Clean the leeks and cut the little ones, into small chunks. Peel the onion and cut it in small chunks too. Finally peel and cut the apple into cubes. Leave the apple in a bowl with water and a few drops of lemon so that it does not blacken.
Brown the bacon with a few drops of oil in the pan. Remove it and let it rest on absorbent kitchen paper.
In this same pan fry the onion for a few minutes, adding a little oil if necessary, and when you see it transparent add the leek over low heat and poach it for a few more minutes. When the leek looks well poached it is time to add the well drained apple. Soak until everything looks tender and soft.
In a large bowl beat the eggs with milk, cream and cheese.
Add the leek and bacon and mix well. Salt and pepper. You can add a little nutmeg.
Pour the mixture into a previously greased mold about 25 cm long.
After you grease it put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to help the cake come out smoothly at the end.
Put it in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until you see it well curdled. If you see that the surface browns too much you can cover it with aluminum foil.
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup water ¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 pound tender steak{beef tenderloin tails, ribeye, or flank steak} trimmed, cut into 1-inch squares 3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided 3 tablespoons dry sherry or Chinese rice wine, divided up to 3 teaspoons cornstarch, divided up to 2 ½ teaspoons packed light brown sugar, divided 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 2 teaspoons rice vinegar 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon peanut oil, divided 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch squares 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch squares 6 scallions, white parts sliced thin on a bias, green parts cut into 2-inch pieces 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Directions
Combine 1 tablespoon water and baking soda in a medium bowl. Add beef and toss to coat. Let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.
Whisk 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sherry, 1½ teaspoons cornstarch, and ½ teaspoon sugar together in a small bowl. Add soy sauce mixture to beef, stir to coat, and let sit at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes.
Stir-fry Sauce Whisk remaining ¼ cup water, remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, remaining 2 tablespoons sherry, remaining 1½ teaspoons cornstarch, remaining 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons vinegar, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and ½ teaspoon pepper together in the second bowl.
Heat 2 teaspoons peanut oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of the beef in a single layer. Cook without stirring for 1 minute. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown on both sides, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining beef and 2 teaspoon oil.
Return skillet to high heat, add 2 teaspoons peanut oil, and heat until beginning to smoke. Add bell peppers and scallion greens and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are spotty brown and crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer vegetables to bowl with beef.
Return now-empty skillet to medium-high heat and add the remaining 4 teaspoons vegetable oil, scallion whites, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Return beef and vegetables to skillet and stir to combine. Whisk sauce to recombine. Add to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened, about 30 seconds.
What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Equal Measures: Coconut Curry Chicken! Every once in awhile you cross paths with someone who offers a product to enhance a food blog. Antonio @seasonalityspices offered me a free sample of handcrafted organic Indian Curry. Instantly, I knew the dish I would prepare. One bite of mild and spicy chicken, enhanced with the creamy flavor of organic coconut, is all it took to turn ordinary chicken into a flavorful obsession. Don’t mind if I do. Thanks, Antonio.
COCONUT CURRY CHICKEN
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 1/4 cup sweet rice – not for low carbers!
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or preferably butter
1 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
13.5-ounce can organic coconut milk
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, chopped
Cilantro, for garnish aka Coriander
Instructions:
Combine water, sweet rice, and olive oil. Cook in a rice cooker according to directions. (Package rice may be substituted on a stovetop.) In a large skillet, warm vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Sauté chicken and onion until chicken is no longer pink and onions are transparent. Sprinkle chicken mixture with curry powder, sea salt, and black pepper. Stir in organic coconut milk and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 5 minutes or until thickened. Add sun-dried tomatoes. Cook 2-3 minutes longer. Serve with sticky rice. Garnish with fresh cilantro.
My comments: Of course for low carbers don’t use rice rice, use cauliflower rice or any non-starchy vegetable accompaniment.
Thank you very much Gail for this easy, tasty recipe. There are more at snapshotsincursive: interesting stories about everyday moments.
2 teaspoons Worcester Sauce (or sherry vinegar or red wine)
2 teaspoons tomato puree
500mls Guinness or other strong dark beer
300mls meat broth
2 teaspoons sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Heat the oven to 180 degrees if you prefer to use your oven rather than the stove top for later stages of cooking.
In a large bowl mix the salt and pepper into the beef.
In a large casserole, simmer the butter and oil until the butter has melted. Add the meat in batches and brown it quickly, about a minute each batch. Set aside the browned meat.
Fry the onions and carrots for two minutes.
Put the meat back in the casserole and add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, Guinness, hot meat broth and sugar. Add more black pepper and salt and bring to a boil.
Cover the casserole, reduce the heat, and cook slowly on the stove top or oven according to your preference.
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America’s Culinary Food Stories-New England Clam Chowder by Jovina Coughlin
From Manhattan to New England, clam chowder is known for its competing varieties as much as for its comforting briny flavor. It seems every state on the East Coast has its own take on the popular soup.
