Jason's Log

Simple guacamole recipe

After learning that the store-bought guacamole seasoning mix we had been using is packed with corn starch (read: sugar), I decided to start with some basic guac recipes and tweak them to my tasts while keeping them low-carb.

I was also aiming for simplicity. I didn't want something that required extensive fresh ingredients. This one uses stuff you mostly have available, and can be put together very quickly and easily.

After about an hour of experiementation, this is what I came up with, which both Young and I really enjoyed:

4 advacadoes (Haas)
1.0 tsp minced garlic
1.5 tsp onion powder
1.0 tsp fresh ground kosher salt
0.25 tsp fresh ground black pepper
0.25 tsp ceyenne
0.25 tsp ground chipolte pepper
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp dried cilantro

You can omit some of the black and cayenne pepper if you like your guacamole a bit more tame. Wimp.

Jerk Chicken Resultes

Well, I just got done with the Jerk seasoned chicken kabobs, and here are the results:

1. For a marinade that was very flavorful, and after marinading the chicken for 24 hours, I was disappointed by the strength of the flavor. What was there was very, very good, but it wasn't as prominent as I would have liked it.

2. Shish kabobs are a pain in the ass to cook. Have you ever tried turning a kabob one quarter turn? Does it every stay where you want it? Never! From now on, I'm cooking my chicken as whole breasts.

Next time around, I think I'm going to turn the marninade into more of a spice rub, and use it on whole chicken breasts instead. I think that will give me more robust jerk flavor, and they're easier to grill.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Wanting to add a new item to our dinner repitoire, I'm now in the process of marinating some chicken in Jamaican Jerk seasoning. I used a modified version of this recipe that I found on AllRecipes.com. Based on the feedback on the site, I omitted the green onions and reduced the amount of soy sauce, resulting in the following recipe:

1.0 small yellow onion
0.5 cup soy suace
0.5 cup white whine vinegar
0.25 cup safflower oil
2.0 tablespoons Splenda
1.0 teaspoon ground thyme
0.5 teaspoon ground cloves
0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg
0.5 teaspoon ground allspice

I took all of the above ingredients, and put them into the food processor. I pulsed it a few times to chop everything up. I then poured all but about a 0.5 cup of it into a 1 gallon zip-loc bag. The remaining Jerk seasoning sauce went into a small tupperware bin to be used as a basting and dipping sauce tomorrow.

I then took about a pund and a half of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and cut them into shish-kebab sized cubes (1.5 inches square or so). I then placed the cubes into the zip-loc bag with the seasoning. I pressed out most of the air, sealed the bag, and placed it into the fridge to sit overnight.

The whole thing will be placed onto skewers with broccoli, onions, tomatoes, and a few red/yellow/orange bell peppers and grilled.

We'll see how it turns out.

Carb-Free Whipped Cream

So I took what appears to be a very standard recipe for whipped cream:

1.0 cup heavy cream
0.25 cups sugar
1.0 teaspoon vanilla

And made it into this low-carb version:

1.0 cup heavy cream
0.25 cups Splenda
1.0 teaspoon vanilla

Two thing that I will change for next time:

A. I didn't realize that the mixture won't start to stiffen up utnil you add the sugar. As a result, I had turned the mixer on super-high speed, and when I finally added the sugar, it instantly went from liquid to puffy. Next time, I need to lower the mixer speed and add the sugar gradually so that I end up with a less puffy, more creamy texture.

B. According to those who tried it, it was a bit too sweet/vanilla-y. So next time, I'll take out a bit of the sugar (0.20 cups instead) and a bit of the vanilla (0.5 teaspoons instead) as an alternative.

Harry Potter #3

Ok, they really need to sign up Alfonso Cuaron to direct the last couple of Harry Potter movies. This installation was light-years better than the previous two. It was definitely not a 'slavish adaptation' like HP#1 and HP#2 were, but they were improved in many ways:

1. More serious, scary tone, which actually suits the story well.

2. A less cartoonish look and feel.

3. Actually scary and suspensful at times.

So you should really go see it. Much improved, and very recommended.

Cheesecake chronicles #8

I made a new batch of muffin-pan-cheesecakes last night, with an almond crust. Here is a breakdown of the good and the bad:

1. Crust- needs more sugar/splenda in order to survive the cooking process and still come out with a sweetness to it. Using unsalted butter is also a requirement.

2. Crust- I should have precooked it. The cooking time for the cheesecakes in a muffin pan is only about 12-13 minutes at 375 degrees, which is not enough time for the almond-based crust to solidify.

3. The '3 blocks of cream cheese' version of the batter recipe was only enough for about 8 muffin-pan cups. Next time, I'll do a double batch and make 12 muffin cheesecakes.

