Gluten-free Italian stuffed chicken and chocolate pecan brownie

Tags

chicken, chocolate, chocolate brownie, dessert, dinner, Gluten Free, italian chicken, pudding

It must be pretty difficult being gluten intolerant, watching everyone else tuck into whatever they fancy and missing out on tasty grub all the time. Which is why I decided to restore some balance when I cooked dinner for the first time in my new weasel den.

The trick was to find something everyone would enjoy, but that was also gluten free for my gluten-intolerant Mammy.

I decided a chicken dish would be most likely to please everyone’s palette and picked up this nifty little recipe from BBC Good Food, which I tweaked a bit to suit my own tastes.

Gluten-free Italian Stuffed Chicken (for five)

Ingredients

200g full-fat soft cheese

Handful chopped black olives

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 teaspoon of Oregano

Some chopped sun-dried tomatoes

5 ripe tomatoes

Olive oil

Recipe

1.)    First of all, mix the soft cheese, olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic and oregano in a bowl.

2.)    Next, use a sharp knife to cut a slit along the side of each chicken breast, then stuff with the soft cheese mix.

3.)    Pop on a baking tray and season the chicken. Top with sliced tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil.

4.)    Roast for 20 minutes at 220C, or until the chicken is cooked through entirely.

I served the Italian chicken with roast potatoes, side salad and some crusty bread, plus a bottle of my Portuguese favourite Vinho Verde. The trick with the roast potatoes is too cover in olive oil and season, then cook on a low heat for 2 hours until they are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Think making a gluten-free dessert is a bit of a challenge? Try this super easy recipe for a chocolate brownie from Delicious and you’ll see how easy it is.

Gluten-free Chocolate Brownie Dessert (makes 6 portions)

Ingredients

100g good quality dark chocolate

3 medium free-range eggs

70g caster sugar

75g ground almonds

25g pecans

1 teaspoon of ground coffee (I used Sainsbury’s Fairtrade Colombian Coffee)

Crème fraiche and raspberries for serving

Recipe

1.)    Use the vegetable oil to grease an 18cm square cake tin.

2.)    Melt the chocolate over a bowl of simmering water, stirring gently.

3.)    Separate the eggs, whisking yolks and sugar until pale.

4.)    Add melted chocolate, almonds, coffee and pecans and stir.

5.)    Whisk the egg whites until they form peaks, then gradually add to the mixture.

6.)    Pop in the oven for 18 minutes at 180C, keeping watch to make sure it doesn’t burn.

7.)    Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares and spoon some crème fraiche and raspberries on top to serve.

Let me know if you try out either of the recipes? Enjoy!

What a weasel eats on its birthday…

Tags

birthday, birthday cake, breakfast, cake, chicken, coconut, fry up, hemma, holyrood 9a, mimis bakehouse, nobles

It happens to us all, we all get older, ok?! And as more than one of my friends pointed out – if you’re not getting older, you’re most likely dead. These are the kind of people I choose to spend my time with.

In a futile attempt to stop the aging process/conduct a scientific experiment that would freeze the ages of my cells with alcohol (with absolutely zero scientific basis)/get so drunk I didn’t remember I was turning a year older…off I trotted to Hemma and Holyrood 9a with my lovely pals. Many pints of Black Isle blonde were consumed, as were copious amounts of Innis and Gunn, and a delightful evening was had by all. I even got a little surprise, baked by the fair hands of my super thoughtful boyfy, Rob…

Man, that boy bakes good cake.

To clear away the cobwebs it was entirely necessary to head to Nobles and eat my body weight in fried foodstuffs the next day.

Quite possibly one of the best fry ups to be had in Edinburgh, and served until 5pm, luckily.
Heading to work on Monday you’d think I’d be a little sad the festivities were over…but no birthday would be complete without a copy team outing to Mimi’s Bakehouse!

The crispy coconut chicken with tangy mango salsa is a summer menu treat, but the real main event came after…

A generous slice of Bounty sponge cake, which I was so ready to devour I forgot to take a photograph before I stuck in. We voted it a ten out of ten.

All in all a pretty outstanding birthday. BIG SHOUT OUTS to my brother Mark for making it so special with banners and bubbly, to Rob for his phenomenal cake making and to all the lovely people who came to celebrate the fact I’m still alive – yay!

Coconut Chicken Curry recipe

Tags

Bay leaf, Black pepper, chicken, chicken curry, chillies, coconut chicken curry, Coconut milk, Cook, cumin, Curry, Curry chicken, friends, ginger, indian cooking, Madrid, recipe, Spain, spice, Sundays, turmeric

When I lived in Spain I learnt to cook authentic Indian curry. That’s right, curry. I lived with an American and an English-Indian girl and most Sundays we took it in turns to cook for around 10 other TEFL teachers in our tiny little flat in the suburbs of Madrid. And in a small way it felt just like being at home.

Curry is easier to make than most people think, once you know the basic spices you can play around a little and try out different combinations of spice or different bases – tomato, coconut milk, yogurt or cream – whatever you’re in the mood for.

I love to cook curry for groups of friends, because you can make a big pot and everyone can just help themselves to as little or as much as they like. Here is one of my favourites…

Coconut Chicken Curry
(feeds 4-5 hungry mouths)
What you’ll need…
Around 12 pieces of chicken – ideally a mixture of legs and thighs
Basmati rice
400ml coconut milk
Fresh coriander
2 cloves of garlic
2 chillies (leave some seeds in if you like it spicy, like me)
2cm of grated ginger
1tsp turmeric
2tsp ground cumin
½ tsp black peppercorns
50g butter
Bay leaves

1.) Firstly, pop the garlic, chopped chillies, turmeric, cumin, ginger, peppercorns and some fresh coriander into a bowl and use a hand-held blender to mix into a smooth paste. Alternatively use a food processor.

2.) Put the chicken into a dish and make sure it’s all nicely covered with the paste then pop in the fridge for two hours to soak in all those lovely flavours.

3.) Pop the oven on at 220C and, once heated, stick the chicken in to cook for around 45 minutes. Check occasionally and jiggle about the chicken to ensure it’s thoroughly cooked. For the last 10 minutes, put the chicken under a medium grill to get a nice golden finish.

4.) In the meantime, cook the basmati rice for 7 minutes, then drain. Add two bay leaves plus the butter – place a teacloth over the pot and leave to steam for 20 minutes.

5.) Check the chicken is completely cooked i.e. not pink in the middle, then serve up and garnish with a coriander sprig or two.

A nice, cold Indian Pale Ale straight from the fridge is the best accompaniment to this warming curry – dig in!