Category Archives: Recipes

Breads, Recipes

Peanutty Chocolate Chip Scones For Tea Time

Scones are a great breakfast or tea time treat.  The American scone has taken a few turns from the classic English scone and is made in a variety of ways with fruits, nuts and more like a biscuit at times.   I like experimenting with the various ways you can make these and still be low carb.  One of the flours available at health food stores and online is peanut flour.   Unlike some of the other nut flours, peanuts really retain the peanut taste when used in baking.  So it isn’t as versatile as almond flour for general baking, but it is terrific when you want the peanut taste, as in these scones that get a bit of a peanut butter flavor without any peanut butter in them.  For the sugar free chocolate chips, I used Sensato Mini-Chocolate Chips, but you could also use Hershey’s Sugar Free Chocolate Chips, which I usually find at Wal-Mart.

Peanutty Chocolate Chip Scones

1 cup Carbquick or Almond Flour
1 cup Peanut Flour
1/4 cup Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 tablespoon softened Butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup Buttermilk or Heavy Cream
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup chopped Peanuts
1/2 cup sugar free Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 435 degrees (F.)

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix well. Add in peanuts and chocolate chips and mix into the dough. The dough should be stiff and a little sticky, but not wet. Use your clean hands to mix the dough if necessary.

Prepare a baking sheet by spray it with cooking spray. Turn the dough into the center of the pan and press and shape it into an 8 inch circle. If it tries to stick to your fingers, wet your hand. Score the dough into 8 pieces (scored into quarters, then each quarter scored in half) but don’t cut all the way through.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the scone loaf is golden brown. Let cool a few minutes, then slice on the scored lines. Serve warm with clotted cream or butter or with jelly or jam. Delicious afternoon tea break!

Makes 8 scones.

Nutrition Info: Per scone
Calories: 155  Fat: 8.9 g  Net Carbs: 4.5 g  Protein: 7.7 g

Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Quick Beef Enchilada Casserole

Enchiladas are spicy and very tasty and are a part of my childhood onward.  I love the many varieties, but sometimes I don’t have time or the patience to make the rolled ones.  The easiest way to make enchiladas is into a casserole rather than rolling each one individually. It doesn’t come out as pretty, but it tastes as good. This low carb version uses low carb flour tortillas (3 nc each) that are not pre-fried briefly in oil, although you could do that if you would like to add a fried bread flavor to the dish.

1 lb Ground Beef
3/4 cup Onion, chopped
4 Low Carb Tortillas (6″)
4 oz. can Green Chiles, chopped
10 oz. can Red Enchilada Sauce
2 teaspoons Taco Seasoning
1 teaspoon red Chile Powder
1 cups shredded Cheddar Jack or 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese
1 tablespoon Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.)

Prepare a casserole dish by spraying with cooking spray or rubbing oil on the bottom and sides.

In a large skillet, lightly brown the ground beef, breaking it into small pieces. Drain any fat off. Add the Taco Seasoning and 2 tablespoons of water and mix into the ground meat until it is blended. Remove the meat to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and sauté the onions until they are tender. Mix the meat into the onions. (If you wish, you can sauté the onions first, then add the ground beef and cook it all together, then stir in the seasoning mix.)

Put the enchilada sauce in a small pan and add the Chile Powder to it to give it a little more flavor and cook for a few minutes.

Pour about 2 oz. of sauce on the bottom of the casserole pan, then place a tortilla on top. Spread another 2 oz. of sauce on top of the tortilla, then put 1/3rd of the ground beef mixture on top, then put 1/4 of the cheese on top of that. Add the next tortilla and repeat with sauce, beef and cheese, then add the third tortilla and repeat again. For the top level, put the last tortilla on, top with remaining sauce and cheese.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cheese it melted and just toasted on top.  Serve with sour cream and a green salad or Spanish Cauli-rice or Roasted Cauliflower topped with turmeric.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Info: (per serving)
Calories: 396 Fat:25 g Net Carbs: 7.2 g Protein: 34.4 g

Beef, Main Dish, Recipes

Tender Short Ribs with Root Vegetables

Oddly, in my many years of cooking, I had never made short ribs until recently.  Why?  I don’t know, because these are so simple to make and so wonderful to eat.  It only took a little bit to adapt them to low carb.  They take about 2 1/2 hours to make with the cook time, but they are so worth it.  My recipe is adapted for two people, but you can easily double it to serve four.  For my root vegetables, I used golden beets and turnips.  You could also use kohlrabi or celery root in this.  The vegetables pick up the flavor from the braising liquid and I am not sure that a potato used in this would taste much different.

Short Ribs with Vegetables

4 Beef Short Ribs (with bones) – about 1 1/2 lbs
1 Golden Beet, medium
1 Red Onion, medium
1 Turnip, medium
1/2 cup Beef Bullion
1/2 cup Red Wine (Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon)
1/2 cup CarbQuick or Coconut Flour
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper, ground

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F)

Peel the beet and turnip and cut into cubes. Peel the onion and slice it.

In a pie pan, mix the CarbQuick or coconut flour with the seasoning salt and garlic powder. Dredge the short ribs in the flour.

In a dutch oven or heavy oven-ready deep pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until hot. Add the onions and vegetables and cook until just browned. Remove to a plate. Add the remaining oil, then add the short ribs and brown on all sides, about three minutes a side. When browned, add the beef bullion and wine and stir in the pot. Then add the vegetables back in.

Cover the pot with an oven-proof lid or heavy foil and put in the preheated oven. Cook for 2 hours. Short ribs will be tender and delicious.

Serves 2.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 448  Fat: 24.4 g Net Carbs: 8.6 g  Protein: 35.7 g

 

Desserts, Recipes

Scrumptious Cinnamon Pecan Tartlets

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The house in Texas had two huge pecan trees in the back yard and we always had an abundant crop of pecans. One of my chores as a child was picking up the pecans that fell from the trees and then shelling them. It wasn’t that much of a chore at all, especially when it led to a wonderfully delicious treat like Pecan Pie. We used pecans a lot in cookies, jello salads, cooking and I use them interchangably with walnuts. When I moved to California, walnuts were more readily, and less expensively, available, but the pecan has always remained my first choice of nut.

Pecan pie isn’t a low carb, low calorie food usually, but when counting carbs and making a few substitution in the ingredients, it can be a great dessert for a low carb lifestyle. I made these as tartlets rather than a big pie because it makes it easier to make a small batch for two or three people and it controls the portion size. I used silicon tartlet molds, which hold about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of ingredients and come in different shapes. They are also easy to unmold.

Cinnamon Pecan Tartlets

Filling

1 Egg
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar free maple syrup
1/3 cup Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup pecans, broken into pieces
6 pecans halves for topping
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
Pinch salt

Crumble Dough

1/4 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon sugar substitute

Prepare tartlet molds by spraying with cooking spray. Put on a baking sheet.

Make Crumble Dough:
Mix flour, sugar and butter together with a fork, cutting through to make a crumbly dough. Press 1/6th of the mixture into the bottom of each tartlet pan.

Bake for about 5 minutes until just lightly browned. Let cool while you prepare the filling.

Make the Filling:
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, except reserved pecans, and mix well by stirring.  No mixer needed.

Spoon the filling over the dough and top each one with one of the reserved half pecans Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Check to see if the pie is fully set and done.

Tartlets in silicon molds.

Let cool, then remove from the molds. Serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream.

Makes six tartlets.

 

 

 

 

 

Nutrition Info per tartlet:
Calories: 134.3 Fat: 13.1 g Net Carbs: 1.2 g Protein: 3.1 g

Tip: These little tarts keep in the refrigerator for up to a week and they also freeze well. To serve, thaw them out and reheat them in a microwave for about 15 seconds.

 

 

 

Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes

Two Ways to Low Carb “Fried” Chicken

Pan fried chicken, baked to cook it through.

Every now and then I get a yearning for Mom Kelly’s fried chicken, which was a lot like my grandmother’s fried chicken.  Frankly, I have never been good at doing it, but add in trying to keep the carbs down and it’s even more of a challenge.  So, I’ve adapted the recipe to cook the chicken that still gives it that fried flavor and a nice crispy crust.  A great side dish for this is the Texas-Style Turnip-Cauliflower Salad that is like potato salad.

Stove Top Fried Chicken

This is mostly the traditional way to fry chicken.  I finish it off in the oven to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way though.  If you have big plump breasts cut them into smaller pieces so they aren’t so thick.  They will cook through easier without burning the crust.

I use CarbQuick to coat the chicken, but you can also use coconut flour, which has a very fine texture, although it’s a little higher in carbs.

1/2 cup Carbquick or Coconut Flour
1/4 cup Buttermilk, lowfat
4 to 6 chicken Chicken Thighs or 2 chicken breasts cut into 4 four pieces
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, about 1 inch deep in a heavy medium-sized skillet
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt of your choice
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Paprika

Preheat oven to 385 degrees.

Begin heating the oil in the skillet. Heat to very hot, then reduce the heat to medium high.

Mix the flour and seasonings in a large plastic bag or a shallow pan, like a cake pan or pie pan.

Put the buttermilk in a shallow pan and put the chicken in, turning it over to completely coat. Put the chicken pieces, one by one, in the plastic bag and shake to coat or roll them in the flour pan to coat.
Fry about four pieces of chicken at a time until golden brown on the bottom, then turn over to brown the other side. Remove to a paper towel covered plate and brown any other chicken pieces.

Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and put the browned chicken in it and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Check the chicken by poking with a fork. Any juices that run out should be clear.

Oven baked “fried” chicken

Oven Fried Chicken

This version is basically the same ingredients, but you skip the skillet frying and let the oven do the work by cooking the chicken in a very hot oven.

1/2 cup Carbquick or Coconut Flour
1/4 cup Buttermilk, lowfat
4 to 6 chicken Chicken Thighs or 2 chicken breasts cut into 4 four pieces
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt of your choice
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
2 tablespoons Olive Oil

 Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F).

Mix the flour and seasonings in a large plastic bag or a shallow pan, like a cake pan or pie pan.

Put the buttermilk in a shallow pan and put the chicken in, turning it over to completely coat. Put the chicken pieces, one by one, in the plastic bag and shake to coat or roll them in the flour pan to coat.

Spread the oil over a small baking dish and arrange the chicken, skin side down (or top side down if you are using skinless chicken). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, then turn the chicken over and cook another 12 to 15 minutes. Low carb flours brown a little faster than regular ones, so keep an eye on the chicken to ensure it doesn’t get too dark.

Makes 2-4 servings depending on your appetite.

Nutrition Info per serving (4 servings)
Calories: 236.5 Fat: 13.2 g Net Carbs: 2.7 g