Category: Starter

Jovina cooks Italian: Fresh herbs and summer squash chowder

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Cooking With Fresh Herbs

by Jovina Coughlin

Don’t let your herbs go wild in the garden or get moldy in the refrigerator. There are lots of way to incorporate them into your recipes.

A general guideline for using fresh herbs in a recipe is to use 3 times as much as you would use dried herbs.

Wash herbs when you are ready to use them. Shake off moisture or spin dry in a salad spinner. Pat off any remaining moisture with clean paper towels.

For most recipes, unless otherwise directed, mince herbs into tiny pieces. Chop with a chef’s knife on a cutting board or snip with a kitchen scissors.

Unlike dried herbs, fresh herbs are usually added toward the end in cooked dishes to preserve their flavor.

Storing Herbs

Fresh herbs can be stored in an open or a perforated plastic bag in your refrigerator for a few days.

After washing, you can mince the herbs and place them halfway up in the sections of an ice-cube tray. Cover herbs with cold water and freeze until solid.

Transfer the frozen cubes to a freezer bag. Drop them into soups, stews and sauces as needed.

Some Other Ways To Use Herbs

If you love a big, green salad, add fresh herbs to the mix.

Add a big handful of fresh herbs to a basic mixture of equal parts sugar and water, bring to a boil, stir and then remove from the heat. Once completely cooled, strain out the herbs (discard) and use the simple syrup to sweeten iced coffee or tea and cocktails.

Fresh herbs are a perfect in salad dressings and vinaigrettes. They round out the fatty and sharp flavors from the oil and vinegar.

Combine finely chopped herbs and room-temperature butter to make a spread that compliments bread or cooked meat or vegetables.

Summer Squash Chowder

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 medium courgettes and 2 medium patty pan squash, diced
  • 1 large sweet (Vidalia) onion, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 8 cups Summer Vegetable Stock (corn cob stock) (recipe here)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 cup fresh corn kernels
  • Sour cream for garnish

Directions

Heat the butter in a large saucepan or stockpot; add the garlic, celery and onion. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the squash and lightly salt the vegetables. Saute for an additional 5 minutes.

Add the stock and 1 teaspoon salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat and partially cover and cook for 25 minutes. Puree the soup with a hand immersion blender until smooth.

Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Stir in lemon juice, corn and herbs. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve in individual soup bowls topped with a tablespoon of sour cream.

Allow 12-15g of net carbs per serving.

Carrot, dill and yoghurt salad

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Carrot, Dill and Yoghurt Salad

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • 220g grated carrot
  • 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 4 tbsp chopped dill
  • pinch of salt
  • 40g toasted walnuts

Method

  1. Warm oil and saute carrots until wilted.
  2. Whisk 3 tbsp yoghurt, garlic, dill and salt.
  3. Stir in carrots, scatter with walnuts and serve warm or cold.

Allow about 5g of carbs per serving.

 

Dana Carpender: Parmesan baked chicken wings

kaitiscotland1 Comment

Dana, what recipes get the best feedback from your readers?

The one that has been most pirated is Heroin Wings – my publisher renamed it Wicked Wings in 1001 Low-Carb Recipes. They’re chicken wings dipped in melted butter and rolled in seasoned grated Parmesan, then baked, and they’re fabulous. But then, I stole the recipe from my mother, who I believe got it from one of those little cookbooks that local organizations make up to raise money, and who knows where they got it from. So I suppose pirating is to be expected.

But really, it doesn’t matter what I say I’ve just tried, from snacks through main courses to desserts, someone on my Facebook fan page will ask “Where can I find the recipe?”  (Note: At the moment the Facebook fan page is Dana Carpender’s Hold the Toast Press, but as soon as I return from the Low Carb Cruise I’m shifting it over to Dana’s Low Carb For Life. Happy to have all your readers come join in.)

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Aubergines with Parmesan and Tomato

kaitiscotland1 Comment

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Aubergines with Tomato and Parmesan

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 3 large aubergines
  • 250g (9oz) freshly grated parmesan
  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • Small amount  of flour (if you can get away with it)
  • 15 fresh basil leaves

Sauce

  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped
  • 5 tblsp olive oil
  • 1 x 700g jar passata
  • 4-5 fresh basil leaves
  • salt

Method

  1. Cut aubergine lengthways into 1cm slices and immerse in cold water for 1 min, then drain and pat dry. Season the eggs with salt.
  2. Dust the aubergines with flour then dip in egg. Heat a film of olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and fry aubergines in batches until golden on each side, add more oil as necessary. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside. Heat oven to200C/180fan/gas6.
  3. Fry garlic in the olive oil over a low heat for a couple of minutes then add tomato passata and basil leaves. Simmer for 15-20 min then season to taste.
  4. Spread 2-3 tblsp of sauce over the base of a 10” x 8”  baking dish or tin. Cover with a layer of aubergine, more sauce, a few basil leaves and plenty of parmesan. Repeat until the ingredients are used up, finishing with tomato sauce and parmesan. Bake for 20 min until golden and bubbling. Leave to stand for 5 min or so, then serve as a starter or accompaniment.

 

Thai Prawn and Chicken Soup

kaitiscotland3 Comments

 

Serves 2

2 cups water

2 cups coconut milk

1 / 2 bouillon cube of chicken

1 / 2 Lime

1 to 2 teaspoons chili paste (sambal oelek)

1 1 / 2 tablespoon ginger, grated, fresh

3 / 4 tablespoons fish sauce (Asian)

150 to 200 g chicken fillets without skin

A couple of handfuls ready cooked and peeled prawns

1 / 2 Chinese cabbage or cabbage

50 g Shiitake mushrooms or any other mushrooms

2 spring onions

1 / 2 red chilli

1 / 2 – 1 tblsp Coriander, fresh
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Place water, coconut milk, broth, finely grated rind of lime, lime juice, chili paste, ginger and fish sauce in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.

Cut chicken into strips.

Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes.

Cut Chinese cabbage into strips, slice the mushrooms. Chop the spring onions and chilli, add all to the pan, cook for 5 minutes.
Add the prawns for a minute before the soup is ready. Just warm up, don’t boil them.
Put half the chopped coriander in the soup and stir.

Taste the soup. Maybe you want more zing? Then add a little extra sambal oelek.

 

Eight Quick Dips

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Tomato Base:

4 large, ripe tomatoes

1 heaped tsp of tom puree

½ tsp brown sugar

a few drops of sherry vinegar

olive oil

Method

Chop tomatoes until pulpy, add all ingredients escept oil, stir and then drizzle oil over.

Variations

Herby – add chopped oregano and basil to taste.

Spicy – add a large splash of tabasco, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce and a good sprinkling of celery salt.

Sweet and chunky – stir in 2 heaped tbsp caramelised red onion relish, a chunk of diced cucumber and a few slices of green jalapeno.

Piquant pepper – chop 4 Peppadew peppers, a handful of black olives and add to the tomato base along with some chopped parsley.

Speedy salsa – add 1 chopped tomato, cut into chunks, along with 1 finely chopped red onion, the juice of 1 lime and a small bunch of chopped coriander.

 

Creamy base:

150g plain yoghurt

85g mayonnaise

salt and black pepper

Method

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly.

 

Sweet roasted garlic – roast the unpeeled cloves from ½ a garlic bulb with a drizzle of olive oil for 15 min at 190C/170c fan/gas 5. Peel, crush then stir into the base.

Blue Cheese – chop 50g Dolcelatte into small chunks, stir into base, making sure that cheese is well incorporated.

Thai – style – slice 2 spring onions into fine slivers, mix into base then swirl in 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce.