Summertime and the living ain't easy! - Little Pots of Chocolate

Yes the Irish summer has hit us with a bang which means rain, rain and more rain with the occasional sunny spell...don't blink or you'll miss it!, but at least it's warm.

Having hurt my left knee two weeks ago, I have been hobbling about all over the place and suffering!...take pity on me because I have had to continue on at work. The hobbling has prevented me from really doing any interesting cooking and the poor kids are lucky they're getting fed at all!
I have even taken to getting my groceries delivered...really why have I not done this before?? it's going really well and I can't fault the service so far, mille grazie to Tesco! who have saved my bacon over the last fortnight!

I'm still sticking to my keto eating style and can I just say once more....I know I'm repeating myself, there is a danger I may actually become boring on this subject if I continue to harp on about it so much,...how utterly fab it is and how easy it has been....energy is sky high and hunger pangs seem to be a thing of the past, it does take time but hey, what else would I be up to, I feel great so keep it coming and I have yet to feel I am being denied anything...take this little recipe from september last year....dispense with the tablespoon of sugar in the recipe and you're keto ready and after all, chocolate always makes one feel better!

get the recipe here... Little Pots of Chocolate

Manna from heaven? - Low carb & gluten free crepes / pancakes

Mention the word pancake and immediately my stomach is all a flutter as my taste-buds go into overdrive in anticipation. I envision deep, fluffy layers of spongy goodness drowning in an ocean of that wonderful nectar, maple syrup, and to top it all off a grand old dollop of whipped cream or even ice-cream......mm I can taste it now.
But when I embarked on this low carb eating style as a means of obtaining, not a new me, but a healthier me, I thought I had waved good by to the wonderful pancake, and with American blood running through my veins you would understand what a hardship that was....a life without pancakes? unendurable in my opinion!

When I first discovered the recipe for these I thought to myself...no way is this possible!...but after almost 30 years of working with food I should have known better...when it comes to cooking the sky is definitely not the limit!

These luscious, heavenly beauties are startlingly like a pancake, make these and you won't miss the regular kind at all! They can be adapted to suit a sweet or savoury use. Make them deep like an American style pancake or have them thin like a French crepe. For this recipe I chose to make them thin and savoury as I was rustling some up for my lunch.
The key when making these is patience! patience! and some more patience! if you try to cook them too fast they will burn on the bottom before the tops are anyway near done, they will be impossible to flip and you will end up not only with a 'egg on your face' but an eggy mess all over the place!
Make a large batch of them as they keep well in the refrigerator and freezer.

Mediterranean Vegetable & Ham Hock...... Frittata.....Quiche.....Bake......You Decide!

This little recipe is easy peasy to make, contains all those elements that make it a perfect keto style meal, and can be enjoyed hot or cold for a lunch or supper / evening dinner.
Baked just like a quiche or frittata, it is filled with vegetables, eggs, cheese and for this one I added some ham hock.... there is an interesting addition of thin slices of aubergine to give a sort of base to the quiche / frittata.

You will need.......gives 8 good portions
                                                                                           
1 large aubergine
olive oil
salt / pepper

50 g white onion
1 small red chilli
50 g red pepper
50 g yellow pepper
50 g white mushrooms
1 large clove garlic
50 g grated cheese of your choice
1 large tomato
80 g cooked ham hock
6 eggs
2 tablespoons of cream

How to.....

• preheat the oven to 170oC
• slice the aubergine lengthways as thinly as you can
• brush the slices with olive oil and season on each side
• bake the slices in the oven until they begin to soften, this takes about 10 mins....then remove them from the oven and leave to cool while you prepare the other vegetables
• remove the seeds from the chilli then dice with the onion, peppers and mushrooms
• saute the vegetables gently in a little olive oil until they begin to soften, remove from the heat and add the crushed garlic
• dice or shred the ham hock quite small and grate the cheese
• beat the eggs with the cream, season with a little salt and pepper and set aside
• line a quiche pan or a suitable ceramic baking dish with the aubergine slices
• scatter on the cooked peppers and mushroom mix, add the ham hock, then top the whole lot with your grated cheese
• pour the egg and cream mix gently over the top of everything    
• lastly, slice some tomato quite thin and decorate the top
• bake in the oven 170oC until set in the centre and beginning to brown a little at the edges
• remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes
• serve straight from the dish or turn out onto a serving platter

I serve this with a simple green salad with lots a baby spinach leaves and a little French dressing.

