Bridget and Bea’s Mild Chicken and Vegetable Curry

Me and Glen love curries in all their glorious forms but we are both prone to up the chilli heat to a level that wouldn’t be enjoyable to our girls just yet.

Both of my girls love helping in the kitchen and Bridget has often helped me with various tasks appertaining to a hot curry and asked if she could make one for her and Beatrice. The below is a very simple recipe and uses plenty of vegetables and chicken so has a whole load of nutrients in there. It’s an adaptation of my Mum’s long-standing family favourite curry, just tweaked for a younger palate.

You could omit the chicken for a vegetarian option and switch around the vegetables according to what your little ones like best or what you have in stock too.

My Mum always stirs through 1-2 tablespoons of double cream before serving which gives a lovely rich and creamy finish, but I’ve omitted here. If you find the curry is a little spicy though this trick will help to make it slightly milder and natural yoghurt or crème fraiche work just as well too.

The below makes 4-6 small children’s sized portions which freeze really well too.

Bridget and Bea's Mild Chicken and Vegetable Curry

Here’s how:

• X2 skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 thumbnail piece of ginger
• 1 red pepper
• 1 courgette
• 6 tomatoes
• Handful mushrooms
• Small pack of baby sweetcorn
• Tin of coconut milk
• 1 level tablespoon mild curry powder - I used Schwartz
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Couple of cloves
• Drizzle of rapeseed or vegetable oil

Firstly add the oil to a heavy bottomed pan and place onto a low heat.

Now peel and dice the onion finely, mince the garlic and add to the pan to gentle fry.

Peel and finely slice or grate the ginger and add to the pan too.

All this mixture to cook down and soften and once the onions are soft and translucent, add the curry powder, turmeric and paprika. Allow to cook for a few minutes and then use a slotted spoon to remove the mixture and place into a bowl for the time being.

In the meantime chop the tomatoes into small cubes, slice the courgette and pepper and set aside.

Now dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add back to the now-empty onion pan. You may need a drizzle more oil here. Allow the chicken to colour on all sides, moving around with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Once the chicken has been seared on all sides, return the onion, garlic and ginger mixture, and the rest of the vegetables to the pan.

Pour over the coconut milk and add the cloves and cinnamon stick.

Add sliced mushrooms for the final five minutes of cooking time.

Allow to cook for twenty minutes, stirring every few minutes, and then try to remove the cloves and what is left of the cinnamon stick.

Serve with your choice of accompaniments. Bridget and Bea love rice or a jacket potato with a little naan bread for dipping into the curry sauce. Enjoy! 

Baby Bites Salmon with Horseradish Crust, Roast Thyme Potatoes and Vegetables

This is a lovely little meal that my ten month old daughter loves.

The few different components help keep it interesting and I introduced the horseradish crumbly texture as she has had salmon a lot and I like to do it in different ways for her so it doesn't get boring.

The crust comes from a cream cracker crumbled up, but you could use crushed nuts, porridge oats or breadcrumbs - whatever you have to hand really.

Also if you are worried that horseradish will be too strong a flavour for baby, you could of course used cream cheese or even creme fraiche - and just add a tiny bit of horseradish.

Personally I've introduced strong flavours from early on in the weaning process hoping this will help her get used to and love them and so far, so good.

She doesn't have pureed food much any more, and is far more interested in finger foods and things that she can feed herself and explore with her hands before it goes into the mouth. This can be time consuming and is certainly messy, but it's all a learning process.

Here's how:
1 small salmon fillet or a larger one halved
1 tsp creamed horseradish
1 cream cracker
1 potato (I used a King Edward but any decent baking potato)
A few cauliflower florets and a handful of frozen peas (or any other veg you have available)
1 tsp olive oil
Pinch of dried thyme
Pinch of black pepper
1 clove of garlic halved
Firstly fill and boil the kettle and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Peel the potato and cut into small sized pieces that baby will be able to handle either whole or halved.

Place into a saucepan and cover with the boiled water on a medium heat and cook for five-ten minutes until slightly softened.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare any vegetables by peeling or cutting into manageable sized pieces and washing where necessary.

Drain the potato and in the colander roughly shake - this will help give a crisp exterior. Place into a small baking dish and coat with the drizzle of olive oil and shake about so each piece is evenly coated. Then season with black pepper and thyme and place into the oven. As these are small pieces they should only take 25 mins to cook.

Now to prepare the salmon - simply place into the baking dish you are using then with a knife, spread over the horseradish so the top is coated. Then scatter over the crumbled cracker or breadcrumbs.

This will need cooking for approximately 18 minutes to be cooked through so coincide with the cooking of the potatoes.

Finally cook your vegetables to your preference either by steaming or boiling.