Korean-Style Chicken Wings

6th June 20246th June 2024
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-4

Tonight’s dinner all started with a jar of near-empty strawberry jam. I remembered a great recipe by Eric Kim I’d made last year with chickpeas in this amazing Korean style sauce, which used a tablespoon of strawberry jam. So here we have my version with chicken wings. It’s sweet, spicy and sticky. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

750g-1kg chicken wings

1 tbsp strawberry jam

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp soy sauce (gluten-free if required)

1 tbsp gochujang (gluten-free if required)

1 tbsp sesame seeds

3 tbsp tomato ketchup

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 190c (fan).

Step 2: Use a sharp knife to cut the wings on their joint to create two pieces from each wing. Spread these on a baking tray and cook for 30-35 minutes until cooked through but not too crispy.

Step 3: Meanwhile combine the remaining ingredients to a smooth sauce.

Step 4: Once the wings are out of the oven, heat a wok over a medium high heat, transfer the wings to the wok, and add the sauce, stir frying them until the sauce coats all the wings and it has reduced to a glorious sticky glaze (this should take five minutes or so).

Serve hot but try not to eat them all on your own…

Feed Your Family for a Fiver

7th May 20248th May 2024
by thefoodwife

I promised Lisa at West Wilts Magazine that I would do a few recipes where you could feed a family of four for a fiver. I’ve gone with three meals with a £15 spend (priced using one of the big supermarkets beginning with T).

Where I’m using basic store cupboard ingredients I have assumed you already have these at home; salt, pepper, dried herbs and spices, oil and vinegar.

You won’t be using all the pasta, honey, mayo, salad cream, garlic, cabbage and carrots so although this was 51p over my £15 spend you’ll have some ingredients left for another day…

Shopping list:

500g Spaghetti £0.75

2x tins of Tuna £1.70

2 onions £0.28

Garlic £0.55

2x 500g Passata £1.10

12 Sausages £2.85

1kg Small Potatoes £0.99

Honey £1.20

1-1.2kg chicken wings £2.09

4 Baking potatoes £0.75

Cabbage £0.80

1kg Carrots £0.68

Mayonnaise £0.86

Salad cream £0.91

£15.51

Tuna Spaghetti

Serves 4

I’ve been making a version of this for the last 25 years. So simple to make and it’s delicious – a crowd pleaser! Add chilli flakes if you like a little kick…

Ingredients:

1 tbsp (Olive) Oil

300-400g of spaghetti depending on appetites (gluten-free if required)

2 tins of tuna in Springwater, drained

1 red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic sliced or crushed

1 tsp Herbes de Province/mixed herbs

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

2×500g passata or 1x passata 1x tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

Chopped Parsley to serve (optional)

Step 1: Add 1 tablespoon of oil into a heavy-based saucepan or frying pan, over a medium heat. Next add the garlic and onion and cook until softened.

Step 2: Add the dried herbs, chilli flakes (if using) and cook for 30 seconds. Add the passata (and chopped tomatoes if using) along with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Cook down for five minutes. During this time, get on with cooking the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.

Step 3: Add the tuna to the tomato sauce and stir through, cooking for a further five minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 4: Drain the cooked pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water, add the pasta to the sauce adding a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen. Stir until everything is combined and then serve with a garnish of freshly chopped parsley, if desired.

Balsamic Glazed Sausage Tray Bake

Serves 4

I do love a ‘shove it in the oven and then it’s ready and delicious’ meal. Especially on a weeknight. Yes you do have to visit the oven a couple of times to add things but this only takes a minute.

You can serve this as it is, or add some extra veg if you like. We had it with a cauliflower cheese dish I’d picked up reduced to 29p… bargain!

Ingredients:

10-12 sausages

800g small potatoes, quartered or large votaries cut into small chunks

4 carrots, cut into 1cm thick slices

1 tbsp oil

Salt & Pepper

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 190c fan and get a high-edged baking dish ready.

Step 2: Spread the potatoes and carrots in a baking dish. Drizzle with the oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 25 minutes.

Step 3: give everything a shake or mix with a spoon, spread back out and then add the sausages. Bake for a further 20 minutes.

Step 4: Mix the honey and balsamic vinegar together and then drizzle over everything and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Wings, Wedges and Slaw

Serves 4

We often have this winning combination, it such a crowd pleaser! The cat always has to be shut out of the room as he cannot resist trying to be a participant in the meal!

