The Dish THE DISH SKINNY DIPPING L Rod Liddle takes a reformed commie out for a slap-up meal Alice Lascelles on the best blended whiskies Kate Spicer ﬁnds the perfect wine for Sir Alex Ferguson PHOTOGRAPHS BY GARETH SAMBIDGE AT PROCESSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM; FOOD STYLIST: DAGMAR VASELY AT HERSAGENCY.COM. PROP STYLIST: ALEX ORTIZ THE DISH Gizzi Erskine oﬀers three delicious, low-calorie recipes that will delight dieters and non-dieters alike ast year I wrote a book, Skinny Weeks & Weekend Feasts, which resonated with people because of its unconventional take on weight loss. When it comes to dieting, my philosophy is to stick to 1200-1500 calories a day for six days of the week, then have a day off to let your hair down and indulge. This is based on ﬁndings that show how dieters who do give themselves a day off are more successful than those who don’t. There are two reasons for this: the day off from the routine gives our metabolism a boost, and those who know they’re going to be rewarded in the near future are less likely to binge. It’s not exactly rocket science. I never write diet recipes per se. I love food too much. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see how my life revolves around eating and cooking. I can’t cut certain foods out of my diet; I’d be too miserable and I wouldn’t be able to function properly. Instead, I focus on portion control and a couple of sneaky tricks. Halving your carb load can save you about 500 calories a day — do as the French do with their tartines and whip off the top slice of your sandwich. We don’t need that much bread. Also, weigh your pasta: 80g is plenty for a main course. Italians eat pasta in starter-size portions, but in Britain it’s now standard to eat pasta in 120-150g portions — this is based on greed, not need. You won’t be hungry after eating a smaller portion, but if you do still fancy something, have a salad. Avoid white ﬂour and opt for slow-release carbs like brown rice, barley and quinoa. This really makes a difference to how your body functions and how you respond to weight loss. If you’re smart about it, you can lose weight without denying yourself delicious foods. I’ve chosen three supper recipes that should be enough to get you going for now. I hope they show how weight loss need not entail a bleak, miserable existence n Braised lamb and barley Recently, at a food festival in Padstow, Cornwall, I was squished between the chefs Mat Prowse, Mitch Tonks and Sophie Michell. We were waxing lyrical about what we like to eat in the winter. And we agreed that a restorative stew is just the ticket. Thanks to this meeting of minds, here is a recipe for a healthy lamb stew that will ﬁll your belly and soothe your soul. Serves 4 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 2 hours 30 mins 1 tbsp olive oil 800g of lamb neck ﬁllets, each cut into ﬁve pieces 1 onion, cut into eighths 2-3 medium carrots, each peeled, topped, tailed and halved on an angle 2 medium leeks, cut in the same way as the carrots 1 bay leaf 2 sprigs of rosemary A few sprigs of thyme 500ml of fresh chicken stock (from the chiller cabinet) 100g of pearl barley A handful of fresh mint A handful of fresh parsley Zest of 1 lemon, grated Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole pan. Season the lamb, then brown all over in the pan. Add the vegetables, cook for 2-3 minutes, then throw in the herbs and cover in stock. Pop on a lid and cook slowly for two hours. Add the barley and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the grains are plump and the sauce thick. Season to taste. Chop the mint, parsley and lemon zest to make a gremolata and stir through just before serving n The Sunday Times Magazine 47 THE DISH THE DISH Flattened chicken with rosemary, garlic and chilli Three of the best Chicken breast is as lean as meat gets, but also acts as a great sponge for soaking up ﬂavour — try and marinate it for a good 12 hours. If you need some carbs to go alongside it, cook up 60g (for each portion) of brown rice or quinoa. Rully Blanc, Dureuil-Janthial, Burgundy 2011 Blimey! Nuts, rich fruit, zesty acidity. This is old vine, superstar winemaker, expensive-tasting white (£23.50, harveynichols. Serves 2 Preparation time: 10 minutes Marinating time: 12 hours, or minimum 2 hours Cooking time: 20 minutes 2 skinless chicken breasts (supremes, with the wing tip still attached, work beautifully) 2 sprigs of rosemary, ﬁnely chopped 1-2 red chillies Penne alla vodka 3 cloves of garlic, ﬁnely chopped 2 tbsp olive oil Pasta is often considered the enemy by dieters. This recipe has cream and alcohol in it too, but only in tiny quantities and, anyway, adding a smidgen of something wicked to enrich your food is by no means a bad thing. Plus, now you’ll be weighing out the right volume of pasta, won’t you? Cheese is optional but it’s worth noting that 15g of parmesan has around 65 calories… 3 courgettes, each cut in 4 vertical slices 1 bunch of asparagus, spears halved lengthways Juice of ½ a lemon FAR RIGHT: GETTY Lemon slices 48 Place the chicken breasts between greaseproof paper and ﬂatten using a meat hammer or rolling pin. Pop the rosemary, chilli and garlic in a pestle and mortar with black pepper and salt and pound until pasted. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Rub the paste into the chicken breasts, wrap in clingﬁlm and pop in the fridge to marinade. Heat a griddle pan until smoking. Add the chicken and grill for four minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Remove from the pan, pop on The Sunday Times Magazine plates and leave to rest. Lay the courgettes on the griddle pan and grill for 1-2 minutes on each side, then remove and place in a mixing bowl. Repeat with the asparagus and lemon slices, and add to the bowl. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the lemon juice. Season and mix well. To serve, top the chicken with the grilled vegetables and lemon, and ﬁnish by squeezing over the juice from the grilled lemon slices n 3 tbsp of double cream 125ml of vodka Handful of fresh basil leaves 280g penne pasta (70g per head) Parmesan cheese (optional) Add the oil to a large pan and fry the onion gently for 8-10 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and tomato purée and Serves 4 slowly cook the sauce for Online Preparation time: 30 minutes until reduced, For more 15 minutes thickened and rich. recipes Cooking time: 40 minutes Stir in the double visit thesundaycream, vodka and basil, times.co.uk and cook out for a further 1 tbsp of olive oil /food 10 minutes. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. 1 onion, ﬁnely chopped Cook the penne in plenty of salted, boiling water 3-5 cloves of garlic, ﬁnely chopped until al dente. Drain and add to the sauce. Serve with 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes some more basil leaves and grated parmesan n 1 tbsp of tomato purée Tassinaia, Castello del Terriccio 2007 Focused-forward, fruit and a likeable animal aspect, like well-hung game. Smells posh. Easy access SuperTuscan-style (£23.95, leaand sandeman.co.uk) Penfolds Bin 138, Barossa Valley 2010 Dense with spice, liquorice and berries, and elegant tannins to keep it grown-up, this is a wine everyone can love (£16.99, drink supermarket.com) ON THE BOTTLE K AT E S P I C E R Wines for football managers When Sir Alex Ferguson complained to Roman Abramovich about the poor quality of the wine served at Chelsea’s postmatch dinners, the billionaire sent him a case of the big name SuperTuscan, Tignanello. The former Man U manager likes his wine big in every aspect: cost, reputation and character. Yet, of all the wines he has named as favourites, Tignanello is modestly priced: recent vintages retail at about £80 a bottle. Screaming Eagle, a Napa Valley wine he has namechecked and that similarly apes the bordeaux style, costs 20 times that. Ferguson is proud of his high-end oenophilia, yet this is a man who chewed so much gum he went through three sets of teeth. How much of his appreciation was about palate, how much status and cost? Given his national-treasure status we must assume the former. Others, less treasured, of his alpha type use these wines like any other status-making accessory: sports cars, grouse moors and gym- bunny blondes. Which wines at the Chelsea table caused such distress? Was it Aldi claret, £3.99? Or one of those Saint-Emilions seen in corner shops looking a bit unloved and dusty? A supermarket-level Wolf Blass? I mean, how bad was it? We rang a few clubs for a browse of the best wines on offer in hospitality suites. At Liverpool FC it’s a £30 rioja (vintage unspeciﬁed) that retails for about £15. At Scunthorpe FC our request for a wine list was greeted with snorts of mirth: “We don’t do things like that.” Ferguson says he was quite satisﬁed with the Tignanello but I thought it made Abramovich look cheap. If I were an oligarch and Sir Alex called me out on the classless cheapskate wine on offer at my club, I’d have sent a bottle of the Aldi claret and told him it tastes better with a lemonade top. Ideally, he should have sent a half-case of ready-to-drink 1982 Petrus: around £50,000. If you’re going to be top dog, you may as well be top dog with bells on n The Sunday Times Magazine 49