Traditional English Christmas Cake

OK, I admit...this is not the most dietetic food out there....fruitcake laced with brandy, homemade almond paste (marzipan), and sickly sweet fondant icing but it's a Christmas tradition for us Brits and I feel that the labor intensity of making it burns enough calories to at least allow me a thin sliver of it, or a large one! lol!

In the good old days when I had more time on my hands I would make this cake a month before Xmas (stir up Sunday is the traditional day to make Christmas goodies) but time is a huge factor now, so I was overjoyed to find this simple fruit cake recipe on the BBC food website (www.bbcgoodfood.com)....it doesn't require overnight soaking of the fruit and has no suet (animal fat...yuk) in it unlike other, more traditional recipes.

Simmer and Stir Xmas Cake....you will need scales for weighing...baking really requires more precision than volume measurements.....try an online kitchen store or a large kitchen supplier.

Ingredients

175 gm butter, chopped
200 gm dark brown sugar
750 gm mixed fruits (glace cherries, mixed peel, raisins etc)
finely grated zest & juice of 1 orange
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3.5 fl oz brandy plus more for pouring over
85 gm macadamia nuts
3 large eggs, beaten
85 gm ground almonds (I did this in the food processor)
200 gm all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 330 F.

Put the brandy, butter, sugar, fruit, zests, juice and 3.5 fl oz brandy in a large pan.
Bring slowly to the boil, stirring until the butter has melted then reduce the heat and let bubble for 10 minutes. Stir once in a while. Then let cool for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, line your 20 cm/8 inch cake pan (high sided) with parchment paper inside on the bottom and at the sides. (See www.bbcgoodfood.com for instructions on how to do this).

Toast the nuts in a dry frying pan (don't let them burn)and when they are cool, give them a rough chop.
Stir the eggs, nuts, and ground almonds into the fruit mixture in the pan and mix well. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into the pan too. Stir gently until there are no traces of flour left.

Spoon the mixture into the cake pan and smooth it down evenly (use the back of a metal spoon dipped into hot water).

Bake for 45 minutes then turn down the heat to 310 F and cook for another hour to 1 1/4 hours until the cake is dark golden colored. Cover the cake with foil if it gets too dark. The cake is done when a fine skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Take the cake out of the oven and poke holes in it with a fine skewer. Leaving the cake in the pan, pour over about another 4 tbsps brandy and let it soak in. When the cake is cold, remove it from the pan taking off the parchment paper. Wrap the cake in clean baking parchment then in foil.

This cake should not be refrigerated (it's full of booze and sugar)..and it will keep in the pantry for about 3 months.

Will post the marzipan recipe next.......

Healthy, easy dinner...the power of the egg

 

Look at that picture! If that doesn't add color to your day then I don't know what will.....

This is just a quick, healthy dinner. You can either use whole eggs, egg whites, egg substitute or a mixture of any of them for the omelette base. There's been a lot of controversy over egg yolks and their high levels of cholesterol but I am here to tell you fear no more.....current research (and I agree with this) points to the high bioavailability of the protein from eggs as well as their abundance of vitamin E. However, the most important message is that it is saturated fat and your genetic make up that contributes to high LDL (bad) cholesterol, so go ahead and enjoy your eggs but remember the Dietitian's favorite phrase.....everything in moderation! Oh, BTW, watch the sodium content in egg substitute.....it can be high, especially if you are salt sensitive or have high blood pressure....

So, back to the food........feel free to vary your fillings for your omelette.
Some suggestions: tomato, shredded sharp cheese, roasted red peppers, diced ham, leftover cooked diced chicken or turkey, green onions, leftover roasted vegetables, cooked potato, olives, jalapeno peppers, cooked peas, mushrooms, low fat cottage cheese...........phew, that's quite a list!

Anyway, just add a healthy, brightly colored salad and you're ready to go!

Enjoy......


 

Creative ideas for leftovers

Are you sick of turkey yet? I know I am since I cooked a 12 pounder for just 2 of us......

So, I just made a vat load of turkey and rice soup from the turkey carcass......takes a bit of time to boil the bones etc and reduce the stock, but the flavor is well worth it! Before boiling the carcass with the veggies strip the meat into shreds and add it to the soup at the end of cooking.

Here goes:

Turkey Rice Soup
Stock:

Turkey carcass (skin and fat removed)
couple of celery stalks
2-3 carrots broken in half
1 onion (unpeeled) and cut in half
few black peppercorns
couple of dried bay leaves
parsley stalks
any other herbs you may have lurking in the frige post Thanskgiving
enough water to cover the carcass by about an inch

Place all of the above in a large stockpot. Allow to boil then turn the heat down to gently simmer it for about 2-3 hours or until the liquid is reduced by half.
Allow to cool a little bit by placing in a sink full of ice water then strain the liquid into a clean pan, discarding the solids. If you have time at this point, refrigerate the stock overnight and remove the fat that hardens on top before proceeding with the recipe below.

