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No cooking today, but I have been meaning to mention this for AGES.
Our usual Sunday Night dinner is Indian. Most things I’m not too sure of in terms of ingredients so I’ve settled in to a routine that I look forward to. That, and actually NOT having to cook one night.
What I order is Chicken Shashlic – now I know from experience that Indian takeaways will vary greatly as to what actually arrives even if you order the same thing. At OUR local Indian, the Shashlic is basically marinated chicken, with onions, peppers and tomatoes, obviously cooked on a skewer, based on the holes through it all, and with a bit of juice (not sauce, just the natural juices from the meat and the veg)
What I usually do is 1/2 the portion first so I have 1/2 for lunch the next day, especially if we get the shami kebabs (the one that looks like a reddish lamb burger, at least at ours) as a side. I tip out the juices and heat my can o’ beans (not a huge Dal fan myself) then mash the beans into the juice, add a bit of salt and pepper and tuck in.
This eases us back into the slow-carb way for the next week.
For some reason we are finding fish soup a good compromise between my preference for salad and DHs preference for a hot meal even in summer.
This one was outstanding, if I do say so myself!
prawn – I used two bags of frozen raw prawns. Fresh is better, but I had frozen.
oil – Macadamia nut oil or sunflower oil is best, olive oil otherwise
chili, garlic and ginger – I used a tbls. of each.
1 tsp ground coriander
1 can coconut milk and two cans of water
juice of two limes
3 tbls Thai fish sauce
bunch of green onions
bag of pea shoots
handful of mange tout (pea pods)
can of cannelli beans
Saute the spices in the oil for a minute or two, careful not to let them burn
Add the can of coconut milk and the two cans of water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes
Add the lime juice and the fish sauce, the beans, onions and the pea pods. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
Add the prawns and simmer until they go pink but don’t overcook them!
Add the pea shoots and cook for a minute more, just till they wilt.
Serve with a scattering of fresh chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Looks a bit lackluster in the photo but it is a nice rich colour in real life. and very tasty!
You could add a bag of scallops as well, or some chunked up monkfish tails. And up the chili a lot if you like it hot. thought the beans might be odd but they actually were really nice with the shrimp.
Still doing a lot of BBQ, but when I do make a new recipe I will try to add it.
We have been doing a bit more fish recently so here is another one:
simple marinade:
Lemon juice
olive oil
plenty of ground black pepper
chopped fresh basil
Marinate the steaks in a bag in the fridge. Grill just a few minutes on each side till just cooked through.
I did the same with some shrimp skewers:
The leftover marinade I added to the puy lentils. Fab meal, very fast, very tasty.
Well, we have been eating “old” recipes most of the last few weeks, it seems. We’ve had the Pork Chops with white bean mash, the Turkey in red Pesto, BBQ lamb, the chicken thighs in mustard, and many more. LOTS of BBQ, nearly every night. But I did make these little fish parcels one night and realized I had never shared!
In a large piece of tin foil, make a parcel of:
any sort of white fish (cod, haddock, plaice, whatever is on sale!)
a knob of butter
a squeeze of lemon juice
pepper
herbs – I used a grinder with lemon, garlic, and thyme)
Seal the parcel completely and place on a baking tray. Pop it into a 180C oven for 15-20 minutes till the fish is cooked through and flaky. The cooking time will depend a bit on how thick the fish fillet is.
Fry off a pack of bacon lardons
Add a can of Puy lentils, drained and rinsed and simmer while the fish cooks.
When cooked, slide the fish onto a pile of the lentils.
This is a basic method – you cn cook any sort of fish with any sort of flavouring. Salmon with soy, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar scattered with spring onions is good. Monkfish with thyme and a bit of lemon is good. The best thing is the clean up is so easy!
This was quite yummy. Usually, I avoid British sausages because they tend to be full of rusk or some other starchy filler (at least my Morrisons tends to carry only those. I miss the sausages we used to get when we lived in th Barbican, from Smithfields market. All meat and tasty seasonings, no filler in sight.) But I found sausages from The Black Farmer the other day. They are 100% gluten free (shame they do have dextrose in them so an occasional treat on the slow-carb path) and very tasty.
And as the weather here has be glorious, I can’t see making this too many time over the summer, but it hit the spot on the day.
Now, here is the twist – gremolata. Usually this is lemon rind, parsley and garlic, sometimes mixed in olive oil but I made it with coriander, lemon and lime rind, and garlic.
grated rind of one lemon and one lime
tbls very finely chopped garlic
a good handful of coriander leaves (cilantro) chopped
Mix all this up in a bowl and leave in the fridge while the sausages cook.
For the stew:
12 sausages, all meat if possible
1 tbls olive oil
chopped garlic (as much as you like)
1 large onion sliced thin
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 – 2 cups chicken broth (depending on how soupy you want it)
herbs of your choice – I had italian mix so used that (a good tbls dried mixed herbs)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Saute the sausages in the oil till uniformly browned. Remove from the pan and fry the onions and garlic till the onions are nicely caramelized. Lower heat, 10 minutes or so, if you have the time.
Add back in the sausages, the tomatoes, the broth, herbs and the beans. You can hold off on the beans if you like them with a little more bite to them.
Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until the sausages are cooked through and no pink remains. Squeeze in the juice of the lemon you used for the gremolata then stir and dish it up.
Last thing, sprinkle a teaspoon (or even a tbls !) of the gremolata over the top before serving.
