This week: Some new discoveries!
(Early again, as I’ll be away for a few days.)
If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.
-JT
Asparagus and strawberries are in season where I live. I will be at the farmer’s market bright and early on Saturday to get my fix.
Thanks for the ping, JT!
At least folks were honest about the nekid legs. Quite a few photos show nicely crisp browned chickens that looked fresh from the rotisserie.
I was intrigued because I thought the Bundt tube provided a chimney effect from the burners, thereby cooking more uniformly.
That photo reminds me of my last post...
Instant Pot 3 Ingredient Japanese Cheesecake
Ingredients:
3 large eggs
4 oz white chocolate chips
4 oz full fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
Directions:
Line the inside of your cake pan with parchment paper. To properly line your cake pan, cut a circle that will fit the bottom of the pan and a long strip that covers the rest of the inside of the pan. Spray the inside of your cake pan with a cooking oil spray before lining with the parchment paper pieces so that the parchment paper stays in place.
Separate your eggs. Keep the egg whites in the fridge until ready to use. Make sure your egg whites do not touch any oil, water or other ingredients or they will not whip to a meringue state if contaminated.
Melt chocolate either over the stove or the microwave. For the stove you can use a double boiler, or melt the chocolate in a large glass bowl sitting on top of a simmering small pot of water. For the microwave method, microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
Add in the cream cheese and whisk until smooth. If your cream cheese is still too hard, soften slightly in microwave. Make sure your batter is completely smooth before adding in the egg yolks. Add in the egg yolks and whisk until smooth.
Beat your egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until glossy, stiff peaks form. You should be able to hold your mixing bowl upside down without any of the meringue falling or dripping out.
Add one third of the egg whites to your yellow batter. Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula until just incorporated and there are no white streaks. Fold in another one-third. Fold in the final one-third.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan.
Add 1 1/2 cups of water to your Instant Pot. Place the trivet that came with the pot inside. Place your cake pan directly on top of the trivet, so that it should not touch the water.
Seal your Instant Pot. Set to manual, high pressure, for 17 minutes. Allow the cake to naturally release as it will continue to cook and set during the natural release.
Once the natural release is finished, carefully remove cake from pan. For best tasting results, refrigerate for several hours as it will allow the cheese flavor to more fully develop. However, the cake can be eaten right away but it will have a more eggy souffle-like taste. This is normal for Japanese-style cheesecakes. You cake will also shrink as it cools, but it should not collapse. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
http://kirbiecravings.com/2017/05/instant-pot-3-ingredient-japanese-cheesecake.html
These keep air-tight at room temp several days or longer. A very nice snack, but beware; it's not easy to stop eating them. Very good with salsa, dips or peanut butter. You can also cut the slices into quarters for larger crackers. Watch these closely as they cook because they tend to get dark faster than the tiny squares.
LO-CARB CRISPY CHEESE CRACKERS (CHEEZITS)
BEFORE COOKING
METHOD Use Deluxe American cheese slices (not cheese food or cheese product) Cut one square of cheese into 16 tiny squares. Arrange on parchment paper in an oval ring at edges of paper--not close together or they'll stick to each other. Not in center of the paper or they will burn before the outer squares are done.
Carefully place paper on the micro tray. Microwave on HIGH about 65 sec, or til well-browned, not burnt. Watch closely and add more time if needed. Remove to counter; cool slightly before removing. Peel them off; store in airtight. Repeat process one cheese slice at a time. Each slice makes 16 crackers. Can be frozen
Per Serving (16 crackers): 106 Calories; 9g Fat; 6g Protein; .5g Carbohydrate; 0g Fiber; .5g Net Carbs
===============================================
TIPS: It works best if the parchment paper with the cheese pieces is on a flat surface and not going up the sloping sides of a dinner plate. That's why I suggest placing the paper directly on the tray of the microwave. Deluxe American cheese is by far the best thing to use. Other cheese fails to brown.......or burns.
I have a pot of Thai yellow curry with pork, carrots, red bell pepper and peas simmering right now. We usually serve it over rice but are using penne pasta tonight.
I too would knock those back like chips. They look delicious.
Safe travels JT.
I came a cross this site while searching for Asian/Island recipes. There are so many good recipes. The photography is outstanding.
I’d eat the whole sack! Am back on low carb so digging up the old tried and true recipes.
Similar to the Parmesan Crisps, you can make them with cheddar or mozz, etc. Try different cheeses. Make the crisps larger and use as a chalupa or taco shell or quickly remove from microwave and mold them in a bowl and fill them with a salad, etc.
Low Carb Cheese-Its
Cut one Kraft/store bought sandwich slice of cheese into 16 little squares. Put on a sheet of parchment. Nuke on high for 1 minute. Check for doneness. Remove those that are done (don’t let them burn) and nuke the remaining a few more seconds. Much better than the boxed Cheez-It crackers.
The HEB store brand American cheese slices work but your brand may not. Calories 60 and carbs 2 total and 14 cents total. Roll up the parchment paper and store in the freezer to use again and again.
FLAX SEED MEAL PANCAKES - 1 serving
3 T flax seed meal
2 eggs
1/4 t splenda or sugar free da vinci syrup
dash of cinnamon
Cook in skillet. Calories 203. Carbs 5. Dietary Fiber 4.
Top with sugar free pancake syrup.
Tip - Roast those frozen cauliflower/broccoli/carrot mix bags in the oven until they get little browned/burnt spots to bring out the sweetness. Serve with hollandaise sauce. Steaming them is too bland and soggy.
Lazy Man’s Goulash Sauce
5 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste
3 pounds Mild Italian sausage
Garlic salt
Minced garlic (1 TBSP)
Red Robin Seasoning
Italian seasoning
Basil
Oregano
Open all cans and put in crock pot
Brown the sausage well with Red Robin Seasoning and garlic salt to taste
Put the cooked meat into crock pot with all remaining seasonings (Your preference as to how much seasoning amounts used) and minced garlic.
Cook on high for 8-12 hours
Place in small containers and freeze completely.
It tastes better after frozen and thawed again.
Pour over any kind of pasta.
Y’all do know not to trust the online calorie and carb counters. Those online sites are so ridiculously off that even a single meal could be hundreds too high. Sure, it takes forever to calculate your numbers by hand with your actual product food’s nutritional label but it’s the only way you’ll get a fair total.
Careful out there guys
‘Avocado hand’ is sending people to the ER because people don’t know how to cut their fruit
http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Avocado-hand-injury-ER-knife-surgery-11139493.php