Food for thought: The Skinny

I'm not one to eat low-carb or count calories, but some people do it. Here are some previously posted and new recipes for a friend looking for recipes low in carbohydrates without a lot of fat and featuring a lot of low-fat yogurt and other dairy products:

Tzaziki cucumber-yogurt dip


Asian slaw Vinegar-based slaw. Add a dollop of mayonnaise if that's the way you like it.


Cucumber Salad

Raita with grilled veggies

The following recipes are altered recipes from epicurious.com. I haven't tried them, so I cannot vouch for their tastiness or timing/texture especially with the changes. Please let me know what your experiences are so I can revise the recipes!

Kale salad
* 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (a sweet, clear vinegar)
* 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 bunches kale (about 1 pound), center ribs and stems removed, leaves thinly sliced crosswise
* 1 tablespoon pine nuts, lightly toasted
* Parmesan cheese shavings

Whisk vinegar, oil, and salt in large bowl. Add kale and pine nuts; toss to coat. Let marinate 20 minutes at room temperature, tossing occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese shavings over salad and serve.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad
* 1/2 English cucumber (seedless)- Or use one regular cucumber and take out seeds
* 10 grape tomatoes
* 4 Kalamata olives, plus some brine (a few tablespoons)
* 3 ounces light or fat-free feta cheese
* a 6-ounce can high-quality tuna in water
* oregano and pepper
* red onion or scallions to garnish

Halve cucumber lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Quarter tomatoes. Pit and quarter olives. Cut feta into 1/4-inch dice. In a bowl toss together cucumber, tomatoes, olives and brine, feta, tuna, and oregano and pepper to taste, keeping tuna in large chunks.

Mussels in Carrot Ginger Broth
* 4 medium shallots, chopped (or 1 red onion, chopped)
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
* 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
* 1 small can tomato sauce, crushed or diced tomatoes
* 1/2 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
* 1 cup bottled carrot juice
* 3 pounds cultivated mussels, rinsed
* 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1/2 cup chopped cilantro or parsley

Cook shallots/onion and ginger in broth in a wide 5-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes and red-pepper flakes and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Pour in carrot juice and boil, uncovered, until liquid is reduced by about half, about 10 minutes.

Add mussels and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until mussels just open wide, 4 to 6 minutes, transferring as cooked to a bowl. (Discard any mussels that remain unopened after 6 minutes.) Stir in lime juice and sprinkle with cilantro or parsley.

Curried Yogurt Dip with Steamed Broccoli
Start making this dip one day before you plan to eat it, since the yogurt has to drain and thicken overnight. A mesh strainer and piece of cheesecloth or 2 high-quality paper towels (I like Viva) are needed for the first step of the recipe.

* 3 cups plain low-fat yogurt
* 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder * salt and pepper to taste

* 3 cups broccoli florets

Line strainer with double-thick layer of cheesecloth, extending over sides; set over deep bowl. Add yogurt to strainer. Chill overnight (liquid will drain from yogurt and yogurt will thicken). Transfer yogurt to small bowl; discard liquid.

Stir oil and garlic in small nonstick skillet over medium heat 30 seconds. Stir in curry powder. Whisk curry mixture into yogurt. Season with salt and pepper. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Steam broccoli until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Rinse under cold water. Chill until cold. Serve with dip.

Spicy Gazpacho
* 2 cups diced seeded peeled cucumber
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 1 cup chopped green onions
* 1 4-ounce can chopped mild green chilies

* 3 14 1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
* 1 slice low-carb white bread, torn into pieces
* dash olive oil
* 1/4 cup drained capers (or finely grate the zest of one lemon)
* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 2 garlic cloves

Place 1 cup cucumber, 1/2 cup celery, 1/2 cup green onions and half of chilies in small bowl and reserve.

Working in batches, coarsely puree remaining cucumber, celery, green onions, chilies and next 7 ingredients in blender. Pour into large bowl. Mix in reserved vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. For best results, chill at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.

Treats:

Sangria Terrine (fancy word for jello!)
Cranberries are nice & tart with almost no sugar; dealcoholized wine has some carbohydrates, but much fewer than wine. Orange extract provides a "Triple Sec" flavor.

