Foods that are ideal for Halogen Oven Cooking - plus Some Popular Recipes for You to Try Out

One of the biggest benefits of cooking with a halogen oven is food turns out so much more flavoursome than it does in many other cooking devices, including microwave ovens.

When cooked in a halogen oven, meats and poultry are brown and crispy on the outside but remain amazingly moist and succulent inside. These devices are truly amazing at sealing in food flavours and juices.

Halogen ovens offer a significant benefit of moisture retention - with a standard convection grill, hot air passes over the food and carries away some of its moisture and juices.

What Foods do Halogen Ovens Cook Well?

Eventually the food will dry out - with a halogen oven, however, infrared energy has the opposite effect. It drives moisture deep inside the food being cooked - hence the flavour is enhanced and the food is noticeably more succulent.

There isn’t really much a halogen oven doesn't cook well - and you'll get really pleasing results it you have above basic cooking skills to begin with. A halogen oven isn't going to turn a poor chef into a great one - but with a it of practice most people should be able to get some pleasing results from one of these versatile little cookers.

Here's an overview of some types of foods that are really suited to cooking with halogen power, followed by some delicious halogen oven recipes for you to try out in your kitchen.

Full Chickens - these can be cooked to perfection with halogen power, provided you get your timing right. If everything goes to plan a full chicken will turn out golden brown and moist, not dry at all.

Pork & Beef - a halogen oven will cook almost any meat so it turns out tasting delicious - you can even get crunchy crackling on a pork shoulder, just like you would in a conventional oven - but with a lot less fuss and mess. Steaks come out with a char if you want them to and bacon can be cooked just how you like - it can even be nice and crispy, which you'll never achieve in a microwave oven!

Baked potatoes - a halogen oven works wonders when it comes to baked potatoes. They come out tasting firm an crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Again, that something you won't achieve in a microwave.

Pizzas - these are ideally suited to halogen cooking and turn out firm and crispy around the edges, but still soft and wholesome - that's something a microwave isn't capable of.

Burgers - these are a real favourite with halogen oven owners and turn out tasting truly wonderful. Hot dogs are another option that goes down well with kids. And if you want to serve up something really quick and simple for kids, then beans on toast is another easy snack to serve up.

Frozen Foods - a real attraction of a halogen oven is that you can cook many frozen foods right out of the freezer. There's often no need to thaw or pre-heat. Frozen sausages, pies, burritos and even vegetables - a halogen oven can deal with them all! Large meat joints, however, are best to be thawed before cooking.

Re-heating Foods - a halogen oven excels at re-heating foods so there's no need to throw any left overs from previous meals.

There are some foods and meals that are not really suited to halogen oven cooking - few people have success when attempting scrambled and fried eggs, for example. And boiled eggs can be a bit hit and miss. This doesn't mean eggs are a complete no-no - you should have no problem with quiches or cakes, for example, where eggs are just one ingredient among others.

Halogen oven cooking is a real time saver!

Speed is a wonderful benefit of cooking with halogen power - it beats a traditional oven hands down by cooking food up to three times more quickly. For example, you can cook beef ribs in 20 minutes. Simple fruit based desserts can be cooked very fast and easily.

You can also use a halogen oven to make a meat or fruit pie, casserole, curry, sauce or stew - all in super quick time compared to using a conventional oven or hob.

These ovens are also superb for heating up pasties, donuts or other foodstuffs which would become very soggy if cooked or warmed up in a microwave oven.

Here's a few cooking times to give you an idea of how long it takes to prepare various foods in a halogen oven.

>> Roast Beef (1K) takes around 75 minutes to cook at 180 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> Steak takes around 8-10 minutes to cook at 250 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> Cod steak (150g) takes around 25 minutes to cook at 200 degrees centigrade on a high rack.

