How not to get Fat: your daily diet

How not to get Fat: your daily diet

As I am writing this review, I have listened to Radio 4 Woman’s Hour on diets and the diet industry with, amongst others, Arabella Weir who has struggled with weight all her life and whose latest book is called “The real me is thin”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00x76vm/Womans_Hour_05_01_2011

From listening to the introduction to the programme, where women recount the many and varied (mad) diets they have tried, it is abundantly clear that although many of us know more about food and nutrition than ever, diets don’t keep the weight off (diets have a 97% failure rate!) and as a nation we are generally becoming fatter.

I have also watched Channel 4’s documentary “Britain’s Fattest Man”  which looked at Britain’s most desperate cases of overeating and the nation’s rising tide of obesity: at 57 stone, the 49-year-old Paul Mason is the tragic object of tabloid scrutiny, logistical nightmares and extreme medical measures. One thing is for sure, there is no dignity for the super-obese!

Of course, it is hard to relate to extremes, but Paul Mason wasn’t born fat. He grew fat, and fatter and fatter still.

Dieting is big business: worth £2.6b in the UK alone.

We believe fad (read “quick fix”) diets will quickly deliver the desired weight loss and the concept of “healthy eating” has become a muddled term. “Weight management” and “nutrition” are often confused as  a diet based on food choices focused on nutritional content can still lead to weight gain.

So, if you are among the millions of people for whom day-to-day-dieting is a way of life, what now?

The Author Ian Marber

Ian Marber, also known as The Food Doctor www.thefooddoctor.com , believes there is another way to eat.

One that enables you to manage your weight, promotes energy, reduces hunger and still provides the good nutrition you require.

This is what his new book “How not to get Fat: your daily diet”, due out on the 11th of January, is about.

I must state here that I have never been keen on The Food Doctor’s ready meals and salads: they lack imagination, look “messy” in their plastic containers and every single meal has been generally sprinkled with mixed seeds.

Bit I do rate Ian Marber, MBANT Dip ION, regular contributor to leading magazines and publications, prolific writer, founder and principal consultant at The Food Doctor Clinc and his no-nonsense approach to nutrition.

In his latest book, Ian Marber takes us through the basic science of how food becomes energy, in particular glucose management, how much glucose different foods create and their effect on your energy levels and how soon after eating you feel hungry again.

This section is excellent: it explains in layman terms how food is turned into fuel by the body’s digestive system. In particular, Ian explains glucose management, which is such a vital aspect of weight management, in detail.

In my work with clients at SavvyCook www.savvycook.co.uk and children and parents at SavvyKids www.savvykids.org.uk I am very aware how confused many people are about food and what constitutes appropriate eating.

Earlier this year I wrote in this blog about glycemic index and glycemic load in an effort to demystify glucose management and to explain some simple facts about how the human body works as well as offer tactics to manage bloodsugar levels.

Ian Marber goes on to apply the understanding of glucose management to knowledge of other food groups, fat and protein.

A vital concept in the daily diet is always to eat protein and complex carbohydrates together and to eat every two and a half to three hours, starting every day with breakfast.

The book then goes on to provide information on 50 typical healthy foods you might choose to eat, including advice on how to choose, buy, prepare and cook these foods and offers over 200 suggestions on how to turn them into easy but appealing meals and snacks.

I was pleased to see a wide range of ingredients described, including some less well-known grains, pulses, different kinds of meat and a wide range of vegetables. More information about provenance and seasonality under “what to look for” would have been welcome, although I appreciate that in the context of this diet these factors are largely irrelevant.

The recipes + meal suggestions are imaginative, practical and should be easy to follow by even not very confident cooks.

I liked the dry roasted chickpeas with chilli, cumin and cinnamon snack suggestion, curried quinoa and vegetable pilaff with toasted coconut and braised steak with olives, tomatoes and orange zest.

Suggestions on batch cooking are included plus ideas on what to do with left-overs.

I am no fan of freezing food: domestic freezers are not really equipped to freeze food really fast so no ice crystals are formed in the process. More often than not, the eating quality of a previously frozen meal is compromised as a result.

Nuts and seeds play an important role in “the daily diet”. One of the ultimate convenience foods, seeds are an instant way of adding protein, fibre and “good” fats to a dish.

I was surprised not to read a recommendation to grind the seeds to make the absorption of the nutrients by the body much easier.

In the final section of the book, Ian shares a number of food planners, including his own (!), based on different ages, circumstances and lifestyles.

The food planners aim to show you how easy it is to follow the plan. You simply work out which case study most closely resembles your situation and use the food planner as a blueprint that you can adapt.

All in all this book is an excellent addition to the plethora of books on weight management already on the shelves – and perhaps on your shelf if you are among the millions of people who have happened to gain weight and are considering a(nother) diet?

I like the fact that the focus is on understanding the science of turning food into fuel, the effect of glucose on your body, energy levels and mood, not calorie counting, and the importance of eating little and often.

Naturally, as with anything in life worth having, eating well does take time, thought and effort.

Not having the time to eat well is not an excuse in my, or Ian Marber’s, book! Time, or lack of, is an issue for all of us, but this a question of priorities and eating well does not have to be complicated.

I’d like to finish here with a delicious recipe for French leek and onion soup, with the novel addition of a poached egg over which the hot soup is ladled just before eating.

