Roasted Lemon-Garlic Duck

I just love duck!  We tried a new marinade on the duck in the pic.   I usually oven roast it in the oven but have also done this bird over a charcoal fire.  It comes out absolutely delicious done either way!  I’d like to share this marinate/sauce with my readers that may also be fans of duck.  This VERY nutritious recipe (check out the stats below!) is suitable for all phases of Atkins (using broth rather than wine if still in the Atkins Induction Phase).  It is also suitable for Paleo-Primal followers as well if broth is used rather than wine.

INGREDIENTS: 

1 c. white wine (use chicken broth if still on Induction)

4 T. my Lemon-Parsley-Garlic Butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

Dash each:  salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

1  whole 5-lb duck, neck and giblets removed for other use

DIRECTIONS:  Remove neck and giblets from duck and save for other uses.  My dog usually gets the giblets and neck meat I simmer until tender, but the neck will make great stock for soup if you want to add it to the carcass bones after dinner in a pot of water with chopped onion and carrot.  Duck stock makes delicious soup!

Butterfly (spatchcock) the duck by cutting up the backbone and spreading the bird out in a marinating dish.  Add wine (or broth in on Induction Phase), minced garlic and other spices.  Marinate covered in plastic on your refrigerator shelf for 2-4 hours, turning and basting 1-2 times during this period with a basting brush.

You’ll need to allow about 1½-2 hours to cook a 5# duck to internal temperature of 180º.  Duck is traditionally served a wee bit pink but you can cook it a bit longer if you prefer. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375º.  Remove duck from refrigerator and lift out of the marinating dish. Pour marinade off into a small saucepan.  Add compound butter and simmer for 5 minutes or so to allow raw duck juices to fully cook. Place duck skin side up in a large baking pan, baste with marinade and pop in hot oven.  Using a basting brush, baste duck with marinade and pan juices every half hour.  At 1 hour cooking, remove duck and cover wing tips and leg tips with small pieces of foil so they will not over brown/burn.  Pop pan back into oven, lower oven to 350º and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour longer (ovens will vary), or until a meat thermometer reads 180º at center thigh and center breast.   Serve at once with your favorite sides for fowl.  I served mine with steamed broccoli and broiled tomatoes.  This would be delicious done on the grill with grilled fresh pineapple slices alongside.   Mmmm.   How I DOOOOOOOO love grilled pineapple!  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

791 cals (think duck fat),65.3g fat, 2.4g carbs, 0.2g fiber, 2.2g NET CARBS, 36.4g protein, 485 mg sodium. 446 mg potassium, 23% Vitamin A, 45% B6, 44% B12, 48% copper, 66% iron, 11% magnesium, 66% niacin, 44% phosphorous, 47% riboflavin, 69% selenium, 30% thiamin and 45% zinc

Chicken Artichoke Casserole

I haven’t made this recipe is ages but saw a can of artichoke hearts in my pantry this morning.  Pulled some chicken from the freezer and this is on the menu tonight.   This simple dish goes together in about 10 minutes, bakes in 1 hour while you are free do to other things.  Is this one EVER delicious!  Even my husband likes this recipe and he’s not particularly fond of artichokes!  He refuses to eat the leaves dipped into butter when I make them.  But when he was finished wolfing this down at dinner, he said “Be sure to post this on your blog.”  That’s the best compliment I can get.  It owes its unique flavor to the Shawarma Spice Blend in the mayo.  It brings so much to the final flavor profile.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and other Keto diets.  With all this dairy, this recipe is not suitable for Paleo followers.  

NOTE:  I discovered that the reheated leftovers are even tastier than on first baking!! So this dish, if serving to company, might be better made a day ahead, only partially cooking/browning the chicken for 35 minutes and removing from oven. Refrigerate overnight and allow it to finish cooking/browning the next day as it is warming up. 🙂 

INGREDIENTS:

3 large chicken thighs

3 large chicken drumsticks

5 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ c. sour cream

¼ c. + 2 T. my Shawarma Mayonnaise

½ c. parsley, chopped

2 oz. yellow onion, chopped fine

1 can (15 oz) artichoke hearts, drained or 1 c. marinated salad artichokes, cut in halves, rinsed well

Dash sea salt

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper

3 T. melted butter for basting

DIRECTIONS:  Remove the chicken from the bones, leaving the skin on as it adds so much flavor.   You can boil the bones for some great stock for future use.  I cut each piece of the meat into two smaller pieces.  Set meat aside for now.  Preheat oven to 350º and lightly oil a ceramic 9×13 baking dish.

Soften the cream cheese by your preferred method.  I nuke mine in a glass mixing bowl on DEFROST for 2-3 seconds.  Stir in sour cream and mayo and blend well with a rubber spatula. Add chopped parsley, onion, salt and pepper and stir again.  Fold the chopped artichoke hearts gently into the creamy mixture.  Spoon the artichoke mixture into the oiled baking dish and spread evenly.  Place the pieces of chicken, skin side up, on top of the mixture.  Mine were slightly touching in my dish, but they shrink during cooking.  Using a brush, baste meat with a bit of the melted butter.  Sprinkle with another dash of salt and black pepper.  Pop into 350º oven and bake for 1 hour.  Baste again with melted butter at the 20 minute mare and again at 40 minutes cook time.  Remove from oven at the 1 hour mark when chicken should be golden brown.  Serve with your favorite green salad or green veggie side dish.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes  5 servings, each contains

529 calories, 50 g fat (reduce dairy items a bit to lower fat), 6.68 g carbs, 2.00 g fiber, 4.68 g NET CARBS, 22 g protein, 468 mg sodium

Beef Short Ribs Braised in Root Beer

Years ago I used to buy and cook short ribs a lot.  They were real cheap and ever so tasty braised in liquid.  I find they are more difficult to find in the meat counters these days and fairly pricey when you do.  I often forget about this tasty cut of beef when meat shopping as a result.   I found some recently at my regular meat market and cooked them up in a new liquid……….diet root beer!  I forget how much I love shortribs!  Here’s one of my now favorite ways to prepare short ribs!  And these are OK for Atkins Induction Phase.  I added the carrots (shown in pic) for my hubby, who is not low-carbing as strictly as I am).  This braising recipe is also good for large chunks of beef chuck, pork country style pork ribs cut into large chunks, or with chicken thighs and legs.

INGREDIENTS:

8 meaty beef short ribs or 1 lb. beef chuck roast, cut into large chunks

2 T. olive oil

1 onion, medium, cut into 1″ wedges

3 stalks celery (8″) cut into 1″ pieces

6 cloves garlic, cut into halves

¼ tsp. dried thyme or 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 sprig fresh rosemary

½ tsp. cumin seed

3 c. low sodium beef broth

1 can diet root beer  (I use Hansen’s, sweetened with Splenda)

2 star anise (or 1/2 tsp. 5-Spice Powder)

Pinch black pepper

3 drops liquid sweetener

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 300º.   Season ribs with a pinch of black pepper.  In 8 qt. Dutch oven, heat olive oil.  Brown ribs on all sides in batches.  Transfer meat to a plate and pour off excess oil.  Add vegetables and spices.  Cook 3-4 minutes, scraping brown bits loose from the bottom of the pan.  Return meat to pot and add broth and root beer.  Bring to a simmer, cover tightly and place in oven.  Bake until meat is almost falling off the bones (about 2 hours). Using a slotted spoon, transfer ribs to a platter.  Skim off and discard as much fat as you can.  Boil over medium-high heat until liquid is reduced by about half.  Add meat back and spoon liquid over ribs so as to “glaze” them with the sauce.  Simmer about 5 minutes and serve.   Salt to taste at table.

These would be  great with my Chipotle “Sweet Potatoes” or a batch of well-seasoned Mashed Cauliflower.  For those not on Atkins, it’s great with steamed rice.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 servings, each with:

707 cals, 45g fat, 7.03g carbs, 0.93g fiber, 6.1g NET CARBS, 67 g  protein

Homemade Hoisin Sauce (low-carb)

I made some Moo Shu Pork for dinner recently and as I grabbed my homemade hoisin sauce from the refrigerator, I thought I need to post this recipe again for those readers that may have missed it. 

My first exposure to Moo Shu Pork was at a restaurant in Houston called Shanghai East.  On one occasion, the actress Debra Paget was dining across the room from us.  She is/was married to an Asian oil businessman, my husband said.   I will always see her as the beautiful Indian princess Sunsiree, who marries Jimmy Stewart in “Broken Arrow”.  The restaurant was fairly empty as it was mid-afternoon, so we walked over, introduced ourselves and chatted a moment about her career.   Such a pretty woman, even then, in her late 50’s or early 60’s maybe?  I remember this occasion every time I eat Moo Shu Pork.  Photo of this 60’s star below.  🙂

We love, love, love Moo Shu Pork.  But to really enjoy it, you just have to have Hoisin Sauce to add and that, purchased at an Asian market, just isn’t a low-carb item.  Several of my readers have been asking me for years to create this sauce in a low-carb version, but I kept hesitating to take that on, as I didn’t actually know where to begin & was reluctant to even start.   One day when we wanted to make some Moo Shu Pork, I said ‘Here goes!” that morning.  Better late than never, as the end result it isn’t that bad.  🙂

Commercial Hoisin sauce either has brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup or a considerable amount of molasses in the ingredient listing.  I tried several recipes for this sauce I gathered around the net over the past 9 years and the only two trialed to date were just not so good to me.   :{  So I set about creating my own finally.   By the way, this sauce is the very same plum sauce used in serving famed Peking Duck, and it also compliments my Asian Honey Duck recipe. 

And so my experiment began that morning.  I had an open bag of no-sugar-added prunes in my pantry, so I began there.  I started with 10 dried prunes as a base.  Then I added a few store-bought ingredients mention on commercial labels of the sauce, cutting carb “corners” wherever I could  and literally guessing the amounts for all my ingredients to arrive at the desired taste.

Well, I’m here to tell you my final sauce, after aging, came out pretty darn good!  Not exactly like the high-carb stuff in the jar at the Asian grocery store when finished, but it ages and gets closer to that flavor over time in the fridge.  We ate it that first night, and were initially a little disappointed in its mild flavor.  The anise (licorice flavor) in the Chinese 5-Spice Powder was pretty pronounced but the bean paste, not so much.   Those flavors however did mellow and develop in just 24 hours, getting considerably richer/deeper flavored in a week.

All in all, not bad for my first shot at a low-carb version of this essential Chinese condiment. Most commercial hoisin sauce has around 8 carbs per tablespoon, so this number is trimmed down considerably with my recipe.  Using liquid Splenda lowers carbs a tad, but not very much.  A couple weeks later, the sauce had aged quite nicely in flavor, so the key appears to be letting it age before using.

I’ll post the Moo Shu Pork recipe later today.  I have been cooking many years with with Gloria Bley-Miller’s marvelous cookbook The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook  as my “Bible” for Chinese cooking.  I highly recommend her cookbook.  I can cook Moo Shu pork blindfolded but must be sure to have dried tiger lily buds and dried cloud ear fungus on hand to prepare it.

This sauce is suitable once you get to Phase 2 of Atkins, since it is used in such small amounts on the “pancake” (low-carb flour tortilla) that you will use to roll up the Moo Shu Pork.  This sauce is totally unsuitable for Primal or Paleo due to the soy beans, as all legumes are eschewed in those food plans.  Sauce should keep a long time in a jar in the refrigerator.  Mine is now 3 months old and it smells/tastes just fine.

INGREDIENTS:

10 large dried prunes (4 oz.), no sugar added (I use DelMonte)

½ c. water

1 T. rice wine vinegar

3 T. low-sodium soy sauce (use dark soy sauce if available)

¼ tsp. Chinese 5-Spice powder

1 tsp. molasses

3 T. Splenda or few drops of liquid sweetener of choice

2 T. Eden soy black beans, rinsed & mashed smooth

DIRECTIONS:  Place prunes in small saucepan with about ½ c. tap water.  Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until they are soft, or about 5 minutes.  Mash well into the water with a fork until pretty smooth.  You can puree in a blender or food processor if you like, but is difficult to do with such a small amount.  Remove from heat.

Mash the beans on a paper plate to as smooth a paste as possible and stir into the prune mixture.  Add vinegar, soy sauce and 5-Spice powder to the pot and stir well.  Spoon into a lidded jar and store if in your refrigerator for  a week.  I do not know how long this keeps yet, and it sure has no preservatives in it.  But since it’s just made from basically dried fruit, vinegar and sugar ( preservatives naturally) with some soy sauce (fermented), I suspect a pretty long time.  Just don’t know yet.  The soy beans will be what spoils first in this combo.  I’ll try to remember to post back my findings on that when mine no longer seems to smell/look right to me and I toss it out.  🙂  UPDATE:  Seems to last indefinitely in the refrigerator.  That that I made ages ago is still good months later.  No ill effects from eating it ever.  

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes about 1 cup (16 Tbsp.).  Each tablespoon contains:

17.2 cals, 0.1g fat, 3.65g carbs, 0.51g fiber, 3.14g Net CARBS (2.8 NC with liquid Splenda), 0.45g protein, 101 mg sodium

Cocktail Sauce

My family has been making cocktail sauce by this recipe since I was a very little girl, and I have to confess, that was a VERY, VERY long time ago.  Haven’t found one I like better, homemade or commercial.  This sauce keeps about 2-3 weeks in your refrigerator (basically as long as the celery and onion last).  It is also Atkins Induction friendly just as my mother originally made it, other than I now sub in a low-carb ketchup for traditional sugar-laden ketchup!

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ c.  low carb or no-sugar added ketchup

¼ c. fresh lemon juice

¼  tsp. salt

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

2-4 T. horseradish sauce (add to taste)

2 T. celery, minced as fine as you can get it!

1 tsp. onion, minced as fine as you can get it!

DIRECTIONS: Combine all ingredients and chill.  For a smoother sauce, you could pulse this in a food processor or blender a few seconds.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes about 2 cups or 32 tablespoons.  Each tablespoon has:

10 cals, 0.4g fat, 1.89g carbs, 0.03g fiber, 1.86g NET CARBS, 0.06g protein, 29.56 mg sodium

Homemade Mayonnaise

I don’t like the taste of commercial mayonnaise.  Wouldn’t eat it as a child; still  won’t.  For years, this impeded my eating many common foods made with mayonnaise.  I suspect my not liking it is it is because commercial mayonnaise is  cooked (to thicken and extend shelf life) and also because it has added water.  Hot water and oil just don’t mix in the favor department for me.  Mix them sometime in a glass and smell.  THAT’s the taste I don’t like. 

This aversion has driven me to make homemade mayonnaise exclusively ever since my brother, a professional chef, taught me how to make it in a blender/processor sometime in my 30’s.  Homemade mayo is not as thick as commercial mayonnaise, so I have a special ingredient I add.  In addition, the homemade only keeps 7-10 days, so I date the jar lid and make a fresh batch almost weekly.  If it is  old I just toss it out to be safe.    

