Tag: Lunches

Keema Mince Pitta Parcels…

These pitta parcels are so versatile, you can literally add anything into them just by altering the fillings and the spices in the bread.

You could use a wide variety of fillings in these, however make sure your filling isn’t too “wet/saucy” otherwise you will have some burst seams and leakage, which is still fine, but just doesn’t look as pretty.

These are great for picnics, side dish, main meal or just a light lunch. Can also be enjoyed both hot or cold.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Mixing bowls are always wanted in this household and these stackable ones save so much space in our cupboards.
  • Baking trays, we have separate ones for cake items and others for things like veg and meat etc so we have more than one set floating around in our house.
  • Rolling pin, we use a stainless steel one as I make a lot of pastry and it can be put in the fridge to prevent pastry from getting so warm from warm hands and being handled so much. Best purchase I ever made for pastry.

**NOTE: just a quick note about the seasoning we use in this dish, we have used a spice kit available from SpiceNTice which have all the spices you need all included in one kit so we don’t need to rummage through the spice cupboard for lots of different ones. Their spice kits and rubs are all Slimming Club friendly (Slimming World, Weight Watchers, Calorie counting etc). For 10% off your order you can use our code HICKMAN10 at the checkout.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Keema Mince Pitta Parcels

Makes 8 – 10

INGREDIENTS:

For the filling (Make this ahead of time so it can cool down):-

  • 250g 5% pork mince
  • 250g 5% beef mince
  • 1 onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 stick celery, diced small
  • 2 carrots, diced small
  • 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and finely diced
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 beef oxo cube
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree
  • 100g frozen peas
  • 1 SpiceNTice keema karai kit

For the pitta:-

  • 250g strong white bread flour
  • 50g strong wholemeal bread flour
  • 7g sachet fast action dried yeast
  • 1 teaspoon cooking salt
  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds (black onion seeds)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

METHOD:

  1. In a large saucepan fry sachet 1 of keema karai spices for a few minutes to infuse the pan and get them fragrant.
  2. Remove the cassia bark and add the onion, carrots, bell pepper, celery, ginger and 2 tablespoons cold water until the veg starts to soften.
  3. Add in the mince and break it up as it cooks until browned.
  4. Stir in the keema karai sachet 2, tin tomatoes, tomato puree, peas and the oxo cube and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  5. Cook on a low heat for 10 – 15 minutes or until the liquid has gone and veg soft. Allow to go completely cold.
  6. Make the dough by mixing the dry ingredients, garlic and coriander in a large mixing bowl.
  7. Make a well in the centre and add the oil and 200ml lukewarm water and mix to form a soft and slightly sticky dough.
  8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic (usually around 5 – 10 minutes).
  9. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl (a couple of sprays of frylight will be enough) and cover with a damp tea towel.
  10. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 – 1½ hours until doubled in size.
  11. Turn the dough out and knock the dough back to release the air, cut into even sized pieces (I weigh the whole dough and then divide by how many I want to make to get an accurate amount). Keep the cut dough under the damp tea towel while you make the parcels to prevent them drying out.
  12. Take one piece of the dough and roll out about 3mm thick in a rough circular shape.
  13. Spoon some of the mince mixture into the centre and bring the sides up to meet in the middle making a triangle pinching the seams tight together to seal.
  14. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
  15. Repeat until you have used all the dough, making sure you leave some space between them on the baking tray, you may need more than one tray. Any left over mince can be potted up for another day.
  16. Cover the parcels with another tea towel (a dry one will be fine) and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.
  17. Pre heat the oven to 230°C fan.
  18. Bake in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown. They should sound hollow when you tap the bottoms.

NOTES:

  • These can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days, and are freezable. Simply reheat in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes or enjoy cold. If freezing make sure you defrost fully and reheat in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Bombay Potato Pitta Parcels…

I love being in the kitchen and experimenting conjuring up new recipes and ideas. I am one of those weirdos who dreams of cooking and wake in the morning and have to put those ideas into reality. They don’t always come to plan, but I never give up on the ideas, I just try a different way until it works. I am never one to quit, it just may take a few attempts.

So when I thought about these I was a little hesitant to whether they would work, but much to my surprise they were spot on to how I wanted them to turn out.

You could use a wide variety of fillings in these, however make sure your filling isn’t too “wet/saucy” otherwise you will have some burst seams and leakage, which is still fine, but just doesn’t look as pretty.

