Dover sole, vegetable rice and spinach and kale with toasted pine nuts

I am trying to cook more fish in my household. I totally recommend the book, 'Japanese women don't get old or fat'. In it she talks about the benefits of the Japanese diet and eating fish several times a week. Japanese people have the world’s highest expectancy, with men living to be 78 and women’s average 85. Even though there are high levels of pollution, stress, smoking and drinking, they still outlive the rest of the world. Why is this? If you’ve lived for any length of time in Japan, you know that it’s all about the diet. The Japanese diet has changed in recent years, but it’s still among the healthiest in the world, and one of these reasons - is the amount of fish consumed. So what better reason than to try my dover sole recipe.

This recipe is for Dover sole, spinach & kale with vegetable rice topped with toasted pine nuts.

Dover sole:

In a large frying pan melt a tbsp of butter, add 2 fillets of fish (I used Dover sole, but cod, plaice, haddock and salmon would be nice too). After a few mins add some seasoning, I used a sprinkle of fish seasoning, but some lemon or lime zest and juice would work well too. It's cooked when white fish is white and not opaque, about 8-10 mins. Serve with some toasted pine nuts 

Vegetable rice 

In a frying pan, add a little olive oil - about a tbsp, when hot,  add some veg, what ever you may have hiding in the freezer or fridge. I used some frozen stir fry veg and  some frozen mixed veg - of peas, sweetcorn, chopped green beans and carrots. Frozen veg is great to keep for a simple and quick supper like this.

Stir until cooked, add some cooked rice, you can add a beaten egg if you wish, add a little light soy sauce. A sprinkle of chopped spring onion would finish it off nicely.

Kale & spinach

In a large saucepan add a little olive oil and a clove of chopped garlic, add some chopped kale and a large handful of baby spinach. Put the lid on for a few mins until wilted. Turn off the heat.

Enjoy

Check out: japanese-diet

japanese-diet

LOW GI Spiced tabbouleh with mackerel, Kale and spinach

Here is a recipe for a very healthy low GI salad recipe. I took the idea from a GI cookbook, as hubby is trying to be extra fit this month, so thought this would help in his training.

The glycaemic index (GI) is a rating system for foods containing carbohydrates. It shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own.

High GI foods

Carbohydrate foods that are broken down quickly by your body and cause a rapid increase in blood glucose have a high GI rating. High GI foods include:

• sugar and sugary foods
• sugary soft drinks
• white bread
• potatoes
• white rice

Low and medium GI foods

Low or medium GI foods are broken down more slowly and cause a gradual rise in blood sugar levels over time. They include:

• some fruit and vegetables (but not dried fruit)
• pulses
• wholegrain foods, such as porridge oats 

I know there seems like a lot of ingredients, but you can substitute for anything suitable that you might have lying around.

Ingredients 

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seed
• 2 roasted red peppers, sliced (I used the ones from a jar)
• 2 red red chillies deseeded and thinly sliced 
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 courgette, diced
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly chopped
• Tin chick peas drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• Handful of baby spinach
• Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lines 
• 175g bulgur wheat, rinsed, well drained, then left to soak in 200ml cold water 
• 25g toasted flaked almonds 
• Handful of chopped mint leaves
• 100g smoked mackerel fillets, skinned and flaked

Method 

• Dry-fry the seeds in a small frying pan until fragrant, then crush and set aside.
• In the same frying pan, add a little olive oil and when hot cook courgette until soft.
• In a large salad bowl combine all ingredients and mix together gently 
• Check seasoning
• Serve with lime wedges 

Easy Yummy Fish Pie

It's cold outside, so thought I'd make something warm and tasty for dinner. I don't actually measure anything, I'm once of those throw it all in the pan cooks and hope it all works out. It did on this occasion, but didn't a few days ago when I put too much bicarbonate in my cookies!

Anyway this easy fish pie:

Poach some fish, I used a small skinless boneless fillet of salmon and 2 skinless fillets of cod. Cut into bite size peices and cooked in a pan with a little butter and covered with milk. Cook about 10 mins. Can also use a pack of fish pie mix.

I peeled and chopped into medium sized pieces about 4 large potatoes. Boil for about 20 mins until soft. Drain water, mash with a little butter, pepper if you like (I don't add salt to anything, but you can if you wish), and a little milk to bind. When the fish is cooked I threw in a couple of handfuls of frozen mixed veg - peas, sweetcorn, carrot and chopped green beans, and some pepper. Cook for about 5 mins.

Pour mixture into a large dish and top with potato. I added a little more pepper and sprinkling of grated cheese.

Cook at about 200 degrees until brown and bubbling - about 20 -30 mins.

Lovely served with a green salad.

