Valentine’s Shmalentine’s at Fishmonger Restaurant

Zzz… as we ushered in yet another Valentine’s Day. I love love but I hate loving love when I feel forced to love it.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore my boo and I would like to believe I do so daily, and I choose when to make it extra special. I see nothing wrong with dedicating one day in the year to LOVE but what annoys me is the commercial aspect to it, that then results in us mere mortals feeling the pressure to show our love materially. I have fallen prey to this Valentines stupidity one too many times- but no more. I realized that Love is continuous and constant and is not defined by a few chocolates, jewelry or flowers on one day.

The irony of it all is that my Boo decided to surprise me with a lovely dinner at an upmarket restaurant (well up-prices indeed). I really appreciated the gesture because a) I didn’t expect it b) it was at one of my favourite spots- Fishmonger. I absolutely love the Fishmonger in Illovo at Thrupps Shopping Centre, Joburg. It is warm and cozy with the best service ever- it feels like a family run restaurant- which is usually a winning formula. I was therefore quite eager to try the Nicolway restaurant/franchise. So I tossed my bitter Valentine’s attitude out of the window and threw on a sexy dress and cute heels. This Fishmonger is definitely a far cry from the sister shop in Illovo in terms of warmth and intimacy- however I think the general aesthetics at Nicolway are contemporary and brighter, creating a contrasting vibe to the older Thrupps infrastructure. We were placed at a table that was so close to the kitchen that I felt I could hear the chef’s knife clacking away. The service was excellent, so much that when they noticed we were uncomfortable ‘in the kitchen’, we soon found ourselves at a better more ambient table.

THE FOOD! Lord Have Mercy. After I managed to tear myself away from ordering my usual always-divine Prawn Curry, my Boo chose my meal for me in a rather ‘ini mini miny moe’ manner- and I think, overcome by momentary insanity, I conceded. I don’t remember the name but it was a dish with 10 Queen prawns cooked in a creamy beer and garlic sauce with a butternut and crème spinach side dish. It cost a whopping R170 however it was worth every penny. My boo had his usual Kingclip Thermidore which he loved however in his words, “Yours is better baby”- What’s that Shona saying again? “Murume asinganyepi haanyengi- The man that doesn’t occasionally tell a fib to please his woman will not succeed in love”. Tsk tsk!

While I prefer the Illovo restaurant for ambiance,  I would still recommend Fishmonger Nicolway for tantalizing, tasty food. Definitely worth putting my Valentines opinions aside and enjoying some good company.

His Kingclip Thermidor

Her Prawn in Beer and Garlic sauce

Stuffed Chicken Breast (chop-chop style)

I made a couscous salad and had some left over for lunch at work tomorrow. See a big part of changing my way of life, and eating, has been being better prepared. I therefore plan my meals ahead and I cook my lunch the night before or in the morning while eating my oats. (My oats are totally delicious, I'll share my method soon).

So for my lunch I marinated a sizable piece of chicken breast in my choice of spices. The breast piece needs to have been sliced open on one side like you would a hot dog roll, leaving one longitudinal side intact. Fry the inside part first for about 30 seconds in a preheated olive oiled pan. Then turn over and remove pan from heat.

Take 3tsp of tomato purée, 1.5 tsp of crushed garlic and 1.5 tsp honey. And mix well.

Smoothly smear the tomato mixture onto the surface of the chicken; this will be on top of the lightly fried inside part of the chicken piece. Close the edges of the chicken together and pin shut with toothpicks.

Replace the pan on the heat and shallow fry at low heat with a lid on. Remove when cooked or after 7minutes...ENJOY!

My Summer Couscous Salad

So! My LFC is getting the best of me and I am getting bored of veg generally and especially when made conventionally. Salads and stir fries are great but I felt I needed to switch it up a lil'.

