Lunch Monday 11 December - Leftover Chilli

Just had the other portion of chilli laft over from Lunch December 5 so did not bother with a picture.

Breakfast Monday 11 December - Rocha Pears & Muesli

Got some nice Rocha pears from M&S, so had one with some more of the M&S museli.

Rocha apparently means "boulder" in Portugese, where the Rocha pear is native.

Dinner Sunday 10 December - Leftover Curried Pumpkin Soup

Did not bother with a picture, as it was just the other portion of the Curried Pumpkin Soup .

Here's a pumpkin for ya'.

Lunch Sunday 10 December - Wild Salmon Fillet and Vegetables (again)

Well, I had the other wild salmon fillet from the pack I had bought, so had that with

• 150g new potatoes,
• 100g asparagus,
• 200g Brussels sprout and
• 100g baby Chantenay carrots.
  

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 403.8
Protein (g) 32.7
Carbohydrate (g) 46.2
Fat (g) 11.0
Fibre (g) 11.1

Breakfast Sunday 10 December - Rainier Cherries and Toast!

I love cherries of any description, but Rainier cherries are the best. They are so sweet and delicious and I love the look of them, too.

Anyway, they had them in Mark & Spencer's when I was in on Friday (I had another damned coupon from them for "extra bonus points") and even though they were dear at £3.99 for 300g, I decided to splurge and buy some. And they were every bit as delicious as I had hoped.

Dinner Saturday 9 December - Stir Fried Vegetables and Scallops

Stir Fried Vegetables and Scallops
200g scallops
2-3 tablespoons Shao Shing rice wine (or dry sherry)
2-3 chillis, to taste
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 thumb of ginger peeled and shredded
1 carrot, cut into julienne
50g mange tout, cut into julienne
50g baby corn, cut into julienne

50g spring onions, cut into julienne
100g Chinese leaves, shredded
200g blanched bean sprouts

1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce

Spray a non stick wok with oil and place over high heat. When hot, add the scallops and sear for 2 minutes on either side, until just cooked. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of Shao Shing during cooking to take any excess heat out of the wok.

Remove the scallops and set aside. Reheat the wok and stir fry the garlic, ginger and chillies for about 45 seconds, then add the harder vegetables (carrot, baby corn and mange tout) and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Then add the softer vegetables (spring onions, Chinese leaves and beansprouts) and stir fry for another two minutes, until everything is cooked. Sprinkle the pan with Shao Shing from time to time.

Just before serving, add the soy sauce and oyster sauce and mix well.

Turn onto a plate, garnish with the scallops and serve.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 355.6
Carbohydrate (g) 36.4
Protein (g) 46.9
Fat (g) 2.2
Fibre (g) 10.1

Lunch Saturday 9 December - Veggie Platter with Cheese Sauce

Felt in serious need of something healthy, yet comforting, so I opted for a steamed veggie plate with a bit of cheese sauce.

I had 200g asparagus, steamed, 200g Brussels sprouts, steamed, 2 baby cauliflowers, steamed and some leftover roasted pumpkin from the other night (about 1/4 of a pumpkin).

Simple Cheese Sauce
200ml semi-skimmed organic milk
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon Colman's dried mustard powder
1 teaspoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
50g half fat cheddar cheese

Mix together the milk, cornflour, bouillon, mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Add the cheese and stir over low heat until the cheese is melted & the sauce is smooth .

Nutrition Data for meal
Calories (kcal) 493.6
Carbohydrate (g) 41.2
Protein (g) 41.5
Fat (g) 18.4
Fibre (g) 12.4

Breakfast Saturday 9 December - Toast, blueberries,coffee and hangover

Woke up feeling pretty awful (not unexpected, after drinking far too much the night before). Had a breakfast of coffee, some homemade malted granary bread and blueberries.

Made this bread on Wednesday and it just follows my standrad recipe, but simpler. It ir more or less the same recipe as here.

Dinner Friday 8 December - Big Night Out and Thai food

Had not planned on going out tonight, but got a call from a mate I had not caught up with in ages and so we went out to enjoy the delights of Upper Street.

Met up in the usual (Pitcher and Piano) where I quaffed a few pints of Hoegaarden with lime. I have started to find beer too filling these days, but Hoegaarden seems to be the exception - very refreshing, although maybe more suited to summer than December.

Then we set off in search of food.

First stop was the

Oregano - 18-19 St. Albans Place, London , N1 0NX Telephone 020 7288 1123.

We have eaten here several times and always enjoyed it - good prawns diavolo, tasty pizzas etc. This time, all they wanted to offer us was a table right next to the door, which we did not fancy. When we declined (as the entire back half of the restaurant was empty, although "booked" according to the waitress), the manager then pfaffed around for a few minutes and offered us a table that as sort of tacked on to the end of a large party. We still did not fancy it, made out apologies and left.

There is no shortage of choice on Upper Street.

So, we wandered along chatting and looking at restaurants until we happened on Rabieng Thai. This is another place we have eaten before and enjoyed, so we decided to have some Thai.

