Recipe corner - Nigella's chickpea and chorizo (not quite a) stew

We made the mistake of wandering through Borough Market on Friday afternoon.  We had spend a very pleasant couple of hours at Vinopolis, a venue dedicated to the drinking of wine on the Southbank (if you have even vague tendency towards dipsomania it is an excellent way to while away an afternoon) and were wending our way towards London Bridge to meet friends.  How could we resist the smells wafting from those tempting stalls? 

Actually, in the main we were pretty good and avoided temptation (although there may have been a sausage roll consumed later at the pub) but I couldn’t resist purchasing a few venison chorizos that I happened to pass by. I love chorizo and I love venison and was intrigued by the combination of spice and rich, gamey iron.

I’ve had a Nigella recipe for a chickpea and chorizo dish bookmarked on the BBC site for a while now and this seemed the idea opportunity to give it a go. Of course, I’ve made changes. For a start, I’ve reduced the portion sizes. I’m a girl of good appetite but I don’t think the quantities she suggests are not particularly realistic (to my mind) unless one has spent the last week fasting. For a second, I roasted off some fresh cherry tomatoes instead of using a tin. I’m sure a tin would be absolutely fine mind you; it would make the whole dish a bit quicker to assemble and would mean that all the components can come straight out of the store cupboard.

D wasn’t overly keen on the addition of the apricots although I loved them. He suggested that they would have been more to his taste if they had been more finely chopped and I have incorporated this into the recipe. You could leave them out altogether and this would save you 1 pro point per portion.

Ingredients

Small punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
Balsamic vinegar
1 medium chorizo sausage (about 80g), chopped into chunks
30ml (2 tbsp) dry sherry
1 large tin of chickpeas, drained
50g dried apricots, chopped finely
Pinch of sugar
140g dried bulgur wheat
½ tsp cinnamon
Bay leaf
Fresh coriander, chopped (amount to taste)

Serves 2, 14 pro points per portion

Heat the oven to about 150. Place the tomatoes in an oven proof dish, sprinkle with a little balsamic and some salt and pepper and roast until they have just started to shrivel – at this low temperature you could probably leave them for about an hour. Remove from the oven and deglaze the dish with about 100-150ml water. Place tomatoes and water in a small processor along with a pinch of chilli and blitz into a rough, salsa like texture.

Put the bulgur wheat in a lidded pan with a good pinch of salt, the cinnamon and the bay leaf. Cover with water and bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer put the lid on and cook for about 15 minutes. You may need to add a splash more water during the cooking process.

Over a low heat, gently fry off the chorizo pieces until the deliciously spicy oil begins to render out and they start to crisp up. Add the sherry and allow it to bubble off.

Now you can add the drained chickpea, the apricot pieces and the tomatoes along with a pinch of sugar and seasoning. Bring up the heat and simmer for five minutes to reduce off some of the liquid.

Stir most of the coriander through the wheat, reserving a little for garnish, adjust the seasoning to taste and then serve up strewn with the chick pea mixture.

"A kind of Jewish deli with cocktails"

At some point last year, D and I went to Polpo – a quick check of my records tells me that this was, in fact, in October. We liked it very much. We conceived the notion of going to the other places created and owned by Russell Norman. Apparently, he used to work for a rather posh restaurant group and left to start up his own place so that he wouldn’t have to wear a tie to work anymore. Brilliant. Presumably he had a slightly more detailed business plan than that, but I hope that he brought the tie thing up in the meeting with his bank manager.

D asked me to choose and I went for the latest one in the stable, Mishkin’s, rather to his chagrin I think. It is described on its website as a kind of Jewish-deli with cocktails. I was primarily sold because the menu contained a Reuben sandwich – a dish I have wanted to try for around eight years. (Dr House ordered one in an early episode of House – being curious about food I looked it up and have fancied it ever since. Corned beef! Sauerkraut! Swiss cheese! Russian mayonnaise! Rye bread! These are All Good Things.) Of course, now I come to research (i.e. check Wikipedia) I find that what Mishkin’s have on the menu is actually a variation of the Reuben called the Rachel – where corned beef is swapped for pastrami. It didn’t matter. The choice of venue was made.

The interior of Mishkin’s is absolutely adorable – the kind of set up that I, growing up in darkest suburbia, used to imagine existed on every corner of New York. The staff, in common with all those employed across Norman’s restaurants, were young and beautiful and trendy. The waitresses were wearing extremely short shorts which retro nod was much appreciated by D.

I didn’t need to look at the menu – I was already salivating at the thought of my Reuben. D, deciding to get into the spirit of the Jewish deli theme, ordered the chopped chicken liver as well as one of the specials, a salad consisting of smoked mackerel, asparagus, fennel and a poached egg. He appeared to enjoy both thoroughly; I tried a little of the chopped chicken liver spread on toasted rye and thought it was gorgeous, especially with a generous dollop of a pickled (schmaltzed) radish to give a bit of acidity to the rich offal.

Chopped liver!

Asparagus!

My sandwich was a true behemoth. I had eaten very lightly throughout the day in order to be thoroughly hungry come the evening, but still, was nearly defeated. It was as scrumptious as I had imagined – beautiful salty beef and sharp pickle and gooey cheese….however, when I go again, I shall opt for the half Reuben with slaw – I’m sure that would be more than enough. Mind you, the heavenly smell that was rising up from the mac and cheese ordered by the table next to us might be enough to tempt me away from the sandwiches altogether. I very, very nearly plucked up the courage to ask them for a bit. Another carafe of wine and I probably would.

