Allergy Friendly Shortcrust Pastry - Gluten, Dairy, Nut Free!

Sweet and Savoury Short Crust Pastry.

INGREDIENTS

250g Gluten Free Flour

200g Lard  *Note, Its important to choose a high quality dripping, this way you don't get any meaty flavours in the pastry, I personally like 'Wik Pure Dripping' the best out of any I have used, its a really clean taste. 
Enough water to bring the mixture to a dough, aprox 30ml

SAVOURY SHORTCRUST

Include 1/2 teaspoon Salt

SWEET SHORTCRUST

Include 1/2 Caster Sugar

METHOD

In your food processor blend Gluten free flour ( and the Sugar or Salt) and Lard together until mixture becomes crumbly.
Then slowly add small amounts of water until your mixture forms a dough.

You will now need to chill the pastry for 20min before using, without chilling it's way to sticky and now easy to work with.

Once chilled, place pastry into the tin and pre cook for 10min in a oven pre heated to 200 Celsius before adding fillings, if shortcrust isn't going to be used in a recipe that requires the fillings to join the cooking time, cook until golden brown.

Above: Apple and Blueberry tart made using Sweet Shortcrust Pastry recipe.

Sweet and Sour Chicken- Gluten Free

Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Chicken.


Ingredients: 
3 x Chicken Breast's
Salt and Pepper
1 x Cup Cornflour 
2 Eggs, beaten
1/3 Cup Oil of choice

Cut Chicken into 1 inch cubes. 
Season with Salt and Pepper. 
Roll Chicken in Cornflour and then roll in Egg. 
Heat oil in large Skillet. 
Cook Chicken until browned. 
Place in Baking Dish.




Make Sauce... ...

Sauce:
1/2 Cup Sugar
4 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup White Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce (Use Gluten Free if making GF meal)
1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

Whisk until smooth. Then pour evenly over Chicken. 
Turn chicken so the sauce gets on both sides and then put in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes. 
Turn chicken and cook another 15 minutes.




Serve on Rice.

Baked To Perfection - Veggies

Crunchy on the outsize, with a caramelized coating and fluffy, soft insides... The Perfect Roasted Vegetable.

2 x Sweet Potatoes
2 x Potatoes
2 x Carrots
3/4 cup aprox Lard

Pre-Heat an oven to 200 degrees centigrade.
Place Lard into Baking Pan, you want enough Lard so that the base is covered completely about a cm high **once melted.
Put Baking Pan into the oven, the Lard needs to be boiling hot before adding the Veggies.
Peel and Chop Veggies while Lard and oven are heating up.
Boil the chopped Veggies in Water until soft enough to be poked into with a Fork.
You know the Veggies are ready to be added to the Lard when the Lard boils and bubbles when a Potato is placed into the Baking pan.
Put the drained Veggies into the Lard and bake in the oven for aprox a hour, turning the Veggies occasionally through cooking time.
Once cooked drain on paper towel before serving...

Creamy Garlic Chicken Stir-fry

A Gluten Free, Dairy Free Creamy Garlic Chicken Stir-fry that's a hit with the whole family, and SO easy to make!

Ingredients:
2 x Chicken Breasts
1 x Head of Broccoli
2-3 x Carrots
1/2 x A Capsicum
1 x Can Coconut Cream
2 x Cloves Garlic
1 x Tbs Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to tastes.


Crush in a garlic crusher.
Heat Olive Oil in Pan/Wok.
Add the Garlic to Olive Oil.

Dice up the Chicken breast, Add to Garlic and Oil.

Chop up the Carrots, Broccoli and Capsicum, also add these to the Pan/Wok.

Stir in the can of Coconut Cream.

Add Salt and Pepper to taste...

Cook until Chicken is ready and veggies are soft.

Serve on Fluffy Rice.

Curried Egg's

Ingredients:
4 Eggs
Pinch Salt
1 - 2 Tbs Curry Powder
2 Tbs (aprox) Mayonnaise


Place eggs in a saucepan filled with cold water, put to boil on 'High' for 14 minuets.

Once Egg's are cooked, peel and smash with a fork

Once you have smashed the eggs, add Mayo, salt and Curry powder and mix well.

Serve!

Above: Curry Egg served on Sourdough.