To all the salmonella naysayers out there (including my mother)……….all I can say is I’ve been making this for about 20 years now and I’m still alive and kicking and have never gotten salmonella poisoning from anything in my life but a can of tuna I cooked into a casserole once.  Both I and my husband were severely effected by that tuna casserole and the doctor said it was the likely culprit for my 2-day intestinal woes.  The French, inventors of mayonnaise, have made it for centuries and the nation has no records of excessive salmonella for having done so.  🙂

This mayo also makes an excellent base for creamy salad dressings when thinned with 1 T. cream.  There are so many different spices and ingredients you can add for an endless variety of salad dressing creations!  My favorite additive is my Chicken Shawarma Spice Blend.  But the chipotle in adobo version is pretty special as well.  Be Creative!  I’ve listed some of my favorite mayo  additives below.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. oil (I use Bertolli Extra Light olive or peanut oil)

1 egg

1 T. chopped yellow onion

Dash each of salt, black pepper, garlic powder

½ tsp red wine vinegar (or vinegar of choice)

OPTIONAL:  Pinch (1/16 tsp.) glucomannan powder for a thicker mayo

DIRECTIONS:  Place egg and chopped onion (and glucomannan, if using) into blender or food processor.  Blend until fluffy, lemon-colored and onion is pulverized.  The making of the emulsion is done with repeated taps of the “pulse” button on your machine.  With oil(s) in a pourable container, SLOWLY start pouring oil in a very thin stream the size of pencil lead into the egg mixture, pulsing every couple seconds.  I pour oil with one hand and pulse my processor with the other hand.  Repeat until all oil is incorporated into the mixture.  If using, add glucomannan powder for a thicker products.  Open processor and add all seasonings, vinegar, replace lid and pulse 1-2 more times.  Transfer to lidded glass jar and keep refrigerated for 7-10 days before I just toss out any that’s left and make a fresh batch.  It is normal for it to slightly darken on the surface, so I scrape that off and discard.  You’ll know when it has gone bad as it will start to separate, discolor and have an off odor.  

In hundreds of batches now, I’ve only had this fail on me two times, if that is encouraging……but it CAN happen.    If the emulsion “breaks” on you, just use it for salad dressings and sauces rather than spreading mayo for sandwiches.  It will still have a good flavor so there’s no need to discard it.

THINGS I’VE ADDED FOR SALAD DRESSING APPLICATIONS: (or just some flavoring):

2 tsp. Shawarma Spice Blend (thinned with cream, also makes a nice sauce for broiled fish or  chicken)

½ c. chopped cilantro, seeded jalapeno & more onion

½ seeded chipotle pepper in adobo sauce minced fine + ½  small clove minced garlic

1-2 T. chopped sun-dried tomatoes (oil pack)

1-2 T. tomato paste for roumalade sauce for boiled shrimp 

½ tsp. regular chili powder (or ¼ tsp. chipotle chili powder)  + 1 cl. minced garlic

½ avocado & 1 seeded jalapeno

¼ c. chopped black olives & 1-2 T. more EV olive oil

1 tsp. anchovy paste 

1 T. mashed capers

minced fresh basil leaves

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

Makes about 20 Tablespoons, each containing:

99.25 cals, 11.05 g fat, 0.08 g carbs, 0.01 g fiber, 0.07 g NET CARBS, 0.32 g protein, 8 mg sodium

Cuban Roast Pork (Cerdo Asado)

I’ve seen a lot of recipes for Cuban Pork Roast on the internet lately.  This meat is known as Cerbo Asado in Cuba when cooked on a grill over charcoal.  The recipes I have encountered sound interesting, but quite heavy in Mexican oregano, which is already stronger and more aromatic than Italian oregano most of us are familiar with.   The recipes vary quite a bit, like gumbo does from kitchen to kitchen.  I’ve come up with a version that is a similar, but much little milder in oregano.  It also pulls several interesting new flavors into the mix.  It is a blending of some 3-4 different recipes, adding my own ingredients, deleting some ingredient as well. I think you’ll like the final taste on this pork, as both of us certainly did. 

When a marinade or sauce can take away the strong flavor of roasted pork (at least strong to me) that’s a win-win in my book. This recipe accomplished that admirably and I will be making this creation again.  I’d like to try it on a brisket cooked outside on the grill sometime as well. 

I am only providing the nutritional info for the marinade/sauce to which you can just add the amount of meat you slice off and consume.  My assumption is that each person will likely only be consuming 1 T. marinade/sauce on the meat and perhaps 1 T. dotted on the meat at table.  This recipe is not suitable until you are past the Induction Phase of Atkins.  It is perfectly suitable for Keto plans and Primal-Paleo as well.

Afterthought:  This meat leftover makes particularly tasty sandwiches.  Love it that way, so I do a large roast on purpose!  This meat freezes well cooked/sliced & separated with plastic wrap to have at the ready so you can pop off a few slices, defrost and serve up those delicious sandwiches in no time at all!   And its ever so much better for you than store-bought lunchmeat.

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 lb. bone-in pork butt (or 4-5 lb. boneless pork shoulder)

3/4 c. fresh-squeezed orange juice

Juice of 1 large lemon

juice of 1 lime

3/4 c. white wine (I used Riesling)

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. each fresh mint and cilantro, chopped

1 T. dried ancho chile pepper, ground

6 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 T. dried oregano leaves (or 2 T. fresh, chopped)

1 T. each onion powder and ground cumin

1 tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. chipotle chile powder (or a 1″ pepper in adobo, rinsed, seeded and mashed)

1/16 tsp. dusted glucomannan powder to ever so slightly thicken marinade so it will cling to meat

OPTIONAL:  1 tsp. salt

VARIATION:  I suspect this would be delicious grilled over charcoal like you would pork for making pulled pork BBQ.  I haven’t tried that yet, however.  If you wish, you can add some bell pepper to the bottom of the baking pan 1 hour before meat is done.  The roasted peppers are quite delicious with this meat.

DIRECTIONS:  Place first 5 ingredients into a marinating pan large enough for your meat.  Add all the herbs and spices listed and stir well.  Add glucomannan, whisking until blended.  This will ever so slightly thicken the marinade so it will cling to meat.  Place pork butt into marinating pan.  Using a basting brush, drizzle marinade over meat slowly until all sides are covered.  Marinate for 1-2 hours, turning meat once and repeating the drizzling step to baste all over again.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 325º.  Line large sheet pan with foil so it will catch all juices for easier clean-up.  Set a meat rack in the pan next to elevate the meat and finally place the meat fat-side up onto the rack.  The rack is essential to get the “bark” on all sides of the meat.  Pour marinade into a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes to make certain the raw meat juices in it have fully cooked. Remove from heat.

Baste meat again with marinade and pop into 325º oven.  Bake for 1 hour to raise internal temperature of the center of the meat.  Now lower oven temperature to 250º and bake for about 4 hours (more for larger roast; less for smaller one), turning the meat and basting every hour to allow all sides to brown evenly.   When the meat reaches 170º internal temperature it is done and fork tender.  Mine was so tender the slices fell away from the knife before I could even get them cut off.  Remove meat to serving platter and set a few minutes.   Combine pan juices and baste with a little water and cook a few minutes to be sure it is fully cooked throughout and to reduce.  Slice meat fairly thin and serve with a nice guacamole salad.  Have the “sauce” on the table so your diners can dot a little more on at the table, it on their portion, as it is a wonderful flavor “boost” to the meat.

Alternately, you can cook this slow over charcoal fire like you would for cooking pork for pulled pork BBQ.  

TIP:  As always, be sure your thermometer isn’t touching a bone when you check temperature so you are getting an accurate reading. 

NUTRITIONAL INFO (for sauce only!) Makes about 2 cups (32 T.).  Average serving=2 T.  Each serving contains:  (be sure to add in the meat portion to these numbers to get your per serving total)

54 cals, 6.93g fat, 3.3g carbs, 0.36g fiber, 2.94g NET CARBS, 0.4g protein, trace sodium.

Chicken-Zucchini Casserole

This simple and delicious casserole is quick to prepare and pop into the oven on a week night when you’re wanting fast and easy.  The star flavor here is the poblano pepper.  I love Mexican foods and like to experiment therein.  I make no claims my Mexican dishes are “authentic” by any stretch of the imagination.  They simply offer many of the flavors we associate with classic Tex-Mex, as we call Mexican food in Texas.  This dish could be prepared ahead, frozen and just topped with the cheese and baked the day of serving.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, and Primal if you eat occasional dairy.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. coconut oil or oil of choice

12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken, cut bite-size

Calaba or Mexican Zucchini (has less water content than regular zucchini)

4 c. diced Mexican zucchini (shown right, or use regular zucchini)

2 oz. onion, chopped

1½   5″ poblano peppers, roasted (or 2 small ones)

¼ canned diced tomatoes (solids only)

¼ c. heavy cream

2 oz. cream cheese

1/8 tsp. regular chili powder

1/8 tsp. chipotle chile powder (or 1/8 tsp. more regular chili powder if unavailable)

1 clove garlic, minced

½ c. homemade chicken broth

2 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese (or mild Cheddar)

DIRECTIONS:   Seed and stem the poblano peppers.  Cut one in half and reserve half for another recipe.  Cut the whole one in half.  Lay the 3 pieces in a baking pan and roast at 400º until browning.  Turn them over and roast until other side is browning. Remove from oven.  When able to handle, peel the papery skin off them and chop.  Lower heat to 350º.

While the poblano peppers are roasting, cut up the chicken, squash and onion.  Heat oil over high heat in a large non-stick skillet or wok.  Saute chicken until opaque and starting to brown.  Add onion and squash to the pan.  Saute, stirring constantly until they are about half done.   Add the garlic, spices and stir.  Lower heat to medium and add cream cheese, stirring until it is melted and evenly distributed in the mixture.  Add tomatoes and chicken broth.  Add the diced poblano peppers and stir.  Lastly, add the cream, stirring in well and turn off heat.

You can bake this dish in the same skillet if just serving family or transfer to a lightly greased attractive baking dish for more formal service.  Sprinkle the Jack cheese down the middle and pop into 350º oven.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbling on the edges.  Remove from oven and serve with a nice guacamole salad or veggie of your choice.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

291 cals, 19.45g fat, 10.87g carbs, 3.25g fiber, 7.62g NET CARBS, 18.55g protein, 250 mg sodium

Cheese Flat Bread

I need to bake some bread today.  I’ve used up all I had on hand.  This cheese bread is quick to put together and quite tasty.  These are larger and are slightly higher in carbs, but you’d have to expect that on size increase alone.  These work well baked in a muffin pan as a muffin/roll for dinner.  I like to bake them in flat rounds sandwiches.  This recipe is quick to pull together with my Einkorn Bake Mix which I keep at the ready.  What are you waiting for?  Get in that kitchen and whip up a batch of these to serve with dinner tonight and see how you like them!  This are suitable once you get to Phase 2 grains level of the Atkins carb re-introduction ladder.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (or use all cheddar, but result will be greasier)

½ c. my homemade Einkorn Bake Mix

2 eggs, beaten

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a baking sheet with either parchment or a silicone sheet.  If you would prefer a muffin shape, use a non-stick muffin pan, a silicone pan or oil the slots slightly. I like the flat ones so any leftovers can be used to make sandwiches.  🙂

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs.  Add the two cheeses and the bake mix and stir well until it is uniformly forming a moist ball.  Divide into 6 equal portions and slightly form into balls.  Place on lined baking sheet and slightly flatten (or make into muffins, filling muffin cups with 1/6 of the batter).  For making dinner rolls, you might want to use a muffin pan with large slots for higher rise.  Pop into preheated 350º oven for about 17-18 minutes (20-22  min. if done in muffin pan for rolls) or until they are golden.  Remove and serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 portions, each contains:

205 calories, 15.5g fat, 4.46g carbs, 0.76g fiber, 3.7g NET CARBS, 13.3g protein, 353 mg sodium (carbs will vary slightly using another low-carb bake mixes)

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are moist, dense cake-like in texture, and incredibly tasty!  My picky husband really liked these, and he usually isn’t too fond of low-carb desserts.  These are not Induction friendly due to the almond flour and nuts.  Sometimes I leave out the chopped nuts to lower calorie/carb count even more.

VARIATION:  For a chewier cookie, use the sugar-free honey (I use Honeytree from Walmart) instead of the DaVinci vanilla syrup.   For a crunchier cookie, bake them longer/browner.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. almond flour

¼ c. + 2T. unsweetened, plain whey protein

1 tsp. baking soda

½ c. chopped nuts

½ c. sugar-free chocolate chips

¼ c. granular Splenda

4 T. erythritol sweetener

3 T. melted, unsalted butter

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

¼ c. sugar free honey+1 tsp. vanilla (or up to 1/4 c. DaVinci Vanilla sugar-free syrup, added slowly,  just enough to create a thick batter)

1 T. water (omit if you used DaVinci syrup)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl.  Add all wet ingredients.  Blend well and let batter sit for a couple minutes to firm up.  Spoon onto greased or non-stick baking sheet in 1″ globs.  They don’t spread out much when cooking, so I slightly  flattened with my fingers, but not too much.  Bake for about 12 minutes at 350º.  Cool on cloth or racks.  I got exactly 26 cookies.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 26 cookies, each contains:

55.85 cals, 4.79g fat, 2.04g carbs, 0.84g fiber, 1.2g NET CARBS, 1.8g protein, 54 mg. sodium

Chorizo-Stuffed Pattypan Squash

Normally I shy away from chorizo.   The commercial stuff can be very greasy and is usually way too heavy with spices for me.  But what I created for our lunch today with the chorizo I get from my grass-fed beef supplier (actually made by Eades Meat Market up in Amarillo) was anything but!  These little stuffed pattypan squash were delightful tasty and not the slightest bit greasy or spicy with the chorizo in my opinion.  This delicious recipe will be a keeper in my house whenever I can get my hands on pattypan squash.  You almost have to grow it yourself to find it where I live.  This dish can be served either as an entrée or a side.  These are suitable for Atkins once you get to phase 2 and can be eaten by Keto followers if the carbs fit your daily allowance.  Primal and Paleo folks can enjoy if you use a plan suitable bread or other filler.

VARIATION:   1) Use browned bulk breakfast sausage instead of chorizo.  2) Use zucchini or Mexican zucchini instead of the patty pan squash.

INGREDIENTS: 

4 pattypan (white, scalloped) summer squash

Enough Olive oil to brush tops of squash

6 oz. chorizo sausage

1½ slices my Gluten-Free Focaccia bread (or other low-carb bread on hand)

1 beaten egg  (use ½ c. shredded cheese of choice if egg sensitive)

2 T. my Sofrito sauce

Dash black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 375º.  Cut the stems off the squash and level the outer bottoms with your knife so they sit flat on a pan.  Slice the pattypan squash in half horizontally, making eight lovely, scalloped pieces.  Place them on a baking sheet and lightly baste with olive oil on the tops.   Bake at 375º until half done when tested with a knife tip, or about 20 minutes.  You’ll prepare the filling while they bake.

For the filling, in a non-stick skillet over medium-hi heat, brown the chorizo lightly, crumbling as you stir it around.  If there is excess grease, spoon a little of it off.  Add a dash of black pepper, the moistened crumbled bread and the sofrito.  Stir to blend ingredients well.  Beat the egg with 1-2 T. water and stir it into the chorizo mixture to bind all together. Stir well.  Mark off the mixture in your pan into 8 portions and top each squash half with an equal portion of mixture.  When the squash is half done, remove from oven.  Lower oven to 350º, top each half with 1/8 the filling mixture.  Pop the pan back in that oven and bake another 20 minutes or until golden on top.  Squash should be fully tender when done.  Enjoy with a green salad or a guacamole salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 8 stuffed halves.  It will take 2 to fill an adult as an entrée, 1 if a side dish.  Each stuffed half contains:

208 cals, 16.5g fat, 5.35g carbs, 1.63g fiber, 3.75g NET CARBS, 10g protein, 450 mg sodium

Pennsylvania Dutch Golabki (Cabbage Rolls)

This Induction friendly dish is not one I fix often.  Frankly, I just seem to forget about this dish until I buy a nice fresh head of cabbage with lovely outer leaves will usually bring this favorite to mind and that’s when I will bake this tasty dinner.  I did so yesterday so I’m having it tonight.  Mmmm. 

This recipe is Atkins Induction friendly and suitable for most Keto diets it if will fit your daily macro limits.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. lean ground beef

6 oz. chopped yellow onion

4 oz. chopped green pepper

4 oz. chopped red pepper

4 my Flax Sandwich  Buns or other plan suitable bread

1/4  tsp. dried oregano

8 oz. tomato sauce

6 large 1 oz. Savoy Cabbage leaves (regular green cabbage is OK, too, and what is pictured above)

Dash salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Plunge cabbage leaves into boiling water for 1-2 minutes, just long enough to make them pliable enough for rolling, but don’t let get too soft or they’ll tear all apart.  Remove, drain and cool on towel.

Brown ground beef, onions & peppers together over medium heat until vegetables are soft.  Moisten flax buns with water, squeeze out excess and mush them up into the meat mixture with your fingers.  Add oregano and dash of salt and pepper.

Divide meat/bread mixture into 4 portions in the bowl.  I mark it with the spoon side to be sure it’s evenly divided in each roll.  Fill the four cabbage leaf “bowls” right in the center with 1/4 of the meat mixture.  Next fold the stem base of the leaf up over the filling.  Then fold the left and right sides inward and over the top snugly.  Finally, roll so that the top is rolling over the entire roll.  Optional, secure with a toothpick only if not inclined to stay rolled up.  Place cabbage rolls seam side down in well-greased glass baking dish.  Pour tomato sauce evenly over the rolls.  The above photo shows the rolls BEFORE fully baked, as I don’t find this a very photogenic dish after they are completely cooked.  Therefore I consider this family fare and do not serve these to company.  To be bluntly honest, I’ve never seen cabbage rolls that were very attractive AFTER fully baked, even in Pennsylvania homes/restaurants.   That doesn’t make them one bit less delicious however.   

Cover with foil and bake the rolls 20 minutes at 350º.  Remove cover and add a few tablespoons water to the bottom of the pan.  Recover and bake 20 more minutes.  Again, add tiny bit of water to pan only if the rolls appear to be drying out.  Bake UNcovered another 10 minutes or so to allow the sauce to caramelize a bit.  In the old days, I’d serve serve cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes.  Now I serve with well-seasoned mashed cauliflower.  Just as good in my opinion.  This dish freezes well.

NOTE: Be sure to remove any toothpicks you night have used before eating.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 servings/rolls, each roll has:

222  cals, 14.7g fat, 9.53g carbs, 2.43g fiber, 7.1g NET CARBS, 13.9g protein, 26 mg sodium

Coconut Pie

This delicious pie can be made with a sweetened whipped cream topping, with a baked meringue topping, or simply served with a low-carb vanilla ice cream.  We prefer a whipped cream topping, so that’s what is shown above.  The nutritional information below is for the crust and coconut custard filling only.  Add whatever topping you decide to put on this.  This coconut custard can also be made without a crust by baking the filling in a buttered dish.  If making crustless as a custard, I would think it better served warm.  🙂  This recipe is not suitable until the nuts rung of the Atkins OWL phase.  I used to be able to get my Coconutti extract at my local Kroger store, but as we don’t have one where I live now, I order direct from the maker.  

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe your favorite pie crust or my Peggy’s “Flour” Pie Crust

½ c. + 2 T. heavy cream

1 c. unsweetened coconut milk

½ c. erythritol

Liquid sweetener equivalent to ¼ c. sugar

7 beaten eggs

1 tsp. Coconutti extract (or 1 tsp. regular coconut extract + few drops of vanilla)

2 T. coconut butter (I use Artisana brand)

½ c. (1.5 oz) unsweetened coconut + 1 T. toasted for garnish

1/8 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:   Make pie crust per that recipe’s instructions and place into a glass pie plate.  Set aside while you make the filling.  Preheat oven to 350º and toast 1 T. coconut flakes on a pan for 3-5 minutes at 350º.  Place coconut milk, cream and erythritol in a saucepan and heat just to a boil and remove from heat.  Stir in Splenda, coconut extract and salt.  In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs well and add the coconut butter.  Add 1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes (all but the 1 T. you toasted for garnish).  Slowly stir the coconut milk/cream mixture into the egg mixture and blend well.  Pour the filling your pie shell (it will be very full) and carefully set into the hot oven. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until the center is firming up to the touch and a knife stuck into the center comes out clean.  This filling will dome up incredibly during baking, so do not be alarmed.  It will fall level with the crust when done and it cools.  If you plan to make a meringue, do so according to your recipe directions.  Spread meringue atop the pie, and bake as instructed.  If using a whipped cream topping, chill pie COMPLETELY before adding the topping. This pie should be stored in the refrigerator.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 8 servings, each contains: (does not include whipped or meringue topping)

327 calories, 30.8 g  fat, 14.46 g  carbs, 8.63 g  fiber, 5.83 g  NET CARBSs, 10.33 g  protein, 195 mg sodium

Chicken Lasagna Strips

These miniature lasagna delights were so good, my husband said I could fix them again any time!  And they were so easy!  In the oven in minutes and ready in 45 min baking.  They were like eating lasagna, too!  You could use thinly sliced beef pounded to tenderize in this recipe instead of the chicken if you prefer.  Suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, and Primal folks who eat dairy.

Many delicious low-carb recipes like this one can be at your fingertips with your very own cookbooks from LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS, by Jennifer Eloff and low-carb friends.  Chef George Stella also brings you a wealth of delicious recipes you will love!  Order yours TODAY! from Amazon or our direct order site: http://amongfriends.us/order.php. 

INGREDIENTS:  

1 medium zucchini or Mexican zucchini, sliced into 12 thin lengthwise slices (about 12 oz)

1½ chicken breast, boneless, skinless

1/3 c. ricotta cheese

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

3/4 c. Lucini low-carb spaghetti sauce (or other low-carb sauce)

VARIATION:   Use thin slices pounded turkey or beef instead of chicken.

DIRECTIONS:  Cover a baking sheet with foil.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Slice chicken into 12 thin, long, lateral slices.  Pound with the flat side of a meat tenderizer.  Set aside.  Slice zucchini lengthwise into 12 thin slices.  I used a knife to do this, but if you have a mandolin or tool that will do it, go for it.  You want 12 slices total.  Place slices on the pan and avoid them touching.  Lay a strip of the pounded chicken on top of each.  With the back of a teaspoon, spread 1 tsp. ricotta down each chicken strip. Dot each strip with 1 T. of the sauce.  Sprinkle 1 T. mozzarella shreds on next.  Finally sprinkle each with 1 T. of the Parmesan shreds.   Lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top to avoid cheese over-browning while cooking.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  Remove and ever so slightly slightly tilt pan over sink to allow any water bleeding out to drain off the pan.  Replace in the oven and bake 15 more minutes.  Serve at once with a salad or a fresh green vegetable.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 12 Lasagna Strips, each contains:  (We found 3 filled us up)

130 cals, 6.78g fat, 2.92g carbs, 0.65g fiber, 2.27g NET CARBS, 13.9g protein, 315 mg sodium

Chicken Rochambeau

I have some leftover baked chicken breasts as well as a bit of leftover beef gravy so I’m having this delicious dish for dinner tonight.  Many, many years ago I ordered this dish in the New Orleans French Quarter.  I think it was at Brennan’s or Antoine’s, but I honestly can’t remember which one.  It’s many flavor layers have lingered in my memory.  To this day, I put it up there with some of the very best chicken dishes I’ve ever eaten.  The entrée consisted of a tender, seared chicken breast resting atop a rich brown mushroom-wine reduction sauce.  The pièce de résistance was then topped with a delicious sauce bernaise.  The marriage of these two sauces, to my complete surprise, was simply amazing!

You have to do a little bit of a juggling act at the stove, as you have several pans going all at the same time.  I’ve streamlined the directions as much as possible.  The end result of your labors is well worth it!!  Trust me on this one.  As I don’t want my sides to have conflicting flavors that will compete with this delicate flavor synergy, I would recommend fairly simple vegetable to pair with this, perhaps a simple mashed cauliflower or something like sautéed carrots or squash, as shown.  You don’t want a lot of busy flavors in your sides, is my drift.  🙂

This dish is not suitable for Induction due to the bit of wine in the brown sauce.  You could omit the wine and have the dish, however.  Won’t be quite as good, but pretty good.  This dish is suitable for Paleo-Primal if you leave out the wine and use clarified butter).  Although this dish is higher in calories than most of my recipes due to the sauces.  Use a little less of the two sauces if you must lower calories also.

More delicious low-carb recipes can be at your fingertips with your very own set of our cookbooks from LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS, by Jennifer Eloff and friends. Chef George Stella also brings you a wealth of delicious recipes you will love!  Order yours TODAY! from Amazon or our direct order site: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

2   5-oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 T. unsalted butter

1 tsp. olive oil

1 c. rich brown gravy (I used leftover gravy from a stewed beef roast)

¼ c. chopped parsley

¼ c. red wine (burgundy or claret are good choices, but any red will do)

Dash salt and black pepper

4 oz. canned mushrooms, drained (or butter-sautéed fresh if you have them on hand)

½ c. my Bernaise Sauce

DIRECTIONS:  Make your Bernaise sauce per that recipe’s instructions and set on rear stove burner that is turned off.  If it gets thick while waiting to do remaining steps, add a bit more butter and warm it up slightly on lowest heat possible, whisking constantly.  You will have about ½ c. of the Bernaise sauce leftover, but it’s great warmed up with a bit more butter the next day to smooth it out.  It’s simply wonderful over scrambled eggs or to complement a grilled steak!

Butterfly the chicken breasts with a sharp knife. Heat butter and oil in non-stick skillet on high heat and sauté chicken until golden on each side and thoroughly done (about 5-6 minutes on a side).    While those are browning, in another non-stick skillet, add beef gravy, red wine, parsley, salt and pepper and the drained mushrooms.  Bring to light boil and then lower heat and simmer to reduce just a bit while you get the plates for plating.

To plate, spoon about 1/2 c. of the brown mushroom sauce in a tidy puddle on the center of the plate.  Set a chicken breast on top.  Spoon about ¼ c. Bernaise sauce on the top right down the center.  Serve with your favorite side dishes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 2 servings, each contains:

786 cals, 55.7g fat, 5.3g carbs, 1.3g fiber, 4g NET CARBS, 46.7g protein

Einkorn “Apple” Cobbler

We low-carbers can’t afford to eat a lot of higher-carb fruit, especially if we are on the beginning of our weight-loss journey.  But once we have increased our daily carbs a bit, we can enjoy the occasional treat with fruits other than berries.  I find that if you mix a high-carb fruit with a lower-carb “disguising” vegetable, like a mild squash, one can trick the palate into thinking you’re eating the  real McCoy :).  This little cobbler is a perfect example of that.  We both LOVED this cobbler!  The flavor was truly amazing.

I learned early on in my Atkins journey that Baked Spaghetti Squash tastes almost exactly like apples, with nearly the exact same texture, too!  When I tried this cobbler creation, I decided to add some real apple and see if I could keep the carbs low enough.  I also decided to use my latest Einkorn Flour Pie Crust.  As you can see by the per serving carb total below, this dessert is a wee bit higher in carbs than most of mine.  HOWEVER, if you use only one apple and use my “Flour” Pie Crust recipe rather than my Einkorn Pie Crust, you can drop the per serving count to a more “palatable” 6.82 net carbs, which isn’t bad at all for a pastry dessert with real fruit in it.

This absolutely delicious recipe is not suitable for Atkins Induction but is OK once you reach the final high-carb fruit rung of the Atkins carb-reintroduction ladder.  Keto followers should make the alternate version suggested above for lowering carbs, and use the “Flour” Pie Crust and 1 less apple if you want to try this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

½ spaghetti squash (mine was 9″ and yielded 4 c. threads)

2 medium apples, grated or sliced (I used Delicious apples)

3 T. unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c. erythritol (or preferred sweetener to equal 1/4 c. sugar)

2 pkts. stevia

3/4 c. water

Dash of xanthan gum (or 1 tsp. chia seeds)

1 recipe Einkorn Pie Crust  (or my “Flour” Pie Crust for lower carbs)

VARIATION:  Substitute 4 c. peeled, sliced zucchini or mirliton (chayote squash) for the spaghetti squash.

DIRECTIONS:  Cook the spaghetti squash cut side down in ½” water in a dish in your microwave for 13 minutes.  Remove, cool and fork out the threads into a large bowl. The exact amount isn’t crucial, but the stats below are based on 4 cups of threads.

Grate the apples on a food grater or in food processor.  I find that cut in half and grated cut-side down, the grating process sort of peels the apples for you.  🙂  Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350º.  Add the grated or sliced apple to the bowl of squash threads.   Melt the butter and drizzle over the fruit-squash mixture.  Add the cinnamon, sweeteners and water.  Dust the xanthan gum or chia seeds over the surface and stir well.  Pour into a buttered baking dish.  I used an 8×11″ rectangular ceramic dish.

Make the pie crust according to the directions for that recipe (linked above). Chill the dough 30 minutes.  Remove dough from refrigerator and roll between 2 sheets of plastic to the approximate shape of the dish you are making.    When you have rolled the crust slightly larger than your dish, remove the top plastic and gently lift the bottom sheet up over to the cobbler dish and flip the crust onto the cobbler filling.  Push or crimp the edges of the dough up into to the dish and poke a few holes in the top of the crust with a fork randomly to allow air to escape.  Pop into a 350º oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is dry to the touch in the center and golden on the edges.  Serve warm.  Leftovers store nicely in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave quite nicely.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 8 servings If baked exactly as written, each serving contains:

195.4 cals, 14.7g fat, 18.6g carbs, 7.88g fiber, 10.72g NET CARBS  (only 6.82 NC with just 1 apple & the “Flour” crust), 6.05 g protein, 202 mg sodium

Chile Con Queso Bites

This very old recipe of mine has made an appearance at many a party throughout my adult life.  They are tasty and disappear so fast!  This recipe is Atkins Induction friendly with no modifications!  They are also suitable for most Keto and Paleo programs.  

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. finely chopped tomato

¼ c. finely chopped green onion

1 clove minced garlic or ¼ tsp. garlic powder

4 eggs, beaten

2 oz. shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 oz. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. ground cumin

1 4 oz. can mild, drained chopped green chiles

1 seeded, very thinly sliced jalapeno (optional garnish)

DIRECTIONS:  Lightly oil a non-stick skillet with olive oil and lightly saute tomato, green onion and garlic a couple of minutes.  Set aside while you prepare the rest of the mixture.

In a medium bowl, beat the 4 eggs, add the cheeses and green chiles.  Now stir in the tomato mixture.  Add spices and stir well to incorporate.

Either line with paper cups (best method) or oil mini muffin pans with olive oil.  Spoon 1T. of the mixture into each muffin cup.   There should be enough mixture for 24.   Bake at 350º for 10-13 minutes or until centers are set.  Let cool in pans 1-2 minutes if you did not use paper liners.  Loosen edges carefully with a knife and gently lift from the pan.  Serve garnished with a slice of jalapeno on top if desired.  If you prefer, you can put the jalapeno on these before baking.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 24, each contains:

25.9 cals, 1.84 g fat, 0.67g carbs, 0.17g fiber, 0.5g NET CARBS, 0.17g protein, 45 mg sodium

Baked Italian Eggplant Stacks

This tasty dish is incredibly easy to make!  It’s just a matter of layering the ingredients in a pan.  The really hard part is being patient while it bakes, because it smells so darn good while it’s cooking!  It takes some time for the eggplant to get tender, but it is well worth the wait.  It went very nicely with a seared pork chop and small Italian salad.  This dish is Atkins Induction friendly and Paleo-Primal friendly as well if you eat the occasional cheese.  Of course, you can add browned ground beef to this dish for a complete meal.

