12 December 2016

DIET = DIE with a "T" on the end

12 December 2016 | John Hargreaves

How many of you out there have been on a diet at some time of your life? I reckon heaps of you. How many of those diets actually worked? Not many I reckon.

There are more diets out there than foods that are bad for you. But hang on… what about real taste that is sacrificed?

I confess that I’m an addict. I belong to Spring Rolls Anonymous. I am also a founding member of GAPS. The Great Aussie Pie Society. And I’m a SWAG, that’s a group of us who are addicted to Sausages With Added Gravy, preferably onion gravy.

There’s a group of us Grumpy Old Grandads who meet at the best Chinese restaurant in Christendom, the China Tea House in Erindale. Here we partake in cuttlefish dumplings, deep-fried chilli beef, scallops in black bean sauce, and bugs – Peking style. All washed down with a naughty Riesling or a cheeky sauvignon blanc.

So what about that diet I hear you say?

Well, if I want to live to be a hundred and twenty, avoid another heart attack, keep my skin like a pre-teenager, have a body like the 30 year old Terminator and not look like an obese Keith Richards, I need some mitigating activity.

Here comes the hard work.

So, my everyday menu, cooked by my own fair hand, has to include all those things which are good for you, avoid all those things which are bad for you and has to include items which stimulate not only the taste buds but also the eye. Always up for a challenge.

The essences of this mitigation, read “go-easy diet” are fairly simple. We have all but eliminated butter/margarine from cooking or sandwiches. This was the start of taking out the fat content of foods. Next to go were fatty meats. Lean pork loin is in, lamb forequarter chops are out. Skinless chicken is in and sausages are out (Arrrrgggghh!)

Grilling methods are used; frying in a minimum of spray oil is in but deep frying is out. BBQ is in because it fiercely burns off the fat in the foods. Seafood is good and pies and pizzas are not.

When I (note the use of the singular pronoun) do the shopping, I always check the label on jars and cans, frozen and fresh-but-packed goods to see the fat per 100 gm content. If a choice of brands for the same product is possible I go for the one with the least fat. Incidentally, the cheaper the brand, like the Woolies and Coles own brands are usually high in fat to increase the taste. Just so you know.

You’re getting the point now? Oh, and then there is the Malcolm Turnbull method. The MTM. The Prime Hamster went on a diet a year or so ago and was asked the secret. His response was “to put the fork down”. So we reduce the size of the portions.

I have a mate who does the 2 in 5 diet. This means starving for 2 days out of 5. Sure it works but hey, we’re here for a good time as well as a long time! This for me, is merely self-harm!

So does our approach work? I think so. When I was a lad, I had a lean and hungry look, I was svelte and healthy looking (well to me I was). Then Old Man Time turned up at the dinner table and introduced me to eating out, wines with dinner, the science of whisky, and the abundance of recipes to try out. The result? I blew out!

I was a happy little vegemite, with the body of a pregnant light pole and a degree of discomfort from time to time.

So the diet was introduced, but with caveats. The main caveat was that break out times were not only allowed but encouraged. This meant that the weight control regime had both carrot and stick, pain and pleasure. I was able to help rescue the hospitality industry from bankruptcy.

I lost 10 kg in 6 weeks and have maintained a weight range consistent with my height and age. This has been the best thing I’ve done for ages.

The downside is though, that I have had to buy more clothes cos the ones I can fit back into which had languished in the cupboard for years are out of fashion and I can’t wait until they are back in fashion.

So, here is a simple recipe which we have at our place fairly regularly. Pork with Soy Sauce, Honey and Chilli (substitute ginger if chilli is too hot). Serves 2.

Ingredients:

Three pork loin medallions

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons chilli paste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 cup of dry white wine

bok choy (choy sum or Chinese broccoli if preferred)

1 cup steamed or boiled rice

Method

Place the pork, honey, soy sauce and chilli paste (or ginger paste if preferred) in a plastic bag, shake to coat the pork and put in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

In a frying pan, spray lightly the cooking surface on a medium heat. Place the pork into the pan (the pork should just sizzle a bit when placed in the pan) and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side. This caramelizes the honey and gives a nice browned look to the pork. take the pork off the heat. Add the wine to the pay and reduce.

Meanwhile, steam the chopped bok choy to just wilted and no more (a trick here is to cut off the white stems, dice and place in the steamer for 3-5 minutes before the leaves).

Serve on a bed of steamed or boiled rice. Drizzle sauce over the pork. Fat content – sod all…

So what’s your best diet story?

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John Moulis3:03 pm 16 Dec 16

John Hargreaves said :

MERC600 said :

See you at the baseball John. “”The regular menu during home games includes authentic American-style cheeseburgers, hotdogs, fried macaroni and cheese balls, Coors beer, chips, onion rings and waffle fries (potato wedges cut like waffles). There is also Ben and Jerries icecream.””

