COD WITH OLIVES CAPERS TOMATOES

I have mentioned in previous posts that I follow the 5:2 diet / the fast diet - it is the first time I have ever managed to stick to an eating plan which makes it impressive as I have been on a diet on and off since I was a 10 years old! My family used to very kindly tell me it was "puppy fat"!

Thankfully my daughter has a completely different body type to me (tall and skinny) but still I do not like to talk about diets, calories or fat in the house so when I have a fast day (500 calories) I need to be very careful about it. 

Last night I cooked this fish dish for myself but for my daughter I topped the fish with pesto and she had the olives and tomatoes on the side (she is not a fan of capers). It took about 15 minutes maximum and was very simple.

Ingredients for 2 people:

200g green beans
2 pieces of skinless cod or haddock (around 300g)
Olive oil or fry light 
1 tsp rosemary, chopped
30g green olives, pitted and quartered
2 tsp capers
8 cherry tomatoes, diced
Half a lemon, juiced

Preheat the grill and season the fish. Cook according to the instructions - mine took 12 minutes under a medium grill.

Prepare the tomatoes, capers, rosemary and olives.

About 5 minutes before the fish is ready, boil the green beans and then drain.

Then either spray some fry light (or if you are not counting calories add a tablespoon of olive oil) into a frying pan and add the olives, rosemary, tomatoes and capers for a couple of minutes. Season.

Squeeze in the lemon juice and let it bubble for a minute.

Then serve with the fish sitting on the beans and spoon over the sauce.

Such a pretty plate….and it was extremely fresh and tasty too. Very surprising as it is only 185 calories. I think the capers were the secret ingredient, they go so well with fish. Next time I might add some extra vegetables like peas and add some new potatoes for Arabella or Pascal although it is pretty perfect as it is!

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OVEN BAKED RISOTTO WITH PESTO GOATS CHEESE

Pascal has gone back to France and left me with an abundance of cheese and rather randomly a lot of basil so I searched though my recipe folder to see what I could cook. I found this recipe which I cut out of a magazine in April 2008 - it was definitely time to give it a go!!

Ingredients for 4 people:

Risotto

1.2 litres of chicken or vegetable stock

25g butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped

300g risotto rice

150ml white wine (I didnt have any wine so just used a little extra stock)

Salt and pepper

Pesto

1 shallot, peeled and chopped (I forgot to buy this so used a garlic clove instead)

30g pine nuts

80ml olive oil

70g basil leaves

A squeeze of lemon

To finish:

A knob of butter

200g freshly grated Parmesan

150g goats cheese

Preheat the oven to 190 C / 170 C fan / gas mark 5.

Bring the stock to the boil in a small saucepan.

Melt the butter in a large casserole dish / saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion. Cook gently for several minutes until softened, without colouring.

Add the rice and stir for about a minute.

Then add the wine (or in my case some of the stock) and simmer until almost absorbed.

Pour in the boiling stock and season. Next cover and cook in the oven for 25 minutes.

While this is cooking you can prepare the pesto. As I mentioned I forgot to buy a shallot so just used a garlic clove instead - I dont think it made too much difference.

In a food processor, place the shallot, pine nuts, olive oil, half the basil and some salt and pepper and whizz to a puree.

Then add the remaining basil and a squeeze of lemon and whizz again.

When the risotto is ready, take it out the oven and give it a stir.

Mine hadnt absorbed all the stock - I dont know why - I ended up putting it on the hob for a few minutes.

Then add a knob of butter and the Parmesan to the risotto and stir.

Spoon in pesto and stir.

Finally stir in half the goats cheese and then serve with the remaining goats cheese on top.

This was fabulous, great flavours - Arabella literally inhaled her bowl and announced it her new favourite. I think when I cook it again I will cook the risotto the traditional boring way of slowly spooning in the stock and stirring continuously rather than putting it in the oven as my rice was a little soft….I like it to have a bite to it. However I loved the combination of the goats cheese and pesto and was very pleased with the dish. It was easy to make and tasted great. I cant believe I waited 7 years to cook it….the recipe is the same age as Arabella!!

