HOT SWEET SOUR CHICKEN BONE BROTH

Zero Carbs with BareNaked Noodles

Gorgeous bowl of goodness, fragrant hot, sweet and sour this beautiful bowl of abundance delivers more than a meal.  Loaded with lots of good for you ingredients that love you back, this is a winner dinner all round, even more so because you can tailor make it to what ever vegetables you have in the fridge or growing in the garden larder, the base broth can stay the same making this a quick and varied dish ready in minutes.

My fridge is never without a large kilner jar of homemade chicken stock with chunks of braised chicken sitting in the bottom of the jelly, this makes for speedy good for you suppers in minutes giving you more time to spend with the family or with yourself.

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

1ltr homemade chicken stock

1 chicken quartered

1 onion

1 bay leaf

1 carrot rough chopped

1 leek rough chopped

2 sticks celery rough chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 sprig of thyme

1.5ltr water

Sea salt and pepper

1 star anise

6 sichuan peppercorns crushed

1 lemongrass bashed

2" ginger grated

2" turmeric grated (1tsp ground)

2 green chillies finely sliced

1 tbsp palm sugar

1 lime juiced

1 tsp harrisa paste

1 tbsp tom yum paste

1 tsp tamarind pulp

200ml coconut milk

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp shaoxing wine

1 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp shrimp paste

2 ptn rice noodles

2 handfuls greens

1 carrot juillenned 

1 leek finely sliced

1 handful watercress

1 boiled egg just set yolk

1 tsp sesame oil

2 glorious free range eggs

The Perfect Mollet Egg

Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil, add your room temperature eggs and set the timer for 6 minutes, 6.20 minutes for large eggs, this is important do not guess the time.  As soon as the time is up drain the hot water away and fill the pan with cold water, drain again and re-fill with cold water again, leave for a minute then remove from the pan and leave on the side until needed, any extra cooked eggs can be stored in the fridge.  These are great just set boiled eggs and can be used just the same as hard boiled eggs.

Homemade chicken stock

Place all the ingredients for the chicken stock in a deep pan and bring to a gently simmer for a couple of hours, strain, reserve some of the chicken meat for this meal or reserve for others, season the stock to taste.

Cook the noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes or according to cooking instructions on the packet, drain and run under cold water then toss in a dash of sesame oil, reserve to one side.

Bring the chicken stock to a gentle simmer, add the lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, chillies, star anise, sichuan peppercorns, palm sugar, lemon juice, coconut milk, shrimp paste, tom yum, harissa, tamarind pulp, soy, shaoxing and fish sauce.  Adjust the taste using the lime juice and palm sugar.

In your serving bowls place the noodles, carrots, greens, watercress, leek  and some of the chicken then ladle over the broth and you are good to go

THE PERFECT POACHED EGG

Perfect poached egg everytime!

The Secret is in the Method

I have tried so many times to make the prefect poached egg, I whisked the vinegar water, cracked in the egg and more than often ended up with an egg white octopus and seperate yolk!  After watching a cooking program I saw that I was not using a bowl to slip the egg in the simmering water, I was cracking the egg in directly, turns out that is the secret! by pouring the egg in to the simmering vortex of water from a bowl your guaranteed a successful beautiful presentable poached egg...so simple when you know how.

Prep Time 5 minutes / Cooking Time 3-5 minutes

Ingredients

(one egg)

1 fresh egg cracked into a bowl

1 deep pan of simmering water

50 ml white wine vinegar

Bring the pan of water to a gentle simmer, add the vinegar and gently whisk to create a vortex in the centre and then pour in the egg from the bowl, the egg will swirl around gently with the vortex allowing the egg white to swirl around the yolk to create a perfect poached egg.  Cook gently for around 3-5 minutes depending on how runny you like your yolk,  

You can check the egg by removing with a slotted spoon and gently prodding to see how wobbly the egg is, the firmer the bounce back the more cooked the egg is.  Remember the poached egg will continue to cook for a minute once it is taken from the water and served.  

Get Ahead Eggs

You can poach your eggs ahead of time, once cooked, plunge the poached eggs in to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process, when your ready to serve gently place the eggs back into a pan of just simmering water for one minute to warm back through.

That's it Perfect...

