EWE: Ratatouille

I am always looking for a good KETO friendly side. Ellie provided that with her recipe for RATATOUILLE. In case you don’t know what that is Ellie calls it a classic, French-country vegetable stew. She also says it is very versatile, ” serve it with a fried egg on top, as a side…, as a topper for crostini, stuff it into an omelet or top it with some mozzarella for a French pizza.” Basically it can be used for just about anything. I simply chose to use it as a side with some roasted chicken.

My

This stew contains eggplant, onion, bell pepper, squash, and garlic. I had a few ‘shrooms in the fridge so I threw them in as well.

VERY tasty. Definitely a repeat.

The recipe is from Ellie Krieger’s you have it made. (page 314)

Check in with Kayte and Gaye for their Ellie Dishes.

 

WWDH: Omelette

I love a good omelette. But its a good thing we’re all friends here because this looks NOTHING like a good omelette. i think my pan was too hot. I wasn’t going to waste it just because it looked a mess. And a good thing because the flavor of Donna’s shitake mushroom omelette was spot on.

Eggs, shitake ’shrooms (thus the name), onions, miso, chives, and sesame oil all came together for a tasty breakfast.
This is KETO friendly. Even though Miso contains carbs and a little sugar there is such a small amount to be insignificant.

The recipe is from Donna’s the new cook. (p 73)

Check with Kayte and Gaye for their WWDH picks today.

 

WWDH: brownies

Chocolate! Brownies! ’nuff said!

These are Donna’s little chocolate brownies from her new food fast. (p 78) They are very tasty.

You should try them.

Check with Kayte and Gaye for this week’s WWDH.

 

Baking Rose’s Bread.

Kayte, Laurie, Gaye, and Nancy were baking from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s the bread bible. They invited me along on their journey. How could i refuse baking with such great company. By the time I joined in they had already made her Cheddar Loaf and Rosemary Focaccia Sheet. I’ll go back for those later.

I did get in on the Ginger Scones. Scones are one of my favorite breads to make. We use them for our tea parties and i make them for a small local coffee shop. These were delicious. Lots of flavor from the powdered ginger and the crystallized ginger (which I had trouble finding).

These are definitely going into the scone rotation. I discovered I had Rose’s book on my Kindle. If you don’t have her book you can find the recipe HERE. And when you make them eat them fresh from the oven with lots of butter!

Check out the other’s Ginger Scones.
Kayte

Gaye

Nancy

If you have this book come bake with us!

 

EWE: Fish

I love making Ellie’s recipes. they are healthy and infinitely adaptable. this recipe called for Sea Bass but I didnt have any. Couldn’t find any. But I did have some Trout. So I made Trout with Tomato, Olives, and Capers. And enjoyed it immensely.

It was a little sweet and a little salty. I still have some tomatoes from the garden. No kalamata olives, however, so sliced black olives were subbed. Definitely a keeper and a repeat. Definitely KETO friendly. Maybe with catfish from our pond?

The recipe is from Ellie Krieger’s The Food You Crave. (pg 228) You can also find the recipe here.

Kayte and Gaye are also cooking with Ellie.

If you want to cook along with us just let one of us know. We’d love to have you join us.

 

WWDH: little frittatas

I needed something quick and small for todays’ Wednesdays with Donna Hay. These little frittatas were perfect. As Donna says “served hot or cold (they) are great for a picnic or other portable occasion.” She is right. Infinitely portable and very tasty.

They use a simple base. Eggs and heavy cream beaten with cracked pepper. The additions are endless.
Add in anything you want – cheese, potatoes, pesto, spinach, bacon – anything. I used grated cheddar cheese and chopped ham. The perfect snack. Especially if one is on KETO.

The recipe is from Donna’s new food fast. (page 122)

Kayte and Gaye are also in our Wednesdays with Donna Hay group. Check out what they made for today.

 

GFGF: Morroco

We have decided that Good Friends Good Food is going to continue on by visiting different countries around the world. This month we are traveling to Morocco. A beautiful Country in North Africa it is the home of Casablanca and Marrakesh.

If you taste any of their food. You will find a lot of influence from the Mediterranean area, Andalusia, and slight influences from Spain and France. they are cuisine uses a lot of chicken and different Mediterranean spices. And many of their meals are cooked in what’s called a Tajine. Which is a lovely conical shaped ”slow cooker”.

It made a lovely tasty chicken stew. Sweet potatoes, sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes flavored with cinnamon and cumin. it was delicious. Not too spicy despite the cayenne. The heat is up to you.

I served it with cauliflower rice flavored with almonds, cumin and parsley. Mild enough not to distract from the stew.

The recipe for the stew is HERE.

Kayte, Ulrike, and Gaye are also traveling to Morocco so check out their recipes.

 

EWE: Chicken Parm

Ellie said to use a cooked chicken breast so I browned it in butter and finished roasting it in the oven. Then I sliced it before I added the spinach leaves, marinara sauce and cheeses. It was delicious.

You can find the recipe here. Or in Ellie’s So Easy (Page 115)

We eat a lot of chicken. I eat a lot of chicken. I am always looking for new ways to fix chicken either for the two of us or KETO friendly for me. Not all cookbooks have recipes that are KETO friendly or adaptable. Ellie Krieger’s cookbooks are often the exception. As was this Open-face chicken parmesan sandwich. Without the French bread it is totally KETO friendly. Of course it is not longer a sandwich, but who needs the bread when you can still have all the Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese. And the marinara sauce. I used some that I had made from last summer’s tomatoes.

For more Ellie check with Kayte, or Gaye for this weeks Ellie Recipe.

 

WWDH: Pound Cake

Tonight is the night of the monthly church supper. It is a perfect night to bake and share Donna Hay’s Pound Cake. And it is the most basic pound cake recipe ever.

All the typical ingredients. 12 oz butter, 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 6 eggs, 3 cups AP flour and 1 Tbl baking powder.

Simply whip the butter and the sugar. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder and then FOLD the dry into the wet. Does it get any easier than that? I didn’t think so.

I added a cup of coconut with the flour mix and topped the cake with a simple coconut and powdered sugar glaze. The glaze added a bunch of coconut flavor.

My only regret is baking it in a square pan, as Donna listed, instead of a bundt pan. Ah, well. Next time.

You can also make it plain, with poppyseeds, with orange zest or lemon zest for different flavors. Each one is a simple cake to make.

The recipe is on page 158 of Donna’s The New Cook. Lots of great recipes in this one.

Want more Donna Hay?

Check with Kayte, or Gaye.

 

EWE: Green Beans

Well, my goodness but that week went by quickly. Didn’t we just have a Thursday?

And if it is Thursday we are cooking/baking with Ellie Krieger.

This week I needed a quick side. I found some fresh green beans (frozen) from the garden and decided to go with Ellie’s Green Beans with Mushrooms and Shallots.

We love fresh green beans and usually fix them just plain with onions, a few small tomatoes, bacon and maybe a small potato or two. This is much better than that. Pre-cooked Beans added into sliced mushrooms and shallots that have been sauteed in olive oil (I used 1/2 EVOO and 1/2 butter.) Very flavorful and very quick. And they are KETO friendly.

I may cook green beans this way all the time from now on.

The recipe is on page 246 of Ellie’s The Food you Crave. But I also found it on The Food Network

Check with Kayte and Gaye