BUFFALO FRIED CHICKEN HOT TACOS

LOVE TACOS

These are so cheeky and mouthstuffingly gorgeous, a lovely crispy corn taco shell stuffed with crispy shredded fried chicken, crisp lettuce, pickled jalapenos, shredded cheese, hot hot sauce and a lime sour cream drizzle, very naughty!

These were a really quick assemble from leftovers in the fridge, great for a quick meal that eats like you slaved over a stove.  This is the sort of Ta da meals you want to pull out of the fridge when unexpected visitors drop by, keeping your culinary genius status.

Prep time 5-20 minutes (fridge or freshly made) / Cooking time if freshly made 10 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4 +)

12 corn tacos grilled

4 Southern fried chicken tenders

(want to make your own recipe below)

1/2 ice berg lettuce shredded

1 cup shredded cheese

1 jar pickled jalapenos

1 bottle of hot hot sauce

1 tub sour cream

1 lime juiced

Making your own Fried Chicken Ya!

200ml buttermilk and 2 tbsp hot sauce in a ziplock bag

(If you have time marinate the chicken in the above 30 mins - 2hrs) 

4 chicken fillets

100g plain flour in a bowl

1 egg beaten in a bowl

50g semolina in a bowl

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp celery salt or sea

1/4tsp garlic powder

1 ltr nut oil for frying chicken

Heat your oil to 180 degrees C in a shallow pan, take the chicken from the buttermilk and toss in the semolina, add all the seasonings to the flour and mix well, take each chicken tender and coat in the egg, then the seasoned flour, dust off and fry gently for around 4 minutes until crispy and golden, place on a rack to drain.  That's it...  Mix the lime juice with your sour cream and your ready to assemble and go...

Lay your tacos (3) on each plate and then assemble your layers of ingredients, I do have a specific order, this is so that each bite gets all of the flavours and also keeps the ingredients crisp, I like to layer the lettuce first, then the shredded chicken and drench this in hot hot sauce, top this with the shredded cheeses, sometimes I pop this under the grill for a couple of moments to melt, not always depends on time and mood!  Next has to be a little more hot sauce, then the jalapenos and finished off with the lime sour cream drizzle and if I have fresh coriander to hand a handful of that sprinkled over to finish.

That's it enjoy these gorgeous tacos...

FLAXSEED AND PARMESAN CRACKERS

These are so simple to make...

This is a brilliant super quick and easy gluten free cracker recipe that delivers 100% on the flavour and gives you a crisp snapping texture, great for when you miss having that crispy cracker bite...Those of you on a low carb lifestyle will be in the know of missing the crunch!  Even better is that 4 crackers will give you a abundance of fiber and a whopping help up towards your daily allowance of omega 3.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 40 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 20 crackers)

1 cup of milled organic flaxseed

1/4 to 1/3 cup of Parmesan grated

1 tbsp garlic grated

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt

1/3 cup water

Optional grating of Parmesan 

At this point you can add any extra flavour you like, I often add some turmeric and chilli flakes or cumin and if I want to use these crackers for dipping with a lovely fresh bowl of salsa I will add fresh coriander and lime juice to compliment the salsa dip.

Pre heat your oven to 150 degrees C, combine all ingredients in a bowl, lay some baking paper on your work top enough to cover your baking sheet, cut a second sheet the same size, this is going to save clearing up!  Take your ball of flaxseed dough and place in the centre of the baking sheet, place the second sheet on top and press down to flatten the dough out a little.

Take your rolling pin and roll the dough through the paper, hence no floury work top to clean down!  Roll as thin as you dare, cracker thin.  Peel off the top baking paper and using a knife or pizza cutter score the dough in to your crackers, this can be triangles for corn chips style or long and thin for more fancy presentation or just your standard squares.

Slide your baking sheet on to your baking tray and pop in the oven, these crackers will take 40 minutes to bake to perfection, if you feel they are not crisp enough leave for a further five minutes or so.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack and these are best enjoyed on the day, but they will keep for a week in a air tight tin, they just loose a little of their crispy cracker, but the flavour is still there.  Enjoy.

FOOD TO GRAB AND GO

I love the theatrics of food in a jar, it makes me feel kinda special, like some extra effort has been made when in reality it is a really speedy quick lunch grabbed from the fridge whilst heading out the door, being a little bit prepared makes all the difference in keeping a a calm sense about day to day living.

Because I keep my fridge stocked with prepped veggies, cooked spicy chicken amoung many things (see blog post prepped like a pro) this salad only took two minutes to make and was ready to go before I was!  Can also make these jars the day before.

Chopped spicy chipotle chicken, avocado, olive oil mayo salad with asparagus, spinach, watercress, jalapeños and sprouted alfalfa.

