Bootcamp Recipe Thread

[BIWI]

Asparagus Frittata (serves 2)

250g/9oz asparagus, trimmed and cut into 5cm/2in pieces
4 eggs
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
225g/8oz spring onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil

• Cook asparagus in boiling water until tender (7-10 minutes)
• Whisk the eggs and add the cheese and the spring onions
• Pre-heat the grill
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan that can go under the grill
• Put in the asparagus; stir-fry for a minute, then pour in the eaten eggs, moving the asparagus around gently to make sure the egg mixture gets right through, and that the grated cheese is well distributed
• Let the frittata cook over a moderate heat for a few minutes until the underside is cooked and lightly browned, then put the pan under a hot grill for a minute or two until the top is set and golden brown

5.5g carbs per serving

Recipe from Rose Elliot's "The Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet Book"

Steamed cauliflower florets mashed with cheese and cream and black pepper is the tastiest alternative to mash you'll ever have, for fish pies, shepherds pies, whateverrrrr

IPD Butter Chicken

1 sliced onion (could substitute with leeks or shallot)
4 tbs groundnut oil
50g butter
8 cardamom pods, crushed
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp each of ginger, garlic,chilli,cumin seeds,coriander seeds, ground cumin, ground coriander
4 chicken breasts
400g tin of tomatoes
chopped coriander
100ml double cream (could substitute with coconut cream at 1.8g / 100ml

1. Fry onion in oil and butter until deep golden brown.
2. Add cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick and stir for a moment, then add ginger, garlic, chilli, and the other spices.
3. Add the chicken chopped into chunks, then the chopped tomatoes.
4. Simmer for 10 mins covered, then 10 mins with lid off.
5. Add coriander and cream and simmer for another 10 mins.
6. Serve with buttered spinach.

This is very good.

I quite liked it

Just made one with cocoa powder - didn't taste chocolatey obv.

It would be nice as a savoury thing though! Nice with cheese in and herbs maybe.

I love MiMs. Flaxseeds are really good for you. There is a lovely recipe for a spicy cheesy recipe on the pre-bootcamp thread. I'll try and find it when I'm not posting on my phone.

Mushroom soup:

1 shallot
50g butter
350g mushrooms
500ml stock

Fry up the shallot in the butter for a few mins then add the mushrooms and fry for another few mins then add the stock. After about 8 mins blend until smooth.

Fish Pie
Fish pie mix
500g cauliflower (frozen is good)
1 packet of garlic and herbs philadelphia

Melt the philli over a low heat then mix with the fish pie mix

Blend the cauliflower with some butter or cream and then spread it over the fish/cheese mix then put in the oven for 20 mins and then put some grated cheddar on the top and stick under the grill.

i like mims too, but we don't have a microwave so I fry them gently in butter in a sort of big blob

I don't have them too often though as they can make me stall

White Cabbage Curry

1onion diced
4 cloves chopped garlic
7cm peeled and grated ginger
5mls cumin seeds
5mls mustard seeds
8 cloves
8 peppercorns
2.5mls turmeric
2.5mls chilli powder
10mls Garam masala
20mls soy sauce
6fl ozs water
20mls oil
10mls tomato paste
1.5lbs shredded white cabbage
Salt to taste

Fry seeds in oil for 2 minutes.
Add everything else EXCEPT cabbage and water and stir for 2 mins.
Add cabbage and stir to cook in the sauce.
Add water and simmer for 30 mins stirring every 10 mins.

Need to go and buy some flaxseed, I want a MiM!

If anyone's interested, here's what I had for dinner tonight - it's an adaptation of something I've had in a restaurant and loved.

Fish Florentine (Originally with Dover Sole but I made it with haddock tonight)

Serves 2

2-3 fillets of fish of your choice (I used those Youngs fillets in a bag, defrosted)
Lactofree milk or double cream thinned with water
300g Cream Cheese
Mushrooms
Baby Spinach (I used frozen leaf spinach defrosted, about 8 chunks, fresh would probably be half of one of those bags)
Grated cheese
Grated Parmesan

Fry the mushrooms in butter and put into an ovenproof dish
Put the fish in the pan and surround with milk/thinned cream
Poach for 5 mins/until cooked on a lowish heat
Flake the fish into the dish, keep the liquid in the pan
On a low heat, add the philly/cream cheese and stir it in til you get a thick sauce, scraping all the fishy bits in as you go.
Take off the heat, grate in a matchbox-sized piece of cheese (you probably don't need to do this if you don't want a pronounced cheese flavour) and let it melt in.
Wilt the spinach in a pan/microwave if not using frozen
Put the defrosted spinach into the dish. Mix everything up (mushrooms, fish, spinach)
Cover with the by now thick, creamy cheese sauce.
Sprinkle with parmesan and put under a hot grill for a few mins til it starts to brown and bubble.

To make this like the restaurant version, which uses piped mashed potatoes, I boiled up some swede, mashed it over a low heat to evaporate excess moisture, then added some double cream and used a stick blender to whizz it all together smoothly. I then made a ring of it on the plate and ladled the fishy mixture into the middle of it to serve.

Very rich and filling and bloody lovely! :o

Egg Nests

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
Smoked paprika

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle. Line a roasting pan, or baking sheet that can take high temperatures without warping, with parchment paper or silicon sheet.

2 Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Make sure there are no little pieces of egg yolk in the whites or you will have difficulty getting the whites to beat properly. It helps if you are making more than one egg nest to keep each egg yolk in a separate prep bowl.

3 Place the egg whites in a very clean mixer bowl (any residual oil in the mixer bowl will keep the egg whites from whipping up properly). Add a quarter teaspoon of salt to the egg whites. Beat the egg whites with a whisk attachment in a mixer (or using a hand mixer), starting on low speed and then slowly increasing to high speed, until stiff peaks form.

4 Gently fold in the grated Gruyere cheese, taking care not to deflate the egg whites.

5 Create two mounds of the egg white mixture on the lined baking sheet. Form the mounds so they look like nests, with indentations in the centers.

6 Place in the oven for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, open the oven, pull out the rack with the egg white nests, and gently add an egg yolk to the center of each nest. Return the baking sheet to the oven and cook for 3 more minutes.

7 Serve immediately.

DH says they are lovely.

Aubergine and Haloumi adapted from Cranks Fast Food

Ingredients:

3 medium aubergines sliced into 1cm thick slices
1 packet of haloumi cheese sliced into 1/2 cm slices
6 cubes of coriander pesto (see below)
few glugs of olive oil

Method:

Place the aubergine slices on greaseproof paper and bake in a 180C oven for 10-15 minutes. You can do this the day before or earlier in the day if you wish.

Layer 1/3 of the eggplant followed by 3 cubes of pesto (defrosted if you have time) and half the haloumi. Repeat finishing with a layer of aubergine. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in a hot 220c oven for about 20 minutes. Serve with green salad, tomatoes & chives.

Coriander pesto

1 bunch of coriander
rind of 1 lime finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 chilli - very finely chopped
2 tbsp almonds - ground
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

60ml mild olive oil
salt

Method:

Put all ingredients of the pesto in a food processor and turn on. Place pesto in a ice cube tray and freeze. The pesto makes many things zing especially veggie soup.

I love this. BettyBathroom could I use half desiccated coconut in the almond and coconut cake instead of coconut flour?

Celeriac soup of amazingness

Half a celeriac (more if you're feeding more, half a one gave me 2 good portions)
Stock 500mls
Butter. lots of butter.

Chop celeriac into 2cm dice
Put a generous blob of butter in pan, melt gently. Add celeriac and sauté very gently. You don't want to colour the celeriac or burn butter, so low heat essential. I did it 'til edges of c became slightly transparent.
Add the stock and gently simmer until tender.
Add MORE butter.
Whisk in blender or use hand blender.
Season to taste, and eat, and faint with sheer gorgeousness of it.

I got this off a lovely lady on twitter, You know who you are ?!

Also courgette spaghetti/noodles

1 courgette sliced very finely on either julienne attachment on mandoline or by hand.

Seasoning
Oil - if serving with Italian style stuff use olive, if serving with chinesey stuff use toasted sesame.

Put sliced courgette in microwaveable bowl, season and toss in oil. Cover and microwave for 3 mins (3 mins leaves it a wee bit al dente)

Quincy You could use all almond...the recipe suggested this - less carbs too.

Due to it's brick like nature - I think it's better eaten warm - straight out of the oven. I'm going to have a play with the recipe, when I come off bootcamp - I can't believe it can't be lighter.

Ahhh. I've used half dessicated anyway. Is in the oven now ! If it hardens up I wonder if a quick blast in micro would soften? Thanks betty

Cheese scones

1 cup grnd almonds
1 tsp baking powder
Cheese. Lots of cheese. Parmesan best but any hard grateable would do.
Spicing, quite important if you're not keen on the almond taste. I go for smoked paprika and dried chillis.
Mix together and blob on baking parchment on baking sheet. Makes about 6. Sprinkle more cheese on top too.

Bake at 180 for about 15 mins, check them, they want to be nice and golden brown. Leave them to cook for longer if needs be.

Amazing straight out of the oven with butter

Would the cake be lighter if you whisked the egg whites separately and then folded in like in an angel cake?

betty hmmm cake is 'interesting' obvs not at all sweet but that's ok. I'm having it with peanut butter. I guess it would be ok with cheese!

Oh that might work doradoo it works with the onion bhajias in the IPD book.

Some lovely recipes here. Makes me wonder why more ready meals aren't created for low carbers. Perhaps we should set up a new business?!

I agree. Let's do the business plan ASAP ;) It's very easy to eat out with this way of eating too

Yes Doradoo that was one of the first things I planned to try. The recipe came from a health website rather than a foodie one - so it's no big surprise that it's healthy but a bit lacking.

How about a bit of vanilla extract in almond cake? Or almond essence?

Hello.

Tomato Soup

2 shallots, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tomatoes, blanched in hot water to remove skins, chopped
1 tin plum tomatoes
1 teaspoon Swiss Veg Bouillon dissolved in 1/2 pint hot water
1 teaspoon dried basil
60g meat, chopped small

Gently cook the shallots, garlic and celery in a pot. Add everything else and cook gently until the veg are softened, about 10 mins. Blitz with a hand blender until smooth. Add the meat (leftover roast chicken or beef works well).
Allow to heat through and serve with a drizzle of cream, and maybe a buttered Oopsie roll.

Makes about 1000g of soup. One serving of 300g has 112 cals, 10g carbs, 4g fat and 8g protein.