Preparation Time

Preparation Time

Ingredients

• 1kg chicken wings

• 2 tsp baking powder

• Salt and pepper

• 50g butter

• 2 tbsp runny honey

• 1 tbsp molasses

• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup

• 4 tbsp hot sauce of your choice (I use Franks, available in most supermarkets)

Method

1. Portion the wings, discarding the tips (you can ask your butcher to do this for you). Don’t skip this step, it is important. Toss them in the baking powder. The baking powder is critical here, it makes the skin really crispy.

2. If you are using an air-fryer and cooking the full kilo of wings, you will need to cook these in two batches. The air fryer method is best, but you can do them in the oven as well.

3. Place a layer of wings in the pan of your air-fryer. Don’t pile them over each other — leave a little space between each one. Cook at 180°C for 15 minutes, then turn them over and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. If roasting in the oven, use the same temperature & cooking times. You can cook them all in one go, just spread them out on a baking tray.

5. While wings are cooking, make your sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan, add the other ingredients and combine well. Taste and add more hot sauce to taste. I use Franks, but any decent hot sauce works well.

6. When your wings have had full 25 minutes, take them out and toss them in some salt and pepper. Put them back in the air-fryer or oven. They can all go in together this time rather than in batches. Cook at 200°C for 6 minutes until they are dark, golden and really crispy.

7. Toss the wings in your sauce. you could serve this with some whipped feta or a blue cheese sauce. Simply blitz a hunk of the cheese with lots of thick Greek yoghurt and serve on the side. These are divine. Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 400g boneless skinless chicken thighs

• 1 large egg

• 3 tbsp plain flour

• 100g panko dried breadcrumbs

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• ½ tsp garlic powder

• ½ tsp onion powder

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• ½ tsp smoked paprika

• ½ tsp sea salt

• Olive oil spray

• 4-6 pieces streaky bacon

• 4 slices ‘easy singles’ cheese

• 4 brioche burger buns

• 1 avocado

• Little gem lettuce

• 2 tomatoes

• 2-3 spring onions

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise

• 2 tsp chipotle paste

Method

1. Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk it lightly. Put the flour in a second bowl, and combine the panko breadcrumbs, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika and sea salt in a third.

2. Line the three bowls up on your countertop, with a plate at the end.

3. Open out the chicken thighs and remove any excess fat from the meat. Just use a sharp knife to scrape any fat away, and if necessary, cut away any larger pieces. Working one chicken thigh at a time, toss each first in the flour, coating it well and shaking off any excess. Next, dip the chicken in the egg, again coating it thoroughly. Finally toss it in the breadcrumbs, gently pressing in the breadcrumbs to ensure the chicken is evenly coated. Place the breaded chicken pieces on the plate as you go. When they are all prepared, spray each on both sides with a little olive oil. You only need a little oil, two sprays on each side per piece of chicken will do it.

4. Pop the chicken into the basket of your air fryer, arranging the pieces in a single layer, taking care not to crowd the basket so that they cook evenly. Air fry at 200 Celsius for eight to ten minutes until the chicken is crisp and golden. The time needed will depend upon the size of the pieces, so check after eight minutes, and then give them an additional two minutes if necessary.

5. You can also cook the chicken in an oven if you do not have an air fryer. Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius and place the chicken on a nonstick oven tray. Cook for ten minutes, until the chicken is golden and crisp. If you have a probe meat thermometer, use that to check the internal temperature of the chicken. Once it is at 74 Celsius, it is done.

6. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the toppings. Grill the streaky bacon until it is crisp. I have a dual basket air fryer, so I just pop my bacon into the second drawer at 200 Celsius for about five minutes until it lovely and crispy.

7. You can of course do this under a conventional grill but I would advise against frying the bacon as you will not get it as crispy and delicious as it needs to be in a pan.

8. Lightly toast the burger buns. Wash the lettuce, tomatoes, and the spring onions. Slice the tomatoes and chop the spring onions. Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone. Peel it and then lay each half flat side down on a chopping board and cut it lengthways into slices.

9. When the chicken has about a minute left to go, lay a slice of cheese over each piece and pop it back in the air fryer or oven.

10. Combine the mayonnaise and chipotle paste in a bowl to make the burger sauce.

11. Time now to assembly your burgers. Start by laying some lettuce across the bottom halves of the toasted buns. Next, layer on the sliced avocado, followed by the bacon. Slices of tomato come next, followed by the crispy chicken smothered in melted cheese. Spoon over a dollop of burger sauce, sprinkle with chopped spring onion and top off the burgers with the other half of the toasted buns.

12. Serve immediately, with some air fried or oven chips. 

Ingredients

• For the burgers:

• 500g minced Irish Angus steak

• 1 tsp flaky sea slat

• 1tsp onion salt

• A good grind of fresh black pepper

• 4 brioche burger buns

• Vintage Irish cheddar cheese

• Little gem or iceberg lettuce

• Fresh onion, thinly sliced

• Ketchup, to serve

• For the onion rings:

• 2 large white onions

• 500ml buttermilk

• 150g plain flour

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

• Fresh ground black pepper

• 1 litre sunflower oil for frying

• For the chunky oven chips:

• 6-8 medium sized rooster potatoes

• 2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil

• 1-2 tbsp fine polenta

Method

1. In a bowl, combine the beef, salt, pepper, and onion salt. Just use hands to mix it thoroughly, it will only take a minute. Do not over work it, you just want to mix the seasoning through the meat. Divide the burger meat into eight portions, each about 60-65g in weight. Roll each into a ball, place them on a plate and chill in the fridge for about thirty minutes.

2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunky chips. Blanch the chips in a pan of salted boiling water for three minutes, then drain into a colander. Leave them in the colander for a few minutes to let any excess water evaporate. Pop them back in the pan, add the oil and polenta and toss to coat the chips. Cook them in an air fryer at 200°C for twenty-five to thirty minutes, tossing them a few times to make sure they cook evenly. If you are cooking them in the oven, lay them out in a single layer on a baking tray roast them at the same temperature for about same time, turning them over halfway though. When they are golden and crispy, you will know they are done.

3. Peel and slice the onions. Place them in a bowl and pour over the buttermilk. Toss the onions in the milk, and let them sit for fifteen minutes. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together on a plate or a bowl and, when they are ready, take the onions from the buttermilk and toss them in the flour. Do this a few at a time or the flour will get too sticky to coat the onions. As you coat each batch of onions, place them in a single layer on a baking tray.

4. When you have about fifteen minutes to go before your chips are done, start to cook the burgers and onion rings. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Heat the oil to fry your onion rings to 180°C. Lightly toast your burger buns, I usually do this by popping them in the oven for a few minutes. Wash a few leaves of lettuce per burger, thinly slice some onion, slice the tomato, and cut enough thin slices of cheddar to top each patty. When the frying pan is very hot, put on the burger meat. Using a spatula, smash or press each ball into a patty. Cook on high heat for three minutes, and then turn them over. Do not press the burgers again or turn them more than once or you will press out all the juices and flavour. When you flip the patties over, layer some cheese over each and cook them for another minute.

5. While your burgers are cooking, fry the onion rings. You will need to do this in batches, cooking about a quarter each time. Drop them carefully into the hot oil and fry for a few minutes until crisp and golden. Drain them on a wire rack over a baking tray or on some kitchen towel. Make sure the oil stays at 180c, checking before adding each batch of onions.

6. Put some lettuce on the base of each burger bun, add a slice of tomato and then your cooked patties. Top them off with some sliced onion, some pickle if you fancy it and a little ketchup. Serve immediately with the onion rings and chips.