This recipe appears in Vol. 5 of Jennifer Eloff’s Low Carbing Among Friends cookbooks.  Be sure you add this series to your cookbook collection as it contains some of the tastiest recipes from George Stella and other very talented low-carb cooks. You can order your set (or purchase them individually) from Amazon or here:  http://amongfriends.us/.

INGREDIENTS:

1 T. olive oil

16 oz. eggplant, sliced 3/16″ thick or less

3 large Roma tomatoes, sliced thin

1 c. grated mozzarella cheese

1/3 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

4 oz. ricotta cheese

1 tsp. oregano (or Italian Seasoning blend of your choice)

½ c. low-carb sugar-free spaghetti sauce (I use homemade, Belo vita or Lucini Italia Tomato Basil)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease well a ceramic quiche or pie plate with the olive oil.  Slice eggplant and tomatoes.  I found I had enough eggplant and tomatoes for 3 layers in my pan.  Begin with a layer of eggplant on the bottom of the quiche dish.  Top with a layer of tomato slices.  Next sprinkle with 1/3 of the oregano/Italian seasoning.  Next sprinkle 1/3 of the Mozzarella and 1/3 of the Parmesan evenly on top.  Dot surface with 1/3 of the ricotta.  Repeat the layers two more times.  Spoon the spaghetti sauce evenly over the top, spreading it with the back of your spoon.  Pop into preheated 350º oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes.  Check at 1 hour with a fork.  The tomatoes and eggplant will produce a great deal of moisture during the first half of cooking (this is to be expected), but all of it will evaporate by the time the eggplant is tender.  If the fork goes into the eggplant easily, the dish is done.  If not, cook it another 15-20 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

157.2 calories, 10.2 g  fat, 7.65 g  carbs,  2.78 g  fiber, 4.87 g  NET CARBS, 9.8 g  protein, 274 mg sodium

Bunless Sriracha Cream Burgers

A simple, quick, delicious meal for week nights when you’re tired.  These meat patties and sauce will only take 30 minutes to prepare!   And is this ever good!  This recipe is one you’ll find yourself making again and again.  There’s not enough Sriracha in the sauce to make this too hot for most people, but add it last to taste, as always.  This recipe is suited to all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, and Primal Blueprint.  Use coconut milk instead of the cream if you follow a Paleo lifestyle.

MEAT INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. lean ground beef (I used grass-fed 90%)

6 oz. breakfast pork sausage

1 tsp. my homemade Montreal Steak Spice Blend

1 tsp. no-salt lemon pepper (I use Victoria Gourmet brand)

1/4 tsp. Dad’s Poultry Seasoning (or your preferred brand)

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

4 T. butter, melted

½ c. heavy cream

½ c. water

¼ tsp. xanthan gum (or your preferred thickener)

1/3 c. green onion, chopped fine

2 tsp. Sriracha sauce

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:  In a large bowl, mix the two meats and 3 spices listed.  Form into 4 patties and place in a hot non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Brown nicely on both sides.  Wile they cook, in a small saucepan, melt the butter, add the cream, water and green onion and bring to a light simmer.  Dust with the xanthan gum or your favorite thickener and whisk it in, simmering on low heat until the sauce thickens.  Add the Sriracha gradually and taste as you go, stopping when it is spicy to your liking.  Serve patties with 1/4 of the sauce over each serving.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 adult servings, each contains: (form 5 patties to lower cals. & fat)

575 calories, 50.7 g fat, 2.65 g carbs, 0.62 g fiber, 2.03 g NET CARBS, 29.3 g protein, 440 mg sodium

Scrambled Eggs with Chipotle Sauce

These eggs made for quite a tasty surprise at lunch today!  DELICIOUS and even worthy of serving to company!  The mushrooms were an afterthought, and although they were good on this dish, they can be eliminated if you personally don’t like mushrooms.  They are not “in the driver’s seat” in the flavor department here…..the creamy sauce is. 🙂  You know what they say………The saucier is the most important chef in the kitchen.  I totally agree with that.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets and Primal-Paleo as well.

***SUGGESTIONS TO CUT CALORIES & FAT:  You can use less butter to sauté your eggs.  You can omit the mushrooms along with the 2 T. butter used to sauté them.  You can also use more sour cream and less mayo in the Chipotle Sauce.  You can also just use 2 T. of sauce on your eggs instead of the 1/4 c. serving of sauce  calculated in below.  Of course, any changes will require you recalculate your new numbers on a food tracking software. 

INGREDIENTS FOR EACH SERVING:

2 large mushrooms, sliced (optional)

2T. butter (omit if not using mushrooms)

2 large eggs

1 T. butter to scramble eggs

¼ c. my Chipotle Chile Sauce

Dash salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Make a batch of the Chipotle Chile Sauce, setting 1/4 c. aside for this single serving dish and storing the remainder covered in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.   In a non-stick skillet, melt 2 T. butter and sauté the sliced mushrooms just until no longer opaque.  Transfer the mushrooms to a small saucer and wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.  Slightly warm the sauce and the mushrooms in the microwave on DEFROST for a couple minutes while you cook the eggs.  Melt the other 1T. of butter in the skillet and scramble the eggs on medium high heat until they are done to your liking, Plate the eggs.  Remove the sauce and mushrooms from the microwave and spoon the sauce first over the eggs.  Then top with the sautéed mushrooms.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 1 serving which contains (as written):

719 cals (see suggestions above to cut calories), 72.6g fat (see suggestions above to cut fat), 4.2g carbs, 0.8g fiber, 2.4g NET CARBS, 16g protein, 330 mg sodium

German Brats and Vegetables

We recently grilled some delicious German Beef Brats I get from my grass-fed beef supplier. The seasoning blend in his sausages is simply delicious!  Very heavy with black pepper, but we like that.  With the 3 leftover links I defrosted tonight, I created a quick, stir-fried dish that’s both tasty, satisfies and yet stays low in carbs, despite all the vegetables in it. This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto, Paleo and Primal nutritional programs.  You could also make this using any type of brats, smoked sausage or Kielbasa with equally good results.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. bacon grease

8 oz. German beef brats (or any smoked sausage), pre-grilled or cooked, sliced

1 c. frozen green beans

4 oz. onion, sliced thinly

4 oz. green cabbage, sliced

1 large clove garlic, minced

4 oz. red bell pepper, sliced

4 oz. sliced mushrooms, drained

Dash each salt and black pepper

¼ tsp. Sriracha chili sauce

DIRECTIONS:    Heat the bacon grease in a non-stick wok or skillet.  Saute the green beans and onion until it begins to wilt.  Add the cabbage and garlic next and continue sauteing until it just begins to soften.  Add the bell pepper, stirring as it softens just a bit (but isn’t mushy).  Add sausage, mushrooms, salt, pepper and Sriracha sauce and stir well for 2-3 minutes for flavors to blend. Remove and enjoy.   I ate mine plain, but it would be good on brown rice for non-low-carb guests.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

274 cals, 22.5g fat, 10.1g carbs, 3.05g fiber, 7.05g NET CARBS, 8.7g protein, 384 mg potassium, 725 mg sodium

Mesquite Orange Brandy Cake

This moist cake can be a marvelous addition to your Holiday celebrations.  It reminds me a little of my grandmothers fruitcake, just not with all the high-carb candied fruit bits.  This cake has been modified several times now and I think I’ve finally gotten the ingredients just about right.  Even my husband thought this cake had a nice texture and deep, rich flavor (thanks to the slight “smoky” taste of mesquite flour).  And trust me, he is NOT a fan of cakes with this much fruit and nuts in them.

Mesquite flour has a hint of a smoke taste to me, although you might not find it so.  This cake is light and fluffy, and not dense at all like classic fruit cakes we quickly learned to dislike.  I think the addition of the oat fiber plays a major role in texture here, so don’t omit that. I order oat fiber and mesquite flour from Netrition.com or Amazon.  Nuts.com also carries mesquite flour http://www.mesquiteflour.com/. This recipe is not acceptable until the grains rung of OWL.  This cake was baked in an 8½” x 3″ round silicone cake pan shown below:

INGREDIENTS:

7/8 stick butter (7 T.)

1 ¼ c. granular Splenda

¼ c. brandy

¼ c. DaVinci coconut or vanilla sugar-free syrup

4 beaten eggs

½ c.  coarsely chopped fresh cranberries

2 T.  grated orange rind

3/4 c. chopped pecans

¼ c. unsweetened coconut

2 T. oat fiber

1 3/4 c. CarbQuik bake mix (or Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten Free Bake Mix for gluten-free)

4 T. mesquite flour

1 tsp. baking powder (yes, even though CarbQuick has some in it!)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Pour brandy over cranberries to soak while mixing up the cake.  Chop nuts.  Soften butter and beat with Splenda until smooth.  Add eggs beating well after each one.  Mix all dry ingredients in separate bowl and slowly add to egg mixture,  Stir well.  Now add in cranberry mixture, brandy and all, and the nuts.  Be sure batter is well-blended.  Pour into a sprayed round, deep cake pan (I used a small silicone sunflower-shaped pan that is about 3″ deep).  Bake in a preheated 350º oven for 50 minutes.  It is done when toothpick stuck in center comes out dry/clean.  Cake will be mounded in the middle at first fall back level as it cools.  Turn cake onto cake plate when fully cooled.  As with most low-carb baked goods, store leftovers in the refrigerator to avoid spoilage.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Serves 12, each serving contains:

203 calories, 18 g  fat, 15.75 g  carbs, 9.62 g  fiber, 6.13 g NET CARBS, 6.1 g  protein, 239 mg. sodium

Cheese Steak on Zoodles

We low-carbers tend to think of zoodles (zucchini noodles) only for Italian recipe applications.  But I’m finding the zoodles versatile and tasty enough for other uses.  Today, with a nice hunk of leftover sirloin steak in the fridge, I was thinking along the lines of a Philly Cheese Steak for lunch, but not with the traditional Frankenfood cheese sauce in a jar.  And certainly not with a big old carb-laden bun (although I have some low-carb psyllium hotdog buns cooked and at the ready).  I was thinking more along the lines of a Swiss cheese Patty Melt, but on noodles.  The above lunch is what I ended up doing.  It came out quite tasty!  My husband REALLY liked this!  It was very filling, too!

This recipe is acceptable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets and those Primal folks that eat some dairy.  The portions were quite large and you might find this will feed 2 adults and 2 children quite nicely.  But I have calculated the numbers below for 3 equal adult servings.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. zucchini, cut into noodles

4 T. olive oil (total)

6 oz. cooked steak, sliced thin (I used pan-seared sirloin)

4 oz. yellow onion, sliced thin

6 oz. cheese, shredded (I used a mix of Swiss & Monterrey Jack)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat broiler.  Have two non-stick skillets ready, one large enough to fry steak and onions, one to cook the zoodles.  Cut the zucchini into “noodles” with a spiral tool or julienne peeler and have ready.  Slice the steak and onions and brown them in 2 T. of the oil in one skillet.  You want the onions to begin to brown and caramelize to release their natural sugar. When nearly done, heat remaining 2T. oil in the second skillet and place the zoodles in the hot oil.  Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry the zoodles just until they are no longer opaque, but not too soft. Plate the zoodles onto 3 serving plates and top with 1/3 of the meat and onion mixture.  Top with 1/3 of the cheese and pop into hot broiler just long enough to melt the cheese on top.  Remove with pot holder and serve at once.  Simple as that!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 large servings, each contains:

513 cals, 39g fat, 8.66g carbs, 2.3g fiber, 6.36g NET CARBS, 32.2g protein, 521 mg sodium

Iraqi Grilled Cornish Hens

Up until now, I have only used my Baharat spice in braised chicken dishes (cooked in liquid): braised beef and braised lamb.  When I created this recipe, I tried it both grilled and baked in the oven.  I was most pleased with both methods of preparation actually.  Very tasty both ways!  In Iraq, they would likely use whole, cut-up chicken pieces as I don’t think Cornish hens are available there.  I especially like to use Cornish hens for serving company, if I can get them,  simply for the cute visual impact on the plate.  The meat doesn’t taste one bit different than larger chicken.  This recipe would be very for preparing quail, dove or other wild game fowl as well.  

I allow a half a bird per person when buying your Cornish hens but make sure there is one half bird extra for a bigger eater.  Most women and men will only eat ½ Cornish hen when two sides are served.  I have seen a man with a hefty appetite eat a whole hen on one occasion.  I have only done so once in my life, but it was a particularly small hen.   If I fix 2 sides, ½ Cornish hen fills me right up.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, Primal and Paleo as well.

INGREDIENTS:

2    1-1¼ pound Cornish hens (or appropriate # pieces cut up chicken for 4 people)

4 T. unsalted butter  (use less if you need to cut calories)

1 tsp. my homemade Baharat Spice Blend

½ tsp. Aleppo pepper  (or dried, ground ancho chile pepper)

1/4 tsp. onion powder

Optional:  1/2 tsp. sumac (if available)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Melt the butter in a saucer in the microwave.  Stir in the spices to mix well.  Split the hens in half up the back bone with a knife or kitchen shears.  This technique is referred to as spatchcocking or butterflying the bird.   If grilling, prepare the fire.  When it is hot, place the pieces evenly (or butterflied Cornish Hens cut side down) on the grill.  If baking them, place on a grate set inside a baking pan to catch juices. 

Using a brush, baste the hens well with the spice-butter mixture.  If baking, pop pan into 350º oven and bake for 45 minutes.  If grilling, turn once midway through cooking. Cook to internal temperature of 165º in the breast.  Turn up oven to 375º and continue to roast for about 15 more minutes to brown the skin.   Watch them closely this last 15 minutes, as ovens can vary.  When a meat thermometer poked in the center of the breast meat reads 165º they are properly cooked.  Remove from oven or grill and serve half a Cornish Hen to each person at the table to start off.   Only the hardiest of eaters will eat more, most likely.     

Traditionally, this meat is grilled.  Try it that way first as it is truly memorable grilled!  But also try it just baked in your oven sometime so you can see the difference.  This meat pairs nicely with any side dishes you like, but particularly nice with my Shawarma Roasted Vegetables.  I also like to enjoy it with my Iranian Mint Cucumber Salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings (I allow ½ hen per person), each contains:

501 cals, 39.3 g fat, 0.62 g carbs, 2.50 g fiber, 2.12 g NET CARBS, 34.1 g protein, 347 mg sodium

Cashew-Peanut Butter Cookies

I tinkered around a bit with the classic 3-ingredient low-carb peanut butter cookie recipe that floats around on the internet.  I like peanut butter a lot.  My husband, although he eats peanuts like crazy, hates peanut butter’s taste and mouth-feel.   So I backed off on the peanut butter and added some raw cashew butter to my new creation.  GOOD decision because he liked these!  I also wanted to pump these up with more nutrients so I added some whey protein to my cookie dough.    These came out GREAT!   These gems are not suitable until the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins Phase 2 OWL carb re-introduction ladder.  They are not suitable for Paleo-Primal followers at all.  Hope you folks able to have these like them as much as we do!

