What did you have for dinner tonight?

Our dinner tonight was gammon with broccoli, courgettes, and mashed swede - tasted great and low in carbs.


Check out the recipe here

http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/gammon-and-broccoli-cheese-grill.html

With some fresh low carb fruits and cream for dessert  

All the best Jan

Oooh gammon! I was just pondering what to get from the butcher tomorrow, it was tipping it down today so I just did the supermarket shop and didn't go downtown.

I used to love me a gammon rasher with a ring of pineapple on top.

Now I just love the gammon on its own. I have some broccoli too, and its' time I bought some more cheese . . .

@chris c Go for it Chris - get some gammon, ours was delicious last night.

Now tonight we had this:

Baked Pesto Chicken


2 Boneless Chicken Breast
1/4 cup pesto (use your own pesto even better!)
2 plum tomatoes sliced
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line baking sheet with heavy-duty foil.
Place chicken and pesto in medium bowl; toss to coat.
Place chicken on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.
Remove from oven; top with tomatoes and cheese.
Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted

Photo shows salad, which is great. But as the weather was not quite summer today I served some broccoli, courgettes and mashed swede - a lovely low carb meal

Fresh low carb fruits with double cream followed.

All the best Jan

Original recipe idea from here http://www.food.com/recipe/baked-pesto-chicken-23425

As Eddie says, it's a tough gig but someone has to do it!

OK I eventually got out as far as the butcher's and bought me the gammon rasher which was HUGE and oak smoked from local outdoor pigs.

Then I picked up my prescription and a bag of salt for the water softener, by which time THE SUN HAD COME OUT!!! so I trekked down along the local estuary.

No birds of extreme rarity and not even that many common ones but I met a couple who strangely came from a couple of miles away from where I'd been earlier in the week.

I recommended the pub where we'd had lunch, which they used to use but stopped when it changed hands and went downhill. I was able to suggest they try it again as it has obviously changed hands again and greatly improved, and we chatted for so long that by the time I got home I couldn't be arsed to do the broccoli cheese thing and simply ate half the gammon with a large helping of runner beans and a buttered oatcake, oh and a glass of Bordeaux this time. OK two glasses. 

Five minutes after I got home the skies opened again. Well it may improve my runner bean, I have one nearly six inches long at last.

There are holes in the sky
Where the rain gets in
The holes are small
That's why rain is thin

Spike Milligan

Ingredients:
Serves 4
(7g carb per serving)
175g black olives in oil, stones removed
1 large onion, roughly chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
4 boneless white fish fillets such as Icelandic cod or hoki, each weighing about 175g/6oz

To serve:
chopped parsley
lemon wedges

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil from the olives in an ovenproof pan. Tip in the onion and stir well, leave to cook for a minute or two and then give it another good stir. Add the tomatoes and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then add the olives.
2. Put the fish, skin side down, onto the sauce and drizzle over a splash more oil from the olive jar. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the fish is cooked. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve straight from the pan, with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

... and perhaps a nice bottle of chilled white wine to go with this dish?

Have a lovely Friday  

All the best Jan

Ingredients - Serves Four
(so amend to suit)

2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 red onion, cut into wedges
2 tsp olive oil
4 skin-on chicken breasts
½ x 150g pack full-fat garlic & herb soft cheese
200g pack cherry tomatoes
handful black olives

Method
1.Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
2.Mix the peppers and onion on a big baking tray with half the oil.
3.Transfer to the oven and cook on the top shelf for 10 mins.
4. Meanwhile, carefully make a pocket between the skin and the flesh of each chicken breast, but don’t pull off the skin completely.
5.Push equal amounts of cheese under the skin, smooth the skin back down, brush it with the rest of the oil, season, then add to the tray along with the tomatoes and olives.
6.Return to the oven and cook for 25-30 mins more, until the chicken is golden and cooked.

The carbs per serving is 9. It really is a great meal. Why not serve with whole green beans, or buttery mashed swede.  

Enjoy your Saturday evening

All the best Jan

Well I know the calendar says it's summer,but the weather has turned quite Autumnal ... so for dinner tonight we have one of our favourites



Ingredients: Serves two
2/3 pork chops (remove fat - optional) and cut into small pieces *
2 large leeks chopped
1 hand full of button mushrooms
1 large sliced carrot
1 table spoon of dried mixed herbs
Approx 1 pint of gravy stock
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method
* Use Pork, diced braising steak or chicken
Clean, cut and place all ingredients in a casserole dish or earthenware oven proof pot with lid. Pour over the stock and cook at 190c in an electric oven 90 mins. If using beef cook for two hours.Gas mark 5.

