Day 12: Mull - the art of scones

Hidden away in a forest, about 12 miles from the town of Tobermory, is a gorgeous little walk through a forest called (I think) "Art in Nature". Someone has gone to the trouble of installing some beautiful sculptures into the forest itself. And, at the end, you emerge onto a white-sanded beach called Calgary Bay. It's idyllic, well worth checking out if you ever find yourself on Mull.

What I especially like is that it begins (or ends, depending on preference) with a tearoom. All good walks should involve cups of strong tea and fruited scones slathered with butter and jam. The scones at Calgary were golden and crumbly and lightly scented with cinnamon which is a splendid idea that I intend to pilfer when next I bake scones, which I do not do nearly enough.

A Very Good Day.

Diet averse

Stew!  (Image taken from deliciousmagazine.co.uk)

I was on the phone to my Mum the other day, discussing cancelling my subscription to Weight Watchers magazine because I found the recipes a bit “diet-ey”. Which D found amusing for some reason – “Of course they’re dietey,” he said, “It’s a diet magazine.”

I HATE the word diet – although dietey sounds a bit like doughty which I like...but the word diet, and the concept of diet food, stinks of deprivation and misery and steamed vegetables. I can’t count the number of times I’ve read some skinny sleb or other enthusiastically saying that their dinner tends to consist of grilled chicken and steamed veg. I bet they don’t leave the skin on the chicken either. If I thought I had to live on that for the rest of my life I’d attempt hari kiri with a piece of blunt spaghetti.

Take this week, for example. Among other things I’ve put away a great slab of sirloin steak and a rather delicious split pea and ham soup with a crusty, buttered roll for dunking. On Tuesday, I tucked into a hearty beef and red wine stew which I’d found lurking in the freezer, served up with Cheddar dumplings*, mashed potato and creamy leeks. I’ve sampled the new, limited edition Penny Pigs (I assume Penny is Percy’s girlfriend; she is lemon flavoured in any case), eaten several segments of chocolate orange, and a good few fistfuls of Maltesers. None of these things are dietey, or dietesque, in the slightest.

There are concessions, of course there are. I mean, I’m finally learning a bit of portion control – the steaks may have been huge, but there were no potatoes on the side because they just weren’t required and the Maltesers were weighed out. The “creamy” leeks were made with half fat Philadelphia. I haven’t had any wine. I’ve exercised. But, I suppose the point I’m trying to make, is that the concessions have been, relatively speaking, fairly small. I’ve been able to enjoy what I’ve eaten safe in the knowledge that it is a million miles away from a joyless plate of chickenandveg.

And at the scales today, I’d somehow managed to lose 6.5 pounds. I’m willing to make a few concessions for success like that.

*For the recipe, pictured above, pop across to the Delicious magazine website – according to the nutritional info it works out at a pretty reasonable 10 pro points per portion.



Recipe corner – Aubergine and red lentil curry

I haven’t added a recipe in a while, probably because my cooking has been somewhat desultory. But I’ve resolved to turn over a new leaf. Last night, I came home and whipped up not only a batch of the above curry but also of chilli con carne in about an hour. Very Nigella Express.

So this particular recipe is taken, more or less completely, from the Delicious magazine website. I cook it quite a lot because – well, I like it. It is great for a midweek supper and I tend to take the remaining portions for lunch over the following days – curry always tends to improve in flavour with a bit of sitting time and it’s nice and filling with maybe a pitta bread on the side for dunking.

In general, I am a big fan of pounding up spices to make my own paste if I’m making curry, but in this case you’ll notice that it comes out of a jar – a minor cheat but it does make this incredibly quick to do. Last night I had points to spare, so had not only this and a 60g portion of basmati rice (3 points) but also half a naan bread (3.5 points).

Ingredients

1 large aubergine, finely diced
1 green pepper, diced
Tsp (or more if you’re into a bit of heat) chilli powder
Tbsp vegetable oil
Onion, chopped
Tsp black mustard seeds
150g red lentils
2 tbsp curry paste (use your favourite. Or make your own if you’re feeling it)
450ml vegetable stock

Serves 4, 2.5 points per person

Preheat over to 190. Toss the aubergine and the pepper in the oil and the chilli powder, season well and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes until soft and beginning to brown.

Meanwhile, soften the onion in the pan for about five minutes before adding the mustard seeds. Wait for the seeds to start popping before stirring through the curry paste and the lentils.

Pour over the stock, and simmer for 15-20 mins, or until the lentils are soft.

Stir through the roasted vegetables prior to serving. You could also add fresh coriander at this point should you so wish.

A little bit of midweek luxury

Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs has been my go-to birthday breakfast for years.  As a young girl, I thought it was the absolute height of sophistication.  Obviously nowadays a dish can't be called sophisticated unless it is strewn with dust or covered in foam.  But the combination of tastes and textures - oh, it may not be cutting edge but it is still one of my absolute favourite food marriages.

In general I have found that I (and perhaps this is true of dieters in general) count among my favourite foods some pretty non WW friendly stuff.  Cheese - yep, that's a no no unless you are one of those weirdos who can actually eat cheese in fingernail sized portions.  Butter - spread so thick that you leave teeth marks in it naturally.  Real mayonnaise, ghee laden curries...OK, I'll stop now.  It's quite rare that a genuine favourite can be served up unless it has been tweaked and skinnified and made just a little bit less unctuous - after all, it is often the fat content that is responsible for that silky mouth feel.

Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs is not one of these dishes.  In days gone by, I'd add a knob of butter to the pan before throwing in the eggs but I've found a similar creaminess can be achieved by stirring through a spoonful of extra light soft cheese at the end.  And because the salmon itself is naturally rich and oily I don't think the dish is any the less.

It's moved from being the exclusive preserve of breakfasts to being a favourite, quick and easy midweek supper nowadays and I have to say, I always look forward to it.  Tonight, two large double yoker eggs and a generous (60g) portion of smoked salmon finished in the pan with a tablespoon of Philly piled on top of a slice of wholemeal toast came in at a very reasonable 7.5 points.  I feel satiated but I also feel like I've had a real naughty treat, and there are points left in the bank!  A very good end to the day.

Stop press!

From the BBC website:

Tea is "healthier" drink than water!

Now that kind of thing makes this true-blue Brit tea drinking obsessive very happy.