Thursday 29 March 2012

Calves liver with swiss chard, rosemary garlic chips and mustard mayonnaise


This isn't really a normal recipe I would look for on Calories and Creon, I haven't chose it because I think it looks high calorie or has a red for fat on the nutritional 'traffic light' system, I've chose it because it has liver in and today is 12years since I had my liver transplant, in the hospital, more than once when I asked what was for dinner the oh-so-funny reply was 'liver' so I thought I would stick a cheeky liver recipe in today ;)




Ingredients

For the rosemary garlic chips
For the mustard mayonnaise
For the calves' liver

Preparation method

  1. For the rosemary garlic chips, peel the potatoes and cut into 1.5cm/½in cubes. Place into a heavy-based pan and cover with the two oils. Slowly bring to a simmer, and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the potato is just tender.
  2. Add the rosemary and garlic, increase the heat and cook for a further 4-5 minutes, or until the potatoes are pale golden-brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
  3. For the mustard mayonnaise, whisk the egg yolk and mustard together until smooth and well combined. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, starting with a drop at a time and moving to a thin, steady stream, until the mixture is smooth and emulsified. Add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  4. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
  5. For the calves liver, pick the leaves from the chard and blanch the stalks in a pan of boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes, until tender. Add the chard leaves and blanch for one minute, or until wilted. Drain and pat dry on kitchen paper. Slice the stems into batons and set aside.
  6. Heat an ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat and add the sunflower oil. Add the liver slices and fry for 1-2 minutes, then turn over. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then add half the butter to the pan and transfer to the oven for 2-3 minutes, until the liver is just cooked through but still slightly pink in the middle.
  7. Remove the liver with a slotted spoon and set aside to rest. Drain the butter from the pan, then return to the heat and add the balsamic vinegar. Cook until the liquid has reduced by half, then add the remaining butter and stir until melted and combined with the vinegar. Add the liver back into the pan to warm through before serving.
  8. Heat a little olive oil in a clean frying pan, add the chard and fry for one minute to warm through.
  9. To serve, arrange the chard in the centre of four serving plates and top each serving with a slice of liver. Drizzle over the balsamic reduction. Arrange the potato chips around the plate, dotting the mayonnaise in the space between each chip.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Chocolate and almond parfait


Please be aware this recipe contains raw egg!




Ingredients:


25g Dark cooking chocolate
1 large egg, seperated
25g icing sugar
75ml double cream
Few drops vanilla extract
8 whole almonds, lightly toasted and chopped
Almond thin biscuits
Chocolate sauce and raspberries, to serve



  • Line 2 ramekins with clingfilm. Melt the chocolate and set aside.
  • Whisk the egg white until stiff. Add the icing sugar a teaspoon at a time (whisking between each addition, until stiff again).
  • Whisk the cream and vanilla until the cream starts to hold its shape. Stir in the yolk, chocolate and nuts until evenly blended.
  • Fold in the egg white and divide between the ramekins. If you have any mixture leftover, make an extra one. Freeze for at least 3hours.
  • Turn out and serve with almond thins, chocolate sauce and raspberries.



Serves 2


Per serving:

  • 410 calories
  • 33g fat
  • 16.1g sat fat
  • 1 of your 5 a day.

Friday 23 March 2012

Goat's cheese bruschetta


Hello everyone, I'm back online! Here's a quick goat's cheese bruschetta recipe to start the weekend with. 


Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a pan and gently fry 1 sliced large red onion for 3 minutes over a low heat. Add 3tbsp balsamic vinegar, 6tbsp soft brown sugar and 2tsp honey. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Cut 4 diagonal slices from a baguette and rub with 2tbsp of olive oil. Toast the slices on both sides under a grill.
To serve, spread the onion on the toasts and top with 50g Goat's Cheese
Put a handful of rocket on each plate. Garnish the brusechetta with sprigs of thyme and black pepper. Serve with a drizzle of French dressing.


Serves: 4 
Calories per serving: 426
Fat per serving: 23.5g

Saturday 17 March 2012

Your Recipes

My internet is being disconnected on Monday (19th March) and I'm expecting it to be about a week before I get back online so don't think I've forgotten about Calories and Creon if you don't see a new post for a little while.

Once I'm back online I'd love to do some posts of readers tried and tested recipes so if you have any please email them to caloriesandcreon@hotmail.co.uk  also if you have any pictures of the recipes you have made from on here, have any weight gain tips, see a webpage you think may be of interest or would like to see a calorie comparison (like with the crisps) please email me and let me know!

