Happy Meals - Variations on a Sunday roast

Before the food - the pedantry. I have noticed that in some post titles I use a hyphen and in some I use a colon and it is irritating me. To the extent that I may spend all day tomorrow going back through hundreds and hundreds of blog posts to try and achieve uniformity. That is all.

Yesterday, D roasted a splendid piece of rolled pork belly, low and slow initially and then blasted with heat so that the meat was juicy and tender but the outer skin crunched loud enough to hear across the room when you bit into it. Just as it should be. The pork sat on a trivet above a tray of apples and onions and cider, and the resulting concoction was just as flavourful as you might imagine, full of bite. We spooned it over the meat where it clung, more a sauce than a gravy and none the worse for that.

I was in charge of sides but decided to do something a little different to a standard complement of roasted roots, and so made, for the first (but not the last) time, a dish of Lyonnaise potatoes and some kale, braised with pancetta, liberally seasoned with black pepper and nutmeg, and finished with just a lick of cream. My main complaint with regards this latter dish is that there was enough of it - the kale cooked down a little more than I was expecting. 

Sunday cooking is lovely - slow, considered...the house becoming steadily more fragrant with cooking smells as the afternoon wends its way into the evening. Sunday cooking is chopping vegetables while perched on a stool at the kitchen island, with a cup of tea to hand and the radio burbling in the background. A very pleasing memory to take into the working week.

Recent eats: the interminable winter edition

I find myself so intensely boring at the moment that I haven't wanted to inflict any blogging on the world. Lockdown has not been good for me. I have basically turned even more sloth like in my habits and my hair is, frankly, ridiculous. Funky, asymmetric styles are all very well until they start growing out and then they just look like someone can't cut straight.

So we've been cooking and eating, which is fine. What can I tell you about? We brined a roast chicken the other week - or, to be strictly accurate, we brined a chicken for 48 hours prior to roasting it which was delicious. It would have been better, however, if I hadn't managed to roast it upside-down. Which meant that the underside was golden and crispy and buttery and the breast was...a wee bit pale and flabby looking. D removed the breast skin and crisped it up under the grill, while I languished on the sofa wondering how on Earth I have reached the age of 40 without knowing which way up a chicken should go. 

I made pizza last week, and remain very impressed with Dan Lepard's dough recipe, so that was good. We cooked a smoked haddock and kale hash from one of the new Christmas cookbooks which was DELICIOUS. It is actually online, here, if you're interested. It is one of those dishes that somehow manages to be significantly more than the sum of its parts. Highly recommended.

Oh, and D splashed out and treated us both to a Dishoom bacon naan takeaway kit thingy. Good, but we think we can tweak it to make it even better (it will probably include a liberal drizzle of our beloved coriander and chilli chutney, aka "green stuff").

In the background, we've both been trying to shift a bit of weight which I am loathe to talk about really because - see first paragraph it is SO BORING. And I'm conscious that this blog is like bloody Groundhog Day for Diets - except that it's not, not Bill Murray actually learns and grows during Groundhog Day and me...not so much. But I will say that a few months ago - mid-October time - we introduced low calorie days back into our week, so we now follow a programme of intermittent fasting which involves only eating for 8 hours a day and, on two of those days, only eating 500 calories. A mash-up of 16/8 and 5/2. And it does work, albeit slowly, and it is a hell of a lot easier to manage low calorie days when we're at home not really doing everything. Whether it will be sustainable when the world goes back to normal...not so sure. But since that shows no sign of happening for a while, we'll keep going for now! 

MPM: 24th June 2019

It's a brand new week and a typically grey, muggy day here in Leeds.  I am not a fan of heat at the best of times, but this particular brand of damp stickiness is particularly unpleasant.  Either we need to get on and have a bit of a summer or admit defeat and lurch straight into the cool, crisp days of Autumn.  Sort it out, weather.

Today also marks the start of my fourth week in my new role which has been full on and busy from the get-go but which is all going well so far.  I feel a little bit like a hamster on a wheel, and I don't think that I will ever see the bottom of my inbox again, but at the moment that still feels OK.  A few months down the line, if I am tearing my hair out in fistfuls, please feel free to refer me back to this.

