"So, it's my turn to host Come Dine With Me this weekend. I've reluctantly accepted it's a lose:lose situation. I can either lose the 2lb I had planned to by Sunday and cook something involving brown rice and a courgette, or I lose the stupid competition. I hate my foodie friends."
A down-in-the-mouth client does not a good session make. Thankfully, on this occasion, I swept in and rescued them with a metaphorical cuddle, a hardcore circuit and some champion recipes.
So, I say to you what I said to her: I am about to give you the greatest low fat, low calorie, dinner party menu in the world. Ever.
Each course serves 6
Starter: Vietnamese summer rolls (30 minutes prep)
· 1 cup of sliced baby gem or iceberg lettuce
· 1 cup of grated raw carrot
· 1 cup of chopped mint
· 1 cup of basil
· 1 cup of coriander
· 1 cup of finely sliced cucumber
· 1 cup of raw beansprouts
· 1 cup of cooked angel hair or rice noodles
· Zest of half a lime and juice of 1 lime
· 1 tbsp of fish sauce
· 1 tsp of sugar (preferably palm sugar but whatever you can lay your hands on is fine)
· 1 finely sliced chilli (seeds optional)
· 24 large cooked king prawns sliced in half (lengthways)
· 12 rice paper rounds (you can get these from most Asian supermarkets
Method
· Put all but the last two ingredients into a bowl and mix together well
· Take a rice paper roll and place in a large bowl of cold/tepid water for about 20 seconds (or soak under a slow running tap until wet all over)
· Place rice paper roll flat, on an even surface, place four prawns halves along the middle of the rice paper (lengthways).
· Next take a small fist of the combined ingredients from your bowl and add, also lengthways, on top of the prawns.
· The rice paper should now be totally malleable. Fold bottom of rice paper over filling then fold in ends and roll, like a fajita, into a tight cylinder.
· Once all rolls are done, transfer to a plate covered with non-stick paper, cover in cling film and pop in the fridge until serving. There are loads of yummy dips you can serve with this but I prefer a simple soy, grated ginger and finely chopped spring onion one - or your favourite shop bought sweet chilli - nice and simple!
Main: Thai spiced chicken with noodle broth (30 minutes prep, 5 hours marinating time and 25 minutes cooking time
· Coconut oil spray (available in most supermarkets)
· 1 pea-sized portion of shrimp paste
· 1 minced clove of garlic
· 1 ltr fresh chicken stock
· 5 dried kaffir lime leaves
· 1 stalk of lemon grass, bashed and sliced in two
· 18 - 24 chestnut mushrooms
· 6 dried fine egg noodle portions
· 3 roughly chopped pak choi
· 2 tbsp of fish sauce
· 1 tbsp of sugar (preferably palm sugar)
· 4 finely chopped spring onions
· Juice of two whole limes
· 1 lrg handful of roughly chopped coriander
Method
Put all of the marinade ingredients into a pestle and mortar and pound to a paste. Once done, spoon over the chicken and give each portion a good rub to make sure it's well covered. Cover in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least five hours, but preferably over night.
Preheat oven to 200C or 180C on a fan assisted oven
Place a large non-stick saucepan on a low heat, coating it with coconut oil (about 12 pumps of the spray)
Add the garlic and shrimp paste and stir on low heat for 1 min
Pour in the chicken stock and heat gently until simmering
Once stock is simmering, add in kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass and let simmer for a further 10 mins
Whilst stock mix is bubbling away, boil kettle with enough water to coat all six egg noodle portions, once boiled, add water to a separate saucepan
After 10 mins, remove the kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass and add mushrooms to stock pot. Cook for 5-10 minutes depending on whether you have sliced them or just halved them.
Dessert: Lemon sorbet with mixed berries, passion fruit coulis, basil and toasted pine nuts
Lemon sorbet
Bottle of passionfruit coulis
Your preferred berries (about 3/4 punnets)
100g of pine nuts
1 bunch of basil
Method
After the work that’s gone into every other course, give yourself a breather!
Wash a handful of mixed berries per person (I like blueberries and strawberries)
Tear a small handful of basil leaves per person
Toast (you guessed it) a handful of pine nuts person and let cool
Take your sorbet out of the freezer and open your bottle of coulis
Assemble the ingredients in a glass so they look pretty and serve!