4. The batter should not be beaten more than is required. This will cause the eggs to fluff-up, which is not what you want in a cheesecake batter.

Improved fauxtatoes texture

On the advice of my Mom, I decided to modify my fauxtatoes cooking recipe to boil the cauliflower for a shorter period of time. So this time around, I only bioled them until they were 'fork tender' (soft enough so that a fork would pierce the stalks) instead of fully softened.

The resulting fauxtatoes had a better texture overall.

More BBQ rib tweaks...

Well, I tried the combination of 250 degrees for 3 hours, and the results were still not quite right. Now that I have completely fixed the flame-up problem, I am going to revert to the original cooking recipe: 3 hours at 275 degrees. That being said, on FoodTV last evening I did hear quotes from professional BBQ chefs saying that their preferred cooking temperature is 250 degrees.

Another alternative would be for me to cook the ribs covered in foil, to trap the moisture and hopefully speed up the process of tenderizing the meat.

Although the ribs were decent, they still were not quite 'fall off the bone' tender.

I also think I'm going to investigate new spice rubs and sauces. The 'Al Roker Rub' tastes good, but doesn't pack enough punch as we like. I just need to find a rub/sauce recipe that allows me to easily convert it to low/no-carb.

The adventure continues...

Wine tasting in Sonoma

Young and I spent this past weekend in Sonoma, attending the wedding of our friends Karen and Nino in Healdsburg. We decided to make a weekend out of the trip, with the intent of doing a day of wine tasting on Saturday.

After a bit of googling, I signed us up for a winery and tasting tour organized by John Burdick. He only takes groups of up to 10 people, and he seemed very entheusiastic about wine and the Sonoma wineries. Our expectations for the tour were high, and those expectations were generally exceeded in every respect. All of the wineries on the tour would be considered botique wineries that specialise in small production (< 10,000 cases/year) high-quality wines.

We met the group at the Fairmont in Sonoma, and headed out to our first winery, Moon Mountain Vineyard. They claim to have the best view of any tasting room in Sonoma, and I agree with them. As with all the stops on our tour, we were the only group at the winery, meaning we had a private audience with the wine makers and their wines. Although Moon Mountain did not have our favorite wines, their Cabernet Franc was very good.

Next we went to Glen Lyon Winery, which is owned and operated by Squire Fridell. Squire has the distinction of being a retired actor and the very first on-TV Ronal McDonald. Needless to say, he was a gregarious host. At the same time, he definitely takes his wine seriously. All of the vineyards are cared for by Squire and one partner (planting, watering, picking, etc.) as is the entire wine making process. Here, Young and I really loved the Shiraz (we bought three bottles) and his desert wine.

Our last winery stop was Deerfiled Ranch Winery. They don't grow many of their own grapes at Deerfield, as we learned, instead they purchase specific varieties from a diverse set of growers in the area. Here, we tasted a large selection of reds and whites, although Young and I didn't find any of them all that amazing.

We had a wonderful gourmet lunch at Deerfield, overlooking the valley. John brought out his guitar and played a few blues tunes for us, which was really wonderful.

All in all, we had a great time.

Buffalo Chicken Sauce

Decided to try my hand at making 'Buffalo Wing' flavored chicken. I wanted something that I could use on chicken breasts instead of on fried chicken wings.

The modified recipe looks like this:

4 tbsp melted butter
0.5 cups Frank's Hot Sauce
1.0 tbsp Splenda
2.0 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

Optional:
1.0 - 2.0 tbsp Tabasco sauce

Directions:

I melted the butter in the microwave for 1.5 minutes, then stirred in the Frank's Hot Sauce and Tabasco. Once integrated, I added the Splenda and the cider vinegar, and stirred for a minute to make sure everything was well combined.

I then sliced up a boneless, skinless chicken breast that had been grilled (lightly seasoned with salt + pepper + olive oil). I placed the chicken strips into a skillet along with half of the buffalo sauce, trying to keep most of the chicken drippings out of the skillet.

I brought the mixture up to a simmer and stirred to ensure the chicken was coated in sauce. I let this simmer for about 10 mintutes to make sure the chicken was fully flavored.

I then removed the chicken from the skillet, making sure that drippings stayed in the skillet so that they would not dilute the remaining buffalo sauce.

For serving, I placed the sauce-simmered chicken strips on a plate along side the remaining buffalo sauce and some ranch dressing.

The combination is absolutely wonderful. Simmering the chicken helps make it really tasty, and keeping half of the sauce for later dipping works well (the sauce will thicken considerably as it cools).

The buffalo sauce was quite spicy with 2 tbsp of Tabasco. You can definitely tone things down by useing less/none.

Yum yum.