PALEO WHOLE 30 FLAXSEED TURMERIC CRACKERS

Fabulously easy to make crackers that are super healthy for you too, loaded with So Good For You ingredients, Turmeric gives anti inflammatory protection, is an antioxidant, speeds up wound healing and relieves arthritis, diabetes support by lowering blood sugar reversing insulin resistance, helps with depression and cholesterol.  Flaxseeds are loaded with omega 3 ALA fats, huge wallop of fiber and low in carbs, high protein along with vitamin B1, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and selenium which gives you healthy skin and hair, lowers cholesterol, supports digestive health and are highly antioxidant and finally Chia seeds super high in fiber, supports digestive and heart health, supports diabetes because their rich in alpha-linolenic acid which helps lower excessive fat in the blood and supports strong bones and teeth.

Ingredients 

(Makes approx 24)

1 cup of ground flaxseed

1/2 cup chia seeds

1 tsp turmeric 

1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1 clove garlic grated optional 

1/3 cup of water

1/4 cup grated Parmesan optional 

At this point you can add any extra flavour you like, I often add some 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.

CHICKEN BONE BROTH

Thai Coconut Tom Yum

A bowl of abundant nourishment, this soup sings to my soul.  Health boosting chicken penicillin bone broth infused with fresh turmeric, ginger, garlic, spring onions, chillies, rose harrisa, tom yum sambal, coconut milk, lime juice, lemongrass, watercress, asparagus and shredded chicken a hearty meal that loves you back.

My geeky science bit...

THIS MEAL GIVES THIS TO YOUR BODY

Chicken bone stock is so good for you, the broth water has calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, trace minerals, chodroitin sulphates and glucosamine, these latter two ingredients are expensive to buy as supplements, but they are found naturally in bone broths.  You need magnesium so your body and convert vitamin D into it's active form so that it can in turn be used to absorb calcium.  We only need around 400mg of calcium a day, but the RDA says 1200mg, the reason for this is that we do not absorb all the calcium we eat, but if you have a balanced diet the extra calcium you absorb can lead to kidney stones and calcium in the blood stream and heart disease, chicken stock is anti viral, anti bacterial and scientifically proven to be 25% as effective as penicillin.

Asparagus vitamin B6, C, E, K, calcium, magnesium, zinc, beta carotene, iron, fibre, stimulates your kidneys, phosphorous, potassium, copper, thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, selenium, chromium, enhances ability of insulin to transport to glucose from your blood cells to amino acids.

Garlic allicin and selenium, cleans the liver, King of healing foods, fights food poisoning, stomach bugs bacteria, anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal, reduces risks of clots and cholesterol blood pressure and improves circulation.

Chilli eaten in large quantities is high in vitamin C, carotene, vitamin B, B6, potassium, magnesium and iron.

Onion vitamin C, B6, folic acid, phenolic so flavonoids, anti inflammatory, lowers cholesterol and is an anti oxidant.

Watercress purifies blood, gives you iodine when eaten raw, vitamin A, anti bacterial mustard oils, betacarotenes, iron, phenethy, isothiocganate, vitamin C, E.

Celery has coumarins, potassium and vitamin C.

Carrots juiced are a detox cleaner for healthy liver and kidney functions, anti bacterial and anti viral, protect capillaries, chest, skin and eyes, vitamin C, E, A and B2.

INGREDIENTS

(Makes one serving)

500ml chicken stock

(recipe for stock below)

Large handful organic watercress chopped

6 stems of asparagus chopped

1 spring onion sliced

1 red chilli chopped

1 clove garlic grated

1 tsp fine chopped lemongrass

1/2 tsp fresh grated turmeric 

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp harissa

2 tsp tom yum sambal

1/2 can coconut milk

1/2 line juiced

2oz chicken 

CHICKEN BONE STOCK

1 organic free rooting chicken 

2ltr water

1 onion quartered

2 carrots

3 sticks celery

4 cloves garlic crushed

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig rosemary

10 black peppercorns

Pinch sea salt

I make this chicken stock every week and keep in my fridge so I have quick easy and sumptuous food to hand, this also means I can have a meal ready in under five minutes from the fridge if I so want.

Place all the stock ingredients in a deep pan and gently simmer for an hour or so, take off the heat when you can pull on a bone and it gently pulls away from the chicken.  Leave the chicken to cool  in the broth, this will allow some of the stock to soak back into the chicken ensuring you have the juiciest chicken.  Once cooled remove the chicken and this is personal I keep the legs whole for other meals and then pick all the rest of the meat, this I use a little in my broths and for other meals during the week.  I place the stock in a glass jug in the fridge, when you go to use the stock for the first time the fat will have salidfied, this I remove and give to my dogs, now your stock is ready to become so many meals, chicken broth, tom yum soup, thai laksa, pho, ramen, coconut chicken soup amoung many suggestions.