Meal planning this week - I'm going to a bottomless brunch on Saturday, so it is unlikely I will still be upright come tea time.  The planned curry is going to be made in the slow cooker in advance so will be there if I need it.  Otherwise, a quiet week (well, it is the end of the month).

Monday: soup, as per often.  Crusty bread on the side.

Tuesday: spaghetti in tomato butter sauce and with turkey meatballs.  These meatballs are not, to my shame, homemade, but have been lurking in the freezer for a while and need using. 

Wednesday: trout fillets, minted hollandaise (again, the hollandaise is not homemade!  My foodie credentials are taking a battering today), potato salad, asparagus.

Thursday: fishcakes, but I'm thinking of going down a slightly Scandi route.  This Rick Stein recipe for "frikadeller" with remoulade looks nice.  I've got half a fennel bulb in the fridge that needs using, so I'll probably thinly slice that and add it to the remoulade to boost the veg content.

Friday: I'll keep back some of the tomato butter sauce from Tuesday and use that, alongside a batch of frozen dough, to put together a Friday night pizza.

Saturday: cardamom butter chicken

Sunday: a D choice - steak and chips

Hmmm not a bad selection at all, although it would be nice to see a couple more veggie options on there - something to balance out next week.  Have a good one everyone, and happy cooking!

Recipe corner: A springtime trout tray-bake

A momentous thing happened today: D bought his first ever umbrella. Up until this point, he has claimed to be agin them. Unless they are made by Aquascutum and cost several hundred pounds and, short of a lottery win or an elderly, hitherto unknown eccentric millionaire relative leaving me their fortune, I am NEVER going to think that is a good idea.

Anyway, he now has an umbrella which is useful, as it looks as if Easter weekend was a temporary aberration and we are back to the chill, damp days of the English spring. And to celebrate, last night we ate a meal that was extremely springlike, a celebration of all of the wonderful produce around at this time of year. If you have a jar of Hollandaise lurking in the back of your fridge (as we did for some reason) this is the work of minutes. You could make your own if you like. Or you could sub in a nice, rich mayonnaise or creme fraiche or even plain yoghurt.

This is seriously easy, low effort (difficult sauces aside) and a delicious Friday night fish supper.

Ingredients

2 x trout fillets
Heaped tsp of Dijon mustard

250g new potatoes
Pack of asparagus, woody ends snapped off
Tbsp vegetable oil
Tsp dill

2 heaped tbsp Hollandaise sauce
Small handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice

Serves 2

Preheat the oven to 180.

Cut the potatoes in half and place in a pan of cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes, before removing with a slotted spoon into a large bowl. Bring the water back up to the boil and then throw in the asparagus spears and simmer for one minute. Then drain and run cold water over the spears until they have cooled down.

Toss the potatoes in the oil, dill and season well. Transfer to a large ovenproof tray (I used my flat Le Creuset casserole but a baking tray would do as well). Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pat the asparagus dry and put it in the potato bowl. Swish it around so it gets coated in any remaining oil. You might need to add a drop or so more at this point. Season the asparagus.

Brush the underside of the trout with the mustard. Season the skin well.

After 15 mins, remove the tray from the oven. Push the potatoes to the edges and then bung in the asparagus and lay the trout fillets, skin side up, on top. Return to the oven for another 12 minutes. While this is cooking, stir the chopped mint and lemon juice through the Hollandaise.

After 12 mins, the trout should be cooked through, and the asparagus tender. Serve, with dollops of minted Hollandaise sauce on the side.

Recipe corner: Tuna melt fish cakes

Many people might start this recipe by suggesting it as an excellent use for leftover mash and to them I would say - I never have extra mash. If I make too make mash then I eat too much mash. God, I love mash.

My sister in law, who has a way with potatoes, got us on to making mash by pushing the spuds through a sieve. This method will produce the smoothest, silkiest mash that ever there was. You’d achieve a similar effect with a ricer but I don’t know...something about the sieve method is preferable. Maybe it’s because the additional effort you end up putting in adds a subtle seasoning to the finished product. I should add, however, that it is harder to sieve cold potatoes, so take the time and trouble to make the mash when the potatoes are just cooked.