Great for the whole family including little people 

Rosh Hashanah Family Dinner

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה‎, literally "head [of] the year"), is the Jewish New Year although the real name for this Feast of the Lord is called Yom Teruah (Hebrew: יום תרועה‎, literally "day [of] shouting/raising a noise") or the Feast of Trumpets according to the correct biblical calendar of the 1st and 2nd temple period, not Rosh Hashanah. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im("Days of Awe") which usually occur in the early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. Rosh Hashanah is a two-day celebration, which begins on the first day of Tishrei. The day is believed to be the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind's role in God's world. Rosh Hashanah customs include sounding the shofar (a hollowed-out ram's horn) and eating symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey to evoke a "sweet new year".









For Rosh hashanah this year I had 7 people for dinner. and on reflection I probably shouldn't have took the photo's with my phone!
Before dinner we say prayers with kiddush wine and apple challah dipped in honey. The reason why we eat sweet things during this holiday is to signify a sweet year ahead. 

This year for a change I hollowed an apple and filled it with honey! It looked good for about 5 mins and then leaked out, but I think that still looked really interesting. 


First course - gefilte fish platter. Gefilte fish was bought from the kosher butcher along with salmon cutlets, served on platters of green leaves with smoked salmon.

Second course - chicken soup with knaidlach, this was brought by grandmother in law, but when I do one next, I will link in a recipe.

Main course - Roast chicken cooked in pieces with stock and lemon slices, boiled green veg, white cabbage cooked in butter and roast potatoes.

Dessert - Apple & honey cake

Prior to Rosh Hashananah, I was perusing many websites for recipe ideas, and came across this: http://theshiksa.com/2013/08/16/honey-apple-cake/ so thought id give it ago. Well it tasted great, but certainly didn't look as great as Tori's, I will try better next year.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 cup honey

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1 1/4 cup canola oil

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

• 3 cups all purpose baking flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 3/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp allspice

• Dash of ground cloves

• 4 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, and shredded

Method

Ok I am not a trained chef, I am a busy working mum of 2 very little children, and although I want to eat proper home cooked food and like to eat well, I don't have all the time in the world. If you want to do this recipe properly, check out the link above. I just throw everything in the electric mixer and then into a cake tin. I did buy a bundt tin especially for this and it did look more interesting than a normal cake tin.

Bake at 190 degrees for 75 mins until skewer comes out clear.

Finished product is a lovely light moist fruity cake

Rosh Hashanah Apple Challah

I attempted to use the recipe from shiksa in the kitchen, sadly she is much more of an expert than I am, but I gave it ago, it looked fab on the table and tasted great. Also the thing with making your own bread, is that you know how much salt and things are in it! 

 http://theshiksa.com/2012/09/13/apple-honey-challah/

I didn't use her ingredients, I used my old faithful bread machine challah recipe and added one peeled, cored shredded apple.

http://jsavvymums.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/homemade-bread-machine-challah.html

Ingredients 

• 2 tsp dried yeast or a 7g sachet
• 200ml warm water
• 500g white bread flour
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 2 eggs
• 60g unsalted butter
• egg glaze made with 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp water
• to deocrate poppy seats or a sprinkling of sugar

Method 

Throw everything in bread pan, turn on dough setting - mine takes 1hr15. 

When complete, I tried to follow the link above to plait it, not as easy as it looks, think i need another go! but it didn't look too bad.

• Using a pastry brush glaze with the egg glaze
• sprinkle with poppy seeds or sugar, I did sugar as it was for Rosh Hashanah
• Cook at 200 degrees for 45 mins or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped

Rosh Hashanah Apple & Honey Cake

Prior to Rosh Hashananah, I was perusing many websites for recipe ideas, and came across this: http://theshiksa.com/2013/08/16/honey-apple-cake/ so thought id give it ago. Well it tasted great, but certainly didn't look as great as Tori's, I will try better next year.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose baking flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• Dash of ground cloves
• 4 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, and shredded

Method

Ok I am not a trained chef, I am a busy working mum of 2 very little children, and although I want to eat proper home cooked food and like to eat well, I don't have all the time in the world. If you want to do this recipe properly, check out the link above. I just throw everything in the electric mixer and then into a cake tin. I did buy a bundt tin especially for this and it did look more interesting than a normal cake tin.

Bake at 190 degrees for 75 mins until skewer comes out clear.

Finished product is a lovely light moist fruity cake

Yummy Homemade Pizza - Perfect toddler food

I've made pizza many times for hubby and friends - it's great for a cheap and easy dinner party. For adults I normally make the dough (in my trusty bread machine), then roll out 4 pizza bases and put loads of toppings in to bowls, and when the guests arrive they can make their own. It normally turns into a competition between couples - very amusing.

This time I made small pizza bases, topped with pizza topping (i also use pasta sauce sometimes), and grated cheese. Oven cook until crispy - about 10 mins.

To make large pizzas (dough can be frozen):

• 500g bread flour (i used 50:50 wholemeal and white)
• 60ml Oilve oil
• 360ml Warm water
• Pinch of salt
• 7g yeast

Throw into a bread machine, put on dough setting, split into 4 and roll flat, then add toppings.