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  1. Perfectly Simple Hollandaise for Two

    December 25, 2013 by Lisa

    Whenever I make hollandaise sauce, I find that I make way too much. I’ve also messed it up a few times as it’s a bit of a pfaff. This recipe is apparently from McGees on Cooking and is as easy as it gets.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 egg yolks
    • 125g cold butter
    • 1/8 of a lemon
    • 1 tablespoon water

    Place the egg yolks, water and butter in a small saucepan over low heat and whisk constantly. Don’t let up or leave it. When the butter is melted, turn the heat up to medium and continue to whisk until thickened, squeeze in lemon to taste and add some salt and white pepper (black pepper is just as tasty, but less traditional and not quite as pretty). Serve immediately or keep warm in a thermos.

    Job done. Perfectly silky, delicious and just the right amount for two eggs Benedict or two generous portions of asparagus.

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  2. Fast day Cocido de Gambas & brown Mexican rice

    July 1, 2013 by Lisa

    Fast days can be a challenge, but when you have a hearty meal like this to look forward to, it becomes much easier. And at less than 300 calories, it makes it even easier still.

    Cocido de Gambas (82 calories per serving – serves 4)

    • 800 ml liter vegetable broth (it’s easy to make from scratch, so don’t bother with a stock cube)
    • 200g pointed cabbage
    • 2 medium carrots
    • 50g white mushrooms
    • 100g large King Prawns
    • 1 fresh red chili pepper, sliced
    • Juice of half a lemon
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Slice the cabbage into large slices, the carrots into large chunks and the mushrooms in half. Cook the carrots, mushrooms and cabbage until tender, add the red pepper and prawns and cook until the prawns are red. Squeeze the lemon and add salt and pepper.

    Brown Mexican Rice (212 calories per serving, serves 4)

    • 200g Wholegrain brown rice
    • 1 liter boiling water, with one chicken stock cube
    • 2 teaspoons tomato puree
    • half a medium onion, chopped
    • 1 teaspoon olive oil
    • Salt and pepper to taste

    Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion and cook until soft. Add the rice and cook for a minute or so. Add the tomato puree and stock. Cover and cook until tender, adding additional water if needed. It should take about 25-35 minutes.

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  3. fast day foods

    June 28, 2013 by Lisa

    Until about 2 years ago, I never dieted a day in my life. I was one of those people whose metabolism just seemed to keep me at one weight consistently. I only lost weight if I was ill, but never gained anything more than I was when I was 18. Sadly, this is no longer true. So, a few months ago I tried to shift those extra pounds by restricting my calorie intake to 1200 per day and getting a bit more exercise.

    But I found it was shockingly hard to do. I could stay under once or twice, but generally I’d go over. Sometimes by a hundred or so, but often by several hundred. It only took a pint of Guinness.

    Recently I read about intermittent fasting via the 5:2 Fast Diet. With this you eat normally 5 days a week, but for 2 days, you restrict your calories to a measly 500 (600 for men). I won’t go on about it – go to the website, read the book, do a search online. It’s a good idea, based on good science and I’m just starting to try it now. I’m only on Fast Day 4, but I’ve seen good results already. The fast days are pretty easy and my “feast days” are actually less calorie filled than normal. I’ve lost 3 pounds in a week and a half and already feel better. I’ve also given up bread for the most part (OK, not entirely).

    Eating only 500 calories a day means making those calories count and I’m also enjoying the challenge of coming up with tasty, filling and healthy meals. When I come up with something new, I’ll post it here, along with calorie counts. The other 5 days a week, I’ll be pulling from my other calorie-filled recipes without guilt or calorie counting.

    Wish me luck and hope you enjoy the recipes!

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  4. Carne Asada

    October 29, 2012 by Lisa

    This was my dad’s favourite dish, and it’s become a family favourite now as well. Carne Asada uses skirt steak, a quite magical bit of meat that you may have to buy from a butcher as it’s not generally sold in the packaged meats sections of the supermarket.

    Cut from the lower plate on top of the ribs, skirt is one of the cheapest and most flavourful cuts of beef, ‘though certainly not the most tender so Carne Asada is a perfect way to make the most of it. It’s a great recipe for parties (of dedicated carnivores) as you can easily feed 4 people for not much more than £5.

    Ingredients:

    • A cut of skirt steak (1 kilo for 4 people, depending on the accompaniments)
    Marinade:
    • 4 or more fresh red or jalepeno chilis
    • 1/4 cup olive oil
    • Juice of 2 or 3 limes
    • 1/4 cup vinegar
    • a good handful of fresh chopped or 3 tablespoons of dried oregano
    • Salt and pepper to taste

    Place the steak in a large casserole or lasagna pan, cover with the marinade and leave for 2 to 6 hours.

    Carne Asada is best and most traditional on the barbeque and even in the winter is well worth dragging it out from the shed. Otherwise, fry it in a grill pan. It’s important that it’s served rare, as overcooking will make it tough. You can tell it’s rare by giving it a little push with the side of a fork or your finger – it will still be soft and slightly “wobbly”.

    Slice the meat in long thin pieces across the grain and serve with flour torillas, guacamole, pico de gallo, mexican rice and beans. Serve cheese enchiladas as well t o make it go further.

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  5. Red Beans and Rice

    September 11, 2012 by Lisa

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFeKQEnaznY

    We haven’t added a new dish to our daily repertoire in ages, but this one is definitely on the list!

    Red Beans and Rice is possibly Louisiana’s most famous dish after gumbo and was traditionally a Monday meal, using the bones from the Sunday ham as its base. My version doesn’t use the ham bone or hock as they’re not that easy to get here so somewhat lacks the smokey taste. I also can’t abide green peppers so use sweet red peppers instead. And finally, an authentic dish also features Andouille sausage but there’s no chance of getting that in England! Nevertheless, it’s full of flavour, easy to make and cheap as chips.

    Ingredients:

    • 4 pork shoulder steaks
    • 2 cans kidney beans
    • 6 cups water
    • 1 chopped sweet red Romano chili pepper (the large ones)
    • 1 cup finely chopped celery
    • Half a large onion, finely chopped
    • 3 cloves garlic – minced
    • 1 tsp dried oregano
    • 1 tsp dried chili flake
    • Salt and pepper to taste

    Brown the steaks in a little oil in a large pot, add the chopped vegetables, herbs and water and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 and a half to 2 hours until the meat is very tender and can be shredded easily.

    Drain the beans and add to the pot and cook another 45 minutes. The liquid should be quite thick rather than brothy, so you may need to keep the lid off or even raise the heat to get the water to reduce.

    Serve over white rice! Corn bread is the perfect accompaniment but we also like to eat it with white corn tortillas because we’re like that.

    And just to prove what an inspiration this dish is, a poem from my friend Louise:

    Victor Hernández Cruz, Red Beans

    Next to white rice
    it looks like coral
    sitting next to snow

    Hills of starch
    border
    The burnt sienna
    of irony
    Azusenas being chased by
    the terra cotta feathers
    of a rooster
    There is a lava flow
    through the smoking
    white mounds

    India red
    spills on ivory

    Ochre cannon balls
    falling
    next to blanc pebbles

    Red beans and milk
    make burgundy wine

    Violet pouring
    from the eggshell
    tinge of the plate.

     

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  6. Mushroom butter and red wine sauce

    March 23, 2012 by Lisa

    A very nice steak sauce and a good way to use the butter that a side of mushrooms are cooked in.

    Ingredients:

    • Sliced or button mushrooms
    • 1/4 cup butter
    • 2 tbsp plain flour
    • 1/2 glass red wine
    • 1 beef bullion cube dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water (or 1/2 cup reduced beef stock)
    • Salt
    • A generous amount of freshly ground pepper

    Sauté the mushrooms in the butter over a low heat until browned. Remove the mushrooms and set aside. Add the red wine and cook for 5 minutes until the alcohol is cooked off. Whisk in the flour one tablespoon at a time until smooth. Slowly add the beef stock.

    Enough for two steaks.

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  7. Oatmeal Cookies

    March 21, 2012 by Lisa

    This recipe makes nice chunky cookies that won’t go flat when cooked. The additional flour means they are ever so slightly cakey, but still chewy inside and crisp on the outside. I used both self-raising flour, soda and baking powder, which may seem like over-kill, but it works out in this case. An alternative would be plain flour and then double the quantities of soda and powder, but that’s another experiment for a later date.