Rabieng Thai - 143 Upper Street London N1 1QY Telephone 020 7226 2014

I selected vegetarian Poh Pia Tod (spring rolls) to start and prawn Rad Na as the main course. Rad Na is real "hawker" food - thick Chinese style noodles with vegetables and whatever meat you choose in lashing of thick, savoury gravy.

And it was pretty good as well. Here are some representative images:

Also managed to consume an entire bottle of white wine with dinner before heading home. It was a good night, but I know I cannot drink this much (nor should I).

But the evening wasn't realy about food or drink - just how nice it was to catch up with an old mate and set things to rights.

Lunch Friday 8 December - Curried Pumpkin Soup

Curried Pumpkin Soup
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red onions, chopped (about 200g)
3-4 red of green chillis (to taste)
3 ribs of celery, chopped (about 120g)
2 carrots, chopped (about 200g)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1/2 smallish pumpkin, peeled and chopped (about 450g)
1.5 pints vegetable stock
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon curry powder*
handful fresh parsley, chopped

20g hulled pumpkin seeds
spray oil
salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute the red onions, garlic, chillis, celery & carrots in the olive oil until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add the pumpkin, stock, herbs and spices. Cover and simmer over low heat until the pumpkin and all veggies are cooked, about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.

Puree the soup (or not, as you like) in a blender. I normally puree about 2/3 and leave 1/3 chunky, so the soup has both elements.

When ready to serve, spray a non stick pan with a little olive oil and saute the pumpkin seeds until they are toasted & golden - be careful, they burn easily.

Garnish the soup with the toasted pumpkin seeds and serve.

Makes 2 servings

Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 270.0
Carbohydrate (g) 25.7
Protein (g) 7.7
Fat (g) 15.6
Fibre (g) 8.1

I use the Sharwood's Malaysian fish curry powder in this to good effect, but I don't think it is made any longer.

Breakfast Friday 8 December - M&S Muesli & raspberries

Still plodding through the M&S muesli. I reckon there are another 2-3 servings left; then I can move on to either All Bran or Shredded Wheat (huge box of each).

And then I will only have oat bran left. And I vow never again to have more than one hot and one cold cereal in the pantry at any given time.

Dinner Thursday 7 December - Wild Salmon Fillet and vegetables

Wild Salmon Fillet with Creamed Spinach, Roast Potatoes and Baby Chantenay Carrots

No real recipe here.

I just cut the spuds into smallish chunks (so they would roast quicker), parboiled them for 5 minutes, sprayed them with some olive oil and roasted them with some garlic and "Good with Everything" salt mix.

The spinach was cooked with some garlic, pepper and nutmeg, then chopped and cooked in a few tablespoons of single cream.

The carrots are simply steamed; the salmon fillet was sprinkled with some of the Montreal Steak Seasoning I brought back from the US and seared on either side in a non stick skillet.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 450.2
Carbohydrate (g) 40.4
Protein (g) 36.6
Fat (g) 16.8
Fibre (g) 6.9

Lunch Thursday 7 December - Borlotti Bean Salad and Parsnip & Chestnut Soup

Borlotti Bean Salad
200g cooked borlotti beans
100g cooked fine green beans
1 echalion shallot, sliced finely
1 ribs celery, sliced finely
1 teaspoon help oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
100g romaine lettuce

Had some leftover borlotti beans from the chilli, so had a sort of two bean "three bean salad".
Mix together all ingredients except the lettuce and leave to marinate overnight.

Serve the bean salad on a bed of lettuce.

Then I had a soup made from some leftover chestnuts (from the roasted winter vegetables) and a parsnip.


Parsnip & Chestnut Soup
1 parsnip (about 100g)
1 echalion shallot
1 clove garlic
50g cooked & peeled chestnuts
1 pint vegetable stock
3 tablespoons single cream
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

Cook the parsnip, shallot, garlic and chestnuts in the vegetable stock until tender. Whiz in the blender until smooth.

Stir in 2 tablespoons of single cream and check the seasoning. Garnish with the final spoonful of cream.

Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 240.4
Carbohydrate (g) 36.8
Protein (g) 5.9
Fat (g) 8.3
Fibre (g) 8.2

Breakfast Thursday 7 December - Museli, coffee & satsumas

Still working my way through the M&S museli - another 50g down, along & coffee and three satsumas.

Dinner Wednesday 6 December - Prawns, Sugar Snaps & Baby Corn with IndoMie Noodles

I wrote a while back about IndoMie, which is a staple throughout Indonesia. I still have several packets to use up, and happened upon then when I was looking for my anchos and habaneros while making chilli the other day.

So here is another IndoMie creation.

Prawns, Sugar Snaps & Baby Corn with Noodles
1 packet of IndoMie
130 grams cooked prawns, deveined
100g sugar snap peas, cut into bite sized pieces
100g baby corn, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon ketjap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
3 spring onions, sliced

Bring a medium pot of water to the boil. Add the baby corn and sugar snaps and cook for abotu 2 minutes, then add the IndoMie noodles and cook for a further two minutes. Add the prawns just to warm through.

