Healthy Snack Time

Hungry when you’re finished at the gym and fed up with extortionate price of a smoothie or sandwich at the gym.

 Or just need a healthy snack during the morning.

Make your own smoothie, they ‘re really easy if we’re not too lazy to make them. It takes longer to clean the processor/blender than it does to make them.

What you’ll need;

A food processor or blender, a good blender is not that expensive and doesn’t take up too much room.

What to use:

Low fat plain yoghurt. You could get flavoured but plain is better.

Low fat milk.

Wheat germ (a healthy option);

Honey, optional.

Bananas

Frozen berries such as strawberries, blue berries or any that take your fancy.

Optional, a melon, not water melon. Believe it not watermelon is packed with sugar according to the Low GI brigade.

Method;

Put the yoghurt and a banana in the blender with the frozen berries you choose just strawberries or a cocktail. Experiment. The honey if you use.

Blend all this together, add some milk if you think it’s too thick.

Add a dessertspoon of wheat germ and blend till mixed in. Wheat germ is full of all sorts of good stuff, vitamin E and folic acid. No sodium or cholesterol.

Add more if you don’t mind the taste, it’s supposed to give you more vitality. Energy.

You can add it to just about anything you eat or cook.

One thing to remember, it’s still alive if you can imagine a plant still alive. Once you’ve opened it you have to keep it the fridge. You’d be surprised what will start crawling around in it. Nothing harmful.

I didn’t know this when I first bought it. I was living in the Middle East then. To my horror I found all these crawly things in my food cupboard. My cupboards needed a clean out anyway.

I still eat it though and full of vitality.

A healthy sandwich;

Banana and peanut butter on whole meal or multi grain bread. Bananas are at there best when you start to get brown speckles on the skin, they go over quite quickly after this, but still okay for your smoothie.

Just spread over the sliced banana and peanut butter, have it topless or with a top on.

This is great toasted as well for the afternoon or mid-morning snack.

You could sprinkle over a teaspoon of wheat germ for good measure.

Another sandwich;

You’ll need a pitta bread per person.

Fresh lemon juice, olive oil.

White cabbage, parsley,  celery, tomato.

A healthy meat choice to your liking, turkey breast maybe.

Salad cream or mayonnaise, salad cream is a British thing. We do have Hellimans mayonnaise in the UK but I prefer salad cream.

In Las Vegas the best place to buy it is the ‘Fresh & Easy store. They stock a good supply of British stuff at a reasonable price.

Http://www.freshandeasy.com

Make a Cypriot style salad of chopped cabbage, stick or two of celery and chopped parsley. Mix together with the lemon juice, go easy on the lemon juice and olive oil.

Warm the pitta bread either in the microwave or under the grill (broiler). Not too much, you need to keep the bread soft. Just enough so you can split the bread and spread on the salad cream or mayonnaise and fill with the salad, tomato and meat.

If the warmed bread stayed soft enough you should be able to fold or roll.

A Healthy start to the day

 A HEALTHY BREAKFAST

First, to reinforce my post about not buying potatoes that have a green skin. This was on Yahoo UK this morning.

Potatoes


Potatoes may look innocent enough, but did you know they actually come from the same family as poisonous plant the deadly nightshade? Although they are not quite as dangerous as this family member, potatoes do pose certain risks to our health due to them containing toxic compounds known as glycoalkaloids, the most worrying of which is solanine which affects the nervous and digestive systems causing headaches, weakness, confusion, diarrhoea and vomiting amongst other things.



Poisoning from potatoes occurs very rarely but fans of the popular vegetable should take measures to protect themselves by avoiding potatoes with sprouts - which tend to have a higher concentration of glycoalkaloids - and those which have turned green. Although the green colour of the potatoes is harmless in itself, it does indicate that the potatoes have been exposed to light, which can also encourage solanine levels to rise over the safe level for consumption.

Like I said before, I see quite a lot of potatoes with a green skin in the supermarkets here in Las Vegas.

Now for my version of a healthy start to the day. The experts do say having a good breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

If you get up early and have plenty of time in the day these should suit you fine. Or just have one of these.

Number one a cup of tea made in a pot not just a tea bag in a mug. You get a much better flavour from tea if the leaves or bags can swirl around in the pot.

