Spatchcock is the name of this technique and let's face it, this is just run to say out loud. Not only does this speed up the cook time, It's also way easier to cook the meat properly. (Without over cooking some parts of the meet. That said this chicken is really easy to do a feeds a family of 4 the easy way.
Place the chicken breast side down on a cutting board.
Optional: Making Stock?
Your about to make a whole chicken, save the bones to make stock. Also do not throw out the neck, it's a great source of gelatin!
Get out your kitchen shears. (Not scissors) And cut the spine of the chicken out. Cut from the neck down to the tail on both sides and cut out the back-bone (spine). Flip the bird over so it’s breast side up, then press firmly on the breast until you hear a crack and the chicken flattens.
Tuck the wings up, and under the chicken.
Optional: Flavour Boost
If you like flavour, you should mix your spices with butter and force the butter under the skin. This is optional and when I want to impress I do this. If you see the picture from the instruction above you can tell I have pushed the butter under the skin of the chicken.
Cover the chicken your BBQ spice
Optional: Making Stock?
Are you going to make stock? If you are you may want to throw the next in beside the chicken to cook. (This will increase the complexity of flavour.)
"Biff it, into the oven" my chef friend would say. I'm not sure what "Biff" means but I think it means throw it in the oven. Should be safe to eat in about ~45 mins. (If you have a thermometer poke it into the breast and wait for >165f.)
I totally wanted to have a oowy gooey cheesey, hame casserole. Sometimes a casserole is a great way of making leftovers into home cooked decadence. If you have some leftover ham, this is a great recipe to try out.
A little bit yummy is a great website that is really helpful for the FODMAP diet. They have a great list of low FODMAP cheeses. If you need some help picking a low FODMAP cheese to use.
Man I love meat. Sometime you just need a meatball. These have great flavour. Like you’ll notice the difference, they aren’t your plan jain meatball. I think it’s really a good idea to use both pork and beef. This brings a unique flavour that I think is worth the effort of buying both. (And reminds me of my mom’s meatballs.)
Line a large baking pan with parchment paper/tin foil.(for Easy cleaning)
In a large bowl combine the ground meats, low FODMAP Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, egg, cheese, breadcrumbs and basil. Add half of the milk, mixing a little with your hands, then add the rest of the milk. If you over mix the meat they will become tough, so mix the meat a little more but only mix until they are barely 'mixed enough' to be considered an even mix.
Add a frying pan to the stove top and turn on to medium heat. (Add infused garlic oil and olive oil)
Scoop out 2 tbsp of meat per meatball and roll into balls, placing meatballs on lined baking pan as you go.
Brown the meatballs on all sides. This is where you get amazing flavour, don't skip this step.
As you go place the meatballs back on the cooking sheet.
Space out the meatballs on the sheet and bake for 18 minutes, or until just cooked though.
While meatballs are baking, make your sauce. See out recipe below for a suggestion.
I was ordering more gluten free breadcrumbs from Amazon when I came across some gluten free Gnocchi. It was a little crazy that Amazon was selling it but it was $2 a package. What an amazing price. So I figured I’d learn how to make Gnocchi.
This is an amazingly flavourful vegetarian dish. I totally love this dish and am so happy I found a simple but delicious way to eat gnocchi. This could easily be modified to be completely vegan. This recipe was inspired by https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a22845363/tuscan-butter-gnocchi-recipe/ so if you like it go over to there site and give them a vote.
1cuplactose free heavy creamYou can sub with lactose free milk but it's not as flavourful. Find as heavy a lactose free milk product you can. If making vegan, use coconut milk.
1/2cupfreshly grated Parmesan
1/4cupfreshly chopped herbs I prefer basil, but use any fresh hurbs like parsley, plus a little more for garnish. You can use dried herbs in a pinch but fresh is a lot more flavour.
2packages500g packages of gnocchi
1cupshredded mozzarella
8wedgesLemon Really nice touch, you can go without but try it it really kicks it up notch.
Instructions
Thaw the frozen spinach. Don't try just throwing it in the pan to melt it. If you need to do this quickly, throw it in a microwave safe dish with a lid loosely placed on top. Microwave for ~3 minutes. (The lid will keep the steam in and help thaw this quickly) Do not tightly close the lid it will cause a steam bomb.
Turn your oven on to 350°.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add garlic infused oil.
Add cherry tomatoes and season with oregano, salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook until tomatoes start to look a little "beaten up".
Stir in broth, heavy cream, Parmesan, and herbs and bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.