A very large sandwich indeed!

In the spirit of research, and after a bit of digestion, we roused ourselves to share a pudding: a slice of cheesecake (well, when in pretend New York….) which was surprisingly light with a lovely lemony sharpness. Had I had more room I would have tried to make space for the soggy lemon drizzle cake but, alas, it seems that will have to wait for the definitely called for second visit – although with da Polpo, Polpetto and Spuntino’s still to get round it may be a while. Still, if you yourself happen in the vicinity – and it is located right in the heart of theatre land so very handy for a pre or post play supper, then do go and wrap yourself around one of those glorious sandwiches. And please help satisfy my curiosity on this point – do the waitresses still have to wander around in tiny shorts in the middle of winter?

(A very short) Meal Planning Monday – 28th May 2012

Another week where chez Seren we are less in than out and shaking it all about. Or something rather less exciting. We are also still trying to empty the freezer. I believe I first started mentioning this in January. Since we do not have a particularly large freezer, I can only conclude that I am breathtakingly bad at it. Still, as we are due to leave this particular freezer behind in a couple of months, I had better improve my performance.

So....

• Chickpea and chorizo stew from Nigella’s “Kitchen” with a few tweaks from me. I’m going to skip the crispy spaghettini in the bulgur wheat and use fresh cherry tomatoes, lightly roasted and part blitzed, instead of tinned.
• Pizza and salad
• Pan fried salmon fillets with pasta pesto

That’s it! C’est tout! I’m over at the parentals this weekend so I’m hoping there might be some firing up of the barbecue. Which probably means I’ve doomed us all to appalling weather now.

As always, head to Mrs M’s for more meal planning fun.

Burgers and lobsters in the big city

We had an absolutely lovely time in London this weekend with family, friends, culture and, of course, food. Not ideal for weight watching – although a peek at the scales suggests that I am holding steady at the moment which is pleasing.

Anyway, London. Growing up down there it always gives me a happy tingly feeling to visit, although I am unsure that I would ever want to live there again having settled in Yorkshire. It also gives D and I, wannabe gastronomic tourists both, a chance to try out a few of the places that we read about in them there townie papers and blogs. The press in this country – in all matters, not just those of the stomach – is rather London centric which I can understand, but it does mean that most of the restaurant reviews I read leave me feeling rather plaintive – like I’ve got my nose pressed up against the glass looking in.

Our first port of call was a place called Burger and Lobster. This is apparently rather popular – we turned up at ten past twelve and swiped the last two seats at the bar, the tables having already been filled and a reservation system being totally twentieth century. At B&L menus are also a pretty outmoded concept – you can have a burger or a whole lobster. Oh, or a lobster roll. That’s it. Everything costs £20 which means the burgers are very expensive but the whole lobster is pretty good value and the lobster roll probably somewhere in the middle. Before we arrived, I was curious to know if anyone actually ordered a burger but having watched the orders come out of the kitchen for a while I did see quite a few go past – and very nice they looked too. Although for £20 I’d probably expect my burger to do a little song and dance when it arrived at the table. All three dishes are accompanied by skinny chips and a side salad. The side salad was covered in Parmesan cheese – this was obviously my sort of restaurant.

It’s a gimmick, sure, but a gimmick is fine if it is done well – and this was done very well indeed. D has the whole lobster which was boiled and then finished on the charcoal grill, and came with additional butter for dunking. He attacked it with relish – this is a man capable of extracted every last morsel of flesh from any crustacean and the plastic bibs provided by the waitress (a nice touch) really came into their own. The flesh was sweet and well cooked, the butter flavoured with lemon and garlic and the fries were excellent examples of the genre.

Lobster!

I went for the lobster roll. This was partly because I’d read that the brioche that constitued the roll part was a particular delight – and partly because a little bit of Yorkshire has crept into my soul and I wasn’t sure that I could bring myself to pay £20 for a burger. It was a good choice. The brioche was, indeed, excellent, buttery and sweet and – oh, so buttery. To be honest I’d have considered swapping the lobster filling for another one. The waitress informed me that it was baked on site – and also that it made an excellent bacon sandwich. I made a mental note to look up brioche recipes when I returned home. The lobster meat itself was, again, beautifully cooked, although its sweetness in conjunction with the sheer butteriness of the roll meant that it was an incredibly rich thing to eat. I manfully ploughed through the lot, and (I think) finished the fries as well but, ever watchful of my waistline, left some of the salad.

Lobster roll!

Burger and Lobster in not a place to linger over a long, luxurious meal. It was full and buzzy and obviously had a pretty quick turnaround judging by the number of people lingering by the bar eyeing plates of food as they waited for a table. But it is very good fun and probably the best value lobster in the capital. I’d go back for the brioche alone. But I’d probably arrive at half past eleven and loiter outside to ensure a booth next time.

Burger and Lobster
29 Clarges Street,
 London W1J 7EF
020 7409 1699

Recipe corner - Cardamom butter chicken

I absolutely adore curry. But as any good Weight Watcher knows, your typical Indian takeaway contains roughly a year's worth of points.




