The Low-carb Cook's Nook Presents... 
In The Event Of Emergency...

Can You Still Low-carb??
Well, how bad IS it? If you're digging or swimming out of a massive hurricane like Katrina, if you're roofless or homeless, if you're snowed in and the power is  out,
then survival *now* is your #1 priority
& you have bigger problems to deal with than carbs.

But can you PREPARE AHEAD FOR EMERGENCIES?
Be it EARTHQUAKE (where F00D Angel lives)... HURRICANE  (where FOOD Magic lives)... BLIZZARD... TORNADO... FLOOD... FIRE... MUDSLIDE... TSUNAMI... or any kind of disaster...

HOW DO YOU PREPARE?  
The first time we talked about this topic was the fall of 1999 and the subject was "What IF y2K is a disaster!?!?!
Thankfully, things turned out fine, but there was a lesson there...

The last two years here, things weren't as bad as The Weather Channel thought, but who knows what we have ahead of us?
No matter where you live, there is some kind of weather disaster that can occur... BUT THE PREPS ARE THE SAME:

Food that stays without refrigeration. water supplies. how-to-cook-without-power. portable potables.  
If  it's at all possible, stay on your WOE... you will feel better & stronger, and be better able to deal with the stresses. 

 SO don't forget batteries, remember to pack your cooler, hunker down...
when?   Thursday, August 20th, 2009, 9-11pm edt
where?  lowcarbcooksnook
who?  FOOD Magic, F00D Angel, you and that helpful guy at Home Depot! 

If you are on AOL, click here:  lowcarbcooksnook or IM FOOD Magic (those are capital o's in FOOD) or F00D Angel (those are zero's in F00D).

If you are on AIM, send yourself a Chat Invitation, to go to the room "lowcarbcooksnook" (without the quotation marks).  If you have any difficulty, IM Kasparcat, we will lasso you into the room.

Where's the BEEF?

Right here in the Low-carb Cook's Nook! Beef is a versatile and low-carb-friendly food, but it's easy to get stuck in a rut of making it in the same-old, same-old ways!

Don't RIB me or ROAST me about it, I just might outFLANK you or tie you to a STEAK! (sorry, I am so corny tonight... heehee... like CORNED BEEF!)
So stay well-GROUNDed and join us here in the Nook for an evening of Beef recipes, from Pizza-Meatza crust to Tijuana Train Wreck, from stir-fry to kabobs, from meatloafs (meatloaves?) to countless variations on steaks and burgers and roasts!
 
When's the chat? Thursday, July 9th, 2009, 9-11pm EDT

Where?   lowcarbcooksnook 

Who?  FOOD Magic, F00D Angel, and YOU!

After the chat, I will email you the recipes we covered.  If you have AIM, it will go to your yourscreenname@... mailbox.

If you can't make it to the chat, don't get STEWed...the recipes will be posted at  Low-Carb Cook's Nook Recipes

Roasted Dijon Salmon

A classic combination of salmon, oil, lemon, and mustard, together with an almost foolproof roasting method, makes this a dish you'll want to prepare every week. Keep it simple (and balanced) by serving it with a crisp green salad.

Serves 4
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients

3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 pieces salmon filet (about 5 ounces each), with skin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh dill, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Place a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; let pan warm 2 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons of the oil to pan.

2. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1 teaspoon of oil, mustard, and juice. Season salmon with salt and pepper; place in hot skillet, skin side up. Sear 1 minute. Turn salmon, spoon mustard glaze over fish, and immediately place in oven. Roast 8 minutes, or until fish is no longer red inside. Garnish with chopped dill and serve immediately.

Nutritional Data:

Calories: 226
Sat Fat: 2 g
Fat: 12 g
Carbs: 0 g
Protein: 27 g
Cholesterol: 75 mg
Sodium: 182 mg
Fiber: 0 g

HOW TO GET TO THE CHATROOM:

If you are on AOL, click here:  lowcarbcooksnook or IM FOOD Magic (those are capital o's in FOOD) or F00D Angel (those are zero's in F00D).

