Prawns and Points

If like me you love delicious food but need (at least some of the time) keep the calories and carbs down then this edition of Ann's Food Diary might be of interest both for a couple of my recipes and some from "Slice of Slim" http://www.slice-of-slim.com/

Prawns and in particular those large succulent king prawns always feel to me like a decadent holiday treat. However this luxurious seafood is remarkably healthy. 

Yesterday returning from a morning in London I hovered around Pret, Yo Sushi and M&S deliberating or rather prevaricating over what if any lunch dish I wanted, all based of course on calories and weight watchers points. The handy bar code scanner on the new ww ap helps greatly here with decision making.

In the end I bought some prawns and put together a substantial salad at home.

The recipe was simple and quick taking just five minutes to make, so here it is

Take a crisp apple, some celery and red pepper

For the dressing mix a splash of white balsamic vinegar (mild and low in sharp acidity) with a small squeeze of wasabi paste, half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and some lime juice.

I find that adding these ingredients to a small jar and shaking well creates a slightly thickened consistency.

Then combine the vegetables, prawns and dressing add some salt and pepper and mix well and you have great healthy salad. 

For those familiar with weight watchers this receipe is just 1.5 points, for those less familiar you can eat 30 points a day so this lunch was pretty good value.

I was then reminded of another recipe I invented some time ago called Healthy Prawns and Chorizo and here it is (6 points) http://annsfooddiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/healthy-prawn-and-chorizo.html

So that brings me back to Janey Green and Slice of Slim. Janey is passionate about food, creates amazing recipes and writes for weight watchers, her You Tube videos are worth watching too. Each recipe aims for great taste and low calories. Earlier in the week I made her "Something for Nothing Vegetable Curry and Rice" it is delicious and the addition of mango and banana inspired, http://www.slice-of-slim.com/2012/07/something-for-nothing-vegetable-curry.html

Fish Soup

This is an easy recipe for a fish soup that only takes 15 minutes to prepare, is low in calories but has all the rich depth of flavours found in this seafood favourite.

Chop 1/2 an onion, with some red peppers (I used the very versatile variety from a jar by Pepperdew) together with some chopped fennel from the garden which had survived all winter.

Gather the seasoning and spices while the kettle is boiling and add all the vegetables and other ingredients to a medium saucepan. Measure according to taste I used two portions of fish stock, a "squirt" of tomato purée a pinch of pimenton and saffron and a good helping of black pepper. Celery, crushed garlic and a splash of Pernod would be good additions too. Cover the ingredients with boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile remove the seafood from the freezer, there is no need to defrost this

I used half a pack of mixed seafood. After the 10 minutes add the seafood and bring back to the boil for just 1 minute so the seafood is cooked through. 

Stir in a tablespoonful of cream (mine was soured left over from last nights Mexican dinner) or some milk. Top off with a sprinkling of fresh parsley, also still thriving in the garden. 

This soup is equally good made in my wonderful much used soup maker which you can read about here http://annsfooddiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/more-soup.html the result then is slightly thicker than the version I produced today.

For weight watchers fans an enormous bowl is only 2/3 pp!

Pig, Pork and Pies

This blog is certainly not a read for vegetarian friends but I was playing that silly game recently based on if you could only eat one type of animal for the rest of your life what would it be?

There was the usual debate of "oh a chicken is so versatile" and " it must be a cow as I can't imagine never having a juicy steak" again. My choice would be a pig. 

Roast pork with crunchy crackling and apple sauce never ceases to excite for a Sunday treat http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/pork

Then there are our Saturday bacon and egg sandwiches and wonderful pork belly with Asian spices and pac choi in oyster sauce http://www.recipefy.com/en/rick-stein-s-crisp-skin-port-belly-bbq-spice-rub/recipes/610 from my favourite Rick Stein the food hero's series and book. 

I have written before about sausages, no ordinary sausages but the delicious Korkers which you can hear more about here http://annsfooddiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/korker-sausages.html made in Kent and now so popular with family around the country that I have to take supplies for them when visiting.

And what about pork pies? I once read that no one admits to buying a pork pie but they are one of the best selling supermarket products. Quite a draw on stalls at farmers markets too. Every so often I will make a pork pie. My first attempt was the mighty pie cooked for sharing at our village Jubilee party in the summer of 2012 http://annsfooddiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/mighty-pie.html

Last week I made two more. These are made far easier by my investment in decent quality solid pie tins with loose bottoms for easy pie release. 

Hot water crust pastry can be moulded into shape in the tin. The filling combines pork shoulder (I used value steaks) minced, and diced plus minced pork belly with some smoked bacon. Salt, pepper, thyme and mace are the seasonings. 

Once cooked and cooled chicken stock and gelatine are poured through a hole in the pie top to form the all important jelly.