Slow Cooker Garlic & Herb Guinea Fowl with Rustic Vegetables

There’s nothing better than coming home after a busy Sunday out with the family to a warm, comforting meal waiting for you. This Slow Cooker Garlic & Herb Guinea Fowl is the perfect fuss-free dish—simply prepare it in the morning, set the slow cooker, and let it work its magic while you enjoy your day.

Guinea fowl is becoming increasingly popular and is now widely available in supermarkets. With a flavour that’s richer and slightly gamier than chicken, it makes a fantastic alternative for a hearty, home-cooked meal.

Tender, flavourful guinea fowl is infused with a delicious mix of garlic, lemon, and herbs, sitting on a bed of rustic potatoes, carrots, and celery. As it slow cooks, the juices from the bird and vegetables create a rich, natural broth that can easily be thickened into a simple homemade gravy—perfect for drizzling over your meal.

With minimal effort and maximum flavour, this dish is ideal for a stress-free, home-cooked Sunday dinner. Just serve, carve, and enjoy—no last-minute rushing, just a hearty meal ready to warm you up when you walk through the door! 🍽️✨

Ingredients

1 whole guinea fowl

Herb Mix

3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 juice of 1 lemon
pinch maldon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano

Vegetables

4 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
3 large carrots,  cut into chunks
1 celery stalk,  cut into chunks
1 small onion, roughly chopped

3 whole garlic cloves

1 tbsp cornflour

water

Optional

Fresh parsley, chopped

Lemon wedges

Method

Prepare the Herb Mix
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and oregano.

Prepare the Guinea Fowl

Pat the guinea fowl dry with kitchen paper.
Gently loosen the skin over the breast using your fingers or a spoon.
Spread the herb mixture under the skin, ensuring an even distribution.

Prepare the Vegetables

Place the potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic cloves and onion at the bottom of the slow cooker.

Assemble in the Slow Cooker

Place the prepared guinea fowl on top of the vegetables.
Spoon the rest of the Herb Mix over the guinea fowl.

Guinea Fowl in Slow Cooker at the start of cooking

Cook

Cover with the lid and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours, until the guinea fowl is cooked through (internal temperature should reach 75°C/165°F).

Carefully remove the guinea fowl and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

How to Make a Simple Gravy from the Cooking Juices

Strain the Juices

Once the guinea fowl is cooked, carefully remove it from the slow cooker and set it aside to rest.
Strain the juices into a small saucepan, removing any vegetable bits for a smoother gravy.

Thicken with Cornflour (Cornstarch) Slurry

In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) with 2 tbsp cold water until smooth.
Bring the strained juices to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Gradually whisk in the cornflour slurry, stirring continuously until the gravy thickens (this usually takes 2–3 minutes).

Enhance the Flavour (Optional)

Add a knob of butter for a glossy finish.
Stir in a splash of lemon juice to brighten the flavours.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve

Pour the gravy over your guinea fowl and vegetables, or serve on the side in a jug.

Garnish with fresh parsley and extra lemon wedges if desired.

Enjoy your flavourful, fall-apart slow-cooked guinea fowl! 🍽️😊

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Guinea fowl - spatchcocked and Portuguese style

Trying to find a variation for dinner involving white meat, is challenging. There is turkey, chicken and duck in most supermarkets. We choose organic and free range as much as possible, the cheap chicken has no flavour and also seems to shrink a lot during cooking, which is probably due to a high water content.

We have discovered that guinea fowl is a great new option and reasonably priced and tastes amazing.

Cooking with minimal fuss and speed can be a challenge in the evenings, I love it when a meal can be popped in the oven and just needs occasional monitoring and turning. A guinea fowl can take 90 minutes to roast normally, but if spatchcocked it can roast in 60 minutes.

Spatchcocking the guinea fowl is really easy if you have some strong kitchen scissors. It involves removing the backbone from the bird, just turn over the bird so that the breast is facing down, then using the kitchen scissors, cut through one side of the backbone, then repeat the other side, turn over the bird and open out the legs and push down on the breast, this will flatten the bird. 

https://www.marthastewart.com/8305039/how-to-spatchcock-chicken

Ingredients

1 guinea fowl

1 sachet of Nando’s Peri Peri coat and cook https://www.nandos.co.uk/food/medium-coat-cook-sauce

Method

Spatchcock the guinea fowl, then put the bird in a small roasting pan, cover with the marinade and rub into both sides of the bird. If you have the time, cover with foil and leave for 15 minutes to marinade. Pop on the middle shelf in a preheated oven Gas 5 180C for 60 minutes. Remove the foil after 30 minutes and baste with the juices in the pan.

Check that the guinea fowl is cooked, by piercing thickest part of the leg and checking that the juices run clear.

Serve with Jacket potatoes (these can be popped into the same oven when the guinea fowl is put in the cook).