For lots of tasty ideas on food on the go check out my fridge prepped like a pro post and you'll get the idea, I will keep adding new recipes and ideas as I eat them!

FRIDGE PREPPED LIKE A PRO DIET SUCCESS

DIABETIC DIET SUCCESS

The key to any successful lifestyle change is not to allow the old easy go to habits to sneak back in, the opportunity for this slip is often meal times that aren't planned, or if you've allowed yourself to get too hungry and then just grab whatever is at hand or even worse order a takeaway!  These set backs are super easy to avoid with a little forward planning, planning that you already do but don't realise, like deciding what meals you fancy this week, the extra bit of planning is just writing them down, now you have a weekly meal plan without even trying!

Stocking The Fridge For Success

1 hour of your time and it does not have to be all at the same time, I like to prep my fridge on Sunday mornings while everyone is getting up slow or my teenager is not getting up! But you can just as easily divide the prep while your preparing dinner one evening just quadruple up some of the preparation, for example if your chopping one onion, chop 3 or 4, it really does not take that much more time, store the extra in jars in your fridge, do the same for garlic, peppers, mushrooms, raw slaw ingredients, chillies and I also like to cut all the broccoli and cauliflower in to florets, cook some asparagus, garlic mushrooms and make a batch of olive oil mayonnaise, you can prepare what ever ingredients you use often and store for up to a week in your fridge.  I also cook up spicy chicken breasts, thighs and drumsticks for a quick go to snack.  A well stocked condiment shelf is a great help too, olives, sun blushed tomatoes, pickled jalapeños, home preserved chipotle vegetables, ratatouille etc...

This makes speedy meal times and food ready to go at a moments notice really handy.  For example the other day we as a family went out for the afternoon and due to my husband dietary requirements I thought I had better pack a lunch.  As he was loading the family in to the car I raided the fridge and in two minutes I had made 3 salads all in ball mason jars.

Super Speedy Salad In Under 2 Minutes 

Chopped spicy chipotle chicken, avocado and olive oil mayonnaise salad with pickled jalapeños, spring onion, coriander, a hint of lime, cooked asparagus, raw spinach and watercress finished off with sprouted alfalfa.  Really fresh and gorgeous to eat.

For my husband I whipped up a layered large ball mason jar with shredded raw slaw of red and white cabbage, shredded carrot and onion, drizzled over some balsamic vinegar and olive oil, layered a bed of black beans, spinach, chopped herbs, cherry tomatoes then topped with spicy tandoori charred chicken and a tablespoon of olive oil mayonnaise.

Speedy Recipe Ideas From Prepped Fridge & Leftovers

Breakfasts

Stuffed omelette with garlic mushrooms, peppers and onions

Stuffed omelette Mediterranean with roasted peppers, onions, garlic, courgette, 

olives, capers and sun blushed tomatos

Smashed hash and eggs, crushed boiled new potatoes pan seared with onion, 

topped with eggs sunny side up

Chopped boiled eggs with avocado, spinach, olive oil and wasabi mayo 

and sprouted alfalfa

Turkey pattie with mushroom ratatouille topped with fried egg 

sunny side up 

Egg and spinach wrap stuffed with coronation chicken

Egg and spinach burrito wrap stuffed with BBQ chicken, green salsa,

 hot sauce, salad and cauliflower rice

Deviled eggs

Lunch Salads

Chopped spiced chicken, avocado, olive oil mayo, spinach, broccoli, 

sprouted alfalfa

Mediterranean sun blushed tomato and olive chipotle chicken with 

watercress and raw slaw

Chicken bashed burger topped with olive oil mayo, jalapeños, 

stuffed in a ice berg leaf

Chinese shredded chicken salad on mixed raw slaw with sesame oil, lime, 

ginger, garlic and red wine vinegar dressing

Apple and kale cabbage salad with olive oil lemon herb dressing

Fajitas Buddha bowl, roasted peppers, onion, shrimp, pick de gallo, gucamole, 

salad dressed with lime and coriander 

Dinners

Gaucho flank steak seared and topped with chimmichurri and steamed 

broccoli and cauliflower

Spatchcock chicken piri piri roasted served with garlic roast 

potatoes and hot sauce dip

Asian spiced chicken meatballs served in a coconut sauce, coriander, lime and 

spinach, steamed vegetables

Lemon chicken with steamed broccoli, asparagus and cauliflower 

Shrimp tacos in lettuce leaves topped with spicy guac, pico de gallo, coriander, 

lime and garlic roasted peppers and onions

EXAMPLE

A prepared fridge for ALL the above recipe ideas is listed below, so you can see how easy it is to do just a little of ahead work and be able to pull these fabulous fresh healthy meals out of the fridge in 2-15 minutes without even noticing that your cooking!  Leftovers can play a great part in supporting your prepped fridge.

