Dinner Wednesday 23 May - Tofu with Mushrooms & Bean Sprouts in Oyster Sauce

Tofu with Mushrooms & Bean Sprouts in Oyster Sauce
1 thumb ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, crushed
100g Shanghai style deep fried tofu
190g bean sprouts
125g mushrooms, sliced
70g mange tout
50g ho fan noodles
2 tablespoons soy sauce
80g oyster sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour
100ml water
1 tsp sesame oil
3 spring onions, sliced
Stir fry the ginger & garlic with the slivered mushrooms in a non-stick wok sprayed with a little oil. Add a little water, a tablespoon or so at a time, if needed.

When the mushrooms are cooked to your liking, add the mange tout, bean sprouts, tofu, soy sauce and oyster sauce and combine well.

Add the water mixed with the cornflour and sesame oil and cook over high heat until thickened and everything is coated with sauce,

Add the cooked noodles and spring onions and combine quickly - do not overcook or the noodles will turn to mush. Serve at once.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 634.7
Carbohydrate (g) 88.6
Protein (g) 39.4
Fat (g) 15.2
Fibre (g) 8.2

Lunch Wednesday 23 May - Runner Bean, Artichoke & Tomato Salad

Runner Bean, Artichoke & Tomato Salad
20g Manuka honey
10ml olive oil
2 teaspoons mustard
juice 1/2 lemon
100g canned artichoke hearts
150g runner beans, cooked
160g Santini tomatoes
2 spring onions, sliced

handful parsley
50g cos lettuce
Again, there is no real recipe here. Just make a dressing of the honey, oil, mustard and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Combine the runner beans, artichoke hearts, spring onions and tomatoes. Add the dressing & parsley and combine. Pile on a bed of shredded romaine lettuce and serve.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 348.4
Carbohydrate (g) 28.7
Protein (g) 6.8
Fat (g) 23.4
Fibre (g) 9.9

Breakfast Wednesday 23 May - Strawberries and coffee

Had a small punnet of strawberries and some coffee for breakfast. Still feeling rather crap.

Dinner Tuesday 22 May - Mushroom & Cheese Omelette

Mushroom & Cheese Omelette
125g mushrooms
1 pat herb butter
2 eggs
40g half fat cheddar (I used some of the Leskol cheddar)
15ml single cream
few sprigs parsley, chopped
Saute the mushrooms in the Herb Butter until softened and cooked. Add the cream & the parsley.
Spray a non-stick skillet with a little olive oil and make a two egg omelette. When just starting to set, fill the omelette with the cooked mushrooms and cheese. Cook until as set as you like your eggs and serve with a few cherry tomatoes.

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 392.7
Protein (g) 28.1
Carbohydrate (g) 1.2
Fat (g) 30.4
Fibre (g) 1.5

I like my omelettes browned and puffy, so I usually cover them and cook over low heat for about five minutes after adding the filling. The cover makes them rise and puff up.

I know that most people will tell you that eggs are to be just barely set, but I say cook them how you like them. I don't like rubbery eggs, but I don't like them slimy either.

Lunch Tuesday 22 May - Fusilli with Santini Tomatoes & Prawns

Fusilli with Santini Tomatoes & Prawns

75g wholewheat fusilli, cooked
5ml olive oil
2-3 red chillis, chopped
1 garlic, crushed
5ml olive oil
150g red & yellow mixed Santini cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
90g prawns
handful fresh basil leaves
Add the olive oil to a non-stick skillet. Cook the garlic and chillis for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and cook until they are heated through and starting to soften; about 5 minutes.

Add the prawns and cooked pasta and heat through. Stir in the freshly torn up bail leaves and season to taste with salt & fresh black pepper.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 419.3
Carbohydrate (g) 58.2
Protein (g) 28.5
Fat (g) 8.0
Fibre (g) 10.4

Breakfast Tuesday 22 May - Peaches, strawberries and coffee

Had a couple of peaches sliced up with a small punnet of strawberries. Still feeling pretty shite with this cold/flu thing, but soldiering on anyway.

Dinner Monday 21 May - Vege-0-Rama with Cheese Sauce

Vege-0-Rama with Cheese Sauce
160g Anya potatoes
160 runner beans, steamed
160g broccoli, steamed
1 serving Veloute made with Leskol cheese
Another meal with no "recipe" involved; just steamed veggies and potatoes steamed then roasted with a little spray oil until browned.

The Leskol "cheese alternative" is another of those "I had a coupon..." purchases. It is not bad and has reasonable melting properties, unlike a lot of lot fat cheeses.

