Lasan restaurant Birmingham
By · CommentsI love spicy food and I’ve been watching the F word some of the food being served up by Lasan resaurant in Birmingham looked and sounded sensational
here’s the recipe if you missed the show.
I dont think I’ll be cooking it anytime soon myself it had over 40 ingredients, however I might have a crack at making the caramalised onion and saffron gravy.
I’ve added this restaurant to my list of ones that I want to visit, so next time I’m heading up to Birmingham I will be paying a visit.
Brussel Sprouts with caramelised garlic and lemon peel
By · Commentsi’m loving Brussel sprouts at the moment and this is definately the way to cook them cut in half and pan fried. Ottolenghi takes it to another level by dressing them wiht caramelised garlic, cook garlic in a few teaspoons of sugar.
I was a little bit concerned about this but you don’t serve the syrup you take the garlic out so it’s not too bad and the lemo peel and parmesan take it up a noitch too.
Yummo going to try this out over xmas
What makes a Fat Loss meal?
By · CommentsA Fat Loss meal has to contain the following
1 A source of lean protein chicken, fish, lamb, eggs
2 Some good fats e.g. extra virgin olive oil or virgin organic coconut oil
3 Some fibrous carbs e.g broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, brussel sprouts, cauliflower
The combination of these 3 ingredients will enable you to feel full, provide essential nutrients and
Smoked Mackerel Pate
By · CommentsThis is a doddle to make and it’s a really good way of getting some oily fish that’s full of omega 3 oil’s into you.
| In the same food processor that you have just made your mayonnaise in leave about 100ml of mayonnaise or so |  |
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| and, add a packet of smoked mackerel ( usually about 3 fillets), I remove the skin as it makes it look a little bit more even but you don’t have |  |
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| then whizz it up add a squeeze of lemon juice and you are then good to go.
You can store the smoked makeral pate in the fridge for 3-5 days or so. |
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| You can serve this with crudite vegetables as a snack or add a dollop to your salad leaves | |
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Making Mayonnaise the healthy way
By · CommentsI love mayonnaise I always have, I was put off it for a while when I had been sucked into the fat is bad for you way of thinking a number of years ago.
However if you make your own it can be as good as a REALLY good thing.
The main problem with the mayo you buy in the shops is that it’s made with vegetable oil, which is made up of predominantly omega 6 fatty acids which are not good for us.
Mayonnaise is dead simple to make and once you make it you can keep it in the fridge ( I’ll keep mine for a week maximum), it’s not something that I make every week but I would say I do it very often. I combine making the mayo when I’m going to make another dish like smoked makeral pate or smoked salmon pate,
| Here’s how I do it… Here’s my ingredients |  |
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I use my food processer and in it I put an
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| Start pouring your oil in I used my extra virgin olive oil 200ml on this batch which is quite a strong flavor, next time Ill tone it down a bit and try and tone it down a bit and next time use some walnut oil as well.
All I do is to keep the food processor running and then pour the olive oil in through the hole in the top, the mixture starts emulsifying very quickly and before you know it you have your creamy mayonnaise. As a way of getting fat into your diet a mayonnaise like this can be pretty near perfect in terms of a food source, as always remember the guidelines you can’t eat loads of it but a healthy teaspoon or so can go along way when it tastes as good as your own mayo. Once you have made your first batch then experiment with oils and flavourings and have some fun, let me know what flavouring combo’s work for you. Next on my hit list is going to be some confit garlic and lemon ( together and separate). |
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| Here’s what it looks like when you are |  |
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Lamb Rogan Josh Curry for weight loss
By · CommentsThis is one of my favorite curry’s the original recipe is a Madhur Jaffrey special which I’v adapted and tweaked a little bit.
To make it authentically you need a few different spices but once you’ve got these basics you are good to go for a long time. It’s dead simple basically all you have to do is throw everything into a pan it does not take any technical skill.
The good thing about this dish is that it is really thick and there is usually a lot of sauce/gravy. I like to serve this with some fried cabbage and some broccoli or cauliflower instead of rice
Here‘s the list of ingredients :
- 1Kg Lamb or Beef (shoulder or leg of lamb) or stewing beef
- 10 whole Cardamom Pods
- 2 Bay leaves
- 6 Whole Cloves
- 10 Whole Peppercorns
- 1 Inch Stick of Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 4 teaspoons paprika ( ¼ to ½ teaspoon of chili powder if you wish
- 1 teaspoon of Cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoon plain yoghurt
- 1 Cauliflower
- 2 x 1 inch cubes of root ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- * Cloves of Garlic chopped
Ok so we start by putting the cubes of meat , while that is going on start measuring out the spices I find it easier to put them on a plate.
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| Layout the spices try and keep the whole spices together on the plate as they go in together before the dried spices. I slipped with the turmeric so you can’t really see this effect DUH! |  |
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| Put the garlic and ginger in a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar to make into a paste or chop very finely and add the salt to the mixture as you chop by hand |  |
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| Remove the meat once brown and set aside in a bowl with the juices, using the same pan add a bit of oil and then when it is hot add the whole spices and cook for about 30 seconds and then add the garlic and ginger paste. |  |
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| Then add the dry spices and mix together |  |
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| Then add the meat back to the pan and stir and then add the yoghurt and stir again |  |
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| Chop up a cauliflower and add it to the mix |  |
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| You can cook this on top of the Add the mixture to an oven proof dish and stir. You could brown the meat and cook the spices in the same dish if you want, I preferred to use my chef’s pan though.