French leek & onion soup with poached eggs

Serves 4

This is what you need:

3 tbsp sunflower oil

2 fairly large onions (about 350g total weight), halved and sliced

2 large leeks, well-washed and sliced

4 tbsp quinoa

1 litre strong beef or vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

freshly ground black pepper

4 eggs

85g Gruyère or Cheddar, grated

This is what you do:

1. Heat the oil in a large, non-stick, saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and leeks and fry, stirring until they begin to soften and colour, for about 4 minutes. Then reduce the heat as low as possible, cover and cook very gently for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and fry, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until golden. Stir in the quinoa.
2. Add the stock, the bay leaf and some seasoning. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the grill. Break the eggs, one at a time, into a cup and slide each into the simmering soup. Simmer for 2-5 minutes, depending on how well-cooked you like your eggs. Carefully lift out the eggs with a slotted spoon and place in 4 flame proof  soup bowls. Don’t worry if there are bits of egg white left behind. Ladle the soup over.
4. Cover the top of each bowl with the grated cheese and place under the grill until melted and bubbling, about 3 minutes.

Bon appetit!

Monique

 

Effortless eating this Christmas

Wintry table

Every year, I approach Christmas with conflicting thoughts.

I love cooking and I want to cook, but … I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen all the time.

Because it’s the one time of the year when the business closes for 2 weeks, I have time on my hands which means an opportunity to experiment with new recipes and flavours.

So a chance to cook what I fancy, however … I also want our guests to enjoy their food including those with more conservative (or should that be traditional?) tastes.

I feel equally ambivalent about all the richness of seasonal Christmas foods: Christmas cake, mince pies, nuts, lots of meat and want to counter that with some lighter, fragrant meals.

If you’re entertaining this Christmas, I believe that it’s not so much a case of just making a shopping list …

this is the time for some serious plotting, planning and scheming to produce delicious food – effortlessly!

Remember that old training chestnut (no pun intended!):

“fail to prepare, prepare to fail”x

Boring, but very true.

Also, remember that its your choice whom you bestow your money on; I do like to buy well all the time, but especially at Christmas do look forward to luxury treat and indulgences.

Shopping right is part of good citizenship as far as I am concerned.

Golden crusted Brussels sprouts

Here’s how:

1. Start by writing down all the eating occasions, from breakfast, brunch to the big Christmas lunch, afternoon tea and everything in between and how many people (approximately) you’ll be feeding.
2. The work out what you want to serve: I try to strike a balance between tradition and adventure by mixing old favourites with new dishes and adding a lighter, more contemporary twist.
3. Try and shop local and support British farmers and producers. There’s a bound to be a (farmers) market taking place in your neighbourhood this week. The Real Food Festival’s Christmas Market took place on the South Bank: I realise this is not much help to you now, but make a mental note to visit next year. It was a great place for festive cheer and to buy some wonderful goodies for your Christmas table. www.realfoodfestival.co.uk
4. Visit local retailers if you don’t already: unless you shop at the local butcher, fish monger, bakery, veg man etc. they could soon be boarded up.
5. Soups, pates + terrines make great party food that’s easy to prepare and  scale up if necessary; includes at least one vegetarian option to offer a break from meat/fish to those who want it.
6. Stock up on fresh herbs: I like to have coriander, mint, chives and flatleaf parsley to hand to add freshness and zing to soups, vegetables and salads.  If you buy “cut” rather than “potted” herbs, wrap them in moistened paper kitchen towel and store  in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of your fridge. Rosemary, thyme and sage are great standbys for adding flavour to stews, casseroles and roast. But I find that their dried equivalents work almost as well.
7. Stock up on a few varieties of decent bread: sourdough, multiseed, rye or try spelt for a change. Real bread stays fresh for longer and is useful in some many ways: at breakfast, “things” on toast, sandwiches and leftovers can be made into breadcrumbs or bread & butter pudding.
8. Eggs are a versatile super food: try free-range duck‘s eggs for a change. Wonderfully rich in an omelette or in scrambled eggs. Quail‘s eggs are ever so pretty, fried/poached for a minute and used as a salad or canape topping, or boiled, half peeled and dipped in dukkah or celery salt as a snack with drinks.
9. Make a double quantity of crumble topping (I like to add chopped toasted nuts to mine for extra texture + flavour) and keep in the fridge or freezer: very handy if you want to make a hot pudding with whatever fruit you’ve got to hand.
10. Baked apples, stuffed with mincemeat and a small piece of marzipan leftover from decorating the Christmas cake, make a very simple but crowd-pleasing pudding. Serve with single cream or custard.
11. I will also make a cinnamon flavoured fruit compote, probably with quinces, but you coul use a mixture of apples + quinces or dried fruit steeped in strong tea. Go easy on the sugar or honey, taste it first. Delicious topped with natural yoghurt + granola or mixed seeds for breakfast or a substantial cold pudding.
12. Another great, easy to make, standby are jellies: jelly has had a bit of a renaissance this year, partly thanks to the efforts of Sam Bompass & Harry Parr from The Jellymongers.  www.jellymongers.co.uk . My favourite is a grown-up red wine jelly with pears poached in red wine. Very Christmassy, especially with a thin layer of cream poured over the top.
13. impromptu lunch or supper? Try a whole baked  Vacherin Mont  d’Or with boiled baby potatoes + good bread to dunk and a fresh, green salad on the side. Remove all plastic packaging from the cheese, carefully slice the top off, add a glug of white wine (and a few truffle shavings to make is taste even more amazing!) and black pepper, then replace the top, wrap the cheese in aluminium foil and replace in its wooden box. Bake for about 25 minutes at 180C until warm and runny. Smelly, you’ve been warned, but utterly delicious!
14. I’m not one for “canapes” preferring to serve a few good quality olives or some nuts with drinks instead of anything too fiddly. I make an exception for smoked fish (trout, salmon or mackerel)  torn into bitesize pieces and served, with a slick of horseradish cream, on pumpernickel or bitesize oat cakes or blinis.

