Sometimes life needs a bit of spice, and dinner is always a good place to start!

Chinese food can be problematic on a diabetic- / ketogenic-diet. This is principally due to the high carbohydrate content of ingredients like rice, soy-sauce, sweet & sour concoctions and all things in-between. That in no way means there are not low-carb dishes out there; simply that they require a little more time & creative thinking.

This recipe is a real winner. It’s incredibly straightforward to make and can be done ahead of time if you so wish.

Start by making your marinade. Blitz two ‘thumbs’ of peeled ginger and 3 cloves of garlic in a food-processor. Measure in half a tablespoon of chilli powder, a spoon-tip full of turmeric, 3.5 tablespoons of white-wine vinegar, one tablespoon of olive-oil, and a really good grind of pepper & salt. Whizz-up until smooth and pour over your chicken. Then rub in. Marinate for minimum half an hour, up to overnight. Then place your drumsticks onto a baking-tray and cook in a hot oven for circa 1 hour, or until browned & crispy.

Using a spiraliser or julienne-peeler (see zoodles), form your peeled butternut squash into noodles. Sauté these in a good quantity of butter and olive-oil until they begin to soften. At this point, add in finely-sliced shallot (or onion), sliced mushrooms, diced chilli, and a handful of chopped coriander. Stir in a teaspoon of ground cumin powder and season well.

Once cooked, take the chicken-pieces out of the oven and arrange over your noodles. Garnish with a squeeze of lime, and a final flourish of chopped herbs. Rush to the table and serve up while still piping-hot.

If you can resist picking them up & eating the drumsticks with your fingers; then you definitely have more willpower than I. Some food is just too good to stand on ceremony!

Thanks for reading and bon ap!

Adam.

Okay, so I like things that rhyme! But believe me; that’s certainly not the motivation behind this dish. So what is? Taste. Quite simply put; it’s delicious!

I never begrudge the complexity of multi-component dishes (like lasagne), where 3 saucepans & a brigade of roasting-dishes are required. Nor do I bemoan the washing-up; if you want good home-cooked food, then it’s par of the course. But sometimes I must admit that one-pot dishes are a godsend! This is never more the case than when you’re late home from work and all you want to do is relax. So if that’s tonight, then this is the dish for you!

Not only is this recipe the ultimate in ease and convenience, it’s also very low in carbohydrate. This means that diabetics and those on a ketogenic-diet can share in the easy-life, as well as gluten-intolerants and paleo-fans!

Feel free to substitute any of the ingredients, but it’s certainly worth sticking with the chicory and chorizo, as they both add hugely to the flavour.  Chicory (I believe Americans may call endive) has a slightly sharp flavour, which makes it brilliant for things like gratin where the taste will ‘hold its own’ amidst the cheese. Chorizo adds a bit of denseness to the texture and has that deep Spanish earthiness, which lies at the heart of comfort food. The chicken is inter-changeable for pork, turkey or even seafood. If you come up with any triumphs, be sure to let me know!

This dish is rendered far more straight-forward if you have a roasting-dish that can be used directly on the hob-top.

Place your dish onto the hot-plate and drizzle in a glug of olive-oil. Add your chicken-pieces and brown slightly, before mixing in a couple of handfuls of very roughly chopped shallots or onion. This is followed by crushed garlic and a good shake of dried oregano.

Halve your chicory lengthways and add it to the pan. Give the whole lot a good stir to coat with the oil, then leave to cook a few minutes until the chicory wilts down a little. Sprinkle over sliced chorizo, then layer on slices of thick-cut ham. Season well then place the dish into the oven for 30 minutes, until the endive is beautifully soft and the ham just starting to colour.

At this point, pour in a cupful of double-cream and dot the surface with slices of brie. Grate a flourish of emmental and parmesan on top, then back into the oven it goes for the dish to brown-up until it’s sizzling and golden all over.

Serve with a light salad and a big appetite! You’ll need it, as everyone tucks in for seconds!

Thank you for reading an bon ap!

Adam.

Moroccan food is one of my absolute favourites. The flavour-profile is so incredibly deep & exotic, that just one bite alone immediately transports you to another world!