Drain well.

Mix together the various seasoning sachets that come with the noodles ("bumbu" or spices, shallot flavoured oil, chilli powder and ketjap manis) with the extra tablespoon of ketjap manis. Toss with the cooked noodles and veggies and top with the sliced spring onions.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 569.2
Carbohydrate (g) 67.4
Protein (g) 33.6
Fat (g) 18.8
Fibre (g) 6.9

Lunch Wednesday 6 December - Potato Salad and homemade garlic dill pickles

Potato Salad and homemade garlic dill pickles
200g potatoes, cooked and cut into bite sized cubes
1 large, organic, free range egg, hard boiled and chopped
1 ribs celery, sliced
4 spring onions, sliced
4 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon mustard

1 head hearts of romaine lettuce (about 200g)

Mix together the mayonnaise and mustard. Add a splash of the pickle brine (or a little vinegar). Combine with the potatoes, hard cooked egg, celery and spring onions. Season to taste and mix well.

Line a serving plate with the lettuce and pile the potato salad on top.


Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 353.2
Carbohydrate (g) 48.2
Protein (g) 15.0
Fat (g) 12.3
Fibre (g) 6.9

Back in the summer, there was a fellow in Chapel Market who had these lovely English cucumber just crying out to be made into pickles. They were exactly the right size (about as big around as a large thumb).

I bought a couple of Kilner jars and pickled some.

Today, I decided they were ready. And they are pretty good, too! Crispy, garlicky, dilly.

How to make garlic dill pickles
Choose small, slender cucumbers. If you are in the US, make sure they are not waxed (why to they do that?)

Sterilize a Kilner or other preserving jar according to your manufacturer's instructions. Generally, I immerse the jar in water and boil for 5 minutes.

Place a bunch of dill in the jar and pack the cucumbers in tightly. My bunches were about 15g each. I had about 12 cucumbers in each jar.

Add several cloves of crushed garlic interspersed with the cucumbers. I had about 5 in each jar.

Mix together the vinegar of your choice and water in equal volumes and bring to the boil. I used white vinegar. Add a tablespoon or so of salt to each jar and fill to the brim with the boiling hot vinegar and water solution. Seal the jar and store in a dark place for at least a month before using.

Breakfast Wednesday 6 December - Nothing

Well, just coffee. I have been so messed up since I got back from the US, between feeling ill and being jet lagged. Staying up too late, not getting up until 11 or later.

Did not get up until 11:00 today, so just had coffee. Must get to bed at normal hour and get up and normal hour!

Dinner Tuesday 5 December - Fusilli with Peppers & Prawns

Fusilli with Peppers & Prawns
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 green pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 pint vegetable stock
75g whole wheat fusilli
3 spring onions, sliced
135g cooked prawns, deveined
salt & pepper to taste

Spray a non stick pan with a little olive oil and fry the peppers over high heat until they begin to colour a little bit. Add the garlic and vegetable stock and reduce the heat. Cook over low heat until the stock is reduced by a little more than half; about 15 minutes.

While the peppers are cooking, cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and add to the cooked peppers along with the prawns.

Raise the heat and toss everything together until the prawns and warmed through and starting to butterfly. Season well and serve.

I used some of my Adobo seasoning and Montreal Steak Seasoning in lieu of salt & pepper.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 384.0
Carbohydrate (g) 54.3
Protein (g) 35.8
Fat (g) 2.8
Fibre (g) 10.3

Lunch Tuesday 5 December - Chilli

Chilli
I think just about everyone in the Western world has made chilli at some point or the other. There certainly is a lot of discussion about chilli recipes, what makes good chilli, authentic chilli etc.

Anyway, here is a recipe that I made.

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red pepper, chopped
4 meat free veggie burgers, crumbled up (or another TVP/texturized vegetable protein)
400g cooked borlotti beans (normally I would use kidney but borlotti beans aka Roman beans are virtually the same)
1oz/28g tomato puree (paste)
1 can/400g peeled plum tomatoes in juice
1 tomato can full of water
2 dried ancho peppers, refreshed by soaking in water and chopped (about 20g)
5 dried habanero pepper, refreshed by soaking in water and chopped (about 5g)
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon powdered cumin
100g cherry tomatoes, halved

Fry to garlic, onions & pepper with the olive oil in a large pan until softened.

Add the TVP, beans, canned tomatoes, water, tomato puree, peppers and spices.Keep the chilli soaking water and add that as well - lots of flavour there.

Cover and cook over low heat for at least one hour, until the chilli is thick and most of the water has evaporated out.

Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for another 15 minutes or so.

The cherry toms are from my two plants on the balcony which are STILL producing fruit even though it is December. I add them as a bit of an after thought, but they were nice.

Makes two large servings. Realistically, this could serve 4 if served with rice.

Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 586.2
Carbohydrate (g) 64.4
Protein (g) 44.0
Fat (g) 17.9
Fibre (g) 21.7

Breakfast Tuesday 5 December - Toast & coffee

Two slices of the seeded malt bread with some butter and coffee.

Still feeling slightly unwell.