A bowl of porridge, (oatmeal to our American cousins) I use “Bob’s Red Mill” extra thick whole grain rolled oats, www.bobsredmill.com.

 In the UK I would have used “Scots porridge oats” or “Jordans”.

I cook my porridge in the microwave. Once you get the hang of the timings for your microwave it is much simpler and saves you time.

You need a big microwave safe bowl. I have a 2.5 L (2.5 qrt USA) pyrex bowl. This size is a must for using your microwave. I use it for boiling potatoes and rice.

Take 1 measure of the oats to 2 and a little bit more (depends on how thick you want the porridge or for how long you will cook the porridge) of water.

A small amount of salt to your taste.

 You can use milk or milk and water. But beware using milk, it boils over if you don’t keep an eye on it and we don’t want to have to do that.

Depending on how much I’m making I first boil the porridge on the highest setting for 5 or 6 minutes. You’ll have to watch the porridge boiling until you get the hang of your microwave timings and power. It makes a real mess if you let it boil over.

After the first boiling stir the porridge well and put back in the microwave on a low setting, not letting it boil. You can cook it like this for as long as you need to. Have your shower, shave or any other ablutions.

Serve with cold milk and sugar or honey.

Now is the time to take the dog out or go for your morning walk.

Just like the three bears.

Feeling hungry after your walk or did you go to the gym.

Poached egg with smoked salmon on an English muffin.

Ingredients, well that’s easy. Eggs, smoked salmon and English muffins or whole meal bread.

Boil a kettle of water.

Warm the salmon in your small grill oven you are using to warm the plates. Warm an extra plate to use to drain the water off of the poached eggs.
You can put the cooked egg onto an old slice of bread. This drain off the cooking water. We don't want to make our muffin soggy.

When the water is boiled pour into you wok or frying pan with a little vinegar. You really can fry or poach eggs in a wok, especially in the round bottom type. Leaves your egg cooked perfectly round.

Bring back to boil, but not boiling too fiercely or it will break up the egg.

Put the muffins in for toasting.

When the water is boiling gently break the egg into the boiling water. Leave it to settle and the white to cook. When firm enough, using a spoon, spoon the boiling water over the egg yolk. Poach for as long as you need the egg to cook soft and runny or firm.

Put the warmed salmon onto a buttered muffin and the poached egg on top.

You could scramble the eggs or have a smoked salmon omelette.

I trust you remembered to make your coffee.

I hope you enjoyed your breakfast.

I’ll cover the scrambled egg and omelette another time

Let's think Healthy

The New Year is now 11 days old. How are the resolutions holding out? I suppose all the usual resolutions have been made. Stop smoking, lose weight, do more exercise, be a nicer person. Well I suppose someone besides Scrooge will make that one. Wonder if there any original resolutions left. Anyone thought of a new one.

I feel the word revolution would be more apt. That’s what I need, personnel revolution.

To help anyone and myself who need a “Personnel Revolution” I’ll be posting some healthy recipes I have used in the past.

I’ll even add a few fitness tips. I’m actually quite knowledgeable about fitness. It’s more do as I say not as I do though. I used to be an obsessive runner. I do mean obsessive. One training aim was to run 100 miles (120kms) a week. That was tough, eat, drink, run and sleep.

Here’s my first healthy filling recipe. This is meant to be a vegetarian dish but on occasions I would add chicken or prawns or even both.

If I add prawns I would either cook them in their shells.  Or take out of the shells and make a prawn stock by boiling the shells for about 5 minutes.

This works well for any dish you are making with prawns and need a stock.

CASHEW NUT PAELLA.

Ingredients.

2 tablespoons of oil, type of your choice, Olive oil probably best.

1 onion peeled and finely chopped

1 or 2 cloves of garlic crushed or chopped finely.

4oz (110g) long-grain brown rice. 

Of course you could get proper paella rice but Brown rice is probably better for you.

3oz (75g) cashew nut pieces. If you only have whole nuts wrap them in a cloth and bash’m with your rolling pin or saucepan. You can leave them whole.

½ to 1 tsp paprika, depends how spicy you like it.

10 or so fesh basil leaves, or

A tsp of dried basil

A red or green pepper, or both, de-seeded and cut into strips.