Tagine is the ultimate example of this richly fragrant cuisine. In this dish, the earthiness of spices is balanced & lifted perfectly by the clean, fresh taste of mint & lemons. Cumin and tomato lend the dish a comforting warmth, which is hugely welcome on a cold wintry evening such as this. Even though it’s cold and dark outside, the kitchen can still be a place of sunshine, filled with the heady aroma of spices and perfumed scents of distant climes…

People are often put off cooking tagine due to the length of time it requires in the oven. Well you’ll be pleased to know that this version is incredibly quick! It all depends on the cut of meat you use – I used leg-steaks which are infinitely tender and don’t require slow-cooking. Diabetics or those on a ketogenic-diet might also be unnerved due to the high content of dried-fruit (thereby sugar) in all the standard recipes. Here, that flavour & sweetness is provided by orange & lemon zest, which further contributes to the perfumed quality & adds to the dish’s authenticity.

This dish is so quick and easy that you can cook it on a weeknight after work, without spending hours in the kitchen. Whichever day of the week you choose, this recipe will prove an instant winner & soon become a stalwart of your repertoire. I served the tagine with cauliflower-rice, but you could equally forgo this in favour of steamed vegetables such as broccoli or mange-tout.

Firstly, roughly slice an aubergine and sprinkle the slices liberally with salt and pepper. Place them onto a baking-tray and drizzle with olive-oil to coat. Roast in a hot oven for circa 45 minutes, or until golden and soft to the touch.

To make the tagine, season your lamb and seal in hot oil in a pan on the hob. Once browned both sides, throw in a handful of finely sliced onion or shallots, chopped garlic and chilli. Once these start to soften, sprinkle in a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, two teaspoons of cumin, one of paprika and half a teaspoon of ground coriander.  Stir these in, then deglaze the pan with a little port or red wine. This contributes to the rich sweetness of the dish and helps add that all important warmth.

Whilst the wine is reducing, drain half a can of tomatoes, discarding the juice. Add this to the pan, followed by the grated zest of half a lemon and orange. Finely slice a handful of mint and stir this through the sauce and then crumble in a chicken stock cube. Season and test for flavour. If the sauce lacks freshness add a quick squeeze of lemon juice. There should be enough liquid in the pan to come up to the ‘waist’ of the pan’s contents. If water is required, pour on and stir. Then place the pan into the oven for 20 minutes to cook through.

After this, both tagine and aubergine should be ready at the same time. If the tagine is still liquidy, stir in a small amount of tomato purée and reduce on the hob for another minute. Equally, if the chilli flavour is too dominant, add a quick sprinkle of table-sweetener, which will balance the taste. Ladle the lamb onto a plate, with the aubergine piled up beside it. Pour on a generous quantity of the rich sauce and garnish with more chopped mint and lemon-slices.

All that’s left is to enjoy!

Thank you for reading and bon ap!

Adam.

Who can resist the taste of seared ground beef, topped with sizzlingly melted cheese? Not me! I’m constantly amazed that you can eat this sort of food on a diet. Well that’s the wonder of a low-carb, ketogenic regime – now you can!

Okay, so the levels of cheese in this dish may be a little gratuitous, but on a LCHF diet we certainly shouldn’t be scrimping on fat. It fills you up & provides the essential calories which would otherwise have been gained from carbs.

The stuffed-peppers are something which marries both taste and practicality. Leftovers are a reality of every kitchen, & the low-carb-kitchen is no exception! Last night’s sausage-meat & sage stuffing, that was so delicious with roast chicken; now gets a second lease of life in yet another mouth-watering low-carb dish.

Peppers provide a great opportunity to use up odd bits & bobs which might otherwise prove insufficient to make it on their own. If you don’t have a pre–made mix to use up, then combine what you do have; mix it with a bit of cheese, and hey presto, Bob’s your uncle! Great combinations include tomato, ham & blue cheese, mushrooms, spinach & goat’s cheese, or even mackerel leek & parmesan. Left-over cauliflower-rice or zoodles can happily find a new home; and a second benefit is that all options make you look like a gastronomic superstar! What creativity! The choice is endless!

If you wish to make this from scratch, I include the recipe for the filling immediately below. If you prefer to go off-piste, then feel free to get creative! If you come up with something truly inspirational, be sure to let me know! The only guidance is that you include sufficient oil or butter to soften the peppers whilst they cook. If not, you risk a burnt topping and unpleasantly raw capsicums!

