Tuesday 23 February 2010

Chocolate Pear Trifle

BUY - a good quality Chocolate Cake (e.g. Waitrose do one for around £2)
- a tin of pears
- 4 chocolate mousses dark chocolate if poss
- whipping cream
- small bar Bournville


break up the cake in a bowl
add some of the juice from the tin to moisten (not all)
add the pears
spread the 4 mousses over the pears
whip the cream and spread over the mousse
add choc gratings to decorate

probably 500 calories per portion!

Saturday 13 February 2010

Spiced grilled pears

WW Points = 1 Servings = 4 Prep time = 4mins Cooking time = 5 mins

Ingredients

1 spray low-fat cooking spray

2 medium pear(s), ripe, peeled, halved, cored
2 teaspoon polyunsaturated margarine, low-fat
2 teaspoon light brown sugar, demerara
2 teaspoon spice, cinnamon and ground ginger

Instructions

  • Preheat the grill to high. Coat an ovenproof dish with cooking spray. Place the pear halves in the dish cut side up. Put ½ teaspoon of the margarine in the centre of each pear half. Mix together the remaining ingredients and sprinkle over the pears.
  • Place 10cm (5 in) from the heat and grill for 5 minutes until bubbling and golden.
  • Served along or with ice cream or natural yogurt.

Hazelnut and honey stuffed apple

WW points = 1.5 Servings= 1 Prep time = 1 min Cooking time= 9 mins
Hazelnut and Honey-Stuffed Apple

Ingredients


1 medium apple(s), cored and scored around the middle
5 g hazelnuts, roasted, chopped
5 g raisins
1 teaspoon honey, runny

Instructions

  • Put the apple in a small microwave-safe container. Mix the remaining ingredients together and spoon into the cored apple. Microwave for 2 minutes. Leave to stand for 7 minutes before serving.

Honey-rum marinated oranges

This light, refreshing dessert is perfect after a heavy winter meal.
WW points = 1.5 Servings = 6 Prep time = 15mins Cooking time = 6mins

Ingredients

80 g honey

80 ml water
50 ml rum, dark variety
1 tablespoon cinnamon, (one stick)

5 medium orange(s)
2 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh

2 tablespoon fresh mint, for garnish

Instructions

  • Combine honey, water, rum and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes; set aside to cool. Wash, dry and zest 1 orange (should yield about 2 tablespoons of zest). Then slice off ends of all oranges; remove peels and as much of white pith as possible. Slice each orange into 6 rounds and place orange slices in a large glass baking dish; set aside. Add lemon juice and orange zest to cooled honey-rum mixture; stir and pour over oranges. Cover baking dish and chill in refrigerator for at least two hours and up to overnight for maximum flavour. Serve with mint garnish.

Ginger ice cream

WW points = 2.5 Servings = 8 Prep time = 20 mins Cooking time = 3 hours

Ingredients

410 ml evaporated milk
2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoon muscavado sugar
2 level tablespoon syrup, from a jar of stem ginger
50 g ginger, stem, chopped

8 sprig fresh mint, to decorate

Instructions

  • Pour evaporated milk into a large bowl. Add vanilla extract, nutmeg and sugar. Whisk with hand-held electric beaters until thick and foamy, until mixture is roughly three times original volume. Tip mixture into a rigid freezer container and freeze until almost frozen. Remove from the freezer for 10 minutes so that ice cream softens slightly, then mix in ginger and ginger syrup. Freeze until firm. Serve, decorated with mint leaves.

Bananas in Orange and Rum sauce

WW Points = 3 Servings = 4 Prep time = 5 mins Cooking time= 10 mins

Ingredients


2 zest of 1 orange(s)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

6 tablespoon low-fat plain bio yogurt, (or Greek)
15 g sultana(s)
2 tablespoon muscavado sugar
2 tablespoon rum, light or dark

4 medium banana(s), not too ripe

Instructions

  • Stir 1 teaspoon of orange zest and the vanilla essence through the yogurt. Chill until ready to serve. Put the remaining orange zest into a frying pan with the sultanas, sugar and rum. Heat and simmer gently until the liquid has reduced by half. Slice the bananas into the frying pan and cook gently for about 2 minutes, turning the slices to coat in the orange sauce. Serve at once with the orange flavoured yogurt. For a sharper flavour, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the sauce just before serving.

Balsamic Strawberries


Strawberries with vinegar and pepper may sound unusual, but the sweet-tart combination is delicious, and the balsamic marinade tints the strawberries a gorgeous deep red. WW Points = 1.5 Servings = 4 Prep time = 5 mins

Ingredients


450 g strawberries, halved or quartered
2 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar, balsamic
1/4 teaspoon pepper

125 g natural low-fat yogurt, vanilla

1 tablespoon fresh mint, leaves, optional

Instructions

  • Combine strawberries, sugar, vinegar and pepper in a bowl. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 1 hour, stirring at least once. Serve in 4 small glasses or bowls and top each with 1 heaped tablespoon of vanilla yogurt. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.