These are great for picnics, side dish, main meal or just a light lunch. Can also be enjoyed both hot or cold.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Mixing bowls are always wanted in this household and these stackable ones save so much space in our cupboards.
  • Baking trays, we have separate ones for cake items and others for things like veg and meat etc so we have more than one set floating around in our house.
  • Rolling pin, we use a stainless steel one as I make a lot of pastry and it can be put in the fridge to prevent pastry from getting so warm from warm hands and being handled so much. Best purchase I ever made for pastry.

**NOTE: just a quick note about the seasoning we use in this dish, we have used a spice kit available from SpiceNTice which have all the spices you need all included in one kit so we don’t need to rummage through the spice cupboard for lots of different ones. Their spice kits and rubs are all Slimming Club friendly (Slimming World, Weight Watchers, Calorie counting etc). For 10% off your order you can use our code HICKMAN10 at the checkout.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Bombay Potato Pitta Parcels

Makes 8 – 10

INGREDIENTS:

For the filling (Make this ahead of time so it can cool down):-

  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  • 2 large potatoes, cubed (I don’t peel my potatoes but do what you prefer)
  • 1 SpiceNTice bombay potato kit

For the pitta:-

  • 250g strong white bread flour
  • 50g strong wholemeal bread flour
  • 7g sachet fast action dried yeast
  • 1 teaspoon cooking salt
  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds (black onion seeds)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

METHOD:

  1. Pre heat oven to 200°C fan.
  2. Par boil the potatoes for 5 minutes, add the butternut squash and boil for a further 5 – 10 minutes until al – dente.
  3. Drain and tip back into the pan and tip in both the bombay potato spice sachets, add a lid and give a really good shake to ruff the potatoes up and make sure everything is well coated in the spices. Place on a baking tray and roast for 5 – 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
  4. Make the dough by mixing the dry ingredients, coriander and garlic in a large mixing bowl.
  5. Make a well in the centre and add the oil and 200ml lukewarm water and mix to form a soft and slightly sticky dough.
  6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic (usually around 5 – 10 minutes).
  7. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp tea towel.
  8. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 – 1½ hours until doubled in size.
  9. Turn the dough out and knock the dough back to release the air, cut into even sized pieces (I weigh the whole dough and then divide by how many I want to make to get an accurate amount). Keep the cut dough under the damp tea towel while you make the parcels to prevent them drying out.
  10. Take one piece of the dough and roll out about 3mm thick in a rough circular shape.
  11. Spoon some of the bombay potato mix into the centre and bring the sides up to meet in the middle making a triangle pinching the seams together to seal.
  12. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
  13. Repeat until you have used all the dough, making sure you leave some space between them on the baking tray, you may need more than one tray. Any left over bombay potatoes can be potted up for another day.
  14. Cover the parcels with another tea towel (a dry one will be fine) and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.
  15. Pre heat the oven to 230°C fan.
  16. Bake in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown. They should sound hollow when you tap the bottoms.

NOTES:

  • These can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days, and are freezable. Simply reheat in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes or enjoy cold. If freezing make sure you defrost fully and reheat in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Pork Pies…

So I studied for a year to be a pastry chef, I was certain that I wanted to go down the route being some kind of chef when I left school. However I fell pregnant at 19 and so my dreams got put on hold, I am now a full time stay at home carer so have no time to go back to doing courses or full time work so my career is on hold. I will one day pick it all back up, by then I hope it won’t be too late in my life to pursue my dreams.

Now then on to pork pies, these are Shane’s weakness, he is often found picking up some of the mini pork pies in Sainsbury’s on his way home from work and they are gone in a mouthful, so I love making him these as they are much bigger (roughly muffin sized).

The beauty of these is you can change the filling in them too, chicken and bacon, lamb and mint, beef and onion, etc etc.

Now a quick note on the pastry, pork pies are made with a hot water crust pastry which is lard and flour, there is no other ingredient you can use in replace of the lard to make hot water crust pastry so substituting it for something else will not work. You also need to work quickly with this pastry as it will begin to harden as it cools down, you also don’t want to over work it otherwise it just becomes rubbery once cooked. You want to work it quickly so make sure everything else is ready before moving onto the pastry.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Mixing bowls are always wanted in this household and these stackable ones save so much space in our cupboards.
  • Cake cooling racks, so handy to have.
  • 12 hole Muffin tray
  • A food processor.
  • Rolling pin, we use a stainless steel one as I make a lot of pastry and it can be put in the fridge to prevent pastry from getting so warm from warm hands and being handled so much. Best purchase I ever made for pastry.
  • Pastry brush.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Pork Pies

