Sausage & Pickle Plait

I had some sausage meat leftover from Christmas, so used it to make this tasty plait. It did get a soggy bottom though, I obviously don't have Mary Berry's touch! It was still very tasty though, and went down well with the whole family. You could use any pickle/chutney or relish to this, I think a tomato relish would be lovely! Even branston pickle would be great. I used a caramelised onion pickle in this version.

1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
375g sausage meat
2 tablespoons relish/pickle or chutney
Beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 220c. Roll out your sheet of pastry. Spoon on the sausage meat up the middle, and flatten slightly. Make sure to leave around 4cm on each side. Spoon the pickle into the middle of the sausage meat. Cut the empty sides into strips about 1 cm apart. Fold these over each other, taking one from each side in turn, until you have covered the top of the plait. Wash with the beaten egg & pop into the oven for 35 minutes, until golden & crisp.

Oeufs En Cocotte

I stumbled across a Nigella recipe for a tasty breakfast. I get bored with breakfasts very quickly, so I love it when I find something new to try. We always have eggs in the house, so was able to rustle this up as soon as I saw this recipe. You will need a ramekin for each person.

Grease the ramekin with butter.
Preheat the oven to 189 c,
Allow 1-2 eggs per person. Crack them into the ramekin. Season & top with a tablespoon of cream.
Put the ramekins into a deep baking dish & pour in hot water to make a bain marie.
Pop the whole thing into the oven for around 10 minutes, a little earlier if you want a runny yolk.

Prawn Cocktail Salad

This was our starter at Christmas. Simple, traditional (old fashioned maybe?) but to me, lovely!

I love having this for lunch, sometimes swapping the prawns for crayfish tails.

Prawns
1 tblsp mayonnaise
1 tblsp tomato ketchup
Tiny pinch paprika

Mix the mayo, tomato sauce & paprika and mix with the prawns, Serve on a bed of salad.

Loaded Chicken

I am back! After an extended Christmas break from my blog, I am here raring to go. I got a few good cookery books for Christmas that I will be testing out, including the Masterchef Everyday which I am excited by! I also got some fab foodie gifts, including a box of Pimenton, a grow your own Funky Veg kit and some Kewpie mayo. All will feature at some point, I am sure.

This is a recipe I threw together the other night when I just had bits & bobs left in the fridge. You could add anything that you would add to a pizza - go wild! I have tried with with chorizo instead of bacon, which was lovely. You could also try different cheeses. We ate ours with a side salad & homemade coleslaw.

The photos I took after it was cooked came out too blurry :( but I can vouch for how tasty they looked!

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, cut into halves (so that you have 2 thin breast pieces per person)

Tomato sauce -

2 tblsps tomato puree
2 tblsps water
Pinch Italian herbs or basil
1 crushed garlic clove
Pinch onion powder/granules

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Suggested toppings -

Cheese (I used grated cheddar)
Bacon bits
Fried onion
Mushrooms
Ham
Sweetcorn
Peppers


Spread each chicken breast with the tomato sauce. Add your toppings (I used bacon, onion & mushrooms) and then top with cheese. Pop into a preheated oven at 200C for 30 minutes. Make sure the chicken is cooked through, and serve.