Raw Ready To Cook

Boiled eggs

Sliced onions

Chopped garlic

Sliced peppers

Sliced mushrooms

Raw slaw

Cauliflower rice

Sprouted alfalfa

Chopped courgette

Chopped olives 

Chopped sunblushed tomatoes

Boiled new potatoes

Broccoli florets 

Cauliflower florets 

Sauces

Olive oil mayonnaise 

Chimmichurri sauce

Pick de gallo

Guacamole

Hot sauce

Salsa

Pre Cooked or Raw Meats

Cooked meats

Spiced chicken breasts

Spiced drumsticks

Spiced chicken thighs

Meatballs

Meatloaf

Patties

Snacks Bars

Blitzed apricots with flaxseed and chia seed, walnuts, sunflower seed and pumpkin seeds 

Where To Start...

Just create one meal plan for a few days or the week, identify what you need to have to go in the fridge to create these meals, remember a few different ingredients go a long way to making many different meals, you can do prep everyday at meal time while your cooking that evenings dinner for the next day as your basically in the kitchen already!  

DIABETIC FRIENDLY BREAKFAST

REVERSING DIABETES...A MEAL AT A TIME...PROTEIN PACKED BREAKFAST

This is a great plan ahead prepped like a hero fridge raider breakfast, (see fridge prepped like a hero blog) a stack of earlier made turkey minced herby patties grabbed from the fridge, placed on a medium hot skillet to warm though, with some fresh mushrooms, onions, garlic, peppers and chilli, finished off and topped with a egg or two...Ta...da a brilliant low GI/GL protein packed power house breakfast that will keep your blood glucose level low and stable and you engerised until lunch.

Ingredients 

(Serves one)

The Turkey Herby Pattie 

Make lots for fridge stock!

1 kg minced turkey breast or thigh

(Makes 10)

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tsp sea salt (optional)

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp chives

1 tbsp marjoram

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp sage

Mushroom Ratatouille 

1 tsp coconut oil

2 mushrooms sliced

1 small onion finely diced

1clove garlic chopped

1 tomato diced

1/4 red pepper diced

1 red chilli chopped

1 egg

First make the turkey patties, mix all the ingredients together and form into 100g balls and press out flat into ab burger Pattie, layer a disc of grease proof paper between each Pattie and stack in a air tight container in the fridge.

Heat your cast iron skillet medium hot add the coconut oil and sear your turkey burger, when just cooked move to the side and add the rest of the ingredients except the egg and sear for a couple of minutes, place your pattie on your plate top with the mushroom ratatouille, crack the egg into the skillet and fry to your likin, sunny side up or overeasy, mine depends on the day. 

Place the egg on your pattie and enjoy.

SWEET BAKED POTATO CHICK PEA HUMOUS

Oh how I love chick peas, chick peas any way they come, this unexpected recipe came about because my husband really dislikes the texture of sweet potatoe and as a good wife I want him to eat sweet potato for the super goodness it offers but he finds the texture unpleasent...Challange Accepted !!! 

I started to think how could I hide the texture not necessarily the flavour, he does not eat sugar or cakes so a brilliant sweet potato brownie was out and I have tried falafel, twice baked, Jack Daniels sweet potato baked mash, still a texture issue, well I thought hard about the texture and thought if i use a like for like texture maybe that will cancel out the sweet potato texture...

Success this is a brillant and fabulous recipe and can be used as a dip on its own, spoon eaten as I did or mixed with some salmon or chicken and Mediterranean roasted peppers, onion and garlic and served as a great salad topping amoung many more ideas.

Baking potato time 45 minutes / Prep time in the baking time

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

If you want to make your own hummus Ya! 

Recipe below, if not no worries...

200g tub of hummus

1 large sweet potato baked

2 tbsp coriander chopped

Basically just mix all the ingredients together mix well so that the sweet potato fibres are not obvious in the hummus, that's it.

Ingredients To Make Your Own Hummus

First Make The Tahini 
Ingredients
(makes 6 tbsp)
70g sesame seeds
3-4 tbsp grape seed oil
1 pinch of salt

Make The Hummus

1 tsp olive oil

1 tin organic chic peas 

OR

(1 cup dried soaked chic peas over night

then simmered for 1 hr until soft)

3 cloves garlic

1 red chilli

1/2 juice and zest lemon

60-100ml olive oil

1 pinch sea salt

2 tbsp tahini

4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander 

Place all the ingredients except the olive oil in your food blender and blitz and pulse away until you have a smooth consistency then drizzle in half the olive oil and pulse some more, season with salt and taste, at this point your hummus is ready, but you might like a looser consistency and if you do add the rest of the olive oil.