What could be easier, very lowcarb, real food and tastes great. Perfect for an Autumnal Bank Holiday Monday evening !

All the best Jan

Obviously amend ingredients to suit number of people eating  

Ingredients:
Serves Six
150-175ml/5-6fl oz olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
900g/2lb lean minced lamb
50ml/2 fl oz white wine (a generous splash)
1 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
1 x 5cm/2in piece cinnamon stick
handful fresh oregano leaves, preferably wild Greek oregano, chopped
3 large aubergines
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the topping:
75g/3oz butter
75g/3oz plain flour
600ml/1 pint milk
50g/2oz parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 medium free-range eggs, beaten

Preparation method:
1. Preheat the oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. For the lamb sauce, heat two teaspoons of the oil in a pan. Add the onions and garlic and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the minced lamb and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine, tomatoes, cinnamon and oregano and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes while you make everything else.
3. Slice the stalks off the aubergines and cut them lengthways into 5mm/¼in slices. Heat a frying pan until it is jumping hot, add one tablespoon of the oil and a layer of aubergine slices and fry quickly until tender and lightly coloured on each side. Lift out with tongs (every kitchen should have some!), layer over the base of a 2.5-2.75 litre/4 ½-5 pint shallow ovenproof dish and season lightly with a little salt and pepper. Repeat with the rest of oil and aubergines and seasoning each layer as you go.
4. For the topping, melt the butter in a non-stick pan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for one minute to cook out the flour. Gradually beat in the milk, bring to the boil, stirring, and leave to simmer very gently for 10 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then. Stir in the cheese and some salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly and then beat in the eggs.
5. Remove the cinnamon stick from the lamb sauce, season to taste with some salt and pepper and spoon it over the top of the aubergines. Pour over the topping and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden-brown and bubbling.

Also posted this here https://lowcarbdiabetic.forumotion.co.uk/t1262-greek-style-moussaka-tastes-delicious?highlight=Moussaka

I think Paul also has a good recipe for this, or was it a Shepherds Pie ?

All the best Jan

Forgot to add, I had the other half of the gammon with broccoli. Since I don't keep flour in the house I thought maybe I could get away with just grating some cheese over the top and grilling it.

Although Wells Alpine is a superb cheese for eating, it didn't grill well, most of it ran off the gammon into the bottom of the pan.

Maybe I'll try this again but with Irish cheddar which used to be my favourite for grilling and cheese on toast back in the day, due to the fat composition (I assume it's grass fed) it goes a lovely orange/brown colour with a delightfully chewy texture.

Chicken curry again today.

Fry some cashew nuts in gentle heat (I use cold pressed rapeseed oil because it's local and I know the father of the farmer who produces it).

Add some chopped up multicoloured peppers and garlic.

Today I added some (frozen) prawns, last time I added some chopped up French beans, time before that it was frozen peas, and at other times I've used bean sprouts, water chestnuts and/or bamboo shoots.

When sufficiently fried push to one side and cut up with scissors about half a chicken breast per person.

When also sufficiently fried add lashings of turmeric, coriander, cumin. cayenne and powdered cardamom along with tomato puree ( you can alter the balance of these things depending on the effect you wish to achieve, and also add ginger, or garam marsala etc.)

Add water and simmer.

By evening I can get away with an anatomically correct (ie. small) portion of rice, or you can use other things.

Grind some pepper over the top - piperine from the pepper supposedly potentiates the curcumin from the turmeric.

WARNING depending on tumeric levels your turds tomorrow may appear orange

chris c wrote:Chicken curry again today.

Fry some cashew nuts in gentle heat (I use cold pressed rapeseed oil because it's local and I know the father of the farmer who produces it).

Add some chopped up multicoloured peppers and garlic.

Today I added some (frozen) prawns, last time I added some chopped up French beans, time before that it was frozen peas, and at other times I've used bean sprouts, water chestnuts and/or bamboo shoots.

When sufficiently fried push to one side and cut up with scissors about half a chicken breast per person.

When also sufficiently fried add lashings of turmeric, coriander, cumin. cayenne and powdered cardamom along with tomato puree ( you can alter the balance of these things depending on the effect you wish to achieve, and also add ginger, or garam marsala etc.)

Add water and simmer.

By evening I can get away with an anatomically correct (ie. small) portion of rice, or you can use other things.

Grind some pepper over the top - piperine from the pepper supposedly potentiates the curcumin from the turmeric.

WARNING depending on tumeric levels your turds tomorrow may appear orange

"WARNING depending on tumeric levels your turds tomorrow may appear orange."