I bought some Harissa Spiced Couscous- my first time using this brand. The one I usually buy is plain and uneventful especially in light of my need for a spruced up meal. The Harissa is available at Pick and Pay in South Africa for about R30. A bit steep but hella worth it! I can testify. It comes already spiced Moroccan style which adds so much flavor to a usually bland grain.

I prepared the Couscous in a bowl, by adding hot water to it, in the ratio of 2:1 and covering it (eg. 200g water to 100g of Couscous). The grain swells so expect your portion to double. While the Couscous 'cooks', finely dice some bell peppers, I chose Red and Green, though yellow adds some bright colour. Dice some cucumber and some mint. Quantities? It's up to you but I used 1/6 of each pepper, 1/4 cucumber and a fistful of mint- my fist is small;-)

Keep checking the Couscous; when all the water has been absorbed, let it cool. Then add the dry ingredients and mix. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon. Then chill the salad- ENJOY!

(My chicken is grilled in its own oil, with Portuguese spice and glazed with honey. LIFE. IS. GOOD)

My cup of green tea

I really should've been doing something constructive, but hey that's my days sketch. I'm trying to get back into drawing. Lets see how that goes. Kudos to me for finally drinking green tea!

Omelette du fromage (cheese omelette)

Oh my days! I just made the most delicious omelette ever. My Boo makes what I thought were the best omelettes ever! Boom! Not anymore!

Because I have to be careful what I eat and carefully plan my meals, I opted for no yolks at all but a tablespoon of grated cheese instead. I chopped up some spring onion, red and green pepper as well as slices of tomato. I fried the veg elements lightly in olive oil for about 1min, with a pinch of salt and pepper. I then added the 4 beaten egg whites and the cheese sprinkled on top. This cooks fast so when the egg is solid and white, flip over half the omelette to fold it in half. And then ENJOY!

The Upside of my Lifestyle Change- LSC

I have made many tasty dishes over the past few weeks and since I began to eat better. Recently I made an epic chicken salad. I basically tossed together some lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes, green peppers and red peppers, onion shavings, cucumber and mango shreds- all seems rather basic however the CHICKEN totally transformed the salad. I marinated the chicken in my choice of spices which can be anything that makes sense- chicken spice, Portuguese spice, herbs- fresh or dry, garlic, crushed pepper etc. I lightly fried the chicken in olive oil until it was cooked. I am currently avoiding salad dressings so I needed to come up with a way to add some low fat dressing to my salad. Anyway I ended up adding a dollop of honey, a double dollop of plain low fat yoghurt and a generous splash of soy sauce. High Risk-High Return? Hell yeah. I cooled the chicken and added it to the veg and tossed it. The extra ‘sauce’ from the chicken was absolutely delicious and moistened my salad. I ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND THIS! And because it was so good, I gobbled it up before I could take a picture. Tsk tsk tsk!

My LFC baby!

So I recently embarked on a lifestyle change- (yeah lemme hear you say “AGAIN?”). Yes I am re-re-attempting to change my lifestyle or rather revert to the person I once was. I was recently looking at photos of myself in University, and I must say I was impressed by my body. Yes, Yes, albeit the fact that I was slightly underweight, I was an avid gym goer and was probably quite healthy. Not everyone would agree with me; my boo savagely slaughtered my previous trim looks with his remarks, “Baby, I am happy I didn’t date you back then when you were a man!” Seriously?

Moving on…my new life style involves a 180 degree shift from the person I have become over the past 4 years. It is a helluva long time to recover from; however I reckon that there is no time like the present.

Paramount to my lifestyle change (LSC) is the food that I choose to consume, in conjunction with my exercise program (sigh). I will be featuring a few of the meals that I am obliged to eat. This LFC demands that I abstain from excessive amounts of Carbs which in all honesty meant f-all to me because I thought my in-take was normal- but alas my ample pot belly would say otherwise.

These are a few images of the meals I have been consuming, I will add tips and prep methods, as well as progress report later.

Cheerio!