Savoury cheesecake

This SAVOURY CHEESECAKE recipe with honey and thyme, turned out to be very light and fluffy.
At around 275 calories per portion - it's not as calorific as you may think, and certainly has less than many shop bought varieties. 

A citrus side salad and pickled beetroot completed a very satisfying lunch. 

I used a 20cm loose based sandwich tin for this recipe and cut a long strip of greaseproof paper about 3cm taller than the sides to line the tin. I wasn't sure how much it was going to rise… and rise it did.
The cheesecake resurrected very well the following day; withstanding 20 minutes reheating in the oven. It was also very nice served cold - slicing was easier and you could cut very small slices - especially when no one was looking ;o).

Everyone loved this as much as we did. Take a look at our recipe:

Spicy BBQ beef ball in breadcrumbs

This little morsel - BBQ beef in breadcrumbs -was a bit of a showstopper. We wanted to add a little texture and crunch to our dining experience, where we were cooking 'beef three ways'.
The beef ball recipe although experimental, turned into one of the finer elements on the plate.
Our guests were more than impressed and so were we! The beef ball was placed ceremoniously on a bed of sweet onion puree (I'll post that recipe later) and helped balance the whole plate.
Everyone wanted to know how to make them. We had searched for something akin online, and found nothing, so we came up with our own recipe.
They would certainly work as appetisers on their own. Here's our recipe:

Beef with orange spiced carrots and onion puree

This was our dinner party meal - which we enjoyed experimenting with.
Yesterday I posted how to make the balls of beef, and today I'm concentrating on the ORANGE SPICED CARROTS which will compliment lots of meals.
The dinner is more time consuming than technical, but the bonus, especially when you are entertaining, is that a lot of the components can be prepared beforehand.
Besides the melody of beef, the sweet onion puree and orange spiced carrots were a firm favourite. Even if you are cooking a simple beef dish - dressing up the vegetables like this is easy to do.
Take a look at this fabulous recipe for the

How to cook BEEF CHEEKS

These succulent BEEF CHEEKS were a result of overnight cooking in our slow cooker. We served with celeriac mash, spring cabbage and our home made WILD GARLIC GNOCCHI. This would be equally as tasty served with plain mash and your favourite vegetables.
We ate the leftovers in a roll at lunch time today.
The beef has more depth of flavour than shin of beef. So if you are after a rich meaty dish, then this is one for you.
Are the restaurants keeping this tasty budget cut of meat to themselves? At around £6 per kilo I've yet to see it on the supermarket shelves. Our butcher was very obliging though, and we ordered four whole beef cheeks, believing one per person was correct. We soon realised we were wrong - and one beef cheek would serve two. Fortunately, they were vacuum packed in pairs. Like most beef casseroles, this is not too high in calories. Here's our very easy recipe:

Asparagus, broad bean and pea tart

Our starter for Saturday night was inspired by a dish from Chez Bruce in London. It was so refreshing and bursting with all the flavours of spring, that we decided to make something similar.
With no recipe to follow, we came up with our version. The addition of chopped fresh mint to our lemon dressing set this dish alive and our pulses racing.
We estimate the dish at below 250 calories and this starter quickly became a favourite of ours. We know we will be eating it again... very soon. It will also make an excellent light lunch - just double up on the quantity. 

We were going to make do with Parmesan shavings, but thought we would buy the Pecorino. This was a good move, as the Pecorino has something about it that works so well with all the ingredients. We stopped at the deli counter and asked for a small piece, and they were very obliging. Here's our recipe:

Monkfish with spicy sauce

Monkfish carries spicy sauces well because its meaty and strong. We give this dish 9 out of 10 and the result is up there with our favourite meals. Here's our spicy recipe - with such a depth of flavour, it's worth using the sauce with other dishes such as pasta. You could cook clams and mussels in the sauce too for a perfect light lunch.
We used lots of crusty bread to mop up every last drop of the sauce as it was so addictive. Estimated calories in this dish would be around 350 calories for the fish. Don't forget to add the calories for your bread (and potatoes if using). Here's our distinctive recipe:

