HOW TO...HAVE A SUMMER PARTY WITHOUT STRESS OR BREAKING THE BANK

Easy-peasy and Make-Ahead Dishes, some Indulgent (very!) from 67goingon50's recipes

For organisation and spreading the costs, see PotLuck Parties


HOT WEATHER/PORTABLE DISHES 

Avocado Salad with Sweetcorn,  Easy-Peasy
Poached Chicken with Ginger & Green Onion Sauce
Chicken, Pear & Hazlenut Salad,  Easy-Peasy
Chinese Crudites

Chinese Crudites

Green Bean, Mushroom & Nut Salad
Mango & Chilli Coleslaw, Popular
No-Sugar Relish, Pineapple and Onion, Make-Ahead
Southern Unfried Chicken, very low fat, Make ahead 
Sweetcorn & Plum Slaw, a 'dieter's delight', Make-ahead, Portable
Sweet Chilli & Ginger Salmon, low-cal & frugal
Skinnier Sandwiches
Sunshine Salad with Cooked Chicken& Ham + Fruit Easy 

CANAPES

Roasted Spirced Chickpeas

Devilled Eggs with Tuna, quite a twist
Chive & Onion Dip for crudites and crisps, Low-cal
Healthier Party Snacks
Roasted Spiced Chickpeas (crisp substitute)
Spinach Parfait, heavenly
Sausages with Honey & Mustard, Skinnier

INDULGENCES

Double Chocolate Marquise 

Skinnier Double Chocolate Marquis 
Irish Coffee Cheesecake, Skinnier, lower fat/sugar
Upside Down Cheesecake, for the gluten-phobic

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE & COINTREAU BISCUITS , contains alcohol, an Indulgence, NOT healthy

Another darkly delicious biscuit for the sophisticated cookie-muncher

updated 11/25; first posted 2016 

Irresistable Triple Chocolate & Cointreau Beauties
'Lovely texture; I love the way they dissolve in the mouth.' 20-something taster from down-under 

These wonderful, delicate biscuits are a delight for adults looking for something sweet but sophisticated.  They're a cross between a shortbread and gorgeously sandy Viennese biscuits and they're ever-so-easy to make.  

Ingredients are in relatively small amounts for small households or a few guests but the recipe is easily multiplied. Cornflour (not polenta) can be replaced by rice flour though the cookies become a little more solid.

The tiny amount of Cointreau is obviously an option.  If you like, leave it out or replace with whisky or brandy. The only two healthy aspects are the relatively low added sugar and the lack of preservatives but these are more than cancelled out by the amount of butter and chocolate, and the alcohol!

Cost: £3'ish (11/25)
Makes: 12 medium sized biscuits

Ingred:

   100 gms/3.5 oz softened unsalted dairy or plant butter* (zap it in the microwave  10 sec if you haven't taken it out of the fridge overnight)
     25g/0.9oz icing sugar, sifted

    1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    finely grated rind of a med orange

     45 gm/1.5 oz flour sifted
     30gm/1 oz cocoa (not drinking chocolate) sifted
     25 gm/3/4 oz cornflour or rice flour, sifted
     1/2 tsp baking powder 
     
     small handful dark chocolate chips or chopped dark baking chocolate 

     Icing:
       1) 3-4 squares white baking chocolate (it needs to be baking chocolate; white chocolate bars are nasty when melted)

       2) 1 tablespoon icing sugar
           a scant tablespoon cocoa
           a scant tablespoon cointreau (opt)

       
Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350f/180c/170f/gas4
2. Beat butter till it's soft and broken down using whisk or hand held beaters (about half a minute) 
3. Add icing sugar; whisk till almost white, 2-3 mins
4. Add vanilla and orange zest, beat till blended
5. Sift flour, cocoa, corn flour (not polenta) or rice flour and baking powder together; add with chocolate chips to cookie batter
6. Beat until just mixed; scrape the bowl with a spatula at least once so that everything at the bottom is incorporated
7. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, sticking the corners down with a bit of cookie dough on the underside
8. Using a small hinged ice cream scoop (1.3 inches/4cm at widest point) or a tablespoon, drop dough onto tray, leaving a med space between
9. Bake in the centre of the oven 10-15 mins (12 mins is about right if using ice cream scoop)
10. Leave on the tray on a rack until completely cool before removing from tray
11. Zap white chocolate in microwave in 10 second bursts OR gently melt in a bowl over but not touching simmering water until liquid.
12. Remove from heat; drizzle over biscuits in parallel-ish lines with a small spoon
13. Sift icing sugar and cocoa together; add cointreau and stir until smooth and flowing; if necessary add a drop more of liquid but don't let the mix get sloppy (if you do, you'll have to add more icing sugar and then possibly more liquid and maybe more cocoa and so on until you lose the will to live!!)
14. Dribble chocolate cointreau icing in the opposite direction of the white chocolate 

Comments:

"Really good; I can taste the contreau. I like the crunchy top and moist middle.' 30 -something trainee barrister 

'Good!' London underground driver

Tips:

• *67goingon50 hasn't tested veg butter Tomor but it has worked well in other biscuit recipes
• these chocolate cointreau cookies were  inspired by Great British Bake-Off's Martha Williamson, writing in Waitrose's weekly newspaper
• 67 prefers M&S own-brand dark, white, and milk baking chocolate -- £1.35 for 100 gms (2025); Waitrose stock dark or white chocolate chips (£2) or bars of baking chocolate, 180g, from £3'ish upwards
• kids probably won't like cointreau biscuits; they're not very sweet; maybe chocolate shortbread for them?

