Popcorn Chicken Bites

I have been playing around with these for a while and making a version of them for years, but since I tried Half Baked Harvest's recipe for Chicken Tenders back in January, which introduced me to the cornflake crust, it's honestly been a game-changer and this version has been voted for as a winner by my family. 

You can soak the chicken in buttermilk, but I make a version of my own and have included the details for this below as buttermilk isn't always easy to come by.

I cannot stress enough the importance of using boneless and skinless chicken thighs here for the juiciest little crispy bites of chicken; you can use chicken breast if you prefer but it will inevitably be drier! 

You can also play around with the seasonings in the crust, I have just a gentle spicing, as my girls don't like anything too hot, but I think cayenne would work really well here. 

However many you make, they will go, and I guarantee once you make this once, you'll be making it again and soon. I served this here with my Slow Cooker BBQ Beans with Chorizo but they'd also work well with my Healthy Coleslaw.

Popcorn Chicken Bites

Here's how:

• 600g skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 3 heaped tbsp of natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 140g cornflakes
• 1.5 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• Fry Light Sunflower Oil

Firstly make your own buttermilk, by combining the yoghurt with the white wine vinegar and stirring through and place into a container big enough to hold the chicken. If you don't have white wine vinegar, any white vinegar will work or you could even use the juice of half a lemon.

Now cut the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces and place into the buttermilk. Once all chopped and added to the yoghurt use a spoon to mix the chicken all around and ensure every piece is coated. Put a lid on the container and place into the fridge for at least an hour. 

When ready to cook, pop the oven on at 200 degrees. 

For the crust, blitz the cornflakes in a blender or a Nutribullet and place into a bowl then add the seasonings; paprika, oregano, black pepper and garlic salt and mix.

Get a couple of baking trays ready - I line them with baking paper to stop the chicken sticking and losing any of the crust.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and take off the lid.

Use a fork to pop each piece of chicken into the cornflake mixture and move it around to ensure it's completely coated then place onto the baking sheet. Repeat this until every piece of chicken has a good coating. 

Now give all of the chicken pieces a spray with the Fry Light.

Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes until cooked through and crisp. Enjoy!

I serve with a Jack Daniels' BBQ dip and then two dips which I knock up quickly myself and which are always devoured. 

The first is a Honey Mustard dip and it is simply 2 tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, 1.5 tbsp honey and a pinch of cayenne pepper and a drop of white wine vinegar and mixed together.

The second is an Asian dipping sauce and is a minced garlic clove, and a 2 cm piece of ginger grated or finely chopped and heated in a pan with 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp sriracha, 1 tbsp red bean chilli paste. 

Again, if you make either of these dips I guarantee it won't only be the once!

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Homemade mushroom soup is one of my absolute favourites, and when you can make it with wild mushrooms there is nothing better.  There's currently a green grocer stall in the outside section of Borough Market selling about 300g of woodland wild mushrooms for £3.50 so this week I took full advantage and have enjoyed this glorious soup for three days solid.

You can make it with any mushrooms though and it'll still be tasty so if you can't get the wild mushrooms, just use a mixture of what you can get hold of locally.

This is a completely vegetarian meal and if you wanted to adapt it to make it vegan, you could just omit from using the cream, or use a plant-based variety such as Elmlea Plant Double.

The below makes enough for x4 full portions.

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Here's how:

• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 400g wild or mixed mushrooms
• x1 leek
• x1 red onion
• x1 clove of garlic
• x3 celery sticks
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• Pinch black pepper
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp single cream

Firstly drizzle the oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan and place on a low heat. 

Now peel and dice the onion, mince the garlic, slice the leek finely and the celery and place into the pan to gently soften - this is your soup base. 

Now roughly chop the mushrooms and once everything is softened in the pan, add the mushrooms and allow them to get a good coating of the olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt and black pepper now.

Add the dried thyme, which really complements mushrooms, and pour over the stock and bring to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

Now blitz the soup - I use my Nutribullet so I always allow the soup to cool a little first to avoid any explosions! 

Once blended, return to the heat and once warmed through remove from the heat and stir through the single cream. Add a tiny drizzle to each bowl once dished up as a pretty garnish.Enjoy!

If you're also making the most of soup season; here are a few other soup recipes you might like:
Restorative Green Soup
Alphabet and Hidden Veg Soup
Winter Vegetable Soup
Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Slow Cooker BBQ Beans with Chorizo

These beans are an absolutely delicious dish as a stand alone on top of a jacket potato or even toast, but they are a great side dish too and one that I often make if we're having any kind of fried or baked chicken. 

The fact that they are made in the slow cooker with no need for any faff too, makes them an absolute winner in my eyes; ideal for midweek when time is often short and any shortcuts are golden.  The smoky BBQ aroma will fill your home while they're cooking too, it's an inviting smell to welcome you home after work or school believe me.

