Healthier cooking enjoyment

Haddock zucchini and peppadew gluten-free pie

Martie’s appetite is much constrained due to fear of reflux. It presents challenges in the cooking department. For Sunday lupper (like brunch, in-between breakfast and lunch, lupper fall somewhere between lunch and supper — some days it is just blupper, all three meals in one) I decided on haddock (600g oak smoked) and we bought a small punnet zucchini to make something, not sure quite what. I discovered a bottle of peppadew — diced sweet and sour golden peppers in the cupboard needing to be used.

Place the frozen haddock pieces in their respective plastic-wraps on a plate and cook on high in the microwave for 5 minutes. Allow to cool down a little.

Ingredients for the crust:

• ±5ml salt
• ±15ml canola oil
• ±10ml bicarbonate of soda
• ±150ml soya flour
• ±100ml water

Mix the salt, oil, bicarbonate of soda and flour well together; then add water and mix until it is a smooth paste.

Spray a Pyrex tart-dish; spoon and spread the dough-paste in the dish, both sides and bottom. Keep the leftover paste.

Rinse and slice thinly (±2mm) four medium zucchinis into the dish on top of the dough. Spoon and spread ±60ml peppadews on top of the zucchini slices.

Remove the haddock from the plastic-wrappers and remove the skin. Brake into small flakes with a knife. Spread the flaked-haddock op top of the zucchini & peppadew.

Rinse another four medium-sized zucchinis and slice thinly (±2mm) op top.

Add ±100ml soya flour to the paste and ±75ml water. Mix until a smooth-runny paste and spoon all on top of the layered mix in the tart-dish. Smooth out and sprinkle with Robertson’s Mediterranean vegetable seasoning.

Place in a pre-heated oven (220°C); turn heat down to 200°C; bake for 30 minutes and serve.

Whereas Martie asked for only ½ a piece of haddock when we discussed what we'll have for lupper, she ate two slices and expressed delight. Martie only suggestion is to make the crust more moist.

Christmas potato and haddock pie

There are many different traditions associated with Christmas and people prepare many different meals for Christmas.  I have not given much thought this year about what to serve. Our passage and kitchen tiling plans went horribly wrong. I was suppose to have been done and over by 18 December. It eventually got done 22 December. We gave up on Christmas eve fighting dust and slept until very late Christmas Day. I pondered what we have available and decided on:

I peeled eight medium-sized potatoes, rinse them and sliced them about 7mm thick.

Placed the potatoes with 500ml of vegetable stock in a pot to boil.

Took a 500g box of haddock, placed the five pieces in their plastic on a plate and microwaved for 7 minutes.

Took a rectangular pie-dish and sprayed with spray & cook.

Sliced one onion into rings of about 2-3mm thick; separated the rings and spread half of them across the bottom of the dish.

Took seven zucchini, washed them, removed the stems and sliced them into 'coins', of which I spread half between the onion rings.

Took a small hand full of sundried tomato pieces and cut half of these into small bits with scissors and spread in between the onion rings and zucchini 'coins'.

Took the cooked haddock pieces out of their plastic bags and 'crumble' the fish over the onions and zucchini.

Thereafter layered half of the cooked potato slices in the dish and sprinkled with salt.

Repeated the layering, using the remainder of ingredients.

Heated the remaining vegetable stock and added some quinoa flour to form a paste, which I spread over the contents.

Then grated cheddar cheese over and finished the process off by sprinkling paprika over.

Placed the dish in the heated oven (180°) for 30 minutes.

Serve hot.

 

Maize-rice fish & veggie ‘paella’

I cooked ‘hard-boiled’ eggs on the steamers egg-tray; and maize-rice in the rice/sauce cooking-bowl of the steamer. I intended the maize-rice for something that did not materialise, but used the eggs for something.

Martie does not like plain white fish much. So I got this idea. I cooked the fish in the microwave and allowed it to cool. In the mean time I cooked some onions and added three frozen veggies to the pot to defrost and warm: butternut & sweet potato; corn; and baby peas. I further flaked the cooked fish, while warming the maize-rice.

I then mixed the three parts: the maize-rice, the fish, the veggies, and added some spices — voila, a nice healthy meal which Martie liked.

I read that my concoction could possibly be called a variation of the Valencian paella—obviously without the land snails and beans; but with coloured vegetables and maize-rice instead.

Four basic STOCK recipes

Increased awareness about how to improve our own and our family’s health is resulting in increased popularity of low-fat cooking. However, this does not mean ‘diet’ food which is boring, bland and unappetising (The best ever low fat 2003: 4).

Concentrated fat-free stock is a very important aspect of low-fat cooking. Herewith four essential stock recipes that are easy to make: vegetable, chicken, beef and fish stock

Ingredients	Vegetable	Chicken	Beef	Fish
	2x Tbsp Sunflower oil	1.3kg wings, neck	1kg marrow bone	650g fish bones
		—	650g stewing	—
Water	2.25 litres	4 litres	2.8 litres	1.3 litres
Dry wine	—	—	—	125ml
Onions	115g chop finely	2x cut wedges	2x halved	1x sliced
Celery	4x sticks chopped	2x chopped	2x sticks chopped	2x sticks chopped
Carrots	115g chop finely	2x chopped	—	1x sliced
Black pepper	—	10x corns	8x corns	4x corns
Parsley	—	10x fresh sprigs	—	4x fresh sprigs
Bay leafs	—	2x	—	1x
Bouquet garni	1x	—	1x	—
Leeks	115g chop finely	—	—	—
Fennel	85g chop finely	—	—	—
Tomatoes	85g chop finely	—	—	—
Lemon	—	—	—	½ sliced
Thyme	—	4x fresh sprigs	—	—
Cloves	—	—	4x	—
Method	Cook onions and leeks in oil for 5 minutes. Stir. Add remaining vegetables and cook for 10 minutes. Stir. Add water and bouquet garni and simmer for 20 minutes.	Cook chicken and onions at low heat, stir frequently, until brown. Add water and while boil skim off foam. Add remaining ingredients, partially cover and simmer gently for 3 hours	Boil bones and beef, skim off the foam that rises. Press a clove into each onion half. Add celery, peppercorns and bouquet garni. Partially cover and simmer gently for 3 hours. Remove beef and simmer for further 1 hour	Boil ingredients and skim off the foam that rises. Partially cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes.
Storage	Sieve, cool and use, store in refrigerator or freeze up to 3 months.	Sieve and when cool discard layer of fat n surface.reeze up to 6 months.	Sieve and when cool discard layer of fat n surface. Freeze up to 6 months.	Sieve, cool and use, store in refrigerator or freeze up to 3 months.

Bouquet garni: tie 4 fresh parsley stems, 1 clove, 1 bay leaf and 4 peppercorns in a piece of clean muslin.

Download 4x _STOCK_recipes

The best ever low fat. 2003. Parragon.