Three Cheese and Crab Souffle Bomb - sorry Omelette

Sorry for the radio silence, the last few months have been crazy, we moved...well we bought a house, THEN we moved, and now we are trying to renovate it while we are living here - crazy times.

And now I have a kitchen that is mine, MINE! And all my geekery and gadgets are slowly being unpacked and loved again - we have been in a month, there are still a few boxes to go, I will be fully unpacked by Xmas...hopefully!

Meanwhile, the last few months, weight is still coming off, albeit very slowly, with stalls lasting longer than I would like (not helped by small servings of crap food choices, and too much booze.)

This last weekend saw lots of cooking, and I enjoyed it again, but I have a bucket load of eggs to use up, so Sunday night I decided a souffle was in order....but I can't find my ramekins, so a souffle omelette was what we were going to get!

Without further ado, I give you my Three Cheese and Crab Souffle Omelette!

Ingredients

5 large eggs
50 grams mature Cheddar, finely grated
50 grams Parmesan cheese, finely grated
50 grams Gruyère, finely grated
15 grams butter
salt and freshly milled black pepper
100 grams fresh or canned (and drained) white crab meat
Finely chopped parsley, to serve

1. Separate your eggs and place the whites in a very very clean mixing bowl, I love my Kitchenaid and am loving any excuse to get it going again! Beat on a medium speed until still peaks form.
2. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl seasoned with salt and pepper.
3. Heat a large ovenproof frypan over low heat, heat your grill (you will need this in a few minutes)
4. Carefully fold the egg yolks into the egg whites, together with all of the cheddar and half of the parmesan cheese
5. Melt the butter in the frypan and tip in the egg mixture, use a spatula or spoon to gently spread around the pan and to loosen the sides inwards, sprinkle the remaining cheese and crab meat over the top, and allow to cook on a medium heat for 3-5 mins.
6. Transfer the pan under your grill and cook on high about 8-12cms away from the heat for 1-2 mins until brown and the cheese has melted and oozey.
7. To serve, sprinkle with the parsley and eat while it is hot!

Serves 2-3 people (well, one Hussyband, me, a bit for the cat - did I mention we got a cat?, and there were still leftovers this morning for breakfast!)

This works out about 300 calories per serving, with about 22 grams of protein and sod all carbs! A great (treat) for a Sunday night dinner. Or any meal really.

Bon appetite!

Haddock and Broccoli Pie

This week we moved into the sweetest little cottage in Twyford, about 40 miles west of London. I have not had access to a decent kitchen for about 3.5 years, I was prepping food upstairs on my desk/dining table/dumping ground then either slow cooking it upstairs, microwaving it, or transporting it downstairs to the stove.

But amongst the boxes and detritus of a house move, I was determined to cook for Good Friday (aka Pants-Free Friday - but that is another story!)

One of publications from home that I still read religiously since leaving Australia is the Donna Hay magazine - I love her recipes, they are guaranteed to inspire and delight, and I have an electronic subscription that pings it to my iPad every two months like clockwork. I spotted her Caramelised Leek and Broccoli Fish Pie a few weeks ago and knew that I wanted it to be the first thing I cooked in the new house.

Since having the surgery, I am more conscious of what I eat. I have cut right back on carbs and fats, hardly ever touch alcohol and my portions are tiny. Yes, me hardly touch alcohol. Crazy talk but true.

So to the pie. And happy Eatser....sorry Easter!

Haddock and Broccoli Pie (inspired by Donna Hay)

150 grams fresh sourdough

75 grams flat leaf parsley

75 grams unsalted butter, melted

sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 cup of chicken stock

2 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Head of broccoli, florets separated

600 grams fresh haddock (or other firm-fleshed white fish), cut into 3cm pieces

1 tablespoon of cornflour

150 grams reduced fat sour cream

150 mls of water

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 200C degrees. While the oven heats, put the torn up sourdough, parsley, sea salt and pepper to taste into a food processor and blitz until you get a nice mix of crumbs and a few chunks of crust. Drizzle in the melted butter and blitz to mix. Spread the crumbs on a lined baking tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden....ok...so I toasted a little long, and lost a quarter of the crumbs to a charcoal like state...but I just pushed those ones to the side. Less carbs is a good thing!

While the crumbs cook, heat a large ovenproof fry pan on the stove. Add the chicken stock, leek, garlic and broccoli and saute covered for about 10-15 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, toss the fish with the cornflour and season with salt and pepper.

When the vegetables have softened, add the sour cream, water and mustard and stir to mix well, add the fish and stir again, then place the whole thing in the oven for 10 minutes. Once cooked, sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and enjoy!

Normal Serves = 6 (I eat about half a serve)

Calories: 470 | Protein: 35 grams | Fat: 14 grams | Carbs: 51 grams | Sugar: 4 grams | Iron: 26 grams (according to MyFitnessPal)

Things I will do differently next time: I have already halved the amount of butter by using stock instead of butter to soften the vegetables...I will next time use no butter on the crumbs, and instead spray them on the tray with 5 squirts Fry Light light olive oil spray (at 1 calorie per squirt). This would drop the calories to 377, and the fat to 4 grams - much better!