This recipe, from the June edition of Good Food magazine, did a pretty damn good job of scratching the takeaway itch for a fraction of the points and should be serves with rice and naan and a smug smile. As with most curry recipes it is well worth cooking a day or so in advance to allow the flavours to develop and freezes well.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Thumb sized piece of ginger, grated*
2 green chillies, seeds and all, chopped
Small bunch of coriander, leaves picked and stalks roughly chopped
3 tbsp ghee**
2 onions, sliced
2 tsp each turmeric, garam masala and ground cumin
1 tsp ground fenugreek
4 chicken breasts, cubed
12 cardamom pods, lightly crushed and seeds removed
1 cinnamon stick
400g can tomatoes
150ml pot plain yoghurt (we used low fat to no ill effect)
50ml double cream

Serves 4, 13 pro points per portion

* Buy a large piece of root ginger and keep, unpeeled in your freezer. You can grate it, skin and all, whenever a recipe calls for it - it is not only easier to grate this way, it integrates better into the finished dish AND keeps forever.

** I bought a huge tin of ghee, which is clarified butter, from Tesco. I figured that for butter chicken this was not an ingredient to skip. You could sub for oil or normal butter.

In a small processor, or with a pestle and mortar, grind the garlic, ginger, chillies and coriander stalks into a paste with a generous pinch of salt.

Heat 2 tbsp of the ghee in a large pan and cook the onions slowly
until caramelised - we found this took about 10 mins. Add the paste, turn up the heat and cook for 5 more minutes then add the groud spices for a further 2 mins.



The fragrant onion mixture can now be removed from the pan. (And, as a slight aside, look at my gorgeous Le Creuset pan! You know you're middle aged when you get one of those babies for Christmas and are HAPPY about it).

Anyway, now you're going to heat the final tbsp of ghee and cook the chicken pieces until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside, covered.

Proceed to add back the onion mixture, the whole spices, the tomatoes and a can of water. Season, then bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 40 mins.

Remove the lid and now add the meat back to the sauce and cook gently for a further 10 mins until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thickened.

Finish the sauce off with the cream, the yoghurt (bring this to room temperature before stirring through to help prevent splitting), further seasoning as required and the coriander leaves.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meal Planning Monday - 21st May 2012

Well, it's that time of the week again. Although actually it isn't because I'm writing this on Saturday having just completed my online shop! So post comes to you from the past....


It looks set to be a busy week but we're off to London on Friday so at least there is something to look forward to. With D out one night this week it means the meal plan is pretty short as I'll be resorting to something simple and boring. Does anyone else find themselves not bothering to cook when they're on their own? I lived alone for about a year in my early twenties and basically turned into a slice of toast...

Anyway...

• Asparagus feature #1 - this lovely pasta dish.

• Asparagus feature #2 - something with eggs and Wensleydale cheese - possibly an omelette or a delicately cheesy scramble.

• Mrs M's Szechuan king prawns with egg rice and some tenderstem broccoli which I plan to stir fry with garlic and ginger.

• When we get home on Sunday I doubt we'll be in the mood to do anything much so I've got Ready To Cook smoked haddock fillets with a cheese sauce and I might stir myself to do some green stuff on the side.

And that's it! As always, pop over to Mrs M's for more meal planning fun.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Postcards from....not quite the edge

Time appears to be getting away from me a bit at the moment. So let’s take a minute, maybe make a cup of tea and have a quick catch up.

Firstly, workwise: I have an increasingly long list of things to do before I finish my current role at the end of August (this assumes I will take a week of leave before starting my new role in September – and I’m feeling increasingly guilty about planning for that even though I have leave that needs using up before my new leave year starts.) Although I am very good at making to do lists, I am less good at ploughing through them, so at the moment I am just watching the spreadsheet grow with a slightly mesmerised expression.

Secondly, housewise: the estate agent has informed us that everything should go through in about 8 weeks. We have started looking at new places to live. I am trying hard to focus on the positive things as far as possible (the fact that I’ll live with a twenty minute walk to work, the fact that Leeds has lots of nice shops, the fact that I’ll have some spare money to spend in said nice shops). Readers of this blog may know that optimism is not a strong suit of mine and I am spending a fair amount of time wanting to handcuff myself to the living room radiator and refuse to leave my beloved flat. I suspect D is losing sympathy and I can’t say I blame him.

My chimp continues to make loud noises (how can I possibly be expected to think about dieting when I am SO. STRESSED.) But I lost three pounds last week and, miraculously, am on track to record another pound this week. Perhaps all that stress has boosted my metabolism.

I have a couple of recipes I want to post here since I prefer this to be a food blog with a touch of navel gazing rather than the other way round. Also I want to reassure people (hello, Mum!) that I am eating something other than cheese on toast which is my usual recourse in high stress situations. We had a very nice stir fry last night. You probably don’t want to hear about stir fry though. I mean, it’s vegetables and prawns cooked in a bit of oil with some garlic and chilli and ginger and soy. Very tasty but simple stuff and not a whiff of authenticity about it.

Speaking of authenticity, has anyone else seen that Gok Wan now appears to have a cookery show? Now, I am all for anyone who makes women feel better about their own bodies and have a definite soft spot for Gok, but I’m slightly confused as to how someone makes the leap from television stylist to television cook. And probably a bit jealous that there is no such easy route from, oh, say, civil servant. But if any television producer should ever stumble across this blog then I think it is a MARVELLOUS idea. It could be all about austerity cooking – you know, lean recipes for lean times.