Thank you :)

Black Velvet baby cakes


Black Velvet baby cakes


Ingredients:


For the cakes


100g softened butter , plus extra for greasing
175g light brown soft sugar
1 egg
100g self-raising flour
50g ground almonds
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
5 tbsp cocoa , plus a little extra for decorating
150ml Guinness


For the cream


200ml double cream
25g icing sugar
splash Champagne (optional)


Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 6 dariole moulds with baking parchment. Put the butter, sugar, egg, flour, ground almonds, bicarbonate, cocoa and Guinness in a mixing bowl. Beat together until lump-free. Divide between the tins then bake for 20-25 mins until risen and a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool for 15 mins, then remove from tins and cool completely - the same way up they baked, don't turn upside-down.
Whip cream with the icing sugar and splash of Champagne, if using, until thick. Spoon a dollop onto the top of each cake and dust with a touch of cocoa. Serve with glasses of Champagne or Black Velvets for pudding.


PER SERVING
587 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 52g, fat 41 g, saturated fat 21g, fibre 2g, sugar 36g, salt 0.59 g


For more Irish recipes to try click here

Irish Soda bread


My step-dad is Irish and when I was a teenager my Mum worked in an Irish bar, one of the regular customers used to make us Irish Soda bread on a regular basis and I loved it thickly sliced and made extra calorific with thick butter, I'd normally eat over half of every loaf!


Ingredients:


250g plain white flour
250g plain wholemeal flour
100g porridge oats
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
25g butter, cut in pieces
500ml buttermilk


Method:


Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C and dust a baking sheet with flour. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then rub in the butter. Pour in the buttermilk and mix it in quickly with a table knife, then bring the dough together very lightly with your fingertips (handle it very, very gently). Now shape it into a flat, round loaf measuring 20cm/8in in diameter.
Put the loaf on the baking sheet and score a deep cross in the top. (Traditionally, this lets the fairies out, but it also helps the bread to cook through.) Bake for 30-35 minutes until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. If it isn't ready after this time, turn it upside down on the baking sheet and bake for a few minutes more.
Transfer to a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel (this keeps the crust nice and soft) and leave to cool. To serve, break into quarters, then break or cut each quarter in half to make 8 wedges or slices - or simply slice across. Eat very fresh.


Per serving
296 kcalories, protein 11g, carbohydrate 56g, fat 5 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 5g, salt 1.21 g



Guinness and Honey glazed pork loin served with Colcannon


Following the Welsh recipes on St David's day here are some Irish recipes for St Patrick's Day...




Guinness and Honey glazed pork loin served with Colcannon




Ingredients:


Guinness and Honey glazed pork loin


300ml Guinness
100ml clear honey
250g light muscovado sugar
2kg skinless, boneless loin of pork , ask your butcher for the thick end
splash white wine , Champagne or water
few sprigs flat leaf parsley


Colcannon


1kg potatoes , well scrubbed (cut any large ones in half)
100g butter
140g sliced back bacon , finely chopped
1/2 small Savoy cabbage , finely shredded
150ml double cream


Method:


Guinness and Honey glazed pork loin


To make the glaze, put the Guinness, honey and sugar into a pan. Reduce by almost half to form a sweet syrupy glaze, then allow to cool.
Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Season the pork with pepper and salt, if you want, place on a baking tray and roast for 20 mins. Then turn the heat down to 160C/fan 140C/gas3. Remove the pork from the oven and brush all over with most of the glaze (reserving a few tbsp) cook for a further 40-50 mins, brushing and basting the pork as it cooks until it's beautifully caramelised and glazed.
Remove the pork from the roasting tray and leave to rest. Pour the remaining glaze into the roasting tray, then add the wine, Champagne or water. Place the pan on the heat and bring everything to the boil, simmer for a few mins until you have thick gravy. Carve pork into thin slices and place on top of the colcannon (see separate recipe). Glaze with the Guinness syrup, drizzle a little on the plates and finish with a sprig of parsley.


Colcannon


Tip the potatoes into a large saucepan of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15-20 mins, or until the flesh is tender when pierced.
Meanwhile, heat quarter of the butter in a saucepan, then fry the bacon and the cabbage for 5 mins. Turn off the heat and set aside. Drain potatoes in a colander and peel while still hot.
Mash potato until smooth. Heat cream with remaining butter and, when almost boiling, beat into the potato. Add bacon and cabbage to potato and mix. Season if you want.


