Strawberry, almond and coconut pikelets

Serves 2- makes 8 small pikelets

Ingredients

3 tbsp blanched almond flour

3 tbsp shredded coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp baking powder

2 eggs

Strawberries, sliced and some for garnish

Method

Whisk altogether then place 1tbsp of the mix in a buttered pan, on a medium heat. Once the mix is in the pan place some of the sliced strawberries on top. Cook until golden brown and then turn over and cook the other side. Serve with maple syrup, cream and extra strawberries.

Chicken and chorizo paella

When I make it I only use a small amount of rice and more veg, just 1 cup of rice in this.
I use the term paella very loosely here, there was no crusty butt or sofrito to be seen! Sofrito is a Spanish tomato and onion sauce which is used as a flavor base for a variety of dishes, including paella.

You know I love to know about the history of food therefore I will tell you all about it! There are a couple of different versions, which version do you think is right?

Paella comes from the Latin 'patella' The Latin word 'patella' means 'pan' and it is from this word that the Valencian word 'paella', which also means 'pan', is derived.

Paella comes from the Arabic 'baqiyah' Baqiyah (sometimes spelt 'baqiya') is Arabic for 'leftovers'. It is said that paella was originally a poor man's dish and was a way of using up leftovers from the previous week

Paella comes from the Spanish 'por ella' The Spanish 'por ella' means 'for her' and is said to come from the fact that the first paella was made by a man for his fiancée.

This is more of a cheats version

Serve 4-6

Ingredients
300g chicken thighs, diced
1 chorizo, diced
1 red and 1 green capsicum, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 brown onion, diced
A pinch of saffron threads
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup basmati rice
1 cup of chicken broth
2 cups of peas-defrosted.
5 tomatoes, chopped or 1 can tinned tomatoes

Method
In a pot heat your broth and saffron threads, turn off and leave to infuse.
In a large pan – I have used a 32cm pan, heat some oil and panfry your chicken and chorizo for 2 minutes, then add your capsicum, tomatoes,(if using tinned tomatoes add the same time as your broth) onion, garlic and smoked paprika, stir-fry a further 1-2 minutes. Then add your rice and broth. Once you stir the rice in do no stir again, you are meant to get a nice crusty butt on the bottom, but mine never do!
Simmer for 8 minutes and then add your peas. Check your liquid, if you need more add some water or extra broth. Simmer for another 3-4 minutes or until your rice is tender and peas are cooked. If you wanted to you could add some prawn at the same time you add your peas. Serve with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Slow cooked satay lamb

Serve 4-6

Ingredients

I have used a half leg of lamb and taken the bone out and left in big chunks. You can use 800g diced lamb or about 1.2 kg lamb forequarter chops (bone in). The smaller your lamb pieces the less time it takes to cook.

1/3 of a cup of peanut butter or other nut butter

1x 270ml can of ayam coconut cream

2 tbsp tamari or similar

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 tbsp chopped turmeric (you can leave this out)

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 brown onion, chopped

4 carrots, cut in half (to keep chunky)

Method

Mix everything together except the lamb, onion, garlic, turmeric and carrot, taste it and see if you want to add more tamari or sweet chilli sauce. Then place carrots and lamb in a slow cooker and pour over your sauce. Leave on low for the day or high for about 5 hours. If you are really short on time just use peanut butter, tamari and the coconut cream for your sauce! You don’t have to but in the last hour of cooking I added some sliced zucchini. Serve up with extra veg and buttered rice. You could also do cauliflower rice, some kind of noodle like rice noodles or just have the lamb and veg. This is also great with chicken or beef!

Spelt Scones

You can double or triple this

Makes 6

Ingredients

1 cup of white spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

30g butter, small cubes

1/3 cup milk approx.

Method

Preheat oven to 220 C

Blend the flour, salt and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add some of the milk and mix with a knife, just until it comes together as a dough. Add more milk as needed. Knead a couple of times. Do not over work it of the dough will be tough.

Put on a lined tray and form a rectangle with the dough and cut into 6. Separate the scones.

Bake for 10 minutes. Serve with jam and whipped cream. You could also put cheese in there and make cheese scones.

Slow cooked lamb shanks with tomato, rosemary and garlic

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks

1x 700ml jar of tomato passata

5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 small handful of rosemary stems with leaves.

Method

Put in a slow cooker on low for the day. You don’t have to but I also added 2 chopped carrots, 2 celery sticks and 1 onion, all chopped. To stretch this out you can add some cooked butter beans or chickpeas in the beginning. If you want it really saucy add 1 cup of water or broth at the beginning. I have served with sweet potato mash and roasted Brussel sprouts and broccoli. When you serve up take the stems of rosemary out. Any sauce left you can freeze for another day. You can also save to bones to make broth :)

Bounty cheesecake balls

Ingredients

250g block of full fat cream cheese- do not use light as it is softer and might not work as well

1 cup of shredded or desiccated coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup of cacao powder

6 medjool dates, pitted.

Method

Put everything in a food processor and blend until smooth. If you do not have a food processor just soften the cream cheese and finely chop everything and mix by hand- then put in the fridge to firm up before you roll them. Then roll into balls, you will get about 20. You can leave like they are, or you can dip in chocolate. I melted 100g dark chocolate, mix until there are no lumps and is nice and smooth. Quickly dip your balls in and put on a lined tray. Whack in the fridge.

You could also melt the chocolate and put in a small zip lock bag, snip a little bit of the corner and drizzle chocolate over each one.

Prawn Singapore noodles

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g raw prawns- you can also use chopped chicken thighs but will take longer to cook

1 broccoli and ½ cauliflower cut into small florets

2 bunches of asparagus, woody ends cut off and cut in half

2 zucchinis, sliced

4 cloves of garlic

2-3 tsp curry powder

¼ cup of tamari (60 ml or 3 tbsp)

200g pack of brown vermicelli, noodles, prepare according to the directions. You can use any noodle you like here. If you want grain free you can use bean thread noodles or slim noodles (made from konjac otherwise known as shirataki noodles) you can use cabbage noodles (shredded cabbage) or vegetable noodles made with a spirooli or your vege peeler.

Method

Stir-fry your veg in a large pan or wok in plenty of oil, I have used a mix of butter and olive oil. When cooked add curry powder and the tamari. Toss through and set aside. In another pan (or take your veg out chuck in a bowl and use the same pan) heat some more oil and stir-fry your prawns and garlic, this only takes about 1-2 minutes. Serve you veg and prawns on top of your noodles or you can mix everything together in your pan/wok.