To make you chicken broth heat 500ml in a pan when gently simmering add the harrisa, tom yum, lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, garlic, lime juice, coconut milk, chicken and asparagus, this will only take 2-3 minutes to warm up, meanwhile in your bowl put the chopped watercress, chilli and spring onion, pour over the hot chicken stock and enjoy.  

This is also great and super speedy as a cup of soup and easily transported as food on the go.

TURKEY PIE

Christmas Left Overs

I think I might love Christmas Day leftovers just as much as Christmas dinner itself.  This pie is a celebration of the glorious turkey in a outstanding crumbly flakey suet crust pastry, filled with a creamy rich velvety stock sauce and succulent left over roast turkey with left over roasted veggies this is a hug in pastry.

Best Ever Suet Crust Pastry

(This makes 1 large pie crust)

330g supreme self raising flour

100g cold butter grated

130g atora suet or fresh lamb suet

Water as needed (150ml+)

1 tsp salt and white pepper 

Make the pastry first so that it can rest in the fridge.  Place all the ingredients except the water in a large bowl and very gently mix, you do not want to over work the mix as this will make it rubbery, and this pastry is the best ever because it is light and crispy with a flakey texture finished off with a hint of almost dumpling texture underneath, that soaks up the gorgeous braise stake gravy.  Add the water a glug at a time probably 150ml ish and just crush the pastry mix together, wrap in paper and plonk in the fridge until needed.  

The Pie Filling

1 onion finely diced

1 garlic finely diced

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp flour

Left over veggies finely chopped

Left over turkey stock gravy

300ml double cream

Left over turkey dark and white meat

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper 

Heat a skillet medium add the butter and olive oil, soften the onion and garlic for five minutes then add the left over veggies and cook for a further five minutes, add the flour and cook out for a couple of minutes then add the turkey stock gravy a generous glug at a time whisking in until smooth before you add the rest, stop when you have a medium thick emulsion, add the turkey and double cream and bring to a gentle simmer for ten minutes, adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and turkey stock if needed.  Leave to cool.

Pre heat your oven 200 C / 392 F.  Roll out your pastry and line your pie tin, place in the cooled turkey pie filling, egg wash the top of the pie dish, roll out and pop on the suet pie crust lid, crimp the sides and egg wash the top, I always love to decorate the top of my pies with a hint of personality, egg wash and bake for around 30 minutes until golden brown.

CHRISTMAS DAY HAM AND EGGS EN COCOTTE

Baked Eggs, Ham, Spinach and Cream Super Easy Crowd Pleaser

This is a wonderful decadent breakfast dish, beautiful Wiltshire ham, butter braised onions, garlic, mushrooms and spinach set with a rich egg, double cream and parmesan sauce, every spoonful is a sumptuous joy, keep these portioned to a standard small ramekin as they are so rich you can’t eat any more than one!  This is a great easy crowd pleaser keeping holiday pressure to a minimum, you can easily cook 12-24 in one easy batch.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 16-18 minutes

Ingredients 

(makes 6)

200g fresh spinach

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 shallot finely diced

25g butter

1 glug olive oil

200g chopped mushrooms 

200g torn fresh ham of the bone

750ml double cream

6 organic eggs

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper 

Pre-heat your oven to 180 C / 356 F, place a large deep roasting tin 3/4 filled with boiling water in the oven.  Heat a skillet medium hot, add the butter and olive oil sauté the onions and garlic for around five minutes then add the mushrooms for a further couple of minutes, take off the heat and add the spinach, stir through to wilt, add the ham and stir in, divide between the six ramekins crack one egg into each ramekin then top up with cream, season with a hint of salt and pepper.  

Place each ramekin in to your bain marie roasting tin in the oven and bake for 14 minutes for soft gooey runny eggs or 18 minutes for just set whites with a mollet just set yolk.  That’s it, remove and serve immediately, these are almost as good as leftovers cold from the fridge.

BEEF WELLINGTON MEDIUM

Perfection Guaranteed 

There is a reason you don’t have to meddle with some of the true classics, this is a simple but awesome show stopper dinner that is quite simple to prepare and very easy to execute when you have the formula, something I spend my spare time on, learning and researching cooking history finding old methods that equal successful executions of exquisite meals through simple cooking.

The Key To Success is all in The 2's ...

