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Archive for November, 2008

Banana Rum Walnut Muffins

Published November 27, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: banana, muffin

I am awash in bananas. The reason for this plethora of bananas is that while I am convalescing, I have been ordering groceries to be delivered to my home. Now when you buy bananas in the grocery, you probably pick a bunch of 5-6 bananas, enough for your current needs. You don’t think about the bananas’ weight. On the order form, the bananas are ordered by the pound, so I blithely ordered 5 pounds (believe me, a banana does NOT weigh a pound). This resulted in a very large number of bananas, which are rapidly becoming very, very ripe. So, in addition to a loaf of my traditional banana bread, I made these muffins. It’s the banana bread recipe with the addition of rum and walnuts, and is a nice variation for a late in the day snack.

There are still bananas left, so more banana recipes will follow – a nice respite from the traditional pumpkin bread and turkey recipes that you usually see at Thanksgiving.

Banana Rum Walnut Muffins

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons of rum
½ cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F and place rack in center of oven. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Put the bananas into the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat them until they are well mashed. Beat in the egg substitute. Beat in the sugar. Add the flour mixture about 1/4 cup at a time, until it is incorporated into the banana mixture. Beat in the rum, and fold in the walnuts so they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a rack. Makes 12 muffins, with about 2.5 grams of fat/muffin.

Salmon Patties

Published November 22, 2008 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Tags: fish, hint, sweating

When I was young, my mother used to very occasionally make “salmon croquettes”. They seemed very exotic to us with our usual hearty but plain diet. Perhaps it was the name, so…French. Actually, the name does come from the French croquer to eat hastily. According to Wikepedia, a croquette is a small fried roll containing mashed potatoes, minced meat, shellfish or vegetables, often encased in breadcrumbs. The croquette is usually shaped into a cylinder or disk, and then deep-fried. There are variations of croquettes in almost every culture.

My mother’s salmon croquettes did not contain mashed potatoes. These taste very much like hers did, although I’m quite sure hers were fried in a lot of oil.

Salmon Patties

Cooking spray
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped celery
¾ cup crushed fat-free saltine crackers (about 20 crackers), divided
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 7 ounce cans (or one 14 ounce can) salmon, drained, bones and skin removed, and flaked (see Note)
¼ cup egg substitute
2 teaspoons canola oil

Spray a small frying pan with cooking spray. Sauté the celery and onions over medium heat until soft, adding a small amount of water periodically to “steam fry” or sweat the onions and celery (see HINT). In a medium bowl, combine onion mixture, ½ cup of the crushed crackers, mustard, black pepper, salmon, and egg substitute. Divide salmon mixture into 4 equal portions (if your mixture is too crumbly to shape, add a little more egg substitute.) Shape each portion into a ½ inch thick patty. Put remaining crushed crackers into a flat bowl or plate, and dredge each side of the patties in the crumbs. Place on a plate, cover, and chill for 20 minutes (this helps the patties hold their shape).

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with cooking spray. Add the 2 teaspoons of oil, and heat over medium heat until hot. Add patties. Cook for 5 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.

NOTE: I used Costco canned salmon, which is skinless and boneless, and has only 7.5 grams of fat in the 7 ounce can, keeping the fat gram count low.

HINT: “sweating”, or steam frying, is a means of cooking vegetables for inclusion in other dishes while eliminating the fat typically used to sauté these vegetables . The vegetables are heated over medium high heat until they begin to brown lightly. Then small amounts of hot water are added and allowed to cook away until the vegetables become soft and golden. This is one of the most effective ways of lowering fat in a dish, particularly if the oil is not essential to the flavor of the finished dish, but just a medium for cooking the vegetables.

Makes 4 patties at about 2 grams of fat per patty

You can serve these with low fat tartar sauce, or make a tangy sauce with reduced fat mayonnaise, capers, and lemon juice.

Variation: These are very plain salmon patties, like my mom used to make, which is the comfort food I was in the mood for. But I can see jazzing them up with chopped capers, or chopped roasted red peppers, or even a spoon full of pickle relish.

Margarita Angel Cake with Los Cabos Sauce

Published November 19, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: cake, potluck

I have never been much of an angel food cake fan. The angel food cakes you purchase are too sweet, and have a cottony texture in your mouth. Their only purpose seemed to be to sop up the juice from some sort of topping or ice cream. But I had yet another potluck to attend. This one had some specific requirements. It was an all day board retreat where they would serve bagels for breakfast, and you had to bring something in the morning that would hold until lunch time. I didn’t want to bring something heavy, since we would be working into the afternoon.

This angel food cake has a somewhat more sturdy texture, and a tangy flavor because of the lime juice and tequila glaze. The fruity Los Cabos can be brought along in a separate container. The original recipe for the cake itself came from Cooking Light magazine.

Margarita Angel Cake with Los Cabos Sauce

Cake
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 ½ cups sugar, divided
12 large egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons grated lime rind (lime zest)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons fresh lime juice

Glaze
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 Tablespoons tequila
3 Tablespoons Triple Sec (orange flavored liqueur) NOTE: I used Cointreau
3 Tablespoons water

Cake
Preheat oven to 325. Sift flour into a bowl or onto waxed paper. Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup and level with a knife. Combine flour and ¾ cup sugar in a bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Place egg whiles in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt, beat until soft peaks form. Add ¾ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Beat in rind, vanilla, and the 1½ teaspoons juice.