Chickpea Burgers

Ingredients:
1-2 Garlic Cloves minced/finally chopped
1Tbs Curry Paste
1 Carrot Peeled and grated
1 Can Chickpeas (drained and washed)
45g Cashews
40g Fresh Bread Crumbs
Flour

Blend Cashews, set aside.
Cook Garlic and Curry for 1 minuet.
Transfer to food processor and add Carrot, Chickpeas. Blend.
Add Breadcrumbs and Cashews and mix well.

Make patties with your hands and roll in flour.

Cook on a oiled pan until both sides are lightly browned.

Serve with Spinach, Natural Yoghurt or Sour Cream. We had ours in Sour Dough buns -

Homemade Dinner Rolls

Lots of you have been asking for my dinner roll recipe - As promised here it is!

Ingredients: 

1C plus 2 Tbsp warm water

1/3 C oil

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

1/4 C sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

3 1/2 C flour

Heat oven to 210 degrees.

In your food processor or bowl combine the water, oil, yeast and sugar and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.  

Using your food processor or muscles/wooden spoon mix in the salt, egg and flour. 

Knead until well incorporated and dough is soft and smooth. (Just a few minutes)

Form dough into 12 balls and then place in a  lighty greased ( i use butter) 9 x 13 pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes so it starts to bulk.

Bake for 10 minutes at 210 degrees or until golden brown...

Easy!

Vegetable Curry Bake (EASY!)

Ingredients:
Head of Broccoli
Quarter Head Cauliflower
3 - 4 Medium Potatoes
Half a Onlion
4 Cloves Garlic - peeled
2 Large Carrots
1 - 2 Chicken Breasts (Optional)
2 Tbs Curry Powder
300 - 400mls Cream

Pre heat oven to 190.

Chop all Vegetables and optional Chicken and put them in a oven proof dish.

Add Cream and Curry powder, mix...

Bake for aprox a Hour until all Vegetables are soft when poked.

Zucchini Hot Chips - Baked - Kid friendly food!

Zucchini Hot Chips Ingredients:
1 -  2 Zucchini's depending on size.
Dried Bread Crumbs Aprox 2 Cups
2 Eggs
Cajun Spice mix (wont make it too spicy for little ones, mild flavour and totally optional)
Salt
Spray Oil


Pre heat your oven to 220 degrees.

Cut Zucchini into 'Fries'. Do this by first cutting the the Zucchini to the 'length' your chips will be, then you will need to slice the lengths into fries, as shown below...

Set aside.

Beat the 2 eggs with a couple of good shakes of the Cajun Spice.

coat the Zucchini pieces in the Egg.

Then roll the eggy Zucchini in bread crumbs.

Line up on a tray covered with baking paper and a light spray of Oil.

Sprinkle VERY lighty with a little extra Cajun Seasoning and light spray of oil.

Bake for 12 - 15min

Salt lightly before serving...

They are sooooo good! My Toddler LOVES them!

Animal Pies - Kid Friendly Food

Using my Egg and Bacon Pie recipe as a base and a shortcut pasty to craft a lid for the pies...
This will take some imagination to mould a head for the lid of the pie

I have used Pepper corns for the eyes.

Once you have made your lids its as simple as pressing the Shortcut pastry to the open pie and Bake!

They were a real hit at dinner!

Muffin size Quiche

Ingredients
3 Shortcut Bacon Rashers
1/2 cup Cream
8 Eggs
3 sheets Puff Pastry
1 cup grated Cheese
1 cup Spinach
Salt
Lightly oil a Muffin tray.
Cut your Puff pastry sheets into 4 squares and line each muffin hold with a square of puff pastry.

In a jug break all the Eggs, add a pinch of salt and add 1/2 cup Cream. Lightly mix until all yolks are broken - its very important that you dont over mix - once the cream and yolkes start to mix STOP!
Into each one sprinkle Bacon, Spinach and half the cheese.
Poor your Egg mix over the top and then sprinkle the rest of the cheese. I like to give them just a little mix witha fork to make sure the egg and cheese is all mixed in together well.

Place in a oven pre-heated to 190 for 40min, or until firm and lightly browned. 



Cool on wire rack.

Fish Fingers

The amount of ingredients you need will vary for how many people you cook for, there is no exact science, just make it up and i'm sure you will do great!


1 fillet of White Fleshed Fish 
1 - 2 Cups fresh Bread Crumbs 
Parsley 
Lemon rind of one Lemon
Lemon Juice 
Knob of Butter 
1 Tbs Oil 
1 Egg 
Salt and Cracked Pepper


Put bread in a food processor to make bread crumbs. (You could use dry bread crumbs.)
I have used the left over bread from a loaf of Sour Dough.

