Taming the meat eater in all (okay, most) of us...

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!

If two people reek like garlic is there still a stink?

My husband has decided to go low carb with me.  Now this is a good thing, in general.  It is a good thing because he could stand to lose about 50 lbs.  His cholesterol is too high.  He likes gigantic super-tankers filled with sugary soda fountain drinks which will rot his teeth, make the rest of his hair fall out and probably pickle his brain into the next millennium.

It is a bad thing because he is somewhat of a picky eater.  I'm not complaining!  Honest!  He just won't try some of the things I have embraced to make my low carb quest easier... like tofu, shirataki noodles, low fat cheese.  I married a straight-up carnivore.  He will eat vegetables within reason (his reason, not mine).  So, my quest is to come up with manly, meat-filled dinners that will satisfy his need for lots of charred flesh and my need for low fat/low carb/low calorie meals.

I follow a lot of celebrity chefs on Twitter.  Okay, yeah, I am a cooking show junkie and always on the look out for tips and tricks in the kitchen.  One of my favorite cooking shows is Alton Brown's "Good Eats."  He presents a lot of the science behind cooking which I find fascinating.  Anyway, Alton tweeted about a dinner he was making his family which included "40 Cloves of Garlic and a Chicken."  It sounded delicious but when I looked up the recipe it had way too much fat.  My version is not strictly low fat (I confess a love for crisp chicken skin) but it has a lot less fat than Alton's version.  I also changed it to chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken... I might have mentioned my general aversion to chicken breast meat.

Here is Alton's version:
Food Network - Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Without further ado, here is my recipe for:

40 Cloves of Garlic and Some Thighs
Serves 4-6

8 skin on, bone in chicken thighs
Cooking spray
10 sprigs fresh thyme
40 peeled cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Trim any obvious big globs of fat off the chicken thighs.  Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium high heat.  Once the pan is hot, spray with cooking spray.  Lightly spray the skin side of the chicken thighs with cooking spray.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Brown on both sides. You may have to do this in two batches.  Don't crowd the chicken too much or it won't brown properly.

Line a half sheet baking pan with aluminum foil.  Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray.  Place the browned thighs on the pan skin side up.  Sprinkle the garlic in and around the chicken.  Lay the thyme sprigs across the chicken. Cover the whole pan with more foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.

**NOTE**  Many mainstream grocery stores have peeled garlic in jars in the refrigerated section of the produce department.  It sure beats peeling all that garlic!  The garlic gets soft like butter... mmmm.  Eat some of the garlic with the chicken.  If you have any left over save it and toss with steamed or stir-fried vegetables.  Delicious!  I served the chicken with roasted cauliflower sprinkled with a third of a cup of 2% shredded cheese.  My husband (and 6 yr old daughter) scarfed this down with nary a complaint.