For the soup:

Finely chop an onion and sweat (cook without coloring) in about 1 tsp oil.
Then add about 3 diced carrots and 3 stalks diced celery and continue to cook for about 2 minutes.
Add dried bay leaves, plenty of dried thyme, and your strained turkey stock from step 1.
Hat to a roiling boil then add either 3/4 cup of rice of broken up spaghetti or small noodles and cook until tender.
Then add your shredded turkey meat, salt, pepper and chopped fresh parsey to taste and serve (see picture).

Definitely a good choice to keep in the fridge for a quick, warming meal (add bread and a salad) after a hard day's work.....

Light Pumpkin Pie Recipe

In honor of Turkey Day here is a slightly healthier Pumpkin Pie recipe......

Pumpkin is a great source of beta-carotene and has fiber too! It has some sugar in it but less than other recipes.....


Best Light Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:

16 ginger snap cookies
16 oz can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup egg whites or egg white substitute
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups evaporated skim milk
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup Splenda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F (325F if fan/convection.
Grind ginger snaps in a food processor or in a plasic bag with a rolling pin to fine crumbs.
Spray a glass pie plate with cooking spray and pat crumbs into the bottom of the pan.
Mix the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and pour into the crust.
Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean (about 45 mins).

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice into 8 wedges and serve with low fat cool whip.

BTW.....this comes in at 151 calories per slice and nearly 3 grams of fiber. 1.6 grams of fat. Compare that to regular pumpkin pie (250 calories, 1 gram fiber, 24 grams of fat).

Enjoy!

Chicken with pomegranate and walnut sauce - easy!

This sweet and sour chicken recipe is courtesy of my friend Layla who made it for me a while back and it was excellent!
Unfortunately, I couldn't find pomegranate molasses near me, so I purchased 100% pomegranate juice and boiled it down to give a sticky syrupy sauce.

The picture is not mine, but one I found online. My camera battery died...so apologies....BTW, mine looked much nicer than the one pictured! (such modesty!)

Here's the recipe:-

Chicken with pomegranate and walnut sauce

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts (cut into 1" wide strips)
3 cups unsweetenend 100% pomegranate juice
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2-3 packets Splenda


Rapidly boil the juice in a small pan until reduced to about 1.5 cups.
Meanwhile, gently poach the chicken in just enough water to cover until almost cooked.
Skim off any foam that forms.
Add the walnuts to the pan with the chicken and continue to cook for
about 5 minutes.
Add the reduced pomegranate juice to make the quantity of sauce you need/want.
Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Serve with Crispy rice (thanks Layla!)

If you have leftover steamed rice (or cook it then use it) you can add a tsp or 2 of oil to a good non-stick high sided saucepan (not a skillet) and then add the rice to the hot oil. Reduce the heat and cover with a tea-towel wrapped lid (to absorb the steam) for about 10 minutes.
Place a dish or plate over the pan and invert it to serve...crispy side up!

Quick & Easy Mushroom Soup

After a long and smoke filled drive home last night due to the fires that are raging around SoCal I really didn't feel up to a lot of cooking but was starving (as usual)!

Decided to make a quick Mushroom Soup....it's incredibly easy and very yummy!

Quick Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

8 oz mushrooms chopped finely (white, cremini - doesn't matter)
2 tbsps flour
2 tbsps light margarine or canola oil
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (low sodium)
1 cup fat free half and half or 1% milk (use the half & half for a richer soup)
squeeze of lemon juice
chopped parsley, croutons for garnish

Throw all the ingredients except the lemon juice and parsley into a saucepan. Bring to a slow boil stirring continuously. Then simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Add lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste.

Serve garnished with parsley and croutons.

Yum!

Healthy mac n cheese...

Last Friday was a bit gloomy in the weather department so I decided to make macaroni and cheese for dinner. Of course, my recipe is slightly healthy (but yummy) but you can add extra cheese if you feel it's a bit too low in saturated fat! It's important to use extra sharp cheddar cheese for this dish so you can use less cheese.

Here's the recipe: (Serves 3-4)

1/2 box Barilla Plus Pasta (elbows)....I like this one, it has fiber and omega 3's.
2 cups 1% milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp dried mustard powder or ready made hot mustard
sprinkle freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper (white pepper if possible)
1 slice stale bread made into crumbs (whole wheat or white)
sliced tomatoes or cooked sliced zucchini (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Cook the pasta for 1 minute less than stated on the box (about 8 minutes).
Drain and set aside.
Heat the milk (minus 1/4 cup) in a saucepan until bubbles form.
Mix the cornstarch with the reserved milk to make a slurry then add to the warmed milk. Stir constantly until thickened.
Then add the mustard or mustard powder, grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste to the sauce. Stir to evenly distribute.
Add half the grated cheese to the sauce.
Tip the cooked pasta into the sauce and stir to evenly coat the pasta with sauce, then pour into a shallow oven proof dish.
Whizz the bread in a food processor or blender to make crumbs then mix with the remainder of the cheese and some extra nutmeg and pepper.

To make this extra healthy cook sliced zucchini until golden brown in frying pan with some cooking spray then arrange on top of the mac and cheese before adding the breadcrumb mixture. The tomatoes can be used raw (just pat them with a paper towel to remove extra moisture) in the same way.
Once the breadcrumb mixture is on top of the pasta and sauce place in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cheese melted.

Serve with a green salad on the side.