* 1 cup raw/frozen cranberries--not the sweetened "Craisins" or canned varieties
* 1/2 cup Splenda
* 2 3/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from two 1/4-oz envelopes)
* 2 cups Ariel dealcoholized red or white wine
* 1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup dealcoholized wine in a small bowl and let stand 1 minute to soften. Bring 1 cup wine to a boil with cranberries and Splenda, stirring until Splenda is dissolved. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved. Stir in remaining 3/4 cup wine, then transfer to a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water. Cool mixture, stirring occasionally, just to room temperature. Slowly pour mixture into a 1-quart glass, ceramic, or nonstick terrine or loaf pan, then chill, covered, until firm, at least 6 hours.

To unmold, dip pan in a larger pan of hot water 3 to 5 seconds to loosen. Invert a serving plate over terrine and invert terrine onto plate.

Iced Coffee Mousse
* 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
* 2 tablespoons water
* 1/3 cup Splenda
* 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder and/or cocoa powder
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 cup well-chilled fat-free evaporated milk
* canned aerosol "lite" whipped cream

In a small saucepan sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let it soften for 2 minutes. Add the milk and the coffee/cocoa powder and heat the mixture over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the powder is dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and set the pan in a bowl of ice and cold water, stirring the mixture every few minutes until it is thick and cold. Spoon the mousse into 2 chilled long-stemmed glasses and chill it until ready to serve. Top with canned "light" whipped cream.

Hope these recipes provided additional ideas!

Food for thought: Recipes for my Foreign Service/expat friends in hot climates!

Hi Jeremiah, Carmelia, Rachel, Diep and soon Adriana & Jenna,

Here are some fab recipes to make overseas! Tried to reduce/eliminate hard-to-find ingredients. Everyone else, some summer and all-American recipes a little early...

Spicy Gazpacho (cold tomato-based soup). Serve with avocado & steamed shrimp, white firm fish or even an omelet.

Cucumber salad is refreshing. Add some grated ginger for a more pronounced Asian flavor. If you don't have rice vinegar, use the lightest vinegar you have with a dash of water and sugar to equal 1/4 cup.

Watermelon Sorbet
Modifications: Puree with a food mill, blender, food processor or mash. Freeze until almost frozen, then take a big fork and grate until all is finely pureed. Freeze again. If it's still a frozen block, thaw a little while and repeat with the fork. Serve immediately. Tastes great with lime and mint!

Ranch Dressing--overseas version
1 small jar of mayo 8 oz/250 ml
juice of 1 lemon/lime
3 tablespoons Nido/whole milk powder (or use 1 tablespoon yogurt)
2 sprigs fresh parsley, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Grilled Jerk Chicken with Mango Chutney
Use any part of skin-on chicken. Make double paste; it keeps in the fridge for 1 week.


Homemade Ketchup
Save money in most cases by making your own ketchup. A 28-oz. can equals 5 or 6 small or Roma tomatoes (the kind that are oval-shaped). Leave out the oil to prolong freshness. And you don't need to cook it for that long. Add a 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste to the recipe and cook for 30 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon curry powder and 1 teaspoon sugar for curry ketchup. Delicious!

Barbecue sauce
Make ketchup recipe above, adding sugar, honey or molasses, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard or 1 teaspoon dry mustard and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Add 1 pureed onion and slather on at the last 2 minutes of cooking.

French fries
Peel (optional--depends on your preference and source) 4 medium or 6 large potatoes. Cut into chalk-size pieces, 3/8 inches julienne if you have a mandoline slicer. Cook in water for 20 minutes (or microwave 6 minutes for a faster parboil method). Fry in a deep, heavy pan at least 5 quarts/liters. with corn or peanut oil at high heat. Just starting to smoke, then add a little more. Fry until golden. If you can't get the oil hot enough or you want extra crispy, fry again until deep golden but not brown. Sweet potato fries also taste great! And while we're frying, here's something for a bumper crop of eggplant

Fried Chicken
Use any bone-in parts, cut equally to the size of a deck of cards. For an extra treat, crush 1 cup corn flakes and reduce flour to 1 1/4 cup.