Leskol Veloute
250ml vegetable stock
30ml extra thick single cream
1 tablespoon cornflour (about 15g)
50g Leskol Half Fat Mature Cheddar style
sprig parsley

Combine the cold veggie stock and cornflour. Cook over low heat until thickened, then stir in the cream and cheese and stir until cheese has melted. Season to taste with salt & pepper and add a sprig of parsley, chopped fine.

Makes 1 serving
Per Serving
Calories (kcal) 265.1
Protein (g) 18.4
Carbohydrate (g) 14.9
Fat (g) 14.2
Fibre(g) 0.2

Nutrition Data for meal
Calories (kcal) 477.3
Carbohydrate (g) 51.0
Protein (g) 33.0
Fat (g) 16.2
Fibre (g) 8.7

Lunch Monday 21 May - Ho Fan Noodles with Prawns

Ho Fan Noodles with Prawns

1 thumb ginger, grated
3-4 chillis, sliced
1/2 jar Wagamama Chili Men sauce
100g mange tout, blanched
190g bean sprouts, blanched
50g ho fan noodles, cooked & drained
90g cooked prawns
2 spring onions, sliced
Discovered the other half a jar of Wagamama Chilli Men sauce in fridge and it still seemed OK, so decided to use it up.

Stir fry the ginger and chillis for a couple of minutes. Add the blanched mange tout & bean sprouts along with the prawns & cooked noodles and stir fry until everything is hot.

Add the sliced spring onions and stir fry and serve.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 500.3
Carbohydrate (g) 76.8
Protein (g) 35.1
Fat (g) 7.5
Fibre (g) 7.7

Breakfast Monday 21 May - Molasses rye & coffee

Still not feeling brilliant - this cold thing is lingering. Breakfasted on Molasses Rye & coffee

Sunday 20 May - Brunch at The Landmark Hotel

It has become a bit of a tradition that L. and I celebrate our birthdays with a Landmark Jazz brunch. Things have gotten put off a few time this year, but today we are finally having a (belated) celebration.

The Landmark is a five star hotel in Marylebone with an excellent jazz brunch every Sunday in the Winter Garden.,

It is a great venue; just wish I was feeling a bit better! But I made a valiant effort to EAT!

So, started off with a spot of breakfast - scrambled egg (they do lovely scrambled eggs - no doubt full of butter & cream!), grilled tomato, hash brown and a rather nice seeded roll.

Then on to more "lunch-y" sort of items - a huge portion of lovely smoked whitefish and some asparagus.

Next up, a nice bit of a goat's cheese terrine, some bean salad and more asparagus. The terrine was lovely - goat's cheese, vegetable mousseline, apple & pine nuts in a very thin roasted aubergine wrapper.

So, on to the hot entree - sea bass for me, with spinach, mixed veggies and roasted potatoes. Then, a few four cheese tortellini, some hearts of palm and - more asparagus!

For afters, I had some blue cheese, but must say the cheese board was rather a let down this year - a bit of Stilton, some Cheddar and not a lot else to choose from .

For sweets, I picked at a couple of profiteroles, a slice of Gâteau St. Honoré, a bit of a chocolate mille-feuille and a few strawberries.

All washed down with many, many glasses of champagne.

We then retired to the Mirror Bar at the hotel, were a couple of martinis were called for and I some how managed to find space for some roasted nuts with rosemary - sort of like the Union Square Cafe nuts.

Needless to say, no further meals were required today!

The Landmark Hotel

Sat 19 May - Arggh! Sick again

Damn. Woke up at 08:00 feeling awful again - cold/chest infection thingy rebound. I am bunged up, have a sore throat, nasty phlegmy chest and ache all over like flu.

Just when things were getting better. Maybe I over did it going to the gym....

Anyway, dosed myself up with Lemsips and went back to bed until midday, so no breakfast. Made some hashed potatoes and fried egg at midday.
Hashed Potatoes
235g potatoes, boiled & diced
1/2 green pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon olive oil
No real recipe here; just saute the potatoes in a non stick skillet until they are just starting to get golden, then add the garlic and peppers (as they will cook faster) and continue to saute until all nicely browned.

Serve with
1 egg, fried
1 tomato, sliced
"Cool Chile" Chipotle catsup

Nutrition Data for meal
Calories (kcal) 391.0
Carbohydrate (g) 56.6
Protein (g) 15.6
Fat (g) 12.5
Fibre (g) 6.6

For dinner, I made a sort of fried rice with prawns & veggies and lots of broccoli.