Add a pint of water and mix again |
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| Cook in the oven for 2 hours at Gas Mark 4 350F, 180C
The cauliflower will disintegrate and help to form a thick sauce |
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| I like to add a bag of spinach 400g, you could add 2 bags if you are a spinach lover. I wilted the spinach in a separate pan because there was not enough room in the oven proof pan for all the spinach.
When the spinach is added then you are good to go. |
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| Portion up the remainder ready to freeze I managed to get 5 extra 2 person portions for the fridge, cool so I’ve now got 5 ready meals locked away in the freezer to eat on a dark winters night |  |
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Mushroom Foraging with the River Cottage
By · Comments| Mushrooms are a really important component of many recipes that I use for Fat Loss Cookery, they are composed of nearly all water and don’t have many carbs associated with them and perhaps more importantly I think they are really yummy. | |
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| I’ve watched and enjoyed a few River Cottage TV programs with Hugh Fearnly -Whitingsdale but would not put myself in the raving fan club, I’m edging that way after my day spent Mushroom Foraging with John Wright UK Mushroom expert and Steve Lamb from the River Cottage. | |
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| There were about 15 of us who spent the day hunting and learning about the different species of mushrooms that are to be found in our wood and pasture land. Like 50% of the people we were given this as a gift by a loved one, or maybe someone hoping to poision us as we joked in the car park! | |
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| We were met in the car park of Home Farm by Steve at 8.30 with tea and coffee and a ‘foragers nip; some locally produced apple brandy. It wasn’t really cold enough to warrant having a nip but it seemed like a tradition that needed upholding. | |
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| At about 9.00 when every one had arrived we ventured into the woods just across the road. The idea was to wander around and when you found something interesting shout out to John who would then come over and talk about what was found and it either went into the edible or poisonous basket. | |
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| After about 2 and a half hours of wandering through what John described later in the day as one of the most ‘ fungus free zones’ he had ever been in. | |
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Here is the meager haul form the mornings efforts, the edible basket is the one on the left yes you can just about see 3 tiny samples of the edible Hedge Hog fungus. |
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We then broke for refreshments a huge Cornish pasty ( I saved half for the journey home), I know it does not fit on any fat loss plan but you’re allowed to take a day off from time to time.
We then moved into some pasture land to try a different habitat and we were met with immeadiate success as we found the huge edible Parasol fungus I think John was praying to the mushroom God’s for sending this mushroom as it nearly filled our basket just about by itself. |
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Here’s a close up of the edible basket at the end of the afternoon, I think that is a Yellow wax Cap I am holding. |
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The next session after lunch was fantastic as we found loads more edible mushrooms including, Puff Balls, Yellow Wax Cap (delicious), Jelly Ear and even some Magic Mushrooms!, I steered clear of those |
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And here’s the display when we got back to Home Farm all labeled up, we found 41 different species in total. |
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When we got back to Home Farm we had tea and coffee in the Yurt and dried our socks and boots by the open fire and prepared ourselves for the cookery demonstration, which I’ll talk about in another post. Here’s my arty shot of some of the edible mushrooms we found |
Brussels are back, well they’ve never been away I suppose you can always get your hands on them these days There was a really big display in my local Waitrose today.
Brussels or ‘mini cabbages’as we used to call them when we were kids are a great vegetable to eat if you are on a weight loss regime. Like cabbage they are high in fibre and low in carbohydrates and I think they are absolutely delicious.
Some people in the UK tend to have a negative association with sprouts, usually being a bit bitter and cooked to death at school dinner time.
All I do to cook them is remove the outer leaves if they are discoloured and then pop them into a saucepan with a small amount of water, once they are cooked I drain them and put a glug of olive oil and some salt and pepper on them and give them a stir back in the pan.
I’ll bring you a few more brussel sprout recipes as we move through autumn and winter
One Of My Special Salads
By · Comments |
Special Salads
Balsamic and Olive Oil dressing in the pot when I’m ready to eat it. |
Spicy Cabbage
By · CommentsSpicy Cabbage
This is an excellent substitute for rice if you are having a Curry, or as a side dish with any main meal. You can use the real spices if you wish or just add some curry paste it’s up to you here’s how I do it.
Get my spices ready
| 1. Cumin ,bay leaf, turmeric and chilli. You can also add garlic and fresh ginger too if you wish | |
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| 2. In this recipe I am using peas if you are strict fat loss you may want to miss these out as they are a bit higher in carbs. . Just take them out of the freezer no need to cook them |
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| 3. Shred the Cabbage any cabbage will do, this is Savoy cabbage | |
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| 4. Add some coconut oil to my Chef’s pan | |
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| 5. Put in any whole spices and garlic and ginger and lightly fry off a minute or so then add the cabbage | |
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| 6. Add dry spices turmeric and chilli | |
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| 7. A splash of water we are talking about 50 mls here that’s all | |
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| 8. Add peas and stir it round. Cover with tight fitting lid don’t cook on too high of a heat otherwise the water will evaporate too quickly and it will burn slightly. | |
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| 9. Ready to serve | |
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