                            More chocolate biccies on NavBar:Recipes1/Cookies...

Please leave a Comment in the box below 

This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission. 

SWEET CHILLI & GINGER SALMON, low sugar, for children & the ill & infirm, portable, Vegetarian Option

PERFECT FOR FROZEN FISH

Sweet Chilli & Ginger Salmon: (From frozen, farmed fish)

'One of the finest fish dishes I have ever eaten; the chilli is subtle and doesn't overwhelm the salmon.  I wouldn't have guessed the fish was frozen."  Taster  

25/5/16

 67goingon50 has extolled the virtues of frozen fish in the past. This recipe was tested on frozen salmon from Iceland, both wild and farmed, with good results.

Iceland Wild Salmon fillets

The Iceland wild salmon (£4 for 4) came in thinner flatter portions while the farmed Norwegian salmon (£6 for 4) came in conventional fillets (see photo above).  Both were individually wrapped. 

The farmed fillets looked better and would probably be a first choice for many. But, quite frankly, anyone with budget issues can go for the £4 wild salmon and be no worse off, gastronomically.  

Both were slightly paler than fresh fish but the flesh in both was good quality, taking on marinade without turning mushy.  When cooked, the flesh was firm and flaked nicely but - not surprisingly - was slightly moister than usual without loss of flavour.   The succulence makes these fillets perfect for children or older people.    

The taste was divine; the heat of the chilli, ginger and garlic gently permeated the flesh and was well balanced by the light sweetness.

One caveat: the baked fish extruded a little white liquid affecting neither the size or the taste of the fish.  It was easily scraped away.  

All in all, a rewarding test!

Cost: £2-3 (2016 - probably at least twice that in 2026)
Feeds: 2 but recipe is easily multiplied

 Ingredients:
     2 defrosted, or fresh, salmon fillets

    1 clove garlic, minced
    1 med-to-large red chilli, de-seeded & without membranes, in medium slices 
    30-50 gm white sugar, to taste (67 used 30 gms)
    3 tbsp white wine vinegar  (or 50-50 white unsweetened grape juice and malt vinegar)
    100 ml water or stock

    1 tsp grated ginger

     sesame seeds (opt)

Method:

1. Put garlic, chilli, sugar & vinegar in a small pan with water or stock
2. Bring to the boil; reduce heat; simmer 10 mins 
3. Take off heat; add ginger; stir; cool
4. Pour into a glass dish or large freezer bag; add salmon 
5. Marinade 2-4 hours or overnight
6. When ready to cook, cut a piece of greaseproof paper to fit a metal tray that will hold the fillets in one layer
7. Preheat oven to 400F, 200C/180fan/gas6; put the tray without the paper inside (while it heats)
8. Drain fillets, removing any bits of chilli & garlic
9. When oven is ready, remove tray with oven gloves, add greaseproof paper and the fillets, spacing them evenly
10. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using
11. Bake in the centre of the oven: 10 mins for fillets, about 8 mins for flat fillets
12. Cover with foil; rest 10 mins; the fish will continue to cook
13. Serve with new potatoes and/or vegetables boiled for 3 mins 

Tips:

• Remember: overcooked fish is horrible fish!
• these are as good cold as they are hot and can be transported in stiff sided storage containers 
• adults may wish to bake the salmon with the chillis
• vegetarians can substitute thickly sliced plain tofu; instead of roasting, shallow fry until crisp around the edges 
• 67's usual source of frozen fish, Waitrose, also sells frozen salmon; it's sustainably sourced and costs more.  Other major supermarkets offer frozen fish; try it from supermarkets you trust. And, of course, if you can afford it, fresh salmon would be wonderful.   

                           More fish on NavBar:Recipes I/Fish

                     Please leave a Comment in the box below 

This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission. 

EDITORIAL: HOW MUCH CAN WE TRUST PUBLIC HEALTH ADVICE?

WRITTEN 2016

                    Some of the information in this opinion piece has been based on articles from the Times, the Independent, the Telegraph and the Mail

Last week, three health-related news stories appeared in the media; two contradicting conventional thinking on what is and is not healthy. 

