Chicken Broccoli and Quinoa Balls

Chicken and Broccoli Bites or Broccoli and Cheese Bites have been trending on food blogs for a while now, and I have been wanting to try them for a while. 

Mr 11 months dinner platter.
The chicken broccoli and quinoa
balls were demolished!

However my 'fussy eater' is weird about meat (unless it's pulverised into a puree, masked with pumpkin or kumara), and is not a big fan of cheese. He'll eat his ham and cheese sammies okay, but won't eat cheese on it's own, and didn't seem too pleased with the cheese and veggie fritters that I made (but he loves my Lasagne and Tuna Pasta Bake, go figure?). Regardless, I was hesitant to try something, which was too 'meaty' or 'cheesy', but I am wanting to introduce more finger food, so I came up with these tasty morsels: Which he devoured, and completely ignored everything else which was on his plate. Luckily these are basically a complete meal in one, so he can just eat these for the rest of his life for all I care and I know he'll be getting a balanced diet. 

Best of all, they're a hit with adults as well as children! Little ones can enjoy them plain or with a little tomato sauce, and for adults, add a teaspoon of chilli sauce to the tomato sauce for a flavour kick. Alternatively, you could serve them with spaghetti and a tomato sauce. 

Ingredients (makes 40 balls): 

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 1/2 cups of roughly chopped broccoli (florets and stalk - just remove the skin of the stalk) 
• 400 grams skinless boneless free range chicken 
• 100 grams haloumi cheese 
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (1/2 cup dried + 1 cup water, simmer for 10-15 mins) 
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp dried thyme 
• 1 tsp paprika 

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and line two baking trays with grease proof paper. 

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to do a few ingredients at a time, then finish up the mixing in a large bowl. 

Using wet hands, shape ping-pong sized balls of the mixture and drop them onto the lined trays. 

Bake for 25 minutes, swapping the trays around halfway to ensure even cooking. 

Cool and serve: with a tomato sauce (chilli optional), or with spaghetti and a cooked tomato sauce. 

Crunchy Coconut Chicken and Slaw

Everybody loves fried chicken right? Crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside. This week I've come up with a healthier version. One that adults and children love. Once the chicken is crumbed you can pop it in the oven and leave it, or if you want it extra crunchy you could pan fry it for a few minutes each side before finishing it in the oven. We just oven baked, and it was perfect, not to mention easier. Cayenne pepper adds a real kick, so if you're making it for (or with) kids, maybe leave that out. 

Coconut Chicken 
1/2 cup plain flour 
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp each of dried coriander, dried parsley or cayenne pepper 
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko crumbs 
3/4 cup dried desiccated coconut
500g chicken tenderloins or breasts, cut into wide strips 
Olive Oil spray - or drizzle over

Coconut Slaw 
1/4 plain white cabbage, shredded 
2 carrots, grated 
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
1/4 red capsicum, diced small
1/2 fresh coconut, grated - 1/2 a cup of dried coconut would also work, but wouldn't taste quite the same
juice of 1 lime 
1/4 cup mayonnaise 

To serve
Mayonnaise, and if you like it spicy, stir in some of your favourite chilli sauce. 


First prepare your chicken. Get three bowls or plates ready. Fill the first with the flour, salt and pepper. Fill the second with the egg, then the third with the mix of panko, herbs, and coconut. 

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. 

Dab the chicken dry with paper towels. Take a piece of chicken and dredge it in the flour mix, shake off any excess, then dunk it in the egg. Again, allow the excess to drip off, before dredging it in the panko and coconut mixture. You may need to press the crumbs on to coat it evenly. Arrange the chicken in a single layer on the baking dish, and repeat with remaining pieces. 

When all the chicken is coated, place in a hot oven for 15 - 20 minutes, turning once. 
While the chicken is cooking, prepare your slaw. 

Shred the cabbage (a food processor works wonders here), grate the carrots, fresh coconut, and finely slice the spring onion, coriander, and dice capsicum. Toss together in a large bowl with salt and lime juice. Stir through 1/4 cup of mayonnaise. Chill till required. 

