Chicken Wings a la Alton Brown

For those who are or were attempting to follow this blog, I apologize for my long hiatus. Things have been pretty crazy around here, and a lot of my writing energy has been spent dealing with the crazy things, or working on a novel in November for NaNoWriMo. (No, I did not write 50,000 words. But at least I have a start!) Also, cooking has been a bit on the back burner, so to speak. We have been on a very tight budget, and a lot of things that I have been cooking, I admit, really haven't been low carb at all. But it was food, and it did nourish our bodies, however non-optimal the nourishment may have been.

But I have several recipes that you might enjoy tucked away now, and I'm looking forward to trying even more. The size of my recipes-to-try folder (a virtual one in MS Word...any physical pieces of paper may as well be kissed goodbye in my house) is enormous. 7.97 MB and counting...

Anyway, last night I made Alton Brown's chicken wings. They were absolutely delicious. I am not a big wing person (mostly because 90% of them are covered in sauces that are painful for me to eat) but these were pretty amazing. They were amazing enough to consider making again even though my sauce needs a lot of work.

You will need:

12 chicken wings (or 1 5-lb bag frozen seperated wings). Remember, those are whole chicken wings, so you'll need 24 pieces from the frozen bag if that's the way you're going.

If your chicken wings are fresh and still one piece, hack them apart with a knife or kitchen shears. Save the wingtips for soup or stock. If they are frozen, defrost in your microwave or in the fridge. Normally, I dislike defrosting in the microwave (especially in a low-quality microwave like mine) because half the time your product gets steamed in places. However, you are going to steam your chicken first anyway. According to food guru Alton, this gets rid of a lot of the fat that otherwise goes up in smoke in your oven when you roast at high temperatures. Steaming allows later crispy skin without filling the room with a noxious black cloud.

Once your chicken has been prepared, you will steam it. Alton uses a nifty setup with a 6-quart saucepan and an ingenious threaded-rod-and-collapsible-steamer-basket assembly to steam your chicken all at once. Myself, I do not own a suitable saucepan, nor do I have the time or money at the moment to make a cool tiered steamer basket. I used the steamer insert on my ricemaker, which now functions almost exclusively as a steamer. It fits about 6 chicken wing pieces without stacking or touching, so I did mine in four shifts, defrosting one batch as the prior batch was steaming. The wings need to be steamed for 10 minutes.

Once your chicken has steamed, remove it carefully with tongs. Pat it dry, and place it onto a rack above a paper-towel covered baking sheet. I skipped the rack, and it still worked out ok. Cool your wings for at least an hour in your fridge.

After cooling, replace the paper towel with parchment paper. Argh, I know, parchment paper, but once you have it, you'll be able to make all those other annoying recipes with parchment paper. :) The directions are unclear whether or not you are supposed to leave the chicken on the rack to cook or cook it directly on the parchment paper. I recommend greasing your parchment paper if you do the latter, as I did.

Preheat your oven to 425 F. Once it's hot, insert your half-cooked chicken wings. Cook for 20 minutes; turn, and cook for another 20.

While your wings are cooking, you will want to make some sauce for them. My sauce of last night was tasty, but had absolutely no sticking power. Feel free to use Alton's sauce (see recipe link), or make your own. The best part is that you can customize the flavor, in my opinion!

When the wings are done, take them off the baking sheet with your tongs and into a large bowl. While they are still hot, toss them with your sauce. Eat them while they're still warm. Mmm, crispy.

Grilled Chicken with Edamame Skordalia

This is a fantastic, fresh-tasting recipe I found in Bon Appetit. It isn't marked 'low carb' (surprisingly few recipes are, despite the fact that they are, nutritionally, great for this lifestyle), but the nutritional analysis on the site says it's 15.15 g of carbohydrates a serving and 6.21 of that is fiber. If you use net carbs, that comes to 8.94 g of carbs in a delicious, fresh-tasting, and relatively easy to prepare meal. I was so thrilled that I discovered that the gas grills in our soon-to-be-x-apartment-complex do indeed work.

I was out of olive oil when I made this recipe, so I subbed peanut oil. I'm sure it would be as tasty or tastier with the original ingredient. I also used boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts, because I'm on a budget and I think they taste better! This cuts down a little on grill time.

Grilled Chicken with Edamame Skordalia
Bon Appetit August 2008
Serves 4

1 16-ounce bag frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for brushing
3 garlic cloves, peeled
6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves

Cook frozen edamame in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid for skordalia.

Meanwhile, combine basil, 1/3 cup oil, and garlic in processor; blend until basil and garlic are finely chopped. Transfer 2 tablespoons basil oil to small bowl and reserve.

