Honey and Mustard Chicken and Bacon Salad

This is such a tasty salad...sweet, sticky chicken, salty bacon, crisp lettuce and spinach in a creamy mustard dressing, mmmmm!

If you share my love for and slight addiction to truffle oil, you may want to try trickling a few drops over the finished salad just before eating, that's all I'm saying...

Serves 2 generously

Ingredients

For the marinade

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Runny Honey

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

Juice of Half a Lemon

Approx. 500g Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into thin strips

For the Dressing

1 heaped teaspoon Dijon Mustard

2 tablespoons Double Cream

Salt and Black Pepper

1 clove of Garlic, minced

2 teaspoons White Wine Vinegar

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Approx. 4 thick rashers of Bacon, smoked or unsmoked as you prefer,cut into strips

a few handfuls of Spinach Leaves

a few handfuls of crunchy lettuce like Romaine, Little Gem or Iceberg

• Mix the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl then add the strips of chicken and turn them over to coat each piece in the marinade.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients except for the oil together in a small bowl. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking until it is all incorporated, check for seasoning then chill until needed.
• To prepare the salad, heat a few drops of oil in a frying pan then fry the bacon pieces until crispy, put them into a bowl to cool slightly.
• Tip the chicken and marinade into the hot frying pan and cook on a high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is golden brown and marinade thick and syrupy.  While this is cooking, toss the spinach and lettuce with the dressing in a bowl then divide it between two plates, sprinkle over the crispy bacon.
• Top the salad with the hot chicken and syrupy juices, serve immediately.

Chocolate Chip Bread and Butter Pudding

Ok, I know it's January, we are supposed to be detoxing and eating only mung beans and salad leaves but I am craving comfort food!  So, I apologise, but here it is... 
Bread and butter pudding, for me, has to be in the top ten list of comfort foods, not least because it is very simple to put together, this one particularly.
If I have any of my honey bread leftover it is perfect in this but I often make it with those bought brioche rolls that can be easily found in the supermarket bread aisle.  As the bread used here is quite rich there is really no need for the bread to be buttered, thus cutting down on calories, ha ha!

Serves 4 to 8 depending on greediness

Ingredients

5-6 Thick Slices of Honey Bread or 5-6 Brioche Rolls

100g Chocolate, Dark or Milk, whichever you prefer, chopped

500ml Whole Milk (or half milk half cream for extra richness)

2 Large Eggs

50g Caster Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

• Cut each slice of bread into four or slice each brioche roll horizontally into 3 slices.
• Layer alternate slices of bread and chopped chocolate in an ovenproof dish (mine is round and approx. 18cm in diameter).
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract then add the milk or milk and cream, mix thoroughly then pour this slowly over the bread and chocolate.
• Gently press the bread down with the back of a spoon and leave it to absorb the custard mixture for about an hour, squashing it down occasionally.  Preheat the oven to 175C.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes until risen, puffy and golden brown on the top.
• Let it cool for 10ish minutes then serve with cold pouring cream.  It's also rather moreish cold!

Honey Bread

This honey bread recipe is one I have been making a lot lately.  Sometimes I add an extra couple of tablespoons of honey and replace the sunflower oil with melted butter to make it richer and sweeter, a lovely weekend treat cut into thick slices and toasted. 

Ingredients

500g Strong White Bread Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

300ml Warm Water (not hot)

2 tablespoons Sunflower Oil or Melted Butter

2 (or 4 if you want it sweeter) generous tablespoons Honey

1 sachet (7g) Fast Action Dried Yeast
1 Egg, beaten

• Mix the salt into the flour in a large mixing bowl.
• Measure the warm (not hot) water into a measuring jug and add the honey, oil or butter and the yeast.  Stir to combine.
• Pour the liquid into the flour whilst stirring with a fork until it comes together into a dough.  Tip this onto a lightly floured work surface and start to knead it.
• The dough will feel sticky so sprinkle with flour to make it easier, try not to keep adding flour though (oiling your hands works quite well).  Knead and stretch the dough for about 10 minutes until it is noticeably less sticky and easier to handle.  Sprinkle the mixing bowl with flour and put the ball of dough into it then set aside to prove for 1-2 hours, covered with cling film or a tea towel.
• When the dough is risen, knock it down with your fingers and remove from the bowl back onto the work surface.  Knead it around for a few minutes to get all the air out then shape it into an oval and put it into an oiled loaf tin (or, if you want the plaited look like above, split the dough into 3 even pieces, form into long sausages then squeeze them together at one end.  Plait the pieces together then squeeze the ends together and fold them underneath for a neat finish.)
• If you want a glossy finish to your loaf give the dough a brush with the beaten egg.  Put it aside again to rise for about an hour.  Preheat the oven to 210C (fan).
• When the dough has risen again give it a second egg wash then bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
• Let it cool on a rack before slicing.

