Best Bet Recipes

BEST BET RECIPES BOOK
Poultry

Ingredients:
45Og-650g (1-1&1/21b) Turkey breast .
25g ( 1 oz) cornflour, or flour of choice, seasoned with sait and pepper
15ml ( 1 tablespoon.) Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or oil of choice.
2 medium sized onions, chopped.
1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced.
2 x 15ml (2 level tablespoons.) tomato puree
375ml (3/4pt) beef stock (See Note 1 below)
2 large tomatoes, skinned and quartered or 1 tin whole plum tomatoes.
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 x 5ml (2 teaspoons ) paprika
65ml (1/8pt-2fl oz) natural yoghurt (optional) (See Note 2 below)

Note 1: Stock may be a problem for some with this recipe. In the UK, the Coeliac Society state that Bovril cubes are gluten free and, as a result, may be considered suitable but they contain yeast. Knorr Stock cubes are also gluten-free and Knorr have started doing organic but I'm not sure if that includes the beef.

Note 2: In place of the yogurt, which is optional anyway, you may want to try a white sauce made with rice mik and thegluten-free flour of your choice.

Method:
1. Cut meat into 2cm (3/4 inch) cubes.
2 Toss in seasoned flour.
3. Heat oil in a large fryng pan or wok. Fry onions, garlic and peppers for 5 mins. Add meat and fry until browned.
4. Add puree, paprika, stock, and tomatoes.
5 Transfer to large saucepan and simmer gently for about 30-40mins.
6. Add white sauce if required.

Hungarians add small boiled potatoes before serving but this recipe is wonderful with Barbara McLellans dumplings but make sure the dumpling mix is not too runny and the goulash is really hot before adding for the 10mins covered and 10mins uncovered. (See separate recipe for dumpling mix in the Baking Page.)

Chicken Maranara - Carol Hanson

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 slice of onion, chopped
1/2 zuchini, peeled and sliced
1-2 tomatoes
1 Tbsp. fresh basil
1 Tbsp. fresh oregano
1/4 cup capers (optional)
salt to taste
rice spaghetti noodles
1-2 TB. High Oleic safflower or sunflower seed oil

Method:
Pour boiling water over tomatoes to cover in a bowl. Let sit 5-10 minutes.
Remove from water, peel and chop. Cook chicken pieces in oil 2-3 minutes.
Add rest of ingreients, squashing tomatoes in pan. Simmer covered 5 minutes.

Chicken and Mushroom Burgers - Andrew Watson

Ingredients:
3 (150g/50z) skinless chicken breast fillets, roughly chopped
2 tbsp tresh chopped tarragon(couldn't find fresh tarragon so will have to use dried version. Might have to add a little extra virgin olive oil and make into a paste of sorts but we'll see).
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard(Safeway's and M&S both gluten free)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (If I'm only making two I'll have to cut this in half, must watch the sat-fat)
50g/20z mushrooms, sliced
4 Miracle Rolls (recipe below), halved and toasted little gem lettuce leaves(for example) to serve

Method:
Place the chicken breasts in a food processor, blend until well minced.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the tarragon and mustard, blend briefly to mix. Using lightly floured hands(will use cornflour) shape the mixture into 4 burgers; set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan; cook the mushrooms for 3-4 mins until golden.(I think I'll grill the mushrooms on a grill pan and so will only need half the oil shown). Remove from the pan; set aside. Add the remaining oil to the pan; cook the chicken burgers for 12 mins, turning once, until golden and cooked through.
Place the burgers on the toasted roll bases. Top with fried mushrooms.
Scatter over the lettuce leaves, sandwich with the roll tops.
Serve immediately.

PS I found I had used too much tarragon and it rather took over the taste but, apart from that, these were okay. I actually had one a day for three days. - Andrew

Basic Turkey Casserole - Jeanne Harvey

Ingredients:
Cubed Turkey/Chicken
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Any other vegetables you fancy

Method:
Chop all the vegetables up fairly small and mix. Cook in a roasting dish with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, in the oven at 200ºC for about 20 minutes, then add the turkey/chicken and cook for a further 20-30 minutes.

You can adapt the quantities to suit yourself. I have listed potatoes, onions and garlic separately as these ingredients make it really tasty.
We usually have carrots, parsnips, courgettes and leeks too - anything that is in the fridge really.

Moroccan Chicken Casserole - Trish Appelbe

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
8 chicken pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 medium kumara, peeled and diced (also known as sweet potato or maori potato)
3 tbsp arrowroot
500ml good chicken stock
salt and pepper to season
chopped parsley to garnish

Method:
Using paper towels, pat the chicken pieces dry.
Heat oil in large heavy pan. Add garlic and spices to the pan, stirring over a medium heat for 10-20 seconds. Add chicken and cook 6-8 minutes, turning occasionally until coated with spices.
Transfer chicken to ovenproof dish, scattering vegetables over the chicken
MIx arrowroot into chicken stock, add to pan, stir until thickened and boils.
Remove from heat, season sauce with salt and pepper, then pour over vegatables and chicken.
Cover with lid or foil and cook 180 degrees celcius for one hour, until chicken cooked through.
Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed green vegetables

Chicken and Brocolli - Trish Appelbe

Ingredients:(Serves 4)
2 whole chicken breasts
1 large head or 2 small heads Broccoli
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sherry
2 tsp cornflour
1 cup good chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
grated fresh ginger to taste. I use about 2 tbsp (keep fresh ginger in the freezer, and when required grate it straight from freezer)
1/2 cup cashew nuts or blanched almonds
Crisp Fried Rice noodles or Orgran Rice Pasta

Method:
Cook noodles or pasta. Skin the chicken, cut into pieces. Wash broccoli and break into small stalks.
Combine salt, browning, and sherry in a bowl, mix well.
Heat oil in wok, add ginger, stir fry 1 minute.
Add chicken, stir fry 1 minute.
Add sauce mixture and broccoli, bring to boil, stirring, reduce heat, cover and simmer 3-4 minutes, adding more stock if necessary.
Add nuts, serve on noodles or pasta.

This is adapted from a chinese recipe. It tasted better before I had to take out the Soy Sauce, but it is still very good. To give the sauce a Soy colour, I add a bit of Parisienne Essence, which is a gravy browning, only containing water and Caramel. You may have something similar.

Apricot Chicken - Trish Appelbe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup blanched almonds
1 green capsicum
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
500 grams chicken thigh fillets, sliced
2 teaspoons bottled plum sauce (choose a good brand)
1 tablespoon mild chilli sauce (choose a good brand)
1 teaspoon cornflour
2 teaspoons water
4 fresh apricots, sliced
boiled rice to serve
fresh herbs to garnish

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok or pan, add almonds, stir-fry until lightly browned, drain on absorbent paper.
2. Cut capsicum into thin, 10cm long strips.
3 Heat sesame oil in same wok, add onion, garlic and ginger, stir-fry intil onion is soft. Add chicken and capsicum. Stir-fry until chicken is cooked through
4 Add combined sauces. stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in cornflour blended with water, stiry fry over high heat for about 2 minutes.. or until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in apricots, mix well.
5.Serve chicken sprinkled with almonds on a bed of rice, garnish with fresh herbs.

Nice with a tossed salad.

End