4-6 sticks of celery. Cut length ways then sliced into pieces.

1 pint boiling water, you may need to add a little more.

Glass or two of white wine, one to drink.

14oz tin of diced tomatoes (in juice)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

You can add other vegetables of your choice, such as tomatoes, leeks, courgettes, mushrooms or what ever takes your fancy.

For a garnish you can have black and green olives, slices of hard boiled egg, lemon wedges.

The Method

Heat the oil in your wok or large frying pan and fry the onions and garlic for a few minutes, till the garlic starts to brown and the onions start to become translucent. Add the rice along with the cashew nuts, paprika and dried basil and cook for a few minutes, turning the mixture over well so that the rice and nuts are slightly roasted. Add the celery and peppers and any other choice of vegetables. Mix in well.

Be careful how you time putting in other vegetables, some need less or more time to cook. It’s not a dish you want over cooked vegetables. Nothing worse than soggy broccoli.

Pour in the boiling water bring to the boil cook for a few minutes to absorb a little into the rice. Add the tomatoes and the wine simmered uncovered for 35-40 minutes.

If you used fresh basil, stir it in now.

Season to taste going easy on the salt.

The liquid level may need checking towards the end of the cooking, but most of the liquid should cooked away leaving a moist mixture with a rich tomatoey colour.

Serve and garnish to your liking. Happy eating.

You can serve with a green salad and fresh crusty bread.

I’m a real carnivore when it comes to eating but this dish will satisfy most dedicated carnivores

I was asked about using bacon fat

I was asked by a lady who has been reading this blog if it would be okay to use the fat left over from cooking bacon in a stir fry.

There's no reason why you can't use your bacon fat, for that matter fat that comes from roasting chicken, pork, beef or lamb.

I remember years ago my Mum used to pour all the fat (dripping as we called it) into the same bowl and use it for everyday frying. Now they would say that is bad for your health. My Mum will be 89 this year and smokes around 10 cigarettes a day. So it can't be that unhealthy.

                                   My Mum at 88

For us poor people bread'n dripping was a luxury. 

Oliver Twist would have asked for more.

Saying that I do keep any fat that comes from cooking separate from each other. Like the big chickens you get here in the USA, you get a lot of fat from them you could use for frying potatoes.

If I'm going to make a chicken curry, either Thai or Indian. I would get a whole chicken and cut the breast and legs from the carcass myself. I would boil up the carcass to make my own stock. I would cut off most of the chicken fat and put that into boil away as well. When it is cooled I would usually make two pots of chicken stock, these I would put in the freezer for later use. There would be quite a healthy layer of fat on the top.

The fat from roasting beef is great for your roast potatoes.

The same with the fat from lamb, though you do not get that much from lamb.

Pork fat I'd cook on the pork and eat with the meat, too tasty not to eat it.

Back to bacon fat. Unfortunately here in America, unless you find a store that sells English bacon, you only get the fatty, what we call streaky bacon. When you fry or grill this you get a lot of fat from the bacon. You can save this fat for frying something, like potatoes, especially for breakfast potato. 

You could have something really wicked, a fried slice of white bread, delicious with your breakfast. But don't tell your heart specialist I told you.

I also save the bacon from when I grill (broil). I do this buy having a piece of kitchen foil in the bottom of the grill tray to catch the fat from the bacon on the grill rack.

The foil also helps to keep your grill clean.

I'm not sure about using the bacon fat for a stir fry, though I do use it when cooking a fried rice from left overs but that is the fat from bacon going into the fried rice.

For a stir fry I use canola oil and sesame oil for extra flavour.

A really good Chinese cook website is www.chinghehuang.com Her videos are brilliant. If you read about her you'll see someone who made herself a millionaire from cooking. With no formal cooking teaching.

Christmas is over. Time for New Year

I hope you all had great Christmas and the weather in Europe or here in the USA did not spoil your holiday.

A friend of mine working in Saudi was meant to go to New York for Christmas with his family. He was stuck at Heathrow for 7 days luckily he found a nearby hotel.

First it was the UK weather that stymied his holiday plans then the weather in New York. He eventually got a flight to Atlanta then onto Orlando for 4 days. 

Not New York, but the children will enjoy it.