Makes 12

INGREDIENTS:

For the hot water pastry:-

  • 400g plain flour
  • 150g lard, cubed
  • ½ teaspoon cooking salt
  • 1 small egg, for glazing

For the filling:-

  • 400g pork, fat removed and roughly chopped
  • 2 rashers smoked bacon, fat removed and roughly chopped
  • 2 teaspoons dried sage
  • ½ teaspoon dried onion granules
  • ½ teaspoon dried garlic granules
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground all spice

For the jelly (Optional):-

  • ½ sachet gelatine powder
  • Chicken or ham stock cube

Optional toppings:-

  • Plum chutney
  • Pickle
  • Apple sauce
  • Cheese

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
  2. Put the pork, bacon, herbs and season with salt and pepper into a food processor and whizz in short bursts until the meat is chopped up but not mushy, set aside for now.
  3. Get everything else ready and close by including your beaten egg for glazing and a pastry brush, rolling pin, a 12 hole metal muffin tin (don’t use silicone for these, it needs the heat from the metal) and some cling film as you need to work quickly on the next few steps.
  4. Make the pastry by boiling the kettle, measure out 150ml boiling water in a jug and add the lard to the water and stir until completely melted.
  5. Add the flour and salt to a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
  6. Pour the hot lard into the centre of the flour and carefully bring the flour into the lard with a wooden spoon and bind it together to make a dough, you may need to get in there with your hands but careful as the dough may be hot, don’t work it too much.
  7. Cut a quarter of the dough off and wrap in some cling film and set aside, make sure its covered as it needs to keep warm or it begins to harden.
  8. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the rest of the dough to around 3mm thick.
  9. Cut the pastry into circles big enough to fill the muffin trays.
  10. Spoon the pork filling into each hole so its nicely filled and press down on the filling.
  11. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg.
  12. Quickly roll out the set aside pastry to 3mm thick and cut into circles to top each pie.
  13. If you are adding any fillings like cheese, pickles, chutneys etc then do this now, you only need a small amount on each otherwise it leaks out so don’t over fill them (if filling with jelly you do this step later).
  14. Place the tops of pastry onto each pie and press down on the edges to seal them.
  15. Poke a hole into the tops of each pie so steam can escape and prevent the pies from splitting.
  16. Brush the beaten egg over the tops of the pies and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
  17. Turn the oven down to 160°C fan and bake for a further 30 minutes until golden brown.
  18. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning them out onto wire racks to cool completely or simply enjoy one fresh from the oven.
  19. If you are wanting the traditional pies with the jelly filling when the pies are completely cooled make the jelly by making the stock by mixing the stock cube with half a pint of boiling water, sprinkle over the gelatine powder, stir to dissolve and then leave to cool until it starts to thicken but remaining pourable.
  20. You may need to reopen the holes on your pies for this bit, just simply poke them back open with a skewer.
  21. You will need a small funnel or pipette to pour the jelly into each pie, you only need about 2 – 3 tablespoons in each pie so add just a little mixture at a time so it doesn’t block the hole up, you may not need it all.
  22. Place the pies in the fridge to set overnight before eating.

NOTES:

  • These pies will last in an airtight container for up to 3 days, you can also freeze them individually by wrapping in baking paper then tin foil for up to 3 months. Make sure you defrost fully before consuming. If you wish to reheat them place in a hot oven for 5 – 10 minutes to heat through. We do not recommend microwaving them.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Harissa Squash Pasta…

This delicious Moroccan spiced pasta dish makes a great lunch idea, making the night before intensifies the flavour even more so we recommend making this in advance although it still tastes amazing eaten the same day.

You can add meat to this dish if you wish, lamb would work extremely well but we have kept this one vegetarian which is just as yummy.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • A decent set of knives for chopping, with a knife sharpener which is always handy.
  • Baking trays, we have separate ones for cake items and others for things like veg and meat etc so we have more than one set floating around in our house.

