Pakoras

I made some vegetable pakoras to go with our curry this evening. They are a great way to use up leftovers of any type - vegetables, cooked meat - what ever is lurking in the fridge. Tonight I used some chopped chard, onion and sweetcorn.

For the batter
125g gram (chickpea) flour
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
125g water
Ghee or other oil for frying

For the filling
2 cups of chopped vegetables or meat. I recommend cooked chicken and spinach, or half slices of onion

Put the gram flour, spices and baking powder into a bowl and stir well to remove any lumps. Beat in the water to make a smooth batter. Fold in the filling of your choice. Heat the ghee in a frying pan over a medium heat. Put the batter into the oil in spoonfuls, forming rough patties. Try not to fry too many at once as is makes them hard to turn and greasier. Fry for 2-3 minutes, then turn and fry for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the pan to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Serve with raitha or chutneys.

Pork and pear forcemeat stuffing (gluten free)

I made this stuffing as a variation on the traditional pork and apple as I was out of apples and none of us could face the thought of the supermarket on Christmas eve! I'll have to wait and comment on the success or otherwise after tomorrow.

900g pork mince (you can use sausage meat if you like - I bought a cheap joint and minced it)
4 slices gluten free bread
2 pears, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tsps mixed dried herbs (I used sage, thyme and basil)
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper

Mince the meat if not already done (my cheap plastic hand mincer works fine for this). Mix with other ingredients and put into a buttered oven dish or roll into balls. Cook in the oven for 10-30 minutes, until cooked through.

Edit. This was a tasty, light and sweet stuffing. It was popular with every one, although I thought it needed a little extra something to give it some zing. Will experiment with it as no one will mind seeing it again!

Christmas ham

I'm making a glazed ham as part of a buffet on boxing day. This recipe does use quite a lot of sugar but the amount in each serving is small and it's very tasty. I'll also be making smoked salmon crust-less quiches, dips with crudites, king prawns with garlic mayonaise, a big salad, a trifle, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake.

A ham large enough for all your guests
About 10 cloves
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar

Boil the ham for 25 minutes per pound, plus 20 minutes in a large pan of water. You can do this in advance to save time. When the ham is cooled, push the cloves into it, spread around all over it. Score any fat on the top. Mix the honey, sugar and mustard together. Put the ham into a roasting pan lined with foil (this is important - believe me!), and spread the honey mustard glaze over the top and sides. Roast the ham for about half an hour (keep an eye towards to end to make sure it doesn't burn). When cooled you can slice and enjoy.

Paleo friendly breaded chicken

Today's lunch is baked 'breaded' chicken from Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso. I can highly recommend this book - we've enjoyed every recipe we've tried so far and the exercise tips are great - the whole family has used them.

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup almond flour
1 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp garlic powder
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 eggs *

Mix the flours, garlic powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, let the excess drip off, then press into the flour mixture. Turn over and press in again, making sure that it's well covered. If I have any mixture left over I tend to press it onto the tops of the chicken before baking as it's so tasty! Put the chicken pieces onto a greased baking tray and cook in the oven at 180 oC for 35 - 40 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through and juices are clear).

* to make this recipe egg free you can use melted butter instead. It tastes amazing and sticks just as well but isn't strictly paleo.

Gluten free banana bread

This recipe is slightly adapted from the paleo banana bread recipe here. We had it for a Solstice breakfast with hot custard. It was easy to make and really tasty! Mine isn't so paleo as I used sweetener instead of honey and butter, but still lovely and much healthier than standard grain based cake. My eldest son made this more or less by himself - it's quite a kid friendly recipe.

3 ripe bananas (riper the better)
4 eggs
2 tsp vanillla extract
60g butter or coconut oil (1/4 cup)
1 tbsp splenda
2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Line a loaf tin (I love those nifty premade loaf cases that are like cupcake liners) and preheat oven to 160oC. Slice the banana and put into a food processor. Crack in the eggs and add the butter/oil and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Add the sweetener, almond flour, baking soda and salt. Briefly blend to mix. Pour batter into tin and bake for 50 - 60 minutes - until a skewer comes out clean.

I think next time I'll add some dark chocolate chips just to make this extra indulgent! But it was sweet, moist and very tasty.

Ketchup

I was having a domestic goddess like day today and made three bottles of this! It's from a Jaime Oliver programme I think.

2 onions
2 tsps fennel seeds
2 heaped tsps coriander seeds
4 cloves
2 thumb size pieces of ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 red chilies
500g ripe tomatoes
handful of fresh basil
1 litre passata
250 ml red wine vinegar
50g brown sugar
12 level tbsp sucralose (splenda)

Chop and sweat the onions with a little olive oil for 15 minutes. Grind the fennel seeds, coriander seeds and cloves with a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar and add to the onions. Chop the ginger, garlic and chili and add. Halve the tomatoes and add with the passata, vinegar, sugar and sweetener. Cut the leaves off the basil and set aside. Chop the stems and add. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes. Take off the heat and add the basil. Blend it in batches and sieve. Bottle in sterilised jars.

Note - my kids liked this but much prefered the next batch where I used about 170ml of vinegar instead. I loved the sharper one but it's not so kid friendly.