Halogen Oven Recipes

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

I was recently asked whether our cookbook “Halogen Heaven” is suitable for vegetarians.  Well the simple answer is that it contains afew vegetarian recipes but on the whole its for us meat eaters.

I have often thought about becoming a vegetarian and found these handy tips:

1. Eat a dark green vegetable (broccoli, spinach, kale, collard greens) at least three times a week. These nutritional powerhouses are packed full of vitamins such as calcium and iron. On the run or hate spinach? Try drinking your greens.
2. Take a vitamin supplement that contains B12 or include nutritional yeast in your diet regularly, especially if you’re vegan or mostly vegan.
3. Water water water! It’s been said over and over again for a reason-because its true! Most people don’t drink nearly enough. Bring a water bottle with you wherever you go and invest in a simple filter for your home. Water is especially important when adjusting to a new way of eating, as it will help curb any cravings you may experience.
4. Make it a goal to eat at least one piece of raw fruit or a handful of raw vegetables every day.
5. Reduce your refined sugar intake.
6. Keep your favorite salad dressings on hand. A little variety is great too– try to keep at least two kinds, either store bought or homemade on hand at all times.
7. Eat the rainbow! Fruits and vegetables all contain different nutrients. A simple way to remember to eat a range of vitamins and minerals is to vary the colors of the vegetables you eat.

So until we bring out our Vegetarian cookbook, I hope you will enjoy this recipe.

Vegetable Chilli

Ingredients

• one onion chopped finely
• some mushrooms (however many you like) chopped
  2 carrots chopped
• 2 green chillies with seeds removed chopped
• 1 red chilli with seeds removed chopped
• 1 tea spoon of cumin
• 1 tea spoon of paprika
• half a teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• one can of tinned tomatoes
• 3 tea spoons of tomato puree
• one can on red kidney beans
• some oil
• two tablespoons of vinegar
• one tablespoon of granulated sweetener

Instructions

1. Chop the veg and lightly fry the onion, garlic, mushrooms and whatever other veg you put in. Then add the tomato puree stir for one minute and then add the tomatoes.
2. Pour this mixture into a oven dish and add the carrot and the spices.
3. Cook for about 20 minutes on HI, then add the kidney beans vinigar and sweetener.
4. Reduce the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes. Check the carrots at this point to see whether they are tender and if not cook for further 5 minutes.
5. Serve with rice and salad.

I’d love to hear what you think about this recipe and how it turned out for you.

Happy cooking

This is a recipes from our forthcoming diet recipe book:

Pork Burgers
Serves: 4

Per serving
208 calories

Ingredients

450g lean pork mince
3 tablespoons of sage and onion stuffing mix
made with 6 tablespoons of boiling water
100g dried apricots finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
Black pepper
Wholemeal Bread rolls
Salad

Instructions

1. Mix all the ingredients together (excluding the oil) and season with the black pepper.
2. Shape into eight burgers and brush each burger with a little oil. Place on to lower grill and cook each burger on HI for 4 minutes on each side (or until browned)
3. Serve with wholemeal rolls and salad.

Enjoy.

Well the great news is that we have the following cookbooks in ebook format coming out very shortly:

• Vegetarian Recipes for Halogen Ovens
• Diet/healthy eating recipes for Halogen Oven
• Diabetic Recipes for Halogen Ovens
• Desserts for Halogen Ovens

If anyone is interested in testing the recipes and letting us have their opinion, please contact us.

We recently released our e-cookbook for Elderly people.  Basically the idea is that lots of elderly people buy the ovens but dont have inspiration when cooking just for one!  The food is generally speaking easy to cook, and hopefully easy to eat too.

Though dont let that put you off this cookbook because the recipes are universal – there’s lots of traditional cooking including hotpot and casseroles.

Happy cooking