Madhouse recipe : Ham & Cheese Croissant Bake

As we've been on holiday for the past couple of weeks, the kids have been getting up later and later. Juliette tends to sleep right through until midday most days - it's a miracle how perfectly awake she is when the alarm goes off at 6.15am on a school day ! - so she's been getting out of bed just in time for lunch. I joked that sitting down for pasta or baked potatoes just after brushing her teeth must seem a bit weird and she'd probably be happier starting off with a bowl of cereal. This recipe for a croissant casserole sounded perfect as a brunch option to suit everyone. I used the recipe for Ham and Cheese Croissant Casserole on the Joyous Apron website and tweaked to suit what we had in the cupboards. It's not bad at all and could be modified to suit your tastes, maybe adding extra ingredients like mushrooms, tomatoes and bacon to give it some extra zing. 

Ham & Cheese Croissant Bake

ingredients :

6 croissants (don't panic if they're slightly stale)

 6 slices ham, chopped 

6 eggs

120ml milk

1 tsp garlic powder

 1/4 tsp mustard powder

 1/4 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp black pepper 

a good handful of grated cheddar

a good handful of grated mozzarella 

Preheat the oven to 180°C then start by chopping up your croissants. I cut them in half horizontally (to make two layers) then into four slices so each croissant gives eight pieces. Slightly stale croissants are fine, so this is a great way of using them up. Transfer to a baking dish. (You can grease the dish if you want, but I didn't bother.)

Whisk together the eggs, milk, garlic powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Pour it all over the croissant pieces. (This is where I would add some halved cherry tomatoes and mushroom slices to the mix.)

Sprinkle over the pieces of ham then top with the grated cheese.

The original recipe said to put it in the oven covered in foil for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and leave it for another 20 minutes. This does work and makes sure you have lovely soft, not crunchy, cheese, but I think you could get away with just putting it in for half an hour with no foil. It really depends on your own personal tastes.

And that's it ! Remove from the oven and tuck in.

It's not bad at all and was gobbled up enthusiastically, but the kids weren't keen on the eggy mixture at the bottom, which they found bland. I would personally add half of the cheese and the ham to the egg mixture before pouring it over the croissants, giving it a good mix, then topping with the remaining cheese. If you add extra breakfast ingredients - such as cherry tomatoes or fried mushrooms - the juices would add extra flavour to the dish too. It's got great potential though and I'm sure we'll make it again.

Madhouse recipe : Honey Orange BBQ Chicken

 

If there's one thing I can say about cooking throughout the long summer holidays, it's that I'm getting fed up with eating chicken ! With three kids, trying to find food that they all like is sometimes complicated. Sophie hates fish. Pierre doesn't like pork. Juliette's not a fan of beef (apart from minced beef). So what's left? Well, chicken and turkey basically, along with sausages, bacon and ... err, no that's about it ! Well, I do like chicken but, I have to admit, I'm getting bored of it, so I decided to try out some dishes with different sauces and flavourings. This recipe, based on the Honey Orange BBQ Chicken recipe on the Food Network website, is very quick and simple and it tastes pretty good. The best thing about it? The kids can decide if they want to try it or just settle for plain chicken ! The original recipe has a marinade then a glaze, but I needed something quick so just went for a simple sauce.

Honey Orange BBQ Chicken 

ingredients :

drizzle of olive oil

500g chicken breast 

salt, pepper, smoked paprika

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (a generous splash will do)

3tbsp butter

1/4 cup honey (a good drizzle)

1/4 cup BBQ sauce (a dollop out of the bottle is good enough)

Pour the olive oil into a frying pan and turn on the heat. Add the chopped chicken breast and sprinkle over the salt, pepper and smoked paprika. (You could use chilli powder instead for an extra kick of heat.) Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the chicken is perfectly cooked through. Chop one piece in half to check it's white all the way through. When it's cooked, remove the chicken to a plate.

In the same pan, toss in the orange juice, honey, BBQ sauce and butter. You can use the measures or just go freestyle - taste and adjust until you get the flavour combination that suits your tastes.