To make the stuffing, finely chop a small onion, half a courgette, and a handful of sage. Add these to a large mixing bowl then stir in a handful of roughly diced mushrooms. Then we add the same volume of bite-size chunks of sausage-meat (or sliced sausage) and circa 100g of ground almonds. Season really well and stir in some dried sage in addition to fresh. Beat an egg and mix this in, so that you have a texture which clumps & sticks slightly together like a lose dough.

Spoon your filling into halved & de-seeded peppers then dot the surface with butter or drizzle on a little oil. Place into a greased roasting-dish and bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes, topping with a final grating of cheese for the last 10 minutes. When the peppers are soft to the touch and the surface is bubbly & browned, remove from the oven and place onto your pre-warmed serving-dish.

Whilst the cheese is browning, place a griddle-pan or frying pan onto the hob to heat through. Once piping hot, sear your burgers, between 1 to 3 minutes each side, depending on how you like them cooked (1 minute for rare, 3 for well done). Once you’ve turned them, top each burger with a slice of cheese to melt slowly whilst the underside cooks.

When seared to perfection, scoop out of the pan with a sturdy fish-slice and serve next to your peppers and garnish with dressed leaves. What could be better? The perfect quick, hassle-free, low-carb dinner for a cold and wintry evening!

Thanks for reading and bon ap!

Adam.

Food must occasionally have that all important sense of nostalgia; and low-carb cooking is certainly no different! For as long as the English have roasted chickens, the combination of sage and onion have partnered them with outstanding & mouth-watering results. All three flavours are so warm and inviting that they speak ‘comfort’ with every mouthful.

The stuffing I’ve prepared here could equally be used as a main course in its own right, served with vegetables as a form of mushroom & almond meatloaf. The texture is dense and filling with a pleasing crunch on top; something so often lacking in low-carb cuisine.

This is another dish where you’ll find it hard to believe that it’s ‘diet-food’. The recipe is so rich and satisfying, you’ll return to it time and time again. And because it’s virtually free from carbs, it’s ideal for diabetics, ketogenic-dieters and those with an intolerance to gluten. Why not pretend that you’re all three, so you can eat like this every night!

Start by seasoning your chicken all over, then place it breast-side down into an oven-dish. Roasting the chicken upside down for the first hour will mean that all the fat and juices sink down into the breast, preventing it from being dry. Once golden and brown on the underside, turn the chicken over and re-season the top, making sure to provide enough salt that the skin crisps up and turns a fine, succulent bronze. This will take a further half hour to 45 minutes.

Whilst the chicken is roasting, make your stuffing. This couldn’t be easier. I’ve made a large amount to use as leftovers later in the week, but you could roughly halve the ingredients if you wanted to make less & eat it all up in one go.

Finely chop an onion, one courgette, and a handful of sage. Add these to a large mixing bowl then stir in 2 handfuls of roughly diced mushrooms, the same volume of bite-size chunks of sausage-meat (or sliced sausage) and circa 400g of ground almonds. Season really well and stir in some dried sage in addition to fresh. Beat three eggs and mix these in, so that you have a texture which clumps and sticks together like a lose dough.

Butter a baking-dish, then spread your mixture to minimum one centimetre in depth. Generously spot the top with knobs of salted butter, then bake for 1 hour, until brown and crunchy on top, and wonderfully aromatic!

Take your chicken out of the oven to rest covered in foil for ten minutes. Whilst the meat is resting, make your cheese sauce. Heat a cupful of cream in a saucepan, then add half a cup of grated gruyere and a third of a cup of parmesan. Grind on black pepper and add a handful of finely chopped sage and basil. Reduce on the hob for 5 minutes until thick and glossy.

Take your stuffing out of the oven and pile up beside your chicken. Pour half of the sauce over the stuffing, keeping the other half for people to serve themselves at the table.

Few things can be more heart warming and delicious that hot roasted chicken with sage. Low-carb dining doesn’t get any better than this!

Thank you for reading and bon ap!

Adam.