Chocolate Orange Mini Meringues

These are delicious little desserts and can be made with bought meringues to save time.

Makes approx. 30 mini meringues

Ingredients

For the Meringues

3 large Egg Whites

175g Caster Sugar

For the Topping

200g Cream Cheese

Fine zest of an Orange

Juice of half an Orange

200g Double Cream

4 tablespoons Icing Sugar

100g Dark Chocolate

• Preheat the oven to 150C (fan) and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof/baking paper.  If you want to make neat meringue circles draw them on the underside of the paper for you to use as a guide when piping.
• In a large, clean bowl whisk the egg whites until frothy then gradually add the sugar and continue to whisk until it is glossy and holds peaks.
• Pipe onto the lined tins in small circles, piping an extra layer around the outside to form mini nests.  When all piped, put the trays into the preheated oven then immediately reduce the temperature to 125C.  Bake for 30-35 minutes then turn off the oven and leave the meringues in to go completely cold.  Store the meringues in an airtight container until needed.
• To make the filling, mix the cream cheese with the orange zest and juice until smooth.  Whip the cream and the icing sugar in another bowl until thick but not stiff then fold this into the cream cheese mixture.
• To assemble these little lovelies, pipe or spoon the orange cream onto the meringues then trickle with melted dark chocolate (I pipe it over in a zigzag motion using a narrow piping nozzle) and leave for an hour to set.  Serve within two hours of making.

Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Crackers

A classic combination of flavours but the addition of a zingy, flavoured mayonnaise and an interesting cracker elevates this to an elegant canape.  You can use any thin cracker but the contrast of colours with these charcoal crackers looks particularly good.

Ingredients

Packet of sliced Smoked Salmon, cut into rough squares

Fresh Cucumber, sliced into small squares

Thin crackers of your choice

For the Dill and Mustard Mayonnaise

2-3 tablespoons of good bought Mayonnaise

Approx. 1 dessertspoon of chopped fresh Dill

1 teaspoon of Wholegrain Mustard

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

a squeeze of Lemon Juice

Black Pepper

• Put all the ingredients for the mayonnaise into a bowl and mix to combine.
• Spread about half a teaspoon of the dill and mustard mayonnaise onto each cracker.
• Top with a piece of smoked salmon then a few squares of cucumber and another small dollop of the mayonnaise.  Serve within an hour of assembling.

Salami and Manchego Skewers

This is a simple idea that is very effective and delicious!  I use a mild chilli jam from The Wiltshire Chilli Farm (www.justchillies.co.uk), it is soft-set so spreads easily...and is very addictive!  If you are not keen on heat you can use quince or redcurrant jelly instead.
A good mature cheddar is also great here if you can't get Manchego.

Ingredients

A packet of sliced Italian Salami

Manchego cheese, cut into small cubes

Fresh basil leaves, torn in half lenghways

Chilli Jam

• Spread each slice of salami with a little chilli jam then fold it into quarters.  Wrap the cheese cubes in a piece of basil then tuck into one of the gaps in the salami 'cones' and secure with a cocktail stick.  Repeat with all the salami slices.

Artichoke and Basil Dip

This dip is great served on melba toast strips (like in the photo) as a canape but also works well in a bowl surrounded by crunchy vegetable crudites and bread sticks to dip in.

I normally use tinned artichoke hearts in brine but it is also lovely made with deli-style artichokes in oil, you can then use the oil they come in rather than adding olive oil.

Ingredients

Approx. 250g Artichoke Hearts, roughly chopped

1 small clove of Garlic, roughly chopped

Bunch of Fresh Basil (approx. 10 large leaves)

2 tablespoons Cream Cheese

2 tablespoons Mayonnaise

Juice of half a Lemon

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Salt and Black Pepper

• Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and whiz until creamy and almost smooth but with some texture.  Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed, according to your taste.
• If you don’t have a food processor just use a large knife to finely chop the artichokes on a board with the basil.  Then transfer to a bowl, add minced garlic and the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine.