Monday, 9 February 2009

Swedish Cheese Cake

Today Sascha came over for morning tea. Both of us are currently trying to be healthy so cakes and biscuits wasn't really on the menu. I decided to bake a swedish cheesecake. This is a receipt that I have recommended a lot of my clients as it is a perfect snack to make over the weekend for the following week.

The trick with the cheesecake is to put some effort in to the preparations of the mixture as this decides if you are going to get a nice fluffy cake... or a dense pancake kind of snack. So read the instructions and try to stick to them as much as possible.

Swedish Peach Cheesecake 4 Portions

(Per serving: 247 Cal, 10g Fat (2.5 Saturated), 15g Carbs, 25g Protein)

400g Low Fat Cottage Cheese

2 Eggs

75 ml Non Fat Milk

100 ml Raw Almond Kernels

2 Tbsp Splenda

2 Tbsp Wheat Flour

1 Pinch Xanhtan gum

4 Half Peaches in Juice

(Almond essence and Cinnamon)

Margarine and Breadcrumbs for lining the tin.

Put the owen on 225 degrees.

Use an almond grinder to grind the almonds to a flour then mix together with the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well before grinding the mixture once more to get a smoother mixture. Put to the side. Put the cottage cheese, milk, egg yolks and (almond essence) in a blender and mix until smooth.

Rub the inside of the tin used (1 large or 4 small) with margarine. Then cover the sides in breadcrumbs before gently shake the excess off. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Start by mixing the dry flour mixture with the cottage cheese mixture. Blend well before gentle fold down the beaten egg whites. Spoon a thin layer of mixture into the tin(s) then place a half a peach on top. Cover the peaches with the rest of the mixture and sprinkle some cinnamon on top.

Put into the middle of the owen for about 30 min for small shapes and 60 min for a large one. If the cake gets enough color cover with tin foil and continue bake until done. The aim is to get the peach to hover in the mixture. This way you keep at the moisture of from the peaches.

Once done, take the cake out and let cool before removing the tin. If you trying to remove the tin right away the cake will collapse. Sprinkle some splenda on top. Serve lukewarm.

Tip: Make sure to use Splenda or any other sucralose sweetener as Aspartame (Equal) breaks down during prolonged heat and taste bitter.

Labels: cooking, Diet, nutrition, recipe

Saturday, 17 January 2009

Saturday Night Dinner

Tonight I have decided to stay at home really feel for something different for dinner. I went down to the supermarket and found a great piece of organic eye fillet. I decided that red wine was a must for a steak like that. Here is a dinner which despite the one glass of red wine stay under 500 calories. Awesome!

Portobello Stack with Grilled Eye Fillet and Red Wine Juice - 2 portions

(459Cal, 15g fat, 12g Carbs, 39g Protein, (16g Alcohol/112Cal))

4 large Portobello mushrooms

1 Red Capsicum

12 slices of Coppa (Prosciutto if you can't find it)

1 Tbsp Olive oil (Porcini infused if possible)

6 large leafs Rocket

300g Eye Fillet

2-4 Garlic Cloves

6-8 Schalotts

300 ml Red Wine (+150ml to drink)

Salt/Pepper

Start with cleaning the mushrooms and vegetables. Brush them with the oil and grill in the owen on 225 degrees until baked throughout (15-20 min). Heat up a grill-pan. Spray the meat lightly with olive oil spray then salt and pepper. Grill the meat on high heat. Make sure not to over cook the steak. Put the steak to rest wrapped in tin foil.

Rinse out the pan with the red wine and let the alcohol evaporate. Reduce to half volume and put to the side. Place the rocket leafs on the plate as a base then layer the portobello mushrooms with the coppa and grilled red capsicum. Place the schalotts and garlic cloves together with the steak on the side.

Before serving pour a couple of table spoons of the red wine juice over the meat. Enjoy with a glass of nice red wine.

Labels: food, nutrition, recipe

Thursday, 8 January 2009

Swedish Meatballs

Since I got back from my vacation in New Zealand I have been trying to be good with my diet as I put on a bit of weight during the silly season. As they say "shit happens".

The other day I decided that I would cook something I used to cook for my family in Sweden. Here is a slightly modified version of the very first meatballs I learnt to cook. My mother used to use a mix between pork and beef mince as this gives more "flavor" but as it also increase the fat content a lot I have used a heart tick approved beef mince to allow myself to use more olive oil to make the linguini really smooth.

Garlic Linguini w Swedish Meatballs - 4 Port

(Per Serving: 472Cal - 15g Fat, 42g Carbs, 40g Protein)

600 g Lean Beef Mince

500 g Linguini Cooked

1 pc Medium Egg

2 tbsp Skim milk

30 g Bread Crumbs

4 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4-6 tbsp Finely Chopped Parsley

250 g Cocktail Tomatoes

200 ml Chopped Garlic Shoots

2 pc Garlic Cloves

Salt/Pepper

Mix the egg, breadcrumbs, milk and some salt and pepper in a big bowl. Put this to the side meanwhile you boil up a large pot of water together with 1-2 tsp of salt. Mix the beef mince together with the breadcrumb mixture and shape the meatballs. When the water is boiling, add the pasta. Fry the meatballs in 1 tsp of the olive oil. Once they are almost done, add 50ml of water and braise them until the water has evaporated. Keep the meatballs warm meanwhile you drain the pasta. Use the pasta pot and add the rest of the olive oil, parsley, pressed garlic, salt and pepper. Once this mixture has a golden color add the pasta and re-heat. As you serve the pasta and the meatballs give the garlic shoots and cocktail tomatoes a quick turn in the same pot to heat up as well take up some of the garlic flavor.

Pasta got a bad reputation in media lately. In my opinion this is due to the distorted portion sizing we have and most people doesn't know how big a serving of pasta should be. Also choose as dense pasta as possible as this means a lower GI. Enjoy the pasta but if you have a "Lady & The Tramp" night, make sure to ease off on the garlic...

Labels: cooking, nutrition, recipe

Sunday, 23 November 2008

Nutritious and delicious...

After a couple of weeks with less training and more food I am now back on track with a more calculated diet. I have put on a bit of weight over the last few weeks which necessarily isn't a bad thing. To be able to stay fit and lean year round both your mind and you body needs a break now and then.

As I have a good cooking background and love my food I have never understood the chicken, rice and broccoli diet... sure it might "work" but I believe in a variety of food that taste great is the way to go. Here is last nights dinner... who know, you might want to give it a go.

Veal Rack with sweet-potato, beet root and green pepper sauce (4 port)

(471 calories, 41g Protein, 54g Carbohydrate and 11g Fat per serving)

800g Veal Rack (Lean and all fat trimmed away)

600g Sweet Potato

600g Beet root

Salt and Olive oil Spray

Marinade

2 Tbsp Olive oil

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp Soy sauce

Salt/Pepper/Ground Sage

Green Pepper Sauce

2 Tsp Wheat flour

200 ml Beef or Veal Stock

100 ml Skim Milk

2 Tsp of canned green peppercorn

Marinate the meat in for a minimum 30 min, over night is ideal. Put the oven on 200 degrees and scrub the sweet potato and beet root well. Spray lightly with olive oil spray and salt after taste.

Before throwing the roast into the oven make sure to brown all sides of the roast in a deep pan together with some of the marinade oil. This will seal the meat so you will get a juicy and tender roast. Put the deep pan aside but do not clean as this will be the base to the sauce.

Bring out the roasting dish and cut a onion in quarters and spread the pieces in one end. This is where you place the roast so that it doesn't have direct contact with the roasting dish itself as this will make the meat over cook in the bottom. Then spread the sweet potato and beet root on the other side of the dish. Last thing is to cover the ribs/bones with aluminum foil. The bones leads the heat and will over-cook the meat next to these.

Veal is perfect pink at 60 degrees temperature. You could either make it a guess around 30-40 minute mark or get yourself a meat thermometer and get a perfect roast every time. The choice is yours. Once 60 degrees is reached take out the roast and let rest for 10 minutes wrapped in tinfoil. The temperature will continue rising to 61-62 degrees which is perfect. Turn up the oven to 225-250 degrees to get a crisp surface on the roasted vegetables and start making the green pepper sauce.

Put the deep pan that you used to seal the meat on a hot plate, add 2 tsp wheat flour to the fat and stir as it heats up. Then add the green peppercorns and pour the stock into the pan. Let simmer until reduced to half amount. Add the skim milk and whatever meat juice that has leaked from the roast. Simmer up once more. If the sauce is too thick add more milk and if too light shake another 1-2 tsp wheat flour in 50 ml of cold milk and pour into the sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes to get rid of any "flour taste".

Cut up the roast and you are ready to enjoy...

Labels: food, nutrition, recipe

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Nutritious and delicious...