These fish cakes were thrown together rather, but many of the best dishes are. The thing is, I had planned to cook jacket spuds for tea, but when I actually investigated the potato bag, I had three rather shrivelled, sprouty littleuns that would not have been fit for purpose. This was a more than acceptable alternative that made use of store cupboard ingredients, thus meaning that I did not have to nip out for shopping - after the day I’d had, it is quite likely that a bottle of wine or five would have fallen into the basket. And that would NEVER do.

Ingredients

250g potatoes (raw weight) peeled and thinly sliced
10g butter
50g half fat Cheddar cheese, grated
Heaped tsp English mustard

Can of tuna in brine or spring water, drained
4-5 heaped tablespoons non fat plain yoghurt
Small handful of capers in brine, drained and chopped
2-3 spring onions, finely chopped
Tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried chervil

25g plain flour

Serves 2, 9 Smart Points (WW Flex) per portion

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 10 minutes or until soft and yielding to the point of a knife.

While the potatoes cook, combine the tuna with the yoghurt, capers, spring onions and herbs and season. You want the consistency to be fairly loose so add more yogurt if necessary - fat free plain yogurt is zero point on Flex, so it won’t make a difference to the total.

Drain the potatoes into a sieve and then push them through said sieve back into the pan. Return it to a low heat and stir through the butter, cheese, mustard and seasoning until everything is smooth and incorporated.

Combine the potatoes with the tuna mix.

Sprinkle the flour on a large plate and on to your hands, and shape the mix into six small cakes. Coat them well in the flour and then cover and chill for at least an hour.

Fry in a good non stick pan (use a few sprays of oil if necessary) for 5 minutes or so on either side until warmed through and crisp of crust.

Serve with...well, I went with salad but I am never sure what is the best accompaniment for fish cakes. Let me know if you have any ideas.

MPM: 23rd October 2017

As meal planning posts go, this is likely to be a short one owing to the fact that we are having an unusual week - one with social activity.  We are out Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, Monday and Thursday are fast days, so that is just two meals to plan! 

But first a note on last week - despite the fact that I did a 6:1 rather than a 5:2, I still was a pound down this morning which is good news and sees me edging ever closer to my Post Op Lowest Weight of the Year (or POLWY, as no one is ever likely to call it).  A similar drop this week would put me in the next stone bracket down which, as any dieter knows, is one of the most pleasing of milestones.  Fingers crossed!

Mealwise, I really enjoyed everything that we ate.  Every time I have a jacket potato I wonder why I don't eat them more frequently - and really, with a small can of beans, a sprinkle of cheese and a decent helping of green salad, it is an incredibly satisfying dinner.  Last night's pork belly went down very well too - the braised red cabbage recipe, which I first blogged about nearly seven (seven!) years ago, remains an absolute triumph of a side dish.  For the first time ever, I made it overnight in the slow cooker which worked really well and I've updated the original post accordingly.

Moving on, the plan for this week:

Monday: Fast day - soup

Tuesday:  Chicken schnitzel, potato salad, lightly pickled cucumber

Wednesday:  Out

Thursday:  Fast day - soup

Friday:  Out

Saturday:  D's birthday meal part 1  (A.K.A. "A celebration of all things 70s"):  Classic prawn cocktail, steak frites, stem ginger creme brulee.

Sunday:  Out

MPM: 16th October 2017

Full disclosure - last week was not so much 5:2 as 6:1.  Although since we (and by we I mean D) cracked fairly late in the day on Thursday, total calorie consumption probably still came in at less than 1000.  I'm learning the art of moderation in my old age and am sometimes forgetting to eat for the sake of it.  Hurrah for personal growth.

This, plus the fact that I am currently Sober for October, led to a very pleasing 2lb loss this week.  3lbs more and I will be back down to this year's low, which occurred about a week after my operation when I was basically subsisting on copious cups of tea and the occasional biscuit. 

I'm not really talking about the Sober for October thing (it feels deserving of capitals for some reason) because I am sick of making proclamations on this blog and then failing and doing the written equivalent of falling flat on my face.  So, there it is, it's the 16th of October and I haven't had a drink so far this month but it's not a big deal and I promise not to mention it again.  Actually, on Saturday night I did accidentally eat a whisky caramel truffle so in the most puritannical of eyes, I've already blown it.  It was a really good chocolate though, and probably worth it.