Add gnocchi and toss to coat.
Pour gnocchi into a 9”-x-13” baking pan and top with mozzarella.
Bake until gnocchi is cooked through and cheese is melty, 30 minutes.
Garnish with more herbs and squeeze lemon on top before serving.
My buddy ‘Pat in the Hat’ inspired this recipe. It’s a low FODMAP version of what he suggest it’s totally awesome and makes turkey burgers exciting for me to eat.
Pat in the Hat Thai Turkey Burgers with Roasted Pineapple
Want a healthy turkey burger alternative that's all thriller and no filler. This is one of those recipes you surprise your friends with and they talk about it for weeks. I use frozen burger technique here, you can skip that if you don't have time but I think it makes the burgers juicier. Please do yourself a favour and eat the pineapple in the burger. It provide a lot of flavour and juice!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Course: Dinner, lunch
Cuisine: American, Thai
Keyword: turkey
Servings: 4people
Calories: 281kcal
Ingredients
Burger
2lbground turkey
1/4cupcilantrorecipe call for one large handful so play around with how much cilantro you like. I love it so I'd put more in that less
½cupgluten free panko crumbsyou can substitute any gluten free bread crumbs, I prefer panko.
1tspDiced Fresh Gingeror substitute dried ginger if you don't have fresh
2tbspPaprikaThis could be replaced with Sriracha if you are good with it, but it's delicious without it.
1wholelime zestzest the skin of one lime.
⅛whole lime juicecut your lime into wedges, and use the juice from 1/8 of the lime. NOT MORE than ⅛th it will dry out the meat.
Optional
1tspred pepper flakesDepends if your stomach likes them.
Topping
1whole pineappleyou can buy it cored or do it yourself
Instructions
Prep your burger holder
Get out a cooking tray, And get out a piece of way paper that fits the size of the tray. This is where you are going to place the formed patties. It's important to do this before you get your hands covered in meat.
Make the burgers
Place all the ingredients in the burger section into a bowl next to your tray. Combine all ingredients with your hands until almost evenly distributed. You don't want to over work the meat, that's why you want to stop just before it's all perfectly mixed.
Divide the meat into 6 and make 6 balls of meat.
Smush the balls of meat in your hand to make patties. "fix" the edges of the patties after smushing so that your happy with how the patty looks. Throw it on the wax paper. repeat 5 more times.
Optional Freeze Method
I actually now take an extra step to freeze my burger patty. Takes about an hour in my freezer. I do this so that I can get amazing grill lines and still have a juicy burger. I don't need to add any binding agents, and the meat doesn't stick to the grill and break up. This does add cook time but I feel it's worth it.
Grilled Pineapple.
If you don't have pineapple rings it's time to make them. I cut the top and bottom off then the sides. Then I cut pineapple circles out of the cylinder of pineapple. Then I have a bunch of pineapple circles that I cut the middle out of. You need the pineapple rings trust me.
Cook the burgers ~10 minutes
Get your BBQ as hot as you can. Turn it on full blast and go for max temperature.
Once you have hit max temp. Add the pineapple and burgers on the BBQ at the same time.
After 2.5 minutes you should be rotating the burger/Pineapple a 1/4 turn. (Think grill lines.)
After 2.5 minutes you should flip the burger/Pineapple
After 2.5 minutes you should be rotating the burger/Pineapple a 1/4 turn. (Think grill lines.)
Take the Pineapple off.
Your goal is and internal temperature of 165f for turkey burgers. Once you are done with grill lines, put the heat in the BBQ to 400f on one side with the burgers on the other side. Check temperature every 5 mins until done. (If you put them in the freezer you may need an extra 5 mins, depending on how thick the burger is.)
Great recipe to make a head of time and just freeze until you need it! Super simple, made from everything you should already have in the fridge. These are delicious as pork chops, but sometime I like to cut them up and make them into food on a stick. Who doesn't like that?
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Marinade2 hourshrs
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Keyword: pork chop
Servings: 4people
Calories: 181kcal
Ingredients
Meat
4wholepork chops
1tbspoil
Marinade
1/3cupsoy sauce gluten free
2tbspbrown sugar/maple syrup
2tspWorcestershire sauceUse french's cause it's FODMAP friendly.
1tspDijon mustardYou can totally sub in yellow mustard in a pinch.
Massage to the cops, this will mix/coat them in the Marinade.
Try and get out as much air as you can so the meet is just sitting in the Marinade.