Have a lovely weekend peeps – we’re off to the races tomorrow as part of our extended Farewell to York tour. Any tips are welcome below.

Meal planning Monday – 14th May 2012

Things move apace. We have now accepted an offer on our flat and it has become more imperative than ever to actually eat down the contents of the freezer as well as the storecupboards. This is easier said than done when one is also trying to create a meal plan that is balanced and tasty and healthy and varied and all those other adjectives. But I’ll give it a shot.

• Monday: D is out having curry today so I can please myself this evening. I’m indulging my dark side with an M&S pizza which will do my tea tonight and also, with a side salad, lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Tuesday: Pork and prawn stir fry with noodles. Pork from the freezer, but it was such a meagre little piece I thought we might need some more protein. So have bought two packs of prawns (they were on offer) to use up one small piece of pork fillet. Yeah, freezer clearing really not my forte…
• Wednesday: Asparagus (hurrah!) with Parmesan shavings, lemon butter and a poached egg. Probably some sort of bread on the side for juice mopping.
• Thursday: Chicken fajitas – these have been popping up on meal plans all over the place recently! I’ll be approximating this for the fajita seasoning, although I don’t have garlic or onion powder (fresh onion and garlic will probably do).
• Friday: We’re out all day at York Races, which could get a little messy. I’ve tried to anticipate my takeaway cravings by getting in some Birds’ Eye southern fried chicken fillet things so I can create a chicken burger when I get home. No guarantee I’ll manage to avoid the kebab shop on the way though…
• Saturday: Mmmmm, curry night. I’m making a cardamom butter chicken recipe from this month’s Good Food magazine, with mushroom curry, rice and naan bread on the side.
• Sunday: Eggs “Benedict”: only with smoked salmon instead of ham and a toasted bagel instead of a toasted muffin. So, actually, not a Benedict at all.

As always, head over to Mrs M’s for more meal planning fun.

Girl walks into a church hall…

So, on Saturday morning, two days later than planned, I went back to Fat Club.

It was a blow to my pride. I had thought, or rather, hoped, that I was in a good enough place to do this under my own steam without the ritual humiliation of getting weighed by someone else (and I do find it humiliating, even if that is not the intention). But if the last few years have taught me anything it is that there is nothing wrong with asking for a bit of help, so, with a deep breath and a girding of the loins, I entered.

And I am so glad I did. It was the nicest meeting I have yet been to.

The weigh in was far less painful than expected – even fully dressed I was still over a stone down from the start of the year, and I am glad that I dragged myself back before I regressed past that milestone.

Current mood: cautiously optimistic.

Meal Planning Monday - 7th May 2012

It's that time again!


Given the number of magazines, pages torn from magazines, recipe books, Internet bookmarks and ideas scribbled on the back of a napkin, I should find meal planning easy. So why is it that every week I find myself scratching my head and saying "Er...pasta pesto?" I think the problem is too much choice! It's paralysing, my friends, paralysing.

Hey ho, and on with this week's plan. This should take us through to the weekend at least and one of these may get bumped if I manage to get down to the market one lunchtime to pick up some asparagus which has come into season.

• Macaroni cheese to use up some of the ageing cheddar lurking in the fridge.

• Hake with tapenade and pears - a Hairy Bikers' recipe and household favourite.

• Sea bass with fennel butter, roasted new potatoes and braised fennel. The fish is from the Waitrose Cook! range - we had this a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it so much it's making a repeat appearance.

• Shepherd's Pie - what with the weather being so unseasonably chilly and damp I've been craving some good, old fashioned nursery food.

• Chunky pea and ham soup with garlic bread - a D special.

As always, head over to Mrs M's for more meal planning fun.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Learning to love Leeds: Bar Baby Jupiter

Temporarily setting the navel gazing aside now to talk burgers and bars. Both are things of which I am very fond.

I’ve worked in Leeds for…goodness, nearly seven years now, but I’ve never particularly warmed to it and have always been glad to escape back home to York. York feels much more me somehow. But now we are looking to move here, it is high time that I took more of an interest in the city, and by the city I mean primarily its hostelries and restaurants. If there are more around like Bar Baby Jupiter then perhaps Leeds and I will rub along alright.

BBJ!

BBJ is…cool. There is no other word for it. It’s in a basement so dark and a little bit murky, the soundtrack is kind of funky, the décor retrotastic. I doubt very much that I, prim in ballerina pumps and understated jewellery, am the type of clientele that they are looking to attract. I am not cool. I can’t carry cool off, I never have and I never will. The absolute height of my teenage rebellion was getting a second piercing in my left ear and to this day I’m surprised at myself. Anyway. BBJ. It’s cool. I’m not. But they let me sit there and pretend which is one compelling reason to like it.

Another is this: they do a frankly miraculous burger. I’m not kidding – this was the nicest burger I have had in ages. On D’s recommendation (this is a regular haunt of his and we were there at his post exam request) I opted for Cajun beef; to his slight chagrin I opted to add a slice of cheese (I think a burger is naked without one) and oh, my it was lovely. It was properly meaty – I’m no expert but I suspect that this is top quality beef, and the spicing was spot on: enough to leave your mouth humming slightly, not enough to detract from the burger itself. Chunky chips and a lovely, creamy coleslaw on the side and all for the bargainous price of £5 (well, mine was £5.50 because of my dairy product addiction). Oh my. It is not yet half nine in the morning as I type this and I am salivating at the thought of that burger.  They also serve a selection of rather tasty looking sandwiches, along with a good range (so D tells me) of draught beers.  Good news all round.

