Peppered Chicken with Demi-Glace Sauce

Happy Turkey day everyone! (From Canada, that is!)


I just spent the week in Ottawa with my family, completely derailing my diet. I have just realized that my family's roots lie in white bread, potatoes, and pumpkin pie. The main food groups of my parent's house are russet potatoes, overcooked ground beef, kraft dinner and burgers from wendy's.

Sigh.

Back to the real world tomorrow! And back to basics, low-carb style.

Coming up this weekend is Chris' birthday. Christopher is my wonderful boyfriend whom I have been dating for almost 3 years. I am planning quite the 'do' for us both for next weekend, but if he is free on his real birthday and not doing anything, I think a little home cooked meal is in order from his woman.

I was looking through the weight watchers cookbook I bought (and never used), wondering if it had any low-carb recipes...and it turns out it does.

And so, for the birthday dinner, I think I will try a new recipe, Peppered Chicken with Demi-Glace sauce! (Doesn't that sound fancy?) This recipe is featured in Weight Watcher's "My Turnaround Program Cookbook".

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoons whole tri-colour or black peppercorns
4 (1/4 pound) skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 and 1/8 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup white wine
3/4 cup demi-glace
1 tablespoon dijon mustard

Method:

1. Place the peppercorns in a zip-close plastic bag. With a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet, crack the peppercorns.
2. Sprinkle the chicken with the 1/4 teaspoon salt. Press the cracked peppercorns onto both sides of each chicken breast half.
3. Melt 1 1/2 teaspoons of the unsalted butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 1 minute. Add the wine and simmer until it is almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the demi-glace and mustard; cook until the mixture begins to thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and swirl in the remaining butter and the 1/8 teaspoon salt. Serve the chicken at once with the sauce.

WW Tip: Demi-Glace is an intensely flavoured brown sauce that takes a while to cook from scratch. Fortunately, you can find prepared demi-glace in gourmet stores and in the meat department of some large supermarkets.

The recipe makes 4 servings. 195 calories, 7g fat, 4g carbs, 1 g fibre, 26g protein. (And 4 WW points. heh.)

What I thought..

This recipe sounds delicious. Anyone following WW should purchase this book (I bought mine at my local WW centre, I'm not sure if you can get it from chapters but it's worth a look). It has many really delicious family friendly recipes, for every meal and occasion. It is a non-scary approach to cooking, it has neatly organized sections and the graphics are energizing and clean. It also has some great recipe photos, though not every recipe gets a photo. Check it out!

The Great Cheesecake Debate Part 1

So.

I am planning somewhat of a surprise for my boyfriends birthday, at the end of October. I've been scheming since the summer (because I like to have exciting things to look forward to) about what we would do, eat, etc.

I am pretty sure he will never find himself on this blog page, but I won't give the specifics away just in case. In any event, I will need a birthday cake of sorts to mark the occasion.

Only he said he doesn't like birthday cake.

Damn. There goes the betty-crocker-in-a-box plan.

So I tried to ferret out of him what he WOULD like, and it was an ice cream cake, or a cheesecake.

Sadly I'm not going to be able to option #1 do to my secret and nefarious plans. But a cheesecake is doable!!

Now here's where the low-carb aspect comes in. I COULD be a good girl and be oh so good at supper, and provide low-carb desserts for the birthday part. (did I mention this is a party for 2? :) I could find a low-carb cheesecake recipe, and I could bring white wine, or low carb coolers for the drinks. (and diet coke, etc.)

OR, I could not...and do a really good cheesecake recipe like this one and just try to not go insane, but you know, enjoy! Not worry about it!

Normally I am definitely in camp #2, which is the "forgeddaboutit, it's a birthday!" camp. But I am also in the camp of...everything tends to turn into a celebration and a cheat day, and therefore it becomes hard to not cheat. I've been stuck at my current weight for way too long after doing so well at the beginning of the year. I know it's because I cheat too much.

Hence the internal debate... To cheat, or not to cheat, that is the question.