INGREDIENTS: 

½ c. (rounded) raw cashews (2½ oz. )

1 T. coconut oil

½ c. unsweetened chunky peanut butter (I use Laura Scudder)

3/4 c. granulated erythritol

1/4 c. granulated Splenda

¼ c. plain whey protein powder (I use NOW brand)

1 large egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS:  Soaking your nuts in some water and then draining to swell and soften them isn’t absolutely necessary, but it’s easier on your food processor blade and will render a smoother cashew butter.  I soaked mine 2 hours in warm water and then drained.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a cookie sheet either with parchment paper, a silicone sheet, or grease the pan well. Place cashews and coconut oil into food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  Scrape into a bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the erythritol, Splenda, whey protein powder, egg  and chunky peanut butter.  Stir to blend mixture well.  In the name of uniform cookie size, using a teaspoon,  mark off the dough in the bowl into 4 equal sections.  You should get 5 cookies from each section, or a total of 20 cookies. Dip up enough dough with your spoon to roll into 1″ balls in your palms.  Set the balls onto the pan about 1″ apart.  These don’t spread much during cooking, so you can probably get all 20 on 1 large pan (4×5) .  When the 20 balls have been formed, take a fork and press them down slightly for that classic peanut butte cookie imprint we all know well.  Pop into preheated 350º oven for approximately 12-14 minutes or until just slightly brown on the edges.    These are crumbly when hot, so allow them to completely cool on the pan before removing with a spatula.  Store in an air-tight container when fully cooled.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 20 cookies, each contains:

76 cals, 5.8g fat, 2.6g carbs, 0.51g fiber, 2.09g NET CARBS, 3.56g protein, 30 mg sodium, 34 mg potassium

Salmon with Pink Tarragon Cream

Now THAT is a plateful of nutritious food!  Just look at the nutritional info below for this recipe!  I included more than I usually do here to drive home that point.  And those numbers are just for the fish and sauce!  If you add in values for the spinach and broiled tomatoes………WOW!  You can’t eat any healthier!  It probably almost meets your entire RDA nutritional requirements for the day!  This delicious sauce I have used on so many different things.  It’s good on with sautéed spinach, chicken, and over grilled shrimp.  It’s marvelous on scrambled eggs at breakfast (using diced tomato instead of tomato paste). I’m sure I’ll continue to find new ways to use this tasty pink sauce, changing up the herbs and spices.

I have discovered recently this is delicious on salmon.  It never disappoints! I served it alongside broiled tomatoes and sautéed spinach.   My husband isn’t terribly fond of salmon but he definitely liked this rendering of a very healthy fish that is very rich in Omega 3’s.   In order to be acceptable for Atkins Induction you must omit the wine.  It’ll still be good, just not quite as good.  😉  Wait until you get to Phase 2 OWL to add the wine.  This recipe is suitable for Keto diets but you might want to omit the wine as it may throw you out of ketosis.  It is perfectly OK for Primal-Paleo followers if you substitute coconut cream or coconut mild for the heavy cream.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. salmon filet (skin removed)

2 T. butter (I use unsalted)

½ c. heavy cream (or coconut cream or coconut milk)

½ c. water (or ½ c. more cream, if you can afford the extra carbs)

2 T. tomato paste

½ tsp. dried tarragon leaves  (or about 1½ tsp. fresh, chopped)

Dash each salt and black pepper

¼ c. rose or white wine (omit for Induction)

1/8 tsp. xanthan gum or guar gum (or your favorite thickener)

1 sprig parsley, chopped or more tarragon (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:  Cut the fish into two equal servings.  Melt the butter in a large skillet.  Sear the pieces of salmon on both sides over high heat until golden and flesh is fully done (peek in the center with a fork).  This will only take a couple minutes on a side.  Remove to a platter and pop into warm oven to hold while sauce is made.  Lower heat to medium.  Add the water, cream, tomato paste and tarragon to the skillet.  Bring to a slow simmer for about 3-4 minutes.  Add salt and pepper.   Dust the xanthan/guar gum slowly, a little at a time over the sauce and whisk it into the cream mixture.  Stir constantly as it begins to thicken.  Turn off heat, plate the fish and dip sauce on top.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley or bit more tarragon.  Save any unused sauce for your scrambled eggs in the morning!  So yummy on eggs!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes two 6-oz. servings, each contains:  (including half the sauce)

580 cals, 43.7g fat, 4.85g carbs, 0.6g fiber, 4.25g NET CARBS, 38.8g protein, 275 mg sodium, 92 mg potassium

57% RDA Vitamin A, 66% B6, 300% B12, 7% C, 18% E, 10% D, 10% calcium, 16% copper, 19% iron, 20% magnesium, 91% niacin, 71% phosphorous, 115% selenium, 20% thiamin, 12% zinc

 

 

Dad’s Peppered Beef Marinade

This recipe was my Dad’s pride and joy.  In 80 years of cooking he never found a marinade he liked better.  I often make this truly out-of-the-ordinary roast for company and holidays, but we do it on smaller cuts of beef year-round!  It’s DELICIOUS!  You grilling fanatics MUST try this recipe sometime!  This is truly my all-time favorite beef marinade as well and has been since I was in high school over 40 years ago.  We invariably have this recipe for Christmas dinner, because we are usually turkey’ed out by then.  This recipe makes enough marinade for an 8 lb. boneless rib roast, which will (after shrinkage) serve 10 nice servings, with some leftover for the most delicious cold roast beef sandwiches you ever had.  I do not recommend reheating this meat, as the meat and marinade loose some of their impact on reheating.   But it makes the best cold roast beef sandwiches you ever ate!  🙂

Once I realized this marinade could just as easily be used on smaller cuts of beef, we enjoy it much more often now.  I have used it for rib roast (shown top above), lean boneless chuck roasts, sirloin of varying sizes (shown above) and individual ribeye steaks.  It’s also good on wild game you want to do on the grill.  It’s a truly unique flavor when cooked over charcoal (not so good oven-cooked though).  It is Atkins friendly (just not Induction friendly, because of the wine).  Leaving out the wine just isn’t an option for this recipe, so wait until the Atkins OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss) phase to enjoy this wonderful dish.  I guarantee, this is so good you’ll be fighting over who gets the two end slices, just like at my house.  🙂  

MARINADE INGREDIENTS: (remember, it is not all consumed)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

1/8 c. low-sodium soy sauce (1/4 c. if you can tolerate the sodium, I don’t though)

¼-½ c. dry red wine (burgundy or claret work nicely but any dry red will do)

1 T. tomato paste

1½ T. coarse ground black pepper (or enough to entirely coat your meat thickly)

DIRECTIONS:  Pound the coarse ground black pepper over all surfaces of an 8 rib roast (or sirloin, or chuck roast) using the butt of your palm or the smooth side of a meat cleaver. Use less pepper if doing a smaller piece of meat. Place meat in glass dish. I drizzle marinate every half hour (as often as you can remember to stop and do it) most of a day (minimum 6 hours). Most efficient way to marinate without disturbing pepper coating is to use a basting brush. Do not touch the meat with your brush, or you’ll wipe all the pepper off! Hold it over the meat and let it drip off the brush. When surface is soaked, put in refrigerator to marinate between “bastings”.  I baste hourly until cooking time.

COOKING:

This recipe really is not good cooked inside in your oven. Not sure why, but it just isn’t.  It seems it is the marriage of the marinade with charcoal smoke that makes this recipe taste divine.  You need to grill the 8 lb. rib roast for about 2 hours over medium coals (using a rotary spit if you own one).  If you don’t have one, like me, just turn the meat every half hour to sear all surfaces nicely. Best if not cooked past medium to medium rare stage.  I take mine off when my meat thermometer reads 120º degrees and set it on my cutting board for another 10 minutes to “rest”.  A piece of meat this large will continue to climb to around 130º while resting. That’s usually a nice pink medium-rare inside.

If doing sirloin or chuck roast (around 3-4 lb.) grill about 20 minutes on a side for medium-rare. This marinade really does a nice job of tenderizing a chuck or sirloin roast.  Cook rib steaks just like you usually would to your desired doneness.

This recipe always gets the WOWS when I serve it.  Hope you folks will try it! I think you’ll find you won’t be sorry you did! The outside slices are so good we always fight over them at home.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:

The marinade is discarded when you cook the meat.  No further basting should be done while cooking as there is now raw meat juice in the marinade.   Calculating how much marinade is consumed is difficult.  It would also be impossible for me to know how many servings you are able to get out of your roast.  So I’m providing the totals for the entire batch of marinade and you will have to see how much it makes and how much is left in the pan before discarding to determine roughly how much is staying on the meat and thus consumed by how many people you are serving.   Most of the sauce goes down the drain, to be perfectly honest, so you’re getting mostly sodium from the soy sauce and a few carbs from the wine and tomato paste that cling to the surface of the meat (a little more if you get the end slices).  The figures below DO NOT INCLUDE THE MEAT.

The entire batch of marinade has:

131 cals, 0.7 g. fat, 18 g. carbs, 4.6 g. fiber, 15.4 NET CARBS (entire batch), 5.5 g. protein, 1070 mg. sodium

Peppered Bacon Cheese Bread

My husband really liked a new bread creation I came up with.  The peppered bacon and cheese are  memorable in this bread.  This recipe is not suitable until you reach the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL carb re-introduction ladder in Phase 2.   It is suitable for Primal diners, if you eat occasional cheese.   Omit the cheese to make this suitable for Paleo.  This batter cooks up nicely as biscuits or muffins, as the crust is particularly nice on this.  Muffins or biscuits will only take about 15-20 minutes to cook however.

You’ll find many more delicious bread recipes in our Low Carbing Among Friends cookbooks, a series by Jennifer Eloff and other talented low-carb kitchen gurus.  You can order them from Amazon or direct .

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. almond flour

2 T. coconut flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. white or cider vinegar

1 c. grated cheese

4 oz. lean bacon, chopped (preferably peppered bacon)

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper (or just use Wright’s peppered bacon)

5 eggs, beaten

2 T. coconut oil, melted

2 T. olive oil

1 T. cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside.  I used a NON-standard sized loaf pan that is 4½” wide, 2½” deep and 12″ long.

Baked in an abnormal-size loaf pan 4½” x 3″ x  12″ (Italian import)

Measure all dry ingredients and cheese into a medium measuring bowl, stir and set aside.  Chop bacon and brown in skillet with black pepper shaken all over it (I didn’t measure the pepper, but I’d guess about ¼ tsp. total).  When bacon is done, set aside to drain/cool on paper towels a few minutes.  While it cools, add all liquid ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to blend.  Add cooked bacon and stir one last time to blend bacon evenly throughout batter.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into non-stick, greased or parchment lined loaf pan and pop into preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.  Ovens vary, so check with toothpick test.  Remove and cool in pan a few minutes.  Run sharp knife around edges to loosen and tip out onto a cutting board. Slice into 10 servings and serve warm.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 10 large slices, each contains:

293.6 cals, 26g fat, 6.16 g carbs, 3.18 g fiber, 2.88g NET CARBS, 11.24 g protein, 481 mg sodium

Mexican Meatloaves with Chili Gravy

 

My husband REALLY complimented this variation on my regular meatloaf recipe.  Especially the sauce on top, and he’s not a big gravy  person!  Very simple dish to put together, too!  These little meatloaves were good on their own merit, so you could form this into a large meatloaf for slicing and not serve the sauce at all.  It would, of course, take longer to cook if made into a single large loaf.

This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets, however not suited to Primal or Paleo diners unless the sauce is omitted or modified.

Many delicious low-carb recipes like this can be at your fingertips with your very own cookbooks from LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS, by Jennifer Eloff and low-carb friends (me included).  Chef George Stella also brings a wealth of his personal recipes to several of our books!  Order yours TODAY! from Amazon  or our direct order site: http://amongfriends.us/order.php. 

MEAT INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. 90% lean ground beef (I used grass-fed)

1 lb. very lean ground pork

¼ c. + 2 T. Herdez Mild Red Salsa (in a jar) 

1/3 c. cilantro, chopped

1 large jalapeno, seeded and minced fine

½ tsp. ground cumin

1 T. chia seeds, ground & soaked 10 min. in 2 T. water

Dash salt & black pepper

FOR THE SAUCE:

¼c. Herdez Green Tomatillo Salsa (half a 7oz. can), or 1/4 cup jar Herdez Guacamole Salsa

3 oz. cream cheese

½ c. heavy cream

1/3 tsp. chili powder (I used my Smoky Chipotle Spice Blend)

Little water if needed (only if sauce gets too thick as it simmers)

Pinch stevia only if tomatillo salsa is very “acidic” tasting (tomatillos can be)

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Soak the chia seed in the water in a small dish to form a gel-like slurry.  While it is soaking, in a large mixing bowl, using a fork or your hands, mix all the listed meatloaf ingredients along with the soaked chia gel and mix well. Form into 4 oval mini meatloaves and place on a non-stick or greased baking dish.  Pop dish into 350º oven for about 35-40 minutes.  While they are baking, in a non-stick pan over medium heat, warm up the Herdez green tomatillo salsa.  Add the cream cheese and with a rubber spatula, blend in the melting cream cheese until it is smooth mixture.  Add the cream and chili powder. Stir well and lower heat to lowest setting.

When meat is done (130º on meat thermometer), remove from oven and lift meatloaves onto serving platter.  Thin the sauce, if necessary, with a dab of water and pour into a sauce/gravy boat for table serving alongside the meatloaves.

NOTE:  If making one single large meatloaf, it will take about an hour (maybe a bit longer, as ovens vary) to reach 130º in the center with a meat thermometer.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes four 6½-0z mini loaves, each contains:  

656 calories, 53 g fat, 3.30 g carbs, 0.37 g fiber, 2.93 g NET CARBS, 41 g protein, 662 mg sodium

Mushroom-Spinach Chicken Breasts

This dish is lip-smacking delicious!  The hemp hearts add a slight nutty taste.  We both gave this creative dish two thumbs up!  It was simple to put together, in the oven in 15 minutes and baked itself effortlessly to delicious perfection!  This will definitely make my regular chicken recipe rotations again!  It had, as you can see in the photo, lovely pan juices for basting during cooking and last minute drizzling over the meat when done.  This recipe is suitable for Phase 2 of Atkins once you have reached the grains level of the carb re-introduction ladder (it has Joseph’s pita bread in it).  You could use flax meal instead of the Joseph’s bread and enjoy this recipe once you reach the the nuts & seeds level of Phase 2, but it will have a grainier taste with that change.  This recipe is not suitable for Atkins Induction or Primal-Paleo followers.

Many delicious low-carb recipes like this one can be at your fingertips with your very own set of cookbooks from LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS, by Jennifer Eloff and her low-carb friends (including me).  Famous Chef George Stella also brings to these cookbooks a wealth of his personal recipes you will want to try!  Order yours from Amazon or the direct order site: http://amongfriends.us/order.php. 

INGREDIENTS:

2  medium chicken breasts, skin on, boneless (boil bones for delicious stock for soups!)