The great thing about this is that the wedges and the wings cook simultaneously while you make the slaw. You can just season the wings and wedges with salt and pepper but the world is your oyster for flavour if you desire. Add some dried herbs or spicy Cajun seasoning. I decided to use Cajun spices in both the chicken and the potatoes but added a big splodge of bbq sauce to the wings too.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1kg chicken wings

1/4 white/red cabbage

2 carrots

1 small red onion

2 heaped tbsp mayonnaise

1 heaped tbsp salad cream

4 baking potatoes, cut into wedges

Salt and Pepper

Vegetable oil

Step 1: Prepare two oven trays and preheat the oven to 200c (fan).

Step 2: Season the wings and wedges separately. Drizzle the wedges with 1tbsp of oil and use your hands to ensure they’re coated. Spread the wings and wedges on a tray each. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Step 3: Meanwhile make the slaw. Finely slice the cabbage, carrots and onions. In a bowl combine the mayonnaise and salad cream. Stir through the chopped vegetables, until coated.

Serve everything at the table and dig in!

Chicken & Tomato Rice Traybake

26th March 202426th March 2024
by thefoodwife

Serves 2

This one pan meal is so simple and very tasty. Use a seasoning of your choice on the chicken (just salt and pepper or I like to use a Cajun seasoning for an extra kick). Serves two hungry people (or it will stretch to more depending on appetites).

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Thighs (skin-on, bone-in)

150g brown basmati rice

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Salt & pepper/seasoning

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 190c (fan). Place the four chicken thighs, skin side up in a deep roasting tin. Season the chicken with either salt and pepper or you could use a spice mix of your choice (I like a Cajun spice mix). Spread the rice around the chicken, ensuring it doesn’t go on top of the chicken.

Step 2: Empty the tinned tomatoes into a 1L jug and then fill the empty tin with recently boiled water or hot vegetable/chicken stick and stir together. Carefully pour over the rice.

Step 3: Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

Step 4: Check that the rice and chicken are cooked before serving, with a green salad.

Vietnamese-style Sticky Meatballs

11th February 202411th February 2024
by thefoodwife

Makes 12

These are so tasty. Sticky from their honey, sesame and soy glaze and juicy inside. You can of course serve these with noodles or rice but for a low carb option try them in gem lettuce leaf ‘boats’. I made these with turkey mince but by all means use a mince of your choice.

Ingredients:

400g (turkey) mince

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 lemongrass, finely chopped

3 lime leaves, finely chopped

1 tbsp oyster sauce (gluten-free if required)

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated

For the sticky glaze:

2 tbsp honey

4 tbsp soy sauce (gluten-free if required)

1 tsp sesame oil

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated

1 tsp sesame seeds

Step 1: Mix all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl (use your hands for best results).

Step 2: Wet your hands to help them not stick and make 12 balls from the mixture.

Step 3: Add a little vegetable oil to a (non-stick) frying pan and over a medium heat, fry the meatballs until they are golden all over and cooked through. This will take 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile mix up the glaze ingredients.

Step 4: When you’re happy the meatballs are cooked, add the glaze mixture to the pan and raise the heat a little so that the mixture reduces to a sticky glaze, which should take a couple of minutes, and toss the meatballs so they are coated.

Serve.

Spiced Chicken and Sweet Potato Traybake

9th November 20239th December 2023
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-3

For those evenings that you want a comforting meal but with very little input. This one pan, let the oven do all the work, satisfying dish ticks all the boxes. Five or so minutes prep at the start and you then have nearly an hour to relax/put the kids to bed/enjoy a glass of wine and at the end you have a beautiful meal to enjoy. Result.

Ingredients:

600g sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

2 peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

2 onions, peeled and cut into 8ths

600g bone in/skin on chicken thighs

1 lemon, cut lengthways into 8ths

Olive oil

1-2 tbsp Cajun seasoning (depending on your taste preference)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 200c (fan). Get a large baking dish and place the sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, lemon and chicken on it. Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle over the Cajun seasoning. Toss everything together with your hands and then spread the potatoes, onions, peppers and lemons on to the base of the baking tray as an even layer and then nestle the chicken thighs on top, skin side up.

Step 2: Bake in the oven for 50 minutes. You shouldn’t need to interfere with it at all during this time.

Step 3: Remove from the oven and serve, with the wonderful juices and a green salad or green vegetables.