Thai Baked Cod

This weeks recipe is the last in my healthy baking series with Weightwatchers, and this week its a simple thai inspired baked cod. Its a super healthy dish packed full of flavour and I love the taste of this dish, its bright and fresh and the fennel adds a great texture, lots of crunch. If you haven't seen the other recipes head to my youtube channel to watch the other three episodes. 

To make this dish I make a paste full of herbs, gingers and a little bit of heat from red chilli, this is spread over cod fillets and baked, then served with fennel that is grilled with chilli, lime and soy sauce. Its a simple side but I love it, the fennel still retains a little crunch but is infused with great flavour, even if you dont serve this with the cod it is a great side. 

Baked Cod

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped
2 green chillies, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
small handful of coriander stalks (keep the leaves for garnish)
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 fillets of cod

Grilled Fennel
2 heads of fennel, sliced lengthways into 1cm thick pieces
1 red chilli, finely diced
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp soy sauce 

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Blitz the ginger, lemongrass, green chillies, garlic, shallots, lime and fish sauce with and hand blender or a mini chopper until a rough mixture is formed. Place the fillets of cod onto the prepared baking tray and spread the paste over the top.

Mix together the red chilli, lime juice, olive oil and soy sauce and pour over the fennel, tossing to coat. Heat a griddle pan over medium/high heat and once hot, cook the fennel for about 4-5 minutes per side, cooking until dark grill marks appear.

Once cooked, surround the fish with the fennel and bake in the oven for about 22-25 minutes until the fish is cooked through.

Chocolate Mousse with Orange Baked Rhubarb

It might be a dessert straight from the 80's but I still love chocolate mousse. Take me to a french bistro, give me that large bowl of chocolate mousse and let me dig in. I don't need many adornments but a little lightly baked rhubarb, to go with the dark chocolate, works wonders. This is another recipe that is part of my healthy eating series where I have paired with WeightWatchers for their new Flex Programme, and I know what your thinking, how is chocolate mousse healthy. When it comes to this recipe I have reduced the sugar and fat to make this a bare bones mousse, just chocolate, a little tough of sugar and eggs, no butter and no cream, but absolutely delicious.

75 g dark chocolate
2 tablespoons caster sugar
3 large eggs, seperated
2 tablespoons, level freshly squeezed orange juice
1 portion(s), medium rhubarb
1 tablespoon honey
1 inch slice root ginger

Preheat the oven to 190°C, 170°C fan.

To make the chocolate mousse place a small bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Add the chocolate and heat, stirring occasionally, until fully melted. Remove the bowl and set aside for the moment.

Place the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk with a hand mixer until foamy. Add the caster sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking for a minute before adding the second. Continue whisking on high speed until the meringue holds medium peaks.

Working quickly, add the yolks to a large bowl and mix in the orange juice. Pour in the melted chocolate, mixing until fully combined. Add a large spoonful of the egg whites and mix in. Fold in the rest of the meringue one third at a time. Once fully combined, divide the mousse between 4 glasses and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

Place the rhubarb into a small roasting tin with the honey, orange juice and the ginger, tossing together to coat. Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until softened but still holding its shape. Top the mousse with the rhubarb and any syrup that is in the pan. Top with a few toasted flaked almonds.

Post sponsored by WeightWatchers

Blood Orange Pound Cake

Happy Valentines Day! I might not be a fan of the more obvious, throw some hearts on, Valentines Day baking this vibrant blood orange cake just happens to be bright pink so might be the perfect cake if you are looking for something edible this Valentines Day. Made with my winter obsession this pound cake is infused with blood orange flavour. Firstly the zest is beaten with butter and sugar, releasing the strong oils and adding bags full of flavour. To layer in more orange flavour the cake, still fresh from the oven, is brushed liberally with a simple syrup made with blood orange juice and sugar, which soaks down into the cake adding more flavour plus moistness to boot. To finish the cake has yet more orange flavour added in the form of a classic icing sugar glaze and finished with segments of blood oranges and toasted flaked almonds. It is a simple cake with a surprising amount of elegance; its texture is velvety, the benefit of being made with a mix of butter and cream, its moist and keeps for days, and it has a delightful flavour. 