They are made mostly from store cupboard essentials too and if you want them as a vegetarian option instead, simply omit from including the chorizo.

The below is a generous portion for a side - enough to serve x6 people. 

Slow Cooker BBQ Beans with Chorizo

Here's how:

• x1 tin of red kidney beans
• x1 tin butterbeans
• x1 tin chopped tomatoes
• x1 red onion
• x1 clove of garlic
• x1 tbsp chipotle paste
• x1 tbsp tomato puree
• 70g cooking chorizo
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• Pinch of salt and black pepper
• Water

The only slightly laborious task in preparing these BBQ beans is to finely dice the red onion, mince the garlic and chop up the chorizo into small pieces and add to the slow cooker.

Now add the rest of the above ingredients, and using one of the empty tins, fill that one third of the way with cold water and add to the mix.Give a good stir.

Pop the lid on and then place on the appropriate setting for your slow cooker, I use a Crockpot and use setting 2 for four hours and there is no need to stir during cooking.Enjoy!

Banana and Chocolate Chunk Bread

This Banana and Chocolate Chunk Bread is really a cake - deliciously moist with a close texture and ideal for an elevenses or tea-time treat with a cup of tea. 

It is also a great way to use up any over-ripe (or even slightly browning) bananas too - no waste here.

There are tons of varieties of Banana Bread and they each have their own charm, if I don't add chocolate I love a gentle spicing with ginger and cinnamon or even mixed spice; vanilla also works well but when the chocolate is in the mix, I don't think it needs anything else. 

Banana and Chocolate Chunk Bread

Here's how:

• 275g peeled banana
• 2 tbsp milk
• 180g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 75g walnuts
• 100g dark chocolate
• 2 eggs
• 100g melted butter
• 160g dark brown sugar

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and grease and line a square or loaf tin. 

Now in a mixing bowl, mash most of the bananas up quite smoothly with the milk. Then with the final 1-2 bananas use your fingers to gently break up into bigger chunks - and allow for a different texture throughout the cake.

Into the banana bowl, sift the flour and add the salt and baking powder and gently mix.

In a different mixing bowl, add the butter (melt first if it isn't already). Add the brown sugar and the eggs and whisk up till light and creamy in texture.

Now roughly chop the walnuts and chop the chocolate into large chunks and set aside.

Add the banana and flour into the sugar, butter and eggs combination and fold in until you have a good, wet cake batter and no evidence of any flour hanging about.

Now add the walnuts and chocolate and give a final stir through.

Pour the batter into the lined tin, and place into the oven for 60 minutes exactly. 

Remove from the oven, and allow to stand in the tin for ten minutes. Then remove, and allow to stand for a further ten minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Banana and Chocolate Chunk Bread

Chinese Style Roast Chicken

If you have a hankering for some Chinese food without heading to the local takeaway, this Chinese Style Roast Chicken is an all-round winner and makes a great change to a Sunday roast dinner.

You can serve with noodles, rice or some stir fried or steamed vegetables but I implore you to drizzle over the 'gravy' or chicken cooking juices left in the pan as they are simply packed full of flavour and utterly delicious.

Like most marinades, the flavour will intensify if you leave for a few hours, or overnight - however this works well too, if you impulsively decide to make the chicken and just throw it all together and on the bird before throwing into the oven; great for spur of the moment cooks like me.

The below is enough for a family of four for dinner and a couple of packed lunches the next day.

Chinese Style Roast Chicken

Here’s how:

• 1 large chicken
• Juice and zest of 2 limes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4cm piece of ginger
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese Five Spice
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

Firstly turn the oven on to 200 degrees.

To prepare the marinade, peel and mince the garlic and add to a small bowl. Now peel the ginger, and either grate into the bowl or very finely slice and dice into tiny shards and add to the bowl.

Zest the limes into the bowl, then half them and squeeze in the juice, keeping the halved limes to one side.

Add the honey, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil and Chinese five spice and give the marinade a stir.

Now take the chicken and using a sharp knife remove the legs and the wings and place ninto a roasting tin with the entire breast or crown of the chicken.

Pour the marinade over the whole chicken ensuring all of the skin gets a good coating. Now take the discarded lime halves and push them inside the chicken breast cavity.

Place the entire tin into the oven and roast at 200 degrees for 20 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and continue to roast for a further 40 minutes.

Every 10-15 minutes, remove the dish from the pan, and carefull baste with the juices in the pan. I use an oven glove to carefully tilt the dish and use a serving spoon to lift out the tin juices and pour over. This will help to keep the chicken moist and juicy.