>> Bacon/sausage takes around 8-10 minutes to cook at 250 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> Roast chicken (1.6Kg) takes around 70 minutes to cook at 200 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> A medium sized baked potato takes around 75 minutes to cook at 200 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> Yorkshire pudding takes around 10-12 minutes to cook at 200 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> Frozen oven chips take around 15-18 minutes to cook at 200 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> Small roast potatoes take around 35-40 minutes to cook at 200 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> Parsnips cut into strips take around 35 minutes to cook at 200 degrees centigrade on a high rack.

>> Frozen pizza takes around 12-15 minutes to cook at 180 degrees centigrade on a high rack.

>> Poached eggs take around 5-6 minutes to cook at 175 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

>> An omelette takes around 10-12 minutes to cook at 175 degrees centigrade on a low rack.

There are hundreds of delicious meals that can be cooked in a halogen oven - here's a selection of recipes which you might like to try out

Fillet Steak Supreme

Ingredients

- Two lbs of whole fillet steak
- Two tablespoons of chopped parsley
- Half a cup of red wine
- Grated rind of one orange and one lemon
- Garlic, Salt and pepper
- One large chopped onion
- One Tablespoon cream or sour cream
- Two grated carrots

Method

• Start by marinading the whole fillet steak with the garlic, salt, pepper and the red wine for four hours in a covered dish.
• Baste and turn occasionally. Drain the marinade and keep for later.
• Place the steak on tin foil and place the carrots, parsley, onion and lemon and orange rinds on top. Carefully wrap up the tin foil.
• Place the wrapped ingredients on the low rack of the halogen oven and cook for 30 minutes at 375°F (190°C)
• Next remove the foil and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Remove meat and keep warm.
• Stir the cream into the marinade and simmer for one minute. Slice the steak and pour the cream marinade over it.

Parmesan Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

- Four skinless chicken breasts
- A heaped tablespoon of mayonnaise for each chicken breast
- 1.5oz to 2oz grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Half a red onion which has been finely diced

Method

• First mix the salt, pepper, onion and one quarter of the cheese and cheese together.
• Add the mayonnaise to the mixture.
• Place the chicken breast in an oven proof dish.
• Spread the mix over the top of the breasts.
• Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
• Set the halogen oven at 190ºC, 35-40 mins.
• Cook on the low rack of the halogen over at 190ºC for around 40 minutes.

Beef Burgers

Ingredients

- Serves Four
- 500g beef mince
- Four beefburger buns cut in half
- Half a red onion, finely chopped
- Two tablespoons of chopped parsley
- One tablespoon of tomato sauce
- Half a cup of fresh breadcrumbs
- One egg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Lettuce, tomato and cheese to garnish

Method

• Preheat your halogen oven to 250°C
• Next place all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
• Now mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon or your handUsing your hands, mix to combine.
• Divide the mixture into four equal portions and shape by hand into patties.
• Lightly grease the lower rack of the oven. Place the burger patties on the rack outside the oven and then place the rack in the oven using tongs.
• Cook for 10 minutes or until the burgers are cooked through.
• Remove the burgers from the oven and cover them to keep them warm.
• Finally place the burger buns in the oven and cook for around minutes unitil toasted.
• Serve the burgers and buns, topped with patties, lettuce, tomato and cheese.

Almond and Cinnamon Shortbread

Ingredients

- These quantities will make 16 pieces of shortbread
- One egg
- One cup of butter
- Three cups of sifted flour
- One cup of sugar
- One teaspoon of almond extract
- Powdered sugar
- Cinnamon

Method

• Pre-heat your halogen oven to 150 degrees C.
• Cream the butter and sugar.
• Next add the almond extract and the egg.
• Beat thorougly and blend in the flour.
• Empty the dough on to a lightly floured surface.
• Knead until completely smooth.
• Roll out the dough to the thickness of a pie crust and then cut into cookie shapes.
• Next place the shapes on to a greased baking sheet and prick them with a fork.
• Bake in the halogen oven for 20 minutes on the high rack, or until the shortbread is lightly browned.
• While the shortbread is still warm, roll the pieces in powdered sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon to finish.