If you are on AIM, send yourself a Chat Invitation, to go to the room "lowcarbcooksnook" (without the quotation marks).  If you have any difficulty with that, IM Kasparcat, we will lasso you into the room.

1 batch Boursin cheese (see recipe below)
4 small roasted red bell peppers, about 1 1/2 ounces each *
4 large boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 thin slices tomato, about 3 medium tomatoes **
Olive oil for drizzling, 1/2 tablespoon per breast
Fresh parsley, chopped, optional

Butterfly the chicken by making a shallow horizontal cut along the thickest long edge of each breast and then run the knife toward the other side stopping within a quarter to half inch of the opposite edge. Cut the red peppers open flat and pat them dry. Place the chicken breasts on a large foil-lined baking sheet. Season them on both sides and then open them up. Lay one pepper on the bottom section of each breast.

Spoon 1/4 of the Boursin cheese on top of each red pepper in a large dollop. There's no need to spread it around because you'll do that when you fold the top flap of the chicken over it. Fold the top flap of each breast up and over the filling, enclosing it as well as you can. Gently press down on the chicken to slightly distribute the cheese filling more evenly but keep the pile of cheese as thick as you can.

Place 3 slices of tomato on top of each breast, overlapping them as shown in the photo. Drizzle the tomatoes with oil then sprinkle with a little salt. You can sprinkle a little chopped fresh parsley over the top for color. Bake at 425ş 20 minutes or until the chicken is done. The tomatoes will look a bit shriveled.

Makes 4 servings

* You'll need to buy a 12 ounce jar of roasted red peppers but you probably won't need them all.

** I bought three medium tomatoes and got four slices out of each one with a little left over. The tomatoes weighed 15 ounces total before trimming them and I used about 2 1/2 ounces of tomato per chicken breast.

Per Serving: 416 Calories; 28g Fat; 33g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

BOURSIN CHEESE
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon dill
2 teaspoons chives
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

In a food processor, process the cream cheese and garlic until blended. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well combined. Put in an airtight container and chill a couple hours or overnight to allow the flavors to develop. This is a more heat-stable version of my regular Boursin cheese recipe that calls for part butter.

Makes about 1 cup

Per Serving: 805 Calories; 79g Fat; 18g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 8g Net Carbs

I got this recipe from an English cooking magazine that my friend from England gave me when she came to visit. I wasn't able to cut slits in the sides of the chicken breasts as the recipe said to do without them tearing badly so I had to wing it a bit. I ended up with a big hole in the bottoms of all four of mine so I came up with the idea to place a whole roasted pepper over the holes to keep the cheese from oozing out the bottoms. This did increase the carb count a bit.

I did something very stupid so I really don't know how long mine took to bake. I went to check on it after about 10 minutes or so only to find that I'd never turned on the timer. I do think that it took roughly 20-25 minutes based on when I think I put it in the oven. I was pleased to find that not too much of the filling leaked out while baking. Of course you can spoon any of the yummy sauce back over the chicken. I think that next time I might try pounding the chicken until it's very thin and then just fold the chicken in half over the filling and omit the red pepper. I liked the red peppers but I'd like to try this sometime without them. The garlicky cheese filling was my favorite part of the dish and it doesn't need any competition from vegetables. I would keep the tomato slices on top because they help keep the top of the chicken from drying out and they look pretty. Click the photos to see close-ups of the before and after shots. Below is how it looked before baking:

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes

Konjac Pasta with Seafood and Peanut Ginger Dressing

This recipe combines the exotic flavors of ginger and garlic with the smooth creamy taste of peanut butter. For added taste excitement you can add red pepper flakes to taste.

