Chicken – Page 6 – The Food Wife

Sunshine Kebabs

7th June 201910th June 2019
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-3

Weâ€™re moving into summer and with it (hopefully) barbecue weather. Here is a recipe that is gluten free, and can be made with chicken or halloumi, suiting meat eaters or vegetarians.Â Â Using the chicken keeps them dairy free too.

A little prep, a couple of hours marinating and then ten minutes cooking and youâ€™ve got some pretty tasty kebabs. These arenâ€™t just for the barbecue though, and work well under a hot grill, so not to worry if the weather lets us down, these can be cooked easily in the kitchen!

Iâ€™ve called them sunshine kebabs because they taste wonderfully summery and the orangey red colour of the marinade makes me think of the summer. Coupled with colourful peppers itâ€™s sunshine on a stick!

Ingredients:

1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp garlic-infused oil (or 2 tsp oil with 1 clove of minced garlic)

1 tsp dried oregano

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces or 1 block of Halloumi, cut into 1 inch cubes

Yellow and/or red pepper, deseeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

You will also need 4 wooden skewers, soaked in water for a couple of hours.

Step 1: Two hours before cooking, begin to soak your wooden skewers in water and prepare the marinade. Make the marinade by combining the paprika, oil, oregano, lime juice and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss the chicken or halloumi pieces so they are well coated, cover and leave in the fridge to marinate. If using chicken aim to remove it from the fridge 20 minutes before assembling the kebabs to bring back to room temperature.

Step 2: Just before cooking, assemble the kebabs by skewering alternate pieces of pepper and chicken/halloumi carefully onto the skewers.

Step 3: Cook under a hot grill or on a barbecue for a few minutes on each side until cooked through and scorched slightly from the heat.

Serve with fresh salad and freshly pickled red onion (thinly slice red onion and drizzle with fresh lemon/lime juice or a little red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt and leave for an hour or two). Great stuffed in a pitta or in a wrap!

Chicken Versus Chickpea

5th June 201910th June 2019
by thefoodwife

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to Bradford-on-Avonâ€™s first food and drink festival. What a success. The weather was glorious and we spent the entire day visiting a range of food and drink producers, tasting their wares (The Food Baby was in snack heaven!) and making purchases of cheese, salami and peanut butter.Â Â There were also live demonstrations from chefs including Jane Devonshire and Ping Coombes, both Masterchef winners. They showcased recipes from their cookbooks which looked mouth-wateringly delicious and Iâ€™ll definitely be giving them a go. Janeâ€™s book, Hassle Free Gluten Free, is endorsed by Coeliac UK and her demonstration of the Peanut Butter Cheesecake (you can find the recipe here) just ticked all the boxes, particularly as its gluten-free status means The Food Husband can eat it (and contains his favourite ingredients!)

So I decided that this week I would revisit some of my gluten-free recipes starting with my Sticky Chilli Chicken

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

1kg chicken pieces (a mix of thighs and drumsticks)

1 red onion cut into thin wedges

2 carrots cut into batons

1 red pepper cut in to one inch pieces

1/2 orange cut into eight pieces

Juice of half an orange

1 inch ginger peeled and diced

1 heaped tbsp chilli jam

2 heaped tbsp apricot jam

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Step 1: Add all ingredients into a large sealable bag (I like using the large ones from IKEA â€“ Iâ€™m sure you know the ones I mean, they are frequently listed as a must-have purchase when paying the big blue box a visit). Squish everything together so the meat and vegetables are pleasingly coated in the sticky mixture. Leave (preferably overnight) in the fridge to marinate.

Step 2: Spread the contents of the bag in a baking tin and put in a 190c oven for 50 minutes.

Serve with rice, and if you fancy some extra veg, some steamed greens.

And for those looking for a meat-free meal then give my Chickpea and Preserved Lemon Tagine a go.

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, large dice

2 heaped tsp ras al hanout

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 pepper, large dice

2 pieces of cassia bark/cinnamon sticks

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

2 tins of chickpeas

10 prunes, quartered

2-3 preserved lemons, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Step 1: Soften the onion in the oil for five minutes on a medium heat.

Step 2: Add the ras al hanout and stir for one minute.

Step 3: Add the garlic and diced pepper and stir for another minute.

Step 4: Add the tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, cassia/cinnamon, prunes and preserved lemons. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste. If you wanted to make this in a proper tagine in the oven then you can of course, itâ€™ll just take a lot longer! At this point transfer it to your tagine and cook at 150c for an hour or two.

We had this with quinoa and a fat-free yogurt, spiced up with some garam masala (simply stir a teaspoon of the spice mix through a few tablespoons of the yogurt). You could also have some salad or vegetables on the side.

