Crispy Baked Paprika Chicken for the Whole Family

Suitable for toddlers upwards and maybe younger, this is a way of getting really crisp chicken pieces without frying.

I'd seen a few American recipes using corn flakes as a coating for chicken and Annabel Karmel sometimes uses corn flakes or rice krispies.  I've taken that idea and made a dish suitable for the whole family.  If you wanted to make it just for adults, maybe include a bit of chilli into the coating.  If you're concerned your little ones might find the flavour a bit full on, reduce the amount of smoked paprika and miss out the chilli and mustard (or some variation of that).

Crispy Baked Paprika Chicken - serves 2 adults and 1 todder

Ingredients

5 Chicken thighs (bone in)
Spray oil

Flour mix:
60g, 2oz Plain (all purpose) flour (swap this for cornflour or cornstarch to make gluten free and make sure the stock is gluten free too.)
1 chicken stock cube (use low salt if cooking for very young kids) can substitute for 1 tsp boullion powder
Ground pepper
1 tsp sweet paprika

Milk mix:
I crushed dried chilli
200ml, 7fl oz milk
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Krispies mix:
25g, 1 oz Rice Krispies
1 tsp Mild (Sweet) Smoked Paprika (you can buy hot versions but I wouldn't use a spicier version if kids are eating it)

Method

Preheat oven to 200oC / 400F

Skin the chicken and discard the skin.

Make all of the mixes as above.  Crumble the stock cube into the flour and mix with the paprika and pepper.  Put onto a plate.  Whisk the milk and mustard together with the crushed chilli and allow to stand for a few minutes.  Crush the rice krispies by putting them into a clean food bag and rolling a rolling pin over them to break them up.  Pour the crushed cereal onto a plate and mix with the paprika.

Take each thigh and roll in the flour, dust off the excess.  Once all are dusted with flour, take each and dunk in the milk, shake off the excess then roll in the krispie mix.

Put all of them onto a baking tray or dish as they are coated and spray with spray oil.

Bake for approx 35 minutes or until browned, crispy and cooked through to the bone with no sign of pink.

Allow to cool a bit if serving to a young child and probably better to cut off the bone into convenient size pieces.

I've linked this up here.  I've linked this up to this Friday linky.

Lunchtime inspiration

The kids are back at school or you and your partner are back at work, I know what it's like, it's difficult to get out of the rut of having cheese sandwiches every day so here are a few ideas to liven up that lunchbox whether it's for your child or anyone else!  You all deserve a decent lunch, it's that little moment for you in the middle of the day!

Savouries:

Mini quiches, quiches are a great thing to make for teatime and then have leftovers for lunch.  One of those use what's in the fridge recipes but ham or bacon is traditional but why not try something a bit different like broccoli?  (Sneak those vegetables in!)

Sandwiches, why not try something a bit more unusual like pate and mango chutney or grated carrot and hummus?  Or why not try a stuffed naan?

Cooked chipolatas, again a great way to make teatime into lunchtime too.  Cook a few extra, great with salad on the side.  I prefer to use good quality long chipolata sausages and twist them into little ones, they tend to be better quality.

Salad for example tomato salad, coleslaw, potato or courgette salad.  Great to have alongside some of the leftover goodies above and no reason why it can't be made with leftovers.  Something about a pot of salad says "I've made more effort" than when it's between two slices of bread.  Why is that?  If you look at my cous cous salad recipe above for example, it's all leftovers!

With that lovely salad, some cold tandoori chicken (made as drumsticks would be great) would be a tasty nibble, perhaps with a little pot of mint raita and some cucumber sticks?

Sausage plait.  Hot for tea and a cold slice in your lunchbox, sneaky hidden vegetables.  What could be better?

Don't discount the savoury baked goods.  Pepper and cheese muffins are delicious and if you fancy something a bit more traditional, there's always the humble cheese scone or spanakopita if you're feeling a touch more exotic (a great way to get spinach into the diet of the reluctant vegetable eater.)

Puddings:

Berries and a little pot of cream.   Why does this feel so luxurious?  My husband loves it when I put this into his lunchbox and it's the kind of thing that makes people look over at your lunch and go "ooo" like they never would for a chocolate bar!

Yoghurt and honey.  Greek yoghurt is cheap as chips, add a tsp of honey and it's a lovely pudding.

Mini muffins, my favourite is date and ginger.  No added sugar, no nasties, all natural.  Freeze brilliantly, take one out of the freezer and put in a bag, it will be defrosted come midday.

Jelly!  Why not?  As long as it's kept cool, this would be great and it's so simple to make without all the unnecessary colourings, sugar and flavourings!