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Ingredients

- Serves four
- One tablespoon of olive oil
- One finely chopped small onion
- Two finely chopped rashers of bacon
- Four sweet red peppers
- Quarter of a cup of chopped parsley
- One crushed garlic clove
- 1.5 cups of cooked rice
- Quarter of a cup chopped cashew nuts
- Half a cup ofgrated cheese
- Half a cup of fresh breadcrumbs
- Mixed salad to serve

Method

• Pre-heat your halogen oven to 250°C with an extension ring and low rack in place.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, bacon and garlic. Cook and stir for three minutes. Add the rice, cheese, cashew nuts and parsley.
• Spread the breadcrumbs on the multi-purpose baking dish and lower it into the oven with tongs.
Cook for around two minutes until golden.
• Remove the dish with tongs and place the high rack into your oven.
• Add breadcrumbs to the rice mixture and season with salt and pepper.
• Slice off the tops from the sweet peppers and remove the seeds.
• Spoon the rice mixture into the sweet peppers. Put the stuffed sweet peppers into the halogen oven and reduce the temperature to 200°C.
• Cook for 15 minutes or until the sweet peppers are tender and the filling is heated thoroughly inside. Serve with a mixed salad.

Fish Pie

Ingredients

- Serves four
- 2.25 lb of potatoes
- One lb of fish fillets (cod, haddock or coley are good choices)
- Half lb of salmon pieces
- Quarter lb of cooked prawns
- One cup of milk
- Two tablespoons of butter
- Quarter cup of plain four
- One teaspoon of dry mustard
- Some grated cheese to top the pie
- Salt and black pepper

Method

• Steam or boil the potatoes. Mash them mash them and add butter.
• Put the fish and milk in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for around 10 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
• Drain the fish and put the liquid to one side to make a sauce later. Now shred the fish and put it in a pie dish. Sprinkle the cooked prawns into dish.
• To make a sauce, melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Stir in the reserved milky stock from earlier and heat slowly until the sauce thickens. Stir continuously and whisk if necessary to reduce the risk of lumps forming.
• Add the mustard, salt and pepper to taste.
• Next pour the sauce over the fish.
• Set the temperature of your halogen oven to 400ºF.
• Spread the mashed potato topping over the fish filling and sprinkle some grated cheese on top.
• Place in your halogen oven on the low rack.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the pie has a nice golden top.

Toad in the Hole

Ingredients

- Serves four
- 40g butter
- Six sheets of filo pastry
- 100g plain flour
- 300ml of milk
- Eight sausages
- One chopped onion
- One egg
- Olive oil
- Some chopped fresh herbs(rosemary, thyme or oregano)
- Salt and pepper to season

Method

• Whisk the flour, milk and egg together in a bowl to form a smooth batter. Leave the mix to settle.
• Place the sausages and chopped onion in an overproof dish and a drizzle of olive oil.
• Heat your oven to 200ºC and place the dish inside it on the high rack. Cook for around 10 minutes, turning the sausages a couple of times.
• Now give you batter mix another whisk and add the handful of mixed chopped herbs, salt and pepper.
• Remove the dish from the halogen oven and pour the batter mix over the sausages.
• Place the dish back in the oven and cook on the low rack for around 30 minutes until the batter is golden.
• Serve your toad in the hole with vegetables and onion gravy.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients

- 500g of lean minced beef
-125g of chopped button mushrooms
- One chopped onion
- One crushed garlic clove
- Two beef stock cubes
- Fresh spaghetti
- Jar of bolognese sauce

Method

• Place all of the ingredients (excluding the spaghetti and bolognese sauce) into a bowl that is suitable for use in you halogen oven.
• Put the bowl in the oven and set it to cook for eight minutes at 240°C. Give the ingredients a stir halfway through.
• When the minced beef is browned take it out of the oven. It will be very hot so use oven glove.
• Drain excess liquid from the minced beef.
• Place the spaghetti in another other bowl and then pour the mince mixture and bolognese sauce on top.
• Place the bowls into the oven at 200°C and cook for 10 minutes.
• Carefully remove the bowl from the oven and serve.