220 C / 428 F for 20 minutes, 200 C / 392 F for 20 minutes & 20 minutes resting

If you want to cook your wellington rare then either cook as one whole piece of fillet 800g - 1kg at the instructions above or if cooking as two wellingtons then lower the first cooking time to 15 minutes not 20 minutes at 220 C / 428 F.

Ingredients 

(serves 6-8)

The Rough Puff Pastry

330g self raising flour

130g suet

150g water

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

200g butter

The Wellington 

2 x 400g centre cut fillet steak

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

200g chestnut mushrooms finely chopped

1 small onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper 

6 slices Parma ham optional 

1 beaten egg for wash

First make the rough puff pastry, place all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl and bring together to a rough ball, roll out to a 1/2 " thick rectangle, slice the butter into 12 slices, place 3 butter slices on the top first half of the rolled out pastry and fold up the bottom half covering the butter, turn the folded pastry 90 degrees and roll out to rectangle again, repeat 3 more times, wrap in parchment paper or cloth and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the mushroom pate.

This is roughly how your rough puff pastry will look inside, all the layers of butter are what will melt and make your rough puff, puff up and become light, melt in the mouth pastry.

The Mushroom Pate

Heat a skillet medium hot, add the butter and olive oil, add the onions and garlic and soften for five minutes, add the mushrooms and cook for a further two minutes, remove from the pan and leave to one side to cool, meanwhile place the skillet back on the heat, turn up to hot, sear the fillet steak until browned all over, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

The Wellington 

Pre heat your oven 220 C degrees

Roll out your pastry to a large thin rectangle, twice so that the pastry will cover the beef fillets when wrapped up, you do not want any excessive overlapping of the pastry, maybe a centimetre or so as to much overlapping will cook soggy, trim off as much excess as you dare.  If using the Parma ham lay a blanket over the pastry then  spread the mushroom pate on the pastry up to a inch or so away from the edges of the pastry, place the fillet of seared beef in the centre of the pastry and bring the left and right side up and over the fillet to cover, now hug the ends of the pastry parcel around the end of the beef fillet, trim off as much excess pastry as you dare, turn the parcel over so that the Wellington is now sitting seam side down and using your hands hug/tuck the minimal excess pastry back under the Wellington parcel.  

Cooking The Wellington 

Place your beef Wellington parcel on a pre heated baking sheet, egg wash generously all over and place in your pre heated hot oven, once in do not touch or open that door!  After a 20 minutes at 220 C / 428 F, turn the temperature down to 200 degrees C / 392 F, and quickly turn the Wellington 180 degrees in the oven, cook for a further 20 minute as soon as your timer alerts you take your Beef Wellington out of the oven and leave to rest on the side for another 20 minutes, this gives you time to fuss with any side dishes you want to serve with this dish.  Resting is as important as cooking.

 That's it, you Beef Wellington is now ready to carve and serve perfectly rare medium and juicy to your family or guests.  It really is a beautifully simple dish when you have the perfect cooking method.

Rich Port & Chanterelles Gravy

1 shallot finely diced

1 clove garlic finely diced

100g chanterelles torn

1 tbsp olive oil

50g butter

100ml port

300ml rich beef stock

Quick and easy sauce that is so rich and deep in flavour, in a saucepan add a tbsp of the butter and olive oil, soften the shallots and garlic for five or so minutes, add the mushroom and sear for a few minutes, add the port and reduce by half, add the beef stock and reduce by one third, take off the heat, add the butter and stir until melted.

NEW YEAR PALEO RE-START

Whole 30 Flaxseed Apricot Bars

To ease myself away from the physical carbohydrates cravings that my body is adjusting back to a low carb diet I make these flax, chia seed apricot squares for that go to snack so I don’t eat something I will regret during my whole 30 re-start.  

Here we go again my my why did I eat so much over Christmas 😆.  It has been a wonderful Christmas of eating and merriment, but it has to stop and while my naughty side and taste buds have throughly enjoyed eating all the food groups that cause inflammation and speedy weight gain my body has told me No on several occasions over the last two weeks.  I am pleased that naturally I have had enough and desperately want my clean living balanced lifestyle back!  I would also like to fit in to my clothes again! 

Ingredients 

(Makes 8 bars)

250g dried sulphur free apricots

1cup flax seed milled

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup psyllium husk

1/2 cup sunflower and pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

50-100ml water

Place all the ingredients except the water in a food processor and blitz until incorporated, add the water I start with 50ml and blitz to combine, feel the mixture it wants to be moist enough to hold together.