I also served with Roasted Red Peppers and fennel (Delia’s recipe) this was cooked on the top shelf of oven. https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/books/delias-happy-christmas/roasted-red-peppers-stuffed-with-fennel

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Christmas made easy

Planning ahead makes our Christmas extra special - capturing memories.

As a family, we cherish the holidays, especially Christmas, and we always want to make our Christmas dinner special. To achieve this, we take the time to source our ingredients from local farms, ensuring that we use the freshest and highest-quality products. We also make a conscious effort to use organic vegetables as much as possible, as we believe it is better for our health, the environment, and the local economy.

My parents love turkey and we love goose, so I cook both on Christmas day so that we can share both birds. This year, we are particularly excited because we have discovered a local turkey farm called Brunsell Farm, which is based in Dorset. 

We have also placed our order for a fresh goose with M J Coleman & Son, a reputable and well-established farm located at Hewish Farm near Milton Abbas. 

We are eagerly awaiting our annual trip to their farm gates to collect them ourselves. Over the years we have experienced all weathers including deep snow, but the memories we make every year on the journey are amazing.

We take great pride in supporting our local farming community and are always excited to sample the delicious, high-quality produce that they offer. By sourcing our food directly from the farm, we can ensure that it is fresh, ethically raised, and of the highest possible quality.

Vegetables

There is definitely a difference in the taste of organic vegetables and therefore I've ordered from both Riverford and Abel & Cole this year. There will be no stress as I have all the vegetables I need arriving at my home. You can book your Christmas order now, use the codes below to get a discount off your first box, a perfect opportunity to get organic vegetables for your Christmas meal at a discount. I don't have to fight at the supermarket or risk the empty shelves in the days before.

Riverford

You can use a discount of £15 to really get started with Riverford - trying an iconic veg box, a recipe box for a dine-in treat, or ordering whatever they fancy. For each friend referred, we'll also add to our fund for harvesting and donating gluts of veg to FareShare South West, who fight hunger by redistributing surplus food. Help us feed those in need, and help friends live life on the veg! join Riverford

Friends get 50% off fruit and veg boxes - check the link for the latest offers.

Join Abel & Cole

I've also started to stock up on store cupboard items such as vacuum packed chestnuts for my 
Chestnut Stuffing - I've already bought fresh cranberries so that I can make my Cranberry and Orange Sauce and will also make preserves ready as presents.

We can't wait to see how our Christmas dinner turns out this year!

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Greek Turkey with lemon potatoes - slow cooker recipe

An easy Sunday lunch or dinner, freeing up your time to spend with the family.

If you are trying to work out how to balance cooking from scratch with family life, then this is a really easy recipe that doesn't take long to prepare, and then the slow cooker looks after the rest. You can leave this unattended without any worries, returning to a hot meal.

Cheaper cuts of meat make really easy meals, but they need to cook slowly and at a lower temperature, so they will take more time. You can make the following recipe in a normal oven, but it also is really simple in a slow cooker. Slow cookers save on energy costs too.

I love my slow cooker for this. I set it to high and the timer for 5 hours before I start browning the turkey joint, put the ingredients into the pot and then put the turkey on the top, pop on the lid and your meal cooks itself. No extra water/stock is needed, but remember not to remove the lid during cooking as the steam evaporates and returns to the food to help the cooking through condensation on the lid.

There are many different types of slow cookers, but I have the Crockpot below and love it. It comes into its own at this time of year as it will take a whole chicken, large gammon joint, ox cheek, joint of brisket, as well as stews and for making stock.

Ingredients

Turkey Thigh Joint
3 tbsps olive oil
2 large brown onions, sliced thickly
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm chunks
1 tbsp dried oregano
Juice from 1 lemon
sea salt

Method

Switch on the slow cooker and set it to high (if you have a timer, set it to 5 hours).

Put a frying pan on medium heat and then add 2 tbsps of the olive oil; carefully place the turkey joint into the frying pan, skin-side down, to start to brown. When golden brown, turn over the turkey joint to brown the base.

While the turkey is browning, put the sliced onions and potato chunks into the slow cooker with the other 1 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle over the oregano, a pinch of sea salt and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and spread across the base of the slow cooker.

When the turkey joint has browned, carefully transfer it onto the top of the onions and potatoes in the slow cooker, pour over any fat remaining in the frying pan.

Put the lid on the slow cooker and leave untouched.

You do not need to add any liquid to the cooker, it will cook in it's own juices. The lid must remain on the pot until at least 4 hours, as the heat would be lost. 

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can use a large roasting tray, add 1/2 pint hot water and cover with foil at Gas 4/180C/350F - check after 3 hours, check that the pan isn't dry (you may need to add a small amount of water so you have some gravy. Remove foil for last 30 minutes.

I served with some green beans, but also goes well with a greek salad in hotter weather.