 

 

 

 

 

Easy sweet treat: semi-dried figs stuffed with an almond + dunked in dark chocolate with a drop of rose water

 

Some of the suppliers whose food I trust & love

www.laverstokepark.co.uk 

Impeccable credentials, amazing buffalo mozzarella and buffalo cuts & joints; their box offers are particularly good value. Try Laverstoke’s buffalo milk ice cream: a creamy revelation!

Born & Bread Bakery

020 8693 1222

Hand shaped breads, craft baked in a wood-fired oven: sourdough, spelt, rye and much much more.  They only use imported, unbleached French flour. It is stone milled which enables the grain to maintain the beneficial vitamins and minerals that would otherwise be lost in commercial factory milling processes.

A Kentish Starter (originally made with apples from Kent, hence the name) is used as the raising agent for all of their breads.

 The wonderful breads are sold via independent retailers, delis and bakeries. Call to find out your nearest stockist.

www.wildgameco.co.uk 

Venison, small game from the Scottish Highlands. Their venison sausages make a wonderfully easy meal, braised with Puy lentils or simply served with a root veg-potato mash: meaty and lean with a great gamey flavour.

www.brocklebys.co.uk

Deep filled, hand raised pies, including chicken & salmon, with delicious pastry. A really useful standby: makes a tasty, easy supper or light lunch with a fresh salad + condiments.

www.sainsburys.co.uk

This Christmas, Sainsbury’s is exclusively selling the first British, free range turkey, reared in woodland, in the Taste the Difference range. 

The Norfolk Black is a slow-growing turkey, bred especially for its succulence and flavour. 

The Woodland Trust receives 10p from every Norfolk Black sale at Sainsbury’s, and the turkeys are also reared to RSPCA Freedom Food approved standards. 

Norfolk Black turkeys

The birds will arrive in store between 21^st and 23^rd December.

My mother-in-law is bringing pheasants shot in the Yorkshire Howardian Hills around Castle Howard. So the “yes/no turkey debate” has been settled – for 2010 at least!

I’ll be making a stuffing from minced veal, fresh sage, cooked chestnuts + lemon zest. Leftovers (or make extra on purpose!) are delicious stirred into pappardelle, with strips of cavolo nero, coarsely shopped flatleaf parsley and grated Parmesan. 

www.rainhasanta.co.uk their Elvas Plums  are not cheap but they are a very special, seasonal treat!

www.stgermain.fr 

St-Germain artisanal elderflower liqueur: “discovered” at the Real Food Festival earlier this year. A beautiful product and delicious as an aperitif added to champagne or white wine in a “St-Germain kir blanc”.

www.formanandfield.com

I love  all their three flavours of gravadlax, or cured salmon – a classic cure with dill and a touch of star anise, and dill, but particularly the colourful beetroot cure.

Snow-topped spice cake

So what’s cooking chez nous?

We’ll kick off with afternoon tea:

my “black” Christmas cake, frangipane quincemeat pies, cheese & pumpkin seeds scones, smoked salmon on pumpernickel

Suppers:

Mexican spicy sweet pepper soup with diced avocado + tortilla chips, warmed flat breads, fruit

Whole baked Vacherin Mont d’Or, boiled baby potatoes & bread to dunk, a green salad, red wine & pear jellies

Chestnut & champagne soup, chicken terrine, green salad, bread, baked apples

Baked chermoula salmon, roast sweet pepper & mint couscous, green beans, toasted hazelnut fruit  crumble

Brunch:

full English or smoked salmon with eggs any style, spiced tomato juice or orange juice, fruit compote, yoghurt, jams, toast, Christmas muffins

Christmas dinner:

dressed crab, roast pheasant with veal, chestnut & lemon stuffing, Port sauce, golden crusted Brussels, braised red cabbage, celeriac puree, Christmas pudding or persimmon, orange, pomegranate & mint salad

Frangipane quince pies

Recipes for some of the dishes mentioned above have featured this year as a blog post, but do get in touch if you want guidance/suggestions on any of the dishes.

And naturally, I look forward to receiving your comments!

All that remains is to wish you & yours a very happy Christmas and a healthy, rewarding and above all delicious 2011.

I’ll be reading Ian Marber’s soon to be published book “How not to get Fat” over the festive break … and will review it here for its publishers, Quadrille.

With my very best wishes,

Monique x

Immune boosting foods for winter

Here is my personal + manageable list of widely available foods which are easily incorporated in a wide range of meals and snacks.

Garlic

Garlic has long been considered a natural wonder-drug and is known to have strong antioxidant properties. Not only is garlic good for your heart health, it is also thought to be – thanks to its antibacterial effect – a good way to avoid catching a cold or flu.

Yoghurt

Pro-biotic organisms in yoghurt (make sure the packaging says ‘live and active cultures’) increases the number of good bacteria in your gut, thus protecting you against infections and more serious conditions such as cancer.

Chilli

If you can stand the heat, then chilli peppers contain an anti-inflammatory substance called capsaicin and has been linked with pain relief associated with conditions such as arthritis. Chillies are also thought to protect your heart, fight infection thanks to large amounts of vitamins A and C.