2 T. unsalted butter

4 large mushrooms, chopped or sliced

2 c. spinach, chopped (1 c. packed)

2 T. Boursin soft cheese, ‘garlic and fine herb’

3 T. shredded Monterrey Jack

1/2 Joseph’s Flax and Oat Bran Pita Bread, softened with water (or 1 low-carb flour tortilla)

2 T. hemp hearts

Dash coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Run a sharp knife between the rib bones and the chicken meat to remove the rib bones from the breast.  Boil them down for delicious chicken stock for future uses.  I freeze mine.   With a large knife, laterally slice the breast 3/4 of the way through making a pocket or shelf for the filling.  Place them in a lightly oiled baking dish and set aside.   In a non-stick skillet, heat the butter and sauté the mushrooms until no longer opaque.  Add the spinach and sauté just until it is limp.  Stir in the Boursin and Jack cheese.  Turn off heat.  Add the hemp hearts and stir filling well to blend the cheese.  With your fingers, mush up the softened bread and add it, stirring again.  Spoon half the mixture into each breast and fold the skin half over the filling.  Press lightly and sprinkle with pepper.  Pop the pan into a 350º oven and bake for about 1 hour (less time for small breasts, more for large ones).  When the skin has browned nicely on top, they should be done.   Serve in the baking dish pan so the pan juices can be dipped over the top if desired. 🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 2 servings, each contains:  (adjust ingredients for more servings)

478 calories, 33 g fat, 5.90 g carbs, 2.85 g fiber, 3.05 g NET CARBS, 39.35 g protein, 645 mg sodium

Montreal BBQ Sauce and Marinade

We’re grilling pork country ribs tonight.  This wonderful BBQ sauce is particularly good on pork:  chops, roasts (for pulled pork) or ribs.  You simply must try this one some time!  It has become a family regular!    You can also use this as a marinade for chicken pieces, shrimp and even on fish filets.  Marinate meat or seafood of choice in the refrigerator and then grill as usual.  Be sure to reserve some for use at the table for those that like more sauce.  This sauce is Atkins Induction friendly, too!

We find when we go out for ribs, the rub on the meat, although very tasty, is always so salty.  That just spoils my enjoyment of dinner, plus I gain weight just from the sodium load.  Tonight we’re having green beans and a delicious mushroom tomato salad  and some garlic bread made from some low-carb rolls I have in the refrigerator I baked earlier this week.   The above photo shows these ribs being served with loaded potatoes made from cauliflower, green onion, cream cheese, bacon and a little bacon.  Yummers.  

INGREDIENTS: 

2 tsp. “Montreal Steak” seasoning (recipe below)

1 stick butter, UNSALTED since the above spice has salt (but luckily no sugar!) (4 oz.)

1-2 tsp. red wine vinegar (more if you like)

1/8 – ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Melt butter, add Montreal Steak spice, vinegar and cayenne.   Simmer on lowest heat possible for 1 minute to blend flavors.  Remove and use as marinade & grilling sauce.  Place meat and sauce (reserve a bit of sauce for table use) into a large zip bag with sauce.  Zip and manipulate to coat all pieces/ribs well.  Marinate for 1-2 hours in refrigerator.

My Homemade Montreal Steak Seasoning: 

• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated onion
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, coarsely ground
  
• 1 tablespoon dill seeds

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes about 8 tablespoons spice mix.  I use about 2-3 tsp. in the sauce above for doing a whole chicken, a full rack of ribs or 7-8 fish filets.  Each tablespoon of this sauce contains:

103 cals, 11.5g fat, 0.26g carbs, 0.1g fiber, 0.16g NET CARBS, 0.12g protein, 48 mg sodium

Boursin Scrambled Eggs

I keep Boursin  soft cheese “Garlic and Fine Herbs” flavor in the door of my refrigerator almost always.  Not something I like to run out of.  I keep finding interesting things to try it in or on.  It reminds me a lot of cream cheese, but much more intense flavor.  I find it way too heavy all by itself, as a dip or spread.  But I am really starting to like it in small amounts in a variety of odd places and sauces.  I’m having these eggs this morning so I thought I’d re-share this recipe with my readers today.  This definitely did not get the usual frowns and winces from my husband when I add something new to plain eggs (his preferred way to eat eggs, if not fried).  The “Chive and Onion” flavor Boursin cheese, which I have also tried, is delicious in this recipe as well.  Boursin cheeses are found in the deli or specialty cheese section of better grocery stores.

INGREDIENTS:     

2 T. butter, unsalted

4 large eggs, beaten

1½ T.  Boursin cheese, (I use mostly Garlic & Herb flavor)

2 T. parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS:   Melt butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add Boursin cheese and stir to dissolve.  Cheese will look like it’s curdling, but don’t worry, not a problem.  Add all the parsley but 1 tsp. reserved for garnish.  After 1 minutes, add beaten eggs and cook until done.  Serve with garnish of remaining parsley.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 2 servings, each contains:

262 cals, 23g fat, 1.2g carbs, 0.15g fiber, 1.05g NET CARBS, 13.1g protein, 165 mg sodium

If you’re not familiar with Boursin cheese, it’s a soft cheese that comes in a foil wrapper in a little box that looks like this.  It’s usually in the specialty cheese/delicatessen are of your grocery store.

“Apple Pie” Pastries

These tasty apple pastries can be put together in around 30 minutes!  Of course, if you use a low-carb homemade pastry dough in lieu of the commercial low-carb tortillas, it will take longer, but the carb count will be pulled lower. If you want dessert fast, the ready-made low-carb tortillas are nice to keep around for such occasions.  And I just recently learned about the small 4″ ZERO net carb tortillas Mission is making.  The fiber zero’s out the carbs and they would be perfect for this little dessert!  I bought some at Netrition recently and can’t wait to try them for this tasty treat!  When I do, I’ll post and recalculate the stats below, posting on this recipe.  You could also make these with fresh sliced peaches or nectarines.  These are very good on day two, so you can make a lot.  I would not recommend freezing this dessert treat.  

This recipe is not suitable until you are closer to Atkins Maintenance or are already to your  goal weight.  the tortillas have real flour and grains are the very last food you are allowed to add back after Induction.

INGREDIENTS:

3 Mission Carb Balance whole-wheat tortillas, cut in halves

6 oz. peeled calaba squash or Mexican zucchini pictured above (or peeled green zucchini)

5 oz. peeled apple, sliced 3/8″

3 T. unsalted butter, melted

½-3/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 T. granular Splenda (or equivalent sweetener of choice)

Optional: 1 T. more melted butter + mixture of 1 tsp. erythritol and a dash of cinnamon to sprinkle on top.

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Slice the zucchini 3/8″ thick.  Melt 3 T. butter and sauté zucchini squash and apple slices until nearly tender.  Stir in sweetener and ground cinnamon and remove from heat.  Cut tortillas in half.  On parchment or a silicone lined baking sheet, form cones with each tortilla half and place seam side down on the pan.  Fill with 1/6 the filling with a small spoon.  Melt remaining 1 T. butter.  Brush each pastry with the butter.  Mix on a paper towel the erythritol and cinnamon.  Spoon 1/6th of it over the top of each pastry.  Pop pan into oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until just lightly browned.  Remove from oven and serve hot.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 apple pastries, each contains:

127 cals, 8.73g fat, 10.98g carbs, 5.06g fiber, 5.92g NET CARBS, 1.83 g protein, 112 mg sodium

Greek Twinkies®

As a low-carber, I can’t have the typical puff pastry one uses to make Greek Spanakopitas, but I like to use my Mozzy Dough as a foundation for such applications.  It has a a hint of cheese and often works in such recipes.  These are delicious served with a Greek cucumber salad.  I think they would make great party finger food as well.  My husband gave these a two thumbs up and said they would be good with Tzatziki Sauce.  I think he’s on to something there and will definitely do that next time.  Click the above link for that recipe.  This is certainly not an authentic Greek recipe, but it has that Greek flavor we all love. 

These are not suitable until you reach the grains rung of the Atkins OWL Phase 2 carb reintroduction ladder.  Although high in calories & fat (not a bad thing if you need to boost your fat intake to meet daily macros), these are quite low in carbs.  🙂

INGREDIENTS: 

1 recipe my Mozzy Dough

1 lb. 90% lean ground beef

5 oz. frozen chopped spinach

1/3 c. parsley, chopped

½ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. dried dill weed

1 tsp. dried mint (or 1 T. fresh)

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper

1 oz. cream cheese

½ c. Feta cheese crumbles

4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

VARIATION:  Use ground lamb or ground goat meat instead of the ground beef. 

DIRECTIONS:  Brown meat over medium heat in skillet and drain off excess grease.  Add the spinach, parsley and all spices.  Stir for several minutes to be sure spinach is cooked. Dot the mixture with the cream cheese and Feta and allow to melt and blend, stirring often.  Add the 4 oz. mozzarella, which acts as a binding agent and stir until it melts into the mixture.  Remove from heat and set aside while you prepare the dough.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Make the Mozzy Dough per that recipe’s instructions.  Form the dough into a large log and divide it visually into 12 equal balls of dough.  Press each one into the slots of a Twinkie pan.  If you don’t own a Twinkie pan, use a muffin pan and fill 12 cups.  Press the dough into the slots as evenly as you can, pushing it up the sides to form a boat or wall for your dough cups.  Fill each pastry cup with 1/12 of the meat-spinach mixture (about 1/3 c.).  When all are filled, press down a bit and evenly distribute any mixture still unused.

Pop pan into 350º oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until to desired doneness.  Bottoms will be browned nicely, so don’t over cook.  Serve with a nice Greek cucumber salad and if you like, some Tzatziki sauce.  I found two of these filled me right up, so this recipe should serve 12 adults, but I’m providing stats, per my usual, per piece.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 12 Twinkies®, each contains:

282 calories, 20g fat, 6.39g carbs, 3.6g fiber, 2.79g NET CARBS, 22.6g protein, 474 mg sodium

Peach “Coffeecake”

I have 4 low-carb cake donuts leftover that are beginning to get dry so I’m going to make one of my favorites:  coffeecake!  I’ll thaw a bag of my frozen peaches which only take about 30 minutes.   Yes!   I’ll make this for my hubby for breakfast today!  He’s still sound asleep and will be so surprised when he wakes up.  This quick coffeecake can also be created with leftover low-carb muffins, biscuits or neutral-tasting low-carb bread slices.

I don’t care for sweets too much, but I try to bake some low-carb sweet treat for my husband once in awhile.  This one is delicious and we both love it.  I make it with berries when I need to cut the carbs even more, but today, I have no berries on hand so peaches from the freezer it is!   This tastes every bit as good as the pic makes it look!  This is not suitable until Atkins Pre-maintenance or Maintenance (the higher carb fruits rung of the OWL carb ladder).

VARIATION:  Use blackberries, raspberries, blueberries (for lower carbs) or perhaps grated apple, sliced pears or sliced plums for about the same in carbs.  Of course, changing the fruit will require you recalculate the net carbs per serving on a food tracker.

INGREDIENTS:

4 low-carb plain cake donuts

3 small ripe peaches (1½-13/4″ diameter), sliced thinly

3 T. butter

1 T. + 1 tsp. sweetener of choice

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  If not already made up, bake the donuts by that recipe’s instructions and cool. Slice 4 of the donuts in half laterally and place in the bottom of a non-stick cake pan, non-stick tart pan or greased baking dish.  Top evenly with the sliced peaches.  Sprinkle 1 tsp. sweetener on each serving.  Sprinkle cinnamon over all servings.  Dot evenly with butter (about 2 tsp. per serving).  Pop into the heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes so the peaches slightly cook.  Serve warm.

NOTE:  You can substitute 4 small slices any low-carb bread for the donuts, but be sure to sprinkle a little extra sweetener on top of them if you make that change.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

217 cals, 17g fat, 19.42g carbs, 10.2 g fiber, 9.22g NET CARBS  (lower using berries), 6.22g protein, 112 mg sodium

Black Soy Bean Salad

I don’t eat beans very often, but when I do, I reach for soy black beans.  This little salad is quite tasty and I do allow myself this treat once in awhile.  Black soy beans have so much fiber, it reduces their net carb count to 1g.  per ½ c. serving.  So they can be a very useful bean if you’re following a low carb lifestyle. 

This salad can be served as an entrée or with bits of leftover grilled steak or chicken, for a complete meal.  This dish is not suitable for Induction.  When you get to the legumes rung of the Atkins OWL carb re-introduction ladder, you can enjoy this delicious dish.

NOTE:  Black soy beans are not to be confused with regular black beans that have 14 net carbs per ½ cup!  So I only use the black soy beans for this salad or in your chili recipes. 

INGREDIENTS: 

1   14 oz. can black soy beans, rinsed and drained (I use Eden brand)

2 leaves romaine lettuce, sliced

1 oz. red onion, sliced thinly

2 T. balsamic vinegar  (or red wine vinegar)

3 T. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Dash each black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:   Rinse beans in a strainer, drain well and put into a mixing bowl.  Slice lettuce and add.  Sliver onion and add.  Toss well.  Mix dressing ingredients and spices in a little jar, shake and pour over salad.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so to allow flavors to meld.  If adding leftover grilled meat, heat the meat and add slices on top right before plating.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

138.5 cal, 11.75g fat, 5.98g carbs, 2.53g fiber, 3.45g NET CARBS, 3.35g protein, 52 mg. sodium

Blueberry Muffins

We love blueberry muffins so you KNOW I had to try to make them low-carb.  Originally, I did this recipe for a loaf bread, but decided to make them a second time as muffins.  So I think I’ll make a batch of the muffins for breakfast tomorrow.  We haven’t baked anything sweet in ages. 

These have great flavor and are very moist and light.  So many low-carb baked goods are too dense for my liking.  Not so with these.  This recipe is not acceptable until you reach the grains rung of Atkins OWL (ongoing weight loss carb re-introduction ladder) when you are nearing goal weight.

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. golden flax meal

½ c. Jennifer Eloff Vital Ultimate Bake Mix 

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

6 T. Splenda, granular

1 pkt. stevia powder

2 eggs, beaten

½ c. water

2 T. coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla

¾ c. freeze-dried, frozen or fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º and place 8 paper liners into a muffin tin.  Measure dry ingredients into mixing bowl.  Beat in eggs, water, coconut oil and vanilla.  Beat batter about a minute until it is smooth.  Gently fold in berries and using a spoon or 2T. measuring cup, carefully fill the paper cups evenly.  They will be about 3/4 full with batter.  Pop into preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes.  You can also do this in a greased loaf pan (won’t rise much though) and if done as a loaf, bake for about 25 minutes or until center springs back when touched.  Slice into 8 slices.  Serve warm.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 8 slices or 8 muffins, each slice/muffin contains:

130 cals, 9.56g fat, 7.18g carbs, 2.84g fiber, 4.34g NET CARBS, 5.2g protein, 160 mg sodium

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta a la Puttanesca

This tasty dinner sure goes together easily and FAST!  I would have used prosciutto (traditional) in this if I had any in the house.  Instead, in such cases, I either use dry-cured ham or dry-cured sausage, which my husband buys often.  I would NOT recommend using regular smoked sausage for this recipe.  It would not be very good and way too greasy for this dish.  Lean bacon will do in a pinch, but a totally different taste there.

I use Classico brand of sun-dried pesto sauce as it is only 7 net carbs per ¼ cup, spread out among the 4 servings.  I have calculated nutritional stats as if I had used the prosciutto, which is traditional for this dish, however.  This was outstanding in flavor profile!  My husband said I could make it again any time and I loved it as well.  This recipe is suitable once you get to phase 2 of Atkins, but those still on Induction need to leave out the white wine.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. unsalted butter

3 oz. onion, chopped (I used red onion)

4 slices prosciutto, chopped (or 4 oz. highly smoked dry-cured sausage  or dry-cured country ham, sliced)

1 fresh Roma tomato, coarsely chopped

½ c. canned sliced mushrooms with liquid (or 4-5 fresh medium, sliced)

10 black olives, sliced

½ c. parsley, chopped

½ c. white wine

Dash red pepper flakes

¼ c. Classico Sun-dried tomato Pesto (sold in a jar)

½ c. heavy cream

11 oz. Zeroodles “Penne” noodles with oat fiber (or 4 servings your preferred noodle alternate like zucchini noodles)

DIRECTIONS:   Melt butter in medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Sauté until tender.  Add all remaining ingredients but the cream and noodles.  Lower heat to medium and add cream.   Simmer until it begins to thicken up a bit.  Add the noodles and toss well to coat.  I let mine simmer for about 5 minutes longer.  Serve at once with a nice green salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

276.3 cals, 20.2g fat, 12.2g carbs, 5.92g fiber, 6.28g NET CARBS, 6.75g protein, 586 mg sodium

Topless Tamale Pie

I haven’t made this oldie but goodie in eons and am craving Mexican food tonight. I think I’ll make this quick and delicious meal tonight. Who needs those high-carb cornmeal toppings from tamale pies of old?  Walmart’s Great Value brand of canned corn only has 9g carbs per ½ c. minus 2g fiber or 7 net carbs per ½ cup.  Spread out in an entire recipe like this, if not still in Induction, you can use half a can (3/4 c.) in a recipe and get the real flavor of corn for mot too many carbs per serving.  Check out the numbers below.  This dish is so yummy I like to splurge a bit once in awhile and serve this.

