Caprese Salad

Caprese Salad

If you've ever been to an Italian Restaurant in New York or Pennsylvania during the summer months, they will often have this dish as an appetizer.  It's very simple, but with fresh grown tomatoes - it's marvelous!

1 large fresh mozzarella ball - NOT the same as the regular mozzarella you get in the cheese section, look for the word "fresh" on the label.  It's often suspended in liquid in large balls.
Similar quantity fresh tomato slices - yes, I know it's not fresh tomato season yet, I used grocery store "on the vine" tomatoes.  Not even close, really, but I was craving this dish.
3-4 leaves of fresh basil
2-3 T balsamic vinegar
Salt


Layer the tomatoes on top of the cheese slices.  If you can't find a big balls of fresh mozzarella, you can use the little balls in olive oil and Italian seasonings, and just mix the tomato and mozzarella instead of layering it.  Slice up the basil leaves and sprinkle on top and then splash on the balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with salt.  It's that easy, but like so many things, just this particular combination of simple ingredients turns out to be something special!

BEST Wheat Free Buns!!!

Wheat Free Buns

This recipe is one by Maria Emmerich (mariamindbodyhealth.com) who has a terrific website on staying wheat free and sugar free.  Her recipe for psyllium husk bread is the closest stuff to the real thing that I've seen yet.  I make these all the time so I can bring my own bun and enjoy a hamburger once in a while.  If only I could find something to keep me from wanting the french fries!

It's best to weigh the almond flour and psyllium husk.  If you don't, for buns this will likely still turn out OK, but I've had the best success weighing the ingredients rather than measuring them.

5 ounces almond flour (1 1/4 C)
90 grams psyllium husk (5 T) - Maria recommends buying Jay Robb psyllium husk and grinding it yourself (I use a coffee grinder for this) and it really makes a difference.  Before I started buying that particular brand, it was hit and miss whether my buns would turn out purple.  They were still edible, just kind of - odd.
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 egg whites - I use the ones in a carton, no need to put perfectly good egg yolks to waste that way.
2 1/2 T cider vinegar
1 C boiling water

Mix the dry ingredients and add the egg whites and  cider vinegar.  While the mixer is going - you can use a hand mixer for this, but a stand mixer is easier - add the boiling water and continue mixing until the dough starts to hold together.  It ends up the consistency and color of cream of wheat if you use the Jay Robb psyllium husk, darker if not.

 Sprinkle or spray your hands with oil, or they will stick in this next part.  Form the dough into hamburger sized patties.  If you want dinner rolls, you can make smaller patties.  I've never had luck with forming a large loaf, these are about the best size for me.  If you form a hamburger sized patty, they end up perfect for hamburger buns!  This recipe makes 5 good sized buns or 8-10 smaller rolls.  I sometimes make hot dog buns or hoagie rolls instead.  I've even made cinnamon rolls with this recipe!  (I may post that later).

Bake them at 375 for 50 minutes.  Don't be tempted to take them out early!!!  They will look done before then, but they will collapse and end up gummy on the bottom.  Here are mine right out of the oven, puffed up and perfect!

See all the little holes in the top picture?  These turn out exactly like the homemade buns.  And the best part?  They are full of fiber!

Wheat Free Italian Wedding Soup

ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP

 This recipe is modified from Food Network's Giada's recipe.  I just substituted almond flour for the normal bread in the meatballs.  This makes lots of meatballs! - enough for 3 large batches of soup or 2 more dinners worth of meatballs that can be added to marina sauce, used in meatball sandwiches, etc.

Meatballs:
1 small onion, grated
1/3 C fresh parsley, chopped (or do what I do, use kitchen scissors and snip it up!)
1 egg
1 t garlic
1 t salt
1/4 C almond flour
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
8 oz ground beef
8 oz ground pork
salt and pepper

Soup:
10 C chicken stock
1 lb curly endive - you can substitute just about any leafy green - spinach, kale, whatever
2 eggs
2 T parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

 Mix the meatball ingredients - I use a stand mixer, but you can use your hands, sometimes that's the best way!  I use my smallest cookie scoop for the meatballs, but it would be better to use something smaller if I could find one.  Or I could form them with my hands, but I'm lousy at making them all the same size.  I couldn't even make cookies come out close enough to be done at the same time until I discovered cookie scoops.  If possible, they should be less than 1" in diameter.

Here are my meatballs all lined up on a parchment lined cookie sheet, waiting for the broth.  This recipe makes enough for 3 batches of soup.  If you don't want to cook all of them when you only need 1/3 of the total meatballs, you can cut the recipe down to 1/3 or you can make the entire recipe of meatballs and instead of cooking them in the chicken broth, you can bake them on parchment in the oven at 350, turning occasionally until done (around 15 min).

But back to the soup:

Bring the chicken broth to a boil - I take the leftover carcass from a chicken dinner, stick the whole thing in a crockpot and cover it with water, and let it cook on high for up to 24 hours to make my broth.  Once the broth is boiling, gently add the meatballs up to 10 at a time, boil them 1-2 minutes, skim out and add the next batch.

Remove and set the meatballs aside.  Cut up the greens and add them to the broth.  Beat the eggs.  Now keep the broth boiling or close to boiling and slowly pour in the eggs while stirring.  You want them to be like egg drop soup.

Add back the meatballs and you're done - or you could let it simmer for up to 4 hours in a crockpot or on very low heat.



At the top is my finished soup - the meatballs would be better if I could make them smaller.  Most of the Italian Wedding Soups I've had in restaurants have smaller meatballs.  But I've never been able to find a cookie scoop small enough.  If you know if one, please comment!