Citrus fruits

There is a reason why doctors advise people to take vitamin C supplements to avoid catching a cold. The body can’t produce the vitamin on its own, so the best way to get it into your system is to eat oranges, lemons or other citrus fruit. 

Prawns

Prawns and shrimp are low in fat but rich in protein, iron and zinc, which are thought to bolster the immune system. Prawns also contain vitamin B, which gives us energy and has also been linked to improving immunity.

Peas

The humble green pea (frozen is fine) is bursting with goodness, containing no fewer than eight vitamins and seven minerals as well as fibre and protein. As well as helping your heart, bones, and general wellbeing, peas also contain vitamin C to protect you from colds and other infections.

Broccoli

When it comes to disease-fighting vegetables, broccoli is king! As well as containing huge amounts of vitamin C, broccoli has also been linked to cancer prevention and heart, stomach, eye, bone and skin health.

Oily fish

The omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish, such as salmon, tuna and mackerel, are good a protecting the body from respiratory infections. The oils increase the activity of phagocytes, white blood cells which destroy bacteria and thus help the body fight infection. Aim for 2 portions (c140g) of oily fish per week.

Stay healthy & bon appetit.

Monique

Butternut squash & ricotta cake

Butternut squash & ricotta cake

Squashes, pumpkins and gourds.

Crown Prince, Turks Turban, Harlequin, Onion, Gem, Wee be little, Gold Dust, Howden Big Boy, Sumo, Rouge de Temp, Munchkin ….  

I can go on and on and on!

One of autumn’s most versatile vegetables, I really love the squash family which also includes courgettes and marrows.

The harvest is in October, but as they store well, the pumpkin season can last until January. When buying pumpkins look for unblemished skins. They should be heavy for their size, which indicates ripeness.

Munchkins: almost too cute to eat, but delicious stuffed + baked

I usually roast pumpkins, cut into slices and well seasoned, because this concentrates the flavour, before using in soups, risottos and pasta.

They also add wonderful bite when added in chunks to curries and stews.

To ring the changes from savoury, here follows a recipe for a wonderful cake that makes the most of pumpkin’s inherent sweetness and dense texture.

Based on a recipe by Leela, author of the beautiful and inspirational food blog  www.shesimmers.com this is without doubt my favourite cake at the moment!

Light as a feather, soft and with a texture best described as a cross between a cheesecake and a sponge cake.

Autumnal, easy to make, delicious with (whipped) cream this cake can easily double as a dessert.

Perfect for those of you who are not that keen on regular cheesecake (me included: too rich, too claggy) or traditional pumpkin pie.

To lighten the cake somewhat, I have replaced the mascarpone (40% fat) with ricotta (8% fat). I used large eggs, slightly less milk, a smaller spring form and also reduced the baking time.

Use good quality, free-range (and organic), eggs. It really makes a difference. I love Burford Browns but they are too small for this recipe.

The whiskey and vanilla come through (more as a scent than a flavour especially when the cake is still warm), but they don’t overpower the subtle flavour of the ricotta and pumpkin providing just a hum in the background – as it should do.

Instead of butternut squash you can ofcourse use any other squash or pumpkin. They’ll all give the cake a subtly different colour.

Leela says its OK to use canned pumpkin but I don’t see the point of that when squashes are so plentiful at the moment. If you are going to make this cake, having to boil + puree a chunk of pumpkin should not hold you back.

I urge you to give this cake a try – you won’t regret it!

This is what you need:

A buttered, bottom lined with baking paper, 8 inch/20 cm spring form or round cake tin

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 240g pumpkin (I used butternut squash), boiled until soft + pureed until lump-free and left to cool completely
• 140g granulated sugar
• 125g ricotta
• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp whisky
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (not flavouring!)
• 50g butter, melted
• 65g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Just out of the oven, lightly puffed up + tops cracked slightly

This is what you do:

• pre-heat the oven to 170C
• in a large bowl, mix the ricotta with the milk
• using a handheld electric mixer, whisk in the vanilla extract, whiskey and melted butter until the mixture is smooth
• add the egg yolks, one by one, whisking (on low setting) to make sure each egg yolk is fully absorbed before you add the next one
• using a spatula, mix in the pumpkin puree
• gently whisk in the flour and salt
• in a freestanding mixer/food processor, whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar
• add the sugar in 3 lots, continuing to whisk until the mixture is glossy and starting to form peaks
• using a large metal spoon, lightly fold 1/4 of the eggs whites into the squash puree until absorbed
• mix in the remainder of the egg whites until well combined and the mixture is streak-free
• pour the cake mixture into the prepared baking tin
• bake for 50 minutes and then check to see if the cake is done: the cake should be golden brown and the middle should feel firm but springy when pressed lightly with a finger
• if not add continue baking and check at 5 minute intervals
• remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool completely in the baking tin before turning the cake out

Perfect with a cup of tea - in the garden whilst catching last few rays

I love the soft sheen on the top of this cake and its pale orange colour and therefore prefer to leave it unadorned, but you could dust the cake lightly with icing sugar.

Serve as it is or with whipped cream.

Hello autumn – happy baking!

Monique

Glycemic index versus glycemic load

GI and GL or the ups & downs of blood sugar

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Glycemic Index (GI).

Since then, I have had several conversations about GI (and glycemic load – GL – of which more later) and how important the release rate of carbohydrates is.

It appears that the ups and downs of blood sugar, and the effect on behaviour, mood and generally how you feel and function is generally not very well understood.