Per serving


Guinness and Honey glazed pork loin: 725 kcalories, protein 65g, carbohydrate 56g, fat 27 g, saturated fat 10g, fibre 0g, sugar 55g, salt 0.4 g


Colcannon: 364 kcalories, protein 9g, carbohydrate 29g, fat 25 g, saturated fat 13g, fibre 4g, sugar 0.2g, salt 1 g



Friday 16 March 2012

Curried Scotch Eggs

What you need:


6 Medium eggs
350g pack of pork sausages
5ml spoon of medium strength curry powder
113g pack natural breadcrumbs


What to do:


Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, Gas Mark 6.
Place 4 of the eggs in boiling water for 10 minutes.
Score the skin of each sausage. Remove the sausage meat from inside and place in a bowl, discarding the skins. Add the curry powder and stir well.
Drain the egg and refresh well in cold water. Peel and pat dry with kitchen towel.
Beat 2 raw eggs together in a bowl. Empty the sachet of breadcrumbs in another bowl.
Mould sausage meat around each cooked egg until all the meat has been used.
Dip each egg in the beaten egg and then roll in the breadcrumbs until well coated. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 25 minutes until golden, turning twice during the cooking time.


Serves: 4
preparation time: 5 mins
cooking time: 35 mins
per serving: 550calories;  30g fat
cost per serving: 80p

Thursday 15 March 2012

Lavender Crème Brûlée

Serves: 4
Preperation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 35 mins
per serving: 630 calories; 50g fat


What you need:


2 vanilla pods
300ml double cream
200ml full fat milk
8 egg yolks
75g sugar
1 bunch lavender
4 tablespoons of caster sugar


What to do:


Preheat the oven to 140°C, 275°F, Gas Mark 1.
Score the vanilla pods lengthways and run a knife up the pod to remove the vanilla seeds.
Scrape the seeds into a pan with the pods, cream and milk and then slowly bring to the boil. Remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. 
Remove the vanilla pods from the pan and little by little add the milk and cream to the egg mixture, whisking continuously. For a more intense flavour add a small handful of the lavender flowers, but the trick is to be delicate - you only need a hint of the flavour.
Remove any bubbles or froth from the mixture before dividing it between 4 little shallow serving dishes. 
Stand these in a suitable-sized roasting tray filled with water halfway up the containers.
Bake for around 25 minutes or until the custard has set but is still slightly wobbly in the centre. Allow to cool at room temperature then place in the fridge until ready.
To serve, sprinkle each crème brûlée with 1 tablespoon of the caster sugar and some more of the lavender flowers and caramelise under a very hot grill or using a kitchen blow torch.



Wednesday 14 March 2012

Calorie Countdown on Takeaway Foods

This is a list of 10 calorific takeaways that I found from a very old CF newsletter when I was sorting through some paperwork


10. Beef Chow Mein (takeaway portion) - 475
9. Big Mac (make up to 900 with a large portion of fries!) - 495
8. Meat Pastie - 500
7. Six Inch Subway Meatball Sub - 520
6. Donor Kebab - 550
5. Pepperoni Pizza (1/2 of a 9inch) - 700
4. Chicken Korma and Rice (takeaway portion) - 850
3. Fish and Chips (average chip-shop portion) - 900
2. Sweet and Sour Chicken and Rice - 950
1. KFC Meal (3 pieces of chicken and large fries) - 1000!!!

Enchilada Casserole


This scrumptious meal is loaded with calories, protein, and sodium.
Prep time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
  • 1 (10.75 oz.) can of cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 (15 oz.) can of enchilada sauce
  • 2 c. cooked chicken breast, diced
  • 1 c. cheddar cheese
  • 3½ c. tortilla chips, crushed
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
  2. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
  3. Pour the mixture in a greased 1.5-quart casserole dish.
  4. Bake for 25 minutes.
Serves: 3
Serving size: 2 cups
Nutritional analysis (per serving):
681 calories
51 g protein
35 g fat
1977 mg sodium
368 mg calcium
Note: Nutritional analysis may vary depending on ingredient brands used.
Variations and suggestions:
Serve with rice and sour cream.

50 High Calorie Foods - Get Fat Fast...

On Monday I'm having my internet cut off for a few days so I'm going to get a fair few blog posts up in the next few days...


Firstly a link to a web page with a list of 50 high calorie, but still fairly healthy, foods.