Why does it matter you ask? "Stick to the plan!" I hear some of you yell.

Well.

Option A: Eat full fat, awesome cheesecake, have what we want for dinner, make some other treats. Suffer the consequences of possible poundage!

Option B: Eat a modified cheesecake (possibly awesome as well, unsure as I've never made one), have good but low carb choices at dinner (I.e. skip the potato) and have low-carb drinkies. Possibly suffer minor consequences, but more importantly, possibly suffer awful, cardboardy cheesecake.

SOLUTION:

TAAAASTE TEST!

I will make This Strawberry Cheesecake which my friend Mishky touts as the best cheesecake EVAR, with 37 carbs per 1/16 of the cake as your serving.

I will also make this This Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake which is low-carb, and sounds delicious and fancy looking!

And we'll see which one goes over best.

The problem will be to do this when the boy isn't around...

Stay tuned!

Low-Carb Hot Chocolate!

Hi there everybody!

I am a huge chocoholic, and I have been lamenting lately about having to cheat just to get my hot chocolate fix. For example, my normal indulgence used to be Carnation light hot chocolate. However, it has about 12-14 carbs per serving.

On a more thrifty week, I bought some noname hot chocolate, which sums up at 21g of carbs, 17g of sugar.

I also (being a connoseur of such things) received laura secord hot chocolate for christmas, which weighs in at a whopping 28g of carbs and 20g of sugar! Quel Dommage!

However, this afternoon I ran across this easy recipe over at bella online for Low-Carb Hot Chocolate!

Here we go...

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 packets Splenda
• 1 Tbsp cocoa
• 1/8 tsp vanilla

Method:

Mix all ingredients then microwave for 2 minutes or until hot. Enjoy!
(I personally did this on the stove instead)

Servings: 1
Carbs per serving: 2g

What I thought...

This is a realllly rich, satisfying hot chocolate. It doesn't make a very large amount though. Enough for like, a fancy teacup. So I (being a person who likes to drink huge mugs of hot chocolate) added another 1/3 cup of unsweetened soy milk, so I could have a more normal cupful. This'll only add a few carbs, so it's no biggie.
All in all, I think this recipe is well worth the effort - it only takes about 5 minutes on the stove.

Definitely a good way to keep your little joys without sending yourself into a spiral!!!

Enjoy!

Just a little note...

(Photo borrowed from waltsoph3 on photobucket)

I'm gone away for a bit, will most likely return next week with a new recipe adventure!

Enjoy the long weekend :)

My new obscession, continued...

So, I'm not sure if anyone but myself and the dust bunnies read/pay attention to this blog. C'est la vie! as Julia Child would say. If you couldn't tell from my gushing review a few posts previous, I really, really liked the movie Julie & Julia. I had never really heard of Julia Child - she is a bit before my time. But after seeing the movie, I wanted to learn more about this wacky, talented woman.

I just finished reading "My life in France" by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme. It is Julia's life, told from her perspective. (Alex helped her write it but is not mentioned in the book except in the introduction, which is written in his perspective). I think it's a wonderful, "tasty" book that leaves you wishfully wanting more. It also leaves you jonesing for a really great meal! It has recently been released in mass market paperback, so it's an affordable indulgence. Check it out on amazon!

While researching other aspects of The French Chef's life, I came across this article on America's Kitchens and how little time we like to spend in them. Apparently we love to watch others cook and bake up a storm on tv, but when it comes to attempting those feats in our own kitchens.... not so much. Interesting.

I think partially it is because food can be as much a feast for the eyes and ears as well as the mouth. We are at least partially satisfied by hearing the sizzle of the pans, watching the process unfold on TV, and seeing the food plated in a gorgeous manner we think we could never achieve.

The problem there is cooking CAN be therapeutic and very satisfying. So perhaps in future we can learn from Mrs. Child and the time and love she put into her cooking, and treat ourselves to a little love in our own kitchens.

Enjoy!

Uncle Frank's Famous Hollandaise Sauce!

