Hearts Casserole

Family favourite and not too expensive if you use the Knorr wine concentrate and avoid the expense of a bottle!

450g hearts (chopped is fine, or 4 whole ones – allow 2 per person)
Half a medium onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped (or wing it with celery salt)
2-3 rashers bacon, chopped
1 dessertspoon mixed herbs
Juniper berries – 1 per heart or 1 per 100g
Beef Oxo cube
Oxo red wine concentrate capsule (or a small glass of the real stuff, or cooking wine)
125g pasta

Fry onion, bacon, celery with the herbs in a little oil. Add the juniper and the hearts and fry until browned. Add wine, water to cover and simmer over a gentle heat until meat is tender. This may be 30 mins for chopped hearts or 1 hour for whole. Add pasta and allow to cook until tender, adding more water if necessary. Salt to taste.

Youvlakia

Quick and easy one pot recipe, if you use the cheaty method. Can be cheap if you get lucky with a pack of ready made meatballs on a yellow label…

12 meatballs. Traditionally handmade with minced lamb, parsley, salt, pepper, egg and pudding rice, but ready made turkey meatballs work fine in this cheaty version, with the pudding rice thrown in to cook in the stock with the meatballs
Juice of 1 lemon
1 litre water
1 Knorr style chicken stock cube
2 generous handfuls of pudding rice
1 beaten egg

Heat the water with the stock cube until boiling. Drop in the meatballs with the rice and the lemon juice and cook until the rice is tender.

Gently stir in the beaten egg at the end. You can prevent it from curdling by first adding some of the stock to the egg, to raise the temperature more gently before adding to the pot.

Halogen Oven Roast Chicken

Most things in a halogen oven are 20 mins at 200 degrees (8 mins for a steak), but chicken is a little more tricky. For tasty veg, parboil ahead of time and put in the bottom of the oven to finish off in the chicken juices

1.6kg whole bird

Place chicken on the rack, breast side down and season. Cook at 190 celsius for 30 minutes

Turn and season on the other side, cook for 40 minutes.

Rest for 10 and carve.

Homemade Doner Kebab

Not the best recipe we’ve tried, so if you find a better one please shout

https://www.tamingtwins.com/slow-cooker-doner-kebab/

1 kg mince (beef/lamb is correct, but 20% fat beef/5% fat pork works well)
2 tsp Onion powder
2 tsp Garlic granules
2 tsp Ground cumin
2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Dried oregano
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 Bulb of garlic

For the sauce:
75 g Mayo
100 g Greek yoghurt
2 tsp Mint sauce

Mix the slow cook ingredients (apart from the garlic bulb) together in a bowl with clean hands. You need to knead it with your hands until everything is fully combined and the meat is smooth.
Put the meat mixture onto a sheet of tin foil and shape it with your hands into a brick/log type shape. Roll it up very tightly, twisting the ends of the tin foil like a sweetie wrapper to secure. Place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Take the unpeeled garlic bulb (yes a whole bulb!) and wrap up in tin foil. Place alongside the meat parcel in the slow cooker.
Cook for 1.5 hours at 180 celcius in a regular oven, or in the slow cooker 3-4 hours on HIGH or 5-6 on LOW or until cooked through when you test the internal temperature with a meat thermometer (see notes).
Remove the meat and garlic from the oven/slow cooker. Let the meat sit to cool for 15-30 minutes (save the juices).
When the meat has cooled slightly, unwrap it and use a very sharp knife to slice very thin strips. Drizzle over the meat juices from the bottom of the slow cooker to serve (this is important as it will be quite dry without this).
Make the garlic sauce by squeeze the cooked, very soft garlic from it’s skin. Just hold the bulb and squeeze from the bottom and it will squish straight out. Add the mayo, yoghurt and mint sauce, mix well. Add a splash of water if you’d like it to be more runny.
Serve the meat as it is with the usual kebab accompaniments and the garlic sauce, OR reheat the meat, with the slow cooker cooking liquid in a frying pan for a few minutes until hot through (see notes).

Chocolate Chip Cookies

American recipe, adopted in the States in the 50’s. Makes lovely crisp and crunchy cookies, or enjoy them warm and soft, straight from the oven. Keep note of which measurements are by weight and which by volume though!