Some dishes are so steeped in culture & tradition that tracing their origins to find the one true ‘definitive recipe’ is nigh on impossible. Jerk-chicken is one such thing. The millions of variants all proclaim to be ‘original and authentic’, all using an extra shake of this or a secret touch of that. The one thing they all have in common however is the inclusion of allspice and scotch-bonnet chillies!

My diabetic-friendly interpretation makes no claim whatsoever to be authentic or original. What is does claim though, is to be every bit as delicious as its high sugar counterparts. I also claim ease, speed and incredibly low levels of carbohydrate. What more could you want?

Before I go into the recipe, just a quick word about allspice. Please forgive me if I’m preaching to the converted, but this was once a gap in my own knowledge-base. I therefore feel honour-bound to rescue others from the quagmire of ignorance which once plagued my own cooking know-how. Allspice is a berry, dried then ground into a powder. It is not a spice-mix, made up of generically blended ‘Christmassy’ spices, for use in mince-pies &tc. That is mixed spice! Sorry again if you already knew this; I shan’t mention it further. Consider yourself well & truly told!

Start by making your marinade. Into a large mixing-bowl, add 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 finely chopped scotch-bonnet chillies, 1 tablespoon of allspice, 3 tablespoons of lemon-juice, a teaspoon of dried thyme, 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil, a handful of finely chopped spring-onions and a heaped tablespoon of xylitol sweetener. Hot chilli requires quite a bit of sweetness, so don’t hold back on the xylitol! Mix these all together, then add your chicken to the bowl. You can blitz the paste until smooth in a food-processor if you like, but I personally prefer it more textured. Cover with a tea-towel and leave to stand for between an hour and a day. It’s completely up to you. Just bear in mind that flavours develop in intensity the longer they’re allowed to imbue.

Heat a glug of oil in a thick-bottomed pan, then add you chicken when the oil is piping hot. Whilst it browns, finely slice onion and peppers and add these to the pan. Once one side is done, turn the chicken and continue to caramelise the underside. After a couple of minutes, pour on half an inch depth of water, and place into the oven for 20 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced.

Meanwhile, make your cauliflower-rice. Instructions for this can be found in another blog as follows: cauliflower-rice. The only thing you do differently for this recipe, is add a tablespoon of coconut-oil to the butter, and throw in a handful of dessicated coconut whilst the rice is cooking. Microwave fresh or frozen spinach, then add this to rice, stirring through at the last moment.

Pile the rice into your pre-warmed serving-dish, then spoon the chicken and sauce all over it. Finish with a final flourish of coriander, or chopped herb of your choice. The taste should be hot, spicy, sweet, aromatic and incredibly morish! This dish is very difficult to leave alone if it’s looking like there’s leftovers. Good job then it’s low carb!

Thanks for reading and bon ap!

Adam.

When people refer to French cookery, they don’t mean a list of complex ingredients or fiddly, time-consuming recipes. They’re actually referencing a way of cooking. French cuisine is a methodology; a time-honoured discipline, designed to bring the best out of ingredients. When the French refer to the ‘art of cookery’; art in French means type or style. The ‘French-style’ requires the mastery of a few basic techniques which, once learnt; will deliver consistently outstanding results.

One of these competencies is the classic French method of cooking meat. There’s a stately ritualism to this process, which is almost comforting in its cadences. The succulent sealing-in & caramelisation of the meat is followed by the slow softening of shallots & garlic; then deglazing the pan with a magnificent whooshing ‘sigh’, as wine hits the thirsty metal-surface of the pan. As the kitchen fills with the delicious aroma of melting butter, fresh herbs and pan-seared meats, you’ll begin to feel like an alchemist creating pure gold from the very simplest of ingredients. It is truly an art worth learning!

This dish calls on the heady Normandy digestif calvados to bring out the sweetness of the pork and deliver depth to the sauce. Apples may be off the list on a low-carb diet, but a good glug of calvados reduced down in the pan certainly won’t impact the blood-sugar. This dish pays tribute to the classic affinity between pork and apple, that’s enchanted the taste-buds for hundreds of years past. What could be more welcoming on a cold Autumn’s evening that this?

