Late home from work again, so needed something I could just ‘let cook’ whilst I unwound and forgot the tensions of the day!

This meal has ‘comfort’ written all over it. The classic combination of garden sage & chicken marries beautifully with the saltiness of smoked bacon and richness of double-cream. Al dente green-vegetables finish it off perfectly, providing that all-important variation in texture & bite. Low-carb, low effort, maximum taste!

So how to make it…

Salt the skins of the chicken with a good quality sea-salt. Add pepper and chopped sage (fresh or dried), then place into a hot oven for minimum one hour until the skins are golden and crisp.

In a sauté pan, brown your diced smoked-bacon / lardons. When they start to caramelise, add a thinly sliced onion and crushed garlic (quantity to preference, I used x2 cloves for 4 portions). You can then stir in some sliced mushrooms. You may need to add some butter / oil to prevent the mix from sticking. Cook on a low heat until all is soft.

Once softened, turn up the heat and de-glaze the pan with a little white-wine or dry vermouth. Why vermouth? It has a strong taste, so you don’t need as much (better for the carb count), plus it can stay in the cupboard and only come out for cooking purposes. Opening a bottle of wine means you need to drink it; and white wine is NOT GOOD on a low carb diet!

Crumble in a chicken stock-cube and pour in enough water so that the vegetables are ‘shoulder-height’ in the pan. Allow to reduce to half its volume.

Meanwhile boil some water for your broccoli and peas. Blanch / steam these for circa 2 minutes then drain. Take the chicken out of the oven and serve alongside the vegetables. Finish the sauce with some double-cream and chopped herbs. Et voila! The perfect low-carb dinner that just begs for seconds!

Thank you for reading & bon ap!

Adam.

Low-carb comfort food at its best!

Coarse-ground pork sausages with a hint of sage; matched perfectly with buttery garlic peas & spinach. The sharp, tangy taste of feta ‘lifts’ the dish & freshens it; whilst retaining the all important ‘richness’, that lies at the heart of all comfort-food.

Quick, easy and ‘eat-in-an-armchairable’! Just perfect for those long autumn evenings with a chill in the air.

Slice your aubergine lengthways. Season well & glug on some good quality olive oil. Bake in the oven until soft & caramelised (40-ish mins). 10 minutes into the cooking time, put your sausages into an oven-dish and ‘loosen’ with a little oil to stop them sticking. Place in the moderate oven for half an hour.

Meanwhile, slice an onion & soften in butter until translucent. Add garlic and peas, plus a little water; and cook until the peas lose their resistance. I tend to stir in a stock cube for ‘warmth’ & background flavour, but this is not essential. Add some washed spinach and leave on the hob until wilted. At the very last minute, stir through some double-cream, season and crumble on the feta.

When the aubergine is cool enough to touch, add a slice of ham (or salami), then cheese, and roll into neat butterfly tongues. Place back in the oven for a few minutes to crisp the surface & melt the cheese.

Once all is cooked, pile onto a large plate & dig in! Make sure you prepare enough for everyone to have seconds!

Thanks for reading & bon ap!

Adam.

The heir-apparent to the French royal family has been known as the  ‘Dauphin’ since 1349. Strangely enough, it took until 1788 for the well-known potato dish to take on that name.

No potatoes for us! We’re low carb and shall ‘make do’ with something infinitely richer in taste: celery & peppers!

Bring some water to the boil and blanch your celery, cut into 2 inch chunks.

In a casserole, soften a sliced onion in butter until translucent. Be careful the butter doesn’t burn as the dish will acquire a ‘muddy’ taste. Add some crushed garlic (as much or as little as you like), then throw in your finely sliced red pepper.

Drain the celery and stir into the mix. Season, then pour on some double-cream, until the vegetables are ‘waist-deep’ in the stuff! Grate some cheese on top and sprinkle with chopped herbs. Into the oven it goes for circa 20 minutes until pleasingly golden.

Place a sauteuse or skillet (or frying pan) onto the hob for the lamb. Add a small amount of oil or butter, so that it does not stick. Season the meat both sides, then lay it into the pan. The pan should be hot enough for it to give a good sizzle!

