New potato salad

Fantastic for BBQs in the summer :)

• 1 bag small new potatoes like Charlotte
• 3 sticks celery, chopped
• 4-5 spring onions, chopped
• half cucumber chopped into quarters
• half tub reduced fat creme fraiche
• half tub low fat Philadelphia (I used the chive one, but any could work)
• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
• 1 teaspoon english mustard
• salt and pepper

Cook the potatoes and leave to cool.  Any large potatoes slice in half so all potatoes are roughly the same size.

Put the creme fraiche, Philadelphia and mustards in a small bowl and mix together.

Get a large bowl and put in the cooled potatoes, celery, onions and cucumber and mix well, then add the creme fraiche mix and mix until all the potatoes are coated.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Brie stuffed chicken breasts with a mushroom cream sauce and colcannon crushed new potatoes

To make this look extra posh, get cooking rings for the potatoes and have 4.  They sell them really cheaply at The Range (can also be called crumpet rings and they are hollow)

• 4 large chicken breasts
• 180g brie
• 1 packet proscuitto crudo (need 1 piece per chicken)
• 1 jar pesto
• 1 small leek, chopped
• 100g mushrooms chopped
• 250ml white wine
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1 tsp english mustard
• 200ml double cream
• 50ml dry or sweet sherry
• 1kg pack baby new potatoes
• 6 rashers pancetta
• 8-10 leaves kale or cabbage chopped finely
• small knob butter

Put the new potatoes on to boil keep an eye on them whilst carrying on with the instructions below and strain and place in a large mixing bowl once cooked through.

First you need to butterfly the chicken breasts (removing the fillets) and pound them until they are thinned out.

Then open the butterflied chicken up and spread a thin layer of pesto across.  Then on one of the sides place a piece of proscuitto crudo and fold so that it does not touch or go over any of the edges of the chicken.  place a few slices of brie on top of this.  Then fold the butterflied breast in half.  Take a piece of clingfilm and wrap the chicken breast tightly in the film so that the chicken surrounds the stuffing.  Seal both ends of the clingfilm so the chicken is very tightly sealed in a nice parcel usually about 5in by 3in.  

Next put the chicken stock and white wine in a large pan and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and add all 4 chicken breasts in their clingfilm.  The chicken should be poached for around 10-15mins just to ensure as much as possible the chicken closes around the stuffing inside to keep as much brie inside.

Remove the chicken parcels from the pan but do not throw away the stock and wine, this will be used for the sauce later.  Carefully unwrap the parcels and then put a little oil in a frying pan on the hob and gently pan fry the chicken parcels so they are brown on each side, then set aside on a plate until later.

In the frying pan add the knob of butter and allow to melt on a high-ish heat, chop the pancetta up into small pieces and add to the pan and fry until crisp then turn down to medium, then add half the chopped leeks and saute until soft, finally adding the kale or cabbage and quickly cooking until wilted.

Drain the new potatoes and lightly crush them with a potato masher, the idea is to try and keep them in large chunks rather than mash them.  Add the pancetta, leeks and kale and mix with a knife to combine all the ingredients.  Grease the inside of the four cooking rings and place them on a baking sheet.  Spoon the potato mix into the 4 rings so each one is completely full.  Cover with clingfilm and leave to one side until later.

Using the pan the pancetta was cooked in, add a little oil and saute the remaining leeks and the mushrooms until soft.  Add the sherry and allow to boil.  Then slowly add the chicken stock and wine from the chicken poaching earlier.  Stir in the spoonful of mustard and allow the sauce to boil.  Turn heat down and add the double cream and then simmer until the sauce thickens. 

Find an ovenproof dish with a lid, or use tinfoil.  The dish needs to be big enough that the chicken parcels can all be lay next to one another rather than on top of one another.  Put the chicken into the dish and cover with the sauce, put the lid on or tinfoil across and leave until 1hr prior to serving.

Prior to serving preheat oven to 180 degrees, put the chicken into the oven on a middle shelf and the potatoes on the top shelf (remove the clingfilm!).  Cook for an hour and then serve with green vegetables such as green breans or runner beans.

Bresola salad

• 1 packet Bresola (or can use thin roast been if you're not keen on air dried meats)
• Rocket, watercress and spinach salad (or other peppery leaves)
• Blue Cheese (use according to your taste, Docelatte works, but so will Danish Blue or Stilton)
• 1 packet Baby new potatoes
• 250ml reduced fat creme fraiche
• 125ml reduced fat double cream (elmlea)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons horseradish sauce (according to your taste and how hot you want it)
• Bunch of chives, chopped into 1/2 cm pieces

In a bowl, mix together the creme fraiche, cream, lemon juice, horseradish and chives. Cover with clingfilm and put in fridge to allow flavours to develop.

Put the potatoes on to cook, strain, allow to cool and chop in halves.

Add the horseradish cream sauce a spoonful at a time into the potatoes until they are well coated.

To plate up put a layer of lettuce on the plate, top with the beef, a couple of slices per person. Then add a spoon on the potato salad and spinkle with blue cheese.

Twice baked potatoes

• 4 large potatoes or 4 sweet potatoes or a mix of both ;)
• 1 onion chotpped fine
• 8 mushrooms chopped fine
• 250g cheddar cheese or feta cheese (feta better with sweet potatoes)
• 2 slices bacon chopped fine
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Bake potatoes as normal, for around an hour until jacket is crisp.

Whilst baking, fry the onion off in a pan until soft. Add bacon and mushrooms and fry until cooked.