Moving on to this week's meal plan.  I am away for work on Wednesday night in EDINBURGH and trying hard to be cool about it because D will be left at home alone to weep into his solitary supper.  Every other night finds us at home, and the plan looks like this:

Monday: fast day - soup

Tuesday: jacket potato with baked beans and cheese, salad, coleslaw

Thursday: bangers and mash with red onion gravy

Friday: spaghetti carbonara

Saturday: chicken Xacutti (a form of Goan curry.  We're making this using a Rafi's spice pack and have high hopes)

Sunday: roast pork belly with white beans, black pudding and braised red cabbage

Another 6:1 week (we decided that fasting on a day involving many hours of travelling would not work out too well.  Yes, it's an excuse.  Yes, we could have slotted in another day.  Yes, we are, in fact, rubbish).  Lots of comforting, autumnal type dishes, most of which are being sourced, in whole or in part, from our freezer so shopping is being kept to minimal levels. 

Have a lovely week les touts!

MPM: 6th March 2017 - Cook My Blog!

Time seems to be getting away from me at the moment.  I still haven't got round to putting my up my tales of adventure in Brighton (for adventure, read gluttony - it has taken a week for my system to recover!) and yet here we are with another Meal Planning Monday.

As I mentioned last week, this month each week in March is dedicated to a particular recipe book or, as is the case this week, recipe blog.  Yes, in a supreme act of hubris, this week I will be Cooking My Blog - it's WW Foodie Week!

When I started reading back, it really struck me how many more recipes I posted in the early days of the blog.  I don't think that it is because I cooked more back then; I certainly might have been more blasé (or ignorant) with regards copyright issues...and, also, when I was following Weight Watchers, I was always keen to share recipes that worked particularly well while still being low in points, a USP which is now missing. 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to revisiting some old dishes and keen to see whether they actually work or whether I end up tweaking them into something entirely unrecognisable.  As per usual, we are fasting on Monday and Wednesday, and we're out on Tuesday night.  The plan otherwise:

Thursday: Roasted tomato and ricotta risotto

Friday:  Pissaladiere with potato salad

Saturday:  Cardamom butter chicken, aubergine and red lentil curry, rice and flatbreads

Sunday:  Slow cooker shoulder of lamb with tomatoes and butterbean mash

Recipe corner: chicken tartiflette

If I still included Weight Watchers points at the bottom of the recipes on here, this one would probably stand at eleventy million.  There is nothing vaguely diet friendly about it, it being a dish that is a celebration of creamy, cheesy stodge. Still, in such times, I am moved to quote Joey Tribbiani of Friends - if you're going to do a thing wrong, do it right.  If you're going to eat something groaning in calories, make it something like chicken tartiflette.

Oh, and it has kale in it, which means it is kind of healthy as well.  So.

This recipe is a tweaked version of Monica Galletti's from her new book, "The Skills" (and I believe it also appeared in the Good Food magazine a month of so ago).  Tweaked, because instead of using a whole chicken, I cheated and used thigh fillets.  Oh, and she cooks her bacon to release the flavour but then omits it from the finished dish which seemed slightly odd to me, so I left it in.

My only very slight criticism was that when I've had tartiflette in the past, I'm sure it has been a little saucier so I've upped the amount of chicken broth required to let down the cream in my version below - feel free to reduce it back again (the original recipe called for just 100ml) or up still further if you like.  You will have more broth than you need anyway but it is pretty tasty, so keep whatever is left in the fridge to use in any soups or stews you plan to be making.

Ingredients

Rapeseed, or similar, oil

Six boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets
1 onion, roughly sliced
1 head of garlic, sliced horizontally across
100ml white wine
1 large bay leaf
Hefty sprig of thyme
1 litre chicken stock

500g waxy potatoes (such as Charlotte) sliced to about the thickness of a pound coin

6 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
150ml double cream
150g Reblochon cheese, cubed
200g kale, roughly chopped

Serves 4

In a large casserole dish, suitable for use on the stove top, heat a little oil.  Season the chicken fillets well and then brown for a couple of minutes on each side before removing from the pan. 