Turkey Thigh Joint
This is available from Tesco. It is around £3.50 and will easily serve 4 people

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McChiggis - The most amazing roast chicken stuffed with haggis

Roast chicken stuffed with haggis

We discovered McChiggis in Scotland, ready prepared in the chilled cabinet in a supermarket in Fort William, and have fallen in love with this. The haggis infuses the chicken with the most amazing aroma and flavour.

Ingredients

1 fresh free-range chicken
1 haggis (I use gluten-free McSween haggis)
1 onion sliced into thick rings
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
salt

Method

Put the sliced onion in the bottom of a deep roasting tin.

Stuff the chicken with the haggis. If there is any left over, place in the pan under the chicken. Weigh the chicken when stuffed. Place on top of the onions.

Rub the olive oil over the chicken then season with salt and lots of black pepper.

Place on the middle shelf in a hot oven Gas 5/190 C and roast for 20 mins per 500g/1lb plus 20 mins. Check chicken is cooked by inserting a skewer or sharp knife where the leg joins the breast, the juices should be clear.

Serve with tatties and neeps and lashings of gravy.

Tip: If you are after gluten-free Haggis, I've found it available in some Waitrose stores.

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An easy turkey bolognese recipe

I use turkey mince to make a great bolognese sauce. You can use the finished sauce to make lasagne or serve it with spaghetti and parmesan cheese.

In the tips section, there are some flavour variations.

Ingredients (serves 4)
For the bolognese
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pack turkey thigh mince
1 carrot, finely chopped

1 clove garlic crushed
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 pint milk
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 beef stock pot (trust me, it improves the flavour)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin water
Salt and pepper

Method 

1. In a large pan, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil over a gentle heat until the onion is translucent. 
2. Increase the heat and add the turkey mince, fry until the turkey has started to brown, stir regularly. 
3. Add the carrots, nutmeg, garlic, tomato puree, milk and salt and pepper, stir well and cook until the liquid has evaporated, stir regularly.  
4. Add the stockpot, tomatoes and water, stir well, bring to a boil and then turn down to the lowest simmer (the bolognese should just blow the odd bubble) for 30-60 minutes stirring occasionally. The longer you cook it the more "mealy" the turkey will become, like a traditional ragu sauce.

You can add more water if you need it during step 4.

Serve with spaghetti and freshly grated parmesan. For a dinner party, you may wish to serve some garlic bread and a side salad.

Flavour variations

Oregano version - you can also change the flavour by adding either 1 tsp dried oregano with the onions in step 1.

Basil and tomato - add either 1 tsp dried basil at step 4 with the tinned tomatoes. If using fresh basil, add 1 tablespoon finely shredded basil instead of the dried basil.

Mushroom - you can also add 1/2 punnet of chestnut mushrooms that have been sliced when you add the tinned tomatoes in step 4.

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Mexican rice in an Instant Pot

After a busy day at work, cooking a dinner with minimal effort and not needing to watch a pan on the stove is a blessing  This is my first venture into cooking rice in my instant pot and it was a hit, really easy and great tasting rice.

Ingredients

Olive oil

Red onion, finely chopped

Garlic, finely chopped 

Red pepper, chopped

1 tsp paprika

1 cup long grain easy cook rice

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

1 large tomato, chopped

Salt and pepper

Parsley, finely chopped

Method

Switch on sauté mode.

Wash rice in a sieve until water runs clear. Leave to drain.

Pop in 1 tbsp olive oil. Add onion and garlic, sauté until soft. Add pepper and sauté until garlic is beginning to go golden. Cancel programme.

Add paprika and stir well. Add rice, stock, salt and pepper and stir well. Sprinkle over tomato but don’t stir. Pop on lid with valve set to pressurise and set on Rice setting.

When instant pot finishes cooking, turn off and set timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes release steam, sprinkle over chopped parsley and fork rice to fluff up grains.

Serves 3

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Moussaka

A delicious and easy-to-make dinner using beef or lamb mince. Substitute gluten-free flour and lactose-free milk for dietary needs.

You can also use turkey mince for this dish, just add 1/2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp soy sauce to boost the flavour.

Ingredients:

1 aubergine, sliced into 1cm slices

Olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 lb/500 g mince beef or lamb

1 tablespoon flour

1 beef stock cube

pinch cinnamon

Salt and pepper

1 tin tomatoes, chopped

1 pint milk

25g plain flour

25g butter

2 egg yolks

Method

Heat a frying pan and add enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan. Add the aubergine, don't panic it will soak up all the oil, but persevere and fry until golden brown, turn over and the oil will start to release as the other side browns. It is important that you fry off the aubergine until it has a golden brown colour on both sides. Remove the aubergine to a plate.