Carbohydrates are an important source of fuel for the body

The trick is to keep supply even!

Too much fast releasing carbs (simple sugars such as fruit + corn syrup found in sweets, fizzy drinks, biscuits, cake, white toast + jam, honey, sweetened cereals, white and brown sugar) and you get the sugar “overdose” scenario.

The body responds to a glucose hit by releasing insulin from the pancreas into the blood. The insulin brings the glucose to the cells where it’s used for energy. Any excess is stored as glycogen in other parts of the body. When the stores are “full” any remaining glycogen is converted to body fat.

A diet high in sugar is probably the biggest cause of obesity.

In a glucose “overdose” scenario, so where lots of simple sugars are consumed in a short period of time (big bowl of processed, sweetened cereals, bag of sweets in the car) the body releases more insulin than usual and too much glucose can be escorted out of the bloodstream.

This leaves you with a blood sugar level that’s too low, causing you to experience a crash in energy and leaving you to want more of what caused the problem in the first place – sugar! – just to feel good …

and round you go again!

It’s a vicious circle that leads to constant cravings, poor concentration, irritability and flagging energy levels.

Carbs that keep blood sugar even

Now that you understand the importance of the release rate of carbs you need to know which carbs are fast and slow releasing.

As a rule of thumb you can assume that unprocessed foods release sugar slowly. For more finesse, you can refer to a measure called glycemic load (GL).

The glycemic load (GL) is a relatively new way to assess the impact of carbohydrate consumption that takes the glycemic index into account, but gives a fuller picture than does glycemic index alone.

If you are already familiar with glycemic index than think of GL as a the more sophisticated sibling.

GI tells you how fast (or slow) the sugar in the food you eat is released.

GL tells you not only about speed but also how much of the sugar there is in the food.

In other words: GI says nothing about quantity. GI of a portion of grapes is the same as a bunch of grapes, whereas GL relates to the serving size.

So you can see the type of sugar effect you are getting from a serving of a particular food.

A good,often used, example of the difference between GI and GL is watermelon.

Watermelon is high GI because it contains fast releasing sugar. However, watermelon contains so little sugar that eating a slice of watermelon actually has little effect on your blood sugar. So, watermelon is classified as low GL.

High or low GL?

A GL of 20 or more is high, a GL of 11 to 19 inclusive is medium, and a GL of 10 or less is low.

For a comprehensive list of the GL of common (American!) foods check this list from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/76/1/5/T1

Surprises and suggestions for swaps

Some of the foods you may have thought were nutritious may be surprisingly high GL; luckily, it’s easy to find delicious substitutes that will help keep you blood sugar levels on an even keel.

Here are some examples:

white toast + jam – wholegrain/multi-seed toast + peanut butter or baked beans or a boiled egg

white bagel – wheat tortilla

cornflakes – porridge with a topping of grated apple + cinnamon

croissants + baguettes – rye and sourdough breads

white rice – wholegrain rice

rice cakes – oat cakes

pretzels – salted popcorn

banana – banana + a few Brazil nuts or almonds

Kissing sugar goodbye!

Weaning yourself off sugar is a huge part of the switch to eating for good blood sugar balance.

The best way to do this is to gradually decrease the sugar content of your diet so that you’ll get used to less sweetness. Stay away from sugar substitutes: they’ve been linked to adverse effects on your health and don’t help you to adjust to less sweet food either. The exception is xylitol which is derived from a natural source and has a small effect on bloodsugar levels.

Reserve it for treats or when sweetness is essential, for example in a dessert or cake!

Also, the more fibre and protein you include in your diet, the slower the release of the carbohydrates.

Other habits that affect bloodsugar include coffee (and to a lesser extent) tea, eating breakfast, Coca Cola and other fizzy drinks and chocolate.

In summary, here are my savvy food rules for good bloodsugar balance:

1. choose unprocessed foods: wholegrains, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit + veg
2. choose wholegrains, avoid refined “white” foods: rice, rye, oats, quinoa, bulghur wheat in breads and cereals. It makes a quick + easy supper, but don’t overdo the pasta.
3. avoid sugar + foods containing sugar and all the “-oses”: dextrose, maltose, sucrose …
4. combine carbs with proteins + eat fibre rich foods
5. eat a good breakfast!

Understanding, and being able to manage, blood sugar is important for health and you’ll soon reap the benefits of incorporating knowledge of GL in your daily diet.

I hope you find the info helpful: do let me have your comments + thoughts.

Good luck!

Best,

Monique

Hedgerow cooking: elderberries

September and we are nudging towards autumn … the season of mist and mellow fruitful ness.    

Having picked elderflowers to make elderflower cordial earlier this year, it made sense to revisit the same shrubs this time to pick the elderberries.    

Elderflowers

 

Elderberries have been eaten for thousands of years – and rightly so.    

They are an excellent source of vitamin C, as well as vitamins A & B.    

Elderberry is used for its antioxidant activity, to lower cholesterol, improve vision, boost the immune system, improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections and tonsilitis.    

Bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice destroy the ability of cold and flu viruses to infect a cell.    

 Apparently, elderberry juice was used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama in 1995!    

Elderberries that are not quite ripe

 

 It’s really important only to pick ripe (purple-black) elderberries. You can tell they’re ripe because the fruits will be hanging downwards and will be plump, rather than being above the branch and hard.    

Avoid green and green-purple berries as these are unripe and contain traces of cyanide, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea. In some sensitive people, even ripe fruit will do this. However, cooking removes this problem.    

