My husband is a carnivore. He is a meat eater in a major way. Even if I could contemplate vegetarianism (my allergy to nuts plus my love of charred flesh gets in the way) it would be problematic because my beloved loves meat. He won't eat beans or tofu or alternative forms of protein. So, if I don't want to make two dinners I make something with some form of meat.
This presents a challenge. I easily tire of the usual chicken or ground turkey because I am big on variety. I make fish or seafood which he likes but if the truth be told, he would be happy if I made "hamburgers with beefy mushroom gravy" every night. It is easy to make but there is one big drawback: I-get-bored-easily.
I like to mix it up. I like beef, chicken, turkey seafood, fish, lamb and pork. Oh yes. Some people pooh-pooh pork because they think it is fatty. Think again! Have these people ever tried pork loin? So lean, so delicious and so easy to prepare... pork loin. Love!
Pork Loin Medallions with Onion and Mushroom Gravy
Serves 6
1 TB olive oil, divided
1 half onion, chopped
16 oz sliced mushrooms
1 pkg pork loin, usually 2 lbs of meat in 2 small loins
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 TB prepared mustard
1 TB corn starch
2 TB minced fresh parsley (optional)
Drizzle 1 tsp of the olive oil into a large, medium hot frying pan. After the oil is nice and hot drop in the onions. Saute for just a couple of minutes, to take away the sharp aroma. Pour in the mushrooms and toss, for 5 minutes until the mushrooms lose most of their liquid.
While the onions and mushrooms are cooking slice the loin crosswise into medallions. Season them with salt and pepper. Once the vegetables are done spoon them onto a plate for later. In the still hot pan drizzle another tsp of the olive oil. Place half of the seasoned pork pieces into the pan. Sear them until very brown on both sides, placing them into another plate as they get done. Repeat with the rest of the olive oil and pork.
There should be a nice layer of dark brown goodness in the frying pan. Pour the white wine into the hot pan, scraping with a spatula, getting all the brown stuff incorporated into the liquid. Let it cook until the alcohol smell is gone and only the good wine smell is left. Whisk in the yogurt until combined then stir in the tablespoon of mustard. Let it bubble for a few minutes to thicken. Depending on the thickness, add anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon of cornstarch to a small bowl and mix with water in an equal amount to how much cornstarch you used. Stir it into a thick slurry then pour it into the sauce, immediately lowering the heat to medium low. Stir until the sauce thickens into more of a gravy. Add the pork, onions and mushrooms back into the sauce and let simmer for 5 minutes, until the pork is done, no more than faintly pink on the inside. Sprinkle with parsley and serve!
It is meaty and hearty and enough to satisfy even the more hardcore of carnivores... like my husband... but still be healthy and better yet, low carb!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
I'm all about the flavor today...
You know, sometimes you just have to forget about any dietary restrictions and just think about the food. It just so happens that on this day I thought about the food, the flavor, the fullness factor and not the carbohydrates... and it just so happens that I came up with a very low carb meal. And it was damned delicious. So there.
Two days ago my husband (who trends towards the fatty, the salty, the processed) said he bought a carton of cioppino from a local gourmet grocery store. He was "jonesing seafood," he said. This is coming from the man who also made himself a "formed, pressed turkey roll" for dinner last night. I should trust his opinion?
Anyway, his comment about cioppino got me thinking... and jonesing. What is not to love about a good cioppino? It is made from a flavorful, spicy tomato broth enhanced with a variety of available seafood... clams, mussels, shrimp, crab, white fish, whatever looks good.
Supposedly, cioppino was invented by fishermen originally from Portugal, Italy, France and/or Spain who made their homes in San Francisco. Suffice it to say it is an American dish with Mediterranean accents. It has the herbs and the tomatoes and the seafood... it could fit in almost anywhere surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. I have always loved it and it is my gauge for restaurants around here (and I live in the Tacoma/Seattle area so I know my seafood). If their cioppino (or equivalent) is good... then they probably know their seafood. This is my recipe... inspiration taken from a bunch of recipes and my own tastes. The recipe is a LOT easier than it looks and after all, it is all about the flavor...