My efforts for cooking a traditional English Christmas dinner were well appreciated. Most of it was eaten. Even the turkey but I only had a 15lb bird. But there was still enough left over to make a seasonal turkey stew and a cold supper with bubble’n squeak.

I had to improvise for the bubble’n squeak, my guests  had eaten all the mash potatoes and Brussel sprouts.

I made a new pot of mash potato and boiled some white cabbage I had in the vegetable draw. Not red as one friend asked. There were carrots left over, they were cut up and put into the “bubble”.

I usually only use white cabbage in a Cyprus salad.

For the turkey stew. I cut up the turkey carcass, leaving all the meat on the bone, I dropped all this with a chopped up large onion into my pressure cooker.  In went a quart carton of chicken stock (the bought kind) I cooked this at pressure for about 15 minutes. That’s when the carcass bones started to disintegrate. Tasting it, it tasted quite rich.

Later on after going to watch an early showing of the movie “The Black Swan” excellent film.

I put in a tin of diced tomatoes, carrots, 2 sticks celery and a turnip. I added some red wine that was left over and a cup of water, seasoned with pepper. No salt, didn’t need it.

I brought this to pressure to cook the carrots and turnip, about 5 minutes. There was my turkey stew ready to eat. With plenty left to freeze for a starving day.

I had mashed potato left from the bubble’n squeak meal, that I warmed in the microwave.

This stew could have been cooked in a wok on a low simmer setting, or in your small oven as a casserole, again on a low setting.

I was thinking of having a tin of mushy peas with it, but. The flatulence may have been too much.

A meal or two for New Year.

Here’s a few recipes for maybe a small dinner party with family or friends for New Years Eve.

Not everyone wants the hustle bustle of a boozy New Years Eve.

If you’re not fed up with another poultry meal. This chicken dish is probably the best roast chicken I’ve ever had. You have to like garlic though.

POULARDE A L’AIL or

CHICKEN STUFFED WITH HERBS AND GARLIC

Ingredients.

A whole, cleaned roasting chicken. The larger the better that fits your oven or Rotisserie.

Cooks fine on a rotisserie, just sew up the end you’ve stuffed and have a tray to catch the juices from the chicken.

2 heads of garlic. Sprigs of Italian parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

110ml Olive oil about half a cup. White wine.

Brandy.

Sea salt.   Fresh ground black pepper.

More chopped and cleaned flat leave (Italian) parsley. 

 The Method

Divide the heads of garlic into cloves but do not peel them.

Simmer them for 5 minutes in just enough boiling water to cover them.

Remove from the heat.

Stuff the chicken’s cavity with the garlic and the herbs.

Season all over with the black pepper.

Place the chicken into a roasting tin bottom side up and pour over the oil and wine.

More wine can be added during cooking if you think it’s needed.

Roast for 30 minutes basting occasionally. Then turn the bird over and roast for another 45 minutes or when the chicken is cooked. Basting occasionally.

Towards the end of the cooking time, sprinkle with a little sea salt.

Remove the chicken to rest for 5 minutes or so.

Tip the juices into a saucepan or use the roasting tin if suitable for a stovetop.

Add the brandy and bring to a simmer.

Carve the chicken and serve with the garlic cloves scooped from the cavity, surrounded by the sauce.

Serve a salad or cooked vegetables with thick rounds of toasted or baked French bread onto which the sweet tender garlic pulp can squeezed out of it’s papery skin.

Garnish with the extra parsley.

Goes well with small potatoes roasted in there skins.

 Recipe 2

Pork Loin with Black Pudding and Roasted Rhubarb

Ingredients

·       2 pork fillets , about 350g/12oz each

·       250g black pudding , skinned and cut into slices

·       12 thin rashers streaky bacon

·       1 tbsp olive oil

·       1 tbsp clear honey

·       300g rhubarb , cut into 5cm lengths on the diagonal

·       200ml vegetable stock

·       2 rounded tbsp crème fraîche.

    The Method

1.    Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Split the pork fillets lengthwise almost in half and open out like a book. Bash with a rolling pin to flatten, then sprinkle on all sides with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Fill the pork with the black pudding, folding the meat back over it to enclose it.

