HFI - Spinch and Feta Pie - Jamie Oliver Recipe

spinach and feta pie

• 100g pine nuts
• 5 eggs (or 300ml creme fraiche)
• 300g feta cheese
• 50g grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Knob of butter
• 400g spinach
• 270g pack of filo pastry
• Cayenne pepper
• 1 whole nutmeg

1. Spinach and feta pie - Toast the pine nuts in the dry frying pan until they start to colour. Crack five eggs into a mixing bowl and crumble in the feta cheese. Add the cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, oregano, lemon zest and a tablespoon of olive oil. Stir in the toasted pine nuts and mix well.
2. Heat the frying pan with a bit of olive oil and butter then add half of the spinach. Move the spinach around in the frying pan for about a minute and once it has wilted add the remaining spinach. Stir frequently.
3. Cover your worktop with a 50cm piece of greaseproof paper (shiny side up), which has been greased well with olive oil. Scrunch the paper up and then lay it back out flat. Working quickly, arrange four sheets of filo pastry in a square, making sure that the inner edges slightly overlap. Drizzle a little olive oil over the pastry sheets before sprinkling with cayenne pepper. Repeat this process until you have three layers of pastry.
4. The spinach should have wilted by now. If it's very wet, drain it in a colander then add it to the egg mixture and grate in half of the nutmeg. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
5. Pick up the greaseproof paper that the pastry is sitting on and transfer it to the frying pan (or cake tin in my case) so that the edges hang over. Push the pastry into the sides of the pan (don't worry, filo is stronger than it looks) then pour in the egg mixture. Fold the sides of the pastry into the middle to seal the pie and put the frying pan back on the heat for a few minutes.
6. Transfer the frying pan into the oven to cook for around 20 minutes.

Baked Semolina Pudding

Thanks Bill Armstrong for this recipe, it was not just a hit with me but my family loved it when they came to dinner with sultanas and sugar :)

Baked Semolia Pudding

• 600ml, 1 pint milk
• 1/4 semolina
• 1/3 cup glucose (optional)
• 15g,  or a knob of butter
•  nutmeg or cinnamon to sprinkle (to taste)

1. Well grease an ovenproof dish
2. Put milk into pan and heat until lukewarm
3. Sprinkle in the semolina
4. Cook slowly, stirring all the time until it comes to the boil and thickens
5. Add sugar and butter
6. Remove from the heat and pour into the ovenproof dish
7. Grate (or sprinkle ready ground) nutmeg over the top
8. Put into a moderate oven (160C or Gas 3) for 30 minutes

Salt and Pepper Squid

Tried making this the other night and just kind of threw in a few spices here and there and it came out delicious, i would say better then most of the Chinese places eaten at :)

SALT AND PEPPER SPICED SQUID

• 1 Tube of Calamari
• Milk to tenderise
• Rock salt (Himalayan contains the most minerals)
• Black Peppercorns
• Pinch Szechuan spice
• Pinch Chinese 5 spice 
• Pinch chilli flakes
• cornflour
• olive oil for deep frying

Cut tube of calamari into either rings or wide rectangles.
Place in a bowl of milk and tenderise in fridge for at least 3 hours, this will make it beautiful and tender
In a mortar and pestle combine salt, pepper and spices and grind up until ingredients are combined.
You may want to reserve some of the mix to sprinkle over at the end.
In a plastic freezer bag put cornflour in the bag and then add the spices, shake it up to mix it all together.
Discard milk from squid.
Drop a squid at a time into the bag, shake until coated with cornflour and spice mix.
Deep fry in batches until golden brown.
Serve with lemon

HFI Marinated chicken wings

HFI Marinated chicken wings

1/2 kg Chicken windings

Mix in a bowl:-

Soy sauce

Olive oil

Chilli flakes (to taste)

1/4tsp garlic

1/4tsp ginger

Pour mixture over chicken, put in fridge to marinate for at least a few hours.

