How many of you foodies out there worry about your weight?
Are you one of the lucky ones who, with the more you eat, the less you weigh? Or are you one of the silent masses, where every tasty morsel stretches the old leather belt running through the hoops on your off-the-rack charcoal grey suit?
Well I’m one of the the great unwashed. I just look at an iced bun and that old belt starts to groan.
Normally, well, I just don’t give a toss. But not right now.
Right now I have to lose weight. A lot of weight. We have a holiday event coming up that involves ‘beachwear’. But as the kids may read this I cannot go into specific details. Suffice to say swimming trunks will be involved. And no one enjoys watching a man in his forties blubbering around in a pair of trunks with a muffin top that would put a z-rated reality TV show celebrity to shame.
So what to eat? Well yes I’m on a diet. That involves eating bugger all. Long time readers of this blog may know that I regularly ‘diet’ but generally that is bullshit. I eat one low calorie meal and then get the steaks out.
But this time it’s serious. Personal even. So what to eat? Well I’m eating bugger all at present but that won’t stop me blogging about recipes I’ve been storing up during the winter (fat-boy) months.
And here is one particularly delicious creation – Pork and Apricot Parcels…
If you took away the pork and the butter this would be diet food. Oh and lose the filo…
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 1/2 carrot, grated
- 1lb pork, minced
- 5 dried apricots
- 1 tsp chopped rosemary
- filo pastry sheets
- 50g melted butter
First off fry the onion on a low heat until soft. Grate the carrot:
Add the onion, rosemary and pork and mix:
Create eight balls of porky gloop:
Now heat the oven to 180 centigrade (basically normal setting if you use farenslight or whatever it is). Lay out a sheet of filo pastry. Brush one side with the melted butter and fold over:
Place one of the porky balls at one end of the pastry and fold it thus:
Brush with more butter and seal, repeat seven more times:
For some strange reason I managed to create 11 not 8:
Brush with more butter and bake for 20 mins:
Serve with horseradish:
This is the great thing about food blogging – you can salivate over your past creations whilst quietly munching on a stick of celery (and a nice big glass of wine – no fat in that badboy)!
Your post reminded me of something that I once read from Nigella. I think it was her introduction to How to be a Domestic Goddess. In it, she basically says that when counting calories, she doesn’t include fruit, vegetables, and basics like flour, sugar, butter, or oil.
So I guess that just leaves pork 🙂
“Fahreinslight” love it.
Looks great! Where do the apricots go in? I think these would go well with any diet, as long as you eat just one. I’m not joking, that’s how I keep the same weight despite all the nice food I cook. Good luck with your diet! It’s easier if you concentrate on what went right, and eat tasty food (just not a lot).
I guess I’m one of those who need to gain weight & truthfully it’s not much fun either. You can guess what I’d like to say to people who think it’s ok to tell me “oh my gawd! You’re soooo skinny!”. I mean is it ok for me to say to them “oh my gawd! You’re sooo fat!”? I guess not many people are ideal weight but then again maybe it’s a matter of not being the right height & I wish you success with your diet. Boy, does that carrot look really good.
This looks like a very tasty dish though & it looks like something I’d give a try although I never know how to handle that filo dough. It always seems to defy me.
No filo is tricky but nice. As for gaining weight personally i’d love to be in that situation!
Puffed Pastry anything is my favorite. Well done!
yes thanks!
What would happen if you cooked the pork filling first and drain the accumulated fat? Then let the filling cool slightly so the pastry doesn’t tear when assembling. I think you were on the right track by making 11 instead of 8. All foods can fit in a healthy diet, we just eat too much of them!
The latest statistics show 36% of Americans are overweight. I live in the fattest state (we’re number 1!). Surely England does not have this widespread obesity problem.
Oh we have! I hadn’t thought of cooking it first but it was the pastry that was the fatty bit – you have to cover each sheet with oil to stop it drying out…
Yes, working with phyllo pastry is challenging. It can help a bit if the unused sheets are kept under a damp towel until ready to be filled.
Thanks for the reminder that bathing suit season is around the corner. I’ve been managing to delude myself into thinking my excess weight would miraculously vaporize before then, but now I must face the sad truth: no pork and apricot parcels for me! A lot of the baking I do is mostly so I can blog about it, and that can be challenging. I have to at least taste what I make so I can write about it. But, I’m getting very good at giving food away. Not losing any weight but I am becoming more popular.😊
Yes that’s what I’m trying to do – baking cakes is easier because you can’t turn up somewhere with a cake with a slice whipped out of it – well you can but…
Nothing like a vacation or upcoming public viewing to shock us into “shedding our winter coats!” With an upcoming family event, i’m definitely feeling the pinch as well! What’s a blogger to do?!
It is a nightmare – healthy food blogging can get a bit tedious
I love the coarse ground pork !!
Good stuff ideal for sausages
The first picture looked delicious but what you made looks more appetizing and healthy.
You know I’d settle for either right now.