 

CHIPOTLE SMOKED ENCHILADA SAUCE

A new Winning Dinner Done...brilliantly versatile chunky sauce that you can enjoy freshly made and also preserved from the glut in the garden for the rest of the year without any compromise to the flavour or your free time, super flavoursome dinner done in an instant!  I am rather chuffed at this recipe, so simple and bursting full of flavour this chunky sauce is going to be great over pan seared chipotle chicken, grilled fish, stuffed in to a burrito or topped over scrambled eggs, a winner winner dinner sauce...

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 30 minutes / Canning time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes 5 240ml jars)

1/2 aubergine sliced

14 large fresh tomatoes halved

3 bulbs garlic

1 tbsp coconut oil

4 onions sliced

4 dried chipotle peppers

1 dried Arbol pepper

1 guiallio pepper

4 limes juiced (1 zested)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp white pepper 

1 tbsp chipotle powder

1 cup chopped fresh coriander

If you are planning on canning any left over sauce, which I whole heartedly recommend if it even lasts that long, you will need to have your clean jars ready to hand, a pan of boiling water ready and a pre heated oven at 380 F / 180 C.

Take the dried chipotle peppers and pour over enough boiled water to just cover the chillies  to rehydrate, leave to one side until needed.

Pre heat your oven 380 F /180 C, place your skillet on a medium high heat, add the coconut oil and place the aubergine slices in the skillet to char up a little on both sides, meanwhile while the aubergines are charring cut the tomatoes in half and place in a roasting tin along with the garlic, drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for 25 minutes to cook.

Remove the aubergines and place in a food processor and leave to one side, next in the skillet throw in the onions and char up a little too, not to much, remove and place in the blender with the aubergine and leave to one side.

Take the tomatoes and garlic from the oven and add to the food processor now add the rehydrated chipotle peppers, sea salt, chipotle powder, coriander and lime juice.  Using the pulse button only, unless you want a purée, hit the button 4 times, just to whiz up the mix.  I like to leave my tomato skins in the mix as they have extra goodness.  Taste your gorgeous sauce and adjust the seasoning if required to our presonal taste with a hint more salt or pepper, lime or chipotle etc...

Take what sauce your are using now and reserve to one side, if you are canning the remainder of the sauce, (if not this sauce willl last for a week or so in an air tight ball mason jar in the fridge).  Place the remainder of the sauce in a saucepan and bring up to a simmer, meanwhile place the jars and lids in the pre heated oven for 5 minutes to sterlize, you will also have your pan of water boiling on the stove at this point too.

Take the jars from the oven, fill with the hot enchilada sauce, pop the lids on and then drop into the pan of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes, remove and leave on the side to cool, this is one of my most favourite sounds the ping ping ping of lids sealing, a very happy sound in my home, organic grown food from the garden for the future.

Enjoy this brilliant chunky chipotle sauce as a dip and topping for lots of your meals.

GARLIC BUTTER SEARED TIGER SHRIMP

SPANISH GAMBAS PIL PIL

Boy Oh Boy these lobster size shrimps / prawns are such a gorgeous mouth filling treat, I don't often see these at the fish market and this morning they had six, they were soooo coming home with me, on the way home I did not need to over think a recipe as these shrimp really want to be the centre piece of the dish, I did consider a pang curry full of fragrant lemongrass and lime but no the traditional Spanish Gambas Pil Pil kept knocking at the door and I was answering!  Mouthwatering thoughts of a rich nutty garlic butter with a hint of white wine vinegar (that's the Pil Pil secret ingredient!) and the tiniest hint of chilli in the back ground had me at hello!

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 5 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 2-4)

4 Large raw tiger prawns

2 tbsp ghee

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 Piri piri chilli chopped

First job is to peel and de-vein the giant shrimp aka prawns, these monsters felt more like lobsters!  For this size of shrimp I use a pair of scissors, remove the head and snip down the spine of the prawn all the way to the tail, peel off the shell and scrape out the exposed black vein and discard.  That's it your prawns are ready to cook.

Heat your skillet to a medium heat add the ghee and garlic soften for a couple of minutes then add the prawns, cook for around 3 minutes each side, don't turn the prawns until you can see they are half way cooked where the opaque has turned white half way through the prawn.  Once cooked add the white wine vinegar and piri piri chilli to the pan, spoon the nutty garlicky butter sauce all over the prawns and serve.

