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| Recipe of the week... ... Smoked mackerel & kale carbonara |
Ingredients: 250g spaghetti, 100g kale, 4 eggs yolks, 4
teaspoons grated parmesan cheese, 2 smoked mackerel fillets, salt and pepper.
Time taken: 20 mins.
Serves: 2 generous platefuls of pasta.
Hi readers,
How’s it going? Hope you’ve got the same beautifully sunny,
frosty day that we’ve got up here. It’s certainly fresh out! As I write, readers,
we’re right at the end of November and there are wintry showers forecast
overnight.
I’ve deemed it to be hat weather fo sho and found out my
snuggest woolly hat, which I won’t leave the house unless I’m wearing now. I
could see my breath, readers, in the car this morning. My poor car hiccoughed
into life and we got going but – Christ – it’s a cold day! Do you have the same
wintry weather where you live??
This last weekend, readers, I ventured up to Newcastle (non-Brits
– it’s one of the most northernmost cities in England) for a nostalgic visit
back to the place where I studied for uni. And it was COLD. But magical, too!
We got to see the Fenwick Christmas window, which is Paddington Bear themed for
2017, and we did a little Christmas shopping around Eldon Square. Then had a
good dance in Flares later that night!
This was the first of a series of visits I’ve lined up,
readers, to see friends over the festive season. It’s such a fab thing at this
time of year to be able to get to together and spend time with everyone that,
ultimately, you’d like to see. Hopefully – we’ll be going on loads of new
adventures together in the new year!
Do you have Christmas plans starting to come together,
readers? Will you be choosing a tree soon and visiting a Christmas market?
Adding a little Baileys to your hot chocolate and donning a crazy Christmas
jumper? Mulling your wine and formulating some new year’s resolutions for 2018?
I’m excited, readers! I’m definitely starting to get excited
for Christmas and yes STILL trying to maintain some normality on weekdays.
Exercising a little, and taking nights off drinking, and cooking healthy meals
packed with lots of energy… to power me through all this Christmas action!
Our ‘Recipe of the Week’ this week, readers, is one I found
in the November 2017 edition of Asda’s free Good
Living magazine, which I picked up at a checkout recently. There are such
good recipe ideas in freebie supermarket magazines like these, I love them! This
is a really simple but great-tasting, five-ingredient recipe for a smoked
mackerel & kale carbonara.
I was drawn in by the lure of only five ingredients,
readers, and wanted to try mackerel – a fish I hadn’t eaten before! And I’m
pleased to report it all went well in the kitchen. This straightforward
spaghetti recipe took no time to whip together on an evening earlier this week,
after I staggered in from a HIIT class at the gym, and it was certainly the good
plateful of grub I needed. It did the job!
Fancy trying this dish yourself? Here’s the recipe in just
ten simple steps…
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Recipe: Smoked
mackerel & kale carbonara
1.
Okay, here we go! Set the kettle boiling and,
while you wait, set some Christmas tunes playing. Open a window for a little
fresh air and stretch reeeeally tall – see if you can touch the ceiling! Pour
yourself a beverage and get all the ingredients out.
2.
You’re ready for action – pop the spaghetti
(about half a pack) into a saucepan and leave boiling for ten minutes.
3.
Meanwhile, use your hands to break the mackerel
up into bite sized pieces.
4.
Crack the egg yolks into a mug and – if you’re
skilled at egg cracking – try and save the egg whites in another mug.
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: The whites might come in for something! It seems a shame to waste them –
maybe make an egg white omelette for breakfast in the morning?
5.
Spoon around 4 teaspoons of grated parmesan (or ‘Italian
hard cheese’) into the mug, along with a big shake of ground black pepper.
6.
Add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water
and use a fork to stir the contents of the mug together.
7.
Add the kale to the pan with the spaghetti in
and cook for a couple of minutes.
8.
Then, drain the kale and spaghetti before
returning to the pan over a low heat.
9.
Use a big spoon to stir the egg mix and the
flaked mackerel into the pasta. The egg mix should soon cook to form a rich,
creamy sauce.
10. Season
to taste with salt and pepper, then ladle out onto two dinner plates. Tuck in to
your delicious tea!
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| Feeeeeast! |
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What do you reckon, readers? Is this recipe tempting you? Do
the steps sound do-able? Does the pic look worth the effort? I’d love to know
what you’re thinking! Maybe this sounds just like a recipe you’ve tried before,
or rather you’re intrigued as you’d never normally think to make spaghetti in this
style? Either way – shout out! Share your thoughts.
I say, don’t be put off by the mackerel or the kale, if you
have reservations about either of these ingredients. Maybe you don’t normally
like one? Or you’ve had a bad food experience? Or you haven’t tried but you’ve
certainly heard bad things? Don’t let
it put you off! Life is brief, readers, and I think you’d be missing out if you
didn’t give this dish a go.
So – let me know how you get on! Or let me know if you have
any ideas for improving this recipe? Would you add in another flavour, or perhaps
prepare the dish differently? I’d love to hear your thoughts, readers. And any
festive cooking or baking you’re getting up to – please share your pics and ideas
you have for Christmas dishes I could try out in the kitchen!
Drive safely,
Hayley
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