A New Year, another chance

It's been a while! If anyone is still here, and thanks to those who sent messages of encouragement, I am making some changes in my life that will ultimately result in a happier healthier me. My weight had gotten completely out of control and the age hammer kept beating down any attempts I made at reversing this through the usual routines.  Late last year I came across a Facebook page compiled by a writer whom I follow in other areas of interest such as science, technology and the like. This page is a book called 13 Weeks where Charlie Martin is attempting doing the things that are making a big difference in his health. If you are interested in the science of metabolism and weight loss, I encourage you to check it out and "like" it on Facebook. There is far more to it than I'll talk about here--I know you guys want Food porn! The basic idea is that a calorie is NOT just a calorie and that refined carbs and sugar are the enemy. One thing I will note is that the elimination of gluten has completely eradicated my need for acid reflux meds. I have suffered from GERD for over 20 years and it's gone now just by that one simple step.  Anyway, the page, his PJ articles and the author himself have been a great source of information and inspiration for me in the past couple of months. I started in November and it's gone fairly well, but as some of you know I was knocked over by bronchitis for a couple of weeks and the steroids and what not sure mess with your body functions, hopefully balancing out on the positive side. Today, I've decided that I'll survive. YAY me!

The meal shown here is one I made last spring and I thought it would be interesting to show the original and suggest some slight alterations that would better conform to a low carb way of eating.

On the menu:
Pork Tenderloin with Apricot-Mustard glaze. (You'll need S&P and fresh thyme)
Rice Pilaf
**I'm sure we had a salad or something** (rolls eyes and whistles)
Puff Pastry with Creme Patissierie, fresh strawberries and drizzle of dark chocolate

I'll try to be as authentically chronological as I can be with the exception of the dessert, which well, let's face it-- isn't in my life in that form, but it's still pretty and you might like to make it, n'est ce pas?

Pilaf Prep:
Make rice. I use(d) Jasmine rice in this. Toast some almonds on a sheet tray in the oven at 250 until you can start to smell them and they turn golden. Set them aside. Other ingredients included chopped onions, garlic, and shallots but the photos were so blurry, even I could see they were blurry, that's pretty bad. But the main star on this stage is.... our fun guy friend Mr. Mushroom.

This was one of those mixed wild mushroom packages that have a few oysters, some cremini, and redundant big portabellas, white button and if you're lucky some shitake. Chop em up!
Heat a skillet with butter over medium and sweat the onions and shallots until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook for no more than a minute. Remove the aromatics and set aside, in the same pan heat some more butter, 2 T, add the mushrooms and cook over high heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and they will release their juices, keeping the heat on high, keep stirring or flipping, depending on your skill level until the juices have been reabsorbed into the mushrooms; they may have a little brown crusty edge, and that's some tasty stuff! Now mix it all together!
Add the cooked rice, toasted almonds, and sauteed aromatics to the pan.

Please nominate me for the worst food photographer on the web. I so dearly want to top a list of something!

To make this less carby.. you could substitute quinoa for the rice, it has slightly fewer net carbs plus a bit of protein. But that would still be higher than the less than  30 net carbs I'm doing. Realistically, I think you could use a mushroom-almond-onion side dish and maybe throw in a few bits of cooked bacon for good measure.


The Pork:
Buy a pork tenderloin (duh). I got the prepackaged one in this case but it's always better if you can find/afford it from a butcher. If you buy the prepackaged, get it "Plain" not marinated in anything, please for the love of all things good, don't buy pre-marinated meat. Thank you. The ends of the tenderloins are tapered so I usually truss them under with butcher's twine to try to even out the thickness... not shown in the photo below.