Place the mixture in to a 6" x 4" baking tin and press down firmly in to all the corners, pop in the fridge and leave to firm up for an hour or so and thats it, I then cut the block in to 8 bars and wrap in parchment paper so that my family can just grab and go.

You can alternatively roll the mixture in to individual balls.

Geeky Good For You Food Science Bit...

FLAX SEED

Just to start 28g of Flaxseed will give you over 6000mg of omega (ALA)-3, 8g of fiber, over 30% of Vitamin B1, Manganese, Magnesium, 19% Phosphorus and 10% Selenium, along with good amounts of B6, Iron, Potassium, Copper and Zinc.

Flaxseed is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet, maybe the orgional first Super Food!

High in fiber and low in carbs, the seeds have a high level of mucilage gum, a gel forming water soluble fiber which is beneficial to the intestinal tract.  Also high in insoluble fiber which supports colon detoxification.  Flaxseeds provide food for the friendly bacteria in your colon that can help cleanse waste from your system.  3 tbsp flax seed oil with a glass of carrot juice can act as a natural constipation relieve.

The ALA fats in flax seed support healthy skin, nails and hair by providing essential fats and B vitamins, can help to improve acne, Rosales and eczema, and dry eye syndrome.  Even better is flax seed oil, 2 tbsp daily in your diet increases the concentration of healthy fats.

Lowers cholesterol, the soluble fiber content of flax seed traps fat and cholesterol in the digestive system so that it is unable to be absorbed, soluble fiber also traps bile which is made from cholesterol in the gall bladder, bile is excreted through the digestive system which forces the body to make more using up excess cholesterol in the blood and lowering cholesterol overall.

Packed with Antioxidants (Lignans), these are a unique fiber related polyphenols that provide us with antioxidant benefits, these support anti aging, hormone balance and cellular health.  Lignans are also high in anti viral and antibacterial properties, therefore may offer protection agains colds and flu.

Digestive Health the ALA in flax seed can help protect the lining of the digestive tract and maintain GI health.  It has been shown to be beneficial for people suffering from Crohn's disease and other digestive ailments, can also help reduce gut inflammation.

Flax seed and Cancer, there a studies that links time and time again that flax seed may decrease the risk of breast cancer, prostate, ovarian and colon cancer, the three Lignans found in flaxseeds can be converted by intestinal bacteria into enterolactone and enterodiol which naturally balance hormones which may be the reason flax seeds reduce the risk of breast cancer.

CHIA SEEDS

Have a natural phenolic (antioxidant) concentration and the antioxidant activity is shown in studies to stop up to 70% of free radical activity, this speeds up the body's response to repairing damage in turn this prevents further cell damage.

Very high in fiber, 28g has 11g of fiber thats half your RDA, fiber not only supports healthy gut and colon but is essential for your body's ability to balance insulin levels.  A natural blood sugar balancer due to their high fiber content and healthy fats.

Chia seeds ability to reverse inflammation, regulate cholesterol and lower blood pressure make them extremely beneficial to consume for heart health, by lowering and reversing oxidative stress you are less likely to develop atherosclerosis.

Fatty Acids, linoleum acid helps the body absorb fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K, for such a tiny seed Chia is incredibly high in healthy fats boasting more omega 3s then salmon.  Omega 3s work to protect inflammation, lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol.

Bones, just 28g of chia seeds has almost 20% of your RDA of calcium, fundamental to bone health.  A great protein.

High in alpha lipoid acids (ALA) a omega 3, ALA is found to limit the growth of cancer cells in both breast and cervical cancers.  It causes cell death of the cancer cells without harming the normal healthy cells.

Packed with calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A and zinc chia seeds are also great for your teeth and tooth health.  Zinc prevents tartar by keeping plaque from mineralising on to your teeth and has an antibacterial effect that keeps bad breath germs at bay, vitamin A and phosphorus are important for strong teeth and a healthy mouth.

40 CLOVES GARLIC ROAST CHICKEN

You so got to try this...

This simple old French Classic is such a outstandingly great dish, succulent lightly garlic infused roast chicken with a gorgeous white wine and herb infused stock liquor and the wow factor is the toasted sour dough slices that you squeeze out the whole roasted garlic cloves purée, paste on the toasted bread then dip this giant creamy garlic crouton in to that gorgeous white wine roasted chicken stock, unbelievably off the chart !  The home smells divine and everyone’s eagerly awaiting dinner.  

