Bacon, Mushroom and Potato Salad

This is a gorgeous salad which I always used to have when I worked at the Picturedrome in Northampton. Making it is not an exact science, it's more of a bit of this and a bit of that and lots of tasting in-between.

Salad Ingredients:

Potatoes

Mushrooms (preferably chestnut )

Bacon

Salad Leaves 

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

Method:


1. Cut your potatoes to the size you want them in the salad
2. Par-boil them for 10-15 minutes

3. Rinse in cold water

4. Assemble vinaigrette (taste testing till you get your combination right)

5. Fry off your bacon, garlic, mushrooms, and potatoes until they are all nicely golden

6. Assemble salad
7. Pour over vinaigrette 
8. Serve and enjoy

 

Florentine crab cakes with tarragon and mustard mayonnaise

This is adapted from a recipe I found on the Sainsbury's website and is very yummy indeed. 

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 5 Minutes

Cooking time: 25 Minutes

Nutrition per serving: 469 cals, 29g fat, of which 11g saturated fat, 5.2g added sugar, 3g salt

You will need

 

• 500g fresh spinach (or frozen)
• 25g unsalted butter
• 75g shallots, peeled and finely chopped (or onions)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 x 170g can crab meat in brine
• 75g fresh white breadcrumbs (or matzo meal)
• 150g mozzarella cheese, chopped finely as possible
• 1 medium sized egg
• 1 tablespoon oil for frying
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 150ml reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon English mustard
• 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
• 10g fresh tarragon, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, gas mark 6.
2. Wash the spinach and remove the stalks, or if frozen then put in a pan and pour boiling water, straight from the kettle, and leave to soak and defrost for 5-10 minutes before draining. 
3. Over a medium heat, melt the butter and gently sauté the shallots/onions without colour for approximately 2-3 minutes. Add the cloves of garlic and sauté for a further minute.
4. Add the spinach slowly, stirring frequently. When cooked, yet still bright green, remove from the heat and drain off the excess liquid. Then squeeze the spinach by hand to remove as much liquid as possible, chop roughly and put to one side.
5. Drain and rinse the crab meat to remove the excess salt. Then squeeze well to remove as much liquid as possible.
6. Place the breadcrumbs/matzo meal and the cheese into a bowl with the crab ameat nd the cooked spinach, bind together with the egg and season to taste with black pepper. 

7. Shape the mixture into eight, 3cm thick patties. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat and seal each patty, for 2 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and place on a non-stick baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

8. Combine the mayonnaise with both mustards in a small bowl and add the tarragon and black pepper.

9. Serve the baked crab cakes with the mustard and herb mayonnaise and your choice of salad.

Debbie & Andrew's Scicilian Sausage Pasta Bake

 

I came across this company at the Good Homes Show in Earls Court a few years ago. They were handing out sausage samples on sticks, my friend Tuely and I kept going back for more as they were honestly the most delicious sausages we had ever had. We both bought lots of sausages that day from Debbie & Andrew's. When I got home I went to their website and found that they kept their own recipe log of recipes they had been sent on there. I liked the look of this one and so printed it out. It is now one of our favourites and always goes down very well.

I would also like to thank this recipe as it is responsible for me finally mastering tomato pasta sauce from scratch so I love it on too levels as it is due to this recipe that I have managed to create my own recipes such as my leftover pasta (with ham)  .

Hope you enjoy!