Clarified Butter

Frying foods in butter gives a wonderful richness, but if the temperature is too high whatever is being cooked can often end up with unappetising black flecks. There is an easy way to avoid this and it's by clarifying the butter before use.

Clarified butter is basically butter with the impurities removed. The impurities are milk solids and water, so the key is making the butter anhydrous so it has a higher smoke point and can withstand longer cooking periods. Removing the water and milk solids from butter increases the smoke point by a whopping 150°C.

It is incredibly easy to clarity butter. Simply take a block of unsalted butter, place in a pan and gently bring to the boil. Milk protein in the form of a white scum will form on top and this is what we want to discard. Simply skim this off with a spoon until you are left with the luscious, yellow butter underneath. Decant this into a sterilised jar and store in the fridge, where it will solidify. Clarified butter keeps a lot longer than regular butter - up to three months -  leaving you plenty of time to get through it. It works well in curries, shallow frying, and garnishes.

Blood Orange Fizz

Blood oranges are my favorite fruit and are in season for a while longer, so I've been trying to think of imaginative ways to use them. 

As it was Valentine's Day last weekend, I thought I would juice them to add to champagne in order to create an alcoholic drink that is acceptable before noon.

The result was so delicious that I didn't even mind cleaning my juicer for once! It went really well with my luxurious Valentine's Day brunch and I'm desperately trying to invent another special occasion so I can have it again soon.

Brioche French Toast

My motto is that brunch should be easy to make, even after a glass or three of Buck's Fizz. Thankfully, french toast fulfils this requirement and is also luxurious and delicious to boot. I use brioche for mine, as it lends a sweetness that goes wonderfully well with whatever you serve it with, whether that be salty bacon or fresh fruit. It's best to slice the brioche and leave it out for a couple of hours before cooking, so that it hardens slightly, allowing it to absorb more of the egg mixture. 

Ingredients 

Serves 2

4 slices of brioche 

3 eggs

50ml milk 

1 tsp cognac (optional)

Pinch of nutmeg

Few grinds of black pepper

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp clarified butter

I served mine with some crispy streaky bacon, but it's also delicious with red berries or maple syrup.

Method

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, cognac, nutmeg and pepper until well combined. Press the bread into the egg mixture, giving it a few minutes to soak it.

Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan over a medium temperature until the butter has melted and the fat is hot.

Add the egg soaked bread and fry for two minutes on each side, until golden brown. Serve immediately. 

5:2 Fast Day Recipes: Chicken Jalfrezi with Cauliflower Rice

Before embarking on the 5:2, Tuesday night was Curry Night in this household. I wanted to recreate that occasion, but knew the pilau rice, naan bread and popadoms would have to go. Curries in themselves are quite healthy meals- packed with fresh vegetables, tasty spices and lean meat, it only takes a bit of tweaking in order to make them suitable for a fast night. My biggest concern was what to replace the rice with in order to make the dish both taste and look like the treat we were used to.

Having recently discovered courgette spaghetti, I'm already a big fan of substituting carbs for vegetables. So for this dish, grated cauliflower replaces rice. This brings down the calorie count substantially, but also tastes great. Cauliflower is already a popular side accompaniment to curries (Aloo Gobi, anyone?) and once fried, it has a wonderfully nutty flavour and even looks like rice.

For obvious reasons, I've omitted the ghee in this recipe and replaced it with some crème fraîche to add a bit of richness. 

Ingredients 

Serves 2

For the curry

2 medium chicken breasts, diced 340 calories

2 medium onions, 1 grated and 1 chopped 92 calories

Medium green pepper, sliced 16 calories 

Medium red pepper, sliced 19 calories 

1 red chilli, chopped 20 calories

400g chopped tomatoes 82 calories 

1 tbsp cumin 15 calories 

1 tbsp ground coriander 10 calories 

1 tsp garam masala 12 calories 

1 tsp turmeric 12 calories 

1 tsp salt 0 calories 

1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, to garnish 5 calories 

1 tbsp low fat crème fraîche 12 calories

For the cauliflower rice

1 medium cauliflower, stems removed and grated.144 calories 

Salt and pepper, to taste 0 calories 

Total calories: 779

Calories per serving: 390

Method

In a large, heavy-bottomed casserole dish, sear the chicken breasts over a medium heat until they are browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Place the grated onion and all of the powdered spices into the dish and fry gently until the onion has softened. Stir often to prevent the spices from burning. Add the chopped onion and fry for a further 5 minutes. 

Add the chopped tomatoes, sliced peppers and browned chicken pieces to the pan along with 300ml of water. Stir until well combined, season with the salt and allow to simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add more water if nessescary.

To cook the rice, place the grated cauliflower in a frying pan and season with salt and pepper. Gently fry until it has browned slightly. This should take around five minutes. 

Just before serving, stir the crème fraîche into the curry and scatter over the chopped coriander. Eat immediately.