Fry the onion until soft, add the mince, continue to fry until browned. Add the flour, stir and fry until all the meat is coated. I add the stock cube, either crumble or melt into the mince, add about 1/2 cup of hot water until the meat is moistened. Drain the juice from the tinned tomatoes and add to mince, fry for a couple of minutes, season and add cinnamon.

Pour the mince mixture into the bottom of a lasagne dish.

Arrange tomatoes over the mince.

Arrange the aubergine over the tomatoes.

Put the milk, flour and butter into a pan and stir over a medium heat with a whisk. Continue stirring until the sauce is thickened. Cooke for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the sauce from the heat.

Separate the 2 eggs and add to the sauce, whisking in until thorough mixed. Keep the whites for some meringues, you can freeze them.
Pour sauce over the aubergine.

Bake in the oven gas 4 for 45 minutes until golden brown.

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Rake's pasta - a twist on Pasta puttanesca

My kitchen is full of food including fruit & vegetables, tins, packets, plus the contents of the fridge and freezer, but with all this food it's still difficult to decide what to cook for lunch.

Pasta is our "go to" for lunches, as it's so quick and easy, from the simplest tossed in pesto, or carbonara, to those that involved a little more preparation.

During lockdown, my husband likes to make his own lunch, so my daughter and I take it turns to cook and today it was my turn. I put on a boiling pot of spaghetti and grabbed some basics, but no fresh parsley, so my normal "Slut's pasta" wasn't possible. I tweaked it and as we have been watching Bridgerton, so I decided to call this "Rake's pasta".

Making the sauce takes as long as the pasta takes to cook.

Ingredients

1 large shallot, finely chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tin anchovies, drained

1/2 to 1 tsp dried crushed chillies

1 clove garlic finely chopped

2 large tomatoes, chopped

10 pitted black olives, sliced into 4

1 large tablespoon capers

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the spaghetti on to cook.

Heat a saute pan and add the olive oil. On medium heat add the shallots and gently fry until soft. Add the drained anchovies and bash with the back of a wooden spoon so that they dissolve into the oil, add the garlic and dried chillies, fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes, olives and capers, fry until the tomatoes start to break down, stir regularly. Season with black pepper.

Drain spaghetti reserving some of the cooking liquid, toss the spaghetti with the sauce and add a little of the cooking liquid to loosen the sauce.

Serve

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Super simple paella

I’ve always used my traditional paella recipe, starting with making a sofrito, but this needs fresh tomatoes. A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t have any fresh tomatoes, but we still fancied a paella so I used tomato purée instead with the chicken flavour soup mix as stock and it tastes amazing.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/kosher/osem-chicken-soup-400g

Ingredients (serves 3)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 chorizo, chopped

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Large pinch saffron

2 large breasts chicken or pack chicken thighs

3 handfuls of paella rice (1 handful per person)

1 heaped dessert spoon chicken flavour soup powder

2 tbsp tomato purée

500ml boiling water + additional

Prawns (optional)

Peas (optional)

Fresh parsley, chopped

Lemon but into wedges

Method

In a large frying pan or sauté pan, heat the oil over a medium heat, gently fry the onion until soft. Add the chorizo and fry until it starts to release the oils. Add the chicken pieces and fry until starting to brown. Sprinkle over the paprika and saffron and rice, mix well.

In a jug mix the soup powder into the boiling water and whisk in the tomato purée, pour this over the rice mix, add additional boiling water until chicken is just covered, stir well, then turn to low simmer.

Keep an eye on pan and turn chicken after 10 minutes. Cook for another 10 minutes, add peas and prawns and make sure you stir gently to stop it catching on bottom. If using thighs, check by inserting sharp knife through to bone and seeing if cooked (you shouldn’t see any pink/blood if cooked).

Leave cooking until liquid has evaporated. When chicken is cooked, check if rice is cooked by tasting, you may need to add more water if rice isn’t cooked. It normally takes about 30 mins in total.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with a wedge of lemon on each plate.

When I use the soup mix, I don’t need to add any extra salt, if you substitute normal chicken stock, you may need additional seasoning.

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Turkey and mushroom supreme - an easy way to use up cooked turkey or chicken

Left Over turkey/chicken

You've roasted the turkey for Christmas or perhaps you have the remains of the chicken from your Sunday roast, what can you do with it? Now I adore curry, but unfortunately, my hubby can't eat an Indian style curry, so instead, I make my Thai curry. If there is too much leftover turkey at Christmas though you don't want to eat curry every day, so I like to make my turkey and mushroom supreme as an option.

This is a very simple dish to make but has a couple of options, you can either serve with plain rice or pop some puff pastry into the oven and make a deconstructed turkey and mushroom pie instead.

I've discovered Osem chicken soup mix makes the best stock, plus it's vegan too. I now use it in all of my dishes where I need stock. It's a powder that you can mix with hot water and add straight to your dish, don't add additional salt until the end though when you taste as there is a high salt content. My tip is to add 1 tsp to 125ml hot water for this dish.