Prawn Fried Rice
1 egg, well beaten
1 clove garlic
60g brown basmati rice, cooked
100g mange tout, sliced
1 carrot, slivered
4 spring onions, sliced
90g prawns
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Spray a non-stick skillet or wok with a little oil and heat. Pour in the egg and cook until set. Remove from wok and shred.

Add the garlic, carrot, mange tout and rice to the wok. Stir fry until the veggies are cooked, about 3-4 minutes. Add the prawns and continue stir frying for a further minute, until they are heated through. Finally, add the spring onions, soy sauce & oyster sauce and mix well. Garnish with
200g broccoli , steamed
and serve.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 550.9
Carbohydrate (g) 67.7
Protein (g) 44.5
Fat (g) 11.6
Fibre (g) 10.0

Dinner Friday 18 May - Salt Cod with Tomatoes & Peppers

Well, as I am always mentioning about Herb Salad, I thought I would show you a picture of a nice selection of washed herbs for salad. Here we have flat leaf parsley, dill, basil, mint, coriander, chives and I think some tarragon, too. I toss the herbs together with a mix of other leaves - usually Romaine, spinach & rocket, but sometimes radish leaves or whatever I have. Then I layer it all up in a big bowl with spritzes of olive oil and balsamic vinegar in between. Gorgeous.



Salt Cod with Tomatoes & Peppers
10 ml olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 onion, sliced (90g)
1/2 red pepper, sliced (80g)
1/2 green pepper, sliced (80g)
1 can chopped tomatoes in juice (390g)
1 bay leaf
handful chopped basil
2 tablespoons capers
25g green & black olives
125g salt cod, refreshed and cooked
handful fresh parsley
Saute the onion, peppers and garlic in the oil until beginning to soften. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf & basil and simmer until the tomato juice is reduced by half.

Then add the capers, black olives and flaked salt cod. Season well with pepper - you probably will not need any salt - and simmer for a further 10 minutes, Finally, add the parsley and serve.

Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 671.2
Carbohydrate (g) 32.4
Protein (g) 87.4
Fat (g) 18.4
Fibre (g) 9.0

Lunch Friday 18 May - Chilli Udon with Prawns and Bean

Chilli Udon with Prawns and Bean
1 thumb ginger, peeled & finely chopped
2 red chillis, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 spring onion, sliced (40g)
110g prawns
120g broad beans, cooked
100g mange tout
1 pack Japanese udon noodles with with dashi
Spray a non-stick skillet with a little oil & saute the garlic, ginger and chillis until fragrant.



Cook the noodles in boiling water according to pack instructions. Add the mange tout, broad beans and prawns in the last minute or heat through/ cook. The mange tout literally only need 60 seconds or so.



Drain off most of the water and add the noodles, prawns and vegetables to the skillet. Season with the instant dashi packet from the noodles and add the spring onions. Combine well and serve.


Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 529.7
Carbohydrate (g) 87.7
Protein (g) 38.0
Fat (g) 3.2
Fibre (g) 11.3



I used some Shirakiku fresh udon noodles, but I am sure any would do.

Breakfast Friday 18 May - Scrambled egg and molasses rye toast

Now that I am feeling better and back into more "normal" cooking, I will go back to blogging each meal, I guess.

So today's breakfast was one egg and one egg white (leftover from the salt cod cakes) scrambled with tarragon and served with two slices on molasses rye bread.

Off to the gym!

Thursday 17 May - Bean Salad, Salt Cod Fish Cakes

No breakfast today - bad me. But up fairly late, so just coffee to start.

For lunch, I made a:

Bean & Potato Salad

10ml olive oil
15g Manuka honey
juice 1/2 lemon
175g Anya potatoes, sliced and steamed
100g fine beans, steamed
120g broad beans, steamed
50g spring onion, sliced
100g Romaine lettuce
handful fresh parsley
100g cherry tomatoes

Make a dressing of the oil, honey and lemon juice. Season with salt & plenty of pepper (I used some Montreal Steak Seasoning).

Steam the potatoes and when done, add them hot to the dressing so they can absorb the flavours. Add the beans and spring onions and allow to cool.

Line a plate with the lettuce and parsley. Pile to salad on top and garnish with cherry tomato halves.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 356.7
Carbohydrate (g) 61.7
Protein (g) 15.4
Fat (g) 6.6
Fibre (g) 14.1

I bought some salt cod recently from the local "Continental provisions" shop, Olga Food Stores, and I decided yesterday to use it. So, it soaked for 24 hours in several changes of fresh water. This afternoon, I simmered it in water with a few black pepper corns and a bay leaf for 10 minutes or so, until it was flaking. Tonight's dinner:

Salt Cod Fish Cakes
125g salt cod, refreshed and cooked
200g potatoes, boiled & mashed
30g spring onions, sliced finely
handful fresh parsley
1 egg yolk

Combine the flaked salt cod, potatoes, spring onions, and parsley. Add the beaten egg and mix lightly; try not to break up the cod flakes too much.

