CYBF: Clam Chowder

It has been unseasonably warm (80s) here. Even for the deep south. So soup has not been on my mind. But it’s cooling off now, finally, again, and Dorie’s Clam Chowder seemed to be a good idea. I have never made, and have not had in years, Clam Chowder but I remember having some in Maine as a teenager and loving it.

Dorie’s version is a little bit New England version and a little it Thai with the addition of lemongrass, jalapeno, ginger and kaffir lime leaf. While I would have loved the Thai version I know The Man would not so I went with the traditional version.

The clam chowder was very good. I didn’t quite enough salt. Next time While I didn’t have any oyster crackers regular saltines were fine. With cornbread.

The recipe Clam Chowder my Way is from Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie: The way I cook. (pg 69)

More Clam Chowder is on the Cook the Books Friday webpage.

Care to join in? Purchase Dorie’s book. Cook/bake and add your link to the webpage. Easy Peasy!

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GFGF: The Middle East

For April the Good Friends Good Food chose to cook dishes from the Middle East. The Middle east consists of Egypt, Israel, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Kuwait, etc. It is difficult to separate one country’s cuisine from another as they are all so similar.

Zucchini with Tomatoes

This is a very simple dish. Slice and saute garlic and coriander in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, peeled and chopped, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Simple. I have made zucchini and tomatoes many times but never with coriander. Completely different flavor. And I would have added more coriander.

Fish in Hot Sauce

Fish and other seafood are quite popular in the countries along the Arabian Gulf as well as the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the Sea of Galilee.

Serves 4:
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoonsground coriander
4 thick fillets whitefish , about 3/4 lb each (I used catfish)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and white pepper
lemon slices , to garnish
Sauce
1/2 stick butter
1/2 small sweet red pepper, diced
4 medium tomatoes , skinned and chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2teaspoorigroundginger
a pinch of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste mixed with a little water

Pound the garlic and coriander together in a pestle and mortar. Rub this into the fish fillets and chill in a covered bowl for 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 375°F. Remove the fish from the bowl and rub with a mixture of the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Lay the fillets in a flat, oiled baking dish, cover tightly with foil and bake for about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.

Melt the butter in a skillet and saute the pepper, tomato and onion until soft. Add the seasonings and the tomato paste and mix well. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on a low heat.
Serve the fish in the baking dish, garnished with the hot sauce and lemon slices.

This was delicious. Definitely a keeper. BTW both of thse are KETO friendly.

As it turns out I am the only one who did the Middle Eastern recipes this month. I still have one or two I want to try: Prawns in Tomato Sauce (cinnamon). And Maamoul which is a stuffed pastry. I have the mold I just haven’t made the pastry…YET!!

Both of these recipes came from Cooking the Middle Eastern Way by Christine Osborne

Next month…?

 

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.

 

Good Friends Good Food: Sh’rooms

I have always loved mushrooms. At least since I was 10 years old. My Dad decided to grow some and bought a ‘log’. We ate a lot of mushrooms. I love them sauteed in butter over a steak. Chopped in a omelette. Sliced in Fajitas. Or my newest dish find – Garlicky Shrimp and Mushrooms.

The recipe comes from The Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook. There are some wonderful recipes in this book. Thanks, Kayte, for this great B’day gift.

If you like shrimp and mushrooms this is super simple and super quick and super tasty.

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tsp salt

1 cup EVOO

8 large cloves garlice, sliced

4 ounces sliced sh’rooms. (I used button and baby bellas)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (nope, used dried)

Place shrimp in a small bowl and sprinkle with salt.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over med-hi heat. Add garlic and heat until there is a lovely aroma in your kitchen. About 3 – 4 minutes. If it starts to burn – lower the heat.

Add the sh’rooms and sautee for 5 minutes until soft. Add shrimp and pepper flakes and sautee until shrimp turns pink, 3 – 4 minutes. (I cooked a little longer.)

Remove from heat and add in Parsley.

Makes 4 servings.

Serve over Zoodles or Caulirice.

This is KETO friendly. Only 4 gm carb/serving. 620 calories, 56 gm fat. 24 gm sodium.

Thanks to Nancy for this week’s veggie pick.

More mushroom dishes?

Kayte

Nancy

Ellen

Peggy

Ulrike

Donna

Next veggie: Rutabaga. Ulrike’s choice. I’ve never eaten one so this will be fun.

 

GFGF: Cauliflower

I will admit I was a weird kid when it came to food. Especially veggies. While other kids were loving corn and green beans I was crazy about broccoli and cauliflower. I loved these two veggies. And ONLY these two.

Things have changed little. They are still my fave veggies but I have added others to my likes as well: okra, squash, asparagus (NOT the canned), cabbage.

Is it a surprise there fore that my pick for this week’s Good Friends Good Food was CAULIFLOWER. And since I am on KETO it was perfect to pick Caulirice. With other veggies. And shrimp.

This is not my photo. I lost mine.

3 cups cauliflower florets

3 Tbl unsalted butter or coconut oil

1/4 cup yellow onion, diced

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 Tbl coconut aminos

2 Tbl sesame oil

1 large egg

4 oz cooked, peeled shrimp

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup cashews

Place cauliflower florets in a good processor. process until cauliflower resembles rice. Set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. When the skillet is hot add the butter or oil. Add yellow onion, carrot and cook, stirring occasionally until onion and carrot have softened.
Add cauliflower rice and ginger, and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
Make an opening in the center of the skillet. Pour sesame oil into the
sesame oil into opening, and then immediately add egg. Stir egg continuously until scrambled.
Add aminos shrimp, green onions, and cashews and stir to combine. Cook for until shrimp are warmed through, about 1 minute
.Serve immediately.

I really enjoyed this recipe I adapted from Deliciously Keto Cookbook.