ROASTED QUAIL

We found the quail in the supermarket and decided to give it a go despite having never eaten it before. After searching the internet for cooking instructions, we came to a conclusion - 20-25 minutes would do the trick. The result was much tastier than we anticipated, which surprised us. Here's our recipe:

SEA BASS with CARROT CRISPS

Sea bass is a delicate fish and like most other fish, it's low in calories.  This is how our sea bass turned out last night, and it's a lot easier to cook than you might think.
The whole meal is around 450 to 500 calories. This time we served with carrot crisps which added a very nice texture and colour to the dish. Here's our recipe:

Lamb & minted pea mousse

LAMB RUMP with a minted pea mousse.
This cut of meat gives you a lot more for your money. However, the lamb rump is not as sweet and tender as a lamb chop. We used around 180g of meat per person (of which there was 60g in the later discarded fat layer).
So where were the hidden calories? Despite having become quite adept at rough counting calories, we were served up with a little reminder on how 'calories' can hide in our food. If you take a look at some of the 'innocent' looking foods in your cupboard you might just be surprised too.
Having purchased a pouch of lamb stock some time ago, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to use it - for the sauce.
I never thought to look at the calories on the pack, believing stock wouldn't contain enough calories to take into account. Shock - horror! Unlike some other stocks you can buy, this 500ml pouch contained 290 calories!
We estimated this dish at around 750 calories in the end.
Awareness is the key - these hidden calories can make all the difference to your weight loss (or gain). It only takes an extra 100 calories per day above your recommended calorie allowance to add 10 lbs in weight per year.
LAMB SAUCE
Roughly chop a shallot and clove of garlic, add to the lamb stock with a glass of red wine and reduce down to a consistency you prefer. If you have a sprig of rosemary/thyme you could throw that in too. Strain out the garlic and shallot and herbs before serving. You could add a drop of port if you have any to sweeten it a little.
PEA & MINT MOUSSE
This is basically peas and chopped mint with the addition of whipped double cream and a setting agent (often gelatine). We used this recipe adjusting the portions to serve two.

****

EAT the food you love - like we do and forget dieting. You'll feel more satisfied and it may just stop you snacking or craving something you feel you deserve.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - why not find out what yours is? We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten.

You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go!

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how we have lost weight eating the food we love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

CHICKEN SCRATCHINGS

Chicken scratchings, poached chicken breast and ballotine of chicken.  A refreshing change to our usual Sunday roast. We estimate this meal at around 500 calories, and found it surprisingly filling too.
Wondering how a restaurant could produce such a tasty piece of chicken as this, we set about trying to recreate it.
Here's what we did - and reproduced the succulent chicken and super crunchy scratchings.

Slow braised pig's cheek

Pig's cheek - a succulent nugget of pork, so rich you just wouldn't want more. We think this is one of the best pork dishes we've cooked so far. The flavour exceeded our expectations, and it was not difficult to make. Just time consuming. The sauce was incredibly intense and a perfect partner for the pork.
We were inspired by a recent meal at a fine dining establishment (see our review). With a little imagination and a few ingredients, we came up with our own version. Here's our recipe.

Smoked haddock soufflé - recipe Michel Roux

Result - our Smoked Haddock Soufflé.
We used this Michel Roux recipe, and followed it to the letter - with only a slight adjustment to the cooking time. We cooked ours for around 10 minutes (instead of the suggested 7-8 minutes). This is probably down to our oven temperature. So, so delicious. We ate ours as a starter, but it would make a very nice light lunch - served with a small green salad.
Losing weight eating the food YOU love!

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - and we like to post our main meals to show you what we are eating. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go!

Read about the UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how we have lost weight eating the food we love.

Copyright © forgetdietingforever, all rights reserved.

LAMB RUMP with cherry sauce

Various components of this dish were made beforehand. I suppose that's what they must do in all the fancy restaurants.