The three stories involved:

• a paper from the National Obesity Forum (NOH) and the Public Health Collaboration (PHC) advising that a low-carb healthy-fat diet could cut weight gain and fight obesity
• an admission from the NHS that a 'computer glitch' led to patients being wrongly prescribed statins or taken off them
• a report published in the medical magazine Lancet concluding that too little salt is as bad for you as too much, and could cause heart attacks and strokes

While it was the report on obesity that caused the most hue and cry, all three stories begged the question: how much can we trust official health advice?

Buttery Scones

The 'natural fats are good for you' line of thinking has been around a long time.  It explains why, even in the fat-is-bad era, many chose to eat (reduced levels of) butter instead of margarines made from trans-fats (oils never intended to be in solid form, now mostly banned.) 



What was astonishing about the NOH/PHC paper paper was the howls of rage, the accusations and near-hysteria from public health officials.  

It is true that the obesity paper is a campaigning document and not a paper in a scientific journal.  NOH & PHC represent not nutritionists, but doctors, including specialists in cardiology and diabetes, and lifestyle entrepreneurs.  Some of the doctors are linked to diabetes research and the anti-sugar movement; a few are known as 'mavericks' though whether that's a good or a bad thing is not clear.

It is also true that conventional obesity advice is not working. 25% of British adults are clinically obese -- up 15% in the past 20 years.  Type 2 diabetes - directly linked to obesity - is rising steadily.  Doctors admit only 5% of the obese follow recommended advice.  Perhaps public health officials fear the other 95% will use the NOH recommendations to binge.

Even if a binging epidemic were likely, questioning official advice is still reasonable, especially if making fat a 'demon' drives people away from foods that are actually good for you.  And that is possible.   

The fat-is-the-enemy brigade is under pressure. The World Health Organisation (WHO)'s new position on fat is that there is no convincing evidence that the total amount of it in our diets can cause cancer or heart disease.  In America, even cholesterol has been downgraded as a risk in official guidance for heart disease.

In England in the past year, both Dr Mark Porter of the British Medical Association and Dr Michael Mosley, Times Columnist and TV medical presenter, have undergone low-carb, let's-not-worry-too-much-about-fats eating programmes.  Their reports indicate loss of weight and reduced cholesterol levels.  

In any rational setting, the NOH document and similar medical theories would be taken as a starting point for more scientific research.

The theory of 'good fats' goes like this: naturally occurring fats

in meat, fish, vegetable and seed oils and dairy, in moderation, can promote good health. (Blogger's emphasis)

Good Fats
courtesy Dreamstime.com stock photo

As a first step, officials need to define 'moderation' in a way that normal people understand.  

The media has taken the howling backlash in its stride; it reports but does not sensationalise it.  


Public health officials seem stubbornly resistant to new ideas and appear to reflect only entrenched attitudes.  One might think the policy and not the patients was first priority. 


Sadly, the news that 'a computer glitch' was responsible for prescribing statins to patients who didn't need them also reflects this mindset.  Some patients who refuse statins are browbeaten, blackmailed or threatened; there is little comfort in knowing they were probably right to follow their instincts.  

The research in the Lancet, meanwhile, is not the first to question the idea on which most public health advice is based: if high salt is bad for you, then little salt is good. Other large-scale research has concluded too little salt can be harmful.


This blog was set up to 'help the NHS'.  It believes people can improve their own health and ease the ageing process without great cost, helping to reduce medical intervention.   

After recent developments in the NHS and reactions from public health officials, one wonders whether the NHS and public health officials don't need to improve themselves.  


The answer to the question, 'how much should we trust public health advice?'  

Listen, be aware but keep an open mind.  Doctors genuinely want to make you better but are required to work within national guidelines.

People need to take more than a passing interest in health matters.  Yes, lives are hectic.  But start slowly; as years pass, knowledge and understanding accumulate.  

So.  Experiment; learn as much as you can from the responses of your own body; read as much as you can; question as much as you can.  And don't give up trying to make you and your family healthy.    


Note: 
In UK public health, so-called 'mavericks' are not forgiven.  John Yudkin, founder of the nutrition department at the University of London in the 1970's, linked sugar, not fat, to rising rates of heart disease and diabetes. His work was totally discredited and his career virtually ended. Only recently has his reputation been rehabilitated. 

  
Update 7 June 2016: Two weeks after the NOH report was released, it was reported that one of the report's authors advises the Atkins diet company, though it apparently had no input into the report or provided any funds. NOH Board members then said they had not seen the document before it was released and some did not agree with it. The NOH did not retract the report; four of the seven board members quit.  

See Also: Report on research into High Fat Diets and Weight Gain. Sarah Bosely, Health Editor, Guardian


SOURCES: 
The Times: Food Fight 
                 Ignore Advice
The Independent
The Mail
National Obesity Forum
Public Health Collaboration
BBC News: Health
The Telegraph




DISCLAIMER: The author accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.  Any information not sourced to a second party is the copyright of the blogger.