In fact, I did eat a couple of raw berries just to be sure … and dear reader, I am pleased to say I lived to tell the tale.    

Pick the berries on their twig: you’ll need a pair of small, sharp scissors. Nail scissors are perfect! Leave the job of taking the berries off the stalks until you are home.    

Plump elderberries ripe for picking

 

Stripping the berries from the stalks is easily done by raking a fork through the berries or you can just use your fingers. Stains are washed off without any problems.    

Another reason for cooking the elderberries, in addition to destroying the traces of cyanide, is that the raw fruit is tart and really must be cooked to come into its own.    

Close-up, they are very pretty: black berries on pink-tinged stems!

 

Is it worth it?    

Compared with elderflowers and blackberries, picking elderberries is perhaps less rewarding. The berries seem less prolific than the flowers (why is that – did the birds get their before me or is there another explanation?), and the fruit is small and seedy.    

Wash the berries to remove dust and insects

 

265g of berries (about half a small carrier bag) on their stalks yielded 190g of berries and once cooked down with a little sugar all that was left was a tiny bowl of cooked fruit in quite a lot of liquid.    

So you can imagine to you’d need to pick a lot of berries to make up a couple of jars of jam or jelly. Then again, elderberries are probably best used as an “extra”, to complement other ingredients and flavours rather than as the main ingredient.    

This is the cooked yield from 265g of raw berries on stalks

 

On balance, I believe that the drawback of less easy picking and more fiddly preparation than for example blackberries, is outweighed by the elderberry’s distinctive taste which is quite difficult to describe.    

The cooked berries remind me of the cordial you make from the flowerheads, but more haunting and less fresh – if that makes sense.  Very autumnal I guess.   

I experimented with apple + elderberry “strudel” using feuilles de brick (paper thin Mediterranean pastry sheets) but this wasn’t a success because the filling was too wet. Hence no recipe or picture!   

Later this week, I’ll have another go and think this time I’ll leave the berries whole instead and fold them at the last minute through the apple filling.    

Another idea is to use the berries in a savoury sauce to serve with game: on my “to try” list are venison steaks with elderberry sauce and a celeriac gratin.    

Have you cooked with elderberries? Worth it?    

I’d love to hear about it and read your recipes.    

Best,    

Monique

Date syrup and the glycaemic index

When Southwark PCT invited me to attend a MEND programme reunion for 80 of its graduates and their parents, I offered to host a potted version of the “healthy shopping MOT” which had been such a hit at The Big Treat in July.

It goes beyond the scope of this particular post to share with you all my observations from the event and what I learned about what stops people from adopting healthier shopping, cooking + eating behaviours, but one ingredient from the “cupboard” that caught many people’s eye was a jar of date syrup.

I use this sometimes as an alternative sweetener when making flapjack- type treats and have also used it as a marinade or salad dressing mixed with tahini, spices and olive oil.

For those of you reading this who are yet to be converted to this natural sweetener, here goes.

Date syrup is high in vitamins A, B and D as well as calcium, magnesium and potassium, and has a low GI. You can use it as a sweetener in the same way to honey, and I think it is particularly useful for binding ingredients together in a recipe.

I cannot find date syrup in any of the GI data bases, but because it’s made from pure fruit (which is a source of fructose which is low GI) and dates are low GI, date syrup is bound to be low GI too.

Not a very scientific approach I agree, but I hope that you follow my train of thought.

The glycaemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating.

Foods with a high GI are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health.

Seesawing bloodsugar levels affect your energy levels, behaviour, concentration and IQ (and not in a good way!). And a diet high in sugar is probably the biggest cause of obesity and overweight in children. Fast releasing high GI carbohydrates – on other words refined starchy foods and sugar – cause dramatic rises in blood sugar levels and this excess sugar is then stored as fat.

Back to our dates which is what prompted this blog post in the first place!

There’s been some debate about dates being low GI, or not, between scientists.

Campbell J. Miller and his associates at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the United Arab Emirates University (dates are one of the UAE’s main exports) reported on the glycemic index of 3 varieties of dates.

One type of date, the bahri variety, is readily available and is smaller, sweeter and a bit firmer and darker than medjool dates. Dr. Miller and his associates determined that they have a GI of 50.

Jennie Brand-Miller (no relative of the other Miller!) and her associates at the University of Sydney in Australia were the ones who originally determined that the GI of dates was 103.

So when asked about this new study she replied:

“I always had my doubts about the high value we got when we tested them. It never made sense for dates to be so high when they contain a lot of fibre as well as sugars in the form of fructose and sucrose as well as glucose. I even wondered if those dates had been steeped in glucose syrup.

“I have a feeling that the values (in the new study) may be correct because they say they tested the carbohydrate content themselves. When we tested them, we relied on the information on the package label. If the product had dried out considerably since packaging, then we would have overestimated the amount need to provide the 50 g carbohydrate portion. Hence we might have fed twice the weight really needed and therefore 100 g instead of 50 g of carbohydrate. Problems such as this come up now and again with GI testing but it is not common.”

So, dates (bahri, deglet noor, medjool and hayani) can have their place in a low GI diet which is good news.

I have always been keen on them, fresh ones still on the stalk in particular which are plentiful right now in Turkish food shops. Avoid the sticky ones, drenched in glucose, which are abundant at Christmas time, in rectangular boxes with a plastic ersatz “stalk”!

The (raw) chef Russell James writes about making date sugar on his blog.