This is where you want to freeze them, or let them sit in the fridge for 2 to 24 hours. You get the most flavour in the first 2 hours but it's great to have things ready, so why not do this the day before?
Cooking the meat
Place a pan on the stove on medium/high heat. We are looking to brown the chops. This is where you get the flavour.
Take the pork chops out of the bag, and keep the marinade for finishing them.
Add pork chop to the pan and brown the pork. (~ 4 minutes)Flip the chops and cook for 3 minutes. If you want to know if it's done you can check it's hit 145f
Hit the pork chops with the leftover marinade from the bag, and cook them on both sides for another 30 seconds.
Take the chops off the heat, and make a 'tent' with foil over top of them. This is a key step and you should not skip this. Leave it to 'rest' for 3 mins. This allows the juice to redistribute in the pork and is a key step. Another reason to let it rest: if you are cooking it to 145f it has to rest for 3 minutes to be cooked correctly (according to the USDA)
Notes
Make it ahead, and pull it on the day you need it. Seriously does great in the freezer.
Here's a really flavourful way to make you chicken taste delicious. I really like to do marinades as they are lazy cooking for me. All the work is done the night before and you can just cook the chicken. You can even marinade these and then freeze them. This is a great recipe for when you have a long day, and just want eat when you get home.
Throw it all in a bowl! : oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, cider vinegar, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic infused, salt, and pepper.
Add the chicken to a large Ziplock bag. Pour marinade over chicken.
Let marinate for at least 30 minutes. 4 – 5 hours is ideal. I usually let it sit over night.
Preheat grill to medium heat. Brush grill with oil to prevent sticking.
Place chicken on the grill. Cook for approximately 5 – 6 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of chicken. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165 degrees.
Remove chicken from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. Pro-tip, totally worth it.
Super easy BBQ meat on a stick. BBQ tip to save your knuckles. When reaching over the heat on a bbq wear a manly "heat glove" or a manly "oven mit". Real men are smart enough to know they don't need to burn themselves, to cook a good meal. Also, it makes people laugh to see you use "oven mits" on a BBQ, so entertain your guests!
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: bbq, kababob
Servings: 4people
Calories: 114kcal
Equipment
bamboo skewers
Ingredients
2wholered peppers but in 1 inch pieces
1packageOyster mushrooms
1packagecherry tomatoes
1wholesmall zucchini
3tbpsolive oil
6shakes salt
6shakes black pepper
46ozsteaks (the better the cut the better the taste). Cut the steaks into 1 inch cubes.
Instructions
Soak the bamboo skewers in a baking pan of water for 30 mins. This will help to prevent the ends from burning.
Cut all of the vegetables into 1 inch pieces
Go slow, if you don't go slow your vegetables may split, and won't stay on. Slowly push spear the vegetables onto the stick. One piece at a time add tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, steak, mushroom, then start back at tomatoes and repeat until the skewer is full. You want to pack the everything "tight" so that it stays together and is easy to turn.
turn on the BBQ to high, to warm up.
Add the oil, salt and pepper to a small dish and stir.
Once you have assembled your skewers, brush on the oil/salt/pepper. If you are feeling it, give them a little more, salt and pepper.
Turn down the BBQ to medium heat.
place skewers on the BBQ. I like to pack them close so I can use other skewers to "hold" the skewer in the position I want it in.
Every 2 minutes rotate the skewers a quarter turn until you feel they are done. If you have a hot spot on your grill, don't just rotate the skewers, but "trade" some skewers off the hot spot, with some that need more cooking.
Sometimes you don’t have time to cook and it’s handy to have something in the freezer to minimize actual cooking time. Here’s how to cook for 1 or 2 people using one of our favourite recipes Liz-sagna. We buy the small two person tin-foil packages and pre-make a bunch of Liz-sagnia ahead. Our existing recipe will make about 4 of the mini Liz-sania. Liz-sagna still takes time to cook, so you can either cook from frozen in ~ 1 hour 45mins (After removing the cover). Or you can move one to the fridge the day before (to thaw) and cook it in 45 mins(After removing the cover). This is a total lifesaver when you are on the go and don’t have time to do meal prep. This is also great for a single person, that wants Lasagna but doesn’t not want to eat if for the rest of the week. Below is a handy picture of all the required stagest to make Liz-sagna. Another dish that freezes well like this is our Shepherd’s pie recipe. Don’t be afraid to also build mini-Shepherd’s pie. I would suggest the same cook time depending on if it’s frozen or thawed.