There are loads more sugar free and low sugar pudding recipes on the blog so take a look around.

One last word:

When I was a child, no-one really bothered all that much about food hygiene.  No-one said you had "food poisoning" either, you just had a stomach bug, stayed off school for the day and then went back in.  Nowadays, schools have adopted similar controls to food factories and insist kids stay of for 48 hours after their symptoms have cleared.  This is because many food poisoning bacteria or viruses can easily be spread from person to person (especially with kids).

The thing that confuses me though is I believe that there are very few if any schools who provide facilities to keep lunches cool.  It is really important to keep your kids lunch cool because most sandwich fillings, salads etc could be a perfect breeding ground for pathogenic (illness causing) bacteria.  Keeping it all cold helps stop them multiplying.  To do this, get some freezer packs (and get loads of spares to keep them in the freezer, you will forget to put them back in the evening) and use an insulated lunch box or bag.

The same applies to adults too.  Not all workplaces have fridges so it's definitely worth keeping your lunch cool.

I've linked this up here, here and here.

Ginger Parkin (or thank you for babysitting)

It was my birthday recently and the weekend before my in laws babysat at short notice so I could get out for the evening.  To say "thank you" to my Yorkshire born Father in law, I made some ginger parkin.

This is not the traditional recipe as that contains oats but this is adapted from how my mum made it so apologies if it's not authentic.  Ounces first because this is how the recipe was written, it's pretty old...

Ginger Parkin

Ingredients

2oz, 55g Margarine
5oz, 140g Brown sugar, I used molasses sugar for that real dark hit
2 tbsp Black treacle
9oz, 250g Self Raising Flour (or plain flour plus the recommended amount of baking powder)
2 rounded tsp Ground (powdered) ginger
7 fl oz, 200ml milk
1 rounded tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tbsp Boiling water
1 Egg

Method

Grease and line a tin approx 11 inches by 8 inches.  If you haven't got a tin that size or shape, check your baking dishes and aim for approx 88 square inch area so 9 by 9 would do.  Err on the side of slightly smaller than bigger if you need to, you don't want it too shallow.

Preheat the oven to 180oC, 350F.  (170oC in my fan oven.)

Cream the butter and sugar together as best you can, unrefined sugars can be a bit tough going on this.  Add the egg and beat until fully mixed in.

Sift the flour and ginger together.

Mix the treacle in then alternate mixing in the milk and the flour and ginger.  Mix well and then lastly mix the bicarb with the boiling water and quickly mix into the batter.  Work quickly pouring into the lined dish and bake for 45-60 minutes (45 in my fan oven) or until the sponge springs back when pressed and an inserted sharp knife comes out clean.

Cool for 20 mins or so in the tin, then lift out onto a cooling rack.  Cut into squares when cool.

This keeps very well getting stickier over a few days if you can stop people eating it!  My mum likes to serve this split and buttered but I like it as it is.  It tastes rather like a well known brand of Jamaican Ginger Cake.

This was more for the adults than for pumpkin because it's heavy on the sugar but he did have a little bit of Grandad's when everyone thought I wasn't looking!

I've linked this lovely old recipe up to the Spice Trail Ginger challenge.

Mushroom Stroganoff for kids

This is loosely based on this recipe from the good food website but I've made a few changes to make it my own.

My son loves mushrooms, along with prawns he'd eat them for every meal if I let him.  I'd had the idea of making a mushroom stroganoff for him for a while but never attempted it, to be honest knowing what he's like I was worried it would be too bland but with some tweaks to this recipe it really wasn't, if perhaps it was a bit redder than normal recipes due to all the paprika but tasty!

I served it with rice but all the mushrooms were eaten and the rice was ignored.  I think he's on some "why should I eat rice unless it's got interesting bits in it" vibe at the moment.  Well who can blame him I guess?

Mushroom Stroganoff - serves 1 mushroom obsessed toddler or possibly 2 kids with normal attitudes to fungi(!)

Ingredients

Vegetable or olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 clove of garlic
100g mushrooms
1/2 chicken or vegetable stock cube made up with 150 ml water (use low salt for younger kids if liked or home made stock)
2 tbsp double (heavy) cream
A squeeze of lemon juice
Parsley

Method

Fry the onion gently in the oil for 5 minutes or until softened.  Add the garlic and paprika, add the mushrooms with a little more oil if needed and cook for 2-3 mins or so.  Add in the stock, bring to the boil and then add in the cream.  Bubble until thickened and the mushrooms are cooked.  Add a squeeze of lemon and serve sprinkled with parsley with rice or noodles on the side.

Hmm, tasty!

I've linked this up to Meatless Mondays:

I've linked this up here and to Herbs on a Saturday here.