Let the tenderloins air dry in the fridge if you have time. If not, pat them dry with paper towels and liberally sprinkle with salt pepper and roughly chopped thyme leaves that have been heartlessly stripped off their nuturing little stems by your bare hands! Concerned about aging? Take it out on Thyme, because you can't do anything about time. I digress... This is what they look like:

As you can see my camera skills were no better last spring than last we met. It's on the list of things to do.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron) and when hot, add oil with a high smoke point, grapeseed or canola. Place the two tenderloins in the pan and sear all around until nice and golden brown. It gets a little tricky with the thyme, balancing out the searing of meat and not burning the thyme. This should take a bit less than 10 minutes total.  When seared, put the pan into a preheated 400 degree oven and roast until the meat thermometer reads 135 (it only takes about 15 minutes so don't go clean out your sock drawer or anything)  and take the pan out to rest. After about 5 minutes, remove the meat to a platter, cover and continue to rest while you make the glaze.

Glaze prep:

This is equal amounts of Apricot Preserves and grainy deli mustard. You can use whatever you like. The idea is the tang of the mustard a sweet finish of the fruit. Take the pan in which you cooked the pork and deglaze it (while hot) with a little chicken stock, about 1/4 cup scrape up the bits of fond (brown bits) until dissolved in the stock. Add the mustard and apricot and stir around until reduced to a sauce consistency.

I can't have a post without a glare shot now could I?  See the little bits of thyme, and the pork maillard bits, with the tangy sweet mixture? It is really very, very good.

Slice your tenderloin into about 1/2 in medallions and spoon the glaze over, plate the pilaf.

This meat was more done than I like it to be but it was still tender and juicy and very flavorful.

To make this less carby I'd substitute a little balsamic reduction (10g carbs per Tbsp) or a nice vinegar I've been experimenting with from Trader Joe's. Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar. It's really versatile and adds a touch of sweetness without a lot of sugar.

OK on to dessert....
Strawberries:

Take frozen puff pastry shells and prepare according to directions.

Make a creme patissiere (I don't know how to type in French on this keyboard) which is a fancy way to say pastry cream. I'm sure I have posted it somewhere in this mess of a blog but it really isn't hard and can be done a day ahead. The only carby bad guy in the recipe is 1/2 c sugar for 2 1/2 c pastry cream. So the cream may come back into my life as some sort of custardy reincarnation. But I am announcing now... that pastry and I have filed for a divorce; it's final by now I'm sure.  It's heartbreaking, I know, all those memories of Pi day pies... But trust me, it's better this way.

Plating the dish involves opening the shell, plopping some pastry cream in, spreading the washed, sliced strawberries  and drizzling with a dark chocolate ganache. I chose the least appealing photo I had on purpose. Because honestly, knowing what that pastry would do to me, makes me not want it anymore.

Anyway, Cheers! to all who read this far. I appreciate you all, welcome suggestions, and will do my best to keep you entertained in a healthier way this year.

--See you soon!

Post postponed

After spending half a day at the Doctor's office, I'm  not up for a post today, probably next week. I'll be talking about low carb recipes and how one can posssibly live without pasta. I know. I know. Anyway, once I can breathe again, I will put something up here.

See you soon!

Hi People!
Is anyone still here? I am, believe it or not, and have decided I may start this thing up again. Best wishes to all in the New Year of 2013!
See you soon
Sally

Wild and Wacky Food Adventurers

This past week, I went on an expedition with my dear friend Cristy. Our husbands graciously accepted our invitation to drive us around and carry things for us. Destination: Dekalb Farmer's Market. I would have photos for you but there was a big sign on the door prohibiting photography...right next to the sign prohibiting firearms. I've been to the market many times but not in a long long time. Cristy, my world adventuring friend, had never been, so clutching our bottles of hand sanitizer we closed our eyes and stepped into the International World of Food. It's an amazing place filled with beautiful colorful people and produce, items from all over the globe and stuff you can't find anywhere else. We made our way through, oooh-ing and "look at this!" until the men asked if we could move on to the next aisle. Anyway, the most exciting part came in the seafood department where a murderous trout leapt out of the tank and tried to bite Cristy's and my face off. We both screamed and jumped about 3 feet back. We watched as a tiny old lady wrestled a blue crab into her bag. He put up a furious fight but really, there was never any question who would win that battle. Cristy attempted to hypnotize a crawfish with her finger and all he could do was stand up and stare at her as if you say "You lookin at me?"  By the way, I read that our Federal Government spent a ton of taxpayer money on a study to analyze shrimp running on treadmills. It's true. (I was going to put the link but I can't find it.) Anyway, we eventually dragged all of our bags out to the truck, ate some bread with our hands in the parking lot, and laughed all the way home.