One dreadful cooking habit many people have, is prodding things! Do not move things around in the pan until they are ready to be turned! If you’re constantly moving things around, they will never brown. No-one likes to be mothered. The same goes for one’s dinner!

Once the meat is nice and caramelised, turn and cook the other side until the lamb is done to your preference. A final sprinkling of herbs and dinner is served!

Thank you for reading,

Adam.

This one is incredibly simple and quick.

Bratwurst is great. It reminds me of being on holiday in Germany & is quick to cook. It’s very low carb too. You sometimes have to be careful with sausages, as your traditional English ‘banger’ often contains breadcrumbs (a definite keto-no-no!).

Place the sausages onto a backing tray, with a little oil so they don’t stick. Into the oven for 20 minutes and you’re away!

Taleggio is a pungent, soft-rinded cheese from Lombardy, Italy. It has that pleasing ‘bite’ and is surprisingly mild, given its strong aroma. It works well in salads, due to its texture and mouth-feel – a perfect contrast to both crunchy and butter-leafed salads alike!

Wild rocket leaves, mange-tout and Taleggio, mixed in a bowl. Season, then glug over a good quality olive oil. Serve alongside the sausages. A quick and perfect ketogenic lunch!

I must confess to having had three sausages in the end! That is the joy of the ketogenic diet: deprivation and feelings of lingering hunger are a thing of the past!

Thank you for reading,

A.

Late home from work this evening, so a quick meal; but nevertheless a perfect low-carb delight!

Two courses:

A starter of padron peppers sauteed in olive oil with Roman Spianata salami & parmesan shavings.

Padron peppers are a new discovery and a thing of wonder! One in ten is fiery like a chilli-pepper; the other nine are sweet and pleasing like their more pedestrian cousins; the classic and reliable capsicum. So what to do with them?

Heat a good quality olive oil in a sautee pan. Tumble in the peppers, enjoying the sizzle as they hit the pan. Sautee for a few minutes, turning regularly until they have panda-spots of brown and a fine blister! Add a good pinch of maldon salt, a grind of pepper and hey presto! Don Bob’s your uncle!

They are wonderful served up to guests as an accompaniment to drinks. The ‘one in ten’ thing can provide much needed conversation, should the guests err on the tedious! They are also that little bit different, so enough to make a refreshing break from the norm.

Here, they are served as a starter, with a little salad-leaf, slices of salami and parmesan. Very quick and easy, plus a little bit of fun!

For the main course, rump steak with creamy celeriac mash and french-greens in vinaigrette (mange-tout & sugar-snap peas). We are not huge steak eaters, but it serves when time is short. Also, because we do not eat it often, I need the practice of cooking it once in a while.

Celeriac-mash – peel ‘the big ugly’ and dice into half-inch chunks. Boil until tender. Add a lewd amount of butter, double-cream and seasoning. A dash of horseradish will equally not go astray. Pulverise with a stern masher, or set the electric whisk onto it until smooth.

Steak – no explanation needed (you are probably a lot better at cooking it than I).

French-greens tossed in home-made vinaigrette (recipe to follow in a separate strand). Steam or boil the vegetables, making sure to retain that all important bite. No-one likes a wimp; that equally applies to limp vegetables. Add a spoonful of vinaigrette, season and serve.

All in all, a low-carb masterpiece.

And yes; Keto-Kat did have some steak.

Thank you for reading,

A.

One of the nice things about having a blog is sharing the things you love. In my case; cooking.

Without further ado; last night’s ketogenic dinner: lamb burgers and halloumi with baked mushrooms and a green salad.

Very simple. Take lamb mince, add finely chopped onion, garlic and chilli. Season to within an inch of its life. No further.

Top the mushrooms with some butter, chopped herbs (in this case Greek basil) and season. Into the oven they go.

Mix the lamb mince with the above ingredients and form into burgers with your hands. Despite years of trying, they never end up the same size.

Seal the burgers in a pan until browned on both sides. Lift out and then brown the halloumi. Stack this on top with grace and poise. They can then join the mushrooms in the oven for 10 minutes. Hopefully everything will be ready together.

Anything you like can go into the salad. We had romaine lettuce, gouda, olives and poached eggs.

Hey presto – a low carb meal! Hopefully LCHF…