Cathy's Cioppino
Serve 4-6
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 fennel (or anise) bulb, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, according to taste
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried summer savory
(or 1 TB dried Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence for the rosemary, oregano and savory)
1 cup dry white wine
2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes
1 6oz bottle clam juice
3 cups (or more) low-sodium, fat free chicken broth
Seafood of choice... here's where it gets weird. You can mix and match and add or subtract as you wish. Listed are my choices:
4 fillets of white fish, cod or tilapia or halibut, cut into bite sized chunks
1 lb. fresh manila clams, rinsed REALLY well
1 lbs shrimp; clean, deveined, tail left on
Small handful of fresh parsley
Heat oil in a large soup pot until a flick of water skitters across the surface. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and the chopped fennel. Saute until the vegetables are tender but not browned. Add the garlic, the red pepper flakes and the other dried herbs. Saute another 5 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
Pour in the white wine. Scrape the bottom to release any delicious brown bits that might have formed on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine does not have any more alcohol smell and is almost evaporated. Add in the cans of tomatoes. Stir and bring back to a simmer. Add the clam juice and the chicken broth. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
Taste for seasoning... add salt and pepper if necessary.
Add the seafood. Bring back to a low boil then cover and cook for 10 minutes. Check to see if the clam shells have opened and the shrimp shells are pink. Do NOT eat any unopened clams. That would be bad. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.
This is some good stuff. It is all about flavor and spice and local ingredients. I hope you are local to seafood, if you are, you are truly blessed. Mmmm. Good stuff.
Two days ago my husband (who trends towards the fatty, the salty, the processed) said he bought a carton of cioppino from a local gourmet grocery store. He was "jonesing seafood," he said. This is coming from the man who also made himself a "formed, pressed turkey roll" for dinner last night. I should trust his opinion?
Anyway, his comment about cioppino got me thinking... and jonesing. What is not to love about a good cioppino? It is made from a flavorful, spicy tomato broth enhanced with a variety of available seafood... clams, mussels, shrimp, crab, white fish, whatever looks good.
Supposedly, cioppino was invented by fishermen originally from Portugal, Italy, France and/or Spain who made their homes in San Francisco. Suffice it to say it is an American dish with Mediterranean accents. It has the herbs and the tomatoes and the seafood... it could fit in almost anywhere surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. I have always loved it and it is my gauge for restaurants around here (and I live in the Tacoma/Seattle area so I know my seafood). If their cioppino (or equivalent) is good... then they probably know their seafood. This is my recipe... inspiration taken from a bunch of recipes and my own tastes. The recipe is a LOT easier than it looks and after all, it is all about the flavor...
Cathy's Cioppino
Serve 4-6
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 fennel (or anise) bulb, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, according to taste
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried summer savory
(or 1 TB dried Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence for the rosemary, oregano and savory)
1 cup dry white wine
2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes
1 6oz bottle clam juice
3 cups (or more) low-sodium, fat free chicken broth
Seafood of choice... here's where it gets weird. You can mix and match and add or subtract as you wish. Listed are my choices:
4 fillets of white fish, cod or tilapia or halibut, cut into bite sized chunks
1 lb. fresh manila clams, rinsed REALLY well
1 lbs shrimp; clean, deveined, tail left on
Small handful of fresh parsley
Heat oil in a large soup pot until a flick of water skitters across the surface. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and the chopped fennel. Saute until the vegetables are tender but not browned. Add the garlic, the red pepper flakes and the other dried herbs. Saute another 5 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
Pour in the white wine. Scrape the bottom to release any delicious brown bits that might have formed on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine does not have any more alcohol smell and is almost evaporated. Add in the cans of tomatoes. Stir and bring back to a simmer. Add the clam juice and the chicken broth. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
Taste for seasoning... add salt and pepper if necessary.