Add a little more oil, then add the onion and the head of garlic and cook for a few minutes until the onion is beginning to soften. Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan and reduce down to almost nothing.  Now add the chicken stock, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a gentle simmer.  Return the chicken to the pan, cover and cook through - around twenty minutes.  Turn off the heat and set aside, allowing the chicken pieces to cool in the broth.

Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a large pan of cold, salted water.  Bring to the boil and cook for around 5 minutes.  The potatoes will just be thinking about becoming tender at this point.  Drain, and set aside.

Once cool, remove the chicken from the broth and shred. Preheat the oven to 180.  Pour the broth into a separate bowl, wipe out the casserole dish and return to the hob over a medium heat. 

Heat a little more oil and then add the bacon, cooking until beginning to brown at which point you can chuck in the onion.  Five minutes later, when the onion is softening, in goes the garlic as well.

Pour in the cream, plus 200ml of the reserved chicken broth, bring up to a gentle simmer and then season to taste - a liberal hand with the black pepper would be good here.  Stir through three quarters of the cheese, and, as it starts to melt, you can add the chicken, potatoes and kale, stirring well to make sure that everything is coated.  I told you that this pan needed to be large.

Top with the remaining cheese and then bake for twenty five minutes until golden and bubbling.

Recipe corner: warm potato salad with olive oil, lemon and mustard

My go-to potato salad recipe tends to be this one that I posted years ago - simple, creamy, delicious. However, sometimes mayonnaise is not the way to go.  I admit that these occasions are few and far between - a swipe of mayonnaise improves many, many things.  But sometimes, sometimes you might want something a little more restrained.  And in that case, this is an excellent recipe.

We had it with salmon and with lightly pickled cucumber ribbons and it was the kind of meal that leaves you wanting to lick the plate.  Sophisticated, simple, summery food.

Ingredients

250g new potatoes, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Squeeze of lemon juice
Tsp dijon mustard
Tsp wholegrain mustard
2 spring onions, finely chopped

Serves 2, 6 pro points per portion

Place the potatoes in a pan full of lightly salted water.  Bring to the boil and then cook for around 10-12 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, make the dressing.  Whisk together the lemon juice and the mustard, then gradually add the olive oil until incorporated into a smooth dressing.  Stir through the spring onions and season to taste.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain and while they are still warm (this is important) gently mix with the dressing.  Allow them to sit for at least 15 minutes to absorb and serve at room temperature.

Product review: Bannisters' Farm Littl'uns

I don’t write a blog to get free stuff, which is a good job as I don’t tend to get any. So imagine my surprise and delight when someone contacted me out of the blue and offered me a product to try! Oh, the excitement – I probably squealed a little bit. I am not cool, my friends.
It is very hard to be honest when you’re feeling pathetically grateful that a) someone has noticed your little blog and b) they think that your opinion might be worthwhile enough to send you their product. But a good journalist has to try and maintain a veneer of impartiality. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am going to admit that I got open sneers from the husband when I told him that we were getting microwaveable potatoes. We have both long been somewhat cynical of these, being of the firm opinion that if you’re going to have a jacket potato you should just, y’know, buy a potato and bake it. It is neither difficult nor time consuming, assuming you remember to put said potato in the oven a good hour or so before you intend to eat.

Where I do think these really come into their own though, is the office based lunch. Although the packet states to microwave from frozen, I found that if I took them out of the freezer in the morning and wrapped them in a bit of foil, they still stood up well come noon. Much as I am a devotee of sandwiches, sometimes a hot option is welcome – especially when the weather is as profoundly miserable as we have been experiencing recently. The Littl’uns, at 2 pro points or 85 calories each, are a really diet friendly option for anyone following WW or a similar calorie controlled plan. The low points count is obviously due to the size rather than any jiggery pokery on the part of the manufacturers, but I always find jacket potatoes pretty filling anyway, and although I ate two at a time you could probably get away with one plus salad and topping if you were more birdlike of appetite. Two potatoes, a can of tuna with some light mayo and a good helping of salad worked out at 8 pro points – that is lower than most packet sandwiches and proved both filling and tasty. Boxes being ticked all over the place.

