Cauliflower Fried Rice

Tonight Mr. H made Cauliflower Fried Rice (and I helped!). It was sooooo good. I'm tellin ya, it was some of the best fried rice I've had.

The cast of characters:

2 large eggs lightly beaten. Heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs and cook without stirring until they just begin to set. You can break up and scramble or like Mr. H likes to do, flip it, slide it out and slice it up.

Add a little more oil and add 1/2 lb small shrimp peeled and deveined. Cook stirring constantly until opaque and just cooked through. Transfer to a bowl with the eggs. Action shot:

Increase heat to high and and add a little more oil. Add 8 oz diced ham, 1 cup mixed peas and carrots thawed, 5 sliced scallions, and a few chopped mushrooms. Here's the chopped goodies along with the cauli rice (doesn't it look just like cooked rice?):

Saute stirring constantly for a minute or 2. Stir in a couple cloves of chopped garlic and stir another 30 seconds:

Add 5 cups cauliflower rice (see broccoli beef stir fry for making cauli-rice) and a mixture of 1/4 cup oyster sauce and 1 TBS tamari (or soy sauce).

Cook stirring constantly about 3 minutes. Add the egg and shrimp (you can add bean sprouts here too if you like) and stir another minute until heated through.

It is delish!

Grilled T-Bone

Not much to say......grilled T-Bone, grilled asparagus and a tossed salad. Mmmmmm hmmmmm.

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice

Another low carb success. We had good luck with the cauliflower mash so thought I'd try making cauliflower rice. Perfect alternative. Took a head of cauliflower chopped into florets and steamed about 4 minutes. Then shredded it in the food processor. Look how pretty:

Then sauteed it in a skillet with a little soy sauce and chinese five spice powder:

Looked and tasted like rice! Yum!

On to the broccoli beef....Sliced about a pound of steak (flank, skirt, sirloin, round) and threw it in a marinade before I left for work this morning. 4 TBS wheat free Tamari, 1 TBS sesame oil, 1/3 tsp chinese five spice powder, 2 tsp grated fresh ginger and 2 garlic cloves minced. You can see the bits of ginger and garlic flavoring the beef:

Heat a saute pan or wok. Add a little oil and saute 3-5 minutes. I did it in 2 batches so it cooks better.

Remove the beef from the pan but leave the juices (add just a little more oil if needed). Add 1 head of broccoli cut into florets and saute a few more minutes. Add the beef back into the pan. The broccoli turns a lovely dark green:

Mix 1/2 cup chicken broth (water is fine if you don't have any broth on hand), 3 TBS soy sauce, some garlic powder and ground ginger, and 1 TBS corn starch. Move the broccoli and beef to the sides and pour into the middle. Stir for a few seconds to thicken, then throw in a few big handfuls of bean sprouts and mix well:

This was so good. I was very surprised at how good the cauli-rice was. I'll definitely be making it often. Jambalaya anyone???

It does take a little more planning and effort to eat this way. But I chopped everything up the night before so there was little prep today when I got home from work. It is so worth it.

Sausage Stew

Yummy, hearty, chock-full-o goodness, stew. Or soup. The broth is not as thick as a stew but the chunky ingredients make it stew like. Here are the cast of characters minus the chicken broth and leftover chunks of pork roast that I had frozen from another dinner. I followed the recipe but you could use this to clean out all the leftovers you have hangin around. The pot is your canvas. Beauty:

Heat about 2 quarts chicken or beef broth in stock pot or dutch oven (have I said lately how much I love my Le Creuset?). Add your leftover chopped meat and simmer 30 minutes. Add a chopped onion, 2 celery ribs chopped, 2 carrots diced, and 1/4 head cabbage chopped. Simmer another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook 1lb italian sausage slices or chunks (depends on if you have links or ground sausage) in a skillet about 10 minutes over medium heat til browned.....yum:

Then add the sausage, 1 head cauliflower cut into florets, 1 bunch (about a pound) of washed greens (any kind will do but I used kale), 6 cloves chopped garlic, and 2 TBS chopped fresh basil or flat leaf parsley, a little salt, pepper and thyme, and simmer another 12 minutes.

And here you have another heaven in a pot:

The house smells so good right now....

Chicharrones Oven Fried Chicken

Yes, really, I said Chicharrones Oven Fried Chicken. Chicharrones sounds so much better than pork rinds. I have been trying creative ways to adapt recipes to a low carb lifestyle. This one is a winner.

If you have extra time then brining the chicken keeps it much more moist. But it came out delicious without it. It was so crisp and delicious it was as good as KFC I think. So start with bone in, skin on chicken (you can remove the skin but why???? if you do then brining is necessary). We like the breasts but you can use any other chicken parts or a combination.

Heat oven to 425. Melt 1/2 stick of butter and pour in a foil lined baking sheet:

Take a bag of chicharrones and pound them into crumbs. You can use the bag they come in but open it first to let the air out. Or put them in a ziploc. Pour into a pie tin and drizzle some vegetable oil over. Toss well to coat. In another pie tin mix 2 eggs, 1 TBS dijon mustard, 1 tsp thyme, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp cayenne.

Put chicken pieces one at a time in the egg mixture. I lifted the skin and spread some of the mixture underneath to get the flavors inside. Then place in the crumb pan and sprinkle the crumbs over the chicken and press to coat on both sides. Place the chicken skin side down in the pan with the butter. Bake 25 minutes then turn the pieces over. I was worried that the crumbs would come off but they were stuck to the chicken just fine when I turned them. Bake another 25 minutes skin side up and voila:

I'm tellin ya it was soooo good. Crispy, juicy, flavorful. Here's a close up:

We mostly eat the boneless skinless chicken marinated and grilled. But this is a heavenly treat.