Chicken Arrabiata

28th May 2019
by thefoodwife

Serves 6-8

This recipe serves a crowd, but can easily be scaled down (or up!). It is dairy-free (just omit the cheese when serving) and the sauce is gluten-free so switching to a suitable pasta can make this a gluten-free meal also.

Once the ingredients are prepared the meal will only take 20 minutes to cook so works well when cooking for a large group of people or for a weeknight meal as you wonâ€™t be spending a long time in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1kg chicken breasts, cut into one-inch pieces

1 red pepper, finely diced

1 fresh red chilli, finely diced

4 fat cloves of garlic, finely dicedÂ

1 dried red chilli, crumbled (optional)

1 L passatta

15g parsley, finely choppedÂ

600g (penne) pasta (gluten-free if required)

Salt and pepper

Step 1: Season the chicken a large pinch each of salt and pepper.

Step 2: Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and then add the chicken. Seal on all sides and then add the garlic, fresh chilli and red pepper. Cook for a further couple of minutes, then add the passatta. Lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Whilst the sauce is cooking cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

Step 4: Check the seasoning of the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste. To make a spicier sauce crumble some of the dried chilli (a little at a time) to the desired heat.

Step 5: When cooked, drain the pasta and add to the sauce, coating the pasta evenly. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

Serve with a green salad and some grated parmesan, pecorino or grana padano, if not making this dairy-free.

Whatâ€™s Cooking?

21st May 201923rd May 2019
by thefoodwife

If youâ€™re looking for some culinary inspiration hereâ€™s a round up of some of the recipes from The Food Wife that weâ€™re having this week.

Pizza, The Food Husbandâ€™s favourite, has been off the menu for a while as he’s eliminating gluten from his diet, but I made up a batch of sourdough pizza bases with the addition of two teaspoons each of garlic powder and dried oregano to the dough. I had a go at a potato base for a gluten-free version, which was a big hit (think giant gnocchi base). Watch this space for the recipe as I try to recreate it next time pizza is on the menu.Â Â

Weâ€™re still working our way through the jars of wild garlic pesto I made recently, and tomorrow weâ€™ll be enjoying it simply with pasta and green beans for a light and summery meal.Â Â Iâ€™ll also be adding it as a topping to a salmon fillet before roasting it in the oven another evening this week.

The Food Baby has not been forgotten either. Still in the quest to smuggle more vegetables into his diet (he can spot a pea from the other side of the room) Iâ€™ve batch-cooked a tomato and carrot pasta sauce and a three bean chilli along with a double batch of cheese and vegetable scones for the freezer. This time using grated parsnip, carrot and broccoli along with chopped spinach and sundried tomatoes, he devours them without the knowledge that Iâ€™m getting sneaky veg inside him!

And finally if, like me, you love rhubarb, then youâ€™ll be loving the abundance of it at the moment. Why not give my rhubarb crumble traybake a go, or if you can wait a while, have a go at my rhubarb gin. Itâ€™s worth the wait!

Whatâ€™s For Dinner?

15th April 201919th May 2019
by thefoodwife

The week ahead is sure to contain a fair amount of chocolate but I thought Iâ€™d share some of the recipes weâ€™ll be having over the next week to give you some inspiration too.

Since I posted my recipe for Chinese Lemon Chicken a couple of weeks ago, Iâ€™d been thinking about when I can have it again. I probably mentioned it a couple of times a day to The Food Husband, So I decided it was back on the menu this week and it made an excellent accompaniment to the new series of Game of Thrones!

Weâ€™ve also been using up previous batch cooking stores from the freezer and have had an easy meal of bolognese, simply defrosted and reheated and stirred through freshly cooked pasta.

As the freezer supplies need replacing Iâ€™m planning to make a new batch of my Moroccan-inspired chickpea and preserved lemon tagine later this week. I love the zingyness and potent flavour from the preserved lemons and it makes a cheap yet hearty meatless meal.

And of course Easter Sunday: we will be having lamb. Last year we had the glorious Mechoui leg of lamb. This year we are having a roasted shoulder with the classic garlic and rosemary. But on Monday we will be turning the leftovers into lamb rissoles to have with salad.

And for the Food Baby? Iâ€™ve just restocked his cheesy vegetable fritters in the freezer; this time a combination of carrot, broccoli, sweet potato, potato and sweetcorn with cheddar and smoked paprika instead of curry spices. And Iâ€™m replenishing the successful cheese and vegetable scones, switching the courgette for grated broccoli. A couple of veg-filled winners!

Hopefully thatâ€™s given you some inspiration for your meals ahead. If you are still in need of inspiration then head over to www.thefoodwife.co.uk and if you havenâ€™t already, why not sign up to the newsletter, sending you recipe inspiration each week. Wishing you all a happy Easter, The Food Wife.