Add the seafood. Bring back to a low boil then cover and cook for 10 minutes. Check to see if the clam shells have opened and the shrimp shells are pink. Do NOT eat any unopened clams. That would be bad. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.
This is some good stuff. It is all about flavor and spice and local ingredients. I hope you are local to seafood, if you are, you are truly blessed. Mmmm. Good stuff.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Beans, beans, the magic fruit...
I'm bored. Bored, bored, bored. I came very close to eating an enchilada the other day, that is how bored I am. Dogs and cats are happy eating the same things every day. Their little digestive systems get upset if you change up their food all the time. Humans are different. We like variety. Without variety, depression sets in, then you eat an enchilada and that's all she wrote. So, what do we do about boredom? We find something new!
Beans. Do they have carbs? Yes... BUT they are really high in fiber (13g per cup - which can be very beneficial for someone who is eating a high protein diet), high in protein (15g per cup), are naturally low in fat and packed with beneficial healthy stuff like antioxidants, folic acid, vitamin B6, potassium and magnesium. (Prevention.com). Even though they are higher in carbohydrates than the other more common sources of low fat protein, beans are not a bad thing when eaten in moderation. And they help keep me sane in terms of varying my food intake so I don't succumb to boredom (read: eat enchiladas).
Canned beans are supposedly as good for you as dried beans. Granted, they are convenient because they don't need to be soaked and cooked for a long time to make them edible... but, most brands add a lot of salt (I am now a rabid label reader) and I am sorry but the mucous-y looking goo in the can is not appetizing. They can be rinsed and all that but it is also rinsing away some of the nutritional value. My new habit is to prepare a 1lb bag every week, which lasts me all week. That way I only need to go through the whole soaking and cooking thing once a week.
The cooked beans are delicious in all kinds of ways... I mix them with cooked turkey meat and serve over shredded cabbage with pico de gallo for taco salad. I add a scoop to soups or stews for flavor, protein and texture. Sometimes for breakfast I heat up a small bowl of it, add some chipotle sauce and a little shredded 2% cheese and serve with an over-easy fried egg on top. Mmm, breakfasty goodness. If you're concerned about gas, either take some Beano before you eat or chew a couple of Papaya enzyme pills afterward. Works like a charm. Believe me, I had to learn the hard way. No one needs that, even for the superior health benefits of beans.
My recipe was derived from the one posted by Rancho Gordo, an excellent source for dried heirloom beans (Rancho Gordo New World Specialty Foods).
Beans, Delicious Beans
1 lb. dried beans (pinto, kidney, black or almost any other variety)
Chicken stock - low sodium or homemade (amount varies)
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, de-ribbed, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
Spice of choice (optional)
Pour the bag of beans into a sieve or colander. Rinse well and pick through the beans in case there are any small pebbles or other foreign matter that doesn't belong. Pour the rinsed beans into a large bowl. Cover with chicken stock until the stock covers the beans by 1 inch. Cover, put in the refrigerator and leave 4-6 hours or overnight.
Next day, in a large soup pot, heat the oil on medium-high heat until a bead of water skips across the surface and the oil shimmers. Start to saute the vegetables... onions first until they start to get translucent, adding each vegetable one at a time until all are incorporated. Finally, add the minced garlic and toss with the vegetables until you can start to smell the garlic aroma.
Pour in the beans AND the chicken stock to the vegetables. Conventional wisdom used to say to discard the soaking liquid but now the thought is that we might be discarding some of the nutrient value down the drain. That is why the beans are thoroughly rinsed and picked through before the soaking process begins. Add more stock to ensure that the beans and vegetables are still covered by about an inch of liquid. Bring the beans to a boil then cover and put on the lowest temperature possible while still maintaining a simmer for at least 2 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste or any other seasoning like cumin or curry powder. Test the beans at that point and add more stock if it seems low. Beans should be slightly soupy as they will continue to absorb liquid. Continue cooking at the low simmer until you deem them perfect.