Saturday 10 March 2012

Big Burgers

Ingredients:


500g minced beef (or any minced meat of your choice)
1 thick slice of bread
1/2 onion
1 egg
4 tsp of cream cheese
pinch of mixed herbs
salt and pepper


Method:


Take 4 teaspoons of cream cheese out of its packaging now ready for later, do this now before you open your meat to avoid getting any of the uncooked meat near the remaining cream cheese in the packet, if you do will have to discard it rather use it for something else later.
Rub the bread between your fingertips until it is fine breadcrumbs and finely chop the onion and place in a mixing bowl with the minced meat, mixed herbs, salt and pepper.
Break the egg into the bowl then using your hands throroughly mix them all together until all the ingredients are mixed evenly throughout.
Divide the mixture into 8 equal size measures and flatten each them out into discs, in the centre of each disc make a slight indentation.
Place a teaspoon of the cream cheese into the indentation of 4 of these discs and then place the other disc over it with the indentation face down.
Pinch and blend the edges together so the join disappears.


Finished burgers ready to be cooked 

Cook in the middle of a preheated oven at 210oC for 20mins.
Place cooked burgers in some kitchen roll to remove excess grease before serving.

Served with grated cheese and BBQ sauce in a tiger bread roll with wedges


Obviously you don't have to use cream cheese for the filling, you could use and other cheese, ketchup, BBQ sauce... anything you like really, you could even have no filling at all if you like.

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Snack - 250kcals

Following the 150kcal snack post here is a list of some more calorific snacks containing approx. 250kcals each:



  • 1/2 frozen deep pan style pizza
  • orient express snack noodle meal
  • ice cream, ie: cornetto/snicker style
  • 2 scoops ice cream
  • 1/6 bag of tortilla chips 
  • microwave fries
  • Ambrosia creamy crunch
  • 1 slice of toast with thickly spread peanut butter
  • packet of walkers max crisps
  • chocolate bar
  • 1 pizza square 
  • 1/2 can rice pudding
  • 1/4 tub pringles
  • medium packet of peanuts
  • 1/2 sachet angel delight
  • small bag of 50g peanuts
  • portion of trifle
  • 7 chicken nuggets
  • custard slice
Not quite sure why there are peanuts on the list twice, these are lists that a friend of mine sent me given to her by her dietitian!

Lastly George, who I started talking to on Twitter recently has wrote this blog entry partly about making the vanilla cheesecake from earlier in this blog. It was emailing George that recipe that actually gave me the idea to start this blog :)

Saturday 3 March 2012

Alphabet Cookies


Here's one to make with your child/children this weekend. From my personal experience as a child food became a huge chore, most meals would take a least an hour to eat and I had very little enjoyment of the tastes and flavors, so I think that taking time out to make fun foods with your CF child/children can help to introduce enjoyment of food and eating rather than seeing it as a battle to avoid NG/PEG feeds.


This recipe is slightly more unusual using the seeds or candied fruits but if you don't think your child will enjoy those then I'm sure substituting those for the more traditional chocolate chips would work absolutely fine.


Ingredients:


225g butter, softened
140g caster sugar
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2tsp grenadine
280g plain flour
pinch of salt 
5-6 tbsp unsalted dried pomegranate seeds or roasted melon seeds




Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg yolk and grenadine. Sift together the flour and salt into the mixture and stir until combined. Halve the dough, shape into balls, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190oC/375oF/Gas Mark 5. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap the dough and roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper to about 3mm thick. Sprinkle half the seeds over each piece of dough and lightly roll the rolling pin over them. Cut out letters with alphabet cutter and place them on the baking sheets, spaced well apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.




For Tutti Frutti cookies: Replace the seeds with 25g each of chopped candied fruit, glace cherries and angelica and add to the cookie dough.

Friday 2 March 2012

Comparing Calories in Crisps

Below I have compared the calorie, fat and carbohydrate content of 10 random bags of crisps (well not so random as they are what me or people I have been with have eaten recently, LOL) I have listed them with the highest values per bag at the top, lowest at the bottom.

The highest calorie crisps in this list have over 3 times as many calories as the lowest which is a massive difference when choosing a high calorie snack!