LAMB RUMP WITH CHERRY SAUCE

Ingredients (serves two)

Lamb rump (150g per person)

Jar of morello cherries (in light syrup or juice)

Shallot

Garlic

Port

Water

Take the meat out of the fridge so it comes to room temperature.
CHERRY SAUCE. This can be done earlier. Drain the cherries. The juice can be used to cook the cherries, but if you've bought a jar of cherries in syrup, then replace the liquid with enough water to cover. Save the syrup, as you may want to use a little of this to sweeten the sauce. Add a dash of port, chopped shallot and crushed garlic to the cherries and water/juice. Boil for around 20 minutes then blend and pass through a sieve. If you want to save a few of the cherries to decorate your plate, then feel free (we forgot today).
Fry the lamb, brown all sides then place into the oven to finish cooking. We put ours in the oven for 5 minutes as we like it pink. Rest the meat - this is the most important part of the process.
We served ours with minted pea puree - literally blend some cooked frozen peas with some mint and salt/pepper. Put into a saucepan and reduce to your desired consistency.
Our fondant potatoes - strangely enough we cook ours the wrong way, but they taste great. We boil the potatoes in stock until cooked, then when we're ready to eat, we fry them in butter/oil for just a few minutes either side until we see a nice looking crust/crunch!
We like to do a QUICK calorie count, and we work on the lamb being two calories per gram. That's 300 calories for the meat. If we estimate 650 calories at most, this dish is well within our WEEKEND calorie allowance.
Losing weight eating the food we love!
REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - and we like to post our main meals to show you what we are eating. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go!
Read about UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how we have lost weight eating the food we love.
Copyright © forgetdietingforever 2013, all rights reserved.

Smoked haddock souffle

OH DEAR - this was how it looked when we removed it from the oven after the stated cooking time. But ... despite how it looks it did - eventually - turn out to be very very tasty.
My partner wanted to have a go at this smoked haddock soufflé - by Michel Roux. The main difference being that we used full fat milk to poach the fish, rather than cream.
The problem began when we cooked the soufflé  for the time suggested (seven minutes) and found it was still undercooked - very liquid, so we cooked it for a further two minutes. Even then it was still not cooked. It took a further three minutes before we decided it was ok to eat.
In total the soufflé took twelve minutes to cook. We also forgot to run a finger around the rim, so it was a bit lopsided.
But..... when it was finally cooked, we cannot begin to describe how delicious this was. Perhaps the difference in cooking time was down to professional ovens versus domestic ovens? Please give this a go - it was so light and tasty... In hindsight we should have tested with a cocktail stick - just as you would test a cake. We're not professionals and we may just have made an error or two.
I've worked out the calories for each serving to be around 300 calories each.
If you would like to know more about how we have achieved our fabulous weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR UNIQUE METHOD.

Copyright © (c)forgetdietingforever 2013, all rights reserved.

Red mullet and pearl barley risotto

We estimated this dish at around 450 calories as there was a lot less fish than last time. It was handy having lots of the red pepper sauce already in the freezer, so we dug some out. We made a good batch of the sauce when the peppers were in season and cheap. Fish is great when it's fresh, i.e. doesn't smell, and cooked gently - that's all you have to do!
TIP: When cooking the pearl barley, it may taste quite strong. The balance of flavours deliver when you taste this together with the red pepper sauce which is quite sweet. Delicous.
If you're starting from scratch, here's how to go about it:
Begin by frying a chopped shallot and some garlic until soft, add one and a half chopped red and yellow peppers to the pan, cook for a little longer. Add small dash of white wine vinegar to the pan, the vermouth and stock/water. Reduce by half, then whizz in a blender - you may need to add just a touch of sugar to taste due to the white wine vinegar. We did this bit early in the afternoon - so it was ready to go. Add salt and pepper to taste.

We used 80g of dried pearl barley between the two of us and cooked it in fish stock - but any stock and/or ordinary water will do - until soft. You can do this early in the afternoon, then when ready to eat, just heat through and add a tablespoon each of mascarpone and grated parmesan. Add a small knob of butter too, as this will give the dish a real richness. TIP: If we were making a risotto with rice, we wouldn't be able to pre-cook like this, so why not give pearl barley a go? You can relax with your friends instead of being slave to stirring a risotto! 

Don't forget to season - salt needs to be added carefully, little by little, not enough and the barley is 'missing' something.

The fish fillets were pan fried in butter/oil. We served with some courgettes last time but forgot to buy some, so added frozen peas to the risotto to give it a bit of colour for the um 'photo shoot'.

If you would like to know more about how we have achieved our fabulous weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR UNIQUE METHOD.

Copyright © forgetdietingforever 2013, all rights reserved.

STEAK night

We haven't lost weight by following a restrictive diet. We follow our own unique method, which supports the idea of 'calories in - calories out', but we've added our own twist.
Saturday night was beef steak with chasseur sauce. Simple. Delicious. Classic. Calories - well we didn't really count, but we know they are roughly within our calorie allowance for the weekend (see our method). As we have a FULL calorie allowance today, this meal is allowed. As you can see, not a diet meal in sight.
The potatoes were devine - cooked in oil and a smidge of garlic in the frying pan. We have the recipe for the absolutely delicious chasseur sauce here on the blog. The steak is as we like it - resting the meat is probably the most important lesson to learn (as the juices return to the meat and do not run over the plate). Carrots and broad beans... that's it. In a restaurant you would pay a price for something as delicious. We washed it down with a very good glass of red wine... house wine here is very good value for money too.
See how eating this way has been successful for our weight loss on our  ABOUT US page. Calories DO COUNT and seeing is believing!!
If you would like to know more about how we have achieved our fabulous weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR UNIQUE METHOD.

Copyright © forgetdietingforever 2013, all rights reserved.

PORK BELLY WITH FONDANT POTATO

Here's our belly of pork and it was delicious. We are a bit critical of the fondant potato because we looked up a few recipes and realised they were ALL cooked differently to our previous attempt. We then realised our previous attempt had actually been cooked incorrectly! But, to be honest, previously the potato was more moist and utterly devine. The potato today (cooked ... um properly)... was ... a bit dry. But it was still a lovely tasting potato!
To cook the pork, place the belly of pork (minus the ribs) in a large stockpot filled with our favourite stock vegetables (or whatever you have to hand).  We used: carrot, onion, celery, garlic, leek, bayleaf, thyme and rosemary (no salt and pepper).  Ensure meat is covered with the stock or water.  If you have the ribs, throw them in too. The more flavours you have at this stage, the tastier the dish.  We like to use beef stock.  Bring to the boil and simmer for as long as you can - the longer the better (we simmered ours for 5 hours). 

When cooked, remove and place meat on a flat baking tray.  Place another flat baking tray on top and add some weight to press the meat together.  After the long cooking, a lot of the fat has disappeared and this 'pressing' stage helps the meat stick back together and looks very neat.  

Leave for a couple of hours until ready to serve.

We cooked the pork skin separately in the oven - scored and sprinkled with salt. A very nice accompaniment. 

To serve:  Cut into squares and simply fry in a pan containing a little oil/butter.  Season as you go along!  Cook until the meat is heated through and the outside is nice and crispy.  

This is an economical dish as it can serve a large number of people at a small cost. When we made ours, there was around 8 large portions - some of which were frozen.
Belly of pork cooked this way is not as fatty as you might think, as the slow braising renders out a lot of the fat while all the flavour remains. We ESTIMATE around 700 calories for this meal - including the pork scratchings. But we can have a FULL calorie allowance today!

If you would like to know more about how we have achieved over 6.5 stone weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR IDEA

Copyright © (c)forgetdietingforever 2013, all rights reserved.