Cook in frypan

Enjoy :)

Chicken and bacon casserole

Great sunday night dinner, very quick and full of flavour 

• 500g diced chicken
• 4 rashers bacon
• Sliced Mushrooms
• 1 Packet French onion soup (the recipe says the whole packet but i use a quarter so reduce the water a little bit)
• 1 1/2cups water or chicken stock
• 2 tbls cornflour
• Sour cream to serve
• parsley for garnish

Brown chicken and bacon, season with salt and pepper

Add mushrooms, french onion and water, sprinkle cornflour slowly while mixing through

Simmer gently. Take off heat and stir in sour cream

Garnish with parsley

Cheesy Muffins

A nice and easy but yummy snack

Cheesy Muffins

1 Egg

2 Cups grated cheese

1 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup milk

4 rasher bacon

1 tspn baking powder

pinch of salt

onion (optional pending on tolerance)

• Whisk egg and milk together
• Stir in cheese, bacon, onion & dry ingredients. Mix well
• Spoon into small greased muffins tins. Bake at 190deg for 10-15mins
• leave in tin to cool for 10mins

Best ever hotcakes recipe

Well over the time i tried a few different recipe's but after finding this one i will never try anything else

Hotcakes

(obviously we don't have maple syrup but you can always get creative with the topping, my choice is vegemite or homemade lemon butter)

1 1/2 cups milk

2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/2 cup self raising flour

1/4 tspn bicarb soda

1 large egg

1 1/2 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoons glucose powder (optional)

• Stir Milk, Lemon and Sugar in seperate bowl.
• Sift flour and bicarb into bowl
• combine egg and melted butter with milk mixture and add to flour, make sure you pour slowly and mix well as you pour, use a metal spoon and don't overmix
• Leave batter for 2mins
• Heat frying pan & grease
• Pour mixture in to desire sizes, cook on one side until bubbles appear and pop.  Flip and serve when golden brown

Tempura Chicken with Indian Rice

Tempura Chicken with Indian Rice

Tempura Chicken:-

2 Chicken Breasts

Olive Oil

1 Cup Flour

Salt and Pepper

1 Cup iced water

Cut chicken into bite size pieces.  Cook chicken until brown in a small amount of oil.

Sift flour into a bowl with salt and pepper.  Gradually stir water in until a batter forms.

Roll chicken in batter a few times and fry in oil in batches until golden brown

Indian Style Rice Recipe

• 2 cups long-grain rice, preferably Basmati
• 8 cups water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cardamom pods
• One 2-inch piece of cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp olive oil (or ghee if you have it)
• 1/2 teaspoon dark mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
• chopped garlic cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1. Place rice in a sieve and run cool water through it to rinse it until the water runs clear. Soak the rice in cool water for 30 minutes. Drain.

2 Bring 8 cups of water and the salt to a boil in a large pot. Add the rice and stir. Add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the rice, and test if it is done to your taste; rice can take more or less time to cook depending on how old it is. If still too firm, cook a few minutes longer.

3 When the rice is cooked to your liking, drain the rice into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop if from cooking. Remove the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and discard. Set the rice aside to drain.

4 In a pan large enough to hold the rice, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and the chili flakes. Cook until the mustard seeds start popping. 

5 Add the garlic and sauté another 2-3 minutes. Add the rice and mix well. Sprinkle the turmeric over the rice and mix well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring often.

Marinated Madras Chicken Curry - HFI

You will need:-

Chicken Fillets

Madras Paste

Natural Yohurt

Quinoa

Chickpeas

This was a very last minute throw together, marinating the chicken longer would have made it a lot nicer but it still was a nice flavour.

A traditional Madras Curry has tomatoes in it so i opted for a marinated option.

All i did was chop up a chicken breast fillet into cubes.  One spoon of Madras Curry Paste and 1 spoon of natural yoghurt (takes the heat down a notch). Marinate chicken and put in fridge, ideally overnight but at least for a few hours.

Boil up some quinoa seeds.

Put chicken into hot pan with olive or coconut oil, before just about ready to come out, throw in some quinoa and mix around.  This is more like a stir-fry so you can add what ever you would like but i like my plain with some roasted chickpeas on top.