I also add sauteed greens, more sauteed vegetables and experiment with different spices to keep the flavors interesting. Black beans take really well to Mexican type spices, cannellini are especially good with Italian spices and lots of garlic. They can be left whole, partially mashed or creamed completely for a satisfying vegetable dip. Beans help keep those boredom blues away.
Beans. Do they have carbs? Yes... BUT they are really high in fiber (13g per cup - which can be very beneficial for someone who is eating a high protein diet), high in protein (15g per cup), are naturally low in fat and packed with beneficial healthy stuff like antioxidants, folic acid, vitamin B6, potassium and magnesium. (Prevention.com). Even though they are higher in carbohydrates than the other more common sources of low fat protein, beans are not a bad thing when eaten in moderation. And they help keep me sane in terms of varying my food intake so I don't succumb to boredom (read: eat enchiladas).
Canned beans are supposedly as good for you as dried beans. Granted, they are convenient because they don't need to be soaked and cooked for a long time to make them edible... but, most brands add a lot of salt (I am now a rabid label reader) and I am sorry but the mucous-y looking goo in the can is not appetizing. They can be rinsed and all that but it is also rinsing away some of the nutritional value. My new habit is to prepare a 1lb bag every week, which lasts me all week. That way I only need to go through the whole soaking and cooking thing once a week.
The cooked beans are delicious in all kinds of ways... I mix them with cooked turkey meat and serve over shredded cabbage with pico de gallo for taco salad. I add a scoop to soups or stews for flavor, protein and texture. Sometimes for breakfast I heat up a small bowl of it, add some chipotle sauce and a little shredded 2% cheese and serve with an over-easy fried egg on top. Mmm, breakfasty goodness. If you're concerned about gas, either take some Beano before you eat or chew a couple of Papaya enzyme pills afterward. Works like a charm. Believe me, I had to learn the hard way. No one needs that, even for the superior health benefits of beans.
My recipe was derived from the one posted by Rancho Gordo, an excellent source for dried heirloom beans (Rancho Gordo New World Specialty Foods).
Beans, Delicious Beans
1 lb. dried beans (pinto, kidney, black or almost any other variety)
Chicken stock - low sodium or homemade (amount varies)
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, de-ribbed, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
Spice of choice (optional)
Pour the bag of beans into a sieve or colander. Rinse well and pick through the beans in case there are any small pebbles or other foreign matter that doesn't belong. Pour the rinsed beans into a large bowl. Cover with chicken stock until the stock covers the beans by 1 inch. Cover, put in the refrigerator and leave 4-6 hours or overnight.
Next day, in a large soup pot, heat the oil on medium-high heat until a bead of water skips across the surface and the oil shimmers. Start to saute the vegetables... onions first until they start to get translucent, adding each vegetable one at a time until all are incorporated. Finally, add the minced garlic and toss with the vegetables until you can start to smell the garlic aroma.
Pour in the beans AND the chicken stock to the vegetables. Conventional wisdom used to say to discard the soaking liquid but now the thought is that we might be discarding some of the nutrient value down the drain. That is why the beans are thoroughly rinsed and picked through before the soaking process begins. Add more stock to ensure that the beans and vegetables are still covered by about an inch of liquid. Bring the beans to a boil then cover and put on the lowest temperature possible while still maintaining a simmer for at least 2 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste or any other seasoning like cumin or curry powder. Test the beans at that point and add more stock if it seems low. Beans should be slightly soupy as they will continue to absorb liquid. Continue cooking at the low simmer until you deem them perfect.
I also add sauteed greens, more sauteed vegetables and experiment with different spices to keep the flavors interesting. Black beans take really well to Mexican type spices, cannellini are especially good with Italian spices and lots of garlic. They can be left whole, partially mashed or creamed completely for a satisfying vegetable dip. Beans help keep those boredom blues away.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)