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 2kg Chicken 1hr 20mins 

Resting time 20-30 minutes 

Ingredients 

(serves 4-6)

2kg Organic Chicken 

40 whole cloves garlic unpeeled

2 carrots roughly chopped

2 sticks celery roughly chopped

2 onions quartered unpeeled

2 sprigs rosemary

6 sprigs thyme

8 stems parsley

250ml dry white wine

200ml water or homemade chicken stock

Olive oil

25g butter

Himalayan sea salt 

Black pepper

Pre heat your oven to 200 C / 392 F,  place the carrots, celery and onions in the bottom of a casserole dish, put a sprig of thyme, parsley and rosemary along with 6 cloves of garlic in to the cavity of the chicken, add the remaining herbs to the casserole dish, place the chicken in to the casserole dish, rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, sprinkle over the garlic cloves, add the white wine and chicken stock and that’s it, pop on a lid and place in the oven until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced or when your food probe reaches 65-68 C / 147 F.  If you want crispy skin then remove the lid for the last 30 minutes.  Once cooked leave to rest for 30 minutes.

The Stock Gravy

After 20 minutes of resting strain off the cooking liquid in to a saucepan, reserve all the whole garlic cloves to one side, Squeeze out half the reserved garlic purée cloves in to the stock gravy, bring the gravy to a rapid boil and reduce by one third, take off the heat, add the butter and taste for seasoning, that’s your gravy done.

Garlic Croutons 

Slice your sour dough bread thin, drizzle with a hint of olive oil and bake in the oven for 10 minutes turning over half way through while the chicken is resting.

To Serve

Serve a generous portion of the garlic cloves with the chicken and croutons, squeeze out the reserved garlic purée cloves on to the croutons and dip these gorgeous decadent croutons in the rich stock gravy and enjoy.  I also serve this meal with quartered savoy cabbage braised in chicken stock and tossed in butter.

TRAY BAKE SHEET PAN DINNERS

NEW YEAR NEW START

42 Get Ahead Dinner’s 

I love stocking my freezer with these make ahead sheet pan tray bake dinners, knowing a fabulous family dinner is marinating in the fridge or freezer ready to go at a moments notice with lots of fresh veggies will be on the family table in 20 minutes means dinner is sorted.  This also means I can spend more time with my family and the bonus is left overs for lunch salads, wraps, quesadillas and tacos this is a winning formula.

What I love about get ahead dinners is the whole family are involved in making the weeks prep ahead dinners list which at some point usually gets a little loud with a hundred or so suggestions a minute being launched at me!  This is my family's next choices for this batch of get ahead dinners, 

Prep time 2 hours Made 42 Meals / Cooking time 18-20 minutes

These are some of my families favourite go to dinners, just make a meal plan for what you guys love and stock up your fridge and feeezer for a week or month, this prep ahead really pays off on those busy week nights when time is short.

BACON WRAPPED CHEESE STUFFED MUSTARD CHICKEN THIGHS 

Skinless boned out chicken thighs seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled in Dijon mustard, filled with sliced mozzarella forked in half and wrapped with sweetcure bacon, tossed in olive oil.  To cook place on sheet pan and roast for 18-20 minutes, turning half way through.

CHILLI CUMIN GARLIC HANGER STEAK FOR TACOS

Tri tip or skirt steak seasoned with Himalayan sea salt, black pepper, Kashmiri chilli powder and ground cumin, place in bag with good glug of olive oil. To cook sear the steak in a skillet for 2 minutes each side, remove from the pan and leave to rest for 5 minutes, slice on the bias and serve with all the usual taco fixings.

FEATHER BLADE OREGANO SALT PEPPER KEBAB STEAK

Tri tip of skirt steak seasoned with Himalayan sea salt, white pepper and dried oregano, toss with olive oil.  To cook sear the steak in a hot skillet for a couple of minutes on each side, leave to rest for 5 minutes, very thinly slice on the bias and serve stuffed in to pitta breads topped with ice berg salad, lime slaw, chilli sauce, garlic mayonnaise and green kebab pickled chillies.

SESAME SOY GARLIC GINGER CHICKEN STIR FRY

Chicken, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, Himalayan sea salt, white pepper, grated ginger, fresh garlic, spring onions and olive oil.  To cook empty the chicken in to a roasting tin and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, serve with shredded stir fry veggies of broccoli, asparagus, red and white cabbage wok seared with sesame oil, soy sauce and a dash of shaoxing wine.