Add edamame, 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid, Parmesan, and lemon juice to remaining basil oil in processor; puree until mixture is almost smooth, adding more cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if mixture is dry. Season generously with salt and pepper. Set skordalia aside.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush grill with oil. Brush chicken breasts on both sides with reserved basil oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until chicken is just cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Slice chicken breasts crosswise.

Spoon warm or room-temperature skordalia onto 4 plates. Top with chicken.

Nutritional analysis per serving: Calories (kcal) 651.33; %Calories from Fat 44.7; Fat (g) 32.32; Saturated Fat (g) 5.84; Cholesterol (mg) 152.08; Carbohydrates (g) 15.15; Dietary Fiber (g) 6.21; Total Sugars (g) 0.22; Net Carbs (g) 8.94; Protein (g) 69.70 (nutritional analysis provided by Bon Appètit)

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce

So I mentioned a cookbook a while ago, and just realized I hadn't gotten around to posting any of the recipes that we enjoyed yet. With that said, enjoy this lovely chocolate cake. We've made it three or four times now, and it's definitely a favorite. It's also a lot simpler than it looks.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Serves 8

Original recipe from The Low-Carb Gourmet by Brigit Binns

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, in small pieces (I recommend Ghiradelli chocolate chips—they’re less expensive then the bars, and require less prep work)
½ cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 8 chunks (for American butter, that’s a stick of butter cut along the tablespoon lines—very handy)
4 large eggs, chilled

Special Equipment:
8 or 9 inch round cake pan (see notes)
Parchment paper.
Double boiler or metal mixing bowl
Roasting or baking pan large enough to fit your cake pan in flat
Electric mixer, hand mixer, or a whisk and a lot of energy

Place oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 325 F. Grease an 8 (also works in a 9, but makes a much thinner cake) inch cake pan with butter. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper (do not use waxed paper. Seriously.) Fill a small saucepan or a kettle with water, and put it on a back burner. This will be boiling water for the bain-maire, a water bath that will keep your cake moist and cooking evenly in the oven.
You will also need the bottom of your double boiler or another saucepan over which you can set a metal mixing bowl, half full of simmering water.
Melt the chocolate using the top of the double boiler or your metal mixing bowl. Make sure the water doesn’t cover the bottom of your melting vessel. Avoid getting water in your chocolate. Stir your chocolate until it’s smoothly melted. Add the butter and stir until the mixture is homogenous. Remove from heat.
Place the eggs in a large bowl and beat at high speed until doubled in volume. With electric mixers, this takes about five minutes. Do NOT do this step ahead to save time. We found the chocolate mixture needs at least five minutes to cool. It negatively influences the texture of the cake if you add the eggs while the chocolate is too hot.
Fold the egg in by thirds, mixing each time until just combined.
Scoop the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Place the cake in your roasting pan. Put the roasting pan on the rack with the rack at full extension. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes halfway up your cake pan. (or until your cake pan starts bobbing *cough*) Bake for 25-28 minutes. It will not look done, but don’t cook it longer than this. If you have an instant-read thermometer, it should read 150 F. The edges will be slightly dry and bubbled-looking, but the middle will still look batter-ish. Do not be deceived! This cake declines rapidly when left in the oven longer than 28 minutes. It still tastes good, but the texture, again, will be wrong.
Now is when you find your creative solution to not burning your fingers whilst taking the cake pan out of the bain-maire and putting it onto a rack. I recommend two pairs of tongs, two forks, or anything else that keeps you and your moisture-wicking oven mitts away from the boiling water. You can also use a turkey baster to bring the water to a less perilous level. Once you have accomplished the placement of your cake onto the cooling rack, leave it there until it’s room temperature.
Cover and refrigerate your cake for as long as you can. Let it come to room temperature before serving. When you are ready to serve it, invert the cake onto waxed or parchment paper, peel off the parchment from the bottom, and invert again onto its intended serving platter.

Raspberry Sauce
8 oz raspberries (you may use frozen, but at least a carton of fresh is nice for garnish)
2 tablespoons Splenda (or a packet of stevia, or sweetener of your choice)
1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Special equipment
A blender
A fine mesh sieve (tea strainers work well)

Puree your raspberries, making sure to leave some berries for garnish. Add sweetener, lemon juice, and Cointreau. Then pour your lovely sauce through the sieve to de-seed it. It’s worth it, I promise! This is best accomplished by pressure from a spoon or a pestle, which gets as much pulp through the screen as possible. The raspberry seeds left over are tasty—try them before you throw them away.

Slice your cake onto plates, drizzle with raspberry sauce, and garnish with fresh raspberries and leftover chocolate chips.