Heat through, stirring frequently, until the butter has melted and it all combines. Keep cooking until the sauce has reduced to a thick consistency. Either put the chicken into the sauce and stir until it is all evenly coated, or serve the plain chicken and the sauce on the side, then pour it over the chicken as desired. (Which is the best option if you have fussy kids !)

The sauce is very sweet so it appeals to kids' palates. You might want to add some extra chilli powder to balance things out. It's very quick to throw together and got a unanimous thumbs up at the dinner table. Phew !

Madhouse recipe : Swedish-style Baked Meatballs

Apparently this dish tastes like Ikea meatballs. I have no idea, as we haven't got an Ikea local to us, but I've heard various people mentioning how tasty their meatballs are, so that's presumably a good thing ! The original recipe came from the Pioneer Woman, so it uses various American ingredients that have been swapped for European ones. You can check out the original recipe for Pioneer Woman Baked Swedish Meatballs here. I thought it was nice enough, but I'd add extra herbs and spices to the meatballs next time and I wasn't a huge fan of the sauce. I personally think a tomato-based sauce would be better. It would give the photo a bit more colour too ! The main reason I loved this dish though was because it was great fun making them with my son, Pierre. He really got hands on and pretty much made the whole thing himself, with a bit of explanation from me. Well done Pierre !

Swedish-style Baked Meatballs

ingredients :

500g minced beef

500g minced pork

1 cup breadcrumbs (I just shook some out of the box without measuring)

1tsp salt (the original recipe used two but that sounded a lot)

1tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2tsp garlic powder

1tsp smoked paprika 

1tsp Italian seasoning (or oregano, basil, herbes de Provence ... whatever you have)

1/4tsp nutmeg (I left this out as we don't like the flavour)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

60ml milk

For the sauce :

5tbsp salted butter

5tbsp flour

1tsp salt

1/2tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 cups milk (again, I just splashed some in there without measuring !)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl. Feel free to add extra spices in there. I'd even be tempted to add a grated onion and maybe some fresh chopped garlic to the mix for extra flavour. 

Wash your hands and get mixing ! Pierre loved doing this, even after I warned him it was raw meat ! Don't over-mix it though - you don't want the meatballs to end up overworked and tough.

Roll into meatballs that about 5cm across and dot them across a baking tray covered in foil. (You don't really need the foil, but it does make it easier to clean !)

Off to the oven for about 20 minutes or so. Choose one sacrificial meatball and chop it in half to check it's cooked right through to the middle. Put them back in the oven for a few more minutes if it isn't.

While the meatballs are cooking, you can work on the sauce. Melt the butter and whisk in the flour, salt and pepper.

Cook for two minutes or so, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon or a whisk to get rid of any lumps.

Add the milk and keep on whisking until you have a lump free sauce. Keep cooking and stirring until the sauce thickens and comes to the boil. Keep on stirring for another minute then turn off the heat. Taste it and see what you think. I thought it was way too bland so I added extra pepper and more herbs and spices. 

Take the meatballs out of the oven.

Serve with mashed potatoes. I did a simple green salad on the side but this would work well with peas and carrots, ratatouille, green beans, ... whatever you fancy really.

I drizzled some of the sauce over the top of the meatballs (the original recipe said to roll the meatballs in the sauce before serving) but the kids ate theirs without sauce.

It's a great family dish, as much fun to make as to eat. I'd definitely play about with the spices in the meatballs and change the sauce though, as it was a bit too bland.

Madhouse recipe : Bacon & tomato stew with cheese dumplings

One of the toughest jobs when cooking for kids is working out how to get them to actually eat vegetables, rather than leave them on the side of the plate. As I'm on holiday and I have more time to spend in the kitchen, I've been trying out lots of new recipes, including this one from BBC Good Food for Tomato & Harissa Stew with Cheddar Dumplings. I decided to leave out the harissa and added some bacon, just to tempt the kids to eat it. Success ! It was great fun to make too and used nothing but store cupboard basics. Obviously, in terms of veggies, you can just throw in whatever you have.