Asian Fish Soup with Vermicelli Noodles

Asian Fish Broth with Vermicelli Noodles

• 200g rice vermicelli600mls Homemade Fish StockFresh Red chilli Flakes to taste, Fresh finely chopped Garlic & GingerGreen ShallotsSoya Sauce to tasteBoneless Fish FilletsFresh Coriander Leaves to garnishLemon wedge
  Add the rice vermicelli to a large saucepan of boiling water and boil for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Set aside and keep warm.
  Combine fish stock, chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, green shallots and soya sauce in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low.
  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over high heat and cook the fish fillets for 2-3 minutes on each side Or until just cooked through.
  To serve, divide rice vermicelli among warm soup bowls and top each with a fish fillet. Pour simmering stock over fish, then sprinkle with coriander leaves, salt & cracked pepper. Serve accompanied by lemon/lime wedges, if desired.
  1. 
     

Fish Stock

How to make Fish Bone Broth

Making fish stock is simple. You need fish head and bones to start with. If you prefer to use fish fillets in your fish dishes, buy a whole fish, ask the fish monger to fillet the fish for you then bring home everything — fillets, head and bones

Place the fish heads and bones in a pot. Pour enough water to cover then bring to the boil. Remove the scum that rises. 

Add your aromatics now or when serving, season with salt and pepper, then simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Cool stock, pour into freezer containers and keep in the freezer until needed.

Nutrional Notes:-

This food is low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Pantothenic Acid, Copper and Manganese, and a very good source of Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Phosphorus and Potassium.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/soups-sauces-and-gravies/1110/2#ixzz2LmUN2uag

Caro, Walnut and Cinnamon Ice Cream

If you haven't already got yourself an ice-cream maker, GET ONE! You will not regret it.  It doesn't matter if you don't add sugar to most recipes and you can get so creative and use all the yummy ingredients we CAN have to treat yourself with a little bit of delish after a meal.  I made this one tonight and i was impressed :)

Caro, Walnut & Cinnamon Ice-cream 

(Ice-Cream maker required)

Ingredients:-

1 Cup whole milk

1 Cup heavy cream

2 large egg yolds

1 tablespoon glucose powder (optional)

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons Caro

Chopped Walnuts

Cinnamon

Directions:-

Beat eggs with a mixer, gradually add glucose powder if you are using.  Beat again until well mixed.

Place eggs mixture into a saucepan on medium head, stir and gradually add milk in continually stirring.

Melt Caro with a tiny amount of boiled water and add to mixture and also add vanilla.

Take off heat as soon as it starts to thicken or just before boiling point (it will curdle if it boils.)

Put mixture in a bowl and cool down mixture in the fridge.

Once cooled, add the cream, stir through and chill in fridge over night.

Once this is done you are now able to put mixture straight into the ice-cream maker.  If you would like cinnamon and walnuts, chop up walnuts and add a sprinkle of cinnamon to mixture just before adding to icecream maker.

3 Cheese Omelette with Mushroom and Spinach

3 Cheese Omelette with mushroom and spinach

• 2 Eggs
• Mushroom sliced
• Cooked and dried/frozen spinach
• 3 cheeses - i use tasty, parmesan and fetta
• salt and pepper
• oil

Whisk eggs together and season with salt and pepper. On a low heat put egg in frying pan, layer mushrooms, spinach and cheeses across egg. When starting to cook through fold in half and cook on slow until golden brown. 

A healthy and HFI Safe nutritious snack /breakfast or dinner :) 

Blog Update

Stuck for idea's?  I'm always sick of looking up recipes and having only half of the ingredients so i'm just going to upload some very basic, HFI safe, quick and easy meal ideas to help with the nights when you just can't be bothered :)  Hope you Enjoy :)
Sheree :)

HFI spin on Spaghetti Bolognese

HFI Spaghetti Bolognese

200g Organic Spaghetti
500g beef mince
2-3 rashers bacon diced
1 mushroom diced
oil
parmesan cheese

Bechamel Sauce
Please click here on how to make Bechamel Sauce

Method:

Get spahetti on the stove and cook as per package instructions.
Fry off mince until starting to brown in oil, add bacon and mushroom season with salt and pepper, cook on medium heat so ingredients don't dry out.
When cooked, add ingredients to Bechamel Sauce then stir in spaghetti pasta, serve with fresh grated parmesan.