9 fl. oz plain flour
Quarter tsp bicarbonate of soda
Half tsp salt
4oz butter
2 fl. oz demerara sugar
4 fl. oz granulated sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 fl. oz chopped walnuts
4 fl. oz dark chocolate chips
Allow the butter to reach room temperature and cream with the sugar until pale. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the flour, bicarb and salt and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts (as a family we tend to leave out the walnuts).

Drop teaspoonfuls of mixture onto a hot greased baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 350 fahrenheit, gas mark 5, 180 celsius for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Lift off the tray immediately and allow to cool on a wire rack. When cool, store in an airtight container.

Try mixing it up sometimes with oats (and currants?) instead of choc chips and walnuts.

Red Curry

Family favourite, based on a tamatar murgh, Indian curry with a strong tomato base but not too much spice. No added garlic, other than what’s in the chilli powder, so you shouldn’t be too antisocial the next day! Low fat, depending on what meat you use.

Chicken to serve 4, including bone-in pieces
2 large onions
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground black pepper
1.5 tsp cinnamon
Half tsp ground ginger
Half tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
pinch nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
olive oil
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
water
Knorr chicken stock cube
Salt to taste

Heat the spices in the oil. Soften the onions and brown the chicken. Add tomatoes, stock cube and enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes. Remove the lid before the end to allow the liquid to reduce before serving with rice.

Jerk Chicken

Really spicy but the chicken stays succulent. It’s nicely cut with a side dish of rice n peas (red kidney beans)

2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp thyme
Half tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground sage
Half tsp ground nutmeg
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
1 large clove garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
4oz orange juice
Juice of 1 lime
Half tsp chilli powder
1 large onion
Chicken
Salt to taste

Heat the spices in the oil. Brown the onions and chicken. Add water and allow to cook on the hob for 45-60 minutes. Allow the liquid to reduce before serving with rice.

Paella

This one takes a bit of prep but the flavour pays off. Not the cheapest dish, so wheel it out for a special occasion

750g seafood cocktail
3 chicken thighs, boned & cut into bitesize pieces
200g bite sized pork cubes
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
Half tsp paprika

1 finely chopped small onion
2 green peppers – in strips
2 chopped large tomatoes
500g easy cook short grain rice
1250ml hot or boiling liquid
Half tsp saffron
Salt & pepper

Brown two cloves garlic and the bay leaf over a high heat in half the oil. Remove and set aside.
Brown the chicken and and pork and set aside.
Add the onion and pepper and cook for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes and the remaining oil and cook over a high heat.
Add the rice and cook for a few more minutes, stirring regularly.
For the liquid, use stock from bones, seafood trimmings etc, and/or a Knorr stock cube. Add now, with the chicken and pork and continue to cook on a high heat.
Crush or blend the fried garlic and bay leaf with the saffron, paprika and the remaining clove of (raw) garlic. Add to the paella and season to taste.
Stir well.
Turn down the heat and simmer until the rice is cooked.
Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Spicy Rice

Another convenient and filling one pot dish. Not too expensive, once you have a stock of spices

8oz/225g minced lamb/beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
2 sticks celery
1 green pepper
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp tomato puree
100g white rice, rinsed
Half pint stock
Quarter tsp Tabasco sauce
Pinch cayenne
Salt and pepper
Fry mince, onion, garlic, celery and pepper until browned. Add herbs & spices and cook for 2 minutes

Add all remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Parsnip & Pear Soup

I have no idea why this is on the list, but I had it once and it must have been delicious…

1 oz butter
12 oz parsnips
1 onion, chopped
2 large Conference pears, peeled cored and chopped.
1 pint light stock
Half pint milk
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley, to garnish
Melt the butter in a large saucepan on the hotplate.

Add the parsnips, onion and pears and fry gently until the onion is transparent.

Add the stock and milk and bring slowly to the boil.

Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer gently on the coolest part of the hotplate for approximately 20 – 30 mins, until the vegetables are tender.

Puree the soup in a blender or a food processor and check the seasoning.

Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve with oven baked croutons.

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