Bacon & tomato stew with cheese dumplings

ingredients :

200g bacon lardons or thick bacon, chopped (can be left out if you want a veggie meal - you could also use up leftover chicken from a roast dinner)

1 onion, chopped

1 courgette (I used a yellow courgette that was in the fridge but green is fine too !)

1 red pepper (or a mix of green, red and yellow - about a half of each)

2 x tins of chopped tomatoes

1 stock cube (I used a Spanish stew stock pot for extra flavour)

1tsp paprika

1tsp garlic salt

for the dumplings :

25g butter

200g self-raising flour

pinch of salt

1tsp baking powder

75g cheese (mature cheddar or whatever you have - I used a bag of grated gruyere)

100ml milk

In a large pan, start off by cooking the bacon and onions. (If not using bacon, you'll need to add a glug of olive oil.)

After five minutes or so, add the courgettes. I had a yellow courgette that someone had given me from their garden which added some lovely colour but the normal green courgette is fine too. You need smallish chunks so I cut off both ends, cut it in half, then cut each half into thirds lengthwise before chopping into chunks.

Give it all a good stir, then chop up your peppers and throw those in. Depending on how much liquid/fat you have in the bottom of the pan, you might like to drain it all off before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Add two cans of chopped tomatoes and a can of chickpeas (don't forget to drain and rinse them). Throw in your stock cube and spices. (I used paprika and garlic salt for a lovely hit of smoky spiciness.)

Stir it all up and leave to cook for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 200°C. 

Meanwhile, crack on with the dumplings. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and rub in the butter. Toss in the cheese and mix.

Add the milk and bring it all together into a ball of dough.

Make a long (very fat !) sausage shape on a board. (No need to put down flour.)

Chop into eight pieces and make each piece into a ball.

Transfer the veggies to a casserole dish. Push the dumplings into the stew around the edges of the dish.

Off to the oven for 15-20 minutes until the dumplings are golden brown and cooked through.

The stew is lovely and rich, with lots of great smokiness coming through from the spices. You could add harissa or chilli for an extra level of spice, depending on your tastes. The dumplings are fabulous - soft, buttery, cheesy ... I definitely need to add dumplings to other stews and casseroles as they're great for soaking up the cooking juices and sauces. A big hit for the whole family !

 

Madhouse recipe : Chinese Chicken with Cashews

This was a dish that I threw together during confinement with whatever was in the fridge, which explains the complete lack of vegetables, as we'd run out. You could definitely add some strips of carrot and maybe some onions, red peppers and broccoli to the recipe, or even just throw some frozen peas into the rice when you cook it. A side salad would be another option. It is a lovely, sweet, slightly exotic and totally kid-friendly dish though that the Madhouse kids gobbled up.

Chinese Chicken with Cashews

ingredients:

2tbsp maple syrup (or runny honey)

2tsp sesame oil

4tbsp sweet soy sauce (or hoisin sauce)

1/2tsp garlic granules (or 1 garlic clove, crushed)

1/2tsp ginger (or fresh ginger, grated)

1tsp Chinese Five Spice powder

5 chicken thighs

a good handful of cashew nuts

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put all of the ingredients except for the chicken and cashews in a bowl or a cup and stir to combine. Go easy on the maple syrup and have a little taste before adding more, as you may find it too sweet otherwise.

Put the chicken in a roasting tray (I put in some foil first for easier cleaning) and pour over the mixture. You could slash the skin two or three times to enable to marinade to soak in deeper, but this isn't essential. You could also leave the chicken to marinade for a few hours, if you have time. Cook it in the oven for about 35 minutes, basting during the cooking time.

Add the cashew nuts to the dish, stir through and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve the chicken with rice then drizzle over the remaining cooking sauce. Enjoy !

It's a really simple but tasty dish and used up lots of ends of bottles from the kitchen cupboard.

Check out the #KitchenClearout roundups for ideas on how to use up random ingredients from the back of the cupboard.

