Ingham Chicken Cordon Bleu

with Potato Gratin and

a Warm Green Goddess Salad

Ingham Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients

3 x Ingham Chicken Cordon Bleu boxes.

Cooking instructions:

Remove Ingham Chicken from the pack. Place the frozen Ingham Chicken onto oven tray and place in a pre-heated oven at 180°C. Cook for approximately 40 minutes.

Potato Gratin

Ingredients

Premium extra virgin olive oil or butter to lightly grease the gratin baking dish.

12 x largish washed waxy potatoes.

1 x litre of chicken stock.

Sprinkle of sea salt.

Tin foil to cover the baking dish.

This dish will take approximately one hour to cook so pop it in the oven 15 to 20 minutes before the Ingham Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Cooking instructions:

Step 1.  Pre heat the oven to 180°C and grease the baking tray.

Step 2.  Take the washed potatoes (peeled if you prefer) slice into large disc shapes approximately 3mm thick and layer like a fan in the dish.

Step 3.  Pour chicken stock over layered potatoes, lightly salt to taste and cover the oven tray with tinfoil. Fasten the sides to prevent steam escaping. Pop into the pre-heated oven.

Step 4.  After approximately 40 minutes carefully remove the tinfoil and test the potatoes with a sharp knife.  The tip of the knife should slide easily into potatoes. If so, they are ready to return into oven to brown and go crunchy.

Cooking Tips.

Tanah has chosen Red Rascals from Pukekohe, they are waxy potatoes that will hold their shape in the gratin dish and her supplier tells her that the Red Rascals are the best flavoured potatoes at this time of the year.

Warm Green Goddess Salad

The great thing about this salad is that it can be served chilled or warm depending on the season and your occasion. If you have a busy day ahead prepare it in the morning and chill. This salad is packed with goodness, the trick is to keep the vegetables crunchy to retain vitamins and their brilliant green colours. Be bold and vary the green vegetables and herbs to suit your tastes.

Ingredients

Green Goddess Dressing

5 x shallots peeled and finely sliced (small red or white salad onions are fine too).

1 x teaspoon sea salt.

A handful of each herb: mint, basil, parsley, washed, dried and rough chopped into large pieces.

1 x large juicy lemon zest and juice.

Premium extra virgin olive oil.

Freshly cracked black pepper.

Green vegetables

2 bunches of asparagus spears, washed and ends trimmed.

2 cups of baby green beans, washed, topped and tailed.

1 cup of fresh shelled green peas (frozen is fine too).

1 cup of snow peas, washed and trimmed.

Raw green vegetable salad

1 x salad bag of baby spinach leaves.

1 x salad bag of rocket.

2 x smallish fennel bulbs washed trimmed and finely shaved (optional).

1/2 kilo of the best most flavoursome tomatoes.

1 x cup of roasted almonds roughly chopped, to add texture and a delicious nutty flavour.

Cooking instructions:

Step 1.  Put a pan of salted water on to boil to blanch the green vegetables.

Step 2.  In a large salad bowl add the sliced shallots and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Mash the salt into the shallots, this cooks the shallots and makes them taste milder. Leave for 5 minutes.

Step 3.  Toss in the warm blanched green vegetables. Add all the green goddess dressing ingredients; lemon juice and zest, olive oil, mint, parsley and basil.  Toss together and add cracked pepper and seasoning to taste. Add all the remaining salad ingredients and gently toss. Taste test again and add more oil, lemon, salt according to your taste.

Step 4.  Present the green goddess salad on a large platter, top with roasted almonds, surround with a ring of cut tomatoes. Set the platter at the table and drizzle with the premium extra virgin olive oil, just seconds before you eat, to maximise taste and aroma of the oil.

Tips for handling chicken :

• Defrost in the refrigerator or microwave only, not on the bench.
• Use separate cutting boards and utensils when handling raw and cooked chicken. Wash the boards thoroughly with hot, soapy water before and after handling.
• If you cook chicken to eat later, refrigerate while hot.
• Always store cooked foods above raw foods in the refrigerator.
• Keep fresh food refrigerated at or below 4°C.
• Keep frozen food at or below minus 18°C.
• Keep smallgoods in the refrigerator with their wrapping sealed until required. After opening, they must be consumed with in 2-3 days.
• Smallgoods can be frozen on day of purchase and thawed in the refrigerator when required. They can be frozen for up to 6 months.
• Once chicken has been thawed, do not refreeze.