I've been waiting to get my hands on this book for a while, now that the popularity of it has died down, I can finally borrow it from the library. I merely mentioned the word 'kiev' and that pique my husband's interest. He had no idea what it was, for me however, it conjured up memories of school dinners - mainly tom toms which were breaded chicken in the shape of spheres with, wait for it, tomato ketchup in the insides! Obviously chicken kiev is not the same, but the idea is, a breaded chicken with a buttery herb filling oozing out when you cut through it.
Anyway, Hemsley + Hemsley's recipe for Chicken Kiev is here.
Yay or Nay: Yay
I have to say I was skeptical at first because the outside is breaded with almond meal as opposed to a breadcrumb or panko but it helped balance the richness and full-fatness of the parsley butter. My only gripe with this, was that all the butter had melted out of the chicken breast as I had butterflied it, so next time I would cut a mini pocket instead so try and retain the parsley butter inside the meat - although I don't know if that would help either!
I love flicking through Bon Appetit magazine for its up-to-date food trends and inspiration, however they can be slightly unreachable due to the hard-to-find ingredients or time involved in making them. In an effort to get The Hubby to eat more veg - especially veg he doesn't like has been hard. I knew the cheese would be a major swaying factor, and even though I have cut out cheese from my diet, it would be worth it to convince him.
I chose Bon Appetit's Best Eggplant Parmesan recipe as on the surface it didn't require a gazillion ingredients and it seemed simple enough to follow. No fancy techniques or blowtorches needed - plus I've never made anything like this before. We usually go to his parents for Italian after all!
Yay or Nay: Yay on taste, Nay on workload!
This was delicious and was given a huge thumbs up from The Hubby. I just did not anticipate the amount of work required - it took two hours from start to finish! I mean, I had to make the marinara sauce from scratch, it was worth it for the taste and it was pretty easy, but it added to the washing up pile which I definitely did not enjoy! I guess you could use store bought marinara and do the rest of the recipe and it would still be tasty.
I ran out of flour so used cornmeal instead but it just added to the crispiness, also I didn't have enough basil from my now, dead, winter garden so just used parsley in the cheese mixture and it didn't take away from the recipe. In addition to these subs and changes, I couldn't be bothered to make three layers or properly encourage the water out of the eggplant but again, it was still delicious!
I had to go to a training course for work and one of the ice-breaker questions was: what was the weirdest thing we had eaten. I won't divulge mine unless you ever meet me - but one lady said it was Dutch Slaw. Once she described it, it sounded similar to something I had seen a chef make, which was what he called German Potato Salad.
While thinking of side dishes for the What Katie Ate Next's Ribs, I suggested German Potato Salad and I got a very quick YES! I found a recipe for this on Budget Bytes' website, which I have used before for Dragon Noodles and was a great success, so I'm hoping this will be one too.
Yay or Nay: YAY!
This was delicious! I was dubious about adding the bacon fat to the final salad but I think it made it more bacon-y! I mean who doesn't love bacon?! This was tangy and not too heavy - I did smash the potatoes as I had cut them smaller to speed up cooking so they were a little on the mushy side and harder to cut. I don't think it affects the final taste too much.
I did use balsamic and regular distilled vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar like the recipe asked, but I didn't have any and wasn't about to take a trip to the supermarket to get one thing! The balsamic did have a stronger taste, but with a sweeter aftertaste. I'll have to try this with the apple cider to see the difference!
Like most cities, lunch on the go is a huge thing, buy a sandwich or salad to eat at your desk - a meal deal if you're feeling lucky! I miss popping into these places to get a healthy snack as well as inspiration. One of the places I used to frequent after a sweaty hot yoga session was Crussh. It served smoothies, juices, healthy salads and sandwiches and my favourite was the Butter Bean, Cherry Tomato and Parsley Healthpot. It was easy to copy the recipe as they had the listed ingredients on the pot and it was just a matter of testing to see the ratios.
Yay or Nay: Yay
It's not a new recipe but it did come to mind after a long hiatus over the winter. I used to make this for my work lunch and a large batch can last you a couple of lunches. I didn't have any tomatoes to hand but it does make it taste fresher and helps balance the parsley. Although it was a Yay from me, it was a Nay from the Hubby as he was not convinced by the mash-like texture - more for me I guess!