FIVE SPICED CRISPY PORK BELLY WITH PAN SEARED GARLIC COURGETTES AND WILD RICE

Self Sufficient Living

This fills my heart with joy, another organic grown, raised and loved meal from our garden and small holding the only ingredient not from ourselves is the wild rice, this is our first ever harvest of purple peas and for the first time EVER we are succeeding at growing yellow courgettes!  I know I know everyone can grow them, well not me but of course I can grow cabbages and purple broccoli till there coming out of my ears! Who figures?  I also fail at tomatoes I know there is some eerie vegetable jinx On me 😆 I must have broken a unspoken law somewhere...How?...I even re-home my slugs and snails down the farm rather than dispatch them, use natural animal predators to combat the sap sucking aphids and ants when they get to many and I don't mind sharing our veg with the bugs, slugs and snails, eating salad and spinach with holes in, bugs just don't eat it all! 

Marinating time min 1hour / Cooking time 55 minutes + 5 mins resting time

Cooking Time Line Pork in / 30 mins later Rice on / 20 mins after Rice on put Veggies on

Ingredients 

(Serves 4)

1 1kg high welfare pork belly skin scored 

3 tbsp five spice make your own recipe below

1 tbsp coconut or olive oil

1 onion chopped

6 cloves garlic chopped

1 courgette rough chopped

200g spinach

100g mangetout sliced

100g kale torn

1 mug brown basmati rice

Pork Belly

Take your pork belly and place skin side down on a paper towel, generously rub the five spice all over the meat and sides, but not on the skin.  Place in a glass dish or zip lock bag and place in the fridge for at least one hour or up to 24-48 hrs not a problem.

Pre heat your oven to 220 C / 420 F and place your belly pork skin side up on a baking tray in the oven for 35 minutes at this heat, this is to ensure crispy crackling skin, then turn the oven heat down to 180 C / 350 F for a further 20 minutes to finish cooking the pork.  When cooked cover and leave to rest on the side for 5 minutes before carving, this allows the juices to evenly distribute through your juicy pork belly.

Perfect Brown Rice

Place your rice in a pan with a lid and add two and a quarter mugs of water bring up to a simmer, pop on the lid and turn down to a slow simmer, leave in touched for 25 minutes then take off the heat leaving the lid on for a further five minutes then you rice is ready to be served and cooked perfectly.

Pan Seared Vegetables for the Rice

Heat the coconut or olive oil medium hot, add the onion, garlic, mangetout and courgettes and cook for approx 5 minutes then add the torn kale and cook for a further 3 minutes and finally add the spinach and take off the heat and stir in to the brown rice, pop the lid back on while you carve the pork then your ready to serve your gorgeous food.

BEST EVER CRAB PAKORAS GREAT BALLS OF FIRE

                                         GREAT BALLS OF FIRE

The inspiration for these most brillant Crab Pakoras came from my budding 15 year old son Chef Oscar!!!  He has a wicked sense of humour with chillies, we had a glut of habaneros and around 30 were stored in the fridge, I also had a whole crab in the fridge that really needed using, but I was not in the mood for a crab pasta dinner which crab sort of lends it's self to apart from on its own or with a salad and I was not in the mood for crab salad.  Oscar came up with a pakora recipe after watching Man v's Food and Salvador Molly's Great Balls Of Fire Challange, hence he married the habaneros and crab in to the pakora mix and has successfully blown My head off, much to his delight...These are so gorgeous I loved them!

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 4 minutes each batch

Ingredients 

(Makes 20)

1 whole crab meat only

1 habanero per ball (10-20) blitzed 

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

250g gram flour (chic pea)

50g self raising

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp turmeric 

1 tsp nigella seeds

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

250-300ml water

Oil for frying

Great Balls of Fire

Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and combine, add the water and stir in, you want a consistency of double cream, that's your batter ready to fry.  Heat your oil to 180 degrees and spoon in dollops of your batter, do this in batches.  Cook the balls for around 3 minutes and flip over half way through.  When cooked remove from the oil and place on paper to drain, serve immediately while hot.

WOOD FIRED COOKING PIT BEEF SIRLOIN

FLAME COOKED SIRLOIN

This is one of the best ways to eat steak.!  The slow wood fired pit charred crust also known as the burnt end is loaded with gorgeous smokey oak pit fire flavour, it is out of this world, left to rest this is one of the best steak dinners ever!

Cooking time 50-60 minutes / Resting time 10 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 8-12)

2-3kg thick end cut whole sirloin

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp ground black pepper

Chimmichurri Salsa

1 clove garlic grated

1 bunch parsley chopped

4 tbsp oregano chopped

150ml olive oil

50ml balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

Mix all the ingredients together, this is a brilliant sharp salsa that is perfect with meat and fish.

Serving Ideas

1 kg crushed new potatoes tossed in parsley butter

Large mixed green salad with apple balsamic vinegar dressing

French beans & asparagus in lemon olive oil dressing

Colcanon buttery mashed potato and cabbage

Set Your Meat On Fire

The first time I cooked this I spent a lot of the cooking time thinking OMG I am so just burning the steak, the black crust of the steak looked very burnt, but I stuck to the instructions I had read and really did not think the family was getting any dinner that night!  The surprise to all the family when after the important resting time was up was a gorgeous steak with a burnt end crust full of flavour.  This is now a family favourite.

Cooking Your Pit Beef Sirloin

One and half hours before you want to cook, fire up your pit or BBQ with wood, I like to have two heat sources on the fire pit so once the pit is established and I have white heat I stack up one half of the fire pit more than the other, this is so that I have two cooking heats, flaming hot and heat hot, this is what allows you to keep the burnt end crust just that and not a burnt burnt sirloin.  

Just season your sirloin with the salt and pepper and place on the grill over the pit on the heat hot side first, leave alone for around 5 minutes to seal the steak before turning, once the steak is sealed you can turn as often as the flames make you!...Flames... now as the meats starts to render the fat out this starts to drip down and will cause flame flares, this is ok, if too much flame I will just move the sirloin out of that zone for a bit and then put back, the key to keeping a burnt end perfect is to keep turning the steak every 5 minutes or so, keeping the burnt end crust even.  That's it, I work to a core temperature of 55-60 degrees C for rare towards medium and this takes about 50-60 minutes.  Slice as thin or thick as you like and serve on its own with some chimmichurri salsa or some sides, for me my plate is all about the pit beef and some sea salt!

I have served this up to many friends over the years and I love their reaction to the cooking and serving when experiencing this the very first time, they are quietly watching the sirloin on fire on the pit and I'm not really paying much attention to it, you can see the burnt crust, I secretly snigger to myself how polite and supportive they are as they think dinner is burnt and I know they would eat it without complaint!

The delight on their faces when then tuck in to juicy succulent steak with that fabulous burnt end oak smoked flavour, the table erupts in honest relief and laughter as they all say what they were thinking while the pit beef was burning/cooking!  

BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF HABANERO SALSA

                                       BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF SALSA

This is so Awesome, slightly sweet and sour with a volcanic kickin blow your head off lip curling habanero punch, the sweetness from the carrots and honey remind me of a South Carolina's vinegary BBQ sauce style.  Next time I think I will make this with the bhut Jolokia ghost chilli !

Prep time 5 mins / Cooking time 40 minutes 

Blow Your Head Off Habanero Salsa

(Makes 250ml)

1tbsp coconut or olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic chopped

4 carrots peeled, chopped

6 habaneros whole, stems removed, pierced 

1tsp fresh oregano

1 tbsp light brown sugar or honey

1 tsp sea salt

500ml water

200ml apple cider vinegar (with mother) .

Blow Your Head Off Salsa

Heat the oil and gently soften the onion and carrots for around 10 minutes then add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes, add the whole habaneros and water and gently simmer for a further 30 minutes until the carrots are super soft, blitz to a smooth purée reduce down to the consistency of thick double cream, add the vinegar, salt, oregano and sugar, taste and if the salsa is sweet, hot and sharp it's done, pour into a jar and keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

BIG GIRLS DIET SWEET STICKY ORANGE LEMON AND LIME CHICKEN

Zesty vibrant naturally sweet sticky citrus chicken topped with a gorgeous fresh chunky salsa and a drizzle of fruity coconut dressing.  Served in a ice berg lettuce leaf as a wrap, great on the go paleo and so much more fun than processed flour wraps.

My geeky good for you bit...

This meal is full of strong antioxidants that protect your heart, immune system, organ and blood cleansing, vitamin C, B, B6, B12, A, E, K, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, riboflavin, niacin, folate, choline, phosphorous, sodium, zinc, selenium, lactones a mild sedative with calming and restorative properties, stimulates cleansing, reduces liver inflammation, stimulates the liver,

Ingredients

(Makes 2)

1 large chicken breast

1 orange zest and juice

1/2 lemon juiced

1/2 lime juiced

1 tsp honey ( optional)

1 tsp coconut oil

50ml coconut milk

2 ice berg leaves whole

Salt and pepper

SALSA

4 baby plum tomatoes chopped

1 small pepper chopped

2 spring onions sliced

1 red chilli chopped

1 tbsp chopped coriander

1tsp lime juice

First make the salsa and leave to one side, then set up your serving plates with the iceberg lettuce wraps ready to go.