You MUST try this burger!

They only serve burgers on Thursday and Friday, although sandwiches are available all week. Perhaps they think that the good people of Leeds can only cope with so much beefy deliciousness.

Humph.

Right. That’s it. Time for some tough talking.

I should have known when I posted last week, talking about how good I was feeling, how my head was back in the game…I should have known that I was asking for it. Actually, I should have known when I posted a rather smug Q1 Review that I was tempting fate. I, my friends, am struggling.

The lovely and very clever Lesley as written before about her “chimp”. I’ve been going back and looking at some of her old posts as I grapple with how I get myself back on the wagon before I undo all this year’s good work. This one gives a good introduction. From what I can gather, your chimp is how you describe the part of your brain that is governed by emotion and instinct. To overcome the emotional side of eating (which is what is causing me issues at the moment) you have to get to know, and train, your chimp.

My chimp is unsettled. I’ve recently been offered a place on a four year training programme at work – it will be tough going but will ultimately lead to much greater opportunities for me. D and I have put our flat on the market and plan to move from York to Leeds to be closer to the office which will save time and money. These are good changes, positive changes. But I think my chimp is currently running around in increasingly crazed circles at the idea of leaving a home and a job which have felt so…safe. Oh, and let’s add the fact that our car has had to undergo some major surgery which is adding an element of financial concern to the mix.

I’m not holding these up as excuses for overeating and over indulgence. But I’m intellectually curious; I mean, eating, drinking, going into a kind of hibernation – these have always been my standard reactions to any sort of stress - but by my do I mean my chimp’s? From what I have found reading up on the theory online (I may end up cracking and buying the book) these could be my chimp’s way of interpreting safety and survival – food, warmth, shelter.

So what steps am I now going to take to halt the downwards (or should that be upwards?) slide.

Step 1 – my chimp does not like to shown up in public. So, I’m going back to WW meetings (for the eleventy millionth time). Seems I can’t be accountable on my own – at least at the moment – so public weighing is the way forward. I’ll also be reporting my loss, gains or otherwise here on my blog to ensure that I’m accountable to you as well.

Step 2 – chimps are very motivated by rewards. So, I’m going to offer it a financial reward for a) going to the weekly weigh in b) going to the gym and c) seeing a loss on the scales. This money is specifically to go on clothes – one of my prime motivators to lose weight is to look better, and what makes a girl feel better than a new top or a new pair of shoes?

Right, I feel better for having written that down. I’ll be going to class at noon tomorrow – wish me (and my chimp) luck.

Fakeaway 2: The Teesside "Parmo"

Should you ever find yourself wandering the mean streets of Middlesbrough you might notice something a little bit peculiar. The chip shops (of which there are many) all advertise the sale of Parmesan. I couldn't work it out at all the first time I came across it. Why would you put Parmesan on fish and chips? Or was it some kind of deep fried cheese dish?

The first thing to know is that Parmesan is actually pronounced Parmo (I made this mistake so you don't have to my friends). And the second thing to know is that a Parmesan is actually breaded chicken, fried and then topped with béchamel sauce.

I've been wanting to try and recreate this at home for a while now. The feedback from the Boro native was that it might not be 100% authentic (not enough grease I suspect) but it was exceptionally tasty.



Serve your Parmesan with oven chips and a sharp little salad of cherry tomatoes dressed in balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts
1 slice of bread from a medium white loaf
10g Parmesan, finely grated
Tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp crushed dried chillies
1 egg white
10g butter
10g plus 1/2 tsp flour
200ml skimmed milk
35g Cheddar, grated
Scant tsp of mustard

Serves 2, 10 pro points per portion

First, bread your chicken. Under a sheet of clingfilm, pound out the fillets until they are roughly a centimetre thick all over.

Make the breadcrumbs mixture by blitzing up the bread and combining with the thyme, chilli and half the Parmesan plus seasoning.

Sprinkle the chicken with the half teaspoon of flour then dip in the egg white and then the breadcrumbs. Turn the fillets several time in the crumbs, patting the crust on firmly. Leave the fillets in the fridge for half an hour or so to firm up.

Meanwhile, make the béchamel. Melt the butter over a low heat and add the remaining flour. Now add the milk, little by little, stirring briskly to ensure no lumps. When all the milk is incorporated and the sauce is smooth, season and stir through the mustard, the Cheddar and the rest of the Parmesan.

Preheat the oven to 200. Now, in a non stick pan over a medium high heat pan fry the chicken for a couple of minutes on each side then transfer to an oven proof dish and spoon over the cheese sauce. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the sauce is browned and bubbling.

Serve and eat while reflecting on the vagaries of language.

Mid week check in

Two and a half days in to this slightly curtailed week and I am rocking it (as the kidz say. At least they might do - at thirty one I don't really know; I eschewed Radio 1 for Radio 2 a good while ago).