PEANUT GINGER DRESSING
1/4 c Smooth or chunky peanut butter*
1/4 c Hot water
1/3 c Cider vinegar
2 tb Soy sauce
1 tb Grated fresh ginger root
1 t Minced garlic


SALAD
1 lb konjac Angel Hair pasta*
7 c Chilled cooked shrimp and scallops
1 Tsp Emeril's Asian Seasoning
3 md Kirby pickling cucumbers, halved lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise
2 md Red bell peppers, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1 c Cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)
1/2 c Sliced scallions


Peanut-Ginger Dressing:
Whisk peanut butter and hot water in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk in vinegar, soy sauce, ginger root and garlic. Add remaining ingredients. Toss to mix.

Serving Size : 6

 

Konjac Pasta with Seafood and Peanut Ginger Dressing

 

 

2 teaspoons Heinz low carb ketchup
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 drop sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon Thai red curry paste

Mix everything together in a small bowl. Add to stir-fries or use as a sauce or dip for roasted meats.

Makes 1 serving, about 2 tablespoons

Per Serving: 13 Calories; trace Fat; 1g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

Dottie used her sauce to make a chicken stir-fry. I liked the sound of the combination of ingredients so I decided to try using it on some leftover roast pork. Since I didn't have any of the hot chili paste that Dottie's recipe called for, I took a chance and used some red curry paste. I also added the sesame oil, which wasn't called for. This sauce is so tasty that I'm going to make up a larger batch to keep on hand. It was wonderful on roast pork. I spread it over the meat before I reheated it in the microwave and it formed a nice glaze. The sauce is only slightly sweet and quite tangy but I think it's just right. I'm looking forward to trying this in a stir-fry sometime. The flavor reminds me of something that I've had in a Chinese restaurant and I think it may be the General Tso's Chicken sauce but this isn't nearly as sickly sweet and sticky. I had some trouble getting a nice photo of my pork but you get the idea. This makes a nice, shiny reddish color glaze on the meat.

LARGER BATCH:
1/4 cup Heinz low carb ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
3/4 teaspoon Thai red curry paste

Makes about 2/3 cup or approximately 10 tablespoons

With granular Splenda:
Per Tablespoon: 8 Calories; trace Fat; trace Protein; 1.5g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 1.5g Net Carbs
Per Batch: 77 Calories; 1g Fat; 4g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 14g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Tablespoon: 7 Calories; trace Fat; trace Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 1g Net Carb
Per Batch: 65 Calories; 1g Fat; 4g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 11g Net Carbs

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes

1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 ounce bag coleslaw mix *
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Pinch ginger, optional
Pinch cayenne, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons granular Splenda, optional
1 bunch green onions, cut on the bias, about 8 onions or 3 ounces after trimming

In a very large skillet or wok, brown the ground beef with the garlic and a little salt and pepper. Drain the fat, if you like, or just leave it in. Add the cabbage and mushrooms and stir-fry until the cabbage is tender-crisp. Add the remaining ingredients and heat through. Adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Makes 6 servings

* You can save a lot of money, like I did, by buying a head of cabbage and shredding it yourself. A 1-pound bag of coleslaw mix was $1.39 and cabbage was 34˘ pound. To end up with a pound of shredded cabbage, I bought the smallest one they had which weighed 1 1/2 pounds. After trimming, I ended up with almost exactly a pound of usable cabbage. This whole dish, minus the condiments and seasonings, only cost me $3.50 to make because I bought marked down hamburger and got good prices on the cabbage, mushrooms, and green onions.

Ground beef 99˘
Cabbage 50˘
Mushrooms $1.49
Green onions 50˘
TOTAL - $3.50

Per Serving: 263 Calories; 16g Fat; 22g Protein; 7.5g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 4.5g Net Carbs

This is a popular recipe at Low Carb Friends that they call Crack Slaw. I don't know why they call this "slaw" when it's a cooked dish. I wasn't crazy about the name so I'm calling mine something else. There are so many variations of Crack Slaw that I couldn't decide which one to try so I just took the ingredients that appealed to me and came up with my own version. I saw some versions that called for as much as a stick of butter. Instead of adding extra fat with butter, I just left in the fat from the ground beef. This made a huge amount of food and I could only fit about two thirds of it in the serving bowl in the photo. Click the photo to see a close-up.

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes