Tag Archives: low carb recipes

Main Dish, Recipes, Seafood

Lawyer Up with Wonderful Lobster

T’is that time of the year again when I look at all my Irish-type recipes and try to figure out the St. Patrick’s Day dinner and dessert.  I have many Irish recipes in my house and quite a few Irish-American ones as well.  The corned beef we eat in America is not popular in Ireland and my Irish friends tell me that it doesn’t taste the same either.  But for those of us who’ve had it nearly every St. Patrick’s Day of their lives, it is the dish of the day.

But why not break out with something different?  This dish called “Dublin Lawyer” is a very good example of an Irish alternative.  This is an old Dublin dish with a colorful name that I haven’t been able to find the origin.  Possibly, given that it’s a lobster dish with whiskey in it, it was a favorite of the lawyers, who may have been the only ones who could afford it. It’s similar to Lobster Thermidor with whiskey substituting for the white wine or sherry in the latter.  I made very few changes to this recipe as it is just naturally low carb’d.

Dublin Lawyer

As prepared by Rene Averett

2 Lobster Tails (6 to 8 oz. each), cooked
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup Irish Whiskey (Jameson’s or Paddy’s)
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 cup sliced Mushrooms (optional)
2 tablespoons Leeks, chopped (whites)
2 tablespoons Low Carb Bread Crumbs*
1 Egg Yolk
Salt
Cayenne pepper

Preheat broiler to 485 degrees (if you can control it) or heat a toaster oven set to Broil.

Remove the lobster meat from the tails.  Clean the shells and set aside.  Cut the lobster meat into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

Trim the leeks and cut them finely, using a combination of white and a little of the green part near the white.  Heat the butter in a pan and sauté’ the leeks and mushrooms until the leeks are tender. Add the cream, salt and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the whiskey. Return to the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes,

Pu the egg yolk in a cup and beat with a whisk.  Spoon 2 tablespoons of sauce into the egg and whisk together, then add another 2 tablespoons.  Add the egg and sauce mixture to the pan and whisk it in gently.  Heat on simmer for a few more minutes and it will begin to thicken.  Add the lobster to the sauce and let it simmer another 3 minutes.

When you have the rest of your dinner almost prepared, put the lobster into the cleaned shells or into individual serving dishes.   Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and spray lightly with butter spray or olive oil. Put the tails into a small baking dish or individual dishes.  Cook under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes until lightly browned.

Serve immediately.  Serves 2.

Nutrition Info per lobster tail
Calories: 316 Fat: 25 g Net Carbs: 1.8 g Protein: 4.2 g

* I always have low carb bread crumbs on hand.  They can be from any quick low carb bread, such as the Wheat Germ and Flax Bread Rounds or the Irish Soda Bread, linked below.  If you don’t have them, look for the lowest bread crumb at your grocery store and add that carb count to the amount above.

For more St. Patrick’s Day options, here are more recipes from Skinny Girl Bistro to round out your celebration.

Use up the leftover corned beef in one of these dishes:
Corned Beef Hash
Corned Beef Quesadillas

Make side dishes for your Irish meal:
Irish Style Celery and Kohlrabi
Irish Soda Bread
Smashed Turnips and Leeks

Top your dinner off with a sweet or a drink:
Slim Irish Cream Cheesecake
O’Kelly’s Slim Irish Cream
Irish Apple Cake

Book Nook

Meals for Two Book Launch 03-14-15

Meal4Two Cookbook2-Magic-final

My cookbook designed with small batches of food for two people will be launching on March 14, 2015.  It is called Meals for Two:  Low Carb Cooking Magic and is the first of a series of Low Carb Cooking Magic books that I will be publishing.  It is available on Amazon.com and CreateSpace.

View my Booklaunch page here.

Some of the recipes have been featured on this blog but the recipes are scaled down to feed two or maybe four people so that you don’t have a bunch left in the ‘fridge or the freezer.  I have thrown away more leftovers than I care to think about.

There are many new recipes in the book that have not been, and will not be, posted here.  Every recipe in the book has a photograph, but the printed version of the book is in black and white.  Unfortunately, it was just too proportionately over-priced to print in color.  So, I am posting the photo pages here on Skinny Girl so that those who purchase the print copy can view them in full color.  That’s not all, if you purchase the book from Amazon, the purchase will include the Kindle version for free!

So please check out the listing at Amazon and I hope you’ll buy a copy, try the recipes and send me feedback!  I’d love to hear from you.

Desserts, Recipes

Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Bars

What could be better than a peanut butter bar?  How about a peanut butter bar with roasted peanuts and made with peanut flour?  Triple peanuts!  And low carb to boot?  Yes, if you can believe it.  It is all that and more.  It also has sugar free chocolate chips, which you can probably purchase at your local Wal-Mart if your regular grocery store doesn’t carry them.

Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Bars

1/4 cup Low Carb Flour or Almond Flour
1/2 cup Peanut Flour
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1/4 cup Brown Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Sugar Free Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup Sugar Free Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F.) Prepare an 8×8 baking pan with a layer of parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar substitutes, syrup, vanilla extract and heavy cream together until well blended. In another bowl, mix the flours, a pinch of salt and baking powder together. Add the flour to the peanut butter mixture a little at a time, mixing in well before adding more. If dough is too stiff, add water a tablespoon at a time until it is easy to mix.

Stir in the roasted peanuts and chocolate chips until mixed evenly through the dough. Spoon into the prepared baking pan and smooth into the corners, making the thickness as even as possible.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove and let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting. Cut into sixteen pieces. Use a flat spatula to carefully lift each piece and put on a wire rack to completely cool, unless it is eaten before it gets there. The cookies may be delicate, so store in a container with a layer of waxed paper between each layer if you stack them.

Nutrition Info per cookie
   Calories: 100.3 Fat: 8.1 g Net Carbs: 3.3 g Protein: 3.9 g

Main Dish, Pork, Recipes

Popular Cauliflower Casserole, My Version

Just about everybody who does low carb blogs, and then some, has a version of this wonderful cauliflower cheese casserole.  I’ve made this numerous times and in various ways.  My version has a few added ingredients.  At this time of year, I like to take advantage of the asparagus that’s reasonably priced at the market.  You can also use broccoli or Brussels sprouts in it.  No matter how you make it, this is an incredibly delicious alternative to Macaroni and Cheese.

While this is a smaller version than some of the ones I’ve seen, it  serves 4 with a nice-sized portion or 2 really hungry people  and still give you a small net carb amount.

Cauliflower, Bacon, Asparagus and Cheese Casserole

1/4 head Cauliflower
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup Asparagus or 1/2 cup Broccoli, chopped
4 slices Thick Bacon
1/2 cup diced Ham
2 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon garlic
1 tablespoon Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Steam cauliflower until tender. (Microwave in a glass bowl about three minutes.) Cut the asparagus into bite sized pieces.

Cream together 1/2 of the shredded cheese, ricotta cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, onions and seasonings in a small bowl. Add cauliflower, asparagus pieces, bacon and ham to a casserole dish and mix in the cheese mixture until it is evenly distributed.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 260 Fat: 20.4 g Net Carbs: 3.1 g Protein: 14.4 g

Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

Hints of Spring with Ham & Asparagus Egg Muffins

Lovely spears of asparagus are on sale at the grocery store, which is a sure sign that spring is on the way.  Of course, we are all hoping for a big thaw in some parts of the country and in my area, we are expecting the usual spring snow or two.  In fact, weather may be coming in this weekend, but for now, I am enjoying the sunny, but cold, days and the sight of asparagus in the grocery store.

So that’s the inspiration for this simple, very low carb recipe for ham and asparagus egg muffins.  They’re muffins only in the sense that they’re baked in muffin cups.  They make a wonderful breakfast-on-the-run — just grab one or two, pop ’em in the microwave and take them out the door with you.  One thing I wouldn’t recommend on this, and I tried it, is to use muffin papers with it.  The paper just sticks to the egg or vice-versa and it’s a bit of a mess.  Grease the muffin wells with butter or baking spray to get the entire cavity covered and they should come out fairly cleanly.

Ham & Asparagus Egg Muffins

8 Eggs
1/2 cup Ham, cubed
4 to 6 speaks Asparagus, chopped
1/4 cup Mini Peppers, chopped
3 tablespoons Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 355 degrees (F). Prepare a 12-well or two 6-well muffins tins by spraying with cooking spray or coating with butter or oil.  Make sure to come all the way up the sides.

In a large bowl, break the eggs and add the cream, salt and pepper and ricotta cheese and mix well with a whisk. Add the ham, asparagus and peppers, then stir in 3/4 cup of the cheese.

Use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop and fill each of the muffin cups to about 3/4 full  with the egg batter.

Bake for 25 minutes, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of each muffin and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool before serving or putting into storage bags to put in the refrigerator.  Heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds or eat at room temperature, if preferred.

Makes 12 egg muffins

Nutrition Info per muffin:
Calories: 129 Fat: 9.6 g Net Carbs: 1.3 g Protein: 8.9 g