The nugget and burger sides

The list is endless!

Make your own coleslaw – see the Salad label 15th April 2017 for The coleslaw conundrum – the raw slaw principle.

Make your own mayo – see the Sauce label Matt's mayonnaise - Stick blender mayo recipe 7thSeptember 2019.

Do you like heat – if it's a yes then you might like this onion salad. You can make it as per the recipe below or slice the onion into thin rings, combine the ingredients marked * then coat the rings and leave to marinade.

Here goes :

2 medium onions, finely chopped -

weight 150g per onion approximately

*celery salt and black pepper

*2 tbsp fresh orange juice

*1 tbsp lemon juice

*1 tbsp tomato paste

*pinch of chill powder or chilli flakes

Place the onions in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Place the salad in sealed airtight containers and store in a cool place.

The secret to this side is that you should not serve it for at least a day, preferably two after making it. It's important that the orange and lemon juice and the tomato paste are allowed to “mature” - leaving it to infuse takes away any harshness from the onion and the tomato paste. If you're an onion fan this side is perfect to serve with strong cheddar cheese and cold meats too.

There are the old favourites of course, fresh shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and a burger bun of your choice – in my case brioche, lightly toasted.

Now back to my recent mission – to produce another cake without flour …

The nugget alternatives!

There are other alternatives that spring to mind – for the grown-ups you could have a whole breast per person - prepared in exactly the same way as the nuggets i.e. bashed flat and coated. This version is called an escalope and is traditionally made with veal.

Here's my useless bit of information for the day … the technical culinary term for coating with breadcrumbs is “pané”. If you like extra crunch you can use panko crumbs and blitz them so you have a finer texture and then “double pané” your coating.

If you want extra flavour, try adding a seasoning to your crumb – as a guide – roughly speaking a tablespoon is equivalent to 25g ergo the 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs mentioned in the original recipe is approximately 100g. Add a tablespoon of seasoning to 100g of breadcrumbs for extra zing. Tip the crumb into a food bag, add the seasoning and shake to combine.

The other alternative is to make chicken burgers, coated in the crumb. They don't have to be a perfect circle, random and rustic is good, think of it as serendipity – a happy accident! Slice a chicken breast in half, place between two sheets of cling film and then bash and turn as you go.

There's another benefit here – all that bashing is a stress buster releasing the lockdown frustrations.

I can't leave this without giving a veggie option and in fact my own weekend treat. Check out the Mushroom label for the Miso Mushroom Burger 9th September 2018 using Portabello mushrooms – yum!

Then there's the sides …

Chicken nuggets … a step by step guide

Before we begin, the same tip as always – set your stall out, get all your ingredients ready – if you're organised it'll be fun :

Step 1 :

Pat the chicken dry with kitchen roll. Place a sheet of cling film on your board. You can place the chicken breast whole and cut afterwards or cut into small nugget sized pieces before you begin bashing – bear in mind that the chicken is to be flattened and will therefore be larger than the cut piece. Try and keep the nuggets a similar size. Arrange on the cling film making sure you leave sufficient space between the nuggets. Cover with another sheet of cling film and bash with a kitchen mallet (or rolling pin) to flatten. Set aside.

Step 2 :

Place the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in the foil trays.

Step 3 :

A tip before you begin – make sure you have a baking tray lined with kitchen roll ready to receive your breaded nuggets.

Now for the production line and another tip - wear gloves!

Step 4 :

Coat each piece in flour, then coat in beaten egg and finally in breadcrumbs.

If you are cooking the nuggets later, cover with more kitchen roll and then double cling film and “fridge” until required.

When ready to serve you have two options :

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Heat a glug of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan on a moderate heat. If you wish to check whether the oil is ready to use drop a breadcrumb into the oil – if it sizzles and begins to colour you're ready to roll. Seal the nuggets on both sides and transfer them to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or you can continue on the hob – turn the heat down low and turn the nuggets frequently until cooked through and golden brown. This will not take more than 15 minutes since the chicken is bashed thinly. If you want to be certain take one and cut it in half, it should be thoroughly cooked before serving.

As a guide you should get 4-6 nuggets per breast depending on how large you want your nuggets – it's not an exact science.

Coming up – other alternatives!

Are the kids fed up yet ...

… are they suffering from fast food withdrawal?

Staying with the “time on your hands” mantra and may be even answering both of the above, here's a weekend treat for the kids – big and little alike and they can help too!

One of their favourite fast food choices has to be chicken nuggets, here's my version :

Chicken Nuggets

but not as you know them

4 chicken breasts (weight 500/600kg)

Cling film

Kitchen mallet or other suitable implement

for bashing i.e. rolling pin

3 x foil trays

kitchen roll

2 tbsp plain flour

1 egg, beaten

4 tbsp/100g breadcrumbs

You can use ordinary breadcrumbs or use Panko

crumbs if you can get them – they are larger – blitz

them for a finer texture

A “double whammy” - getting the kids involved and supper ready too!

Next - a step by step guide and some “variations on a theme” of the chicken nugget.

Time on your hands – cheap & cheerful – Big Soup!