Bon appetit

Eddie wrote:
"WARNING depending on tumeric levels your turds tomorrow may appear orange."

Bon appetit  

Haha I just remembered a Dutch artist who used to paint with his own shit (don't worry, he said, I varnish it)

He used the money from the paintings to buy different foods to make different shades of brown.

Adapted from recipe here
https://lowcarbdiabetic.forumotion.co.uk/t933-poached-salmon-watercress-mayonnaise-with-a-hint-of-dijon-mustard?highlight=salmon

All the best Jan

Thanks for the reminder, I have some fresh smoked haddock I haven't eaten yet but I also have some frozen salmon which I keep in the freezer. When I went to take it out to thaw I found some pheasant breasts so I took them out instead. Today was sausages and runner beans, and a couple of buttered oatcakes, and a glass of malbec.

No watercress though, perhaps I'll get some tomorrow. I also often use frozen spinach with salmon but the Co-Op hasn't had any for ages, and I prefer theirs to the one the farm shops sell.

In a dry saucepan toast some quinoa over low heat until i starts to brown and maybe jump around a bit. If it goes black or jumps out of the pan it's too hot.

Add water and leave simmering.

Fry some bacon in olive oil. Add multicoloured peppers, chillies and garlic, some olives, and a can of red salmon in brine (pour away the brine first).

Top with a splash of toasted sesame seed oil, and the juice of half a lemon if you remember where you put it (!)

Takes 10 - 20 minutes to do. I grind some black pepper over the top and maybe add some sea salt. You can add lemon grass while the salmon is cooking, or crushed chillies especially if you don't have fresh ones.

Dinner tonight will look a little like this ...




More low carb recipe ideas here  http://lowcarbdietsandrecipes.blogspot.co.uk/

One big hunk salmon, grilled.

One handful almonds, toasted.

One handful watercress which I finally remembered to buy.

Half an avocado.

One buttered oatcake.

One glass Shiraz.

Had the most gorgeous dinner this evening ...

Cod with pesto butter ... cooked in foil
Courgette, orange pepper, tomatoes and just a little mushroom ... cooked in butter
Mashed swede ... with lots of butter

Did you know? Us low carbers do like our butter

All the best Jan

600 ml water. Yum!

Baruney wrote:600 ml water. Yum!

This fasting malarkey sounds like good training should you ever end up in North Korean prison camp, even those poor blighter's get a handful of rice a day.

My first partridge of the season is in the oven, with bacon draped over the top, shortly to be turned with the addition of more bacon, and served with boiled brussels sprouts and chestnuts.

Pheasants are still a week or two away.

Pheasants finally arrived! A bit scrawny but still enough meat for two meals.

I turned it upside down so the flavour would go into the breasts and draped a slice of (dry cured free range local) bacon over the top and roasted it at Mark 6.

After about 20 minutes I turned it over and draped two more slices of bacon over the breasts. After about 2o more minutes it was done.

I peeled five chestnuts and boiled them with six sprouts, and fried in olive oil half a giant mushroom.

Washed it down with a glass of Chilean Carmenere. OK two glasses.

Just had the remains stir fried in olive oil with chopped bacon, the other half of the mushroom broken into chunks, multicoloured peppers, chilles, garlic and olives. On a bed of quinoa taosted and then boiled, and some more Carmenere.

In between I grilled a hunk of salmon and ate it with toasted almonds and spinach, and two thickly buttered oatcakes. yes! Finally the Co-Op frozen spinach is back in the cabinets. It's more finely chopped than the one from the farm shops, and in smaller chunks. It only needs a mere sprinkle of water and simmering briefly. Use too much water or boil too hard and you end up with a pan of green water and all the spinach stuck to the saucepan lid. Trust me on this one.

Meanwhile I read of a college in the US where trainee doctors are actually told that low carb is the best treatment for diabetics "but it's not worth telling them this as they won't follow it"

... that pheasant sounds delicious, and accompanied by the chestnuts, sprouts and mushrooms PERFECT!


Thank goodness the Co-op have more of that frozen spinach - I may have to try it when I'm next near my  local Co-op.

Tonight, we have chicken wrapped in bacon, topped with a little brie and an accompaniment of low carb vegetables ... and I may just be tempted to enjoy a glass of white wine too!

All the best Jan

Jan1 wrote:... that pheasant sounds delicious, and accompanied by the chestnuts, sprouts and mushrooms PERFECT!

Yes I'm practicing for Christmas dinner already!

You may find similar frozen spinach in other supermarkets, when I was a trucker I often used to deliver the same thing from the same factory with different brand names on the package.