2.    Stretch the bacon rashers with the back of a knife, then wrap around the pork fillets, tucking the ends under the pork where possible. Transfer to a large roasting tin, drizzle with the oil, then roast for 30 mins.

3.    Meanwhile, heat the honey in a pan, then toss the rhubarb in the honey. Add to the roasting tin, then return to the oven for 10-12 more mins until the rhubarb is tender and the bacon nicely browned. Transfer the pork and rhubarb to a warm plate and keep warm while you make the sauce.

4.    Set the tin on the hob and add the stock. Bring to the boil, stirring to scrape all the pan juices from the base of the tin. Bubble for a few mins, then stir in the crème fraîche and whisk until it has dissolved into the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

5.    Cut the pork into slices and serve with the rhubarb and a little sauce poured over. Serve the remaining sauce separately.

I serve with roast potatoes and two colourful vegetables. Usually baby carrots and broccoli.

The sauce is quite rich so I'd recommend a light Pino Grigio or for a red a chianti or good Valpolicella.

I think we all have our own preferences for wine and beer, especially when eating or entertaining at home. I'll try to share my limited knowledge as we go along.

Recipe 2

This recipe was included in my earlier post "Bachelorette Cooking".

LANCASHIRE CHEESE STUFFED PORK TENDERLOIN

INGREDIENTS:

2 pork fillets about 12oz each                         Salt'n pepper,

Some thin slices of ham. Parma works fine.       

4oz crumbly Lancashire cheese,

or Chedder if you can’t get Lancashire

Some prunes cut in half.           Sage leaves.              1oz butter,

250 mls cider or apple juice                            

tsp mustard powder or ready made mustard,  English or Dijon.

125 ml single cream.

HOW TO COOK IT:

Preheat the oven to 375°f/gas 6ish.

Cut the fillets down the center but not all the way through.

Spread them open and flatten with a rolling pin or side of your kitchen chopper. Or the flat side of a tenderizing mallet.

A good idea is to lay the fillets on cling film (plastic wrap) then another piece on top before battering. It stops bits of meat and blood flying everywhere.

Season with salt’n pepper.

Go easy on the salt cos' the ham and cheese are salty.

Place a slice of ham on each fillet, sprinkle with the cheese and place the sliced prunes on top. Sprinkle over the sage leaves.

Carefully roll them up like a sausage and secure with kitchen string or cocktail sticks.

Place in a roasting dish (I use a pyrex dish and I tip the sauce into a saucepan). Cover the fillets with the butter and pour over the cider.

Cover with foil and cook for about 30 minutes, remove the foil and cook another 10 minutes or so, till the fillets start to brown.

Remove from the roasting dish and keep warm.

Either cook the sauce in the roasting tin or tip into a saucepan, making sure you get all the juicy bits. Add the mustard and let the mixture simmer away until thickens. Stir in the cream and warm through.

Delicious but a rich sauce.

Serve with roast potatoes and baby carrots and broccoli. They make a good colour combination.

Serve with cold real cider or well chilled white wine.

Try French cider if you can get it. I shouldn’t say this, but. I prefer the French cider to the English, unless of course you get real Scrumpy.

Scrumpy can still be found in the wilds of Somerset. Probably also in Kent and Herefordshire

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas

I wish you all A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

For you that read my ideas on cooking a Christmas turkey dinner, some of you may have followed them.
I hope your Christmas dinner will work out just fine. Whether you cook my way or your own tried and tested ways, best of luck and have a great day.
For those of you who will go out for dinner I hope the cost is worth it. Here in Las Vegas some places are charging a ridiculous amount.
If anyone in Las Vegas is reading this, I thoroughly recommend the Crowne and Anchor British pub on Tropicana. The best value English style Christmas dinner in town also the best English breakfast any day of the year. That is unless you're lucky enough to have breakfast at my place. The best soccer on TV in town.

I'm cooking for 12 or 14, so wish me luck.

Health Tip. With all this over indulgence over the holiday season, don't forget Water.
Try to drink plenty of water. Drinking fizzy water with your meal is a good healthy habit, my favourite is San Pellegrino, natural spring water. Supposed to  help with digestion. Help keep you sober too.

My Wok and I: Christmas Turkey Dinner left overs.

My Wok and I: Christmas Turkey Dinner left overs.