You can never predict the weather. It's Easter and Easter weather is fickle – it's warm and sunny, thank goodness, at the moment – I've known it to snow, more than once!

It was cold when I decided to use up my “past their best veggies” and make my favourite soup, Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea. There was only one small problem – no chick peas, eek! A search through my store cupboard yielded a box of Quick Soak dried peas – only two hours, a rinse and then twenty minutes gentle boil and hey presto a batch of mushy peas. Then I found a bag of Margheritine soup pasta too – result, or rather two results.

I used my normal soup recipe – check out the soup label for the original recipe - 3rd February 2019. I've always got half a dozen or so Charlotte potatoes, a couple of carrots and an onion. After I'd added the diced potato, brought the soup to the boil and simmered for 10 minutes (as per the recipe) I added 125g of the soaked and rinsed dried peas, brought the soup back to a boil and then simmered gently for twenty minutes to cook the peas.

The other plus – I cooked the remaining peas and turned into “mushy peas” used some and another box went into the freezer – they freeze well by the way!

Back to the soup. The peas thicken as they cook so no need to thicken the soup although you could blitz a ladle or two and add back if you wanted it thicker still.

The soup pasta only takes ten minutes to cook so I added 50g when I wanted to heat the soup ready for serving later in the day – check out the photos :

Quick Soak Peas – just so you know what

you're looking for

Ditto for the soup pasta

Big Soup!

Even though I say so myself it was delish – you

can loosen by adding a little water, to suit your personal taste

Coming next … are the kids bored?

Time on your hands … another Spie alternative!

There's a Spie for everyone! Here's the chicken or turkey version :

Chicken or turkey Spie

Serves 4

500g chicken or turkey breast mince

1 medium onion, finely chopped

glug of rapeseed oil

2 chicken stock pots

1 tsp garlic paste or 1 garlic stock pot

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 dessertspoons small chunk Branston

glug of Worcestershire Sauce

celery salt and black pepper

250g passata

2/3 jacket potatoes, baked, peeled

if you wish, sliced thinly

50g each of Mature Cheddar and Red Leicester cheese

grated and mixed together

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Heat the rapeseed oil gently in a large frying pan. Add the chicken or turkey mince ensuring that you break it up – fry for 2/3 minutes to seal properly and then turn it, repeat. Add salt and black pepper.

Add the onion and garlic and fry for 2/3 minutes, stirring to combine.

Add the tomato paste and the chicken stock pots, followed by the Worcestershire Sauce, stirring to combine. Finally add the Branston and stir well and simmer for 5 minutes. Leave, covered until you're ready to roll.

If you're using a hob to oven frying pan then arrange the sliced potato over the base and then sprinkle with cheese. Cook for 30 minutes.

If you are using an ovenproof casserole or a foil tray then transfer the base and finish as above.

Both the chicken and the turkey breast mince are low in fat.

Check out the Beef label on the blog, 28th January 2018 Saturday night supper – A Shepherd or a Cottage – for entertaining the “Grumpy Old Men” which gives another variation of the “Spie”, using Madeira and Ruby Port with Worcestershire Sauce which also gives a description of “puddles” - describing the consistency of the filling – not too dry but not too wet!

There's SPUD too – on the same label 16th September 2018 – Shepherd's Pie Upside Down which uses braising steak instead of minced beef if you'd like a posh option.

A WARNING – if you are using a frying pan that is suitable to transfer from the hob to the oven please be careful when removing the pan and remember to wear oven gloves when serving! If you'd prefer to use a foil tray, they measure 23x23 cms approximately so perfect to serve four - if you want to know where to get them, try Wilkos.

You could decant into small foil “takeaway” type trays (with lids) and then freeze in portions if you don't need the whole batch.

Fancy a bowl of soup?

Time on your hands … variations on the Spie theme

There are, as always, variations on a theme for the “Spie”. If you'd like a veggie version you can use Quorn mince. If you'd like a version that doesn't use red meat but poultry you could use chicken or turkey mince.

To save you time, here's the original “Spie” recipe, followed by a chicken or turkey mince version.

Spie

Serves 4

500g minced steak

Celery salt and black pepper

Drop of rapeseed oil

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 Knorr beef stock pots

2 tbsp small chunk Branston pickle

or Branston sauce

2/3 cooked Jacket potatoes, sliced thinly

or leftover mashed potato

Two handfuls of grated cheese – whatever you've

got in your fridge, Mature Cheddar, Red Leicester or

Gruyere work well – or even a little of each

Using a large frying pan, brown the minced steak thoroughly in a drop of rapeseed oil and season with salt and black pepper. Add the tomato paste and stock pots, when cooked through and melted, add the Branston. If the mixture is too stiff add a drop of water. It should not be sloppy. Cook on a low heat for 10/15 minutes and set aside.

Take your potatoes from your baked stash, slice thinly (or add leftover mash) and arrange on top of the mince mixture. If you haven't any ready to use baked potatoes you can always microwave them although the flavour is not as good as oven baked. Finish off with grated cheese.

To serve pre-heat your oven to 180fan/200/Gas6 and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve on its own, with steamed vegetables or, if you like hot with cold, try a beetroot relish and or a coleslaw!

Next up … a poultry alternative