Ham & Potato Cakes

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

 

It's been a while since I cooked and shared a Pinch of Nom recipe, around 2 years to be exact. So it's time to give another recipe a go.

This recipe can be found in the Everyday Light recipe book and found in the Quick Meals section.

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:

700g potatoes, peeled and chopped

300g cooked ham

4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced

1 tsp mustard powder

2 tsp chopped fresh parsley

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg yolk, beaten

cooking spray

Cook your potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 20-30 minutes, until a knife slides easily into the potatoes.

Drain thoroughly and allow them to dry for a minutes. Place into a bowl and mash well.

Finely chop the ham and add to the potatoes.

Next add the spring onions, mustard powder and chopped parsley. Mix well. Then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the egg yolk, a little at a time to bind the mixture.

Form into 8 equal-sized cakes.

Spray cooking oil into a large frying pan and place over a medium heat.

Place 4 of the cakes in the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, flip and cook a further 5 minutes.

Once cooked slide onto a plate and cook the remaining 4 cakes.

Serve 2 cakes per person.

I served 3 each for both myself and Skye and served it with corn on the cob.

This recipe serves 4, but it was just me and Skye so I gave us both an extra cake than the serving suggestion.

I thought these cakes went really well the the corn on the cobs.

I enjoyed the flavours, but I think if I give these a go again, I'll turn the heat down slightly as they did burn, but overall they went down pretty well.

If you're interested in any of Pinch of Nom's recipe's then you can buy the recipe books in all major supermarkets as well as online retailers Waterstones and Amazon.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Lemon and Pepper Chicken Tagliatelle

Hello

안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

I'm back with a tried and tested recipe from the latest Pinch of Nom recipe book, which is part of their Quick Meals section. This recipe is taken from their Everyday Light cookbook.

Lets get cooking!

Ingredients:

2 lemons

Freshly ground black pepper 

4 chicken breasts (skin and visible fat removed)

Sea salt

Low-calorie cooking spray

200 g tagliatelle

2 egg yolks

A pinch of fresh chives/parsley, to serve (optional)

Start off by halving and squeezing one of the lemons into a bowl and add 1/4-1/2 tsp of black pepper according to your taste.

Next place the chicken into the bowl and mix well, then allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

After marinating, remove the chicken and season with salt.

Spray a griddle pan or a heavy-based frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook for 14-15 minutes, turning halfway. Ensure the chicken is cooked through, with no pink remaining.

Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the tagliatelle, according to the packet instructions.

Mix the egg yolks with the juice of the remaining lemon and add a little salt and pepper.

When the pasta is cooked, drain in a colander, and return the pasta to the pan. While still hot, stir in the egg and lemon juice. The heat of the pasta will cook the egg.

Divide the pasta between the plates and slice the chicken breasts.

Place the sliced chicken on top of each plate, then scatter with fresh chives or parsley if you wish.

This dish was really quick and easy to make as well as the recipe being really simple to follow. I wasn't a fan of cooking the chicken whole as I got a little nervous on whether it was cooked properly. While I enjoy eating chicken, it's not my favourite thing to cook as I'm really funny when it comes to it. I wasn't confident in that it was all thoroughly cooked when I cut it into pieces so added the pieces back onto the griddle just to make sure. The dish had a really strong flavour of lemon, which while it was refreshing it also got a little too much, but I'd happily cook this again. It's a perfect dish to have with the family during the week, when you want something quick and easy after a hectic day at work.

If you're interested in any of Pinch of Nom's recipe's then you can buy the recipe book in all major supermarkets as well as online retailers Waterstones and Amazon.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Chicken and Leeks in Blue Cheese Sauce

Hello

안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

I am big fan of blue cheese sauce so when I saw this in the Pinch Of Nom recipe book, I thought it would be a good dish to try and recreate. The ingredients list I have kept as in the book as the original recipe is to serve 4, I just adjusted the chicken for just me and Skye.
Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (skin and visible fat removed)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Low-calorie cooking spray
2 medium leeks, trimmed, washed and cut into thick slices
300 ml chicken stock (1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 300 ml boiling water)
75 g low-fat cream cheese
35 g Danish blue cheese

Firstly pre-heat your oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas Mark 6 and line a baking tray wit baking parchment, I forgot to line my baking tray. I started off by washing and cutting my leek, I only used 1 leek as it was quite a large leek and 2 of these bad boys would have been wasted with it just being me and Skye.

Place the chicken on the baking tray and season with the salt and black pepper. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, spray a frying pan with your low-calorie cooking spray, add the leeks and cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat, stirring often so they soften and don't colour.

Next pour the stock into the pan and bring to the boil, simmer until the liquid has reduced by about half.

Next stir in the cream cheese and crumble in the blue cheese. Stir, then simmer for a few minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.

Check your chicken to make sure it's cooked through, I cut my open to make sure it's all cooked through.

Once your chicken is cooked through, place each breast onto a plate and divide the sauce equally over the chicken breasts. I served some of the leeks first and then added the sliced chicken on top and ladled the sauce and more leeks over the chicken breasts.
In the Pinch of Nom book they suggest their Lazy Mash as a serving option but I went for some classic chips.

While I liked this dish, I don't think I'd be in a rush to cook it again, I think blue cheese is an acquired taste, I really like the creamy blue cheese sauce but I don't know what it was about this one that made me have a love-hate relationship. The chicken and leeks worked really well together and I could eat them again, maybe I'll give the recipe another try but leave out the blue cheese and just have a creamy cheese sauce. Skye on the other hand was not a fan of anything on the plate a part from the chips.

 If you're interested in any of Pinch of Nom's recipe's then you can buy the recipe book in all major supermarkets as well as online retailers Waterstones and Amazon.

See you soon!

안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)

Bye