CHICKEN THIGH OREGANO KEBAB

Diced boneless skinless chicken thigh meat, olive oil, Himalayan sea salt, black pepper and dried oregano.  To cook place in a roasting tin and bake for 10-12 minutes until just cooked, serve with kebab flat breads stuffed with salad, slaw, chilli sauce, garlic mayonnaise and kebab pickled chillies.

CHICKEN FAJITAS

Chicken, olive oil, Himalayan sea salt, black pepper, dried oregano, ground cumin, coriander, chilli, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and ancho chipotle chilli powder.  To cook place in a roasting tray with sliced red and green peppers and sliced onions, bake for 18 minutes, serve with soft flour tortillas, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, pickled jalapeños, iceberg salad and grated cheese.

BUFFALO CHICKEN WITH BLUE CHEESE

Chicken, olive oil, whole bottle West Indian hot sauce, Himalayan sea salt and black pepper, blue cheese reserved for later.  Place in a roasting tin with sliced peppers and onions and bake for 18 minutes, 3 minutes before cooking time is up crumble the blue cheese over the chicken to melt.  Serve with broccoli and home fries, or stuffed in to tortilla wraps or tacos with iceberg salad and fixings.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE 

Chicken, olive oil, diced red and green peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, tin of chopped tomatoes, sea salt, black pepper, dried Italian herbs, tsp tomato puree and of sugar, dash of red wine optional, olives optional.  To cook empty the bag in to your roasting tin and cook in the oven for 20-24 minutes, serve over pasta or with rice and veggies.

CHICKEN PIRI PIRI

Chicken, olive oil, Himalayan sea salt, black pepper, oregano, ground ginger, ground cardamom, garlic and onion powder, piri piri chilli powder, cayenne pepper, sliced peppers, onions and butter.  To cook place in a roasting tin and bake for 18-20 minutes until cooked serve over pasta or with home fries and veggies or stuffed in to flatbreads with salad.

PARMESAN MEATBALLS MARINARA 

Ground beef, sea salt, black pepper, grated Parmesan, onion powder, garlic powder, turmeric, chilli powder, oregano, mix and shape in to balls.  Marinara

Sauce onions, garlic, olive oil, chilli powder, pinch sugar, oregano, tomatoes, leave to cook for at least one hour then chill and cover meatballs.  To cook place in a roasting tin and bake in the oven for around 25 minutes serve with spaghetti or stuffed in to subs loaded with melted cheese.

GARLIC BUTTER MUSHROOM CHICKEN

Chicken, butter, olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, asparagus, sea salt and white pepper.  To cook place in a roasting tin and bake for 18 minutes, serve with fries, veggies or add a glug of cream and white wine and serve over pasta with Parmesan.

12 PORTIONS TEXAS RED CHILLI BEEF

All in one pan at the same time, onions, garlic, olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, mexine powder, cayenne, ground cumin, oregano, ground beef, tins tomato, tomato purée.  To cook leave to gently simmer away for a couple of hours finish off with a few knobs of butter.  This is a recipe that the flavours are better the day after.

TO COOK

To cook pre heat your oven to 200 C / 392 F, place your marinated meats on a sheet pan, toss your veggies, broccoli, red onion, garlic, red and green bell peppers, squash and courgettes in olive oil and maybe some fresh lemon juic, sea salt and ground black pepper and arrange on the sheet pan, pop in the oven and bake for around 18 minutes for chicken and 12 minutes for fish, check that your protein is cooked through and serve with a side of house salad.

CHRISTMAS DINNER PIE

Buttery flakey shortcrust puff pastry stuffed and layered with all the Christmas dinner trimmings, cranberry cardamom sauce and served with a jug of roast turkey giblet gravy makes these a outstanding pie dinner from left overs.  I like to make these as individual pies for that over indulgence maximum pastry consumption at this time of the year.

Prep time 30 minutes / Cooking time 25 minutes 

Ingredients 

(makes 8 small pies)

Left Over Filling

500g left over white and dark turkey meat

300ml left over to turkey gravy

8 chipolatas wrapped in bacon cooked

8 tbsp cooked left over stuffing

8 cooked brussel sprouts

4 tbsp cranberry sauce infused with cardamom 

Shortcrust Puff Pastry

450g plain flour

110g cold cubed butter

110g lard

180ml cold water

10g sea salt

1 beaten egg for glaze

The Shortcrust Puff Pastry

Mix the salt in to the flour, roughly rub or cut the butter and lard in to the flour not to finely, add the water just bring together to form a ball working very lightly.  Press the pastry in to a disk, to create a puff in the short crust fold the disk in half, push the pastry back out to a disk and turn 90 degrees, fold in half again, press out again, turn 90 degrees, repeat twice more so a total of four turns, this will create layers with the butter and lard which when cooked will melt and slightly puff up for a flakey short crust pastry, wrap in parchment paper and chill for 30 minutes.  Pre heat your oven 200 C / 392 F.

