The marinated roast pork with bok choy comes from the 80/20 Diet recipe book by Teresa Cutter. The book might promise a better body in 12 weeks but it doesn't mean that you will be surviving on rabbit food or cardboard for that time. Teresa Cutter, "the healthy chef" is one of Australia's leading authorities on healthy cooking. She is a qualified chef and fitness trainer, and has combined her knowledge of food, diet and exercise to specialise in developing healthy recipes for fat loss and total wellbeing.
The philosophy of the 80/20 diet is simple. Eat well 80% of the time, and 20% of the time you can enjoy a little indulgence. The book contains more than 130 recipes for simple, nutritious dishes that have been designed for people who love food, who love to eat and who have made a conscious decision to maximise their health and wellbeing.
I made the marinade for the lean pork tenderloin last night - a mixture of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), crushed garlic cloves, grated fresh ginger, mirin and brown sugar. The pork was then marinaded overnight and for most of today. The pork was then put in a baking tray in a 200*c oven and roasted for about half an hour, occasionally basting it with the remaining marinade.
In the meantime I prepared the bok choy and then decided to also add snowpeas and mushrooms because DH is not a green vegie fan. I thought if I added some other vegies it might hold a bit more appeal! Also, I decided to prepare a salad of mesclun, sliced peach and yellow grape tomatoes....just in case. Once the pork was cooked, I left it to rest and quickly stirfried the vegies in a mixture of chicken stock, crushed garlic and a teensy drop of sesame oil.
It was all very simple and tasted great. DH did have some of the stirfried greens and salad so that was a bonus. We also had some woodfired Italian bread with it that we had bought at the markets this morning.
Now for the 20% part of the diet - the indulgence!
The recipe for Molten Chocolate Cakes comes from Donna Hay's latest book, Instant Entertaining. According to the blurb, entertaining doesn't have to be stressful. Which is why Donna Hay has put together this collection of simple menus for truly instant entertaining. So no matter what the occasion, entertaining has just become a whole lot easier.
I love chocolate - especially dark chocolate. In fact I like the 85% dark chocolate which not too many people seem to like, which is great because it means I don't have to share! When we were up on the Gold Coast in January I discovered a chocolate shop, Choclicious, which sold many, many different types of chocolates. I bought a block of Valrhona Guanaja dark bitter chocolate 70% cocoa with the intention of using it in a recipe, though at the time I had no idea what recipe. The chocolate is described as having floral notes, intense flavour and an exceptionally long finish, all typical of the cocoa beans of South America.
When I was flicking through the Donna Hay book the other day I came across this recipe and being the chocolate lover that I am, I had to try it. Its a fairly easy recipe - mixing together plain flour, icing sugar, almond meal, beaten eggwhites, melted butter and melted dark chocolate. I wasn't quite sure what she meant by beaten egg whites though - was I supposed to use electric beaters and beat until soft peaks form, or just use a fork and beat together? I decided to use the beaters and the cakes turned out so....?
The mixture, mixed well to combine, was to be spooned into 4 x 1/2 cup lightly greased ovenproof dishes. I don't have these so decided to use a muffin tray. So half the mixture was spooned into 4 muffin holes then 10g of dark chocolate was placed on this mixture, before topping with the remaining mixture. They were cooked in a 150*c oven for about 20mins and then served with fresh raspberries and thick cream - mmmmm!
The verdict? They are very rich. DH couldn't eat all of his but then he doesn't have a really sweet tooth or he's not obsessive about chocolate the way I am! However I have to admit that one cake was plenty. Also the fresh raspberries go really well with chocolate and the cream just topped it off perfectly.
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