Cut the chicken breast in half, cover with cling film and using a rolling pin gently bash the chicken so that it is roughly the same thickness all over, heat a non stick frying pan, add the coconut oil and when melted place your chicken in the pan, on a moderate high heat slightly sear the chicken then finish cooking on a medium heat, once the chicken is almost cooked add the orange, lemon and lime juice and the honey and bring to a rapid bubbling simmer until the sauce thickens to a glaze, this will only take a minute or so, place the chicken in the lettuce wraps spooning over the glaze, return the pan to the heat and add the coconut milk using a spatula scrap the coconut milk around the pan so that it picks up the left over cooking juices, take of the heat immediately, top your sticky sweet glazed chicken with the salsa and finish off with a drizzle of the coconut dressing.

BIG GIRLS DIET SUMPTUOUS GARDEN SALAD

This is one robust full on salad, one might say a Man's salad a salad that satisfy's my husband and does not leaving him asking for meat or something a few hours later!  The key with this salad is the amount of ingredients that keep your tastebuds dancing all over the place, almost every mouthful is a unique combination and the dressing is a wonderful final flavour burst.  You can vary the ingredients from meat, eggs and cheese to your fancy when you make this.

Prep time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

1 handful of kale, beetroot leaves, Swiss chard, spinach etc

1 avocado sliced

10 cherry or baby plum tomatoes halved

1 carrot julienned 

1 spring onion sliced

1/2 green pepper sliced

1 cooked beetroot grated

1 raw beetroot peeled and finely sliced

100g goats or sheep cheese crumbled

1 handful chopped walnuts

1/2 hand full mixed seeds, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, chia etc

The Dressing

1 bunch fresh parsley chopped

4 tbsp fresh oregano chopped

100ml olive oil

50ml apple cider vinegar 

1/2 orange juice

1 pinch sea salt

1 clove garlic finely grated

Roughly chop or tear the salad leaves and place in a large bowl, prepare all the other ingredients ready to use, make the dressing and then pour the dressing over the salad leaves and mix well.  Divide the salad leaves between two plates and then top with the rest of the ingredients and finish off with the nuts and seeds, that's it enjoy.

This salad is very flexible, why not have some jerk spiced chicken, curried coronation eggs, zesty lime and coconut chicken, poached salmon or seared sesame tuna instead for some ideas.

GLORIOUS PEA AND MINT RISOTTO

This is a beautiful rich creamy risotto that will have your spoon going back for more than you would want to eat just so you can keep the flavour alive on your tastebuds!  Cooked slowly in a light chicken stock, with white wine and a generous dollop of double cream (or coconut milk) and layered with fresh picked garden peas, seasoned with fresh mint and a hint of Parmesan, this is a very comforting dish.

Our Self Sufficient Bit

Onions, garlic, mint and peas all from the garden and our homemade chicken stock from chicken Caracas's from the local farm and if we used coconut milk instead of the cream we make our own from organic coconuts, not local I might add!

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 25 minutes

A one pot cook...

Ingredients

(Serves 2-4)

1 large onion finely chopped

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 tbsp coconut or olive oil

300g arborio risotto rice, washed

200ml dry white wine

2 litre chicken or veg stock

300ml double cream or coconut milk

4 large handfuls cooked peas

Pinch sea salt

Pinch white pepper 

120g grated Parmesan 

9 mint leaves finely sliced

Cold stock v Hot stock

This really depends on how much of a hurry you are in, hot stock is better absorbed by the rice and creates a creamier finished risotto, but cold stock can be used it just slows the rice absorption down a little and that makes a less creamy risotto.  I do the hot stock method, but every now and then when I am juggling family life I just use the cold stock straight from the fridge.

Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet, add the onion and garlic and gently soften for around 5 minutes, add the arborio rice and stir in until evenly coated, crank up the heat to medium high and add the white wine, simmer off the white wine until syrupy then start to add the stock a label at a time, stiring in until all the stock is absorbed, then add another label of stock, keep repeating this until the rice has absorbed all the stock it can but still has a al denote bite to the rice.

Stir in the double cream, peas, mint and Parmesan, taste and season with sea salt and pepper if you feel it needs more seasoning, I do but my husband does not!  You want the risotto to have a slow movement like a thick sauce that can almost hold its shape just not quite.  

That's it, eat with a spoon and enjoy, this will serve four or a wonderfully greedy two!!!

BIG GIRLS DIET CORONATION CHICKEN WRAPS

Finally a Gluten Free natural healthy wrap that delivers in holding my over stuffing of filling's and does not taste of egg whites!  This is really simple to make, only takes a few minutes has endless variations of flavour and has held up to my heavy handed stuffing use!

