Japanese Potato Salad

I hope that everyone has been having a pleasant day so far, because it is certainly going to get bettor once I tell you about today's recipe. Unlike the other days today is going to be a bit more effort and work...only a bit more but I assure you the end product is worth it.

You may never convert back to the usual potato salad after you try this. Today I'm going to be posting about the Japanese potato salad. For those of you who may have tried this before you may know that it is a lighter and creamier version of the usual Western potato salad. It's just as delicious though and it perfect to eat as a snack in the spring or as a side dish all year round.

Unlike the usual Western potato salad being really rich and acidic the use of Japanese mayonnaise Kewpie means that the dish is kept light and more mild in terms of taste.

I really just want to share with recipe with you so let's go!

Ingredients
3 medium potatoes (any will do)
1 small carrot
1 small cucumber
1/2 brown onion
1 egg
1/2 cup Kewpie mayonnaise
salt and pepper to season

Method
1. Place washed potatoes and carrots along with the egg in a pot of salted water to boil for 10 minutes. Remove the egg after 10 minutes and continue to cook the potatoes and carrot until cooked through
2. Peel the egg and dice it up.
3. Thinly slice the cucumber, and sprinkle salt on the cucumber to dehydrate it a bit.
4. Dice the onion, not too fine though.
5. Remove carrots and potatoes when cooked through.
6. Dice the carrot and the potato with the skin on (gives it salad a wonderful flavour). Sprinkle some salt on both these and place into a bowl.
7. Squeeze the water out of the cucumber and onion and add to the bowl.
8. Add the egg and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and mix everything together.
9. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.

And there you have it, A simple and delightful Japanese potato salad in the comfort of your own home to enjoy all year around. It may even substitute as a lonely dinner for one on a lonely evening (we've all been there T_T)

I hope that you enjoyed that recipe today because I'm pretty sure that once you have tried this you won't want to go back to the usual potato salad. This is less dense but still so enjoyable. I hope that you've been enjoying all the posts so far because there's only 2 days left after this :(

Valentines Day Pesto Kiev with Potato Mash

Sooooo, 2 days out from Valentines Day for everyone and today I'll be posting up the 3rd recipe for the week. The main course for your three course Valentines Day meal :)

I had a bit of a dilemma thinking about what to post as I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted something simple and classic such as pasta or something more adventurous......

I think I'll settle for something that is a classic and foolproof but with a slight twist so that your Valentine will always remember your amazing meal. So everyone knows that stuffed chicken breast is a classic favourite, today I'm not going to go with the classic kiev style stuffing, I'm going to be putting a twist on it.

So I guess I'll just get started with the recipe;

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 rashers of bacon
150g grated cheese
6 tbs pesto
30g butter
2 tbs chopped chives
2 tbs minced garlic
salt and pepper
Mash
750g potatoes
125ml hot milk
Salt and pepper

Method
1. First off make an incision in the side of the chicken breast, along the length of it to create a pocket.
2. Next make your kiev stuffing, combine the butter, chives, garlic and season with salt and pepper.
3. Distribute even quantities of the kiev stuffing into the chicken.
4. Then add 2 tbs of pesto into each chicken breast.
5. Stuff all the stuffing in before adding a handful of cheese to fill out the pocket.
6. Rub the remaining pesto onto of the chicken breast to marinate it.
7. Wrap the rasher of bacon around the chicken to seal the opening of the stuffing and secure with a toothpick.
8. Sprinkle more cheese on top of the bacon.
9. Place the chicken into the oven at 200C for 30 minutes, or until it comes out cooked and slightly golden.
10. Make the mash, whilst the chicken cooks. To make mashed potato, place unpeeled potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and gently boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until soft.
11. Drain potatoes. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Peel and return to pan. Use a potato masher to mash until smooth. Add half the hot milk and use a wooden spoon to beat until combined. Beat in remaining milk and season with salt and pepper.
12. The chicken will has rested and the mash will be steaming hot and you are ready to serve with a side of salad or pasta.

And there you have it, a unique main course for your Valentines Day meal that puts a twist on a classic favourite with new flavours.

I hope that you guys will like that recipe :)

And I really do want to start filming some of these recipes so I will be trying my best to get at least one recipe up soon, and I really do want to film this one. So possibly some time this weekend you will see this recipe being made into a video,  bit too late for Valentines Day this year, but not too late for next year. 

Don't forget that tomorrow my recipe for Valentines Day dessert will be coming out, so stay tuned for that and I will see you guys tomorrow.