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

25g butter

25g flour (I use gluten-free) - use plain or self-raising, no difference in the end result

125ml chicken stock (see tip above)

125ml milk

sliced mushrooms

leftover cooked turkey or chicken

salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

In a medium pan, gently heat the olive oil and butter (the olive oil will prevent the butter from burning) and add the onion, fry over medium heat until the onion has softened. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring continuously. Gradually add the stock stirring continuously to help stop any lumps forming, then add the milk gradually, keep stirring. You can remove the pan from the heat as you add the liquid, then return to heat to cook. You can add a little more milk if the sauce is too thick.

Let the sauce cook for a couple of minutes, keep stirring.

Add the sliced mushrooms and cooked turkey/chicken. Continue to cook gently for 5 minutes until the mushrooms have softened and the meat is piping hot. Season to taste.

Serve with plain rice and sprinkle over the fresh parsley to serve.

Optional extra - add a small tin of drained sweetcorn when you add the mushrooms.

If using puff pastry to make a deconstructed pie, take a roll of puff pastry, cut the sheet into the number of people you are serving (4) works well, put them on a baking sheet and brush with milk. Pop them in a hot oven (check packet instructions), bake until golden brown. These can then be served on top of the supreme when plating your meal.

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Spaghetti alla puttanesca - including how to hide your courgette and tomato glut

What glut?

Admit it, you've been growing veg in your garden due to lockdown, hoping that if there was a longer lockdown that you could provide for the family with lots of fresh vegetables. Preserve and freeze any excess, to enjoy through the autumn and winter.

Perhaps you put a couple of courgettes in your garden or in large pots, you may also have planted a few tomatoes too.

These are now beginning to ripen and you may be getting to the point where you need to start hiding the veg in dishes or you get the comment, "not again" when you serve a meal.

We put in 6 courgette plants, each a different variety and have at least 12 tomato plants in a very tiny back garden and they have turned into triffids or even into "Audrey II" from Little Shop of Horrors. The tomatoes are now above the 8-foot poles we put in (7 foot once in the ground). They are heaving with fruit and just starting to ripen.

I'm still needing organic box deliveries, and try as I might to not pick a box with courgettes in it, inevitably the box contents change just after cut-off, so I'm having to get creative.

My daughter and I take it in turns to cook lunch and are normally based around gluten-free pasta, Barilla pasta is great, so is Waitrose, M&S, Sainsbury's. It was my turn today, my daughter's currently working on a sewing project so she's working upstairs. I wait to see if I get a message on my phone whilst cooking with a guess as to what I'm cooking, she is an expert of predicting what I'm cooking from the aromas wafting up the stairs. Today, she was spot on.

Spaghetti alla puttanesca

This is also known as "slut's pasta" there are different variations, this is my "go-to" recipe for a quick lunch and I've always got the ingredients in the store cupboard or fridge.
To understand the history of the dish and why it's got the slang name, Wikipedia explains it's evolution and differences depending on the region.

I put the pan on, ready to cook the pasta, tipped out the rest of the packet of spaghetti into the pan, without properly checking the quantity of pasta. I then discovered that it was not enough for 2, so that's when I decided to add some finely cut courgettes at the end to bulk it out. I couldn't be bothered to get out my spiralizer, so I cut into fine julienne by hand, courgettes cut in this way are known as courgetti.

You can add the courgettes if you have them, but that is extra to either extend the pasta, add extra veg or hide some courgettes and tomatoes.

Ingredients (serves 2)

large pan boiling water
salt
spaghetti for 2

For sauce:

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small tin anchovies, drained
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 tbsps capers
3 tbsps black pitted olives, sliced across into 3
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley

1 courgette cut into narrow strips or spiralize it. (Courgetti)

Method

Bring the pan of water to a boil and add the salt, when at a rolling boil, add the spaghetti, stirring to make sure the spaghetti is properly dispersed in the pan.

Put a wide saute pan or frying pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and add the anchovies, crush them with the back of a wooden spoon as they heat and they will melt into the oil. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and fry for one minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and the olives and capers and gently fry until the tomato starts to collapse, season with black pepper. This is now ready, turn off heat until pasta is cooked.

Drain pasta keeping some of the water. Turn back on the heat under the sauce, add the pasta and courgetti (if you are using this) to the sauce and toss well, add a splash of the cooking water to the pan to loosen the sauce, sprinkle over the parsley. Toss together for another minute, the courgetti should have started to wilt slightly, it is now ready to serve.

Enjoy

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Chopping an onion - the easy way with no tears

Preventing the tears

So many people end up with streaming eyes when they chop an onion. There are many ways to stop the tears, perhaps by putting a spoon in your mouth, wearing sunglasses, even a facemask and snorkel.

