My dinner this evening was decadent and scrumptious: deep fried macaroni with marinara dipping sauce. Amazingly, thanks to my DS anatomy and some choice low-carb ingredients, it was also healthy for me!
Read on for the full recipe, instructions, and additional comments.
Ingredients:
Leftover low-carb macaroni and cheese, refrigerated at least overnight
2 eggs
Medium bag pork skins/pork rinds
Pepper
Garlic powder
Herbes de Provence (can use Italian Seasoning or other herbs instead)
Marinara sauce for dipping (optional)
Directions:
1. Place pork skins in large ziplock bag and crush the daylights out of them, until they are the consistency of bread crumbs. This part is fun! Take out all your frustrations on those suckers.
2. Add desired amount of pepper, garlic powder and Herbes de Provence (or Italian Seasoning). Shake well to combine. Transfer "breadcrumbs" to shallow bowl.
3. Whisk eggs and transfer to another shallow bowl.
4. Cover a baking sheet or large plate with wax paper, and put aside.
5. Remove leftover mac and cheese from fridge. It should have been refrigerated long enough that it is slightly firm. Using your hands, form the mac and cheese into balls. The balls should be approximately the size of a meatball or golf ball.
6. Roll each ball in "breadcrumbs", dip in eggs, then roll in "breadcrumbs" again. Repeat until you have made the desired number.
7. Place breaded macaroni balls on the waxed paper and put in freezer for 30 minutes.
8. Heat oil in deep fryer, dutch oven, or sturdy (tall) saucepan to about 350 degrees. There should be about 2 inches of oil, enough to cover the balls.
9. Remove macaroni balls from freezer and fry in batches of 2-3. (Do not fry too many at once as they will crowd and reduce the temperature of the oil.) Fry each batch for approximately 3-5 minutes, until outside is crispy and golden brown.
10. Transfer to paper towel to absorb excess oil before serving.
Additional Comments:
--For the macaroni and cheese, I used my leftover Paula Deen Dreamfields (recipe in this previous post). However, any leftover low-carb macaroni and cheese would probably work.
--I didn't provide a quantity of leftover mac and cheese, because this recipe can really be used to make as much or little as you like.
--This uses pork rinds, which make an awesome zero carb breadcrumb. A warning for those who have never cooked with them before - they do have a very potent smell fresh out of the bag. Once they have been crushed and fried in oil, they are quite yummy.
--If you are like me and do not have a deep fryer or an oil thermometer, you can use the following method: Take a tall, heavy duty saucepan. Add oil. Add 1 popcorn kernel before heating. Heat oil over medium flame. When the popcorn kernel pops, oil has reached about 350 and the balls are ready to fry.
--You can really get creative with the spices in these breadcrumbs. You could make them hot, or zesty by adding whatever you feel like. Likewise, I think these would be good with a variety of dipping sauces.
Unfortunately, I was not able to calculate exact nutritional information for this recipe. The pork rinds are not a complete protein, and it's difficult to figure exactly how much of the eggs made it into the balls. The complete nutritional information for the Paula Deen Dreamfield's mac and cheese was listed in that previous post. The pork rinds and eggs do add some additional fat and protein to that, but how much, I can't say. They definitely don't add any extra carbs, though, and that is what matters to me.
I considered wrapping these in bacon or chicken and ham (like a Cordon Bleu thing), but I decided not to get overly clever. To quote Spinal Tap: "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever". These are better simple, I think.
Ingredients:
Leftover low-carb macaroni and cheese, refrigerated at least overnight
2 eggs
Medium bag pork skins/pork rinds
Pepper
Garlic powder
Herbes de Provence (can use Italian Seasoning or other herbs instead)
Marinara sauce for dipping (optional)
Directions:
1. Place pork skins in large ziplock bag and crush the daylights out of them, until they are the consistency of bread crumbs. This part is fun! Take out all your frustrations on those suckers.
2. Add desired amount of pepper, garlic powder and Herbes de Provence (or Italian Seasoning). Shake well to combine. Transfer "breadcrumbs" to shallow bowl.
3. Whisk eggs and transfer to another shallow bowl.
4. Cover a baking sheet or large plate with wax paper, and put aside.
5. Remove leftover mac and cheese from fridge. It should have been refrigerated long enough that it is slightly firm. Using your hands, form the mac and cheese into balls. The balls should be approximately the size of a meatball or golf ball.
6. Roll each ball in "breadcrumbs", dip in eggs, then roll in "breadcrumbs" again. Repeat until you have made the desired number.
7. Place breaded macaroni balls on the waxed paper and put in freezer for 30 minutes.
8. Heat oil in deep fryer, dutch oven, or sturdy (tall) saucepan to about 350 degrees. There should be about 2 inches of oil, enough to cover the balls.
9. Remove macaroni balls from freezer and fry in batches of 2-3. (Do not fry too many at once as they will crowd and reduce the temperature of the oil.) Fry each batch for approximately 3-5 minutes, until outside is crispy and golden brown.
10. Transfer to paper towel to absorb excess oil before serving.
Additional Comments:
--For the macaroni and cheese, I used my leftover Paula Deen Dreamfields (recipe in this previous post). However, any leftover low-carb macaroni and cheese would probably work.
--I didn't provide a quantity of leftover mac and cheese, because this recipe can really be used to make as much or little as you like.
--This uses pork rinds, which make an awesome zero carb breadcrumb. A warning for those who have never cooked with them before - they do have a very potent smell fresh out of the bag. Once they have been crushed and fried in oil, they are quite yummy.
--If you are like me and do not have a deep fryer or an oil thermometer, you can use the following method: Take a tall, heavy duty saucepan. Add oil. Add 1 popcorn kernel before heating. Heat oil over medium flame. When the popcorn kernel pops, oil has reached about 350 and the balls are ready to fry.
--You can really get creative with the spices in these breadcrumbs. You could make them hot, or zesty by adding whatever you feel like. Likewise, I think these would be good with a variety of dipping sauces.
Unfortunately, I was not able to calculate exact nutritional information for this recipe. The pork rinds are not a complete protein, and it's difficult to figure exactly how much of the eggs made it into the balls. The complete nutritional information for the Paula Deen Dreamfield's mac and cheese was listed in that previous post. The pork rinds and eggs do add some additional fat and protein to that, but how much, I can't say. They definitely don't add any extra carbs, though, and that is what matters to me.
I considered wrapping these in bacon or chicken and ham (like a Cordon Bleu thing), but I decided not to get overly clever. To quote Spinal Tap: "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever". These are better simple, I think.
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