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BRAISED PORK WITH TOMATOES CHORIZO THYME BLACK OLIVES

I love to cook a proper lunch on a Sunday although unlike most English, I dont like to do a traditional roast and instead like to mix it up a bit! Here is a Spanish pork recipe I found in a Waitrose magazine and it is from the London based chef Jose Pizarro who has a tapas bar and two restaurants around the city. It took around 2 hours to make.

Ingredients for 6 people:

1kg diced pork shoulder (I couldnt buy diced pork so ended up buying pork loins which I diced myself). 
4 tbsp olive oil
150ml red wine
2 onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g chorizo, skinned and chopped
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 tbsp tomato puree
400g can of chopped tomatoes
300ml fresh chicken stock
3 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
2 tbsp chopped oregano
4 bay leaves
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tsp caster sugar
100g pitted black olives

Season the pork. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, flameproof casserole dish and sear the pork in batches, until browned, then set aside in a bowl.

Add the wine to the pan and as it bubbles up, scrape down the base of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the caramelised juices. Pour over the pork and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan with the onions, cover and fry gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then until they are very soft.

Add the garlic and chorizo and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the paprika and cook for one minute.

Add the tomato puree, tomatoes, stock, herbs, pork and juices. Season and simmer for 1 hour with a cover on for half the time. I made the mistake of not checking or stirring mine and managed to burn it a little so I advise you to keep an eye on it! Although I expect mine burnt because I just cooked half the recipe.

Boil the vinegar and sugar in a small pan until it reduces to about 1 teaspoon.

Stir into the casserole with the olives and simmer uncovered for another 20 minutes until the pork is tender.

Season and serve with some fried potatoes (if you like).

This was way better than I was expecting and we all really enjoyed it - the chorizo in it made it much more appealing to Arabella than she thought and I adored all the flavours. It was very warming and so tasty…..I have now added Jose Pizarros restaurants to my list of places I want to eat! This worked really well as a family lunch with fried potatoes and I think it would be dinner party worthy as well.

  

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PASTA WITH CHORIZO TOMATO GOATS CHEESE

Arabella is a goats cheese fanatic and would literally have it with every meal. I see it as a good way of increasing her calcium intake as she hates milk. Therefore I have a whole array of goats cheese recipes…it helps that I also adore it!!

This is a very quick easy meal that can be adapted for taste but this is how we did it and we absolutely loved it!

Ingredients for 2 people:

6 ripe tomatoes

160g spaghetti (or you could use any type of pasta).

85g chorizo, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

80g goats cheese, chopped

A handful of fresh basil or snipped chives

According to this recipe the whole cooking process should take 5 minutes but that certainly wasnt the case for me. The tomatoes took longer to prepare however they were worth it.

Boil the kettle and then pour boiling water over the tomatoes, cover and leave for one minute.

Then drain and remove the skins (they literally fall off) and seeds, and chop into small pieces. This was an extremely messy process! Also slice the garlic.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packets instructions (mine took 10 minutes).

While the pasta is cooking, fry the garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil for a couple of minutes and then add the tomatoes, chorizo and season.

If necessary, add another tablespoon of olive oil (I did) and then cook gently for around 8 minutes.

Drain the pasta and mix together with the tomato and chorizo sauce.

Stir in half the goats cheese until it is mostly melted.

Finally serve with the remaining goats cheese and a sprinkling of chives (or basil).

This was delicious - Arabella and I both adored it and ate every last morsel. We will be adding this to our regular cook list. It was so simple yet so tasty. You could mix it up by using bacon instead of chorizo or using mozzarella or blue cheese instead of goats cheese. We sent a picture of it to Pascal who is in France and he had serious food envy….not surprising though!!

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