Some bags I have looked at are multipack bags which tend to be slightly smaller than single bags so I will mark these with a *

Calories: Per bag/Per 100g

  1. McCoys Flame Grilled Steak - 252kcals/504kcals
  2. Doritoes Tangy Cheese - 200kcals/500kcals
  3. Walkers Ready Salted - 185kcals/537kcals 
  4. NikNak Nice n Spicy - 171kcals/570kcals
  5. Cheese Wotsits - 123kcals/547kcals
  6. Frazzles* - 113kcals/488kcals
  7. Monster Munch Pickled Onion* - 109kcals/493kcals
  8. Salt and Vinegar Chipsticks* - 108kcals/481kcals
  9. Cheese Quavers* - 88kcals/534kcals
  10. Worcester Sauce French Fries* - 83kcals/435kcals
Fat: Per bag/Per 100g

  1. McCoys - 14.6g/29.2g
  2. Walkers - 11.8g/34.1g
  3. NikNaks - 11.3g/37.8g
  4. Doritoes - 10.8g/27g
  5. Wotsits -7.4g/33g
  6. Monster Munch* - 5.5g/25g
  7. Frazzles* - 5.3g/23g
  8. Chipsticks* - 5.2g/23g
  9. Quavers* - 4.9g/30.1g
  10. French Fries - 3g/16g
Carbohydrate: Per Bag/Per 100g

  1. McCoys - 26.9g/53.8g
  2. Doritoes - 22.8g/57g
  3. Walkers - 17.1g/49.7g
  4. NikNaks - 15.6g/51.9g
  5. Frazzles* - 14.3g/62g
  6. Chipsticks* -13.7g/61g
  7. Monster Munch* - 13.2g/60g
  8. Wotsits - 12.6g/56g
  9. French Fries* - 12.4g/65g
  10. Quavers* - 10.3g/62.5g

So McCoys Flame Grilled Steak flavor top all 3 of the lists so if you fancy a bag of crisps and are unsure of which ones to go for then these are the top calorie option.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Welsh rarebit


Here is the final Welsh recipe for the day, a classic small meal/large snack.


Ingredients: 


2 slicesof bread
1 tbsp of butter
50g of grated Caerphilly cheese
1/4 tsp mustard
whole milk
salt and pepper


Equipment:


Small saucepan, grater.


Cooking Method:


Toast the bread under the grill.
Butter the toast, using half the butter, and keep hot
Melt the rest of the butter in a small saucepan.
Remove from the heat and add the grated cheese, a little salt and pepper, and the mustard.
Stir in enough milk to make into a stiff paste.
Spread the cheese paste onto the toast.
Grill gently until golden brown.

Quarryman’s Favourite (Feffryn Chwarelwr)


Many traditional dishes evolve from workpeople’s need for portable food to eat at their workplace. Cornish pasties are one example. This was popular with the slate quarry-men of North Wales:


1 lb | 450g flour
1/2 lb | 225g lard
1/2 lb | 225g currants
1/4 lb | 225g sugar
pinch salt
few dabs butter


METHOD
1. Make pastry with the hour, lard and salt.
2. Divide in two, roll out fairly thinly and cover a large oven plate with one half.
3. Spread the currants evenly over the pastry, dot with butter and sprinkle with sugar.
4. Cover with the rest of the pastry,seal the edges, cut air holes in the top.
5. Brush with milk and egg and cook to golden brown (425°F, Gas 7, 220°C).


This recipe also appears in A Book of Welsh Country Pudding and Pies by Bobby Freeman


Both this and the previous recipe (Patagnoia Cream Tart) and many other tasty Welsh recipe are on http://www.recipesfromwales.com/

Patagnoia Cream Tart (Teisen Hufen Patagonia)


As it's St. David's day today I thought I would post a few Welsh recipes for today, a nice creamy pudding, a Welsh version of the Cornish pasty and a classic Welsh dish, Welsh rarebit.


Firstly Patagnoia Cream Tart:


A rich, dish designed to use the overplus of dairy produce which resulted when the Welsh settlers finally succeeded in
damming the river Camwy.


8 ozs | 225g flour
4 ozs | 125g butter
3 eggs, separated
1/2 pint | 10fl. ozs | 275 mls double cream
1 tbls. vanilla sugar


METHOD
1. Rub the butter into the flour and bind with the egg yolks to a rich paste.
2. Rest it for several hours before rolling out to line a fairly deep pie dish.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff, fold into the cream with the sugar (use essence if vanilla sugar is not available).
4. Sprinkle nutmeg on the top and bake in a slow oven (325°F, Gas 3, 170°C) for 35-40 mins.


This recipe appears in A Book of Welsh Country Pudding and Pies by Bobby Freeman which is published by Y Lolfa [ISBN 0862431409].