HFI Notes:-

• You can add some garlic, canneloni beans, lentils etc for more flavour, depending on your preference

Pork Mince Curry Noodles

Pork Mince Curry Noodles

So tonight i wanted to try something new and different and was quite happy with how it came out considering it was, "whats in the fridge and cupboard that i can throw together" night.  Give it a go, it was so quick and easy.

Ingredients:-

Olive oil 

300 - 500g pork mince

Chinese/green cabbage

Cannelloni beans

Chicken or Beef broth (click here for recipe)

1/2-1 tsp Curry powder (i like my mild)

Wok ready asian noodles (or rice noodles)

dollop natural yoghurt (optional)

Fry off pork mince on medium until starting to brown. Add in some chopped up cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Fry off for a few minutes.  Add cannelloni beans, Sprinkle curry powder in, add broth until mixture is moist.  Cover and let simmer for about 5mins adding more broth if it starts drying out.  Throw in noodles, toss through, let simmer for 2mins.

Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt and i scooped it up with some mini mildly spiced papadums for a little more flavour again.

HFI Notes and Information:-

• Broth is something i recommend using rather then just water, for its nutritional benefits I use it as the base of a lot of my cooking.
• Olive oil is a great way to cook however i have switched to coconut oil for most of my cooking now as its flavoursome and has some awesome nutrional benefits.
• Small amounts of cabbage seem to be okay in moderation
• check the noodles you purchase to check there sugar content, the ones i use solely are water & potato starch. :)

Baked Egg Custard Tart

Baked Custard Tart

Ingredients:-

1 flan case

500g Litre Milk

2cm vanilla bean or 1/2tspn vanilla essence

3 free range eggs - at room temperature

1 egg yolk at room temperature

Pure glucose powder - i use 1 tspn (optional ingredient)

Nutmeg

Method:-

Preheat oven to 180degrees.

Place the milk in a medium saucepan. Use regular full-cream milk to give the custard a rich flavour. Use a small sharp knife to halve the vanilla bean lengthways and then scrape the seeds into the milk. Add the bean halves to the milk. (If using vanilla essence, add it to the milk after heating or the flavour will be lost through evaporation.) Heat the milk, uncovered, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Do not let the milk boil. Heating the milk infuses it with the vanilla and also reduces the custard's baking time. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes to cool. If the milk is too hot when added to the eggs, they may curdle. (Add the vanilla essence, if using.)

1. 
   
   Place the whole eggs, egg yolks and glucose in a large heatproof bowl with a pouring lip (this will make it easier to pour the custard into the flan). Use a fork to mix until well combined. Do not use a whisk as it will aerate the mixture, causing bubbles to form in the cooked custard.
2. 
   
   Place the bowl on a damp cloth to prevent it from slipping on the bench. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly with the fork. Pour the custard mixture through a fine strainer into the flan case. Straining the mixture removes the vanilla seeds and pod, and ensures that the mixture is as smooth as possible.Sprinkle the ground nutmeg evenly over the surface of the custard. Nutmeg is an aromatic spice whose sweet, spicy flavour marries well with milk-based dishes and custards.
3. 
   
   Reduce oven temperature to 160°C. Bake for approx 40-45mins. To test if the custard is cooked, insert a knife in the centre. If the knife comes out clean or with just a little softly set custard clinging to it, it is ready. The custard will continue to cook when removed from the oven so don't allow it to overcook or it will begin to separate. Another sign of overcooking is tiny bubbles throughout the custard. It will still be edible but the texture won't be as smooth. Set aside until cooled to room temperature before serving. To serve chilled, cool for 2 hours, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight. The chilled custard will have a firmer texture.
   