Form into cakes and fry in a non-stick skillet sprayed with oil for about 10 minutes either side, until golden brown.

Makes 1 serving (2 cakes)
Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 593.7
Carbohydrate (g) 35.0
Protein (g) 86.6
Fat (g) 10.4
Fibre (g) 3.2

I had these with

150g asparagus

100g cherry tomatoes

Tartar Sauce (just mayonnaise with capers, parsley, pickle and lemon juice/zest)

Nutrition Summary for full meal
Calories (kcal) 643.5
Protein (g) 91.5
Carbohydrate (g) 40.6
Fat (g) 11.6
Fibre (g) 6.7

I love salt cod; the texture is great. Shame it is so calorific - and so under threat. Wonder if they do salt pollock? Salt coley?

The Olga Stores
30 Penton Street , London, N1 9PS
Tel: 020-7837-5467

Wednesday 16 May - Getting back into the groove.

Such a relief to feel like this damned cold/infection is finally clearing! Up late, so just coffee for breakfast.

Lunch was a repeat of Sunday - VegeSteak Stroganov and Mezzani pasta.

For dinner, I made

Linguine with Fresh, Creamy Tomato Sauce
75g linguine, cooked
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
100g Santini tomatoes , halved or quartered
30ml single cream
handful fresh basil
handful fresh snipped chives
15g Parmigiano Reggiano

Cook the linguine in plenty of boiling, salted water. While it is cooking, rustle up the sauce.

Saute the garlic in olive oil for a few minutes, until softened and fragrant. Toss in the tomatoes and saute for a few minutes until they are softening, then add the cream and herbs.

Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce; check the seasoning and add salt & black pepper to taste. Scatter the Parmesan across the pasta and serve.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 451.4
Carbohydrate (g) 60.7
Protein (g) 17.4
Fat (g) 15.8
Fibre (g) 1.2

Tuesday 15 May - By God, I think I am getting better

Feeling not to bad today - chest lurgy seems to be clearing.

Breakfasted on some Molasses Rye & coffee, then polished off the rest of yesterday's Baked Succotash for lunch.

Had another pass at the gym, doing weights programme and so far, so good.



Dinner was
125g hot smoked trout
100g fine beans, steamed
1 carrot, steamed
and

Potato Cakes
265g potatoes
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 spring onion, finely sliced
1 quails egg
Boil and mash potatoes. Add finely chopped spring onions, mustard and egg (I only used quails egg for size; a whole chicken's egg would have been too much for this quantity of potatoes).

Mix well, form into cakes and fry in a non-stick skillet sprayed with a little olive oil until browned, about 10 minutes either side.

Makes 1 serving
Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 228.7
Carbohydrate (g) 43.7
Protein (g) 7.7
Fat (g) 3.0

Nutrition Data for full meal
Calories (kcal) 531.5
Carbohydrate (g) 55.4
Protein (g) 40.6
Fat (g) 17.2
Fibre (g) 9.7

Monday 14 May - Am I feeling a bit better?

Can it be that I am getting better? May the antibiotics are finally kicking in. Anyway, not feeling quite so rubbish this AM.

Had a quick breakfast of coffee and banana and went to the gym for the first time since I am home from California. Did my cardio workout, but gently - some exercise, but not to strenuous.

Lunch was a baked succotash. First time I have ever made this - I was browsing around on line for inspiration for what to so with lima beans and okra. I always see to do the same okra dishes over and over, so I thought I would try something new.

I am the first to admit this does NOT look particularly delicious:


But it actually tasted pretty decent. Not sure I would make it exactly this way again, but it was something different anyway. Most of the recipes seemed to call for cream/butter or evaporated milk, but I just made this with thickened vegetable stock as a sauce.

Baked Succotash
1 onion, chopped fine (140g)
125g okra
1 can sweetcorn, drained (272g)
1 can lima beans (240g)
2 spring onions, sliced (20g)
100g cherry tomatoes

400ml vegetable stock
30g cornflour

75g breadcrumbs
25g cheddar cheese

Combine the vegetables. Mix together the stock and cornflour, then cook over low heat until thickened. Pour over the vegetables and mix well. Turn into a casserole dish. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red chillis (if liked).