In a small bowl, mix more mayonnaise with some hot chilli sauce. 
Serve the chicken on a bed of slaw. Serve the spiced mayo on the side. 

Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls.

With the rugby world cup about to beginning, these are the perfect recipe to entertain a crowd. Pork and fennel are a classic combination, then wrapped in golden puff pastry, who could resist? Easy to prepare in advance and store in the fridge or freezer to be cooked later when the bellies start growling. 

Ingredients (serves 4 - 8): 

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (optional) 
• 1 tsp fennel seeds (use 2 tsp if not using mustard seeds) 
• 1 tbsp salt 
• 1 tsp cracked pepper 
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce, or malt vinegar
• 1 cup breadcrumbs 
• 500g free range pork mince 
• 375g puff pastry roll, thawed
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds

Method:

Heat the oil, on a low heat, in a small frying pan. Add fennel, onion, garlic, mustard and fennel seeds, sauté for 5 - 10 minutes, stirring, till vegetables are soft, add apple cider vinegar. Set aside to cool. 

In a large bowl mix breadcrumbs, mince, salt, pepper, worcestershire (or malt vinegar) and cooled onion fennel mix. 

Roll out thawed pastry and depending on the size sausage rolls you plan to make, cut into two or three even sized pieces. Spread a half, or third of the mince mixture along one side of the pastry, about an inch away from the edge. Press the mince filling so that it is dense, and gently roll the pastry around the mince. 

Place the log on the baking tray with the overlap on the bottom. Repeat with the remaining pastry. Chill sausage roll logs in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before baking. 

To bake: Preheat oven to 200c. Cut into the desired amount of sausage rolls, score the tops and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle fennel seeds on top. 

Bake 20 - 30 minutes (depending on size of your sausage rolls), till golden brown and cooked through. You may need to cut one open to 'quality assurance' check - it's a thankless job, but someone has to do it, right? 

Allow to chill for a few minutes before serving with a spicy tomato sauce. 

Friday night = Pizza night

Pizza is one of those things that's always satisfying. Especially, when it's homemade. Sure you can buy a plethora of pizza bases ready to go, and sure, they taste good enough, but homemade, homemade is always so much more satisfying. Tonight I split the base in two and made one, a vegetarian favourite, broccoli and feta, the other, spicy chorizo and mushroom, with homemade tomato sauce. 

Friday pizza night is a bit of a tradition in my house. One that began about 4 years ago, when I was flatting with other pizza and beer enthusiasts. We'd each do our own toppings, and share to see who could come up with the best combination. Tonight was the best night to bring the tradition back to life, firstly because I finally have a new oven (YUSS!!) and secondly, the rugby's on. 

I like to keep my base quite no frills, using the edmonds pizza base ratio, that way I let the toppings shine. The boys, both meatlovers, decided the broccoli was "all good!" and struggled to pick a favourite. 

Base

• 1 tbsp Edmonds active yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 cup of warm water - it should be body temperature, mix half a cup of boiled water with cold water
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups of plain flour
• 1 tbsp oil

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl. Set aside, somewhere warm and draught free (a 35 degree oven works well for this if its a cold day) for about 15 minutes till yeast has become frothy. Meanwhile get started on making on the toppings, as below. 

Mix in sifted flour, salt and oil. Combine with a knife till the dough starts to come together. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. You'll feel the dough become smooth and elastic. 

Oil a large bowl, place the dough in and cover with a tea towel. Put back in the draught free warm place for about an hour till it's doubled in size. 

Preheat your oven, and pizza stone to 220 degrees celsius Punch the dough down and knead again before splitting it in half (or quarters if you want smaller pizza's). 

Roll gently, or press into 30cm pizza tray. Or if you have a pizza stone, roll the dough out on greaseproof baking paper - this makes it easier to get it off the bench and on the stone pre cooking. 

Once rolled, oil the base. 

