expensively

when your partner promises you a date at heston blumenthal's don't expect that it would be at his signature restaurant the fat duck in bray, berkshire.  this celebrity chef famous for his culinary experimenting and menu of the senses, had been called in to rescue none other than the chain of motorway cafes the little chef.

the revamped menu promises healthier options and better quality food.  their all new olympic breakfast special contains 50% more meat than before and from outdoor reared pork, no less!  but is it still affordable? - well a quick glance at their menu suggests that the prices haven't changed.

what i would look forward to is the dessert - haagen daz ice cream balls to be dipped in hot chocolate sauce - umm sounds amazingly unhealthy!  so next time the kids and i are on the motorway, i might suggest we try the little chef out just for pudding ....

roast duck

tonight i give you not just any old roast duck.  this duck was stuffed with the darling's maman's farcie recipe which i adapted using what was in the cupboard and fridge - bacon, sausagemeat, jamon serrano, black olives (pitted and chopped), onions and garlic, parsley and plenty of black pepper and a generous amount of nutmeg.  the darling usually says ah his mum would've used green olives and bayonne ham, but i tell you it tastes just as good with black olives and serrano ham.

the trick is to cook all that stufing pre stuffing the bird.  i usually also chop up the duck liver and throw that into the stuffing mixture just before it goes in.  cooks usually get first taste of the stuffing to make sure that the right amount of everything has been added.  cooks are usually highly critical and require several mouthfuls to ensure that all is just right!

of course when you have a serious roast dinner as tonight, there has to be roasted potatoes and plenty of red wine to wash it all down with.

so a salad of lettuce with the cheese is quite in order.

new regime

well in this credit crisis and when i was imagining the worst scenario, i quit the gym.  i realise it was perhaps a hasty decision as i found a lodger for the spareroom last night and i needn't hve quit the gym after all.

but you know, i feel freed.  one less burden.  i always felt that i had to go to the gym, to get value out of my subscription. these days i can take as long as i like on my morning walks with the dog and not race home to get ready to go to a spin class, or circuit training or some such.  i do miss the spin class but my favourite mad italian trainer is out of action for the next several months anyway due to an injury and op and his replacement though delightful just hasn't the same edginess.   anyway i might even take out that bike i bought on ebay last summer.  maybe.

so my new regime these days is very long morning walks and continue to eat sensibly.

diamonds from tequila

by 2011 it says in the article.

when the mood strikes me, usually when i'm holidaying on a sun soaked meditarrenean island i might have myself a few margaritas.  this cocktail, a mix of triple sec, lime juice and tequila must be served in a glass rimmed with salt.  tequila itself has a sordid notoriety, largely i suspect because it features in those westerns as the drink of macho men, men who live by the gun and in the harsh desert.  men who drink it straight up i might add, not in poncy cocktail glasses and other distracting flavours.

and now this bit of newsy discovery will continue to add to its reputation i'm sure. viva la tequila!

the credit crunch dinner

this is the practical woman's meal.  it is a beef stew using one of the cheapest cuts of beef available at the butcher's at waitrose - ox cheek at £3.99 a kilo. it provides ample portions for 5 at just under £5.  

i love to make this because after the initial preparation - browning the meat, chopping the onions and garlic and halving the carrots and celery and throwing in whatever spices takes your fancy, you can leave it in the oven or slow cooker for hours.

tonight's stew included a generous few glugs of red wine, cinnamon, ground coriander and pepper and plenty of water to cover everything.  and then into the oven at 150C  for about 4-5 hours.  just before serving i prepared some couscous, chopped parsley and fresh coriander and served it with harissa paste on the side.
and to finish the meal we had some stilton on crackers.  if you look closely the bubbly is actually la rosca cava - at under £4.50 a bottle this is easily one of the best and cheapest alternative to the real thing.

clear south east asian chicken soup

i love making this soup.  i save up the carcasses from 3 roast chickens at least - they freeze well while you're waiting fo each one and boil and then simmer these with about 6 litres of water, 6 sticks of lemon grass smashed with a stone or side of a knife, preferably a cleaver, if you have one, onion, garlic and ginger.  if you're in a hurry and cannot wait for 3 weekends you could buy 12 chicken wings and use those instead.  i simmer mine nearly all day. 

after that it's dead easy - strain the stock and then add julienned carrots, shredded cabbage, pakchoi, spinach or other mild tasting vegetables but especially you must add fresh coriander and spring onions and a few glugs of fish sauce at the end.

to make a meal out of this, you can add rice vermicelli and any thinly sliced meat - pork, chicken or beef or even prawns, squid, sliced mushrooms or tofu. serve in a bowl with a quarter piece of lime and some sliced chillies in light soya sauce on the side.

banana & pecan bread

mix and the boys wanted to eat cake batter so they persuaded me to bake some banana and pecan bread.

i used prue leith's banana bread recipe from her cookery bible, varying it by doubling the amount of bananas, and adding 150g of pecans instead of 100g walnuts.  it's dead easy - put the oven on at 180C, butter a loaf dish.  i used the silicone type which just needs buttering.  if you're planning to use a loaf tin i'd advise you line it with baking paper.  and then as you're melting 85g of butter in the microwave at high for about a minute, measure out 100g brown sugar.  mash 4 bananas with a fork beat in 2 eggs, the sugar and butter.  measure out 200g plain flour, mix in 3 teaspoons baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of bicarb of soda.  tip this into the wet mix and stir until well mixed and then add the pecans.  scrape into the buttered loaf mould or lined loaf tin and hand over the mixing bowl and spatula and wooden spoons to the children.  loulou always shakes his head askance and tells us we are going to get sore tummies, but we never do.  or if the children do, they've never told me.

