheese, garlic granules, onion powder, chilli powder etc.
  1. Put the flour, seasonings, & suet in a large mixing bowl, mix thoroughly.
  2. (If you are adding herbs or extra seasonings, add them now & mix well.).
  3. Add sufficient cold water – bit by bit – to make a pliable dough; it should not be too sticky, but just bound together.
  4. Divide the dumpling mixture into 8 portions, and roll into small balls with floured hands.
  5. Drop them into your soup, casserole or stew 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, making sure that the soup, stew or casserole is very hot.
  6. Put the lid on IMMEDIATELY and do NOT take the lid off until just before the end of the cooking time, about 15-18 minutes to check that they are nearly ready.
  7. They should have doubled in size at least, and be very light & fluffy looking!
  8. Ladle the soup, stew or casserole into warmed soup bowls & serve 2 dumplings per person.
  9. Oven baked: place the dumplings on top of your stew or casserole and cook for about 30 minutes at 200’C or 400’F, or until well risen, golden brown & crusty.

 

Allergens: soy free, egg free, peanut free.