Hairy Dieters Week 10
I honestly can’t believe I’ve now been cooking recipes from the Hairy Dieters book for 10 weeks and there are still recipes I’ve not cooked and want to cook, granted I’ve cooked a couple of things more than once and frozen some bits and cooked them later but I’ve tried to cook a new recipe or two every week. This week saw the return of the deliciously simple Harissa Chicken plus two new recipes. First up was the beef in ale casserole, I pretty much followed the recipe for this one although I did add some mushrooms and cooked it in the slow cooker instead of cooking it on the hob as per the instructions. It worked really well and the gravy was thick and full of flavour, I couldn’t decide which ale to use so went for Guinness...
Read MoreHairy Dieters Week 9
Well this week was a bit of a crazy one as I was away for most of it, firstly in the final of the Sharp’s Connoisseurs Co competition (you will be able to read more about that here), then the day after getting back from the 800+ mile round trip I was in Manchester for a beer festival. As a result I only ended up cooking 1 new dish from the Hairy Dieters book, It was the Spanish chicken bake, I had to use chicken breasts instead of thigh’s as I couldn’t get any thighs. Even with the breasts the dish worked really well, it tasted great, was really filling and had a nice level of chilli heat from the chorizo, It was really easy to make although did take an hour to cook. I also used a mix of different coloured tomatoes from the garden to brighten it...
Read MoreHairy Dieters Week 8
Oh how time flies, I can’t believe I’ve had the Hairy Dieters book for 8 weeks now. This week comprised of 3 new meals that I’d not cooked, a meal out at a local pub for my birthday and then two meals we’d had before from the book. First up was the Coconut prawn curry, I served it with a small portion of rice and half a garlic chapatti, which obviously added a few extra calories but it was worth it. The curry it’s self was delicious, packed full of coconut and spices but could have done with an extra chilli kick. I did leave out the corn flour though as the sauce looked quite thick and I didn’t want to make it too thick and gloopy. Next up were the Italian style meatballs, I oped for pork mince for the actual meatballs and it...
Read MoreHairy Dieters Week 7
This week was a bit more of a normal week than weeks 5 and 6 so it meant I got chance to try a few more recipes from the book. First up was the Cod and Prawn Gratin, I really really loved this one, it was really simple to make, packed full of flavour and really filling. I used cod, smoked haddock and prawns, It would be easy to adapt with other fish and even raw prawns as I always prefer the texture of those when cooked. Next up were the Meat and Potato Pies I’d been looking forward to making them to see how the pizza dough worked out as I don’t even use the packets for home made pizza. In all honesty it worked really well, it was light, crispy and not in the slightest bit doughy. The filling was delicious too, I really loved the heat from the...
Read MoreHairy Dieters Week 6
Last week was an interesting week as we were away for a wedding on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and it was my wife’s birthday on Wednesday so there was a fair bit of eating out…although for the most part I did try to choose the healthier option…apart from the trip to Hickories where I did really spoil my self. Anyway in the run up to the aforementioned treats I stuck to my plan, Monday I had the rum and pigeon salad I wrote about here, Tuesday was Hairy Dieters Special Cassoulet, which was for the most part pretty delicious, It was strange not having any bread, rice or cous cous with it to mop the sauce up with but I guess that’s the point, in future I’d almost be tempted to leave one of the meat’s out and replace it with a small...
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