Worth having a go?

www.therawchef.com/therawchefblog/raw-food-recipe-date-sweetener-alternative-to-agave

Or try your hand at the date, walnut + sesame bars – the recipe for which I posted yesterday. Really easy, child’s play, and a nutritious treat!

Best,

Monique

Date, walnut & sesame bars

These bars are delicious, nutritious as well as really easy to make – child’s play!

I have used half honey and half date syrup which has a lower GI (glycemic index) than sugar and contains some valuable nutrients. You could use only date syrup or only honey – your call.

Dried dates are a good source of potassium, calcium and iron as well as fibre. They contain both insoluble fibre (helping to keep the digestive system healthy and regular) and soluble fibre (helping to control levels of cholesterol and sugar in the blood).

Walnuts are rich in protein and contain several antioxidant nutrients including selenium, zinc, copper and vitamins E.

Oats are also an excellent source of soluble fibre. This can help reduce high blood cholesterol levels. It also slows the absorption of sugar in the body which in turn helps to keep blood sugar levels stable.

These bars are nicest when quite thin, so make sure that you spread the mixture out evenly in a large enough baking tin.

Makes 24 bars

This is what you need

100ml sunflower oil

125g date syrup and 125g clear honey (or 250g date syrup or clear honey)

300g porridge oats

75g sesame seeds (toast for a couple of minutes in a dry frying pan – careful, they burn quickly!)

150g ready-to-eat dates, chopped

100g walnuts, chopped

30x23cm rectangular baking tin, lined with baking parchment so it stands proud of the tin on the 2 long sides.

 This is what you do

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C, fan 130C or gas 2
2. Place the syrup, honey and oil in a small saucepan over low heat
3. Stir until the syrup + honey have dissolved and the ingredients are well combined
4. Tip the dry ingredients into a large bowl
5. Pour the warm honey mixture and stir until well combined
6. Using a plastic spatula, pour and then press the mixture firmly into the baking tin
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

 Per serving

169kcals, 10g fat of which1.3g saturated fat, 19g carbohydrates, 8g added sugar, no salt, 1.3g fibre

Enjoy!

Monique

 

 

More savvy shopping: tactics for buying right

At the butcher

 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how to be a savvy shopper and I included shopping lists and tips on how to make food shopping (and cooking) easier and more enjoyable.  

How to be a savvy shopper  

Today, I am revisiting some of this, with particular emphasis on what to look out for when choosing food.  

Let’s face it, what you want for yourself and your family and what the food manufacturers and marketeers want are invariably two different things!  

This means that you have to plan food shopping, scrutinize food labels, read between the lines and take most health claims with a pinch of salt.  

Here’s brief guide to the most commonly used marketing slogans and “emotives” – and what they really mean.  

Get label savvy  

The good news is that there is plenty of choice, even in supermarkets. If you add in what  independent food shops (such as bakers, fishmongers, butchers and green grocers), (farmers) markets, specialist food shops and health food stores have to offer. it really is not that difficult, with a little knowledge and planning, to fill your kitchen cupboards with delicious, nutritious foods.  

Off the back of a van ...

 

Here are my savvy tips for navigating the aisles …  

1. Make a list and stick to it  

For fruit and veg and other fresh produce, use generic terms so you don’t limit yourself and you can buy what looks good. Don’t put anything in your trolley or basket that was not on the list, unless of course you genuinely forgot to add it. If you are shopping with your child you could write the list together. Don’t give in to tantrums for sweets, biscuits etc.: it shows your child that this is the way to get what it wants. Not a good thing in life!  

2.  Avoid foods that contain added sugar  

Read the label: this includes honey, syrup, sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose and other “-oses”. Sugars that won’t play havoc with your blood sugar levels include fructose and blue agave syrup, but only choose products where these sugars make up a very small proportion of the ingredients.  

3. Avoid foods that contain additives, preservatives and other chemicals  

To make this easier, carry a list of good E numbers:  

colours: E101 = vit B2, E106 = vit A  

antioxidants: E300-304 = vit C, E306-309 = vit E  

emulsifier: E322 = lecithin  

stabilisers: E375 = niacin, E440 – pectin  

As a rule of thumb, natural, wholefoods have a very short list of ingredients. More importantly, if you don’t recognise an ingredient as “food” or you feel you need a chemistry degree to understand the food label, than give this product a wide berth!  

3. Avoid processed juice and fruit juice drinks  

Don’t be fooled by the manufacturers’ claims that the drink has been “fortified” with vitamins and minerals. These products are in essence no more than sugary water and have little or no nutritional value. If you buy fruit juice, stick to freshly squeezed products in the chilled cabinet with a short shelf life.  

4. Choose wholefoods over refined and processed  

This means brown rice, wholegrain bread, whole vegetables not ready prepared, a lettuce instead of ready-washed salad leaves. This is not only cheaper, no vital nutrients will have been lost in preparation.  

Don’t be fooled into thinking organic processed foods are fine; the ingredients used may be better quality, from certified origin and E number free but organic squash, pizza, crisps or cake are still squash, pizza, crisps and cake – and probably laden with fat and sugar which add nothing to a healthy diet.  

5. Watch out for 95% fat free!  

Fat phobia is misguided, it is the type of fat that counts. These low fat products invariably have sugar, + other things, added to make tem “tasty”. Also, avoid reduced fat products where the real thing is naturally high in fat. For example butter: check to see what’s been added instead.  

