Chicken Croquettes with Tomato sauce

This recipe is an altered version of a croquette recipe. The sauce is tailored for the dish, as sage and tarragon go well together for a cicken dish, and the lemon in the croquettes is supposed to compliment this.

450g potatoes, diced
2tbsp milk
200g chicken, finely sliced
3 eggs
rind of 1 lemon, finely grated
120g breadcrumbs
2 spring onions, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil, for deep fat frying

1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
400g can of chopped tomatoes
2tbsp tomato puree
1tbsp sage, chopped
1tbsp tarragon, chopped
salt and pepper to taste



Step 1
Boil the potatoes for 25 minutes, or until tender. Drain the potatoes and return to the pan on a low heat to ensure that all excess water evaporates. Mash the potatoes with the milk and two of the eggs. Season with the salt and pepper, and mix in the chicken, lemon rind, and spring onions. Chill for at least 1 hour n the fridge.

Step 2
Meanwhile prepare the sauce by heating the oil in a saucepan and adding the onions, frying for 5 minutes until softened. Add the tomates and the puree and stir and simmer the sauce for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, before serving add the sage and tarragon and warm through for a minute.

Step 3
Remove the potato mixture from the fridge and divide into roughly equal sized portions. Shape each portion into a sausage shape then, having beaten the last egg,dip the potato mixture into the egg then the breadcrumbs.

Step 4
Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan, deep-fat fryer, or a deep bottomed frying pan, until a cube of bread dropped in it sinks, rises and sizzles in 10 seconds. Deep fry the croquettes for 5 minutes or until golden and crisp, serve immediately with the sauce.

This recipe is flexible in terms of sauce and ingredients for the croquette. I used chicken, but you could also use turkey, or ham, or vegetables. If using ham you could change the sauce to a cheesy one to better fit with the ingredients. This could be an excellent use of leftovers from christmas dinner, as you could have the potatoes mashed, add in the turkey, and you could then finely slice brussel sprouts to replace the spring onions, and serve with cranberry sauce instead of a tomato based sauce.

Root Vegetable and Bacon Soup

A delicious and simple soup, could be used as a basis for other soups, or just eaten as it is. I like chunky vegetables, but if you prefer smaller sized chunks then reduce the cooking time accordingly as small pieces cook faster.




3 medium sized carrots, roughly chopped
2 medium parsnips, roughly chopped
2 onions, roughly chopped
1 small (1/2 meduim) swede, chopped
3 small (2 meduim) potatoes, finely chopped
4 rashers streaky bacon, finely sliced
1 1/2 litres chicken stock
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small sprig rosemary
1 tbsp sunflower oil
salt and pepper to taste


Step 1
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and add the carrots, swede and onion and cook over a medium heat for five minutes while stirring. Add the garlic and parsnips, and cook for a futher minute before adding the stock and rosemary. Cook on a low heat for 30 minutes.

Step 2
Add the bacon and potatoes and cook for a further 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a crusty roll.


This soup is a deliciously warming meal to have, and can be had at any time of the year. Adding different vegetables can make it more seasonal, as can adding different meats. For example, asparagus and mange tout could be added to give a more summery feel for the soup, while brussel sprouts and turkey could be added for a christmassy feel. It can also be made vegetarian by simply removing the bacon from the recipe.

Spiced Red Lentil Wholemeal Bread

I created this recipe as an attempt to mix up a classic bread recipe. The addition of lentils to the recipe gives the bread more body while the spices add taste to the bread without being overpowering. This bread would be a good accompaniment to a casseole or stew if the slices were cut thick.

300g wholemeal flour
150g plain flour
200g lentils
1tsp salt
1tsp cumin seeds, ground
1tsp coriander seeds, ground
2tsp yeast
200ml water, from cooking the lentils
1/2 tsp sugar


Step 1
Bring to the boil a saucepan full of water, and reduce to a simmer and add the lentils. Simmer for 30 minutes then drain the lentils while keeping the water. Allow the reserved water to cool till warm to the touch, then add the yeast and sugar. Mix well and cover with cling film, then leave for 10 minutes.

Step 2
In a large bowl mix the flours, salt, ground cumin and ground coriander. Add to the bowl the lentils and the yeast mixture and mix to a smooth dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Return to the bowl and cover with lightly oiled cling film and place in a warm place until doubled in size.

Step 3
Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough and roll to fit into a floured bread tin. Cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise for 30-40 minutes in a warm place. Once risen lightly score the top of the dough to aid with expansion, and put the bread in a pre-heated oven (180°c) for 40 minutes.