Baileys & white chocolate parfait

We had friends over for dinner a few weeks ago and one of them is a totally fussy so and so with food. It causes great amusement as often we've said that we'll have a curry and she can have beans on toast ! Anyway, this time we found a common ground and I made this for pudding. It's very rich, really you only need small slices. The original recipe says serves 4 but I don't think even I could manage that !

BAILEYS & WHITE CHOCOLATE PARFAIT

serves 6-8

100g broken white chocolate

250ml fresh vanilla custard

3tbsp Bailey's Irish cream

142ml double cream

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie, heat the custard and combine with the chocolate. Allow to cool to room temperature then add the Baileys. Whip the cream lightly and then fold into the mixture.

Pour into a small loaf tin that has been lined with clingfilm and freeze until solid. 

To serve turn out of the tin and slice. Serve with raspberries/ raspberry coulis to cut through the richness.

Teriyaki tuna stirfry

This recipe came about through a catalogue of errors really. Firstly it was meant to be a salmon recipe but the Husband came back from the shops with only 2 salmon fillets and a random reduced tuna steak. So, the kids had the salmon as I know they'll eat it and we had the tuna.

I've made this recipe before and it's very yummy. I can't take credit for the idea as it's off the WW website but I have tweaked it little. Spicy and more veggies than you can shake a stick at. It would have been even better if the Husband hadn't thrown away my dish of marinade before I added it back to the pan. Told you it was a catalogue of errors !

TERIYAKI TUNA NOODLES

serves 2 at 13pp per serving

3 tbsp teriyaki sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp chilli powder or chilli flakes

350g tuna steak cubed

1 tsp olive oil / spray oil

1 cloves garlic

4 spring onions

Variety of stir fry veggies - I used baby corn, sugar snaps, pak choi, 1/2 a pack of mixed stir fry etc

2x150g packs straight to wok noodles

150ml chicken stock

Coriander to serve

Marinate the tuna in the lime juice, teriyaki sauce and chilli

Fry the veggies in the oil until soft. Remove from the pan and add the tuna. Stir fry for a couple of minutes

Add everything back to the pan with the noodles, reserved marinade and add the stock - enough to give as much of a sauce as you wish.

Heat through and serve with the coriander.

Tarragon chicken

Well it's been a while. Actually it's been a bl**dy long time.

Since I last wrote we've moved house, we've lost two close family members, son no2 has started school, we've had problems with son no1 and my career has become all enveloping ! So, life has just taken over really but now I'm hoping to get back to blogging and posting my recipes again - and honing my rather poor photography skills.

So tonight I made tarragon chicken. Something the Husband absolutely adores but in it's full fat state is rather calorie heavy. Given I'm back on a health kick (and have lost nearly a stone and a half to date) this is important stuff. Obviously for those of you not with a few lbs to lose half fat can be swapped for full fat etc.

TARRAGON CHICKEN
serves 2

1 tsp olive oil

2 chicken breasts cut into strips

1 onion chopped

Handful of mushrooms sliced

1-2 cloves of garlic crushed

Splash of chicken stock (I used 1/2 a Knorr chicken stockpot)

2 tbsp half fat creme fraiche

Large handful of chopped fresh tarragon

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and stir fry the chicken until browned

Add the vegetables and cook until soft

Add the stock and creme fraiche, season and reduce the sauce until thickened

Add the tarragon reserving some for finishing the dish

I served this with new potatoes, green beans and broccoli. 

Seasoning to taste