Saturday 6 February 2010

Nigella's Coca Cola Ham

Haven't done this yet...This Nigella recipe is taken from her popular Channel 4 series Nigella Bites, based on her popular book How To Eat. Serves 8

Ingredients

  • 2kg mild-cure gammon
  • 1 onion peeled and cut in half
  • 2 litre-bottle coke

The glaze

  • Handful cloves
  • 1 heaped tbsp black treacle
  • 2 tsp English mustard powder
  • 2 tbsp demerara sugar

Method: How to cook ham in Coca Cola

1.I find now that mild-cure gammon doesn't need soaking. If you know that you're dealing with a salty piece, then put it in a pan covered with cold water, bring to the boil then tip into a colander in the sink and start from here; otherwise, put the gammon in a pan, skin side down if it fits like that, add the onion then pour over the Coke. Bring to the boil, reduce to a good simmer, put the lid on, though not tightly, and cook for just under 2 1/2 hours. If your joint is larger or smaller work out timing by reckoning on an hour a kilo altogether, remembering that it's going to get a quick blast in the oven later. But do take into account that if the gammon's been in the fridge right up to the moment you cook it, you will have to give a good 15 or so minutes' extra so that the interior is properly cooked. Meanwhile preheat oven to 240C/gas mark 9.

2.When the ham's had its time (and ham it is now it's cooked, though it's true Americans call it ham from its uncooked state) take it out of the pan but DO NOT THROW AWAY THE COOKING LIQUID (great stock for soups or gravy) and let cool a little for ease of handling. (Indeed you can let it cool completely then finish off the cooking at some later stage if you want).

3.Then remove skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. Score the fat with a sharp knife to make fairly large diamond shapes, and stud each diamond with a clove. Then carefully spread the treacle over the bark-budded skin taking care not to dislodge the cloves. Then gently pat the mustard and sugar onto the sticky fat. Cook, in a foil lined roasting tin for approximately 10 minutes or till the glaze is burnished and bubbly.

4.Should you want to do the braising stage in advance and then let the ham cool, clove and glaze it and give it 30-40 minutes, from room temperature, at 180C/gas mark 4, turning up the heat towards the end if you think it needs it.

5.This is seriously fabulous with anything, but the eggily golden sweetcorn pudding that follows is perfect: ham and eggs southern style.

Friday 5 February 2010

Salmon dill honey mustard

Mix 1 tblsp runny honey
1 tblspngrainy mustard
1 tbspn dried dill

cover salmon fillets with the sauce
cover with tinfoil

200degrees 20 - 30 mins

Choose a small oven dish so that the sauce doesn't run and burn -keep the salmon tight in the dish.

Salmon en croute

2 leeks small or 1 large
200g mushrooms
tomato puree
butter
dill S+P
salmon fillets
puff pastry or breadcrumbs

Sweat the chopped leeks and mushrooms in butter and olive oil

Add tomato puree 1 good tblspn S+P dill

cover over salmon

add sheet of puff pastry + egg wash

200 degrees c 25 mins

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza

Pizza bas
Chicken breast
bottle caesar salad dressing
Cos/ Romaine (long) lettuce
Mozzarella
parmesan

Make pizza dough with yogurt or buy ready made base

Chop us chicken breast (s) cover in Caesar Salad dressing 1/3 of bottle to marinade while you...

Use 1/3 of dressing to smooth over cooked pizza base then cover with slices of mozzerella

Fry up chicken bits in Caesar dressing

Put pizza base in 200degreec C 5 mins

Add chicken bits to pizza

Return to oven for last 5 mins or so while you

Mix up Cos lettuce leaves with 1/3 dressing
add parmesan and few anchovies (optional)

Remove pizza add salad and serve.

Chicken Liver Pate

I pot of chicken livers
few bits of chopped bacon or lardons
garlic cloves 2-4 to taste
S+P
herbs thyme/marjoram/oregano etc
1oz butter + little olive oil

Sweat bacon and garlic in butter and olive oil
add drained chicken livers
add seasonings

blend add little melted butter to cover top
then transfer to little bowl /jar then to fridge

You can add a little cream or flambee in a little booze if you want a richer pate
You can also only part blend or chop up finely to start with and not blend for a coarser pate

Pizza Dough

Natural yogurt
Flour - grananry works well
Baking powder 1-2 tspfuls depending on quantity of flour/yog

Blend together
Add herbs
Salt and Pepper
A little olive oil

The mixture shouldn't be too sticky.
Roll out - not too thick.
Part bake while you prepare toppings c.10 mins 200degrees C.
You can part bake then freeze or keep for another time in fridge (or you can freeze mixture then roll out after defrosting but you will need to add flour).