I went to the baseball once. And only once. That was enough for this little cricket/AFL fan.

I went to the baseball. It was great. The food, the music, the crowd… Then they had to wreck it by starting the game.

John Hargreaves11:51 am 16 Dec 16

MERC600 said :

See you at the baseball John. “”The regular menu during home games includes authentic American-style cheeseburgers, hotdogs, fried macaroni and cheese balls, Coors beer, chips, onion rings and waffle fries (potato wedges cut like waffles). There is also Ben and Jerries icecream.””

I went to the baseball once. And only once. That was enough for this little cricket/AFL fan.

John Hargreaves11:50 am 16 Dec 16

dungfungus said :

John Hargreaves said :

I’m reliably told that the pork is neither Peppa Pig nor Babe. I think, only think, that it was a good old Christian pig which was facing south at the time of its demise. As the poor darling is dead, I can’t be sure but will undertake (funereal joke) to check it out next time I’m at the butcher’s.

You mean you will have a “butcher’s hook”?

Yeah I guess I do mean a butcher’s at the butcher’s. I’ve heard it said as a “Captain Cook” but not often. And no, I don’t have a recipe for a pork pie. In fact, I don’t like them that much cos they are too fatty.. My fave pie is a Mrs Mac pie from the pie warmer machine and not microwaved. Four N Twenty come next.

MERC6005:25 pm 15 Dec 16

See you at the baseball John. “”The regular menu during home games includes authentic American-style cheeseburgers, hotdogs, fried macaroni and cheese balls, Coors beer, chips, onion rings and waffle fries (potato wedges cut like waffles). There is also Ben and Jerries icecream.””

dungfungus9:42 pm 14 Dec 16

John Hargreaves said :

I’m reliably told that the pork is neither Peppa Pig nor Babe. I think, only think, that it was a good old Christian pig which was facing south at the time of its demise. As the poor darling is dead, I can’t be sure but will undertake (funereal joke) to check it out next time I’m at the butcher’s.

You mean you will have a “butcher’s hook”?

dungfungus9:41 pm 14 Dec 16

John Hargreaves said :

I’m reliably told that the pork is neither Peppa Pig nor Babe. I think, only think, that it was a good old Christian pig which was facing south at the time of its demise. As the poor darling is dead, I can’t be sure but will undertake (funereal joke) to check it out next time I’m at the butcher’s.

Ha ha.
John you were a Pom in your early days so do you have a recipe for a pork pie?

John Hargreaves4:05 pm 14 Dec 16

I’m reliably told that the pork is neither Peppa Pig nor Babe. I think, only think, that it was a good old Christian pig which was facing south at the time of its demise. As the poor darling is dead, I can’t be sure but will undertake (funereal joke) to check it out next time I’m at the butcher’s.

dungfungus11:19 am 14 Dec 16

John Hargreaves said :

for Dungers, the soy sauce is part of the marinade and only a small portion is actually cooked with the pork. the left over marinade is tossed. However, some people baste the pork but again, this is optional. I don’t add salt to my cooking unless the recipe specifically calls for it and then, I usually add a small portion of the recommended amount. Likewise or oil. I use spray oil to avoid the food sticking to the pan, not for consumption.

I know many people who love olive oil and the taste but I don’t use it because of the affect it has on my waistline and for blokes in their late 60s, the waistline is the barometer for heart problems.

I was sure you would be onto it John and at our age we do have to make compromises with what we choose to eat.

That spray oil in the can is the greatest invention since sliced bread.

Is that halal pork you are using or will the ordinary stuff suffice?

John Hargreaves10:54 am 14 Dec 16

for Dungers, the soy sauce is part of the marinade and only a small portion is actually cooked with the pork. the left over marinade is tossed. However, some people baste the pork but again, this is optional. I don’t add salt to my cooking unless the recipe specifically calls for it and then, I usually add a small portion of the recommended amount. Likewise or oil. I use spray oil to avoid the food sticking to the pan, not for consumption.

I know many people who love olive oil and the taste but I don’t use it because of the affect it has on my waistline and for blokes in their late 60s, the waistline is the barometer for heart problems.

switch5:11 pm 13 Dec 16

dungfungus said :

Just go easy on that soy sauce John.

My GP calls the stuff “liquid salt”.

I don’t use any salt at all in home cooking – there is already too much in condiments and processed food. It causes a lot of problems.

Is salt still on the Bad Things list? I thought it had gone the way of the other seventies You Must Not Eat diets.

If I want to know what to eat, I’ll ask a chef, not a doctor.

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