Personally, I don’t think a potato cooked in the microwave can ever measure up 100% to one slow cooked from scratch – the skin will never get quite as satisfying crispy. But these were really not a bad attempt and I would happily repurchase for the sake of lunchboxes. A spoonful of baked beans or a sprinkle of cheese (or both) would also prove quick and easy desk based repasts.

In addition, there are some full sized filled potatoes in the range, two of which I was sent to try. These I also liked as a handy lunch option – although they were heftier in the points department (13pp for the one I tried the other week). They are cheesy though, and nothing with cheese can ever be bad.

In summary – I am not cool. Bannisters’ Farm are cool for sending me stuff to review (thank you and sorry this has taken a while to see the light of day!) Littl’uns potatoes are a) cute, b) low in points and c) make good, quick and tasty lunches for the office based drone. They cost £2.20 for a pack of six and are available at Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose (hurrah!) and Ocado. Oh, and they’re gluten free too so excellent for any of you looking for something that isn’t bread.

Recipe corner: "Surprise" tarte tatin

This is the kind of recipe that doesn't sound like it should work.  But Yotam Ottolenghi is a food writer who inspires trust and with good reason - this tart was absolutely delicious, both fresh out of the oven and after a couple of days reposing in the fridge.

 

The other thing is that it is not too bad on the points front.  Pastry is, of course, never going to be a low calorie food, but you can quite easily build it in to the daily quota with a bit of planning and by rolling it out relatively thinly.  I would suggest using a piece slightly heavier than specified below because you will need to trim it when fitting it over the topping.  But 120g was the amount we actually ended up using once those trimmings had been weighed out and so the amount I have used when calculating the points.

 

D was head chef for this one and he says next time he makes it he will double the amount of caramel to get a slightly thicker layer, so I've doubled the amount of butter and sugar specified in the original recipe below. 

 

Ingredients

 

200g cherry tomatoes

500g new potatoes

1 medium onion, sliced

120g hard goats' cheese

120g puff pastry

Tbsp olive oil

80g sugar

20g butter

Fresh oregano

 

Serves 4 generously, 13 pro points per portion

 

First you are going to dehydrate the tomatoes.  Slice in half, arrange on a baking tray, season and sprinkle with a touch of balsamic vinegar and put them in a low (about 120) oven for 30-40 minutes. 

 

Meanwhile cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 20 minutes, until tender.  Leave to cool, and, when possible, slice into discs. 

 

Cook the onion in the oil (reserving a little to grease the tart tin) over a low heat until soft.

 

Onions!

Potatoes!

Tomatoes!

Now all your component vegetables are ready, you can assemble the tart.  Start by using the reserved oil to brush over a 22 inch cake tin and line with parchment paper. 

 

Heat the butter and sugar together in a small pan over a high heat stirring briskly until they become a deep amber colour.  Pour into the cake tin and tilt it carefully so that the whole surface is covered and sprinkle over the oregano leaves. 

 

Layer the sliced potatoes over the caramel, close together as per the picture of the top of the post.  Then fill the gaps with the onion and tomatoes, and finally lay over the slices of goats' cheese.

 

Roll the pastry out into a disc that is about an inch larger than the size of the tin.  Gently lay it across the cheese and vegetables and tuck the edges in around the potatoes so they're nice and cosy.  Bake for 25mins at 200 and then turn the oven down to 180 and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the pastry is puffy, golden and, obviously, cooked.

 

Remove from the oven and give it a couple of minutes to catch its breath.  Then you need to invert it onto a plate so that the caramel layer is topmost.  A certain amount of dexterity is required so ask a responsible adult / husband.

 

Serve, perhaps with salad.

 

 

 

Recipe corner: Corned beef hash

 

Goodness.  We used some of our home made corned beef for a hash this evening and it was ever so, ever so good.  It was the kind of good that makes me very sad for the people who will never get to eat it.  So my Christmas present to you, dearest reader, is the recipe.