I love salmon. It is one of the few fish I really enjoy. Trout is good too, and tuna (fresh or canned) but fish like cod and haddock and (ugh) mackerel just do not appeal. Perhaps it is because I am not very good at cooking them.
Anyway, it was salmon last night, simply cooked in a bit of olive oil and a bit of butter, then served over spinach piled with lentils and this dressing drizzled over the top. The capers really make the taste POP when you bite in to one, and as it is heavy on the lemon juice it works really well with the fish.
Pretty much a standard vinaigrette:
1/2 cup light or extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tbls Dijon mustard
2 tbls drained capers
I like to put it in a lidded jar and shake it up well, so the oil and lemon juice is emulsified. A couple of spoons over the spinach/lentil/fish stack is lovely. I might add some rosemary next time.
I used green lentils, because I felt I was in danger of always picking puy lentils since I love them so much, and in reality I suspect t would have been better with Puy. Next time.
Lovely with some fresh steamed asparagus.
Last night I made the blog recipe of ground beef with broccoli again and changed it even more.
1. I added broccoli (fresh), green beans (fresh) and lots of onion
2. Instead of Soy Sauce I added a cup of strong, rich beef broth with red wine
3. I added a goodly portion of garlic, 3 cloves or more
4. Again, puy lentils instead of white beans.
I also roasted some long sweet red peppers with olive oil, salt, pepper and more garlic. Served together the combo was just yummy. So yummy, in fact, we sat down and ate it without stopping to take a picture! Oh well. Just imagine it.
Next time….
Like most slow-carbers, I watch Tim’s blog for info, tips, etc.
The recipe posted recently interested me, but frankly I didn’t like a few elements of it – first, why use frozen broccoli? OK so maybe a case could be made for flash frozen veg being “fresher” than fresh, but I’m not convinced of that. I suppose it depends on where you get it. Obviously fresh from YOUR garden is better. Also, there wasn’t enough veg in there for me – I used a full head and a bit of broccoli and a handful of sliced spring onions and I would have liked even MORE. I toyed with adding some fresh spinach to wilt in there as well, and probably will add it next time.
Just soy sauce for flavoring didn’t appeal either, so I used soy sauce, a tbls. of rice wine vinegar (accepting the slight carb content as a trade off for the flavour) and some sesame oil – I used no oil in the pan, but used a non-stick skillet and drained off the fat. That helped boost the flavor for me. I tend to think chicken when I think cannelli beans, or tuna, not red meat, so I used a can of puy lentils instead.
It was good, but not outstanding. Still, it was fast and easy, with little clean-up after the fact, so I would be happy making it again – just lots more veg and maybe some ginger and garlic added whisked into the soy/vinegar/sesame oil as well. I think bean sprouts might also be a nice addition.
While I can see the appeal of minimal ingredients, I just think adding a few more things turn the recipe form a nice enough dish when you are in a hurry into a proper and tasty meal. But then I don’t get the whole egg/spinach/beans/salsa microwave breakfast either! If I only get to eat a limited number of things, I want those things to be as flavoursome and appealing as humanly possible within the limits for losing fat. If that means it takes 20 minutes instead of 10 or 15, and used 10 ingredients instead of 3 then so be it.
I am always looking for a good way to use ground beef, as I often find it on sale, and this fits the bill.
1 kg ground beef
2 tbls garlic puree or fresh minced garlic
1/2 cup frozen spinach (defrosted and squeezed dry) – you could try fresh chopped spinach but frozen was what I had!
1 tbls herb mix (Italian is best) or a variety of chopped fresh herbs – thyme, sage, basil, oregano
1 large egg
1 finely minced onion
1 tbls of soy or Worstercheshire sauce
salt and pepper
Mix all this up in a bowl. Form into small meatballs, a heaped tablespoon in size, then pop in a baking tray and into a 180C/350F oven for about 15 minutes. Turn and pop back in for another 15 minutes till the meatballs are slightly crispy on the edges.
Drain off the fat. Add 500- 1000 ml of rich beef stock and a 400g can of chopped tomatoes to a large casserole (how much stock you add will depend on how much liquid you want – really soupy or more meatballs with some “juice”. Less stock and it will be more tomato-y in flavour) and extra herbs and garlic if you want. Add the meatballs and a 400g can of Borlotti beans.
Pop this in the oven for 20-30 minutes, to reduce the liquid a bit and heat the beans.
All it needs is a green salad, with some fresh spinach leaves if you like them that way.
Works great with black beans too, and you can surely add more than one can for a more bean-rich bowl.
A quick supper!
2 tbls of olive oil
two banana shallots chopped fine
400 gm can of chopped tomatoes
lemon thyme
2 tbls. soy sauce
4 haddock fillets
400 gm can of Puy Lentils
Fry the shallots in the ol for 5 minutes or so, till they are soft. Add the can of tomatoes. simmer for 5 minutes. Add the lemon thyme and the soy sauce. Let simmer for a few minutes then add the fish fillets. Cover the pan and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily.
Move the fish to one side of the pan and add the lentils. When the lentils are heated through, serve it up.
Cod or any other white fish would work. I think lentils are best with fish but other beans could be OK as well. Plain thyme would be fine, as would basil and some other italian herbs like oregano, or a combo. Plain onions rather than shallots, or even red onions would be nice. And chili flakes will spice it up.