Anyway, after a tough day on Tuesday getting back into the swing of things, things have become easier - as they always do. I'm feeling positive, strong and happy, sticking to points and meal plans. A loss on Monday would be nice but it sometimes takes time to get things moving so we'll see how it goes.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend - try to be good, and if you're going to be bad then for goodness sake do it properly!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

On losing that losin' feelin'

Well, weighed in this morning after a frankly nail biting weekend at the London marathon and for the second week in a row the scales crept upwards.

There will be no beating up of self, no tears and recriminations, however there will be some musing as to why I've floundered.

So #1 - a long weekend away after a week of holiday meant that I never quite got my head back in the game. Which is daft in the extreme - I had a Sunday, a Monday, a Tuesday, a Wednesday AND a Thursday to be on track and that might have mitigated any weekend shenanigans. Lesson learned - don't ever hesitate to get back to tracking even if you know it will only be for a couple of days.

#2 - People running a marathon are supposed to carb load in the run up to the race. People who are only watching a marathon probably should not do so with QUITE as much enthusiasm. If you want to eat like a runner you have to, y'know, run.

I've been on track today and it has been really, really hard. There was some proper, light headed, wobbly hunger this afternoon and a misplaced fancy for one of the bottles of lager currently lurking in the fridge on the journey home - overcome by a banana and a cup of tea respectively. Baby steps, but as long as they are in the right direction this week that'll be enough.

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Meal Planning, er, Tuesday

One day late....


After last week's pasta glut, this week it appears to be the turn of the humble spud to take centre stage. Not what you might call entirely balanced but never mind. I like potatoes.

So - meal plan:

Tonight - chicken Kiev with mash and veg. I had a retro craving! I'll make extra mash to go inthe fridge for...

Salmon fishcakes later this week. With salad.

I'll also be serving seabass in fennel butter with new potatoes and, if the fennel bulb in the bottom of the fridge is still viable, braise it as an additional side.

Friday sees the return of the fakeaway! This week I will be taking on the (in)famous Teesside Parmo.

And then my weekend treat will be haggis - with neeps (mashed) and tatties (roasted) on Saturday and in toastie form on Sunday.

As always, head over to Mrs M's for more meal planning fun.

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This is what a two pound gain looks like...

Want to see some Instagrammed pictures of food? Of course you do! I just wish I could apply an Instagram filter to my life and wander around slightly sepia tinged and out of focus…

So. All good holidays start with lunch. Ours started with lunch in one of our favourite restaurants in the world, J. Baker’s – (D needed sustenance for the seven hour drive the next day). I have waxed lyrical about this place before but I’m astounded that after years of going there to eat we haven’t had a duff course, let alone a duff meal. I just wish I could eat there every day.

Lunch #1

The delicate cauliflower whip with curry oil (pictured above) was followed by a superlative dish of mackerel with a giant couscous salad, then “Blood Balls” with a pork and potato “pie”, an excellent plate of cheese and finally a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry and stout foam. All blissful, although the lightly spiced mackerel just about won the best dish of the day prize and had me frantically scribbling notes on the back of a napkin as to how I could go about recreating it at home.

Lunch the next day was perhaps more rustic, but delicious nonetheless. This is the second year running that we have stopped off at the Clachaig Inn on the drive up to Ardnamurchan and it didn’t disappoint. We ordered a selection of starters (“Scottish tapas!” laughed the barmaid – “Exactly!” said we) of excellent quality produce.

Lunch #2

And here we see smoked salmon, black pudding, haggis and venison pastrami all served with the ubiqutous oatcakes. I do love a nice oatcake, particularly if it is topped with some form of spiced offal.

While for the majority of the week our lunch consisted of picnic sandwiches and possibly the best brownies in the world ever (or slices of a very interesting beetroot cake that my parents had picked up from a Dumfries’ farm shop) we did manage to squeeze in a trip to the very lovely Café Fish on the Isle of Mull. Again, I think that this is a venue I’ve praised before but it is well worth a trip – and the Good Food Guide agrees with me, calling it their fish restaurant of the year 2012!

Lunch #3

The beauty of Café Fish is that it treats the excellent local produce with respect. There’s not a lot of flashy cooking going on here, but really, when you have beautiful ingredients, there doesn’t need to be.

Of course three indulgent lunches alone do not a two pound gain make (at least, I don’t think so) but factor in some whisky and some wine, some excellent Scottish cheese and (whisper it) a homecoming pizza and you begin to see where that pesky 32 ounces might have come from. Still, onwards and downwards eh, comrades?

Recipe corner - whisky and stem ginger brownies

I can’t really take credit for these brownies. Which is a shame because they are seriously, seriously good.

They came about because of an unsatisfactory Starbucks brownie. D’s, not mine I hasten to add, I’m not that bad at weight watching! Anyway, the brownie was disappointingly dry so I rashly declared that I would bake some myself that we could take up to Scotland with us and that they would be as satisfyingly damp and fudgy as brownies should be. “If they’re going to Scotland,” said he, “They should have a Scottish theme.” And so the whisky and ginger brownie concept was born.

I’m not the biggest fan of alcohol and chocolate in combination – odd when you consider how much I adore the two things separately. But the whisky here is not in your face, it just adds a subtle spiciness that works incredibly well with the chocolate and the little zinging pieces of ginger. You could add a little ground ginger to the flour if you wanted to make the taste slightly more overt.