When I first started low-carbing, I really needed to friendly myself up to eggs. I am not a fancy cook, so basically the best I could do with eggs was scramble them. But in the real world, no one really wants to eat scrambled eggs all the time. Sometimes you want something a bit more...festive.

So, I turned to my uncle Frank for advice. When you go to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner, it's basically like going to a restaurant. They love cooking, and I love eating!!!

Much to my taste buds delight, he passed me over his yummy hollandaise sauce recipe.

You know, I was always a bit afraid of hollandaise. I mean, it's this weird yellow sauce on eggs that people always seem to love..and yet they describe it as "sweet" which to me, just sounds wrong when you're talking about a topper for eggs. I was very leery to even try hollandaise sauce at first, until one day I went to my aunt and uncle's and lo and behold, they were making eggs benedict. I decided to go hog-wild and give it a try...figuring it wouldn't get better than whatever sauce THEY would make, and I'm glad i did!

It's not "sweet" in a sickly sweet honey-mustard way. (Sorry fans, I just hate honey mustard.)
It's rich and buttery with a hint of lemon which I guess gives it that "sweet" descriptor. It's more like a little tang...like someone ringing a bell in your mouth. "Ding! Mmmm...so good!"

And here's how you're going to make it:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened.
  
• 2-3 tsp. lemon juice (I used the juice from one of those little plastic lemon bottles rather than juicing a fresh lemon)
• 4 egg YOLKS
• 1 tsp water
• if you have some: cream in case you find the sauce not thin enough!
• a pot, and a metal mixing bowl that can sit ontop of the pot without falling in!
  

Method

• Make sure everything else is done, before you start the sauce!! (i.e. eggs are cooked, etc.)
• Bring 2-3 inches of water to a boil in the pot
  
• Place the metal mixing bowl over the pot of water and then add your ingredients in the order shown above. You want to work quicklyish, so perhaps you should get the egg yolks ready so you can quickly add everything at once.
• Stir for a minute or two until everything is wonderful and all mixed together!
• If you find the sauce is a bit thick (sometimes I've had it turn out more like...cool whip consistency) feel free to add a bit of cream and stir that in to thin it a bit. Thick or thin, it tastes the same....delicious!

I did not find any crazy drama happened while making this recipe, and hopefully you won't either. It comes in quite useful for saturday morning breakfasts, or a quick, easy way to impress guests!

I generally serve this sauce overtop of a poached egg (or two), sitting on a ham steak or a slice of cottage roll. It's really nice if the ham and plate are warmed up and waiting in the oven for you to just add the sauce. If you poach your eggs and plop them ontop of the ham and then throw it in the oven, it will be all warm and ready for saucing and eating and rejoicing!

Who knew a sauce could make me get so carried away? ;)

Enjoy!

Julie & Julia

Let's take a little departure from the recipes for a second to talk about a movie I just got to sneak preview: Julie & Julia.

Chances are most of you have heard of this movie, it stars Amy Adams (Giselle from Enchanted, and also Amelia Earheart from Night at the museum 2) and Meryl Streep (who stars in too many movies to name...recently Mamma Mia!). There are a few other familiar faces as well in supporting roles.

The basic ingredients: Julie Powell(Amy Adams) hates her job as an insurance claim reviewer, working in NYC after 9/11 and is quite bummed out, but really enjoys cooking as it's a great escape from the troubles of the outside world(present day). Julia Child (Meryl Streep) is a well-to-do's wife in the 50's (mabye a bit earlier? I'm not sure) in France, who really would like to learn the art of french cooking, but can't speak french. She embarks on a mission to master cooking at the cordon bleu, and along the way meets some lovely friends who are writing a french cookbook, but need an "american's" perspective, as that is the audience they want to appeal to.

The result: A REALLY REALLY Funny, heartwarming movie. GREAT to go see with your girlfriends for a night out!! You should probably eat first though because there's some pretty yummy things in this movie. :)

For those of you who would like to see the blog which is what this movie is based upon, check out The Julie / Julia Project.

Enjoy :)