Pancake Syrup
So, you got your hands on some pancake mix and have flipped 30 pancakes. Uh-oh. What about syrup? These days, I don't even keep that cellulose gum/high-fructose corn syrup commercial stuff in the house; I just make my own. You just need 4 ingredients: sugar, water, vanilla(or another flavoring) and salt. The last two are optional! The technique is to caramelize a little of the sugar to give the syrup color and depth of flavor.
2 cups sugar
2 cups hot water (a little less for thicker syrup)
dash salt (to enhance flavor & taste like commercial syrup, not maple syrup)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Cook sugar on stove on medium high heat until boiling and making a loud noise with bubbles and just starting to turn chocolate brown in one spot. You have to be very attentive, and not wait too long, or all the sugar will burn, and you will have to start over. Add hot water immediately. Cook until hard sugar dissolves, a few minutes. Add dash of salt and vanilla. If you are adventurous, try this great looking recipe for Coconut and Ricotta Pancakes with Ginger Syrup.
This is how to make Ricotta Cheese. Instead of heavy cream, use evaporated milk. You can use whole milk powder for the whole milk, or add water to more evaporated milk. Note that it take 8 cups or 2 liters to make 2 cups of cheese! Here are other recipes for your hard-won cheese...

Almost Cheesecake. Use "Vache Qui Rit" or "Laughing Cow" cheese in the little paper rounds for the cream cheese. 1 packet of 8 should do fine. If you don't have an oven, use a steamer and put in buttered glass or metal containers in a pot over a bigger pot of boiling water. Soft Scrambled Eggs with Ricotta and Chives-made a similar recipe for work. If you have a microwave, try this one night when you want something hot but don't want to really "cook." Use scallions or onions and some parsley in place of chives. Microwave on high and stir every one to two minutes until desired doneness is achieved. Tastes great with hot bread or even fried potatoes. Collard greens kale, or that tougher variety of spinach in West Africa will be fine for these Vegetable and Ricotta Roll-Ups. Note that the recipe calls for mozzarella cheese.

Flambé all those great tropical fruits like mango, banana and pineapple. These flavors marry well with nutmeg, vanilla, cream, lime zest and caramel.
Banana Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce is divine! Try it with 2 tablespoons Kahlua. If you don't have dark brown sugar, try a little molasses with your sugar, or just use the sugar you have.


Some of these recipes you might recognize from Peace Corps. If you remember something you want the recipe for, let me know!
Bonne cuisine!

Food for thought: Cooking via flavor combinations + NYE recipes

Flavor Matchmaker
One book that is my new go-to favorite for cooking ideas is called "The Flavor Bible." It lists myriad food affinities. It lists foods and major chefs' flavor combination suggestions. It's a helpful resource if you know your key ingredient and mode of preparation but just need a little push marrying flavors. Also great for those who don't need a recipe to get started. Give it to all your friends who read cookbooks cover to cover like a novel.

Here are a couple recipes friends have asked me for. The following I made it for a summer reggae party theme, but it also worked really well for New Year's Eve.

"Rasta" bean salad
vegan with black-eyed peas and red, yellow green bell peppers
This is for a crowd. Halve it for a small cookout or filling main or side dish.

2 lb. dried black-eye peas, cooked according to directions. Salt while cooking, if desired
12-16 oz. bottle creamy honey mustard or other sweet & tangy dressing
6 bell peppers, red, gold & green, diced
1 large or 2 small mild onions, finely chopped
4 minced garlic cloves
6 sprigs (or more) parsley, minced
Black and/or cayenne pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in large bowl or stock pot and let marinate in refrigerator 3 hours or overnight. Serve chilled.


Microwave Peanut Brittle, from epicurious.com

You will love this recipe. Track how much time it takes for each phase & write it down for a more foolproof process afterward. Also, it helps to have some cold water nearby to make sure the mixture has reached a hard crack stage--a hard ball/strands in water. That way you'll be sure it's ready. I've tried it with slivered almonds, peanuts and pumpkin seeds, all divine. Oh, if you use peanuts, add 1 T. peanut butter along with the butter. Add 1/2 t. almond extract + vanilla for almonds. Out of this world!

You can view the complete recipe online here.


