Spicy Fish Cakes with sweet potato wedges and dip

Those lovely people at total Greek yoghurt have invited Lancashire Food to be one of the chosen blogs for a fab blog Treasure Hunt. With the added bonus you can win £800 worth kitchen kit chosen by celebrity chef Paul Merrett, WOW !!! All you have to do is follow the clues to find some great Total recipes featured on some great blogs, the more you find the greater your chances of winning !

Total Greek Yogurt  is the only authentic Greek yoghurt for sale in the UK. Its made in Greece by traditional methods, that way it is much thicker and more robust than Greek style yogurt. It is great in cooking or to eat on its own and great for you too. Total Greek Yoghurt is a 100% natural and absolutely delicious. Why not check out their range at www.totalgreekyoghurt.com/our-yoghurt

To help you out and to make it easy to eat healthy  Total Greek Yoghurt have recently released 1,000 new recipes and usage suggestions on their website - https://www.totalgreekyoghurt.com/total-eating or alternatively for those of you on the go the recipes are  also available in a brand new Facebook app, so you don’t even have to leave Facebook to get inspiration for a meal - http://www.facebook.com/TotalGreekYoghurt/app_270613416296446

I have recently fallen in love with this ingredient (so much so its a regular now in the shopping basket)as its so versatile and can be used in so many ways, so here is a recipe from the Total website that I have tried in my own kitchen, created by nutrionist Martin MacDonald as a weightloss recipe.

Spicy Fishcakes with sweet potato wedges and yoghurt dip.

• 40g Total Greek Yoghurt (0%)
• 200g sweet potato, cut  into chunky wedges
• Olive oil - drizzle
• Paprika spice mix
• 100g salmon
• 50g prawns
• 1/2tsp thai curry paste (panang paste)
• Handful of fresh coriander leaves - chopped
• Pinch of salt
• 25g green beans
• 160g mixed salad ( lettuce, cucumber, spinach, celery)
• 10g coconut oil
• 1/4 chilli
• Freshly ground pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C / Gas mark 5
• Place the wedges in a bowl, mix with salt, pepper and spice mix and place on a baking tray. Cook in the middle of the oven for  approximately 45 minutes
• Place the salmon, prawns , thai curry paste, coriander and a pinch of salt in a food processor and blend until a paste is formed. Add the beans and blend again. Turn out of the processor and place in a bowl.
• Refrigerate for about 10 minutes
• Prepare the salad on your plate
• With cool hands shape your fish mixture into small patties
• Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry for approximately 10 minutes on each side over a low heat
• Prepare the dip by mixing the copped coriander and chopped chilli with the greek yoghurt
• Once the wedges have nicely crisped and the fish cakes ready, place on your serving plate with the yoghurt dip.

We really enjoyed this recipe, particularly the spicy fish cakes which were very easy to make and the lovely cooling yoghurt dip to offset the spices in the fish cake. The recipe is enough to serve 2 adults. If you tempered the chilli and thai red curry paste it would also be suitable for the whole family.

Total Greek Yoghurt supplied the ingredients for this blog post .Why not join in the fun and prepare a healthy meal, check out some great new recipes  and  take part in the treasure hunt !

Yogurt Lemon Drizzle for World Baking day

Well its World Baking Day , the idea being that you bake something, take a photo of it somewhere unusual and then tweet it using the #caking ! Well you all know me, anything for a bit of fun and also anything that involves baking is right up my street.


So this weekends bake of Lemon Drizzle Cake is my contribution, a deliciously light but moist cake with a good lemon flavour which features yogurt as an unusual twist on the norm.

Lemon Drizzle in the Greenhouse with tomato

Ingredients

• 175g softened butter or quality vegetable margarine
• 175g caster sugar
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons - unwaxed
• 120g natural yogurt
• 2 large eggs - free range
• 175g self raising flour
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1/2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Method

• Cream your butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy
• Oil spray a loose bottomed case tin and base line
• Preheat your oven to 180C
• Add the lemon zest and yogurt and eggs to the sugar / butter mixture
• Mix well
• Add the Flour and mix again, then spoon into your tin
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen and golden and cooked when tested with a cocktail stick
• Now allow to cool slighty and then remove from tin
• Meanwhile simmer the lemon juice and granulated sugar in a small pan until the sugar has dissolved and the volume reduced to a syrup
• Using a cocktail stick prick all over the top of your cake and then pour on the syrup
• Now cool fully
• Once fully cooled, mix the icing sugar and elderflower cordial to make a runny paste, drizzle all over the top of your cake.

Wholemeal Rhubarb Yogurt cake

Rhubarb that great standby ingredient from the garden for deserts and cakes, this easy recipe is not too sweet and can be enjoyed both as a cake or a dessert if serve with custard or cream.

Ingredients

• 3 large sticks of rhubarb, finely chopped into small cubes
• 1/4 cup softened butter or pure vegetable margarine
• 1 1/2 cups soft brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• Good pinch of ground cardamon
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 cup plain white flour
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 cup plain live yogurt

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180c
• Oil a shallow tin approx 9 by 12 inches
• Cream your butter and sugar 
• Add your egg and vanilla and incorporate well
• Now add your flours and bicarb and salt
• Lastly add your yogurt, mix well and then stir in your rhubarb
• Tip into your prepared tin and level, it is quite a stiff mixture
• Bake until golden and cooked through when tested with a cocktail stick
• Cool in the tin, will store for a few days but this is quite a moist cake so best eaten soon.

Rhubarb, tonka bean and yoghurt fool

I have been intrigued for several weeks with the Tonka bean after coming across them on the Steenbergs website. Originally originating from the Orinoco area of South American the tonka bean is a member of the pea family, the tonka bean is used in food and cosmetics. Its flavours and fragrance is a mix of vanilla, cloves, cinnamon and bitter almonds, it also has pagan and mystical associations. I plan to experiment with the tonka bean more as the season progresses.

I have choosen to use the tonka bean in a simple fruit fool layer using seasonal rhubarb from the garden. I have utilised Rhubarb compote from my earlier post but with the addition of a grating of tonka bean, this is then topped with crushed digestive biscuits ( you could use amaretti, shortbread or ginger nuts) and the a layer of yoghurt with a grating of the bean on top. If you want a more decadent finish you could use cream or custard of you wish.

I am entering this post in to the #oneingredient cooking challenge hosted by Working London Mummy.

Easy Peasy Yoghurt Cake

Thought I would quickly share with you one of my all time favorite recipes, its so easy , it doesn't even involve weighing scales. All the measurements are based on the yoghurt pot that your yoghurt has come from. If you have bought your yoghurt in a large pot just use a tea cup / american cup or similar. It scales perfectly. You just might need more baking tins !

Ingredients

• Carton of yoghurt, plain , can be 0% fat if you want
• 1 1/2 cartons of sugar (caster preferably)
• 1 carton vegetable oil (sunflower I use)
• 3 cartons self raising flour
• 2 eggs free range of course
• Vanilla extract / paste - a drop

Method

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and put in a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin, bake @ 350F, 180 c, Gas mark 4 for approx 1 hour until firm and cooked through, test with a cocktail stick. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes and then carefully turnout onto a cooling rack. Best kept for a couple of days wrapped in foil. Freezes beautifully.