Wild Mushroom Ragout

So, I'll admit it, I'm something of a geek. A D&D, Warcraft, DragonCon kind of geek. But that can come in handy every now and then, as well as being darn fun. For example, in the nifty book More Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home, which is a collection of short stories, essays, and fun tidbits from the Dragonlance books, there is a fabulous recipe for Kender Wild Mushroom Ragout. And it has minimally-carby ingredients. I am too lazy at the moment to plug in the numbers, especially since the ingredients can vary so much, but I'm pretty sure it's a normal recipe that's perfect for low carb without any weird substitutions. And I love that!

Kender Wild Mushroom Ragout
1 cup thinly sliced white onions
2 pounds fresh, wild mushrooms
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1+1/2 tsp fresh minced rosemary
1/4 cup stock (chicken, mushroom or vegetable)
3 tbsp dry sherry
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp brandy (optional)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute onions, mushromms and garlic in butter until tender. Add herbs, stock and sherry. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half.
Add cream and simmer until slightly thickened. Add brandy and lemon juice. Simmer 2 more minutes. Add salt, pepper, parsley and serve over Dreamfield noodles, riced cauliflower, or sop up the juices later with an Oopsie (full recipe here, can't find the measurements and stuff on Cleochatra's site!).

Now you can substitute a lot of things in this recipe. We most often use a lot of soaked dried mushrooms, because there just aren't a great deal of fresh wild mushrooms around. However, I'd recommend getting a few cartons of regular white mushrooms, and at least some baby bellas/cremini and shiitake if you can get them. The dried mushrooms have great flavor, but they're pretty tough, so cut them up small if you do use them. And if you can get some other varieties, get them! Even the expensive ones make your dish better in small, affordable portions. I will admit that the best version of this we made was with at least six kinds of fresh mushrooms.

You can also substitute port or sack for the sherry, or dry white wine in a pinch. And although the brandy claims it's optional, don't believe it. It pairs gorgeously with the mushrooms, and it would be a crime to leave it out.

By the way, for any other nerds, geeks, or fans out there, the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books will cease being published at the end of the year, according to my sources. Buy what you can. Hopefully, more worlds with such wide appeal will spring up in their place.

Velvety Pumpkin Soup

We had this for dinner tonight, along with ocean perch fillets with seasoned salt, lemon, and butter. I got this recipe from Protein Power.

Velvety Pumpkin Soup
Serves 6
Ingredients
½ stick unsalted butter
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced fine
2 packets Stevia
2 cups chicken broth
½ cup water
½ teaspoon coarse salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can solid pack pumpkin or about 2 cups cooked pumpkin, mashed
2 cups half and half
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and when it foams and just begins to turn golden, add the onion and garlic. Cook for a minute or two until soft.
2. Add the chicken broth, water, salt, pepper, and sweetener and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 to15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in the pumpkin, half and half, and cinnamon and cook another 5 minutes to heat through.
4. Blend with an immersion blender (or transfer soup to a blender or food processor in batches if necessary) and blend until smooth. May be kept a day or two in the refrigerator (once cooled) if desired.
5. Reheat to serve.

We really enjoyed it, but it doesn't seem to be the savory soup that the website indicated. My husband says it would be a good breakfast food, and I totally agree. It's mild and pleasantly seasoned. If you make it and it seems too bland, try just adding some salt. Or garnish with full-fat Greek yogurt for extra tastiness. In the morning, I might try it with goat cheese.

Recipe Trial: Mini Meatloaf Wrapped in Bacon

So I tried this recipe last night, because my original plan of using my ground meat in a sauce for low-carb pasta (Dreamfields is amazing) was foiled by my use of tomato puree in....something else that I forget, but which was probably not very good.

I had to make a few changes, so don't let this be a complete review of this recipe for ya! I had a pound of ground chuck and a pound of ground pork, so that is what I used. I substituted the last of my almond meal (drat, now I have to go to the store again!) for the breadcrumbs. I don't think that there was quiiiiite a cup of it. I used eggs, which is in the recipe but the author does not use. I used a scant cup of the optional cheese. And I made my own ketchup out of the bit of tomato puree in my fridge, apple cider vinegar, salt, and cloves.

It proved to be relatively easy to make, although having someone else there to wrap the bacon around your squishy ball of meat mixture is extremely helpful. Unlike the author's, my meatloaf was greasy--I had to wipe the top of my muffin tin with paper towel before I grabbed it, hoping to save my oven mitts. Luckily, there was no grease fire, thanks to my poor pizza stone, which lives in the oven. I sense a gruelling scrub session in my future.

The meat was moist, cooked through, and nicely flavored, although not very firm. We are pretty happy to eat our little meat-muffins (you should have seen my husband's look of disbelief when he saw them), but the Best Beloved votes for just beef next time. I may also try to make some low-carb breadcrumbs, in hopes that they will firm this up. This recipe intrigues me and I wish to know more. I may also put them on a rack in a roasting pan, and see if I can cook more of the grease out of them. When I finish redacting this recipe for low-carb deliciousness, I will post it.