Madhouse recipe : Wok-fried Chinese Chicken & Veg

During the confinement, nothing was thrown away. Whether it was leftover meat or vegetables, rice or pasta, it always got thrown into another dish and many of them were really popular. This dish is one of those. There is no recipe as such - just use up whatever veg is in the fridge and whatever leftover cooked meat you have. It'll work whatever it is !

Wok-fried Chinese Chicken & Veg

ingredients :

drizzle of olive oil

1 onion

2 carrots

1 leek

2 boiled potatoes

whatever other cooked or raw veg you have (sweetcorn, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, ... whatever you have, it'll be fine !)

1tbsp sesame oil

2tbsp pomegranate vinegar

2tbsp sweet soy sauce

leftover cooked chicken

leftover cooked rice

If you don't have any leftover cooked rice, start some off just before you begin, then it can be added to the dish just as it's finished cooking in ten minutes or so. Chop up whatever cooked vegetables you have that need using up (I had a couple of boiled potatoes) and whatever fresh veg you have in the fridge. I had onion, carrot and leek, but you could add various other types of vegetables. I'd definitely have added red pepper if I'd had it. Cabbage, broccoli, sweetcorn and cauliflower could be good too.

Put a drizzle of olive oil in the wok, heat it up then stir fry the veggies. Make sure you keep stirring so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Cook for about ten minutes if using fresh veg, five minutes if using cooked veg that just needs warming up.

When it's softened but still keeps a nice firm, crunchy texture, it's done. Throw in the cooked chicken - this is great for using up the leftovers from a roast chicken.

Mix together the sesame oil, pomegranate vinegar and sweet soy sauce in a bowl, then pour into the pan. This used ingredients that I had in the cupboard - you could replace them by honey, white wine vinegar and regular soy sauce. 

Stir the sauce through the veg, then add the cooked rice. Depending on whether it's hot (just cooked) or cold (leftover rice), it will need 2 minutes or 5 minutes to finish cooking/warming up. Mix it all together

If you want, you could add some chopped peanuts and/or fresh mint or coriander to the dish after serving.

This was so quick and simple to throw together and it was perfect for using up leftover cooked rice and chicken. It's also good for clearing out the veg box of the fridge. The kids loved it too.

This is a great use-up dish and can be adapted to suit whatever you have in the fridge, so I'm adding it to the #KitchenClearout linky.

Madhouse recipe : Tuna Filo Parcels

Heading back to work, I knew that one of the trickiest things would be lunchtimes. The canteen is open but people have to keep their distance from each other and food options are limited. On top of that, teachers are having to help out with supervising and moving around the different groups of pupils from one place to another, so I needed a quick packed lunch. These Filo Parcels were great - quick to make and they taste lovely. They can also be eaten either hot or cold, which is a bonus.

Tuna Filo Parcels

ingredients :

a roll of filo pastry

a tin of tuna

1 large cooked potato

1/2 a tin of sweetcorn

handful of grated cheese

1 egg

1tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp garlic salt

a little oil (for brushing)

Drain the tuna. Crush the potato with a fork in a bowl, then stir in the tuna and the spices. I used paprika and garlic salt as I wanted to keep things tame for the kids, but you could use chilli, cumin, mint, ... whatever you fancy !

Add the egg and mix it in. I also used up the end of a tin of sweetcorn, which worked well.

Looking through the fridge for inspiration, I finished off the end of a bag of grated cheese. Parmesan would work too. Maybe some capers or gherkins? 

Cut the filo pastry into wide strips (about 10cm wide). Place a heaped tablespoon of filling on the end of the strip.

Fold the end of the filo pastry across the filling diagonally. You may want to flip up the edge of the pastry along the bottom to help seal in the filling. Then flip it across to the left, then along the diagonal edge.

Tuck the ends in if you can, to save the filling splurging out.

 You could fry these in a deep fat fryer for a few minutes until they go crispy and golden brown. I opted for the healthier choice though and put them in the oven for 12 minutes. (Keep a check on them and remove them before they start to burn.)

Eat with salad or rice, or maybe even couscous. Or just pop them in a packed lunch as a quick snack.

These are great for using up odds and ends from the fridge and spice rack, so I'm adding them to the #KitchenClearout linky.