Emboldened by that adventure, I decided it was time for WSH and I to finally go to Bell Street Burritos and see if we could experience something we cherished years ago.  It's a complicated story but I'll try to make it short. Tortillas was restaurant on Ponce de Leon. We loved their food. We and our coworkers ate lunch there at least once a week. Eventually Tortillas closed when a Moe's and a Chipotle opened nearby, but there remained devoted followers all over the city. So many, in fact that a man made a business recreating Tortilla's beloved burritos and delivering them once a week. Finally he had enough customers to open a brick and mortar, thus Bell Street Burritos was born. On Saturday afternoon, I decided it was time to give it a try.  My timing is impeccable and I always have the best adventure ideas! As we drove down 85 South into the heart of Atlanta....OOPs the Auburn Ave. exit was blocked by police. Hmmm.. I noticed a HUGE crowd of people in the street. Jim said, we haven't come this far to be discouraged! And since he knows every single street and alley in the city I said OK! After 40 minutes of wrangling through traffic with side streets closed, we made it to the Auburn Avenue Curb Market which is a seriously funky place.  And because my timing is so good, we landed there right in the middle of the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival (23rd annual -- who knew?)  By grace alone we found a parking space and marched inside the market. Looking this way and that searching every stall, we found it! We made it to the great Emerald City!! And it was closed. Yes. a little note on the counter Sorry Closed.  Now before you look at their site and say Duh Sally, it says Mon-Fri... I am listed on their facebook and Matt had said he was opening on Saturdays and always sent a message when his schedule dictated otherwise. So there! I R not Stoopid.  Well, we had to buy something and show a receipt to get out of the parking lot so we stopped at a produce stand and bought some absolutely beautiful Silver Queen corn. It was gorgeous. We were hungry and stopped for a burger at Grindhouse Killer Burgers, which I'd read about , and they were really really good. The onion rings were perfection.  The proprietors were friendly, it was a very pleasant meal after such a big letdown.

Back to the corn:

It was so tender and delicate I had to take extra care not to smash the kernels as I pulled off the silk. We cooked some ribs to go with it and they were good, but as Garrison Keiller once said, "Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn."  Ooooh Baby this was the best corn ever.  Back to basics... it all comes down the best ingredients. Summer has begun. Eat some corn....soon!

See you soon.

Chicken Enchiladas

Once upon a time, I was in a conversation with someone I love dearly and the subject of Cinqo de Mayo came up. She wondered aloud, "I wonder when Cinqo de Mayo is this year?" I couldn't help myself.... "probably on the 5th of May" I chortled. Of course she was wondering which day of the week it fell on but I've never let her live it down. I'm a good friend like that!  And because she loves and needs easy delicious dinners, (she's a LOT busier than I am) this one's for her 

How far this recipe has fallen from the lofty heights of The French Laundry, but I must say, it IS a tasty bite. And while I normally use very few processed products, sometimes you can get as good or better ingredients pre-made and save yourself a great deal of time. Alton Brown said he buys Teriyaki sauce for that reason, and that's good enough for me. This is a quick way to make a really delicious and satisfying meal.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
water
chicken stock
cumin
chili powder
garlic or garlic powder
corn tortillas
salsa
monterey jack cheese
green enchilada sauce

The corn torillas I use are from La Tortilla Factory which I buy at Publix. They are actually corn and wheat tortillas and are thicker and moister than most packaged corn tortillas available.  The salsa is my favorite Jack's Special Salsa (mild because I'm wimpy like that) which I've found in a number of stores locally. Be aware though, there are no artificial preservatives used so once opened, the refrigerator shelf life is much shorter than say, something that comes in a jar. The only Monterey Jack cheese I ever use is Whole Foods 365 brand. I used to hate MJ cheese because I thought it had no flavor, 365 does, and it is wonderful and resonably priced. Finally, the green enchilada sauce I used was  Ingle's Laura Lynn brand (Foodies- "Don't hate! Celebrate!"). You can use anything made primarily with green chiles and tomatillos, or make your own. I like this brand because it tastes remarkably like my favorite Taqueria's Pork and green chile sauce, without the pork of course.