Microwave Peanut Brittle
1 1/2 cups unsalted dry-roasted peanuts (about 7 1/2 ounces)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

Butter large baking sheet. In microwave-proof bowl, combine peanuts, sugar, corn syrup and salt. Microwave on High until mixture bubbles vigorously, about 6 minutes. Remove mixture from microwave and stir in butter and vanilla. Return to microwave and cook on High until candy turns light gold color, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave. Working quickly, add baking soda to candy mixture and stir briskly (mixture will foam up). Immediately pour out onto prepared baking sheet. Shake baking sheet from side to side to spread brittle as thinly as possible. Let stand until cold and hard, about 2 hours. Break brittle into pieces. Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month. Good luck keeping it that long!

Bon Appétit
July 1993
by Amy D. Lawley: Montgomery, Alabama


Happy cooking!

Food for thought: Traditions, traditions!

This is the time of year when we get caught up in traditions, including the Dickensian homage to sugar plums, figgy pudding, geese, tom turkeys, and sleigh bells. However, most of the people I know do few things that really resonate with that time and place.

So, I was thinking of new or different traditions to start with friends and family, especially foodwise, that would make the spirit bright.

A progressive dinner--great for neighbors, apartment dwellers and families living nearby. Have cocktails and appetizers at one house, dinner at another place and dessert somewhere else. Everyone can pitch in with dishes to leave all the hosts happy.

Go out for dessert and tea or coffee instead of a whole meal. Save money and savor every last bite.

Eat fondue as a family or use a few pots for a party. That was actually a fun eighties fad that could use reviving. You can boil bouillon and olive oil for meats and veggies, cheese for bread and veggies, and chocolate for cake and fruit.

Use the fireplace. Forget about chestnuts roasting! I'm so tempted to roast small kebabs (over untreated wood), marshmallows or even pop popcorn. Hot dogs would be fun, too.

Use the slow cooker for a holiday brunch. The night before, put fruit in a slow cooker. Serve atop waffles or bread pudding. You could also put potatoes, onions and sausage in a slow cooker right before bed and eat hash browns for breakfast.Cider was made for the slow cooker, and you could put it in the same room as your festivities.

Agree to go shopping with friends after the post-season sales kick in and give gifts then.

Collect pine cones, evergreen, and other natural treasures on a walk to decorate your home instead of storing things you'll only use once a year.

Adopt a tradition of a new country or region each year. One year you can wake your friends up in the middle of the night with a traveling band and make them feed you (Puerto Rico); another year you can have or attend a procession of St. Lucia and drink mulled wine (Sweden). Click on the blog title for a link. Unfortunately the site was written in stream-of-consciousness style and without spelling or grammar revisions.

Make new drinks, but keep the old. Egg nog, rum and Bailey's Irish cream was a Christmas Eve hit a few years back. What about a Jack Frost?: Peppermint schnapps and coffee topped with ice cream (just made that up!) Use crushed candy canes to make an alcohol-free drink. Here are two ideas for New Year's Eve: sparkling wine with cachaca, mottled sugar, mint & lime or Chambord (raspberry liqueur) with hard or sparking cider.

However you celebrate this time of year, happy holidays!

Food for thought: Easy Homemade Biscuits

These biscuits are soo good and very fast & easy to make. No need to use Bisquik or those canned biscuits with scary ingredients.

Drop biscuits save you the step of kneading and molding. I used a scoop with a release that came out really well.
Powdered buttermilk really saves the day and keeps for months in the fridge. Cold buttermilk is key, and you want the butter to be clumpy--it will make the little pockets of butter...Mmmm!

Makes 12 biscuits

2 cups (10 oz.) all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup cold buttermilk
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus 2 Tbsp. butter for brushing baked biscuits. Melt butter, then cool for 5 minutes.

Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat to 475 degrees (450 if your oven runs hot.)
Whisk dry ingredients in large bowl.
Combine buttermilk and 8 Tbsp. butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps (the size of a sunflower seed or popcorn kernel).
Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture with a rubber spatula, until dough just starts to pull away from the bowl.
Using a 1/4-cup greased dry measuring cup or a greased ice cream scoop, scoop level, uniform amounts of batter on parchment paper. You need parchment paper or a silicone pad to avoid sticking.
Space batter 1+ inches apart. Watch closely, and bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12-14 minutes.
Brush with melted butter. Cool 5-7 minutes before serving.