    Ingredients:

    • 4 oz butter (1/2 cup / 113g) – room temperature
    • 1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup (100g) white sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla
    • 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) baking powder
    • 1/2 (5ml) tsp salt
    • 1 cup (128g) self-raising flour
    • 1 1/2 (128g) cups rolled oats (porridge oats)
    • 1 cup chopped dates, chocolate chips, nuts, raisins or any combination of the same (optional)

    Cream together the sugars and the butter with an electric mixer. You can use a spoon, but it will take a while – the result should be fluffy and well-mixed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt and mix into the sugar mixture. Add the oats and then the other ingredients if you’re using them. Refrigerate the mixture for an hour or so.

    Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan/350F). This cookie mix will be very stiff, so you’ll need to roll it into loose walnut-sized balls – about 2 inches in diameter – and place on a non-stick cookie sheet. Cook for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

     

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  8. Homemade “Rice-a-Roni”

    March 10, 2012 by Lisa


    Rice-A-Roni was one of those favourite packaged foods I grew up with.

    There are a lot of Rice-A-Roni recipes out there – most of them identical, but none has really captured that Rice-A-Roni taste for me.  This one is the closest I’ve managed to get.

    The original uses vermicelli, but that’s hard to find and spaghetti is a poor substitute. The important ingredient here is the orzo – a rice-shaped pasta. This seemed to make all the difference.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 cup long grain rice
    • 1/2 cup orzo
    • 1/4 cup of butter
    • 1/2 a small onion
    • 1-2 cloves garlic
    • 2 1/2 cups water
    • 3 chicken stock cubes
    • Salt and pepper to taste

    Disolve the stock cubes in 2 1/2 cups of boiling water. Saute the onion in the butter in a skillet and when softened, add the rice and pasta and cook until the rice is semi-transparent (ish). Crush the garlic into the mixture and add the stock. Cover and simmer over a low heat until the rice is tender (15-20 minutes).

    Done.

    Disappointingly, I can’t find an original ad as the jingle is inexorably linked with this side dish for me, but here’s the jingle with someone’s vacation photos:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1-TdlaxQmQ

     

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  9. Pear Crumble

    March 7, 2012 by Lisa

    Crumble topping:

    • 100g plain flour
    • Half a block of butter
    • 40g porridge oats
    • 100g brown sugar
    • 1/4 tsp salt

    Pear filling:

    • 4 pears, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 tsp caster sugar
    • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 2 tsp cornflour

    Preheat oven to 180°C. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, combine the butter, salt, brown sugar and flour until crumbly. Mix the pears, vanilla, cinnamon, caster sugar and cornflour in a separate bowl. Place a thin layer of crumble on the bottom of a medium baking dish then pour in the pear mixture and cover with the remaining crumble mixture. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden and crunchy.

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  10. Mexican Chorizo

    March 2, 2012 by Lisa

    I get confused looks in the UK when I wax lyrical about Mexican Chorizo and its uniquely greasy properties. Unlike Spanish Chorizo, the Mexican sort is a fresh sausage that’s rarely eaten in sauasage form (at least I’ve never eaten that way, though a friend mentioned barbequing them). Of course there’s nothing like it available here, so I have to make it myself.

    Previous versions have had neither the colour, flavour nor requisite greasiness for me and this one isn’t quite right either so check back for improvements. This version uses dried Guajillo chilis, but you can just as easily use Anchos. Try the Cool Chili Company for mail order or you can pop into Taqueria, their little restaurant in Notting Hill.

    You could use pre-ground pork, but I like the way the ingredients grind together when done this way. You also have more control of the quality of the meat and the amount of fat you use. By all means, use less fat, but it won’t be as good!

    Ingredients:

    • 750g fresh pork, heavy on the fat – about 20%
    • 4 dried Guajillo Chilis
    • 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
    • 1/2 small onion, chopped finely
    • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped or pressed
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon cumin
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
    • 1 teaspoon oregano
    • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
    • 1 tablespoon chili flakes
    • 1 tablespoon Habanero Tabasco
    • 2 teaspoons salt

    Make sure all your ingredients, bowls and blades are cold before starting – this will help prevent your grinder from clogging up. Chop the pork into 1 inch cubes and lay on a tray and freeze until very cold, but not rock hard or it’ll never go through the grinder.

    Soak the dried chilis in hot water until soft and remove the seeds and stems. Place them, the vinegar and the other spices in a blender or food processor and combine until they form a thick red paste. Chill the mixture as well.

    Spread the spice mixture on the pork and grind together. Refrigerate for an hour or longer (the longer you leave it, the more intense the flavours.

    Fry with egg and serve wrapped in a flour tortilla. Traditionally accompanied by skillet fried potatoes, but I also like it with Mexican rice.

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