This recipe is only suitable during Atkins Induction if you omit the corn.  It’s OK for other phases of Atkins however if it fits your daily macro goals. For those in Maintenance Phase, and can afford a few more carbs, here is my recipe with an actual topping on it: Tamale Pie.  

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 oz. chopped onion

1 jalapeno, seeded, chopped

½ tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. granulated or garlic powder

3/4 c. canned corn, no-salt, drained

2.25 oz. can sliced black olives

4 slices American Deluxe cheese

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ c. canned diced tomatoes (no-salt)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 300º.  Cook ground meat over medium heat until no longer pink.  Add onion and jalapeno and cook until onion is softening.  Add all spices and stir.  Add tomatoes, corn, olives and the shredded Cheddar cheese.  Stir and simmer for 4-5 minutes.  The cheese will begin to get sticky and bind the mixture a bit.  Top with the 4 slices of American cheese.  Pop in a 300º oven for 5-8 minutes just to melt the cheese.   Serve directly in the baking pan or dish up onto a serving platter.  Pairs nicely with a guacamole or green salad of choice.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 4 servings.  Each serving contains:

493 cals, 31.5g fat, 10.1g carbs, 2.4g fiber, 7.7g NET CARBS, 39.8g protein, 882 mg sodium

Salisbury Steak

This delicious Atkins Induction-friendly dish is also acceptable for you other Keto & Paleo plans.  It is VERY easy to prepare.  When I was still teaching, I would often cook this when I came home particularly tired, or had a lot of papers to grade that night.  I have also done this recipe chopping up the mushrooms real fine and adding to the patties themselves.    It’s very good done that way, too.  This entrée pairs nicely with butter-rich mashed cauliflower and a green vegetable of your choice. This recipe is only suitable during Induction if you omit the wine.

INGREDIENTS:

½ lb. ground beef

½ lb. ground pork (or more ground beef)

2 T. finely minced yellow onion

1 T. chopped parsley

1 beaten egg

½ c. crushed plain pork rinds

1/3 c. sliced fresh mushrooms (or small can with juice)

½ c. low-sodium beef bouillon (preferably homemade)

¼ c. heavy cream (optional)

1 T. olive oil

2 T. white or red wine (omit during Induction)

Dash onion powder

Black pepper to taste

OPTIONAL:  Add some chopped celery to the pan after browning meat. It is very nice in the sauce.

VARIATION:  Add 1 T. finely minced red bell pepper to the meat for a slightly different taste.

DIRECTIONS:  Mix the meats, parsley, onion, pork rinds and egg together in a bowl with your hands.  Form into 4 patties.  Coat non-stick skillet with olive oil and brown patties over medium heat.  Lower heat to low and add bouillon, wine and cream.   Slice mushrooms and add to skillet.  Add seasonings and celery if using.  DO NOT SALT the meat mixture as the pork rinds will provide enough salt to this meat.   Cover and cook about 20 minutes longer, turning patties once during coking to ensure even cooking.  Uncover and simmer to reduce cream to thicken.  If not thick enough, dust on a couple light dustings of xanthan gum or guar gum.  Stir after each addition to prevent lumps.  Great with mashed cauliflower and some green vegetable.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:  (not including optional red bell pepper)

451.75 Calories, 34.28 g  fat, 2 g  carbs, 0.25 g fiber, 1.83 NET CARBS, 31.23  g  protein

Beef-Broccoli Pie

I was originally planning on doing empanadas (small hand pies) for dinner, but we just drove back from our rural cabin to mow the property and we’re both pooped when we got home.  So instead I’ll make a single large pie.  That’ll go much faster and is much easier.  I have some pie dough in the freezer I can thaw enough to roll out, so this will be much easier. 

I adore broccoli steamed, but I’m frankly not too fond of it added to casseroles.  It invariably cooks too long and gets strong-tasting.  I had strong misgivings about adding it to this meat pie recipe.  I think I must have used just the right amount of broccoli, because I LOVED this final dish and the broccoli, putting it in raw, did just fine! 

My husband, when he carried his plate to the kitchen sink, after having wolfed down seconds, said “You can add THAT one to your regular rotations.”  That’s always a pretty good sign from him. 😉  The filling was quite creamy yet not overly wet.  Having used grass-fed beef for this, the beef flavor was rich indeed. Give this one a try! I’m certain you’re going to like it.  Although not suitable until you are closer to goal weight, this one is well worth the wait.  If you use Induction suitable biscuit dough (like flax muffin batter) and not do a bottom crust, those still in the initial Atkins Induction phase could still enjoy this recipe. 🙂

VARIATION:  You lamb fans could use ground lamb in this pie for a very nice variation.

CRUST INGREDIENTS:

1 1/3 c. CarbQuik bake mix (use a gluten-free bake mix for a gluten-free version)

¼ c. oat flour (from certified gluten-free oats if you require that)

½ c. coconut oil or cold butter

¼ tsp. sea salt

1/3 c. ice water

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground beef (I used 90% lean grass-fed)

6 large mushrooms, sliced chopped coarsely

1/3 c. red bell pepper, chopped

2 oz. onion, chopped

½ recipe Jennifer Eloff’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

½ c. drained yogurt (I used Fage 2%)

¼ c. cream

Dash each salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

1½ c. broccoli, coarsely chopped (I used mostly flowerettes)

DIRECTIONS:  Make the blender soup (linked above) per that recipe’s instructions.  You will only use half of this soup. Store the remaining half in your refrigerator for another use.  Set aside what you will be using for now.

Measure out the dry ingredients for the crust in a medium mixing bowl.  Stir well.  With a fork or pastry cutter, blend in the coconut oil or cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal and visually appears to be uniformly blended.  Add the ice water slowly and with your fork, stir until it forms a solid ball of dough.  I had to knead mine 4-5 times to facilitate that. Divide dough into a chunk of 2/3 of the dough for the bottom crust and 1/3 of the dough for the top crust.  Roll bottom crust between 2 sheets of plastic wrap until 1-1½” larger than your baking dish.  I used a 7 x 11 ceramic dish.  Remove top plastic and lift the dough, plastic and all and gently tip it onto the pan, centered.  Remove plastic and press it in the bottom and along the sides of your baking dish.  If there are any tears, just press it together.  Perfection here is not an issue.  Set aside while you cook the filling.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Brown the meat in a non-stick skillet (mine is ceramic) over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper.  Sauté until veggies are nearly tender.  Add the chopped mushrooms and sauté the mixture just until they are no longer opaque.  Stir in the condensed soup, yogurt and cream until they are uniformly blended.  Stir in the RAW diced broccoli, salt and pepper last.  The broccoli will cook sufficiently in the oven baking process.

With a rubber spatula, scrape filling into the crust.  Now roll out the remaining dough to roughly the size and shape of your dish (again between plastic wrap) and top the pie with it.  Seal the edges of the top and bottom crust in any fashion you like. Make some vent hole with a knife tip or fork.  Pop into 350º oven for about 1 hour or until dough is golden brown.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

340 calories, 33 g  fat, 19.83 g  carbs, 11.26 g  fiber, 8.57 NET CARBS, 10 g  protein, 353 mg sodium

Bacon-Mushroom “Pancake”

I like to fix this delicious breakfast quite often.  It’s simple to put together and my husband loves things like this done in the skillet.  Unfortunately, he sliced off a portion  and was chowing down on it before I got my camera out to take my blog photo!    I call this a “pancake” (but it has no batter in it) because it is quite thin, with only 3 eggs in it.  I’m not terribly fond of eggs, so are you surprised?  If you prefer more of a fluffy frittata, just increase the eggs to 4 or 5 and whip them with a whisk before adding them in.  This breakfast or brunch offering is suitable for all phases of Atkins and most Keto programs.  It passes muster for Primal and Paleo folks as well, provided you clarify the butter, of course.

INGREDIENTS:

4 T. unsalted butter

6 medium mushrooms, sliced

2 oz. cooked bacon pieces (weighed after cooking)

3 large eggs, beaten

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  In a 10″ skillet melt the butter over medium-high heat and saute the mushrooms in the pan until tender and no longer bleeding moisture into the pan.  Turn off heat.  Spread the bacon pieces on top evenly.  Drizzle the beaten eggs over the top of the bacon-mushroom mixture, trying to moisten the entire contents with the egg.  Pop skillet into 350º oven for about 7-10 minutes or until eggs are just done in the center.  Remove from oven and run a spatula under the “pancake” to slide it onto a serving platter.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 4 servings, each contains:

213 cals, 18.4g fat, 1.37g carbs, 0.27g fiber, 1.1g NET CARBS, 10.9g protein, 382 mg sodium

Cajun Balsamic Fish Filets

This is a quick and delicious meal that takes almost no time to thaw and prepare for your family. I have tried my Homemade Cajun Seafood Spice on fish before, but I wanted to see what a dash of Balsamic vinegar would bring to that picture. Let’s just say we were both pleasantly surprised how much we liked that addition! Of course, if you’re not a balsamic fan, you can substitute lemon juice or just omit altogether. That will result in a delicious, classic Louisiana Cajun fish presentation.

This is low in calories yet filling! Best of all, it is suitable for Atkins Induction phase! This recipe would lend itself to a variety of white-flesh fish you may have available (I use what I can get in Central TX), but it would be delicious on 0salmon as well! I also think this recipe would be delicious grilled over charcoal.

INGREDIENTS:

2 6-oz. fish filets of your choice

4 T. unsalted butter

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. my Homemade Cajun Seafood Spice blend

VARIATION: Use jumbo shrimp, shelled all but tails & deveined.

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 400º. Prepare fresh or defrost frozen filets. Pat dry with paper towels. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the balsamic vinegar and spice blend and remove from the burner. Using a brush, coat all 4 sides of the two filets with the mixture and place them on a metal baking pan. Place pan into preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes. If fish is fully opaque & flakes nicely with knife tip (indicating it is done) but is not yet brown enough for you, turn the oven to broil and brown to your satisfaction for a couple minutes. Alternately, you can grill these over a hot charcoal fire, but be gentle lest they tear up in the handling. We love grilling fish! Serve with your favorite sides. We had ours with buttered cauliflower and my own home-grown green beans that were lightly sautéed in 50:50 butter/bacon grease a few minutes. Mmmm….This was a delicious meal!

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 2 servings, each contains:

426 cals, 31.5g fat, 1.29g carbs, 0.2g fiber, 1.09g NET CARBS, 32.44g protein, 226 mg sodium

Beef & Bacon Stuffed Squash

This delicious dish is so rich and creamy you’re going to love it!  Not a lot of ingredients but a nice combination of flavors in this one.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, and Primal diets.

INGREDIENTS: 

1½ c. cooked spaghetti squash threads (I used a 6″ squash which was perfect.)

2 slices thick bacon, chopped coarsely

10 oz. ground beef (I used 90% lean grass-fed)

3/4 tsp. Victoria Gourmet No-Salt Lemon Pepper

2 large green onions, chopped

2 oz. (4 T.) cream cheese

¼ c. shredded mozzarella cheese

VARIATION: Use other seasonings (Italian, Cajun).  I have made these with Montreal Steak Seasoning and I can vouch that one is super good!

DIRECTIONS:  Cut squash in half lengthwise and invert in a shallow dish with a little water.  Microwave on HI for 13 minutes. Remove and fork out the threads into a waiting bowl, being careful so as not to tear the outer shells that will become their own “bowl”.  You will only be using 1½ c. of the threads.  Reserve the rest for another use.

In a non-stick skillet or wok over high heat, fry the bacon.  When partially cooked, add the beef, breaking it up with your spoon as you cook the two completely until completely done.  Add the seasoning you have chosen and the green onions.  Just sauté until onion is slightly softened.  Add the cream cheese and stir until it is uniformly melted and blended with the meat mixture.  Remove from heat.  Spoon the meat mixture onto the spaghetti squash threads and stir to blend well.   Spoon half the mixture into each empty squash shell.  Sprinkle 2 T. mozzarella shreds over each filled squash half.  Pop into 350º oven for around 20 minutes or until cheese is melted on top and slightly beginning to brown.  Serve at once with a salad or green veggie.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 2 adult servings, each contains:

627 cals, 43.6g fat, 10.8g carbs, 2.25g fiber, 8.55g NET CARBS, 46.2g protein, 1100 mg sodium (in the bacon)

Seeded Dinner Rolls

These delicious rolls are made with my Peggy’s Sliced Bread batter.  I simply sprinkled on a topping of my seed/spice mixture and chose a square muffin pan.    I topped mine with my 8-Seed version of Victoria Gourmet’s 7-Seed Crust spice blend:  http://www.vgourmet.com/7-Seed-Crust/p/VIC-00143&c=VictoriaGourmet@SeasoningBlends plus a few nigella seeds.  Sometimes I even add a few sunflower seeds on top if I have some on hand, just because I love them on breads & crackers. 

For perspective on rise, the wells in my non-stick pan are 3/4″ deep, but rise is minimal, as with so many low-carb breads.  I don’t like to use paper liners with high-egg content breads as they just won’t get that tasty brown bottom crust when you do.  Therefore I have to gently coax these out of the pan with the help of a knife tip after a bit of cooling, to prevent tearing up the bottoms.  Alternately, you could just drop these by heaping spoonsful (20 mounds) onto a non-stick baking sheet to achieve a biscuit appearance, as the inside texture is very similar to a biscuit.  These are not suitable until the grains rung of OWL due to the flour products in the Carbquick.  Even on the Victoria Gourmet website, I was unable to get nutritional info for the spice blend I used, so I calculated 1 gram of each the higher carb seeds listed in the ingredients on my bottle.  Don’t fret about the topping, as you’re getting few carbs there, considering you divide that mix into 20 portions.

These would also make lovely little finger sandwiches for parties with your favorite meat fillings!  I just made the best mini-BLT’s for my lunch with two of these. Lots of possibilities!