Once potatoes are cooked, slice in half lengthways and scrape out potato into a bowl leaving skins in tact. Repeat for all halves and put skins to one side.

Add the onion, bacon, mushroom and 3/4 of cheese to the bowl and mix until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the mixture up into 8 portions and spoon back into skins, pushing into skins to reform potato shape. Once skins filled, sprinkle the left over cheese on top. Place on a baking tray and cook in oven again for 10-15mins until top is golden brown and crispy.

Fish Pie

• 325g mixed fish (I used salmon, haddock and smoked haddock
• 75g raw king prawns
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 pint milk
• 25g butter
• 25g flour
• 1 tub light cream cheese with onion and chives
• Chopped fresh parsley
• 4 baking potatoes
• 4 sweet potatoes
• Cheese for topping

Put the 4 baking potatoes in a hot oven to bake for 60 mins.

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and put on to boil.

Put the fish in a pan with the prawns, the bay leaves and cover with the milk, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins.

Strain the fish into a sieve keeping the milk you used to poach it in.

Once the sweet potato is cooked, mash and add a tablespoon of the milk used for the fish. Put to one side.

Melt 25g butter in pan and stir in 25g flour, keep on low heat until combined and cook for 1 minute whilst stirring. Then slowly add the poaching milk, stirring constantly until combined and thickened. Add the tub of cream cheese and stir in. Once all combined flake up the cooked fish and add to the pan with the parsley combining the fish and sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste at this point.

Take the baking potatoes out of the oven and slice in half lengthways. Gently scoop the potato out of the middle of the skins leaving the skins in tact as shells. Put the potato in with the sweet potato and combine.

Take each potato shell and fill with the fish and sauce mixture. Then either spoon or pipe the potato mix over the top of each potato skin. Sprinkle the tops with grated cheese and put the potatoes on a baking tray. Cook for 20-25mins and then serve.

Use any leftover fish and mash to make a traditional fish pie in a dish.

Chicken Croquettes and Mushroom Croquettes (La Tasca)

• 1 packet of Smash or instant mash potato, made up
• 1 breast and leg of cooked chicken chopped finely
• 9 closed cup mushrooms chopped finely
• 1 white onion chopped fine
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• salt and pepper
• 1 tub breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs beaten
• garlic mayonnaise

Fry the onion and garlic in a pan together on a low heat, in a little olive oil, until soft. Empty the cooked onions and garlic into a bowl with the mashed potato and mix until combined. Split this mixture into two bowls.

Next cook the mushrooms in a pan with some oil again until soft and cooked. Put these into one of the bowls and combine.

Put the cooked chicken into the other bowl and combine together.

If potato is still a little hot, place both bowls in the fridge to chill, the croquettes are much easier to mould when cold.

Once chilled, get bowls out and scoop a spoon of mixture into floured hands (this is going to be messy), roll into small barrel shapes and use all mix. Place barrels onto a plate and again put back in the fridge to chill.

Switch on deep fat fryer to heat up on the highest setting.

Beat eggs and put into a flat bowl and empty breadcrumbs into another flat bowl or onto a plate. Roll each barrel shape into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs to cover.

Once fat is hot enough put a few of the croquettes in the basket and cook for around 3-4 mins until golden brown. Repeat for all.

Serve with garlic mayonnaise.

Oven baked Lamb with sliced potatoes

One of my mum's recipes :) Really easy, very tasty!

• 4 lamb chops or lamb steaks (if big, one each, if small, 2 each!)
• 4-5 medium to large potatoes
• 1 onion (optional)
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 oxo cubes (either 2 lamb, 2 veg, 2 beef or a mix)
• water

Put on oven at 170 degrees C.

Thinly slice the potatoes with the skins still on. Cut the onion in half and slice, if using. Slice the garlic as fine as possible.

Start layering the potatoes on the bottom of a small casserole dish (you want the lamb to cover the dish if laid side by side almost). Once the bottom of the dish is covered, sprinkle over some of the garlic and onions. Keep on layering like this until all potatoes, onions and garlic are used.

Lay the lamb on top of the potatoes.

Make up the stock and pour into the casserole so it comes about 2/3 of the way up the potatoes.

Cover the dish with tin foil or a lid and place in oven for 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes, remove lid or foil and leave to cook for another 30 mins so the lamb gets crispy.

Serve with gravy and veg.

Shepherd's or Cottage Pie

• 2 onions (diced)
• 850g mince
• 150g carrots (diced)
• 250g mushrooms (diced)
• 3-4 sticks celery (diced)
• Cutting celery (or can use parsley, thyme or sage)
• Celery salt
• Black pepper
• 350ml stock
• 150ml red wine
• Gravy granules
• 3.5lb potatoes
• Butter

Peel, chop and put potatoes on to boil.

In a large shallow pan, put some oil and add onions and fry until softened.

Add mince, stir and bash so in small pieces and no clumps.

Once mince browned, add carrots, mushrooms and celery and saute on low until all cooked.

Add herbs and salt and pepper to season.

Add stock and red wine and leave to simmer so juices reduce.

Whilst simmering, if potatoes are cooked, drain and mash with butter, salt and pepper until smooth.

Add gravy granules to mince mix to thicken. Put in large dish (like the kind you would use for lasagne or a roasting dish), spoon mash potatoes on top and smooth out with fork, brush melted butter over the top. To finish off, place in oven around 180 degrees for 30-40mins until top goes golden brown