It is so easy to make.

(This recipe makes 2 servings of 2 cups each. (534 calories, 12 net carbs)

For more Good Food from Good Friends visit

Kayte

Peggy

Nancy

Donna

Ulrike

 

Whole 30 Thursday: Salmon

Yes, I’m a wee bit lot late with this post.  It was supposed to be here last Thursday but I just didn’t get to it.  Patience, Grasshopper!

Last week’ recipe from the Whole 30 Fast and Easy cookbook was Ancho-Clementine Salmon with  Herbed Sweet Potato Fries and, like all the other recipes I have tried in the book, it was quite tasty.

The salmon was rubbed with a mix of orange zest, oregano, garlic powder and salt.  The recipe also called for ground ancho chile powder but I don’t use/like that so I used some cajun seasoning and cut back on the salt.

The fries were tossed with EVOO, oregano, garlic powder, rosemary salt, pepper and thyme.

All of it made for a delicious lunch that was ready in no time.

The recipe is on page 126.

Kayte is getting ready for school these days so she’ll get to this eventually.

While we will not be posting the actual recipes from the book (we encourage you to honor the author and to buy the book so that you can own the recipes yourselves), we will share our photos and  ingredients and comments on each. If you would like to join in, just leave the link to your post so we can come and read all about it.  Even if you aren’t eating Whole 30ish, the recipes and food are wonderful and fit into any meal plan.

 

{EwE} Sauce it Up!

This week Kayte wants us to be SAUCY!!  Cook anything with a sauce.  Easy enough.

I went with Ellie’s salmon in aromatic tomato sauce with swiss chard spinach.  I am not a fan of chard so subbing spinach was easy.

And totally delicious.  A nice sauce made with diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, roasted red peppers, and whole red chili peppers.  I don’t like REALLY hot food.  Spicy, yes, but not tongue burning so I left out the chili peppers.  But since I did that I used Ro-tel diced tomatoes with green peppers.  Plenty hot and plenty spicy.  And lots of flavor with the coriander and cumin.

Ellie suggested  eating this over couscous but since I am trying to stay pretty compliant with Whole30 program.  It was perfect just by itself.

The recipe is from Ellie’s So Easy (page 195}.  You can also find it HERE if you want to try it.

For more Saucy dishes -> Sauce it Up.

We don’t publish the recipes.  Please buy Ellie’s books and cook along with us.  The weekly themes are on the right of Eating with Ellie.  We publish every Thursday.

 

{EwE} SHRIMP!

This week’s theme, thank you, Kayte,  is Mom’s Favorite because Mother’s Day is Sunday.

I thought about what my Mom’s and my Grandmothers’ s favorite dishes were and I honestly don’t think they had one.  Any of them.  Maybe back in those day’s , pre- WWII and the early 1950s people didn’t think of a FAVORITE food as long as they HAD food.  Unlike today cooking and eating was just something you did.  Not something you really thought about.

As for me,  I would have to say I do have a favorite food – seafood – specifically SHRIMP with a good rib-eye coming in second.  With that in mind when I went for MOM”S Favorite I went for mine – I am a Mom!

Ellie’s OVEN-FRIED SHRIMP

DELICIOUS!!  And easy to make.  The peeled shrimp are dipped in flour, then eggwhites, then rolled in whole-wheat breadcrumbs seasoned with thyme, .emon zest, salt and cayenne.  A little bit of bite with ton’s of flavor.  They were super crunchy without all the mess of frying and the calories of the oil.  Thank You, Ellie!!!

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix.  page 185.

More Mom dishes -> Mom’s Favorite

Like to join in with us cooking with Ellie Krieger’s recipes.  Just click over to Eating with Ellie.  The weekly themes are on the right.  We don’t publish Ellie’s recipes but know you would love to have her books.  And lots of her recipes are on line.

 

{CC#15} Shrimp on the plate

The Whole30 is over and now we are reintroducing some of the foods we weren’t able to eat on the program.  Dairy.  Grains. Legumes. Gluten.  But the other days are compliant so we aren’t done with the ‘special’ foods yet.

The Pesto Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes was on my menu today.

The pesto is made with spinach, basil, walnuts, and garlic.  It was good, but I did miss the Parmesan cheese I usually have in it.  Mixed with the shrimp and some tomatoes {I didn’t have cherry ones so I cut up some regular ones I had canned last summer.}

So very good.  And quick.

It appears that Shrimp has become my go-to meal when I want something quick.  I always have it in the freezer.  It is easy and quick to fix.

The recipe is from  The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom (pg 359). Want to try it?  I found the recipe on the Whole30 blog.

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown 15 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2).

 

{CC#15} stir-fry chicken

For the last few days I have been reading It Starts with Food which has been very helpful in understanding the Whole 30 program.  It’s one thing to follow a program.  It’s another thing to understand how and why it works.  I wish I had found this program many years ago for many reasons.

But, anyhoo… I am still cooking from The Whole 30 guide etc. and still eating really well on really good food.  This is Day 18 and for dinner I fixed a good healthy Whole30 meal.

This chicken stir-fry included broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, carrots, and green onions.  For the cooking fat I used a mix of coconut oil and sesame oil which gave it  great flavor. On the plate I added a little Coconut Aminos (since I cannot have soy sauce) and that added more to the flavor.

The dish was clean, light, and filling.   The chicken is browned and right before it is finished you throw some garlic and ginger into the saucepan.  Remove the chicken and wipe out the pan.  I think this would have been better if the garlic and ginger would have been left and just added more oil and then the veggies.  But I always follow the recipe the first time.  No matter how you fix it – it’s good.

The recipe is from  The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom  page 340.

I’m linking this post with Cookbook Countdown 15 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily’s Cooking (Makan2).