After 60 minutes in the oven, remove and place on the hob and check to see if the chicken is cooked through. Use a fork or a skewer to pierce the chicken in both the thickest part of the breast and the thickest part of the leg; and as long as the juices run clear this is cooked.

The important thing now is to baste one last time with the juices in the pan, then carefully take out the chicken and place onto a plate and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes.

Also do not waste the chicken juices left at the bottom of the pan - whatever you are serving alongside the chicken, should be drizzled in this as it is packed full of flavour.

The gravy that must be used from Chinese Style Roast Chicken

Once fully rested, take each piece of chicken onto a board with a fork and a carving knife, carve into small slithers of delicious, juicy chicken. Try to ensure that each piece has a little of the skin for extra flavour. Once you have carved all you can, now grab another fork and use the two to pull off any remaining bits of chicken from the breast or leg bones and gently shred.

Serve with your choice of rice, noodles or vegetables. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chilli - Meat Free Monday

This vegetarian chilli is a delicious family meal taking its' substance from sweet potatoes, red kidney beans and red split lentils. 

It's packed with goodness, flavour and sustenance and is a great Meat Free Monday meal - that is also vegan (so long as you omit from serving with any cheese or yoghurt). 

I made this at the weekend for a lovely Saturday lunch with my two daughters, and a few packed lunches for this week to keep the cold at dawn - it is mostly made from store cupboard essentials, so I didn't even need to leave the house. 

I served with some wholegrain rice, avocado, a cucumber and carrot ribbon salad, a little fat free natural yoghurt and a grating of cheese and it was very well received. 

You could add other vegetables to the mix or different beans; black beans, chickpeas or butter beans would all work here too.

Vegetarian Chilli

Here's how:

• 1 white onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red jalapeno chilli
• 300g sweet potato (peeled)
• 1 orange pepper
• x2 roasted red peppers (I used jarred, but you could char your own and remove the skin)
• 1x tin red kidney beans
• 1x tin of chopped tomatoes
• Vegetable stock
• 100g red split lentils
• 100g sultanas 
• 1 tbsp dried cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp chipotle paste
• Drizzle olive oil

Firstly drizzle the olive oil into a large pan or wok and place on a low heat.

Now peel and finely dice the onion, mince the garlic and slice the chilli and add to the pan to saute.

Whilst this is softening in the pan, peel and roughly chop the sweet potato to about 1cm pieces and add to the pan. 

Chop the orange pepper into small pieces and add to the pan. 

Now add all of the spices - the cumin, cinnamon, caynenne pepper, paprika and season with a little salt and pepper too.

Mix around with a wooden spatula to ensure all of the sweet potato gets a good spice coating and allow to cook out for a minute or so and then add the drained red kidney beans and the chopped tomatoes.

Rinse the lentils and add to the pan with the chopped roasted peppers, the sultanas, the chipotle, oregano and thyme.

Using one of the empty tins, make up a vegetable stock cube in one of these - fill it up and add to the chilli and give a good stir.

Allow to cook on a low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring every so often. Serve with your choice of accompaniments. Enjoy!

If you're looking for further Meat Free Monday inspiration here are a few other recipes I've posted on the matter:

• Squash and Goat's Cheese Pot Pie
• Spinach, Ricotta and Courgette Pasta Lasagne
• Mexican Veggie Burgers
• Greek Stuffed Tomatoes
• Truffled Mushroom and Leek Tagliatelle
• Squash Mac and Cheese
• Creamy Mushroom and Danish Blue Cheese Risotto

Cod Fishcakes with Quick Tartare Sauce

Fishcakes are a great favourite in our home, my girls love eating them, but they also love getting involved with making them too; the joy of getting your hands messy is never boring for children and I love them getting cooking and teaching them basic cooking skills even aged 5 and 3. 

I've used smoked and unsmoked cod here, which is wonderful in fish cakes, and we had some leftover mash potato from the night before, which is invariably an invitation for us to make some fishcakes. 

Loads of different fish works well for different fishcakes - we love salmon, mackerel, tuna, crab and haddock but these cod ones are quite classic and appeal to a child's palate perfectly. 

The quick tartare is well worth the effort too and it's made from mostly store cupboard ingredients that you're likely to already have in stock.

Cod Fishcakes with Quick Tartare Sauce

Here's how:

Fishcakes:

• 200g mash potato 
• 400g cod
• 200g smoked cod
• 3 spring onions
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley 
• 1 tbsp creamed horseradish
• Zest of x1 lemon
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• Bowl full of breadcrumbs or panko

Quick Tartare:

• 150g mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp rinsed, capers
• 5 cornichons
• 1/2 tsp English mustard
• 1 tsp creamed horseradish
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Firstly, place the oven on to 180 degrees. 

Now in a large bowl place the mashed potato. 