At 6 pro points a piece, these are obviously not the lowest point option treat in the world but they’re about the same as a chocolate bar – and well worth the expenditure in my opinion. Fortunately they keep excellently well – for at least two weeks in a tin, or even freeze, so one is denied any excuse to scoff the lot in one sitting.

Ingredients

185g unsalted butter
185g dark chocolate
85g plain flour
40g cocoa
50g white chocolate chips (I used buttons here)
50g stem ginger, chopped
2tbsp whisky
3 eggs
275g golden caster sugar

Makes 20, 6 pro points per brownie

Prepare your (approximately) 20cm square tin (I spray mine lightly with oil and put baking parchment in the base) and preheat your oven (180 or 160 for a fan).

For this recipe you’re going to require three bowls. In your first bowl, place your dark chocolate, butter and whisky. You are going to melt these together – you could do this over a bowl of simmering water but I think by far the easiest way is to use the microwave. A couple of minutes at a medium setting should suffice – give it a brisk stir every thirty seconds or so to ensure that nothing untoward is happening. Once the mixture is melted and glossy, set aside and allow to cool slightly.

Now you can sieve your flour and cocoa powder together in a second bowl. Add any spices at this stage, and perhaps a decent pinch of salt.

The eggs and sugar will require whisking together until pale and doubled in volume – this took about a minute in my beloved Kitchen Aid.

Gently, gently take your cooled chocolate and fold it into the whisked eggs: a rubber spatula works well here. You need to be very careful and fold as opposed to stir so that you retain the air you have whipped in. Once the chocolate is incorporated, sieve (again) the cocoa and flour mixture into the mix and again, fold it gently in. Perseverance is required here as it will take a while to come together. Finally, stir through the chocolate chips and ginger pieces.

Pour into the tin and bake for 25 minutes. The difficulty with brownies is to know whether they are ready or not – a skewer inserted into the cake should have some crumbs clinging to it and the top should be shiny and crisp looking and starting to come away from the sides of the tin. I also found that as I removed it from the oven it had the slightest hint of a wobble to the middle of it which had disappeared less than a minute later. The resulting brownies were the perfect amount of squishy.

I’m linking this up to Mrs M’s April Recipe Link party to spread the word – boozy brownies for all!

Meal planning Monday - and a post holiday encounter with the scales

Just a quickie this morning - the wanderer has returned and her inbox is quite full.

So, post holiday weigh in – done, and two pounds on. For over a week of indulgence that’s not too bad at all and with a bit of effort on my part should swiftly disappear.

Meal planning – well, it’s a short week this week as we’re off down to London on Thursday. I don’t think I’ve mentioned on here yet, but D is running the London Marathon. He has therefore requested plenty of pasta on the menu which suits me – I love the stuff.

I’m planning a shop for tomorrow so today need to cope with the rather meagre contents of the cupboard, so that old faithful standby macaroni cheese will make an appearance tonight.

I’ve got some of these meatballs in the fridge – I was intrigued to know what a Tees Valley meatball tasted like, so we’ll have them tomorrow with spaghetti. A pack is only supposed to be one portion, so I’ll bolster the meal with a rocket and Parmesan salad and some garlic bread.

And on Wednesday I’ll be trying this yummy looking sausage pasta dish from Jenny’s lovely blog – sausages, cream, mustard – can’t be bad!

As always, plenty more meal planning fun going on at Mrs M’s.

Out of Office

In a couple of days time we'll be here!

Ardnamurchan - the place is prettier than the name

I'm so looking forward to this holiday.  I really need a good blast of fresh air to get rid of all those cobwebs.

Hopefully all the walking will offset all the eating and I will not come back significantly heavier.

So adieu for the time being, and may you have a very happy and peaceful Easter.

Scottish sheep!

2012 Quarter 1 - Review

It's hard to believe that we are one quarter of the way through 2012. Well, it is for me, but then I am perpetually surprised to discover that it is no longer 1996 and that Robbie has returned to Take That and left again.

Time for a progress review I think and time, too, to look back at the resolutions I made in January. Or was it December? See, perpetually confused.

Firstly - what was the news from the scales this morning? Well, a (nearly) booze free week and three gym trips paid obviously paid dividends as I tracked a four pound loss. That means last week’s gain is knocked squarely on the head and an extra two and a half pounds come off for good measure. It also means that I have achieved my aim to lose a stone and a half for Easter. Cue an excited little jig.

Looking back at my results since January (all of which are tracked on a spreadsheet – of course I’m that sad!) I see I’m averaging a loss of 1.7 lbs a week, which is just where it should be.

I wish I could understand why it is that I’ve managed to make such steady, consistent progress over these last three months, unprecedented in the history of this blog. Certainly, the fact that there has been no particular pressure on me seems to be a good thing, so I shall continue with my policy of little or no goal setting. I’ve also, looking back, noticed that I’ve never before actually regularly quantified my gains or losses on here – so I’m going to keep up with that as the accountability obviously helps.

What else? Well, meal planning – that needs to be continued. Although there is no meal planning post today (one or both of us is out most evenings this week) I’ve done this most weeks and that structure has made it a lot easier to keep away from the takeaway menus. What’s fascinating as well is the variety of food that we have been eating – there aren’t many meals have been served twice in 2012.