**NOTE: just a quick note about the seasoning we use in this dish, we have used a spice kit available from SpiceNTice which have all the spices you need all included in one kit so we don’t need to rummage through the spice cupboard for lots of different ones. Their spice kits and rubs are all Slimming Club friendly (Slimming World, Weight Watchers, Calorie counting etc). For 10% off your order you can use our code HICKMAN10 at the checkout.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Harissa Squash Pasta

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 300g penne pasta
  • 1 Very Lazy Harissa tagine paste pot (Available in Tesco)
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cubed
  • 1 tin of chickpeas, drained and dried
  • Half a small bag of curly kale
  • 300g cherry tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoons SpiceNTice Italian rub (**See note above about this rub)
  • 3 tablespoons tomato puree

METHOD:

  1. Pre heat the oven to 200°C fan.
  2. On a baking tray add the butternut squash and chickpeas and sprinkle over the Italian rub, give a little shake to evenly coat and roast for 20 minutes, add the cherry tomatoes and roast for a further 10 minutes or until the chickpeas are golden and squash is soft.
  3. Meanwhile boil the pasta and kale until al dente, drain the water and tip the pasta back into the pan.
  4. Mix the harissa paste pot with 100ml boiling water and then stir into the pasta along with the tomato puree and heat through until all water is absorbed and the pasta is fully cooked (add a little extra water if needed).
  5. Stir through the roasted squash, tomatoes and chickpeas.
  6. Serve along side a simple salad.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Vegetable & Chickpea Soup…

I love a chunky soup, I also love adding different vegetables in them when they come into season. Winter is great for root veg, once the frost has hit them they taste so much nicer.

I personally don’t peel most my vegetables, I simply wash them and chop them as they are, especialy potatoes as the skin has lots of vitamins and fibre in them.

Some recommended items from our kitchen for this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • A decent set of knives for chopping, with a knife sharpener which is always handy.
  • A big time saver for chopping veg with a veg chopper, from onions to carrots this is a god send to chop quickly.
  • Garlic crusher, we have had this one for a good while, easy to clean and can crush multiple cloves at once saving time.
  • Non stick saucepans.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Vegetable & Chickpea Soup

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large red onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 4 celery sticks, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 large carrots, finely diced
  • 200g baby new potatoes, finely chopped
  • 1 small swede, finely chopped
  • 1 leek, finely chopped
  • 200g tin chickpeas, drained
  • 200g frozen soya beans or broad beans
  • 1 Tesco garlic and thyme stock pot
  • 1 vegetable stock pot
  • Small handful fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

METHOD:

  1. In a large saucepan gently fry the onion, celery, swede, garlic, leek and carrot for 1 – 2 minutes.
  2. Boil the kettle and add both the stock pots to a measuring jug and add 1.2 litres of boiling water and stir to dissolve.
  3. Add the stock to the vegetables and bring to the boil.
  4. Add the potatoes and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until the potatoes and veg are tender.
  5. Add the chickpeas and frozen beans and bring back to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes until everything is cooked and heated through.
  6. Season to taste with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  7. Stir in the parsley and serve.

NOTES:

  • This soup will store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 4 days.
  • Also suitable for the freezer.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Bacon & Bean Hotpot with Cheese Croutons…

This dish came from an experiment of chuck it in and see what happens and it just so happened to be extremely tasty that I had to share the recipe. Now normally I chuck things in and then forget what on earth I put in, so I have made sure I have a pad of paper and a pen in the kitchen for these times so I can write down what goes in things, gone are those times where I make something I enjoy and completely forget what went in.

So as I always mention in a lot of recipes feel free to swap vegetables for your favourites or add in extras that may be sitting in the fridge waiting to be used up, you can also add chicken, replace met with quorn, or even just keep it vegetarian.

Some recommended items from our kitchen for this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • A decent set of knives for chopping, with a knife sharpener which is always handy.
  • Garlic crusher, we have had this one for a good while, easy to clean and can crush multiple cloves at once saving time.
  • Non stick saucepans.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Bacon & Bean Hot Pot with Cheese Croutons

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 sticks of celery, chopped
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and chopped
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, seeds removed and chopped
  • 100g french green beans, chopped
  • 1 tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
  • 8 rashers bacon, fat removed and chopped
  • 600ml vegetable stock
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 2 teaspoons cornflour, mixed with a little water to make a paste

For the croutons (per person):

  • 1 Promise gluten free soft white roll per person
  • 40g light mature cheddar, grated, per person

METHOD:

  1. In a saucepan add the bacon, celery and butternut squash and fry on a medium heat for around 5 minutes.
  2. Add the celery and pepper and fry for a further 5 minutes.
  3. Add the stock and cornflour and bring to a steady simmer.
  4. Add all other ingredients and continue to simmer until the veg is cooked to your liking and the sauce has thickened slightly.
  5. Season well with salt and pepper if it needs it.
  6. Slice the rolls into pieces and lightly toast under the grill, turn the slices over and top with the cheese and grill until melted.
  7. Serve the croutons on top of the hotpot and enjoy.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen
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