Cut one third of the pastry off and reserve for the pie lids, roll out your pastry as thin as you dare and line your pie tins, fill each pie to the edges to create full layers, first with a little gravy and turkey, then stuffing next place a bacon wrapped chipolata in the centre and sliced brussel sprouts either side of the sausage filling in the gap with cranberry sauce, top the final layer with more turkey and gravy, brush the edges with the egg yolk and seal on the pastry top, decorate the pie top with pastry leaves, give the pastry a egg wash and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

 

NEW YEARS EVE BEEF WELLINGTON

Guaranteed Perfection Everytime

This is a guaranteed fool proof perfect cook every time!

As I always say the proof of a brilliant recipe is in the method and enhanced with the animal welfare of the ingredients along with the experience of the cook, well yes the more you know the better you can navigate those Ops! what do I do now or should I have done this moments, but information like that comes from experience and while your still learning that Ops is still a variable that can cause you a wobble!  So this cooking method is for those of us who do not cook these meals very often and need a fool proof cooking method that will deliver perfection without fail for the most glorious results for that special family or friends dinner!  

The Secret is in all the 2's, 220C for 20 minutes, 200C for 20 minutes, rest for 20 minuets 

DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THIS COOKING SCHEDULE 

Prep time 30 minutes / Cooking time 40 minutes / Resting time 20 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 6-8)

The Rough Puff Pastry

330g self raising flour

130g suet

150g water

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

200g butter

The Wellington 

1kg centre cut fillet steak

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

200g chestnut mushrooms finely chopped

1 small onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

1 pinch black pepper 

6 slices Parma ham optional 

1 beaten egg for wash

First make the rough puff pastry, place all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl and bring together to a rough ball, roll out to a 1/2 " thick rectangle, slice the butter into 12 slices, place 3 butter slices on the top first half of the rolled out pastry and fold up the bottom half covering the butter, turn the folded pastry 90 degrees and roll out to rectangle again, repeat 3 more times, wrap in parchment paper or cloth and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the mushroom pate.

This is roughly how your rough puff pastry will look inside, all the layers of butter are what will melt and make your rough puff, puff up and become light, melt in the mouth pastry.

The Mushroom Pate

Heat a skillet medium hot, add the butter and olive oil, add the onions and garlic and soften for five minutes, add the mushrooms and cook for a further five minutes, remove from the pan and leave to one side to cool.

Searing The Beef

Using the same pan heat hot and sear the fillet steak until browned all over, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

The Wellington 

Pre heat your oven 220 C degrees

Roll out your pastry to a large thin rectangle, that will cover the beef fillet when wrapped up, you do not want any excessive overlapping, maybe a centimetre or so as to much overlapping will cook soggy, trim off as much excess as you dare.  If using the Parma ham lay a blanket over the pastry then  spread the mushroom pate on the pastry up to a inch or so away from the edges of the pastry, place the fillet of seared beef in the centre of the pastry and bring the left and right side up and over the fillet to cover, now hug the ends of the pastry parcel around the end of the beef fillet, trim off as much excess pastry as you dare, turn the parcel over so that the Wellington is now sitting seam side down and using your hands hug/tuck the minimal excess pastry back under the Wellington parcel.  

The Key To Success is all in The 2's ...

220 C 20 minutes, 200 C 20 minutes, 20 minutes resting ...

Place your beef Wellington parcel on a baking sheet, egg wash generously all over and place in your pre heated hot oven, once in do not touch or open that door!  After a further 20 minutes turn the temperature down to 200 degrees C and quickly turn the Wellington 180 degrees in the oven, next as soon as your 20 minute timer alerts you take your Beef Wellington out of the oven and leave to rest on the side for 20 minutes, this gives you time to fuss with any side dishes you want to serve with this dish.  Resting is as important as cooking.

 That's it, your Beef Wellington is now ready to carve and serve perfectly rare-medium and juicy to your family or guests.  It really is a beautifully simple dish when you have the perfect cooking method.