Sugar Free Strawberry Jam

SUGAR FREE STRAWBERRY JAM

Jam is something I missed when I gave up added sugar.  But regular homemade jam is ridiculously high in sugar.  Most jam recipes call for almost TWICE the sugar as fruit.

4 Cups fresh strawberries, crushed - I use a pie dough cutter for this, it's a very handy tool!
2 packages sugar free pectin (yes, two, not sure why but mine never sets up well enough with just one)
4 Cups Swerve, Truvia or other sugar substitute - make sure yours can tolerate heat like these do.
Optional:  1/4 C lemon juice - extra tartness will help it set up better, but taste yours to see if this might make it too tart.  If so, better to boil it longer.

Sprinkle pectin on crushed strawberries, add sugar and bring to a boil.  I often use my microwave for this, because otherwise I tend to burn things to the bottom of my pans.  If you used your microwave this grows to huge dimensions when it boils, so put it in a microwave safe dish that will hold AT LEAST twice the jam you are putting in, to allow for it to boil up.

Test the jam by putting a Tablespoon or more on a plate you have had sitting in the freezer.  The jam should be pretty firm and not drip if you tip the plate on it's side.  You may have to boil for 10-20 minutes or even longer.  Just keep testing it periodically and stick it back on to boil more if it's too runny.

Ladle the still hot jam into canning jars.  I put my jars in the dishwasher and run it while I'm cooking the jam, so they stay clean and hot.  Put lids on.  You can actually "process" your jam with a regular hot bath canner now if you want, but I have room in my freezer, so I'm done at this point.  Just let the jam cool for 24 hours and stick it in the freezer.

Counting your carbs?  1/2 C strawberries has only 6.5 g of carbs!  It's one of the lowest fruits.  Others with similar counts are melons and cranberries.  The "no sugar needed" pectin will add less than 1 gram per Tablespoon of jam.

Aren't they beautiful? - One batch of sugar free on the left, 

one batch of regular jam (to give away) on the right.

Almond Flour Coffee Cake

ALMOND FLOUR COFFEE CAKE

Cake is something I missed giving up flour - but no more!  This is as good as any regular coffee cake I've had.  It's perfect for a decadent breakfast or an evening dessert - and heaven when eaten with a scoop of "no sugar added" ice cream!  It gets more moist as it sits so if yours is getting too moist, that's OK, pop it in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes and it's back to perfect again!

2 1/2 C almond flour
1/2 C Swerve, Truvia or other sugar substitute
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t nutmeg
6 T butter
2 eggs
1/2 C buttermilk (I use powdered buttermilk and just reconstitute it)
1/2 C water
2 t vanilla

Topping
1/2 C almond flour
1/4 C Swerve, Truvia or other sugar substitute
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
1/4 t nutmeg
4 T butter
Optional:  1/2 C walnuts

Mix the dry ingredients, add the butter and mix well until it resembles crumbs.  Add the eggs and liquids and beat.

 Pour it into a greased 9x9" pan.  Next mix the topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the cake batter.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.  Make sure you bake it long enough, almond flour baked goods often end up looking done when they aren't really done and testing with a toothpick can be deceiving, so make sure the middle is completely set.

 Here it is finished.  I'm lousy at getting the first piece out without making hash of it.










Here it is, I completely mushed it getting it out, but with a scoop of "no sugar added" vanilla ice cream.  You'll never miss cake and ice cream again!

Pork Carnitas

PORK CARNITAS

My first recipe to share is Pork Carnitas.  This is a LARGE recipe, for family events - makes enough to feed 10-20 people, depending on how many side dishes you make.

1 pork shoulder
3 onions
10 cloves garlic
2 jalapenos, don't worry, it won't turn out too hot, but if that's what you'd like, throw in a few more.
3 oranges
2 1/2 T olive oil
1 1/2 T dried oregano
1 C (yes that was one cup) pork fat  - this can be trimmed from the pork shoulder, or ask your butcher for his fat scraps, if the butcher cuts his own meat, he'll have some.
1 t cumin
salt and pepper to taste.

First, juice the oranges and set both juice and rinds aside.  Next to them is the pork fat I got from my butcher, he gave me enough to do several of these recipes, so I'm keeping the rest in the freezer for now.  Don't be afraid of the fat here, it's not the enemy and trust me, it will make this stuff taste amazing!






Cook the half of the onions, garlic, jalapenos and seasonings in the pork fat until everything is browned.  Don't be afraid to get the bottom of your pan all sticky with brown stuff, it will be fine.  Remove the leftover fatty bits and put the rest through a blender or food processor and return it to your pan.  Add the orange juice and de-glaze the pan (that means "scrub" at the bottom of the pan to get the brown bits all dissolved) using the orange juice, see in the picture, it comes right up.




Cut up the pork shoulder - also called pork butt, into roughly 2" sized pieces.









Throw the whole thing in a Dutch Oven at 300 degrees, put the orange peels and extra onion on top.  You can get one of those nice enamel ones, but all I have is the kind you go camping with, and it works just fine, you just need to watch the feet around the oven racks.  Cover and bake at 300 for 4 hours.

Toward the end, remove the lid and let it bake for the last half hour without the lid to brown the meat and onions.  You can stir it to get the bottom bits browned too - or just leave it.  This recipe is very forgiving, you can almost forget about it and it will still turn out fine.

Traditionally this is served on tortillas, and I put some out for my guests, but this was also amazing as a salad topping (think Cafe Rio Pork Salad) with cheese, salsa, and other taco toppings.  This is great party food and fairly inexpensive!