Halibut

We finally managed to buy some fabulous looking halibut - and we enjoyed a 180g fillet each (200 calories) for dinner. There is an award winning smokery not too far from us, where I bought our smoked salmon - only to be confronted with a beautiful display of fresh fish. Couldn't resist and ended up with my shopping bag full with clams, halibut and sea bream.
Halibut is a meaty fish - the texture is very much like tuna, but the flavour is more like haddock. A great fish if you hate picking out bones - as the fish is huge and only has one central bone. This steak was boneless as it came from one side of the backbone.
We served the halibut with some spinach and spiced butter beans. We cooked the butter beans in some white wine along with chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, coriander seeds and seasoning (I could have added a few more chilli flakes too). When the beans were soft, we stirred in some olive oil and warmed this through before serving. The whole meal came to around 450 calories so we added some bread to increase the calorie content - to help ensure we don't pick later!
Find out how we have achieved over 6.5 stone weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR UNIQUE METHOD.

Copyright © (c)forgetdietingforever 2012, all rights reserved.

FONDANT POTATO - with RACK OF LAMB

Fondant potato with herb crusted rack of lamb. A delicious combination. All served with a lamb and rosemary jus.
My tastebuds were tingling as the dish came together.
Interestingly, the lamb is around 265 calories per person - so we estimate the whole dish at around 650 calories.
The meal was fairly easy to cook - it just needed some military planning! A bit of a fuss, but we were looking for a challenge.

We prepared the following beforehand:
The jus was made using some pre-bought lamb stock and a couple of large sprigs of rosemary. This was simply boiled and reduced to the consistency we wanted. We added a dash of sherry (could also have used port) just to sweeten it a little.

The fondant potatoes made by placing the raw potato in a pan and covering with chicken stock, and cooked until soft. We did this in the afternoon, so they were half prepared.
The next part of the cooking was to fry them in some butter until golden brown when you are ready to eat. We didn't use as much as some of the recipes out there...
The mint pea puree was a mix of chopped shallot, garlic, peas and mint cooked until soft then pureed.

***

Then when we were ready to eat:
The lamb was already French trimmed by our butcher. We browned the meat in a frying pan, then brushed with dijon mustard and covered in (25g) breadcrumbs mixed with chopped rosemary, parsley and thyme. The lamb then went into oven for around 8 minutes - which was medium/rare for us. Depends on the size of the chops.
We fried the potatoes in butter while the lamb cooked.
The carrots were cooked in orange juice, for a sweeter result and we added a tiny piece of butter at the end.
We wrapped partly cooked green beans in parma ham and pan fried them with a few tiny mushrooms.

***

So what do we think? The sweet nuggets of lamb were delicious - but you would get more for your money if you bought lamb rump. The rest was gorgeous!!!!!
Oh and if that wasn't enough, we decided to make this LEMON SOUFFLÉ infused with limoncello liqueur. Mmmm, what more could we want?

***

EAT the food you love - like we do and ... forget dieting. You'll feel much more satisfied and it may just stop you snacking or craving something you feel you deserve.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours? 

We like to post our main meals to show you what CAN be eaten. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go!

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can lose weight eating the food you love.

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved.

Venison with blackcurrants

We did plan a cottage pie, and bought the ingredients to make it... but on our shopping trip we came across this bargain! Couldn't resist - and a couple of venison steaks entered our shopping basket. Venison seemed to be everywhere we went - so it must be a seasonal thing as you don't normally see it. The cottage pie has moved to its new slot next week!
We served the venison on a bed of stir fried cabbage with cream and bacon bits. We had some left over gnocchi, and as this was delicious, we decided to have that too. The blackcurrant sauce was simply a reduction of (tinned - would you believe) blackcurrants in fruit juice. We added a little sugar to taste and boiled to a nice sticky consistency, then pushed it all through a sieve. It complimented the venison perfectly.
Today we get to eat a full calorie allowance again. We added to that allowance by going for a longish walk - for around an hour - giving us both another 240 calories or so to eat.
If you would like to know more about how we have achieved over 6.5 stone weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR IDEA

Copyright © forgetdietingforever 2012, all rights reserved.