   

   Recipe Notes:-

   
   
   *A dish that can be a dessert or just a nice snack, make it as sweet or as savoury as you like. Serve with some nice HFI vanilla icecream (link to come) or have a slice with a cup of coffee.
   *If you can't find a flan case that is already pre-packaged, just use short cut pastry in quiche dish and it will be much the same however just alter cooking time accordingly if needed.
   
   

   Nutrional Information:-

   
   
   *Eggs are a nutritional powerhouse providing 11 different vitamins and minerals, high quality protein, healthy fats (including omega-3) and important antioxidants.  Along with their nutritional value, eggs are tasty, convenient, versatile and good value for money making them an excellent inclusion in a well balanced, healthy eating pattern.
   Recent research shows eating eggs has very little, if any, effect on blood cholesterol levels with the real culprit being saturated fat. Containing no natural sugars and a small amount of glucose eggs are a healthy everyday ingredient for someone with HFI.

Quick blurt

Quick blah before the next recipe:-

The last few years since I have been trialling glucose I have started to get a bit more adventurous in trying desserts.  Through my life growing up with only being able to blow out the candles but never getting to eat the cake has made me kind of determined to make up for lost time and i'm now experimenting with desserts. 

 I was so ecstatic to find a new product on the shelf while perusing my local supermarket and when i picked it up and saw it had no sugars i had to double look cause nothing is EVER this easy!  

There have definetly been some dessert failures but i am going to keep trialling away :)

Please follow blog for more desserts to come :)

Creamy chicken Vol-au-vents

Creamy Chicken Vol-au-vents

Bechamel sauce

Ingredients:-
15g butter
15g plain flour
1 cup milk, warmed
salt and pepper 

Method:-
Melt the butter in a saucepan over med/high heat until butter is frothing.  Add flour flour and stir until turns into a paste like texture then slowly add milk, whisk constantly until sauce is smooth (don't stop whisking or you will get lumps) Return to high heat and continue stirring for 4-5mins or until sauce has thickened.
Season with salt and pepper . Cover surface with plastic wrap until needed so you don't get a skin.

Filling

Chicken Breast diced into cube sizes
Diced Rashers bacon
Chopped mushroom
Olive Oil 
Grated Cheese

Put oil in frypan. on medium heat cook chicken for a few minutes.  Add in bacon and mushroom.  Cook until mushroom soft and chicken tender (do not cook on high or chicken will dry out).

Place ingredients in to the bechamel sauce and give a quick mix.  You can add cheese through ingredients or top filling later depending of preference.
Spoon filling into vol-au-vent cases.  Grate cheese over top.  Bake in oven at medium heat for approx 10-15mins. Enjoy!

Serve with fresh salad and boiled rice

Recipe Notes:-
*Try using fresh or canned asparagus instead of mushroom depending on your tolerance to asparagus.  I find a small amount of asparagus gives a big flavour so not alot is need. 

HFI Nutritional Value:-
* Please check your vol-au-vent cases when purchasing.  I find the ones i buy have absolutely no sugar (and why should they!!) but always check just incase.
*This is definetly a YUM recipe rather then a healthy recipe lol, but there is protein from from the chicken and calcium from the milk and butter :)
*Serve in mini cases for kids to enjoy!

Lentil & Chickpea Patties

Lentil Patties

Chickpea and Lentil patties makes about 6 

Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas 1 can of lentilsGarlic/ginger if desired (alternative is 1/2 tspn curry powder)Fresh parsley/chives & corianderPlain Flour for coating 
Salt/pepper to taste

Method
Fry off ginger and garlic,Drain the chickpeas and lentils and rinse under the tapGinger & garlic mix and the chickpea/lentil mix/pulse together in the blender until it comes together.Stir in a beaten egg and parsley/chives/corianderForm into patties Coat in flour and shallow fry until golden brown

Recipe Notes:-

• If you are looking for flavour but unsure of tolerance level try infusing garlic/ginger/onion into a bottle of oil and then using the oil to flavour. This way you still get the taste but are not ingesting  any fructose.

HFI Nutritional Information:-

• Lentils and chickpeas are on the HFI safe food lists however they are also on the "in moderation" list so please be careful.
• This recipe is a great source of protein and a great alternative to meat for something different.