Halogen Oven Recipes

There will come a time when you’re fed up of Turkey… so here’s a really tasty recipe for a change!
Honey & aniseed ribs

Ingredients

1.5kg/3lb 5oz meaty pork ribs
6 tbsp thick honey
3 heaped tbsp oyster sauce
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
4 whole star anise
¼ tsp salt flakes
¼ tsp black peppercorns
steamed rice, to serve

Instructions
1. To make the marinade, spoon the honey and oyster sauce into a roasting tin or baking dish.
2. Peel and chop the garlic and add it to the dish with the chilli flakes, star anise and salt. Grind the peppercorns roughly and add them to the marinade.
3. Toss the ribs in the marinade, then set aside for an hour (or overnight if you have time).
4. Roast the ribs on HI for 15 minutes each side, turning them in their sauce from time to time.
5. They are ready when the meat is tender, but isn’t falling off the bone, and the ribs are coated with sauce.
6. Serve with rice, spooning over the sauce from the pan.

This Halloween recipe is delicious!

Prawn & Pumpkin
Ingredients
For the roasted pumpkin
750g pumpkin, or 1 small butternut squash
1 lemon, juice only
150ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp Salt
pinch cayenne pepper
2 balls buffalo mozzarella cheese, drained
10 Dried apricots, roughly chopped
3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
10 large mint leaves, shredded

For the prawns
12 large langoustines
12 large unpeeled tiger prawns
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp tomato paste
100g unsalted Butter, softened
Salt
cayenne pepper

Method

1. Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Finely slice, and arrange on an oven tray in a single layer.
2. Combine the lemon juice and 75ml of the olive oil. Brush evenly over the top of the pumpkin and season well with salt and cayenne pepper.
3. Cook the pumpkin on HI for 3-4 minutes on each side, until the edges are brown and crisp.
4. Lay the pumpkin out over a large serving platter.
5. Slice the mozzarella and arrange over the top of the pumpkin.
6. Mix the apricots, pumpkin seeds, mint and remaining olive oil. Season with salt and cayenne pepper, and spoon over the top of the pumpkin and mozzarella.
7. Split the langoustines and tiger prawns down the centre and remove their thin intestinal cord. Reserve any coral for the garlic butter. Lay them, cut side up, onto a baking sheet.
8. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, tomato paste and butter together with the coral, if there is any.
9. Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper.
10. Smear the flavoured butter over the langoustines and prawns.
11. Grill on the upper grill on HI for 5 minutes, until the thickest part of the prawn near the head, is pink and no longer transparent.
12. Place the prawns on top of the grilled pumpkin and serve.

Happy cooking

I dont know about you but I really dont like brussell sprouts. So much so that even though its traditional to have sprouts I like to disguise the flavour!!!

Ingredients

1.5kg Sprouts
284ml double cream
150g parmesan

Instructions

1. Bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil, Remove all the leaves from the outside of the sprouts and place them in the water, lid on, turn down the heat and cook until parboiled - about 4-6 minutes.
2. Drain, then tip into the food processor, along with the cream, salt and pepper. Blend for 20 seconds or so - they should be roughly chopped up, not a smooth purée.
3. Stir all the parmesan into the sprout mash except for enough to sprinkle over the top, then transfer to an ovenproof dish.
4. Sprinkle the left over parmesan on top and bake for 8-10 minutes on HI until the top has developed a fine, crunchy crust.

Happy cooking

Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing some Christmas recipes so you have plenty of time to practice!

Traditional roast turkey

Ingredients (Serves 8-10)

5.5kg turkey
125g butter softened
1 pack sliced pancetta/streaky bacon
200ml water
200ml white wine
1 onion peeled and halved
1 lemon zested then halved
1 orange zested then halved
small bunch of rosemary
small bunch of thyme

Cooking time - 12-14 mins per lb

Method:

1. Remove the giblets from inside the turkey.
2. Chop half the rosemary and thyme leaves finely and add to the softened butter along with the orange and lemon zest.
3. Spread butter all over the turkey, season very well then lay the slices of pancetta or bacon over the turkey.
4. Push the remaining herbs, orange and lemon halves and half of the onion into the turkey cavity.
5. Place some roughly chopped veg such as onions or carrots in a large roasting tin (making sure it fits in your oven) for the turkey to sit on.
6. Pour the white wine and water around the turkey.
7. Cover and seal the roasting tin with foil.
8. Cook for the calculated time, in this case 1 hour 17 minutes.
9. Removing the foil for the last 10 mins to allow the skin to crisp up.
10. The turkey can now be left covered in a warm place to rest for between 30-45 mins.