Sift ¼ up of the flour mixture over the beaten egg mixture and gently fold in. Repeat procedure with remaining flour mixture, ¼ cup at a time.

Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10 inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Cut through the batter with a knife in several places to break up air pockets. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan and cool completely. Loosen cake from side of pan using a narrow metal spatula or knife. Remove from pan. (My tube pan has a removable center which makes getting the cake out easier).

Glaze
Combine 3 tablespoons of sugar and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Pierce entire surface of the cake all over with a skewer. Spoon glaze over cake.

Los Cabos Sauce
While the cake is a nice light dessert, it is even better with this sauce spooned over it.

4 cups of strawberries, quartered and sliced
2 cups of other soft fruit (peaches, kiwi, berries, etc.,) cut into ½ inch dice
1/3 cup of sugar
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon orange flavored liqueur

Mix fruit with sugar and let stand for ½ hour so that the fruit release their juices. Sir in lime juice and liqueur. Serve on the side to be spooned over the cake.

Cake and sauce together make 12 servings, with virtually no fat in each serving.

Variations: I think this would be beautiful with predominantly orange and yellow fruit, like peaches and nectarines. Essentially, you just need 6 cups of ripe soft fruit. Also, I mentioned that this was made for a working retreat. If I made it for a party, I might add two more tablespoons of liqueur to the Los Cabos sauce to give it a little more punch.

The Manchurian Cauliflower

Published November 16, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: cauliflower, India

When I first saw this recipe in Cooking Light, I was a bit skeptical. Ketchup and cauliflower? I don’t know…and although it supposedly hails from China, it uses Garam Masala, a decidedly Indian spice. Still, there was something intriguing about it, and I had a cauliflower to use up in some interesting way. It turns out to be a really tasty, sweet and salty dish, and it’s easy to make. It could be part of a dinner with other curries, or a hearty side dish.

Roasted Manchurian Cauliflower

5 ½ cups cauliflower (about 1 large head) trimmed and broken into florets
2 Tablespoons of Garam Masala (see note)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
Cooking spray
½ teaspoon black pepper
8 cloves of garlic, minced
¾ cup ketchup
½ teaspoon ground red pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F. Coat an 11 x 7 baking dish with cooking spray. Combine cauliflower, Garam Masala, and salt with 1 teaspoon of the canola oil in a large bowl and toss well. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Heat remaining 1 teaspoon canola oil in a medium non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add black pepper and sauté 1 minute. Add garlic, sauté for 30 seconds. Stir in ketchup and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in red pepper. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes or until thick (be careful not to burn it.)

Remove cauliflower mixture from the oven. Stir in ketchup mixture. Bake at 425 for an additional 20 minutes or until cauliflower is tender, stirring after 10 minutes. Makes 9 half cup servings at 1.5 grams of fat per serving (although I personally ate it in one cup servings.

A note on Garam Masala: Garam Masala is a spice mixture used in many Indian dishes. Garam means hot and Masala means spice mixture, so the spices used are those that give some heat to the dish. I use a good commercial mix, such as Spice Islands, or one from an Asian market. In India, many households have their own family Garam Masala recipe, handed down through generations. You will find varied recipes for Garam Masala in Indian cookbooks and can try your hand at mixing your own family recipe, toasting the spices and grinding them in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, but for most uses, I like the convenience of a prepared blend.

Meditation on Hospital Cuisine

Published November 14, 2008 Uncategorized 1 Comment

I haven’t been posting because I have been in the hospital, having unspeakable things done to me. Ugh. Now I’m out, recovering at home. But I have a puzzlement about hospital “cuisine”. Now I understand that the hospital prepares meals for about 700 patients and staff. Many of these meals require specialized preparation due to the patients’ conditions. But one would think that a hospital, in the interests of promoting good health, would model healthy eating in the food served to patients. I don’t mean gourmet cuisine (although tasty would be nice, given that one often doesn’t have much appetite when ill). I mean basic healthy food – lower fat, low salt, etc. What I got on my tray was typically so salty I couldn’t eat it. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich thinking that couldn’t be ruined, and when I bit into it I was left with a salty oil slick on my lips. Inedible. I lived on cottage cheese until I got out.

Enough of this. From this point I will continue to post recipes from my adventures in low fat cooking. Some of them will be recipes from feasts past, since I’m not cooking as much until I recover. But needless to say they will be delicious and good for you.

ABOUT KAREN

I have lost 200 pounds. I did not do it through surgery – I don’t like knives and needles – or by joining a club, vigorous exercise, or rigorous dieting. I did it by gourmet cooking. To be precise, by cooking low fat, really delicious food. I love to cook as much as I love to eat. Food magazines are some of my favorite reading. I would feel deprived if I couldn’t have the sensuous experience of good food crossing my lips. This blog is about my perpetual feast, my passionate love of food, with recipes, photos, and occasional advice and principles that I have learned along the way.

More about me.

The Perpetual Feast

Archive for November, 2008

Banana Rum Walnut Muffins

Salmon Patties

Margarita Angel Cake with Los Cabos Sauce

The Manchurian Cauliflower

Meditation on Hospital Cuisine

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