Cut fish into fingers.


Add parsley, lemon rind, Salt and Pepper to taste to the bread crumbs.

Roll fish in a whisked egg, then roll the eggy fish into the bread crumbs and place on a plate.

Heat frying pan to a medium heat, add the knob of butter and oil - when pan is hot, put the fish fingers in, cooking them for about 4min each side.


When cooked remove from pan and squeeze lemon juice over all the fish fingers.

You will never eat a box fish finger again! These are so tasty!


Enjoy!

Quiche

Ingredients:
5 Rashers of shortcut Bacon, Diced.
100g Tasty Cheese, Grated.
2 Sheets shortcrust pastry
1 cup Cream
9 Eggs


Line Quiche pan with pastry and poke with fork.
Sprinkle half the diced bacon and half the grated cheese on the bottom of the pasty.


In a separate bowl crack 4 eggs and add 1/2 cream, whisk lightly with a fork - you don't want to over mix the eggs and cream, just a gentle mix.
Poor the egg cream mix over the cheese and bacon, use the fork to spread to the edges.


Sprinkle the remaining cheese and bacon over the egg and then mix the remaining 5 eggs with 1/2 cup cream and poor on the quiche.


Slice and top with a tomato.


Bake in a oven pre heated to 180-190c for 50min.

Home Made Cereal

Ingredients

6 Cups of  rolled Oats

1/4 cup  of milk

3/4 cup honey

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon

1  tsp himalayan salt

1 cup shredded coconut

1  cup Raisins

1 cup chopped Almonds

3 tbs Flax seeds

Mix together all the ingredients except for raisins and coconut.

Cover the bowl of sticky mixture, and sit in the fridge overnight.

Mix the oats mixture, and spread on to 2 large  baking tray/pan's and bake at 140-160 for 15mins after 15min remove and mix before baking for another 15 mins.

If the mixture has turned a light brown or golden then it's done. If not, then mix  it again and put back into the over for  another 15 minutes. Continue until done.

Serve with yoghurt or milk.


Store in an air tight container.

Garlic Potatoes

Ingredients
8 - 9 Potatoes
400mls Cream
2 Cups Grated Cheese
Salt and Cracked Pepper
Crushed Garlic

Peel and slice potatoes.

Using half the potatoes layer the bottom of an oven dish.

Poor 200mls cream over the potatoes, 1 cup grated cheese, add some salt and pepper and approx 4 teaspoons garlic - feel free to add more or less.
Cover with the remaining potatoes and the renaming cream, cheese and some more crushed garlic.
Bake in a pre heated oven at 180c for 1 1/2 hours or until potatoes are soft when poked with a fork.

Creamy Carbonara

This is a quick and easy meal that can be adjusted to your family likes or dislikes.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 - 2 Cloves of Garlic crushed

4 Rashers of Bacon

1/2 Cup Chicken stock

300ml Cream

1 egg

250g Penne Pasta or Fettuccine Pasta

Salt pepper

Optional extras: 

1 Onion

250g Mushrooms

Cook Pasta

Dice Bacon

If using optional extras - dice onion and slice mushrooms.

Add Olive oil to wok/pan and cook garlic and Onion until soft/tender (we didnt use onion)

Add Bacon and cook till starting to brown, then add mushrooms.

Add Chicken stock and cream, bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer until it starts to thicken.

Once thick mix in a beaten egg and add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in cooked pasta...

Done! 

Basic Sausage Rolls

This is a humble basic sausage roll - easy and quick to make!

Feel free to add veg to the mix, like grated carrot perhaps.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup Breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon (aprox) salt

500g Sausage mince

1 Egg

1 Tablespoon milk

2 sheets puff pastry - defrosted.

Step One:

Mix sausage mince, Sauce, salt and breadcrumbs in bowl.

Mix until well combined.

Step Two:

Make an 'Egg Wash' using one egg and some milk, whisked together.

Step Three:

Cut puff pastry squares in half - lay on chopping board.

Step Four:

Roll out a portion of sausage mice and lay across the puff pastry.

Egg wash either side of the sausage mince.

Step Five:

Roll puff pastry.

Step Six:

Slice using a sharp knife into party sausage roll size.

Step Seven:

Cook in a 200 degree oven for 20 - 30min or until golden brown.