Whilst I have you here I also have a quick update. In the morning I am flying out to the states to start the #BakeLikeABrit tour with Bake From Scratch magazine. I cannot wait to get to San Francisco, our first stop on the tour and I am so excited to get our first event started. Make sure you follow along on Instagram where I will be posting lots of behind the scenes content. Whilst we have a lot planned on the trip we also have a few events you can get involved with.

Facebook Live at the Williams Sonoma HQ
Don't miss the FB LIVE from the Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen Amy Guittard from Guittard Chocolate and myself. We will be making Passion Fruit Bundt Cake in the Nordic Ware Crown Bundt Pan, glazing in a chocolate sauce made with Guittard Chocolate
There will be a GIVEAWAY during the broadcast, with prizes including cake pans, cookbooks and chocolate.
Join this event to get a reminder when the LIVE begins Friday, February 16th at 9:30am PST 5.30pm GMT.

In Store Events
Whilst on the tour we will be doing two instore events at Williams Sonoma stores, the Edina store in Minneapolis and the Columbus Circle store in NYC. Tickets are $15 and include a copy of the magazine so a total steal, I cant wait to see you guys there.

Minneapolis
19th Feb 6.30-8.00pm Williams Sonoma Edina
Book Tickets Here

NYC
22nd Feb 6.30-8.00pm Williams Sonoma Columbus Circle
Book Tickets Here

Blood Orange Pound Cake
300g caster sugar
3 blood oranges, prefereably Moro variety
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
200ml double cream

Blood Orange Syrup
100ml blood orange juice
100g caster sugar

To Decorate
2 blood oranges
Icing sugar
Handful of flaked almonds, lightly toasted

Heat the oven to 180C (fan 160C) and lightly grease a large loaf tin, lining with a strip of parchment paper. Put the sugar, butter and orange zest into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle and beat for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, a little a time, waiting until fully combined before adding more. Fold in the flour, salt and the baking powder and mix until smooth. Pour in the cream and gently mix to combine. Spoon into the loaf tin and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

While the cake bakes, put the orange juice and sugar into a small pan and bring to a gentle simmer, cooking until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack set over a piece of baking paper. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the top, sides and base of the cake. Brush the syrup all over the cake, coating the entire surface. Allow to cool. 

To make the glaze, slowly mix in icing sugar to the orange juice, adding just enough to make a glaze that is thick and pourable. Add a small pinch of salt and mix to combine, this helps temper the sweetness a little. Pour the glaze all over the cake, allowing to drip downs the sides of the cake. Allow the glaze to set for 20-30 minutes before topping with segments of blood orange and flaked almonds. This cake will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.

Chicken Lentil Curry

It is a Friday in February so that must mean it is time for another episode of #WWFoodieFriday and another fabulous healthy recipe that fits perfectly into the WeightWatchers Flex Programme. This one in particular has become a firm favourite in my house, in fact when I make it I actually portion and freeze a bunch so that I always have a dinner at the ready. Everyone loves a curry and this simple dish, ready in just over 30 minutes, might not be authentic or traditional but its a fabulous dish. It is actually based on a dish my boyfriend makes regularly and I always say it is that recipe I would want when I am ill, it is wonderfully comforting. 

Chicken Lentil Curry

Serves 4

Curry Paste
2 cloves garlic
1 inch piece garlic
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 red chilli
handful of coriander

Curry
2 onions, diced
400g red lentils
500ml vegetable stock
400g tinned tomatoes
150g spinach
4 chicken breasts, diced
200ml light coconut milk
Fat free natural yoghurt (optional)

To make the curry we first need to make the curry paste, add all of the ingredients into a small food processor and pulse until a paste is formed (make sure to add the whole coriander, stalks and all, these add lots of flavour). You can also make this by very finely chopping the garlic, ginger and coriander and mixing together with the remaining paste ingredients.

To a large saucepan add a little bit of oil and over a medium/low heat cook the onions for 5-10 minutes or until translucent. Add the curry paste and cook for a few minutes to take the raw edge off the spices. Add the lentils and stir to coat in the paste. Add the stock and the tinned tomatoes, increasing the heat slightly to bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes before adding the chicken and cooking for 5-10 minutes or until the lentils and chicken are cooked through. Add the spinach and coconut milk stirring to combine.

Serve in bowls topped with a dollop of natural yoghurt, and a little extra coriander.

This post is sponsored by WeightWatchers