If you follow my simple method, you should find that you get a lovely pile of chopped onion, without the pain.

This is how you achieve diced or "fine diced" onion.

Tip - Freeze for later

I've also discovered that once diced, you can pop the onion in a freezer bag, flatten out the bag, to try and break the pieces up and pop it laid flat in the freezer. Once frozen, you can then shake the bag and you have "ready diced" onion to use.

At school, my teacher, Mrs Passmore, taught us a different way to chop an onion.

Golden rule - DO NOT CUT OFF THE ROOT.

Start with your onion cut in half, keep the cut side down on the board.  Now peel your onion, slicing it in half first helps you to peel off the outer covering, but keep the cut root on the board.

Make sure the root is left on (if you cut it off the sulphuric acid in the root end will make you cry).

The tear making section is the part of the onion closest to the root.

Hold your knife so that you cut down onto the board at an angle, so that when you get nearly through the onion, you don't cut through the root.

The onion is placed on the board, with the root closest to the knife. 

If you are right-handed, start at the far right when slicing. 

If left-handed start at the far left.

Notice how the knife isn't cutting through the root, it's stopping just above where the root is.

Keep slicing, moving carefully closer each time you slice.

You can use the segment marks to help you.

Continue cutting from right to left (if right-handed) reverse if left-handed, until you've cut through all of the onion.

Now turn the onion 90 degrees, so that you can now slice across, cutting into small dice.

Notice how the root is still attached and the onion is still in one piece.

You can now see that you have one chopped onion.

Carefully dispose of the root into your veg waste, keeping that root away from your eyes.

Do remember not to touch your eyes with your lovely oniony fingers, or you will transfer some of that sulphuric acid and will get tears.

I hope you find this helps when preparing your meals.

Let me know if it works for you.

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Turkey chilli

Our easy Turkey Chilli recipe.

When we dropped red meat from our diet, one of the dishes we thought we would miss the most was Chilli con Carne, but through experimentation, we have created a great Turkey chilli and prefer this over a normal chilli, plus it's really easy to make. This is a great low-fat, heart-healthy meal.

Adding beans to the chilli extends the dish, we love black beans, kidney beans and also cannellini beans. It's a way of changing the dish. It also means you have leftovers for another day. Great on the top of a jacket potato or with some tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

Sometimes I will add a chopped green or red pepper when I'm frying the onions. You could also add 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 chopped fresh chilli instead.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 white or red onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon paprika
1 level teaspoon cayenne pepper (this is medium spice)

1 teaspoon of mild smoked paprika

Turkey thigh mince
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 Knorr beef stock pot 

1 tsp Tamari soy sauce
optional tin of black beans/kidney beans

optional 1 green/red pepper chopped

salt and pepper

Method

Over medium heat, sweat the onion in the olive oil until soft, add a small amount of water to the pan before adding the spices, this stops them burning. Gently fry off the onion and spices until the water has evaporated, keep stirring. If you are going to add the green pepper, add it now and fry 1 minute.

Add the turkey mince and fry off until browned.
Add the tin of tomatoes and a beef stockpot, you can also add a tin of black or kidney beans (don't drain them). If you didn't add the beans, then add half a can of water (wash out the rest of the tinned tomatoes). Stir in the Tamari (this gives a deeper flavour).

Cook gently for about 25 minutes, check the seasoning.

If you are using this in taco shells or with tortillas, cook down a little more, so that it is firm.

Serve with rice.

We also like some salsa and guacamole with ours. A pot of chopped fresh chillies, so that you can sprinkle over as much heat as you want. 

If you aren't worried about the fat content, some grated cheddar and sour cream is a perfect topping.

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Oven Baked - Southern Fried Chicken (gluten free)

Oven Baked - Southern Fried Chicken

Trying to get southern fried chicken that isn't deep-fried and is gluten-free is impossible unless you make it yourself. I've created the following recipe and it is so easy to make and much better than a well known fast food. You cannot tell that this is gluten-free, we serve to all of the family, saving you time.

You can use normal flour if you aren't on a gluten-free diet or butter if not on a lactose-free diet. 

I have now discovered that a spray oil works really well and the taste is great.

I've been tweaking the recipe over the last year and this is my revised recipe.

Ingredients

3 legs of chicken - cut into thighs and drumsticks (we now buy a pack of free range thighs and drumsticks from Tescos), so that's why I now use 2 eggs.

spray oil

2 eggs

Coating

4 oz plain or self-raising gluten-free flour

2 oz white cornmeal (if you don't have this, increase flour above to 6 oz).

Spices as follows - (see picture for spices I use)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground mace

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp garlic pepper
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt or granules

Method

Preheat oven to Gas 6. 

I use an 11-inch roasting tray, it needs sides to capture the juices and oils as they are released. I use a parchment liner (these are available from Lakeland precut and save so much time).
Grease the tray with the spray oil, this is the simplest way to grease and allows you to spray the chicken easily once coated.

