Chicken and Spinach Fritters

I love a good fritter! Crispy, crunchy, salty and savoury. Yum.

The good thing about fritters is that they are a great budget meal that is kid friendly too. Use up your leftover meat and veg and make them stretch further.

These Chicken and Spinach Fritters are a bit different to your regular flour/egg/milk fritter and the texture is amazing – crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft and cheesy in the middle.

If you like lots of flavour, add some herbs, spring onions or garlic but they are nice and plain for kids as they are.

Inspired and adapted from this recipe at Natasha’s Kitchen.

Chicken and Spinach Fritters

gluten free, nut free

500g organic chicken mince

1/2 cup gluten free plain flour

2 eggs, whisked

1/3 cup mayonnaise (homemade or choose a good quality one)

1 cup grated tasty cheese (watch out for additives)

1 cup shredded spinach

1/2 tablespoon Herbamare or good quality salt to taste

black pepper to taste

cooking fat/oil

This is what you do:

Whack everything in a bowl and mix it up well.

Heat a cast iron frypan over a medium to medium high heat with your choice of fat or oil.

Just make sure you use about two to three tablespoons so the fritters don’t stick.

Add about 1/4 cup scoops of chicken mixture to the pan.

Cook for around three minutes and then flip and cook another three minutes or until cooked all the way through.

Keep fritters warm until you have cooked them all.

Serve with homemade roasted tomato sauce and a big green salad.

This mix makes around 10-12 fritters.

Good quality mayonnaise without seed oils is hard to find unless you make it yourself. I use this one as it uses olive oil and some other amazing ingredients that are good for you!

My whole family thought these fritters were really tasty. You could add in some finely diced leftover vegetables or experiment with different cheeses too.

These fritters are really nice cold, so make a few mini ones for the lunch box the next day.

If you make them, take a photo and show me on Facebook!

Peanut Satay Chicken Wings

I have a love affair with satay!

How good are those flavours?? We quite often have satay stir fries or noodles for dinner.

I was inspired by a recipe at Taste and decided to try my hand at making a peanut sauce marinade on some chicken wings for a budget and kid friendly dinner.

If you can’t have peanuts, use any other nut butter you have – cashew would be perfect!

Peanut Satay Chicken Wings

Vital Stats: gluten free, dairy free, egg free, grain free

Serves 4

Okay this is what you need:

8 large organic chicken wings

1/3 cup organic peanut butter

1/3 cup organic coconut cream

2 tablespoons organic tamari

1 lime juiced (about 2 tablespoons)

2 teaspoons fresh turmeric, grated

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

2 -3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon coconut sugar

HOT TIP: Use coconut cream in a can that has a BPA free lining like this one.

Okay so this is what you do:

Mix all ingredients except the chicken wings.

Add the chicken wings to the mixture and marinate overnight or for a few hours.
Preheat the oven to 200°celsius.

Place the wings on a rack on top of a tray and cook for 30-40 minutes or until brown and cooked through.

The marinade will form a crispy crust on the wings. Droooool!

You can also cook the wings in all the marinade in an oven proof dish if you like.

Serve the peanut satay chicken wings with some coconut rice and an asian salad or stir-fried vegetables.

HOT TIP: When marinating chicken pieces, I always slash the skin in a few places with a sharp knife so the yummy flavours penetrate through to the meat.

If your kids are little, they might like smaller pieces, so cut the chicken wings into three pieces, discarding the wing tip (use it for broth). These smaller serves also work well as for nibbles for a party or bbq.

They are also delicious cold so make extra for the lunch boxes.

What do you think? Will you give them a go?

What is your best budget meal for the family?

Slow cooked goat chops in red wine with polenta

May 4, 2013 · 9 Comments

Organic goat neck chops are a budget-friendly option at your organic butcher and they taste amazing. Think lamb but a more subtle flavour. Use lamb neck chops or just lamb chops instead if you want!

Slow Cooked Goat Chops in Red Wine with Polenta

Vital Stats: gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, can be dairy-free.

Serves 8.

Okay, so this is what you need:

8 large goat neck chops or goat loin chops

3 cups bone broth (I use chicken but anything is fine)

1 cup red wine

2 onions, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

2 bay leaves

4 organic garlic cloves, crushed

2 cups organic polenta

1 litre full cream organic milk (we love Barambah)

1 litre chicken bone broth or stock

pink Himalayan salt

cracked black pepper

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Heat oven to 180°C. Brown the chops in batches in a frypan on the stove. We don’t use oil as there is enough fat on the chops. Place in a large baking tray.

Saute the onion and garlic in the fat from the chops on a medium heat. Sprinkle over the top of the chops the sliced carrots and bay leaves. Pour over the red wine and 3 cups of chicken stock and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Place in the oven to slow cook for two to two and a half hours or until the chops are tender. You do need to check and turn them a few times as there is no cover. Add more liquid if needed.

You can also cook this in a slow cooker. Just reduce the bone broth to 1 cup instead of 3. Cook on high for about four hours or low for about eight hours. You want the meat falling off the bone!

To cook the polenta, heat the milk and stock in the saucepan until boiling. Add the polenta in a steady stream while stirring all the while. You might like to use a whisk to avoid lumps.

Turn the temperature down and stir occasionally until the polenta is thick. It will take about 20 minutes or so.Season with salt and pepper.

Put a big dollop of polenta on the plate and serve with the chops and vegetables and some of the pan juices drizzled on top with some green steamed vegetables on the side.

To make this recipe dairy free, simply use all stock for the polenta instead of the milk.

Notes:

I always choose an organic polenta to avoid GMO corn.

Want to know more about bone broth? Check out my Beginner’s Guide to Bone Broth.

Have you eaten goat? How do you cook it?