A Fraiche Challenge: Three Course Menu using creme fraiche

Weight Watchers Crème Fraiche hit shelves earlier this year and is the perfect ingredient for both savoury and sweet dishes. Deliciously thick and made in the West Country using fresh British Milk, it offers an alternative to inspire healthy cooking. Creme Fraiche is a versatile ingredient to know about: thick and creamy, it can be used as a substitute for most recipes that call for yogurt or cream, or swirled through soups and sauces.

I was given a Fraiche Challenge: to come up with a three course menu that uses creme fraiche throughout and for more than just swirling. I would be unlikely to use one ingredient in every course if I were planning a dinner, but after the excesses of Christmas eating, I combined the creme fraiche with fresh flavours (see what I did there?) and lots of veggies to give a healthy kick start to the New Year.

Starter: Prawn and Avocado salad

I won’t lie: this is fundamentally a homage to the 1980 classic starter: the Prawn Cocktail. I even used my retro restaurant serving bowls to present itbut prawn cocktail is one of my favourite starters. Just rinse your responsibly sourced prawns and put to one side. Chop a ripe avocado into small cubes and add to the prawns. Mix together half a tub (about 100ml) of creme fraiche with 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup, 1/2 tsp of paprika, 1 tsp of lime juice and season to taste (feel free to add more heat as I am a wuss where these things are concerned.) Add prawn and avocado and mix. Layer up a bag of washed ready salad– in this case I used one that had grated beetroot and carrot as I love the colour and like the flavour of beetroot with prawns- in your dish, then top with a mounded heap of the prawn mix.

Main Course:Creme Fraiche Baked Salmon. 

This is such a simple recipe that is easy to prepare in advance and bung in the oven 20 minutes before you want to eat. Line the bottom of an oven proof dish with plenty of spinach– fresh or frozen- then lay your responsibly sourced salmon across the top. I got one large piece from my fishmonger which served three people (or two greedy) but you could use pre-packaged fillets. Squeeze over the juice of two oranges, and season very well then smear the entire dish on a good layer of creme fraiche (ie: the pot). Then bake in an oven for 20-25 minutes at 180C until the salmon is just cooked. Serve with roasted vegetables- in this case I used potatoes and carrots as well as some steamed asparagus.

Dessert: Mango Lime Brulee with Toasted Coconut

Adapted from a simple recipe for Caribbean Cream that I use quite a bit in our house, this is a light and tasty dessert with lots of fresh flavour and needs very little sugar. Chop up a ripe mango and place in an ovenproof dish. Add the zest of a lime. Place 25g of dessicated coconut on a tray under a grill and toast (beware: this happens very quickly so keep an eye on it!) In a bowl whisk 200ml of double cream until thick. Fold in the same amount of Creme Fraiche add combine until smooth. Then fold through the toasted coconut. Smooth over the mango and top with a layer (about 25g) of muscovado sugar. Place under a piping hot grill for five minutes until the sugar is melted. Leave to cool, as it will set and give a chance for the flavours of the coconut and lime to really come out, before serving topped with pomegranate seeds and lime juice.

 

 

*Disclosure: I was sent shopping vouchers to cover the cost of creating these recipes. Weight Watchers Creme Fraiche can be bought in all the usual supermarkets at around 97p per 200g tub.