It's Cinco de Mayo and I know this isn't "authentic" Mexican food but hola! to my mexican amigos if you are still following. One day I'll do what it takes to make the perfect dark mole... that could be a lifetime goal and actually more complex than some French Laundry dishes. But for now, back to the Enchiladas!!

First you season a mix of water and chicken stock with the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder (or minced garlic) taste it before you put the chicken in and adjust to taste. Add the chicken breasts whole and SLOWLY bring them to a simmer, then turn the heat down. The idea is to cook them through to 180 without boiling, which makes them tough and dry. This can easily be done a day or two before then refrigerated or, you can use left over roast chicken for this.  Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from the poaching liquid and when cooled enough, take two forks (or your clean fingers)  and shred the meat into ... shreds. (Sorry no pictures of that part.)  Add back to the pan (sautee some onions first if your initials aren't CMA or if you aren't in a hurry). Add the meat and add salsa to taste, season with salt and pepper. My chicken was a little dry so I added some wonderfully good schmaltz, which I had on hand from making chicken stock, and fixed it right up.  While all that's going on, bring the tortillas to room temperature.

Shredded chicken with salsa and seasoning

Spray a baking dish with non stick spray. With clean hands take a tortilla and fill it with a bit less than 1/2 c of chicken.

Then wrap it up so it's like a cigar, careful not to break the tortilla.

Place it in the baking dish with the "seam" side down. It looks so lonely doesn't it? : (



I'm so lonely... No enchilada friends to play with...



That's better!

Then comes the dousing with green enchilada sauce. This stuff is mild and has just the right about of tang to liven things up a little.

Spread the freshly grated Monterey Jack on top. Pop into a 350 oven until it's a little browned and bubbly

Could have browned a bit more. We were hungry!

Serve 1 or 2 and top with your choice of goodies. I used the salsa and a bit of creme fraiche which is the super sexy silky gorgeous sister of sour cream. Sloppy plating but as I said, we were hungry!

To stretch this out, you could serve with rice and black beans (yum!) or a salad. It's one of our favorite dishes and is super easy to make, reheats well and is just all round yummy.

Happy Cinqo de Mayo

See you soon.

Resurrection, New Life and Pasta

My Mom always loved Lamb at Easter, a full leg of lamb (which was more like mutton).  Not for me. Too umm.. intense? gamey? whatever. She loved it with Mint Jelly. She even wrote about it in her ponderings about heaven as she was dying. She came from a long line of Lamb eaters. I was a black sheep (har har).

Recently I re-connected with 2 friends from 30+ years ago. I LOVE these women. I don't know their stance on lamb but they are strong, they are unique, they are special to me in a way that no one else is, they are beautiful,  creative, expressive and both of them have a piece of my soul in their heart, as I do theirs.  We met and it was if we had seen each other last week. The only thing different was the size of our butts! (For those of you who have not seen my FB page.)  It's impossible to catch up on 30 years of life over lunch even as fast as we talk, so I'm hoping to have Cristy and Larry over for dinner soon. Cindy lives farther away so we'll have to make a plan for that.

What shall I cook? Cristy  loves sushi....me...not so much. And she doesn't eat much meat and hates onions. Can you imagine? Hating onions? She's feisty like that. So here's an attempt at a satisfying veggie meal, that hopefully we will share together soon. Minus onions of course. This was our Easter dinner.
Anyway, I wrote about a dish before, roasted veggies with pasta, and all I had pictures of was the pasta. Here's the real deal. Cut up a bunch of fresh vegetables, anything you like. Here are Zucchini, Asparagus, Grape Tomatoes, Olives, Artichoke Hearts, Shallots, and Roasted Peppers. But you can use anything you want...eggplant even..