if you love chocolate and banana i don't see why you couldn't improve the recipe to include 100g of chocolate chips.  some of my children love chocolate and some don't so the ones who do slather chocolate spread on their slice of banana bread.

it takes round about 35-45 minutes in the middle shelf of a fan assisted oven.  the recipe says an hour but i find that mine is ready in less.  when a knife comes out clean from the middle and the top is a nice brown colour, take it out and cover tightly with foil.  i find that this keeps the loaf moist.  when it's completely cooled down, tip out of the mould ready to slice.  

sushi

i promised dumdad a few pictures of sushi following his sashimi post today and et voila, here they are

our favourites are roasted eel with chives and salmon maki rolls.  

i have no will power

it didn't last long did it?

who am i kidding? it wasn't really going to work right from the beginning. the clue was when trixie suggested i cut from semi skimmed to skimmed and i didn't reply. the truth was i only drink full cream. i can't bear the taste of half fat never mind fatless.

anyway, perhaps i should find another use for this blog.  any ideas my faithful readers?

more lapses

last night i had a piece of toast at 9 pm.  bad, bad, bad mei!

so this morning i only had one milky coffee.  and for lunch a sandwich.  

at teatime, i had a few almonds and pistachios with a small bowl of yoghurt.

and treated myself to some mash, grilled chicken breast and savoy cabbage for dinner.

unfortunately i still feel peckish.  damn, i think i should just go and brush my teeth right now.

it had to happen

ok i lapsed yesterday - in more ways than one.  i'm sorry i didn't check in posts about the things i've been scoffing - suffice to say i was feeling quite full after dinner.

i blame waitrose for offerring these gorgeous ducks on special offer.  so of course it was roast duck with the darling's maman's stuffing recipe (sausagemeat, bacon, jamon serrano, onion, garlic, parsley, olives and chopped almonds - all pre fried before stuffing the duck itself).  

but i was good, i ignored the roast potatoes and only had a small roasted parsnip and carrot.  and whilst everyone else had seconds, i didn't.  not even the green beans.

so guess what's for lunch today - deboned duck and leftover stuffing stirfried with noodles and green beans.  anyone fancy some?

aiee

good at brekkie - 2 milky coffees and a piece of toast

lunch - that's something else.  went out to dim t with girlfriends and had the laksa noodles and minty lemonade.

dinner - small portion of coq au vin and a sliver of tarte tatin.

oh well i did do 2 45 minute sessions of spin this morning and walked the dog on an extended walk this evening.  

the good news is that i can fit into my size 10 cords first thing in the morning now!  working on fitting into them last thing in the evening ...

dinner

you'll be forgiven for thinking that i shouldn't even be thinking about this part of the day but i'm not the only one eating here - there's the darling ravenous from a difficult day in the kitchen and wrestling with the financial controller for a budget to provide quality fare for growing chillun, future leaders of the country, mix after a strenuous day looking in skips for art materials, george, well george freshly woken up from his vampiric sleep of daytime and feeding to prepare him for another night out and the lodger of course. 

but, i kept my portion small.  my only seconds were from the salad bowl - spinach, cucumber, coriander and spring onions dressed in sesame oil, light soya sauce, lime juice and pepper.

it couldn't last of course

good at breakfast - my usual 2 milky coffees, but after a particularly gruelling and long spin class with sandra this morning i came home and started off with good intentions - had a small bowl of plain yog.

and then as i examined my boobs in the shower - why must they be the first to lose their plumpness when i start eating less??, i started to wonder if i was overdoing this eating less malarkey. anyway i came downstairs and saw mickey eating a sugared jam doughnut.  at that point i should've gone out of the kitchen, but i sat down with her and just helped myself to a doughnut as we were chatting.

and then she got out the leftovers from last night's beef rendang (which i'd been so good and resisted last night) and the rice and, yeap i also had some.  and it's not even 1 o'clock yet!!!

i console myself with the thought that i only had small portions and will walk it off with the dog this afternoon.

dinner

irresistible dinner

it was hard keeping my portion small when there was such an array to choose from

roasted onions, buternut squash, parsnip, carrots and garlic cloves

rice with a topping of fried chopped onion, garlic and pistachio with parsley

grilled lamb steaks

breakfast and lunch

brekkie was the same as yesterday - one lusciously buttered toast (hovis seed sensations, light and nutty variety) with a teaspoon and a half of marmalade jam and 2 milky coffees.  the darling had 3 pieces of toast, sweet black coffee and a small dish of yoghurt with a teaspoonful of apricot jam.

we then donned waterproofs and wellies and rambled all about the green spaces of north london with kofi.  when we got home we were ravenous and i wolfed down merguez sausages with couscous and harissa and a few glasses of red.  

the kitchen is now closed for the day

lunch

tea

dinner

in between i drank between 500mls - 1 l of water, half a small bottle of leffe (shared with the darling) and a mug of rooibos tea.

brekkie

end of the day

well i've brushed my teeth - it's 8.30 - so nil by mouth until morning

dinner tonight was roast lamb marinated in ras el hanout and garlic slivers inserted in between the layers of fat.  I was good and only had a tiny slice with spinach and baby plum tomatoes whilst the others also had couscous steamed with carrots and green beans.

for pudding i had half a pot of plain yoghurt (ms byrd i am keeping my portions small - what was that article about emulating the french femmes who advocate la moitie s'il vous plait?)

drinks - a glass of bubbly whilst preparing the fare, i avoided the chorizo and pate on toasts the others, namely mix and fred were consuming at this stage

ooh i feel so virtuous - it has started well!

and later a large mug of pu-er tea

tea

stewed apple and vanilla custard

drinks - 3 cups of chamomile tea and a glass of water

i will not be defeated!

brunch

small portion of roast chicken

50 mls water

breakfast

2 milky coffees