Monthly Archives: February 2015

Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

A Bit of Spice in a Chorizo and Egg Casserole

Coming from the southwest, you just know that I love Mexican food and that includes the spicy chorizo sausage that is mixed with chile.  The basque chorizo that I first found more frequently when I moved to Reno is a solid, easily cut version and it doesn’t melt in the skillet as the Mexican chorizo does.  This recipe is definitely for the Mexican variety.  These days, it’s packaged in a plastic tube and you can cut it open and squeeze it into the skillet.

Mexican style chorizo in a plastic tube. Chorizo can be pork or beef or a combination.

 

I made a small 2 or 4 serving (depending on how hungry you are) casserole of this, but it’s easy to double it to make a larger size.

Chorizo and Egg Casserole

4 eggs
2 oz Chorizo
1/4 cup sliced Bell Pepper
1/4 cup diced Onions
1/2 cup Mexican Cheese (Queso Fresca)
1/4 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Chile Powder
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F>)

In a skillet add the olive oil and chorizo and cook over medium high heat until the chorizo begins to melt. Add the onions and bell peppers and continue to cook until the onions are tender and the chorizo is completely melted. Turn heat to low.

In a bowl, beat together eggs and seasonings. Add most of the Mexican cheese, saving a little for topping. Pour the eggs into the pan with the chorizo and stir to mix well. The eggs will begin to cook as you stir. Remove from heat. Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray and pour the egg and chorizo mixture into the casserole. Sprinkle the remaining Mexican cheese and shredded cheddar cheese over the top.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the eggs are set and the cheese is melted. Let cool about 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 431 Fat: 32 g g Net Carbs: 3.9 g Protein: 29.5 g

*I’ve actually pictured 1/4 of the recipe serving, which is what I usually eat, so picture double the amount of that wedge in a regular serving.

Appetizers, Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes, Sandwiches

A Curried Chicken Tea Time Sandwich

Curries are very popular in Britain, so it’s no surprise that there’s a lovely curried chicken tea sandwich on some menus.  Happily, it’s an easy recipe to adapt to low carb and easy to make.  I am co-hosting a birthday tea for a dear friend who is turning 90 on Valentine’s Day and I plan to bring these sandwiches along with smoked salmon and cream cheese ones. These are colorful and delicious.  They also make a great luncheon open-faced sandwich.

The bigger challenge with these is the low carb bread.  You can make your own.  I made a low carb focaccia-style bread for this and that worked perfectly.  Or you could try this flat bread with it.  You can also spread it on low carb tortillas and roll them up, then slice into a pinwheels.  Or you can ditch the bread altogether and spread it on zucchini cut lengthwise to make the base.   However you do it, if you like curry, you’re going to love it.

 Curried Chicken Tea Sandwiches

1/4  cup  Unsweetened Flaked Coconut, re-hydrated
2 tablespoons Coconut Milk or Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon Sugar Substitute
1/2  cup  chopped or slivered Almonds
1  (8-ounce) package Cream Cheese, softened
2 tablespoons  sugar-free Orange Marmalade
2  teaspoons  Curry Powder
1/8  teaspoon  Salt
1/8  teaspoon  Pepper
2 cups  diced cooked Chicken
12  (1/2-inch-thick) slices low carb Bread
1  tablespoons diced Green Onions or fresh Parsley.

To rehydrate the coconut, place in a shallow bowl, add 1 tablespoon coconut milk or heavy cream, 1 tablespoon water and sugar substitute. Stir together, then let sit for at least 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, add the softened cream cheese and 1 tablespoon heavy cream and beat until smooth. Add the salt, pepper, curry powder and orange marmalade and mix in. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the almonds and mix the rest into the cream cheese mixture.

In your food processor, put in chunks of chicken meat and pulse a few times to chop it to small pieces. Don’t cut them too small, but it will make the mixture easier to spread on the bread if the piees are about 1/4″ . Alternately, chop the chicken finely on a cutting board. Stir the chicken into the cream cheese mixture.

For Tea:
Spread the mixture evenly on the bread slices, trim the crusts. Top with a few pieces of the reserved almonds and green onions. Cut each slice into 3 finger sandwiches. Makes 36 finger sanwiches.

For Luncheon:
Spread the mixture evenly on the bread slices and top with almonds and green onions or parsley. Makes 12 open-faced sandwiches.

Nutrition Info per finger sandwich (filling only):
Calories: 45 Fat: 3.3 g Net Carbs: 0.7 g Protein: 03.4 g

If your bread is 2.0 carbs per slice, your net carbs per finger sandwich would be about 1.4 net carbs.

Nutrition Info per luncheon sandwich (filling only):
Calories: 135 Fat: 9.9 g Net Carbs: 2.1 g Protein: 10.2 g

If your bread is 2.0 carbs per slice, your net carbs per luncheon sandwich would be about 4.1 net carbs

I’d love to hear how you like this if you try it and how you serve it.    Please send me comments.