Finely chop the chives and the parsley and add to the bowl.

Zest the lemon and add to the bowl.

Finely chop the spring onions and add to the bowl.

Now cut the fish into about 1cm pieces and add to the bowl. Season well with salt and black pepper.

Now prepare the bowls to pane the fishcakes once formed. In one bowl crack the eggs and beat.

In another bowl, add the flour and season again.

Finally place the breadcrumbs (I whizz up whatever bread I have indoors in my Nutribullet) into a third bowl.

Get a plate, tray or chopping board ready to place each of the fishcakes onto.

Now firstly mix all of the fishcake ingredients together gently with a wooden spoon.

Now get your hands in and grab a handful of the fishcake mixture. Squish it together and form a patty shape - like a burger. You don't want each fishcake to be much more than 2.5cm wide ideally and try to keep them as similar in size as you can so they cook at the same pace.

Once each fishcake is formed, firstly roll in the flour, then the egg, make sure the fishcake is wet all over and then roll in the breadcrumbs and place onto the plate or tray.

Repeat until all of the fishcake mixture has been used up and you have a set of 6-8 fishcakes.

Now add some vegetable oil to a large frying pan and place onto a medium heat. Grab an oven tray or dish and get it close by.

Place 2-3 fishcakes into the pan at once and allow to cook for about two minutes on each side until lightly golden and crisp, then turn over and do the same on the over side, then remove to the oven tray.

Repeat until all of the fishcakes have been fried and once they're all on the oven tray place that into the oven for ten minutes to ensure the fish is cooked through and the fishcakes are piping hot.

In the meantime, assemble the tartare sauce by adding the mayonnaise to a bowl, with the English mustard, creamed horseradish and lemon juice. Make sure the capers are thoroughly rinsed and add to the mayonnaise mixture, roughly chop the cornichons and the parsley and add to the mixture and stir through.

Once the fishcakes are cooked through serve with a simple salad and a spoonful of the tartare sauce. Enjoy!

Here are a few other fishcake recipes you might like:
Mexican Style Salmon Fishcakes
Thai Salmon Fishcakes with Quick Chilli Oil
Colcannon Mackerel Fishcakes
Spiced Tuna Fishcakes
Haddock Fishcakes
Lightly Spiced Salmon Fishcakes

Lemon Curd Drizzle Cake

This is a gorgeously moist and zingy cake that is perfect to enjoy at home with a cuppa during this horrendously cold, windy and wet weather. I made it yesterday with my girls to keep them occupied for a while, and after we enjoyed a slice, warm from the oven we delivered some to my Dad at his allotment which was very well received.

I've given a double icing here - but you could cut down the calories and sugar by just having the usual lemon drizzle icing.

Lemon Curd Drizzle Cake

Lemon Curd Drizzle Cake

Here's how:

The cake batter:

• 225g salted, softened buter
• 225 caster sugar
• x4 large eggs
• 225g self raising flour
• 3 tbsp lemon curd
• Juice and zest of x1 lemon

Drizzle icing:

• 85g caster sugar
• Juice of x1.5 lemons
• Zest of x1 lemon

White icing:

• 100g icing sugar
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 20cm square or circular tin with baking paper. 

In a large mixing bowl place the softened butter and caster sugar and beat together with a wooden spoon.

Once combined, crack in each egg one at a time, mixing in as you go. 

Now sift in the self raising flour, squeeze in the lemon juice and add the zest and combine until you have a thick cake batter.

Once satisfied with the batter, place about half into the bottom of the cake tin and use the back of a metal spoon to smooth down a little.

Now take the lemon curd, and use a teaspoon to dot spoonfuls of it all over the cake batter until you've used it all up.

Now spoon over the remaining cake batter, smooth down and place into the centre of the oven for 35 minutes exactly.

In the meantime you can prepare your drizzle icing and white icing. For the drizzle simply add the lemon juice to a small bowl with the caster sugar and mix well.

For the white icing it's the same method - combine the icing sugar and lemon juice and mix well. Now place into an icing bag, or a food bag will suffice perfectly.

When you carefully remove the cake from the oven, take a wooden skewer and prick in the centre of the cake - if it comes out without wet crumbs, it's cooked, so remove it from the oven. If you have wet crumbs, return to the oven for five more minutes.

Now use the wooden skewer to prick all over about ten times, whilst still hot in the cake tin, which will create a runway to the cake when you pour the drizzle icing over.

Pour the drizzle icing over making sure the entire top of the cake gets a good coating.

Finally make a small snip into the corner of the icing bag (if using a food bag) and then just drizzle the white icing all over.

Allow to cool for five minutes before carefully turning out of the pan. This is delicious warm from the oven or cold but always with a cup of tea or coffee. Enjoy!