Nutrition by Alan Murchison

Nutrition by Alan Murchison
Created specially for Delucci Retreat

"Winner Winner chicken dinner… or lunch if you fancy"

"Wasn’t the Olympics amazing? As a huge cycling fan it is safe to say the track cycling is always the highlight of the games for me.

Since early 2018 I have been in the fortunate position to have cooked for both the British Cycling female & male elite track endurance squads.

Brilliant to see GB heading the medal table again for track cycling.

Many of the training camps for the podium sqaud were held in the Miranda do Corvo. As perfect a location to base yourself as you will ever find, hence why BC liked to visit often.

We were also very lucky to have our man on the ground locally, Gary Blesson, aka ‘Flash’. 

Flash has acted as bike guide, local hotel fixer, travel agent and general man to make things happen in the local area.

The whole squad were very lucky to not only have an amazing location to train, they also had a purpose built gym to ensure they made gains on and off the bike.

We also cooked all their meals when ‘on camp’ as the importance of eating optimally before, during and after training cannot be over emphasised.

SO, the secret to continued success? Have a goal, work hard and recover even harder, have a great location to execute that plan and have a world class team to help you achieve your goals.

Here is a selection of some of the recipes the British Cycling team ate when in Miranda do Corvo.

These dishes have been cooked on training camps, at World & European championships and at track World Cups.

Flash also ate all these meals, hence the reason the old boy can still keep up with the youngsters!

Enjoy and hopefully see you at Delucci Retreat soon for some ‘madness’ and good food.

Never know, you might even see an Olympian or 2 on the road…."
Alan Murchison

All recipes adapted from ‘The Cycling Chef’ by Alan Murchison and published by Bloomsbury.
 

Recipes

MOCHA MADNESS BIRCHER

A favourite ahead of a hard day in the saddle.

Ingredients:

1 portion

60g glutenfree oats

10g ground almonds

10g ’Sweet Freedom’ vegan hot chocolate shot

60g soya yoghurt

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 shot espresso coffee (used Nespresso capsule) 

100ml chocolate soya milk

Method:

Mix and leave for 15 minutes or overnight (if leaving overnight add extra 25ml of milk as it will thicken up), serve with walnuts, hazelnuts & almonds.

Chocolate for breakfast…. living the dream. 

BBQ SPICED CHICKEN with QUINOA, MANGO & POMEGRANATE SALAD

Ideal meal to eat once you have finished a day getting half wheeled by Flash!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

250g pre cooked quinoa

8-10 chicken mini fillets, approx 200g of chicken PP marinated in cajun or BBQ spices

Cajun or BBQ seasoning

1/2  cucumber

2 tomatoes

50g green beans

50g mange tout

half a bag of baby spinach

1 ripe mango

Pack of pre prepared pomegranate

Small bunch of fresh mint & fresh coriander

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce 

Olive oil

Chopped cashews

Method:

Combine cooked quinoa with a dressing made from the fish sauce, soya sauce & sweet chilli sauce and 1 tbsp olive oil.

Stir in diced cucumber, tomato, green beans, mange tout.

Make salsa by dicing one large mango and mixing with one pomegranate (buy this already preprepared as its a pain to do yourself) & chopped fresh mint and coriander. 

To make spiced chicken, dice up 200g of chicken per person and marinate with 1 -2 tbsp cajun or BBQ seasoning and olive oil, grill. 

Combine the quinoa salad, salsa and spiced chicken. 

Sprinkle over chopped cashew nuts at the end and serve with a load of baby spinach leaves for the perfect balanced meal.

Can be served warm or at room temperature & makes amazing lunch.

GNOCCHI BAKE WITH SPINACH, BROCCOLI, CHICKEN AND TARRAGON

Perfect evening meal in the middle of a hard training block, can be made up in advance and popped in the oven.

Serves 2 as main meal with portion left for lunch, if you are lucky 

Ingredients:

500g chicken mini fillets

500g gluten free gnocchi

1 bag baby spinach 

1 head of broccoli 

100g chestnut mushrooms

2 cloves fresh garlic 

100g low fat cream cheese

100ml single cream 

3 tbsp strong hard cheese, Parmesan or Pecorino 

1 small bunch of tarragon

1 bunch of spring onions 

Method:

Pre heat oven to 190c.

One large pan of boiling salted water on and one grill pan, try and do 2 things at once and this is really quick, cut broccoli up and cook for 3 mins max and then strain off, leaving water in the pan, then bring back to the boil and cook gnocchi for 60 secs max, strain off and set aside, is saute pan cook spinach over high heat for 60 secs in 1 tsp olive oil, season well and press out any excess liquid, then chop up chicken and saute for 5/6 minutes, with the garlic & season well and set aside, then saute mushrooms, mix the cream and cream cheese together and season well, chop the tarragon and stir into the cream mix. layer up a casserole dish with spinach, then gnocchi, then broccoli, then chicken & mushrooms, pour over cream mix, season and then sprinkle over 3 tbsp of hard strong cheese, into the over for 20-30 minutes, chopped spring onions to finish, sounds like a nightmare but really easy, recipe image will help you along, this can be made up in advance. Key to success is don’t over cook gnocchi and veg and make sure its all drained well and correctly seasoned.

Edwardo Clancy, the most successful pursuit rider of all time, his favourite brownie for snacking.

HARD TO BEET BROWNIES…. (Like Ed.. hard to beat)

Half the fat of standard brownies and with added nitrates!

Ingredients:

300g cooked beetroot *not* the kind in vinegar!

100g butter

200g good quality dark chocolate (70-75%)

250g coconut sugar

3 eggs

100g plain flour, gluten free if sensitive

25g cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees/160 fan.

Line and grease a square brownie pan.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Be careful not to burn it.

Put the beetroot in food processor, add the butter and chocolate mix and blitz until smooth.

Meanwhile whisk the sugar and eggs together until thick and foamy.

In a large bowl fold the egg mixture into the chocolate and beetroot puree.

Once combined add the flour and cocoa powder a spoon full at a time until fully combined.

Pour into the lined pan and bake for 25mins until baked around the edges and a bit wobbly in the middle!

Leave to cool completely in the tin then cut into squares and enjoy.

Keep for a couple of days in the fridge. 
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