6. Variety is the spice of life!  

And the key to good nutrition … and it makes meal times more interesting. Have you tried bulghur wheat, quinoa, beetroot or sprouted seeds?  

What steps can you take this week to make lasting changes to the way you shop for food?  

Do you want some help? Or share with me one thing you would like to change in your environment to enable you to shop more healthily?  

Leave a comment or contact me at info@savvycook.co.uk  or info@savvykids.org.uk  

Happy shopping!  

Monique

Glut cooking

One way of  being able to eat good quality food every day, is by being savvy about what you buy and when  to make the most of seasonally abundant vegetables.

For me, it is partly the excitement of getting a really good deal as well as the knowledge that an hour or so of pleasant work in the kitchen is going to produce something useful and delicious to enjoy over the coming weeks or months.

Every month of the year the shops and markets are flooded with certain varieties of fruit and vegetables, but perhaps never as abundant as this month.

Where to buy “gluts”?

• (farmers’) markets – growers will be selling what’s in season and some, keen not to have to take produce back with them, will reduce prices towards the end of the market www.lfm.org.uk and www.cityandcountryfarmersmarkets.com
• pick-your-own farms – a fun way to spend time with your kids or a friend and a way to buy food at prices which have not been inflated by a middleman www.pickyourownfarms.org.uk
• box schemes – can be a good source of seasonal fruit & veg, although some are (no longer) very local. Check out http://growingcommunities.org/ if you live in North London.
• wild food – help yourself from the public larder! Many parks are a great source of blackberries in August/September and I picked masses of wild garlic earlier this year.
• ethnic greengrocers – can be an excellent source of boxes of tomatoes, mangoes and fresh herbs. They are also worth checking out for good deals on large bags of grains, rice and pulses as well as spices.

Here are a few recipes/ideas for my personal favourites. Some of which lend themselves to the concept of taking time out in the kitchen now to enjoy the fruits of your labour later.

And remember, when an ingredient is in season there is nothing wrong with eating it a couple of times a week or even every day: purple sprouting broccoli, blood oranges, new potatoes, wild garlic, asparagus, samphire, elderflowers, strawberries, cherries, quinces …

Beautiful toms!

Tomato sauce

This is what you need

4kg ripe tomatoes (it doesn’t matter if they are overripe)

10 onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

25oml olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

This is what you do:

1. heat the oil in a pan large enough to take all the tomatoes (or divide the tomatoes + other ingredients equally over a couple of pans)
2. add the onions and garlic and soften (but not brown) over low heat
3. add the tomatoes and simmer, partially covered with a lid, for at least one hour until the tomatoes are very soft
4. stir the mixture now and then to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan
5. some of the liquid will evaporate but that is a good thing and will concentrate the flavour
6. taste the sauce: it should be sweet once it has cooked down
7. season with salt and pepper and decide if you need to add sugar
8. at this point you can let the mixture cool before storing in the fridge as it is 
9. or put the tomatoes through a passevite (mouli-legumes) if you prefer a smoother sauce without tomato skins + pips
10. you could also split the mixture and to make half a batch of smooth and half with more texture

You’ll notice that I don’t add any herbs; that is because this way you can use the tomato sauce in a wide range of dishes from soups, to stews to pasta and red Thai curry.

The tomato sauce will keep in the fridge for up to a week. Alternatively, freeze in small quantities in strong, properly sealed, freezer bags.

Oven dried tomatoes

This is what you need:

25 ripe tomatoes

olive oil

dried oregano (or thyme or both)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

This is what you do:

1. pre-heat the oven to 100C
2. cut the tomatoes in half lengthways; I don’t bother scooping out the seeds but you can if you wish
3. pat the cut surface of the tomatoes dry with paper kitchen towel
4. sprinkle with dried herbs, salt + pepper
5. drizzle with olive oil
6. bake for 4 – 6 hours
7. the tomatoes should be shrivelled like a raisin, not too brown
8. you may need to adjust the oven temperature as ovens vary
9. if you want to keep the tomatoes for a while, put into a sterilised jar and cover with olive oil or store in a container in the fridge “au naturel”

Great piled onto toast, in a frittata, mixed through pasta or eaten straight from the jar!

Courgettes, some with the flowers still attached

Courgette fritters with spicy tomato sauce (serves 6)

This is what you need:

fritters

750g courgettes, coarsely grated

200g gram (chickpea) flour

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground paprika

2 tbsp finely shredded fresh mint

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying

salsa

500g tomatoes, finely chopped

1/4 onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tbsp finely chopped flatleaf parsley

This is what you do:

1. for the salsa, mix all the ingredients, check for seasoning, cover and set aside in the fridge to chill
2. for the fritters, put the courgettes in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain for 20 minutes
3. sieve the flour in a large bowl, add the spices, salt and pepper and 200ml of cold water
4. mix until you have a smooth batter, then add the olive oil and mint
5. squeeze the moisture from the courgettes, then stir into the batter
6. heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil to a non-stick frying pan
7. add a large tbsp of batter to the frying pan taking care not to overcrowd the pan; you are aiming to make about 18 fritters
8. press the batter down lightly and fry over medium heat for 2/3 minutes then flip over with a non-scratch spatula
9. fry for another 2/3 minutes then move to a plate and keep warm
10. serve warm with the cold salsa

Another idea for “glut cooking” with tomatoes and courgettes is Moro’s gazpacho recipe from last week. And later in the year, perhaps have a go at making quince meat …

Happy savvy shopping & cooking!

Best,

Monique