INGREDIENTS: 

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 large eggs, beaten

1 c. Jennifer Eloff’s Splendid Gluten-Free Bake Mix:  http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/im-very-excited-to-unveil-my-splendid.html

½ c. Carbquik bake mix (substitute ½ c. more Jennifer’s mix for gluten-free version)

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 T. seed/spice mix of your choosing (I use my 8-Seed Spice Blend)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Oil the cups of a non-stick square or round muffin pan.  Soften cream cheese in medium bowl and beat the eggs in until fairly smooth.  Add in all dry ingredients and stir until well blended.  Using a 2T. measuring cup, dip batter (rounded in the cup) into the muffin cups.  Batter is real thick, a bit sticky,  and you will have to scoop the batter out with your finger.  There should be enough batter for about 20 rolls and nutritional stats below are calculated on that number.  I took a round butter knife and tried to spread batter evenly into the cups.  Pop into 350º oven and bake about 20-22 minutes.   Check at 20 since ovens vary.  You don’t want to overly brown these or they will dry out.  Remove and cool a bit before gently coaxing them out of the pan with the help of a knife.  If the first one tears up a bit on the bottom, wait a little longer before removing the rest.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 20 rolls, each contains:

86.75 cals, 7.59g fat, 3.68g carbs, 1.96g fiber, 1.72g NET CARBS, 5.37g protein, 141 mg sodium

BBQ Crack Cabbage with Ham

I found a small package of grilled pork slices in my freezer this morning I need to use up.  Since I have cooked this recipe numerous times now and my husband and I just LOVE it, it’s what’s for dinner tonight!  It’s so simple to make you’ll want to try this some time.  The mystery added ingredient, to what is basically the Crack Slaw recipe, makes all the difference in the world!  The BBQ sauce is the KEY INGREDIENT, so don’t omit that.  The flavor impact is astounding.   Without the sauce, it’s pretty much just an ordinary Crack Slaw in my opinion.  Carb count is a little high on this dish, but it is all in the healthy vegetables in it.  This recipe provides your daily requirements for Vitamins B6, C, iron, manganese, niacin, phosphorous and thiamin.  So the carbs are well worth it in nutrition alone!

This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and most Keto programs.  Paleo/Primal Blueprint folks must use a plan-acceptable BBQ sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

3 T. bacon grease

8 oz. cooked cured ham, cut in small strips

2 oz. red bell pepper, cut in small strips

1 leek (12 oz.), washed, sliced ½” (or 1 lg. yellow onion)

12 oz. green cabbage, cut in ½” stir-fry slices

¼ c. low-carb BBQ sauce (I use G.Hughes, thinned with 1 T. each vinegar & water)

Dash of coarse black pepper

VARIATIONS:  Instead of ham, use thinly-sliced smoked sausage, leftover grilled pork meat, breakfast sausage mini-meatballs, or leftover BBQ brisket.  Brown all meats first in the skillet as was done with ham in the directions.

DIRECTIONS:  In a large non-stick wok or skillet, melt the bacon grease over high heat.  Add cut-up ham (or leftover grilled BBQ meat) and stir-fry to caramelize and lightly brown it for about 3 minutes.  Add the red bell pepper next and sauté until just barely starts to soften.  Add leeks and stir-fry until it just begins to go limp (about 4-5 minutes).   Add the cut-up cabbage and cook all together just until cabbage begins to soften.  Drizzle the water/vinegar- diluted BBQ sauce over the top and turn off heat.  Stir to mix the sauce to coat all ingredients with its smoky, sweet goodness.  Sprinkle top of mixture with a quality coarse black pepper.  At this juncture, you have two choices.  You can either serve the dish at once if you like your cabbage to still be a bit crunchy.  Or you can pop it into a 350º oven for 15-20 minutes for flavors to develop further and for veggies to get a bit softer.  Your call.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Made with leek rather than yellow onion, makes 5 servings, each contains:

199 cals, 11.72g fat, 12.02g carbs, 2.78g fiber, 9.24g NET CARBS (only 7.5g NET CARBS using yellow onion), 11.78g protein, 768 mg sodium

Jicama Cinnamon Chips

My husband went to the grocery store today and came home with a jicama.  This is one of my favorite ways to have jicama.  I love these for an easy dessert, for breakfast or for a late night snack.  They are very filling and taste a lot like baked apples!  These things satisfied my sweet tooth during Atkins Induction Phase when I craved something sweet.  This recipe is suitable for Keto, Paleo and Primal diets.

INGREDIENTS:

3 oz. jicama, peeled & sliced less than ¼” thick

2 T. melted butter

4-5 drops liquid stevia or liquid Splenda (or your preferred sweetener)

½ tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  In sheet pan, melt butter.  Stir in cinnamon and liquid Splenda.  Slice jicama about 1/8″ thick (1/4″ if you like them crunchier) and place each slice into butter/cinnamon mixture.  Turn over so both sides are coated well.  Bake at 350º for about 20 minutes until begin to soften.  Serve warm!

VARIATION:   I have made this in a skillet using peeled chayote squash and a bit more butter.  Then I pop the skillet into the oven to finish off.  But I didn’t invent that wheel.  You can find that recipe over on Linda Genaw’s website:  http://genaw.com/lowcarb/fried_apples.html.  

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 1 person.  Entire recipe contains:

239 cals, 23.1g fat, 8.4g carbs, 4.8g fiber, 3.6g NET CARBS, 0.9g protein, 6.8 mg. sodium

 

Beer-Braised Beef Shanks with Leeks

The farmer that lease’s our pasture down on our cabin property gave us some beef shanks off the last Brangus he took to butcher.   I like to braise shanks with a little beer (low-carb, of course) or wine.  This is one of my all-time favorite braised beef recipes and ever so simple.  Cooks itself really, after searing the meat.   This dish is equally good made with large pieces of chuck roast or with beef short ribs, if you can’t get shank.  The carbs are coming from the leeks but they are really good with this meat.  This dish is only Induction friendly if you omit the beer. I served mine with buttered, steamed carrots and my Seeded Dinner Rolls . My husband likes his leeks stewed to “death”, as they appear in the photo.  But I would recommend if you like yours less “dead” (as do I), wait to add them to the pot after the meat has simmered for the first hour hour.   I thicken my broth with xanthan gum, but you can use whatever thickener is acceptable for your eating plan.

INGREDIENTS:

2½ lbs. lean, cross-cut beef shanks (or chunks of beef chuck/shoulder)

1 T. coconut or olive oil

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 leek, cleaned and chopped into 2″ pieces

7 oz. large mushrooms, wiped clean

12 oz. low-carb beer (Michelob Ultra is low-carb)

1/4 tsp. ground thyme

1½ c. rich, homemade beef broth

about 1 c. water

thickener of your choice

VARIATION:  Use 1 c. white or rose wine instead of the beer

DIRECTIONS:   Cut root tip and top 1″of green part off the leek.  Slice it lengthwise and wash carefully with water between layers to get all “hiding” dirt out.  Cut into 2″ pieces and set aside.  Wipe mushrooms clean with a dry cloth, cut huge ones in half, leave others whole.  Set aside.    Heat a large dutch oven or stew pot until nearly smoking and add coconut oil.  Sear the pieces of meat on high flame until they are well browned on each side.  Add yellow onion, garlic, broth, beer, water to cover meat, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cover and lower heat to  slow simmer.  Simmer 1 hour.   Add mushrooms and leeks, lightly stirring them into the broth.  Cover again and simmer for about 30 more minutes or until meat is very tender.  Serve with your favorite low-carb bread or dinner rolls and a salad or another vegetable if you prefer.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains: (I have calculated the stats below assuming you consume an entire 1/4 of  the thickened broth, which is probably unlikely.  Actual consumed net carbs on the broth might be less than the 6.22 g. shown below.  But the actual consumed would be difficult to calculate any other way than I have shown at 1/4 the broth, 1/4 of the meat and 1/4 of the veggies.)

310 cals, 10.4g fat, 7.55g carbs, 1.33g fiber, 6.22g NET CARBS, 40.2g protein, 450 mg sodium

Strawberry Chocolate Torte

I’m not a big sweets eater, as many of my readers and forum acquaintances know by now.  But my husband is, so I fix him low-carb treats for special occasions otherwise he WILL go buy the awful flour/sugar laden versions at the bakery.  This dessert I created for his Valentine’s Day treat some years back and thought I’d share it today since there’s never a bad time for a good chocolate cake.  

The basic chocolate cake batter in this recipe is actually not my recipe.  My inspirational recipe was posted by a wonderful cook on LowCarbFriends forums named Gwen, known there as “The Chicken Lady” as she lives on a farm.  This cake is a testimonial to her incredible cooking skills. I love this cake and have made it more than one time now.  I can’t say that about many low-carb chocolate cakes I’ve tried.   Despite it looking sinfully rich, it was very light.   I have made no changes to her original chocolate cake recipe.  🙂

I did bake my cake in ONE 9″ round cake (wax-paper lined) cake pan that is unusually deep (2½”) and the cake rose nearly to the top!  It would bake OK in two standard shallow 9″ cake pans also, but reduce the cooking time if you make that pan change.  You’ll have more trouble slicing it into 4 layers, and might prefer to just do a two-layer final cake instead of three.  Or you could bake the cake in a wax-paper lined stew pot/Dutch oven.  That has worked for me many a time.  This dessert is not suitable until the berries rung of the Atkins OWL carb reintroduction ladder.  Due to the artificial sweeteners and dairy, this dessert is not be suitable for Paleo-Primal followers without considerable modification.

VARIATION:  Substitute raspberries for the strawberries.

This cake is fairly carb pricey, but if you can’t afford the carbs, you could cut it into 12 pieces.  That’s a wee bit better.  This should be considered a very special occasion treat because it IS so carb pricey.  Be sure if substituting other than liquid sweeteners, to add in those carbs!

CHICKEN LADY’S CHOCOLATE CAKE INGREDIENTS: 

4 c. almond flour
liquid sweetener to equal 2 c. sugar
½ c. granular erythritol (or equivalent sweetener of choice to equal 1/3 cup of sugar)
4 pkts. stevia (or equivalent for 8 tsp. sugar)  
½ c. cup cocoa powder
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/3 c. butter or coconut oil, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1 c. sour cream

MY FROSTING & FILLING INGREDIENTS:

2½ c. heavy cream, whipped

1/16-1/8 tsp. glucomannan powder, dusted over cream as you whip it (optional, to help firm up)

14 oz. frozen whole strawberries, thawed and drained of juice, chopped

1 c. fresh strawberries, chopped or 1 c. more frozen berries (or use all fresh berries)

Sweetener of choice to taste

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º.   Mix and beat the wet cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl.   If your almond flour isn’t room temperature, make it so and press out any lumps.  Measure and add in all dry ingredients to the bowl and stir well. Line your cake pan(s) with waxed paper or parchment.  Grease the sides of the pan(s) well.  Pour batter into pan spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Tap pan on counter to eliminate air pockets and pop into 350º oven.  Bake for about 60 minutes if using one, very deep pan like I did.  If using two 1″ x 9″ round cake pans, they will cook much faster, in about 25-30 minutes or so.   Toothpick test the center.  It should come out clean and dry when the the cake is done.  Completely cool before attempting to tip cake out onto a board to cut it into layers.  This cake can also be made in a rectangular 9 x 13″ pan, cut in half and each half then sliced laterally to form 4 layers (reserve 1 layer for another use as you only need 3 layers for this cake).  All sorts of possibilities with that cake size.

While cake is in the oven, make the frosting:  Whip the cream until thick.  Run the berries through a food processor (or chop coarsely) for a few seconds.  Fold the berries into the whipped cream. Dust the pinch of glucomannan powder over the mixture slowly, folding after each addition, until all of it has been incorporated.  Taste for sweetness and add your favorite sweetener to taste.  Chill frosting until cake is totally cool.

Next cut the cake layers:  I sliced the completely cooled cake very carefully with a long-bladed knife, using a piece of cardboard covered with foil to gently slide each layer onto to set aside while I filled/frosted the final creation.  This cake has a firm texture and is not as crumbly as some almond flour cakes.  All good, but you still need to be careful, as even firm cakes can break.

Place about 1¼ c. of the frosting on the bottom layer of the cake.  Spread evenly with a rubber spatula, going almost to the edges.  Place the second layer of cake gently on the top and press slightly.  Put another 1¼ c. frosting on this layer and spread it out evenly.  Place the top cake layer on the stack, press slightly and spread all remaining frosting on the top and sides. OPTIONAL GARNISH:  Decorate the top of your cake with fresh strawberry slices, a few strawberry leaves  or perhaps a sliced and “fanned out” single strawberry at the center.  Chill in the refrigerator with plastic wrap on top until ready to cut and serve.

This cake was simply DELICIOUS and I will definitely be making it again!   My thanks to The Chicken Lady for her wonderful chocolate cake recipe.  It truly made my Valentines treat a success!

CONFESSION TIME:  The reason I used both frozen and fresh berries in the topping is I only had one 14 oz. bag of the frozen diced unsweetened berries in my freezer.  I thought that would make enough frosting.  But 1½ c. cream and those berries didn’t make enough frosting to frost the sides of the cake!  So I had to whip up a little more frosting real quick with another cup of cream and berries, so the last batch of frosting had to be made with the few fresh berries I had on hand.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 10 servings, using the sweeteners specified, each serving contains:

632 cals, 57.8 g fat, 20.4 g carbs, 7.05 g fiber, 13.35 g NET CARBS, 15.2 g protein, 521 mg sodium

Almond Butter Cookies

These tasty treats come out kind of chewy and are still like that after they cool off.  I got this base batter idea from the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Honeyvillegrain Blanched Almond flour bag.  I made some drastic changes to their basic dough, however.  They used all almond flour in their recipe and I’ve added some ingredients I find improve low-carb baked goods.  I’m very pleased with the chewy texture of these cookies and will likely use this cookie dough as a base dough for many variations in the future.  So far I have done variations with fresh cherry, pineapple and pecan, dried prune , currant-spice, pumpkin, and chia-chai .  All have been delicious.  If you’re tired of cake-y or dry/brittle cookies and are wanting a low carb cookie that is moist and chewy, this one you really need to try!  They really deliver!  They also freeze well and are even chewier when eaten right out of the freezer, if you’re into very chewy cookies!!  These are not suitable until the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins Phase 2 OWL carb reintroduction ladder.

DO NOT SUBSTITUTE OTHER SWEETENERS FOR THE SUGAR-FREE HONEY IN THESE OR THEY WILL NOT COME OUT CHEWY!  I tried that already.  Real honey works, but will also jack up the carbs considerably!

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. almond flour

½ c. coconut flour

1 T. oat fiber (substitute gluten-free oat flour for gluten-free version)

1 tsp. glucomannan powder (konjac powder)

1/8 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

½ c. coconut oil (or softened butter)

2 T. almond butter

1 T. vanilla extract

½ c. granular Splenda

1 T. erythritol

1 egg, beaten

¼ c. sugar-free imitation honey (no substitutions, unless it’s REAL honey)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  In a large mixing bowl stir the almond butter and oil together until smooth.  Beat in the egg, vanilla and imitation honey.    Measure in all dry ingredients on top and stir well to form a smooth dough.   If your dough seems very dry or stiff (coconut flours vary), add in ½ beaten egg. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place them onto parchment lined baking sheet.  Leave 1″ space between cookies.  Press balls down slightly flat and pop pan into preheated oven.  Top with chopped, sliced almonds if desired, but this really doesn’t impact flavor, just the look.  Bake for about 7 minutes.  Do not over brown these cookies or texture will be drier and less chewy.  Remove from oven and cool on the pan a few minutes before removing with a spatula.  These are delicate while hot but “firm up” nicely when they cool. Store in an airtight container.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 28 cookies, each contains:

105.5 cals, 9.1g fat, 4.12g carbs, 2.07g fiber, 2.05g NET CARBS, 2g protein, 48.2 mg sodium

HOMEMADE IMITATION HONEY: If you really don’t feel like running to the store for ready-made sugar-free honey, but also don’t want to use all real honey because of the carbs, I have a homemade recipe you might want to try.  Boil for 2-3 minutes: ¼ c. erythritol, 2 T. + 1 tsp. real honey and 1 pkt. stevia (or Splenda).  Cool (thickens as it cools) and put in airtight jar.  Added note:  If it crystalizes over time, just soften in the microwave on DEFROST for 1  minute or plunge into a pot of slow simmering warm water a minute or so before stirring and using.