The thing is, I say my recipe, it is very much akin to St Delia's recipe.  One of the big differences is that the meat in ours was the home made sort rather than the tinned sort which makes a distinct textural difference - and you'll notice from the method below that it allows, nay encourages, you to have two different textures of beef through the hash which is delicious.  We also went for poached eggs over Ms Smith's suggested fried which I think vastly preferable - the yolk runs into the hash and adds fabulous rich gooeyness.

D thinks that this portion is on the small side.  I agree, that one probably could eat more.  For the Weight Watcher who does not wish to scale up, I would say the addition of some green veg (steamed spinach, knob of butter?) would add volume with few additional points.  Sizewise though, it would be excellent for a multi course dinner party main, we think, with an elegantly positioned dollop of home made brown sauce and some finely chopped pickles. It is excellent, full stop.

Ingredients

150g corned beef - shred 50g and cut the rest into cubes
Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp Worcester sauce
Tsp dried thyme
Pinch dried chilli flakes
Salt, pepper

250g potatoes, cubed

25ml sunflower oil
Large onion, thinly sliced

2 medium eggs
Tbsp white wine vinegar

Serves 2, 13 pro points per portion

Combine the meat with the mustard, Worcester, herbs and spices.  You can do this in advance and leave it to sit for a while.  You may think that it appears too saucy at this stage, but don't worry.

Put the potatoes in a large pan and cover with water.  Salt well.  Bring to the boil and bubble away for three minutes.  Drain.  Combine with the saucy (oooo-er) beef.  Season - minimal salt, lots and lots of black pepper.

Heat the oil in a large pan - you want a decent surface area so don't skimp.  When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook until golden and beginning to brown. Add the meat and potato mixture and spread out as far as possible.  Leave to cook for a while - you want to get a decent crust.

While this is cooking, bring a pan of water to a brisk boil.  Do NOT add salt but DO add a capful of white wine vinegar.  Break the eggs into ramekins. 

Once your meat and potato is looking crusty and delicious, tip the eggs into the water and set a time for one and a half minutes.  While they cook, spoon out the hash (we used chef's rings because we are....middle class).  Top the hash with the eggs and season to taste before serving.

Recipe Corner - A simple but excellent little potato salad

Potato salad is not something I think to make very often. But I think I must have been inspired by Jenny’s recent post on the German style sausage with potato salad, because when I saw that I had half a bag of new potatoes leftover in the bottom of the fridge I developed something of a craving. One swift adjustment of the meal plan later, potato salad and smoked sausage was on the weekly menu.

Now in the past, I would have just gone down the route of combining potatoes with some mayonnaise (probably extra light – for shame!) some chopped veggies, seasoning, nice enough but nothing particularly exciting. But a couple of tweaks later, inspired by a recipe I found online of Diana Henry’s (a cookery writer who earned my enduring adoration with her fabulous Gastropub cookbook) it was elevated several notches. The notion of soaking the potatoes in stock beforehand is genius, as is the combination of mayonnaise and crème fraiche.

I have used full fat mayo here, and half fat crème fraiche. This latter ingredient is fast becoming a staple in my fridge – I often use it in place of cream and absolutely adore it – it is rich, creamy with a slight edge of sour and significantly lower in points than cream.

Hopefully, the summer will continue in a similar vein to the amazing week we have just had and then this salad can make its barbecue debut! As one of several side dishes, this would comfortably serve four. Oh, and it would probably work very well with some fresh herbs added to the dressing – I wondered about mint while I think Diana suggested chervil and parsley.

Ingredients

400g new potatoes
50ml good vegetable or chicken stock
30g mayonnaise (be a divil and go full fat)
40g half fat crème fraiche (Yeo Valley is an excellent brand)
Squeeze of lemon juice
Small bunch of spring onions, chopped
Seasoning

Serves 2 (as a generous main course), 8 pro points per portion

Put the potatoes in a pan, cover with salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, chop the spring onions and combine with the mayonnaise, crème fraiche, lemon juice and seasoning to taste.

When the potatoes are cooked, slice and, while still warm, pour over the stock. Part cover and leave to stand for about 10 minutes to allow the potatoes to absorb it.

While the potatoes are still warm, mix through the dressing. This can be served chilled but is probably best slightly warm or, at least, at room temperature.