Good luck and let us know how you get on…

We’re in the process of writing our 4th ebook, Delicious Diabetic, and thought we should share a couple of recipes with you over the next fews days.

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH CARROT AND COURGETTE STUFFING

Ingredients

2 small (whole) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
225g. carrots, shredded (about 2 small.)
225g. courgette, shredded (about 1 med.)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 sachet chicken-flavoured bouillon
70ml. water

Instructions

1. In medium bowl, combine carrots, courgette, salt and poultry seasoning.
2. Spoon about mixture into each pocket (each breast should open similar to a butterfly); secure with toothpicks.
3. Then place chicken in a medium size oven dish and sprinkle with bouillon.
4. Add water and cook over medium high heat, heat to boiling.
5. Then cover with foil and cook on full power for about 20 minutes or until chicken is tender.
6. Remove toothpicks.

Happy cooking

I’d love to hear from anyone who has tried bread in their oven.  I’ve had mixed results but like this recipe:

Crusty bread rolls recipe
Ingredients
15 g (1/2 oz) fresh yeast
250 - 300 ml (9 - 10 fl oz) tepid milk
1 tsp caster sugar
450 g (1 lb) strong plain flour
1 tsp salt
50 g (2 oz) butter

Instructions
1. Blend the yeast with 150 ml (5 fl oz) of the milk and sugar. Sift flour and salt, add butter, and rub into flour.

2. Stir in yeast mixture and sufficient milk to make fairly soft dough.

3. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead thoroughly for 10 mins until dough is firm, elastic and no longer sticky. Place in a large bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1 - 2 hrs).

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 2 - 3 mins. Divide into 12 equal pieces and shape into rolls.

5. Place the rolls on greased baking sheets (I just cover the rack with foil - shinny side up) , spacing them well apart. Cover with tea towel and leave to prove until doubled in size. Cut slits in the top of each roll.

6. Bake for 8 mins on a medium heat until well risen and golden. I have found that if I do them on HI which is what I would use for most recipes they brown too quickly.

Happy cooking

Have you ever had a problem with your oven?  I’ve received a couple of queries about problems so I thought I would dedicate this post to it!

What to do it your Halogen Oven wont turn on?

1. Check to see that the oven is plugged in.
2. Check to see that the socket is working. (Plug something else in)
3. Check that the thermostat is set to desired temperature.
4. Make sure that the lid is closed properly.
5. Check that there is no water on the heating area.

 What if it isnt heating up properly?

1. Check the thermostat to see that it is set for a high enough temperature.
2. Check that there are no problems with the halogen light element.

What if I have damage to the glass bowl?

1. Firstly contact your manufacturer and find out if they have a replacement bowl.
2. Perhaps claim on your household insurance (if you have accidental damage cover and no excess!)

Hope this helps.  If you have any more questions dont forget to leave a comment!

Happy cooking!

We’ve finally made our Vegetarian cookbook available online (click here).  At the moment its just an ebook but hopefully as we come up with more recipes we’ll be able to turn it into a book.

You might have noticed that we’ve been focusing on Vegetarian cooking over the last few posts and this is the reason.  We’re obssessed with Vegetarian recipes. Not quite sure about turning veggy just yet but it makes a change being able to cook something without meat!

If you visit the shop (here) you’ll be able to preview some of the recipes.

1. Good pair of Oven gloves - I’m sure you won’t need reminding! My oven gets extremely hot when its cooking and if I need to move it at all I have to be careful of the glass container, as it gets super hot! Not to mention the dishes I use in the oven.
2. Toasting Rack - very important if you want to do beans on toast!
3. Aluminium foil - I either use this to cover the cooking rack or I cover food with it so that it doesn’t brown too quickly. Particularly if I’m baking a cake.
4. A good Cookbook is essential. I looked high and low for a cookbook specifically for Halogen Ovens.
5. Round oven dishes. These are particularly hard to find, and I tend to use tapas type dishes.
6. Extender ring - this allows you to cook larger items like turkeys.
7. Very small baking tray - this is important if you’re cooking biscuits or buns.
8. A temperature gauge/skewer - I like to have this on hand to ensure the food is cooked right through.
9. Baking tray liner - to save on mess and having to clean the racks.
10. and finally… A good blog where you can keep upto date with all the news about Halogen Ovens.

Click here for more great video’s