I love coronation chicken, for me this is one of those magical heart warming childhood memories food, it takes me back to 1977 the Queens Silver Juiblee I remember the whole street brought out all their dinner tables and chairs, lined the street, decorated the street with Union Jack bunting, we had Union Jack hats and napkins along with a glorious spread of typically English tea sandwiches, coronation chicken, egg and cress, cuecumber, all crusts off and served in finger slices, Very British ! We all waved Union and Jack Flags and cheered, love my memories with food.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 7 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

The Wraps

8 eggs beaten

Sea salt

Black pepper

4 tbsp finely chopped parsley

1 cup finely chopped spinach

1 tsp coconut oil

Coronation Chicken

2 chicken breasts finely sliced

1 small onion finely diced

1 clove garlic finely diced

1 tbsp coconut oil

4 tbsp mayo (recipe below if you want to try)

2 tbsp finely ground curry powder

1 tbsp mango chutney

(I used our homemade plum and cardamom chutney recipe below)

1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 bunch fresh coriander chopped for serving

One Minute Mayo

Yes you can make your own olive oil mayonnaise in One Minute !!!

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp mustard

200ml+ olive oil

Sea salt

The Mayo

To make this speedy mayo, place the egg yolk and white wine vinegar in a jug, take your hand whisk and start to drizzle in the olive oil 1 tsp at a time whisking in super fast to make sure the oil is infused in the yolk, Do Not Stop Whisking as this is what causes a mayo to split in the first part, once a portion of oil is incorporated in the egg yolk it becomes stable and you can then add the rest of the oil in much larger glugs, hence One Minute Mayo!  Once you have a thick mayo consistency add the mustard and season with sea salt to taste, that's it done!  This will keep in the fridge in a mason jar for up to a week if it last's that long!

Coronation Mayo

Meanwhile in a bowl place the mayo, curry powder, mango chutney, or a homemade chutney, Kashmiri chilli and turmeric powder and mix well.

To Make The Coronation Chicken 

Heat the coconut oil in a skillet on a medium heat and gently soften the onion and garlic to translucent, add the chicken and cook for around six minutes stiring occasionally to turn the chicken so that is cooks evenly, take off the heat and pop a lid on and leave the chicken to rest for five minutes, this will ensure you have really juicy succulent chicken.  Once rested add the chicken to the coronation mayo and mix well, add the chopped fresh coriander.

While the Chicken is Resting Make the Wraps

Beat the eggs then add the salt and pepper along with the chopped spinach and parsley, heat a skillet medium and add some of the coconut oil, pour one ladel of the egg mixture in to the pan and swirl around to cover the whole pan, turn the heat down a little and leave to cook for around three minutes, slide out of the pan on to a plate and make the remaining three.

The Stuffing of the Wraps

Now your ready to stuff and serve, turn the wraps over so that the pan cooked side will take the filling, load with the mayo coriander coronation chicken filling in the centre of the wrap, then fold the left side over the centre and then the right side over the centre and that's it a gorgeous wrap stuffed with brilliant flavours and ready for you to just dive in and not even know your not having a wrap wrap!

These are great for kids lunches and family picnics and have endless possibilities for fillings.

CHOCOLATE MINT CUSTARD WITH GARDEN BERRIES

Having a glut of glorious eggs from our chickens is a lovely challenge to try new recipe ideas, having our tea in the garden just sitting amoung the fruit trees gazing down the vegetable and herb garden, listening to our chickens this morning gave rise to what needed to be eaten, this is a lovey feeling of what has the garden got for us today!  

Creme Anglaise custard infused with chocolate mint just set poured over what berries are ready, this morning it was gooseberries, blackcurrents, raspberries and blueberries.  A simple but yielding pudding with only a couple of larder items required.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 5 minutes / Chilling time 2 hrs

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

300g mixed berries

500ml full fat milk

120g caster sugar

6 egg yolks 

30 mint leaves (chocolate mint optional)

This is really simple, the key to success in this is not to rush the cooking of the custard, trust yourself and your spatula it will thicken, it is one of those moments when 3 minutes feels like 10!

Place the milk, half the sugar and all the mint leaves in a saucepan, mix together so that the sugar has dissolved then bring to a hot temperature but without simmering, just when you see steam arising take off the heat.

In a large bowl or jug place the egg yolks and remaining sugar, whisk until light and fluffy with ribbons, you will see a slight lighter colour change, next pour over the hot milk and whisk all the time so as not to cook the eggs.

Pour the mixture back in to the saucepan and place on a low medium heat, keep stirring all the time, it is important not to leave the custard at this point.  To much heat too quickly will leave you with scrambled egg custard no a pleasant thing indeed!

Over the next 3 minutes or so you will feel the custard start to thicken, when you can coat the back of the spatula and draw a line through the custard and it stays separated your custard is cooked, take off the heat and pass through a sieve.

Place your fruit in your serving bowls and pour over the creme anglaise, pop in the fridge to chill and set, this custard will remain a little wobbly which is how my hubby likes it.