Bring your pork to room-temperature and season well both sides. Heat a metal-lined sauté-pan on the hob (non-stick doesn’t deglaze with pleasing results) and throw in a knob of salted butter followed by a dash of oil. The sizzle should be a rewarding sensation in itself, as should the aroma. Add your pork to the pan and seal on each side until it’s golden brown and deliciously caramelised. You must excuse me for constantly repeating myself, but it needs to be said…! Do not fuss around with the meat in the pan or move it until it’s good and ready. No-one likes to be mothered; why do it to your dinner?! When the pork is ready to be turned, it will release itself of its own accord in response to the merest touch with finger or wooden-spoon. If it sticks, it’s not ready. We want the meat to caramelise and brown; not steam! And do not crowd it in the pan or the same will happen!

Once the meat is beautifully golden on each side, lift out of the pan and tip in sliced shallots, leek & chopped garlic. Soften these until translucent and just starting to brown, then crank up the heat as high as you can. This is not some obscure act of retribution, you simply want the pan to be as hot as possible for when you pour in the spirits. That way, you’ll deglaze with the maximum effectiveness, lifting all the caramelised flavours straight off the bottom of the pan. Once it’s good and hot pour in your measure of calvados, making sure to stand over the pan and enjoy the cloud of sweet, alcoholic steam which billows beautifully out into the kitchen! Once the liquid has all but evaporated, pour in a 3/4 inch depth of chicken stock (or water and stock cubes) and place your pork back into the pan, ensuring it’s surface is not submerged. Dissolve a small teaspoon of Dijon mustard into the pan and add a bay-leaf or two for warmth. Reduce this down for 20 minutes until the sauce is barely lapping the top of the vegetables then stir in a good handful of chopped parsley.

Whilst the sauce is reducing, thinly shred your cabbage and give it a good rinse. Add butter to a fresh pan and briefly sauté crushed garlic until soft but not brown. Place the cabbage into the pan, retaining what little water is clinging to the leaves after rinsing. Season, then fit the lid on firmly. Steam for three to five minutes, then spoon into your pre-warmed serving-dish.

Arrange your pork atop the cabbage, then test the sauce for seasoning. There are two schools of thought on this dish – cream or no cream. I have not added it, as I like the sauce to retain the clean taste of apples. If you like however, add a swirl of double cream at the final stage of cooking. This adds richness and the luxurious touch of velvet. It is entirely a matter of preference and a decision I leave completely up to you. Give it a go both ways and get back to me with your results.

Whichever way you’ve chosen to finish your sauce, pour this liberally over the pork and cabbage, then garnish with a final flourish of chopped parsley. Classical comfort food at its best! The results certainly won’t disappoint.

Thanks for reading and bon ap!

Adam.

You can’t beat a classic; but you can speed it up! Coq-au-vin is traditionally cooked with meat on the bone (thighs, drumsticks &tc). Although delicious, when you’re late home from work on a week-night; we don’t all have that luxury of time. But this doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a satisfying home-cooked meal!

This dish sees the chicken cooked on the hob (far quicker than in the oven) . I use diced breast-pieces to speed things up a notch. You can of course revert to slower-cooked cuts of meat if you don’t have time constraints; but as it’s a Thursday-night, I’m opting for the faster version!

Start by sautéing chopped bacon (lardons) in a thick-bottomed pan. If more fat is required to prevent the bacon from sticking, then add a knob of butter and a splash of oil. Once browned, add your chicken-pieces.

Chop onions or shallots into hearty chunks and add these to the pan. Follow this with a little chopped garlic. Once the chicken and vegetables are nicely brown, deglaze the pan with a little red-wine. Once this is almost reduced, pour on water until the chicken is shoulder-high in liquid. Season well and crumble in a stock-cube.

Whilst your stock is reducing, place your mushrooms on a baking-tray and crush a little garlic onto each. Top this with a knob of button, season generously, then into the oven it goes. After 15 minutes, add slices of blue cheese, then bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the cheese is gloriously sizzling and just starting to brown.

By this time, your chicken should be almost ready. Add a squeeze of tomato purée and a good handful of mange-tout. Place a lid on the pan and steam the vegetables in the sauce for two minutes until al dente.

Ladle the chicken onto your serving-dish and position the mushrooms beside it. A final flourish of chopped parsley completes the job, and dinner is served!

All in all, a meal fit for a king (and a low-carb one at that!).

Thanks for ready and bon ap!

Adam