Broccoli Feta and Red Onion Pizza 

• 2 red onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Oregano, salt and pepper
• 60g feta

Heat oil in a saucepan and on a low heat, sauté the onion, balsamic and garlic for about 10 minutes till softened, stirring often. Set aside

Prepare broccoli by lightly steaming or microwaving for 2 minutes

To assemble spread sautéed onion onto prepared base, sprinkle grated cheese and arrange broccoli florets over the top. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. 

Bake 15 - 20 minutes till golden. Remove from heat and crumble feta over top. Slice. Serve. 

Spicy Chorizo and Mushroom Pizza 

Tomato Base 

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 stalks celery, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1/2 tin crushed tomatoes (or 6 fresh) 
• 1/2 cup water or stock
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tsp each of dried marjoram, thyme, chilli flakes and pepper
• 1 tsp each of dried basil, oregano, and salt

Toppings

• 1 chorizo finely sliced
• 6 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• handful of jalapeños (optional) 
• handful of marinated eggplant - artichoke, sun-dried tomato, olives or other antipasto veggies would also work well, just don't go overboard, simple is best. 

To make the sauce heat oil in a saucepan, add herbs and spices till they start to sizzle, reduce heat and add garlic, celery and carrot. Sauté for 5 minutes till softened. Add tomatoes and water or stock, increase heat, and cook, stirring every couple of minutes till sauce is thick. You can puree it, or leave it chunky, I like it chunky to be honest. 

Once base is ready, spread the sauce over, then half the grated cheese. Arrange mushrooms, chorizo, marinated veggies, and jalapeños on top. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes. Slice. Enjoy. 

Christmas spiced pikelets with kiwifruit and strawberry salsa

Every year we do Christmas Brunch with my family, usually a bacon and egg combo with all the sides, mushrooms, spinach, tomato avocado etc. But today I though I would experiment with something new. These pikelets are quick and easy to make, similar to your edmonds recipe, egg flour milk, but with millet flour instead of regular flour, making them gluten free and with a deeper texture and flavour.

Millet is a slightly sweet golden coloured grain, which originated in China. It has many health benefits including being a source of protein, dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals including copper, manganese, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, and B-complex vitamins (especially niacin and B6). As well as all that it contains amino acid tryptophan, which can help regulate people's appetite, sleep and moods. Millet can be cooked as a grain like rice or barley, or as I used in this recipe, be ground to a flour. It doesn't make a perfect substitute for regular flour in recipes, usually needing to be mixed with other flours, but does make great, slightly crunchy and nutty flavoured pancakes. 

Hence, I came up with this recipe, having some millet flour to use, and not much experience using it in other recipes, I decided to make pikelets. This is my third time making them and I think I'm definitely onto a winner.

Ingredients

• 1 egg, whisked
• 3/4 milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 mashed ripe banana (I freeze mine, then thaw them as I need them) 
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 cup millet flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 kiwifruit
• 6-8 strawberries
• 6-8 mint leaves
• squeeze of lemon juice
• golden syrup (or any other syrup you like) 
• butter or oil for frying. 

Method

Whisk the egg quickly, add milk, spices, banana and sugar. Mix well. 

Add the flour and baking powder, mix well and put in fridge to chill for 30 mins... Use this time to get the salsa ready and any other morning chores. 

Use a paring knife to peel and dice the kiwifruit. Hull and dice the strawberries. 

Mix together with finely chopped mint leaves and a squeeze of lemon juice. Chill. 

Heat butter or oil (or a combination of both) in a heavy frypan over a medium heat. Drop about 1/4c at a time into the pan. Swirl the pan a little to spread the batter if necessary. Watch as small bubbles appear on the surface, once the bubbles pop, they are ready to flip. Cook for another minute or two on the other side. Place in a warm oven while you cook the rest. 

Serve stacked with salsa and a good drizzle of syrup on top. 

You could also serve with greek yogurt or whipped cream on the side. 

To make these finger food, place a single layer of pikelets on a serving tray. Put a dollop of cream or yogurt on top, followed by a small amount of the salsa. Drizzle with syrup and serve.