Mix all the coating ingredients in a zip lock large bag, zip closed and then shake to mix.

Dip and coat a piece of chicken in the beaten egg, then drop the chicken in the zip bag and coat with the seasoned flour, keep moving until all of the chicken is coated. 

Place the chicken evenly onto the roasting tray, place the thighs with the skin side down, this makes a great crispy skin and coat the remaining pieces of chicken in the same way.

Lightly spray the chicken with the oil.

Put in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 20 minutes, turning over half-way through, give another light spray with the oil and continue baking.

At the point when I turn the chicken, I normally pop in a tray of oven chips on the top shelf, or some sweet potato wedges.

Bake for another 20 minutes, total cooking time is about 40 minutes. 

Check the chicken is cooked by piercing the chicken thigh with a sharp knife, check that the chicken isn't pink. If pink, return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Always check the chicken before serving.

The wing joints are also great especially if you joint your own chicken.

To make chicken nuggets, use breast meat cut into chunks, they will cook quicker.

We've also coated some button mushrooms in the same way and baked using this method, really yummy.

Serve with chips and some homemade coleslaw or my salsa.

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Guacamole

This is a great side dish to Chilli con Carne or our Turkey chilli and also with tortillas. It's a dip in it's own right, so perfect for a snack.

Add as much chilli as you are comfortable with.

We make a variation of this called Guacasalsa, which means we make the Tomato salsa and then add chopped avocado to it, all in together.

Ingredients

1 avocado

1/2 small onion (finely diced)

1/2 green chilli (finely diced)

1 tomato (finely chopped)

Juice from 1/2 lime

Salt & Pepper

Method

Mash the avocado, squeeze over the lime juice and mix, this prevents the avocado from going brown. Then add the other ingredients and stir. 

Season to taste

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Salsa

This is a very simple Tomato salsa

This is great with my Turkey chilli or a Chilli con Carne and rice, or on the side when serving with tortillas. I also love serving this with my southern fried chicken. Add as much chilli as you are comfortable with, this is a mild salsa. I tend to make this, serve it to those that like it mild, then mix in more chilli and serve to those that like it hotter.

Ingredients

3 Tomatoes (finely chopped)

1/2 small red onion (finely diced)

1/2 green chilli (finely diced)

Juice from 1/2 lime

Salt & Pepper

Method

Mix together and serve, season to taste.

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Fennel and Lemon Risotto

Fennel and Lemon Risotto is a treat either for lunch or as an accompaniment to dinner.

A Riverford organic vegetable box is a great way to increase the variety of vegetables you eat, stopping you getting into a rut. This week I received 2 bulbs of fennel. 

Now here's the quandary, I don't like aniseed or liquorice, but actually like the flavour of fennel and tarragon when it's very mild. 

So what were my choices? There is the classic fennel and orange salad, Delia's roasted red peppers with fennel (which are lush hot or cold and my husband's favourite) but I didn't have any peppers; a layered potato and fennel gratin or something different!

Jamie Oliver has a great video about fennel, explaining the nutrients too. I love to see buddy just eating the slices raw and chewing the fronds (bubblegum style).

I decided to get creative and make a fennel and lemon risotto and was very pleased with the results. The flavour was very subtle, creamy and was great with some turkey burgers.

I still have another bulb of fennel left to use.

Ingredients (serves 4 as an accompaniment)

1 onion, finely chopped (check out my tutorial on chopping an onion with minimal tears)

1 bulb of fennel

1 tbsp olive oil

25g unsalted butter

1/2 packet risotto rice

1 Knorr chicken stock pot (you could use vegetable stock)

1 large lemon

25g grated parmesan

25g unsalted butter (to add at the end)

salt and pepper

Method

Scrub the lemon under some hot water to remove any wax or product and leave to dry.

Now to prepare the fennel. I trimmed off the top of the fennel, the stalks were a bit tougher. I then cut the fennel in half, then into quarters and remove the core if necessary. I then chopped the fennel into small piece, slicing down the length, then across.

In a small saucepan, pop in the stockpot and 500 ml boiling water. Dissolve the stockpot and then leave over low heat, just keeping it hot. You always add boiling stock to a risotto.

Take a large saucepan, add the olive oil and 25g of butter, melt over medium heat, then add the chopped onion and fennel and fry gently for about 5 minutes until the onion is going translucent.

Add the rice and stir, frying for another minute, the rice should start to squeak. If you haven't made risotto before Gennaro has a great video teaching you the basics.

Start adding the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring and cooking until the risotto rice is just cooked, top up the stock pan if you need more water. Add the grated zest of the lemon, stir well, then season with salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat and add the parmesan and butter and stir again. Cover and leave for 3 minutes.

