Smoked Cod with Cheese Sauce–Updated Version

 

Today’s task was to enter the 12wbt Challenge for this week – create a recipe!  The basic rules are as follows:

• No more than 10 ingredients including basics such as oil, salt, pepper, herbs.
• Must be 300 calories or less (150 calories for Dessert)
• Ingredients need to be available at normal supermarkets (eg no Beluga caviar)
• Ingredients need to be reasonably priced (no whole white truffles - $2000-$4000 per kg)
• This must be an original recipe, not an existing recipe

I was stuck on perfectionism for this challenge – I wanted the perfect recipe.  But then I realised that I wasn’t perfect and that although this is pretty much a ‘treat’ recipe with cheese, it was still a good original recipe!  And it is something new and different that lots of people may not know about! 

Now this recipe began as a suggestion from my mum – her mum used to do smoked cod by boiling it in milk.  Sounds pretty gross hey! lol  But my husband decided it was worth a try and made it up using full-fat milk and cooking cream!  It was delicious and quickly became a family favourite!  I would have it with just a smaller serving of the cheese sauce.  But I decided I had better make it 12wbt friendly and lower the calories!

Most importantly – smoked cod is very low fat at about 70-80cals per 100g depending where you look.  Using low fat milk and cheese keeps the calories down while providing a lovely sauce that is full of flavour from the smoked cod.  Even the kids love it!  So here goes….

Smoked Cod in White sauce

Serves 4; 280cal per serve; Cooking time: 20mins; Prep time: 5mins.

Description

The smoked flavour of the fish permeates into the cheesy sauce creating a taste sensation! A delightfully wicked meal suited to the whole family and those on a budget! My mother suggested the cooking method, my husband created the original recipe, and I adapted it to reduce the fat and calorie content!

 

Ingredients

600g Smoked Cod (150g serve per person)

½ leek – sliced in rings

1.5 cups of low fat milk

1 tblspn cornflour

75g grated light cheese

1-2 cups of chopped broccoli

1-2 cups of chopped cauliflower

2 med carrots

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Layer the base of a baking dish with the sliced leek and layer the smoked cod on top. Cover with low fat milk and bake at 180C for approximately 20mins or until fish is cooked.

Steam broccoli, cauliflower and carrots (or whatever seasonal vegies are available - 75cals per serve) while the fish is baking. You can adjust the amount of vegetables to your own appetite!

Drain the liquid from the fish into a bowl keeping 1 cup and discarding the rest.  In a small pot, heat the liquid and add the cornflour mixed into a paste with a small amount of cold water.  Simmer while stirring adding the cheese as the sauce thickens.

Comments

· You may not need to add all the cheese depending on how thick and cheesy you want the sauce – try trading some for a more flavoursome cheese like parmesan (50-60 cals total).

· Divide the sauce onto small dipping plates to help with portion sizes!

· If the milk isn’t sufficient to cover the fish you can add more, remembering that it will be discarded – I have allowed for ½ cup of milk to be absorbed into the fish during cooking.

· Parents – you do occasionally get a bone or two in smoked cod so remind kids to chew!

· I haven’t added any spices to the sauce so this is an opportunity to adapt the recipe to your own tastes. I sometimes add a little red curry paste to spice it up, or the kids seem to like a little nutmeg!

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I hope you enjoy this family favourite! Please let me know as we haven’t tried this out on anyone outside of the family as yet! lol