You can let your bake cool then cover and refrigerate. Enjoy it the next day as a cold lunch.

Cream of Leek & Mushroom Soup......Boletus Magnificus!

The sweltering heat has gone to my head! I can hardly believe I am talking soup when the thermometer is touching 25 degrees and we have just had a thundery downpour.......but soups do not have to be a prerequisite of a chilly winter's day, they can not only be thick and comforting but light, and satisfyingly suitable for a summer snack or full blown meal.

We are at the end of the leek season which usually tops off at the end of May, and you will notice, if
you are still buying leeks, that their cores tend to be much firmer and solid compared to earlier in the growing season.

Mushrooms, thanks to all those eerily dark and musty polytunnels, are available all year round. The flavour of these pearl white beauties can be less mushroomy than that of wild mushrooms so you may have to make do with whatever you can get in the supermarket......but it is a lot of fun to join a foraging group and hunt out your own on misty autumn mornings, and it's hard to beat the flavour of freshly picked wild mushrooms with their woody forest scents.
There are many foraging groups out there and you are best to seek advice from someone who knows their mushrooms before picking any yourself as they can be dangerous little moulds and make you very ill if you eat the wrong one....or you could end up having an unusual experience!....if you get my drift.

A June evening salad...keto style with classic French vinaigrette

Today is the first of June and we have been enjoying very fine weather for the last few days.
It is 8pm and the temperature gauge in the garden reads 20oC....amazing!
With the aromas of rosemary and thyme and my newly potted acquisitions of French lavender on the patio, one could almost believe they were in the south of France......almost!

On fine summer days and even lovelier evenings, if we are not firing up the BBQ, then a salad is on the cards, and when following the keto style of eating, well then there's nothing like indulging in my favourite thing.......CHEESE!
How do I love cheese?.....let me count the ways!.....was the title of a previous post on cheese, you can read it here!

This delightful salad makes the best of what is so readily available at this time of year....crisp salad leaves freshly picked from the garden, tiny leaves of baby spinach, ripe tomatoes warmed by the days sun, cucumber....so refreshing after a warm day, and some celery and peppers for added crunch.
My preferred cheese of the evening is that favoured by the Greeks.... the wonderfully crumbly salty feta...and for strength in flavour, a well aged parmesan finely grated over the top at the last minute.

No salad is complete without a really good dressing and although I do enjoy the newer tastes of balsamic, honey mustard or pesto dressing, I am a traditionalist at heart and always go back to the classic French dressing....home-made of course.

French dressing or vinaigrette, although prolific in France of course, is very hard to come by in any of the restaurants I visit here in Ireland. Everyone seems to want to invent new dressings and that's all very well, but if you are heading out for a simple steak with a salad on the side, you can't beat a classic dressing.

For a classic vinaigrette dressing to suit any salad you will need.......

dijon mustard......please don't try to use English or even wholegrain, the result is not the same

white or red wine vinegar...whichever you like....I tend to stick to red...love my red wine after all!

olive oil....try to get a good quality oil, extra virgin preferably.....try to get hold of French oil but if you can't I suppose Italian will have to do or even Greek oil.....did you know that the best olive oil should only be sold in a darkened glass bottle or in a tin drum? check out your supermarket to see how they sell theirs!

a little fresh lemon juice....optional
sea salt & fresh black pepper

How to......

• place 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard in a round bottomed ceramic or stainless steel bowl....you may find it easier to use a food processor or blender if you have one
• add 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
• whisk the two together well
• measure into a jug, approx 200mls of olive oil
• slowly add the olive oil while whisking the vinegar and mustard furiously
• continue until all the oil has been added
• do a taste test....this should be done with a knuckle of fresh baguette for authenticity....but tasting with a teaspoon is fine too!
• season to taste with a little salt and pepper
• add a little fresh lemon juice if desired

Some people like a bland oilier dressing whereas I like my dressings to be quite sharp and acidic...if you like less bite then add a little more oil until it suits your taste....same for the vinegar, add more if you like or add plenty of fresh lemon juice for a really fresh tasting acidity.

A word of warning....when making your salad, the dressing should not be added until the last minute as the vinegar will make your leaves wilt and loose their crispness......bon appetit!