Gluten Free Turkey Meatballs with Thai Green Curry broth

So it is my final day off work and I am experimenting with some bread and reading about Tolkien and his fascination with this amazing country, Finland, and I suddenly realise that I haven't written up a new recipe in a couple of weeks. So now the dough is proving and I have dug into my pictures to see what recipes I have done recently and I came across this one.

It started when we invited my brother in law and his girlfriend (I'm sure he is ok with me telling the world) over for dinner. She is lactose intolerant and so had to prepare something that was within the bounds of her allergy and the time constraints placed upon me by work, life etc. I had some turkey mince lying around and thought that making some meatballs in a sauce would be quick, easy and tasty. I wanted to make it a little different and so scourged the internet for ideas and after looking at more than a dozen meatball recipes I thought that a Thai style one would be the difference I wanted. I also thought about how I hadn't deliberately made a gluten free food before and so decided to make it both friendly for lactose, gluten and milk intolerant people.

To make enough for 4 people, you will want:-

350g turkey mince
75g rolled oats
1 egg
2 green chillies, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tsp ground ginger
Juice and zest from 1 lime
1 tsp sugar
400ml coconut milk
100ml water
3 tbsp Thai green curry paste
1 red pepper, sliced
1/2 aubergine, cubed
4 tbsp fresh parlsey

Put the rolled oats into a food processor and blitz until a powder, pour into a mixing bowl and add the mince. In a pan, sauté the chillies, garlic andonion until soft in some oil, then leave to cool for a few minutes. Add to the mixing bowl and also the egg, ginger, all the zest and half the juice of lime, sugar and seasoning. Mix all together until thoroughly combined and then shape into balls (I got 20 out of this mixture but it all depends on the size you want). Put on a baking tray and cooking in a preheated 150C oven for 15 minutes.

In a saucepan lightly sauté the aubergine and red pepper in some oil then add the curry paste, after a couple of minutes pour in the coconut milk rest of the lime juice and water and bring to a simmer. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes, give it a taste and correct the seasoning.

Take the meatballs out and serve with the sauce and your choice of accompaniment, some boiled rice or pasta is great for this dish. Sprinkle the parsley on top for decoration and refreshing herb flavour.

This dish can be knocked up and out in 30 minutes, making it ideal for a weekly dish for those busy days.

NOTE: Check your oats, some oats cannot be guaranteed to be gluten free because of the way they are grown or processed. If you are not gluten intolerant then it won't be a worry.

Salami and Potato Tortilla

Tortilla Espanola, otherwise known as Spanish Omelette, is a really simple dish that is great hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch or dinner, on its own or with accompaniments. Traditionally it is just prepared using vegetable oil, eggs and potatoes and served as a tapa (picnic dish) cut into bit sized pieces.

Legend puts the origins of the Tortilla as being created by General Tomas Zumalakarregi Imatz, during the seige of Bilbao, as an easy, fast, nutritious dish for his troops. It hasn't been confirmed whether this is true, it is known that the Tortilla gained popularity and spread throughout Spain during the early Carlist wars.

Today many variations exist ranging from just the addition of onions, garlic and mushrooms to chorizo, peppers or ham. You can practically put anything you want into your tortilla.

This will serve 4-6 people depending on hunger

6 tbsp oil (I used olive oil but any kind of veg oil will do)
450g potatoes, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
50g salami, thinly sliced
6 eggs, lightly beaten

Start by heating the oil in a pan, one about 18cm is good. Add the potatoes, onions and garlic and stir together until thoroughly coated in the oil, cover with a lid. Gently cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes (the potatoes should be firm but soft). Season.

Turn on your grill to a medium high heat. Add the Salami to the pan and stir round. Season your eggs and then pour over the potato mixture. Turn up the heat to a medium high for 5 minutes or until the edges start to brown and the egg is about three-quarters set. Put the pan under the grill and brown the top. Take out and place to one side.

Leave to cool slightly (about 2 minutes) then carefully loosen the tortilla around the edges and underneath with a knife, cut into desired serving portion and serve.

The whole process takes about 20-30 minutes from start to finish. This makes it ideal for a quick lunch. It is also great cold, so you can make it beforehand for picnics or pack lunches.

Tasty Chicken Stroganoff

Stroganoff has become a popular dish throughout the world, especially in English style pubs. It has its origins in 19th century Russia with the first recipe showing up Elena Molokhovet's classic Russian cookbook A Gift to Young Housewives. It was lightly floured cubes of beef cooked with bouillon, mustard and finished with sour cream. It evolved from there, things were added to it like onions and mushrooms, different meats were used or sometimes even just vegetables.

My version uses chicken and just came about because I was hungry at work and decided upon something different for a change.

So to make enough for yourself and 3 others you will need:-

1 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breast, cut into strips
1 large onion, sliced
4-6 mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp tomato purée
150ml chicken stock
2 tbsp sour cream
paprika and parsley for decorating

Start by heating a pan over medium heat, then add olive oil. Sauté chicken strips and onions until the onions are soft but not browned. Add the mushrooms and garlic, sauté them for about a minute. Stir in the mustard and tomato and cook out for another minute. Pour in the stock and simmer until reduced by about half. Fold in the sour cream to finish and serve with either rice or pasta. It also goes great with garlic bread.

Basic Mayonnaise

I love mayonnaise, I love it on chips, chicken, fish, burgers, well basically anything goes with mayo. However, like most people, I bought it in because I was just too lazy to make it myself. However I have been experimenting with an quick and easy DIY mayo that can be used as it is or have things added to it to give you different flavours.

So here is how to make enough for three-four servings:-

1 large, fresh egg
1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
salt and pepper
150ml Oil (I used rapeseed oil)

Put the egg, mustard, salt and pepper into a food processor. Turn it on and pour the oil through the top, it will start to thicken. Leave after all oil has gone for 10 more seconds then switch of. Check consistency (you can add more oil if you want it thicker) and seasoning.

Put into a fridge and consume within 7 days.

It is as simple as that.

Simple and Tasty Nasi Goreng

My wife and I love Prawn Crackers, we love them so much that we normally produce a meal to accompany them rather than the normal way round. Nasi Goreng, like all types of fried rices, was a way in which to use up the leftover boiled rice as the frying killed off the dangerous microbes that love to gather on rice. It has its origins in Indonesia (where it is often labelled as the national dish), however it has now spread across many of the Asian countries and also is big in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

This recipe produces enough to feed four people:-

375g long-grain rice
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
500g Chicken breast, cut into 1cm thick strips
250g cooked peeled prawns
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
Prawn crackers, to serve, i'll let you decide how many you want

Put a pan on to boil, add some salt to it. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add the rice, about 20 minutes. Then drain and rinse under cold water and the set aside in a colander to drain thoroughly.

Then make an omelette with the eggs. Then roll it up and cut it into strips, then put it aside.

In a mortar crush the onion, garlic and chilli into a paste.Then put the oil in a wok and fry the onion paste for a couple of minutes until you start getting a beautiful fragrant smell from it. Then add your chicken strips and stir-fry until it starts changing colour on all sides. Add the prawns and soy sauce, stir fry until the chicken is tender.

Now add the rice to the wok, toss until the rice gets hot. Throw in the omelette strips, season to taste and then serve.

So simple, so tasty. So give this amazing, healthy Asian dish a go, you won't be disappointed.