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, Nov. & Dec. 2007

Food for thought: Talkin' Turkey Day

Question: How does one keep a turkey warm if it cooks before other dishes?
OK, the two main things for a turkey that is cooked ahead of other things are to keep the bird moist and warm. The turkey does not have to be hot, and it is juicier if it rests for half an hour. Beyond that, keep the oven on warm or anything under 250 degrees and stick it back in 20-30 minutes before serving.

As for juiciness, brining and basting will promote moist meat. Salt one or two gallons of water (depending on bird and receptacle size with 1/4 to 1/2 cup salt. Use a covered container like a bucket or huge pot. Luckily, it's cold now, so you can leave it outside overnight. Just make sure nothing or no one can disturb it overnight. You can add a cut-up onion, garlic, pepper or spices, but it isn't necessary. Avoid vinegar or other acidic foods. The next day, presumably Thanksgiving, drain the brining liquid and let the bird rest one hour. Rinse bird if you will be adding any salt. Drain again, season and put in the oven as usual. Every hour while cooking, baste the turkey with the juices that have collected.

One other note: If the turkey will be out on the table for several hours, make sure it's more than 135 degrees the whole time before serving for food safety reasons. Tent it with foil to keep it warm, then put it back in the oven a few minutes to crisp the skin back up if it has gotten soggy.

Question: What's a good green bean recipe?
Here's an easy green bean recipe for you, Carmelia. You can use salt or a Maggi cube instead of chicken broth, and use peanuts if cashews are hard to come by. Some advice for a crowd: bring the nuts with you and see if someone has a major allergy. Then, sprinkle them on before serving.

Happy cooking!

Food for thought: Recipes for budget-minded bon vivants, Part 2

Creme fraiche*
For some reason, perhaps since we have sour cream, creme fraiche is very difficult to find. When it's available, it's really expensive. Creme fraiche, and the spectrum of sour cream, yogurts and other milk cultures are replicable at home.

I learned that on an overcast days getting the fermentation going can be hard. But persevere! Making a luscious creamy yogurt or creme fraiche is its own reward. Plus, you can really save money!

Now that I think about it, this may not technically be creme fraiche, but it tastes great! My goal was to have a creme-fraiche-style finished product with a wee bit less fat. I took 1/3 cup plain yogurt with active cultures and added about 1 cup half-and-half and 1/2 cup heavy cream. After trying to ferment it by putting on the windowsill with no sunlight whatsoever, I left it by the toaster oven while I cooked a lasagne, then put the container atop the lasagne while it cooled(!), then left out on the counter overnight. The key is to let the cream ferment in a warm environment (85-90 degrees air temperature). The result was an unctuous thick cream with a touch of twang. Just what I wanted!

So, what does one do with creme fraiche? All that you would do with sour cream and a luscious yogurt, and then some. Try hot buttered bread with honey and creme fraiche. Creme fraiche is a star in many French, Scandanavian and Russian recipes, paired with potato latkes and smoked salmon, beets, summer fruits, sweet and savory tarts and soups. In France, it is a standard soup thickener, as it doesn't curdle. If you want to use creme fraiche for this purpose, use heavy cream exclusively when making at home; otherwise, it may curdle.

High-end vodka
No, don't go rushing out to buy potatoes and a still. Just use a Brita carafe and filter. Make sure it is only for this purpose. Buy the cheapest vodka you can find (plastic bottles and a name that makes you laugh out loud are good indicators of low quality.) Filter the vodka three times in the carafe, then pour the finished vodka in an expensive bottle!!! This public service message is brought to you in time for the holiday season.

Crab, lobster and chantarelle ravioli
No, I don't have a way to make this ravioli cheaper. But I do have a suggestion for how to get the taste of super-expensive raviolis with less fuss, muss and coin: lasagne. Think about it: minus the tomatoes, with a nice Bechamel or "white sauce", you could enjoy the sumptuous flavors of your favorite raviolis. I make the "good stuff" in an 8x8 square pan to conserve ingredients and save time. Plus, I can pop it right in the toaster oven. If you assemble and refrigerate the night before, you can bake it in the evening in time for dinner. Try it with this white lasagne recipe as a springboard, then cram it with your favorite posh ingredients.

*I am a stickler for using the right accents, but I didn't want to mess up the posting in case it converted badly for some readers. Crème fraîche. Béchamel. Ahh, now I feel better!