After that I cleaned a BUNCH of wild mushrooms and added to the mix. Cristy do you like mushrooms?  Toss with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper and spread out on a baking sheet.

Roast in a 400 oven for about 15 minutes or until the veggies are roasty!

Meanwhile bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil for your pasta. Then, because I like details, I feel the need to tell you to add the pasta to the boiling water. Thank You for listening reading. I used the brand of pasta I showed in that other post about Strozzapreti. You know... the priest choker pasta made by monks.

Water lol

Why did I add this horrible photo?

In a large skillet pour in 2 T Olive Oil 2 T butter and melt together, then whisk in some white wine and reduce. The wine is optional. Throw the roasted veggies and juices from the baking sheet into the skillet and toss it around.

When your pasta is done (I like Capellini *Angel Hair* with this) save a cup or so of the pasta water and then drain the pasta. Add however  much pasta you want to the skillet and toss it around with the veggies. Add some pasta water if it's too tight. Let the pasta and veggies get to know each other for just a couple of minutes.

Serve with a topping of your favorite cheese and/or chopped parsley, add garlic bread and you have a meal.

Re-connecting with Cindy and Cristy has awakened a part of my soul that I thought was long dead. I haven't laughed the way we laughed together in decades. I felt loved and a sense of belonging that has long been missing from my life. (WSH love is always there but different). It was a resurrection of sorts and made the Holy Days  beautiful and full of awe and wonder at the Greatness and Goodness of God. Thanks be to God for friends, laughter, love, memories and pasta!

See you soon!

Strawberry Cream Pie

Edit : so cool!   What Pi sounds like


It all started on Pi day. You know, 3.14. I was walking around the park, enjoying the beautiful weather and noticing the signs of a returning Spring, like 8 turtles lined up on a log, sunning themselves, and the new, fresh and tender foliage on the trees and in herb pots. It was gosh darn inspirational!

So I went in search of Spring at the market, and guess what? There were berries berries everywhere-y.  (Sorry). After sending the scientist son his annual Happy Pi day greeting, I began my search for a pastry cream recipe. This took longer than I thought it would and before you could calculate Pi out to the 8th decimal place, the day had passed.

Anyway, I intended to make a strawberry cream pie like they used to serve at a tiny little restaurant where I grew up named the Char House. If memory serves me well, it was a family run business. They made a really good burger, but the thing that anyone who ever tasted it remembers about the Char House was their strawberry pie. It was housed in a regular (but super flaky delicious) pie crust, had a layer of pastry cream (like custard or pudding) and gorgeous sliced strawberries. However, I was already late on my Pi Pie so I took a few shortcuts. I intended to make a graham cracker or chocolate cookie crust but I couldn't find the cookies I needed (and I refuse to dismantle that many Oreos) so I bought pre-made crusts. Let's just pretend I made them.

The pastry cream recipe was really easy.

Scald (warm) 3 c milk with the seeds from a vanilla bean.



Vanilla Bean -- split lengthwise and scrape out seeds



All the little tiny vanilla seeds float to the top of the milk


Meanwhile whisk 8 egg yolks and 3/4 c sugar together until light in color.

Stir in 6 T cornstarch into the egg mixture.
Pour 1/3 of the heated milk mixture into the egg mixture and stir it up to temper the eggs. Then pour the egg mixture into the milk pot and cook on medium heat until it comes to a slow boil stirring gently with a whisk the whole time.

Strain your custard mix into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface. Refrigerate. This can be done 3 days ahead.

I had expected my yummy pastry cream to set up overnight like a pudding. I was wrong...it was a bit more liquid than I'd expected  BUT it still tasted wonderful, so I made the Spring Pi Pies anyway. I cleaned the berries and shaved a little dark chocolate and tried my best to make them pretty. (I need a food styling class to go along with a camera and phtography class). Anyway here's how they turned out. The smaller ones are in graham cracker crust and the larger in a chocolate coookie crust. The larger pie was the one presenting a challenge. I decided to freeze it for a bit and then cut it. That worked perfectly.

Thanks so much to my neighbors who helped eat these! I think I got a seal of approval:

Happy Spring!


See you soon