5:2 Diet Hake with Saffron Sauce

5:2 Diet Hake with Saffron Sauce:

One of the challenges of a fasting day on the 5:2 diet is making the food I eat interesting without piling on calories.  Fish is a really good solution and I am still using some lovely fish that was sent to me by Delish Fish in Scotland.  But, I really wanted a creamy sauce today – preferably without the calories.

When I was in Boscastle, one of the chefs on stage was Emily Scott from The Harbour Kitchen.  Her presentation focussed on Simple Suppers.  Dishes that you and I can make easily at home.  One of her dishes was monkfish with saffron sauce.  Now, I didn’t have any monkfish, but I did have some rather fabulous hake.  Emily’s recipe used rather more ‘naughty’ ingredients than I thought I could include – her version of the saffron sauce used a tablespoon of olive oil and another double cream instead of the 1 cal spray and low fat creme fraiche I used!

It was quite stunning – my picture of the samples those of us watching in the audience got to enjoy really doesn’t do it justice.  What I did today was take the sauce and adapt it to  reduce the calories.  My version isn’t quite as pretty as Emily’s, mostly because I wasn’t quite careful enough when making the sauce and low fat ingredients are more likely to split than their full fat cousins.  But it was satisfying and filling and something I will repeat.  I will also try Emily’s own recipe ‘properly’ at some point.

But for now, since I am still doing the 5:2 diet, here’s the recipe I used

5-2 Diet Hake with Saffron Sauce

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Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	15 minutes
Total time	20 minutes
Allergy	Fish
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot

Ingredients

• 1 piece Hake (or other sustainable white fish (about 150-200g))
• 1 tablespoon Chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon Low fat creme fraiche
• 1 tablespoon White wine
• 1/2 tablespoon Lemon juice
• 4 shots Fry 1Cal Olive Oil Spray
• 2 teaspoons Milk
• 4-6 Saffron Threads
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

	Put the saffron in the milk and warm in the microwave for 20 seconds. Allow the mixture to infuse while you cook the fish
	Coat the fish on both sides with Fry I cal olive oil spray. Heat a heavy based frying pan on a medium heat and put the fish service side down. Cook for a few minutes.
	Add the wine and lemon juice and turn the fish over. Reduce the heat to low and allow the liquid to bubble for a few minutes
	Stir in the creme fraiche and the milk and saffron mixture and cook till slightly thickened.
	Stir in the chives and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a simple green vegetable or a rocket salad

I had quite a large piece of hake, about 200g, so I am estimating this recipe at around 340 calories.  Using the Fry 1 cal olive oil spray definitely helps – as does using  low fat creme fraiche.  It was deeply satisfying to have a dish with a thick creamy sauce on a 5:2 fast day, even if my version didn’t look quite as pretty as Emily’s. The sauce went a little bit lumpy I think because using low fat creme fraiche, I probably needed to heat it much more gently rather than trying to reduce it down.

So thank you, for a fabulous and inspiring presentation Emily, I think the other recipe that was presented will work for the 5:2 diet with very little adapting (I will just make a celeriac and potato mixed lemony mash to reduce the calories down to around 120).  And next time I am in Boscastle I will definitely come and visit the Harbour Kitchen.  I’ll just have to make sure it’s not a 5:2 diet fast day – so I can enjoy dessert!