New England clam chowder is the most well-known and popular clam chowder. Though it’s named after New England and associated most with Massachusetts and Maine, food historians believe that French, Nova Scotian, or British settlers introduced the soup to the area and it became a common dish by the 1700s. The soup continued to gain popularity throughout the years and, according to “What’s Cooking America”, was being served in Boston at Ye Olde Union Oyster House (the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the country) by 1836.
New England clam chowder, occasionally called “Boston Clam Chowder,” is made with the usual clams and potatoes, but it also has a milk or cream base. It is usually thick and hearty; Today. the soup can be found all over the country but is still most popular in the North East. New England Clam Chowder
Yield: 8 to 10 servings Ingredients
3 strips thick-cut bacon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 medium leek, washed and sliced
2 celery ribs with tops cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning (Old Bay)
3 medium-size white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (optional, you can thicken the soup by using double cream and cut down on the seafood stock)
4 cups seafood stock or bottled clam juice, divided
1 pound chopped fresh clam meat with juices or 2 (6.5 oz) cans of clams in broth
Kosher salt to taste
2 cups half & half
1 teaspoon white pepper
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish Directions
Place a 4- to 6-quart pot over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and cook, turning occasionally, until crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bacon, leaving the fat in the pot, and crumble into small pieces onto a plate; set aside.
Add the butter, onion, leek, celery, thyme, seafood seasoning and bay leaves to the pot. Cook, stirring often, until onions and potatoes are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
Return the bacon to the pot and increase the heat to medium-low.
Dissolve the flour in 1 cup of the clam broth or seafood stock. Add the mixture gradually, stirring continuously, until incorporated. Stir and cook 5 minutes. (or you can take the worry about lumpy soup by not using it at all!)
Increase the heat to medium and slowly add the remaining clam broth or stock, 1 cup at a time, incorporating it into the mixture before adding more.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the clam meat with its juices. Keep stirring 5 minutes, until the clams are tender.
Add the cream slowly; then stir in the white pepper.
Discard the bay leaves before serving. Garnish each serving with chopped parsley. Note
Many USA supermarkets carry frozen, chopped clam meat in 1-pound containers, which is fresher than canned and just as convenient. Simply defrost before using.
My comments: I’ve had the pleasure of having several different versions of clam chowder in various parts of the USA and the creamy version without added tomatoes is my favourite. I’ve had it in New England and San Francisco. I can’t remember where I had the one that had tomatoes in it, but I was rather disappointed. How you make this soup will depend on how low you wish to cut carbs and how tolerant of wheat you are. Clam chowder is very filling so you will need only light accompaniments eg a salad or fruit.
INGREDIENTS
2 shallots, peeled & chopped
100g mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 aubergine
1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, torn
Sea salt & black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 mozzarella ball, roughly chopped
100g strong cheddar, grated
CREATE IT
1. Heat 1tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan and soften the shallots over medium heat.
2. Add the mushroom and cook until beginning to soften (use more oil if needed).
3. Add the garlic and cook for a further 1 minute.
4. Drain most of the liquid from the tinned tomatoes and add to the pan with a pinch of salt and pepper, keep on a low heat whilst you cook the aubergine.
5. Slice the aubergine into rounds about 1/2cm thick and use the remaining olive oil to brush each side.
6. Cook the aubergine in batches in a hot griddle pan to soften and colour, turning half way through (2-3 minutes each side). Place on a plate to uselater.
7. Take an oven dish and add a layer of the tomato sauce to just cover the base.
8. Layer half the aubergine on the sauce and top with the tomato slices.
9. Scatter the chopped mozzarella on the tomatoes.
10. Use the remaining aubergine to add another layer.
11. Stir the basil through the remaining tomato sauce and pour over the aubergine.
12. Top with the grated cheddar cheese.
13. Place in a pre-heated oven on medium heat for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
14. Serve with a fresh green salad.
Banana Bread Ingredients
1 banana
1 and 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon almond flour (ground almonds)
3 eggs
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup low carb sugar substitute
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts plus 15 walnut halves Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mash the banana with a fork.
Process the eggs together with the mashed banana and the melted butter with a hand
blender or hand mixer to a smooth dough.
Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl. Pour into the bowl with the egg and banana
mixture and stir well.
Add the chopped walnuts and fold into the batter.
Line an 8-inch bread/loaf pan with baking paper/parchment with the paper extending over the ends of the pan. Coat lightly with cooking spray. Pour in the bread dough into the pan and place the walnut halves in five rows across the top of the dough.
Bake the bread for 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Check the bread after 30 minutes. If the top is brown, cover it loosely with aluminum foil to prevent the low-carb banana bread from burning.
Let the banana bread cool and then lift out with the aid of the parchment paper. Cool completely before slicing.
Ricotta Cheesecake
Makes one 8-inch square cheesecake, to serve 12 Cheesecake Ingredients
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar substitute ( I use monk fruit)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
Zest of 1 orange Blueberry Topping
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (10 oz)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons low carb sugar substitute
2 teaspoons cornstarch or arrowroot powder mixed with 2 teaspoons water Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Grease an 8-inch square baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and orange zest. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until set. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Cover. Refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled with the blueberry topping.
Diabetes Diet 