Mix together the bread crumbs and cheese and sprinkle over the top. Bake in a moderate oven for about 1 hour.


Makes 2 large servings or 4 small servings


Nutrition Data per serving (for 2)
Calories (kcal) 481.3
Carbohydrate (g) 73.0
Protein (g) 19.0
Fat (g) 12.6
Fibre (g) 10.2

Dinner was a nice, light and simple composed salad again, after the succotash tonnage at lunch.

Composed Salad
3 quails eggs, hard boiled
100g pickled beetroot
100g fine beans, cooked
2 tomatoes, sliced
50g smoked mackerel
50g hot smoked salmon

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 419.5
Carbohydrate (g) 19.2
Protein (g) 28.5
Fat (g) 25.2
Fibre (g) 4.2

Sunday 13 May - I give up....

OK, I am destined to be ill the rest of my life. May as well accept it.

Lolled around in bed until 10:30 then just had coffee on rising. Spent a few hours working, then made:


Vegesteak Stroganov
250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced (180g)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
400ml vegetable stock
1 glass white wine
3 tablespoons cornflour (30g)
60ml single cream
250g RealEat Vegetarian Steak
salt, pepper, fresh nutmeg
small handful fresh parsley

Place the onions, garlic & mushrooms in a sauce pot and over with the vegetable stock and white wine. Cover and simmer over low heat until onions are well cooked and liquid is reduced by about half (30-40 minutes). Add the vegesteak and heat through.

Mix the cornflour with a little cold water and use the paste to thicken the sauce. Add the cream and cook a minute or two further.
Season well with salt, pepper and a little grating of nutmeg. Garnish with a little parsley.

Makes 2 servings
Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 474.7
Carbohydrate (g) 40.4
Protein (g) 41.0
Fat (g) 16.7
Fibre (g) 8.4

Had this with 75g of Mezzani pasta from the Turkish shop near L. in Welling. Keep meaning to use this pasta to line a mould and fill it with veggies or mousse or something. I think it would look nice; a mould lined with these tubes...

Nutrition Summary for meal (with 75g pasta)
Calories (kcal) 731.2
Protein (g) 50.2
Carbohydrate (g) 95.9
Fat (g) 17.8
Fibre (g) 10.8

In the evening, I was rummaging through the frozen food hoard and decided to have a go at some Thai style prawns I used to get at an old Enron local, The Paviours Arms pub. Not sure if it is still there or not; conflicting view on-line, but it used to be on Page Street in Pimlico and did Thai meals. I used to get the prawns with chilli and basil - dead simple, it was just prawns, onions, chilis (good & hot!) some sort of stock, fish sauce and basil on rice. They always swore to me it was not chicken stock (and I believed them).

Anyway, I felt like something spicy to clear all the gunk from my head and chest, so I had a go at recreating the Paviours Arms prawns. Not a bad effort.

Paviours Arms Prawns

170g raw prawns

1 small onion, sliced thinly

100mls vegetable stock

1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce

4 chillis, sliced (or to taste)

handful fresh basil

60g Thai fragrant rice.

Cook the rice. While the rice is boiling , prepare the rest of the dish.

Spray a non-stick skillet with a little oil and saute the onions over low/medium heat onions until soft and slightly coloured. Turn up the heat and add the chillis, stock & fish sauce. get it all good and hot, add the prawns and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the prawns are just cooked. Add the basil, stir through to wilt and serve over the hot cooked rice.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 398.8
Carbohydrate (g) 57.8
Protein (g) 34.8
Fat (g) 3.3
Fibre (g) 3.9

Saturday 12 May - Still feeling awful

Well, the antibiotics don't seem to be touching this thing.

Woke up OK, but felt exhausted so went back to sleep until midday when I finally got up and ate some blueberries with coffee.

Did a few hours work then had a composed salad lunch, followed by a big herb salad

Composed Salad
50g smoked mackerel
50g smoked trout
3 quails eggs, hard boiled
100g pickled beetroot
2oog cherry tomatoes, sliced


Nutrition Data (without salad)
Calories (kcal) 372.0
Carbohydrate (g) 18.5
Protein (g) 28.0
Fat (g) 20.5
Fibre (g) 3.8


Did a bit more work and lolled around feeling grisly before dinner which was
Crispy Baked Okra and Stewed Tomatoes


I have made this before; you can find the recipe here


Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 444.0
Protein (g) 20.9
Carbohydrate (g) 66.6
Fat (g) 12.9
Fibre (g) 18.2