Serve and grate over a little more lemon zest.

Let me know if you try this, or have any other great ideas for using fennel. 

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Scallops with wild garlic and pasta

Organic Boxes

We are now into the 4th week of lockdown due to COVID-19 and we are very fortunate that we have had an organic box delivery for over 20 years. Initially, we used to collect our box from a local distribution point, then moved to Riverford, last year I set up an Abel & Cole organic box delivery as an alternative.

One weakness of many food delivery companies is that you can't have more than one address attached to your account, therefore I set up one account for my elderly parents with Riverford and another to be delivered to my workplace.

When there started to be an issue getting produce, just before lockdown, I tried to move my Riverford delivery from my work address back to my home address, but it could not be changed due to capacity issues.  I was able to organise a weekly Riverford delivery of veg, meat and milk to my parents. Fortunately, I was quick enough using Abel and Cole to set up a regular weekly delivery and the bonus is that I can still add to the order if I need to and they have a wider variety of produce available. I don't know what will arrive in my veg and fruit box though, therefore every week is a mystery.

During lockdown, it's easy to get into a food rut, so it's important to experiment with new recipes to keep the palate fresh.

What to cook for lunch?

I still had some wild garlic in my fridge and some fresh scallops from my delivery this week. What to cook? After some research at other recipes, I created the following recipe.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Linguini pasta
1 shallot finely chopped
50 g butter
2 tbsps olive oil
1 handful of chopped wild garlic
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
125ml white wine or vermouth
grated zest lemon
6 scallops
salt and pepper

Method

Put the pasta into cook, make sure you salt the water.

In a medium saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 25 g butter over a medium heat and add shallots, cook gently until soft. Add the chilli flakes, garlic and wild garlic and fry gently for 2 mins, add the white wine or vermouth and gently cook until reduced by half, season.

In a frying pan heat the 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat.. Wash and pat dry the scallops, season with salt and pepper. Fry scallops - don't move them around, wait 2 minutes until golden brown. Turn scallops onto other side and continue frying. Add the butter to the pan, and spoon the butter over the scallops.

When pasta is cooked, drain and add to the medium saucepan, toss with the garlic & shallot mixture. Add some freshly grated lemon rind and toss. Serve in a pasta bowl with more grated lemon rind and serve the scallops on the top.

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Isolation popcorn (butterscotch) - caramel popcorn recipe

Isolation popcorn - perfect for those movie afternoons.

There's nothing like the smell of hot popcorn, it's so quick and easy to make and great if you are going to sit down to watch a film or stream a live show.

It's the snacks that people will be missing during the Covid-19 outbreak, so this a perfect treat and only needs minimal ingredients. I add a large pinch of Maldon sea salt to the butterscotch as I'm making it, then you get a lovely salted caramel flavour.

If you love the popcorn that comes in bags, with a caramel/butterscotch crispness, then you will love this easy recipe.

Ingredients

For the popcorn:

1 heaped tbsp popping corn

1 tbsp cooking oil

For the butterscotch:

25g butter

25g golden granulated sugar

1 heaped tbsp golden syrup

Method

First pop the corn. If you have an electronic popper then use that (it dry pops the corn so no oil and very healthy).

Stove top method:

You need a large deep heavy-based pan with a lid to pop the corn.

Heat the oil in the pan over medium heat, add the popping corn stir, then cover with the lid. 

Gently shake the pan and you will soon hear popping start, keep gently shaking whilst holding the lid on the pan (you don't want popcorn snow in your kitchen), until the popping slows down. 

Don't leave too long, or the popcorn could burn. 

Take off the heat and remove the lid after 10 seconds (you hopefully won't have any more pops. 

Pour into a large mixing bowl. 

Check through the popcorn and remove any unpopped kernels.

Take a medium pan, add the butter, sugar and golden syrup and start to heat over medium heat. You can stir with a wooden spoon. It will get very hot, so be careful if you have young children around, this part is best done without them around. It will bubble and foam, keep cooking until it starts to turn colour, you need to keep stirring and watching it carefully at this stage, it will colour very quickly. 

When it has turned a lovely butterscotch colour, turn off the heat and drizzle over the popcorn in the mixing bowl. 

Use 2 wooden spoons, or serving spoons to toss the popcorn with the butterscotch. It will get very sticky and you may start to see spun sugar threads. Keep tossing the popcorn, so it doesn't stick into one huge mass.

As soon as cool enough to handle, you can start to break up the pieces.

If you want to make salted caramel, add a large pinch of flaked sea salt crystals to the butterscotch whilst you are making it.

Sit back and enjoy your film.

If you have any other flavours that you make, I'd love to hear your ideas.

I have discovered an amazing gluten-free popcorn available to pop at home on Amazon. It produces mushroom-style kernels like a well-known brand you can purchase in bags covered in butterscotch😉

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