My gym attendance is still not quite where it could be, but at least I am attending. I’m getting to the stage now where my overall fitness is reasonable enough that I’m thinking about going back to one or two of the classes that I used to enjoy on a regular basis. I’ll never love exercise – and, to be honest, I think I could lose the weight with WW alone, but there is no question that it does give one a virtuous glow.

Overall, sterling work across January, February and March. Not perfect – but then I’ve stopped requiring perfection of myself and it seems to make life a hell of a lot easier! Roll on quarter two…

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.

Recipe Corner - Winter Minestrone soup (just in time for spring...)

Providing a soup recipe always feels like a bit of a cop out. I mean, the basic premise of soup is: cook ingredients, blitz, consume. But a hearty, tasty soup is the dieter’s friend. Soup is, apparently, more filling than consuming food and water separately. It said so on the BBC website. But I could have told you that from anecdotal evidence; I NEVER have soup as a starter when I go out to eat because I never fancy a full meal afterwards.

This soup is particularly robust, and you get a generous portion for the points. I do recommend blitzing some of it, which is not usual with any sort of minestrone, because the whizzed up potatoes and beans provide an almost creamy texture which makes the soup feel more luxurious than otherwise.

If you have the points the pesto croutons are a lovely addition.

Ingredients

For the soup:
Tbsp olive oil
90g (approx 3 rashers) back bacon, chopped
200g (approx 1 medium) potato, peeled and diced
1 tin (200g drained weight) of haricot beans (drained and rinsed)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
Onion, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tin of tomatoes
750ml chicken stock
2 tsp dried sage
40g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

For the croutons:
4 slices of bread from a medium white loaf, cut into squares
Tbsp olive oil
40g pesto sauce

Serves 4, 5 pro points per portion for the soup with an additional 5 pro points per portion for the pesto croutons

Chop your vegetables as desired – I prefer a fine dice for this sort of soup.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the bacon and onion for about five minutes. Keep the heat quite low so that the fat renders from the bacon and the onion turns golden brown.

Now add the carrot, celery and potato dice and the crushed garlic and cook for a few more minutes.

Next go in the tomatoes, stock and sage, plus seasoning as required (remember the stock and the bacon will be quite salty), bring to the boil and then reduce and simmer for around 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain and rinse the beans and prepare your croutons. Slice the bread into squares, mix the oil and the pesto and toss the bread in the mixture. Season. Preheat the oven to 180.

After 30 minutes, add the beans to the pan and continue to simmer. Place the croutons in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Grate the Parmesan.

Just prior to removing the croutons from the oven, take about a third of the soup (ensuring you have a good range of the diced ingredients) and whizz up in a blender until smooth. Return to the pan. Check the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or sage as necessary.

Serve, sprinkled with Parmesan and the pesto croutons (or not, if you’re feeling virtuous).

So what’s new with you?

Or, the Foodie tries so you don’t have to…

So, firstly, let’s talk chocolate cheese. Cadburys Philadelphia Light. This particular product has the Weight Watchers messageboards aflame (in so far as an internet messageboard can ever said to be aflame…) and, frankly, with good reason. If you like chocolate cheesecake then it is very important that you try some of this glorious stuff soon. The mini pots, or a 30g serving from a fullsize pot, are 2 pro points. You can smear it on toast, or cake, or biscuits, or fruit, or just eat it with a spoon. Luscious.

Image from The Grocer website.  May provoke attempts to break through computer screen with a spoon.

 And next up on my product review list is an epic fail. Lurpak Lightest. I bought it out of interest because I like Lurpak and think the Lighter version is a pretty good ingredient to have in one’s fridge for cooking purposes (as opposed to smearing purposes – if you’re having butter on toast or crumpets etc. then it needs to be the proper stuff.) The Lightest is obviously a step too far. I had to melt it for use in a banana loaf – it looked like scary alien mucus and refused to cream properly with the sugar. I then (foolishly) attempted to use it as the basis for a white sauce. Terrible. I have never before had to sieve a white sauce, but the roux just would not cook out properly. And, it doesn’t taste nice. It may be low in points (1 pro point per 10g serving) but that is all that can be said for it.

Meal Planning Monday - 26th March 2012

Well, we all knew it was coming eventually - small gain on the scales for me this morning, quite expected what with my lack of focus last week.  It's a temporary blip though, I'm still keen to get to that stone and a half mark before I head to Scotland, so Virtuous is my watchword this week.

With that in mind, what will we be eating chez nous?

Tonight we're having cheesy chicken and leek pie, with roasted broccoli on the side (D may get some mash but I'm abstaining - see what I mean about virtuous?)

For the rest of the week: the winter minestrone soup, which didn't get made last week is back on the menu despite the fact that it is no longer winter.

The broad beans are still propagating in my freezer - do the damn things breed in there???  So spaghetti with broad beans, peas and goats' cheese one night.  D has requested chilli con carne - a favourite of his, so that's lined up - a good slow cooker dish for an evening where I feel like minimal effort.

Oh, and did you know it's bacon connoisseurs week?  So the lovely Jenny tells me, and I'm always one to mark a Week...we've got some decent bacon and one night we're going to have good old bacon sarnies.  I thought about doing something a little more adventurous, but really, you can't beat a bacon sandwich.

And that gets us to the weekend.  There may well be another pie in our near future, as I have some game mix in the freezer and we're fast leaving pie weather behind us (we hope) but we'll see.

As always, head over to Mrs M's for more meal planning fun.