Crock Pot Beef Curry

I've gone on a cooking bender this weekend! I'm having a blast.

My local supermarket had an amazing sale on "Mock Tender" aka Chuck Eye steaks. I scored 2.5 lbs worth for a paltry $4.

However, although it's a flavorful cut, it's not one I particularly enjoy as a steak. It's a bit tough for me; I'm more of a filet mignon or ribeye gal.

I was in the mood for something spicy, and I came across this tasty looking recipe for a creamy beef curry done in the slow cooker. I tweaked the recipe a bit and I think it came out very well. My modified recipe is below.

Crock Pot Beef Curry 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2.5 lbs Chuck Eye beef, fat trimmed, cut into 1" cubes
1 tablespoon butter
2 sweet yellow onions, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, minced
2 green chili peppers, diced and seeds removed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
48 whole cardamom seeds (or 4 pods)
4 whole cloves
3/4 cup beef stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup almond flour
6 ounces plain greek yogurt (I used 1 container Chobani 2% plain)

I don't have step-by-step pictures for this dish, I'm sorry to say. I was in such a cooking frenzy this morning that I didn't have time to stop and snap photos along the way. But, here are the directions.

Step 1: Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Step 2: Brown the beef by adding to the skillet in batches. The trick is not to overcrowd. I ended up with 4 separate batches. Once each batch is browned, transfer it to the crock pot using slotted spoon. Make sure the juices stay behind in the skillet.

Step 3: Add butter to the skillet and deglaze the pan. Deglazing is an intimidating term, but it's super easy. It is done by taking a spatula and using the melting butter as a vehicle for scraping up all the tasty browned bits of beef that got stuck to the skillet. You want to make sure all that delicious flavor ends up in your dish.

Step 4: Add onions to skillet and saute, stirring, until softened and lightly browned.

Step 5: Add garlic, ginger root, chili peppers, cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom (all the "c" spices, as my spouse calls them), turmeric, salt, and peppercorns. Stir and cook for 1 minute.

Step 6: Add beef stock and bay leaf. Stir together and bring to a boil.

Step 7: Pour mixture over beef in crock pot. Stir well to combine, and make sure the beef is mostly covered by liquid.

Step 8: Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high 4-5 hours, until beef is tender. I cooked mine on high for 5 hours, because I wanted to get the beef as tender as possible.

Step 9: Use two forks to break the beef apart. It should be tender enough that it'll fall apart easily at this stage. Breaking it up helps the meat absorb some additional flavor prior to serving, and makes it look less "cube-y".

Step 10: Stir in almond flour, cover, and cook on high for 10 minutes.

Step 11: Just prior to serving, stir in Greek Yogurt.

I served this with sauteed garlic spinach and Naan, as my family are not big on rice. However, this would go well with rice too.

I enjoyed mine without even needing the Naan. (Okay, I did end up having one small bite of my Mom's.)  Yum! I think the leftovers tomorrow will be even more flavorful

Below is the nutritional breakdown for the beef curry, assuming 6 servings:

Calories: 333
Fat: 14 grams
Protein: 44 grams
Carbs: 6 grams
Fiber: 1 gram

Caramel Panna Cotta (with raspberries and dark chocolate sauce)

This is a scrumptious, DS-friendly dessert which is ridiculously easy to make. The heavy cream also makes it a good choice for anyone with lactose tolerance issues.

I came across the basic recipe at Linda's Low Carb Recipes. I am impressed by the simplicity and versatility of it; the recipe can be easily tweaked to create any flavor imaginable. I am looking forward to making a lemon version next, which ought to go beautifully with some fresh blueberries. 

For this initial attempt, I went with caramel. That would have been luxurious all on its own, but I figured, why not go for completely decadent? So, I garnished it with a dark chocolate sauce and a few fresh raspberries. Mmmm. 

Read on for instructions, step-by-step pics and nutritional information.

Brok's Fabulous Low Carb Pizza - Buffalo Chicken Style

Well, I returned from vacation and promptly caught the sinus-yuck that has been going around.

As a result, I haven't felt much up to cooking. But I have been craving pizza, so for lunch today, I  decided to make a variation of Brok's awesome pizza recipe. I can't thank Brok enough for sharing this recipe. It is a perfect DS food, and it definitely does fill the pizza craving.

So here's my twist on it. Read on for instructions, step-by-step pics, and nutritional information.

Gingerbread Yogurt Mousse

I'm finding that DaVinci sugar free syrups are a great way to flavor Greek Yogurt. This is currently my favorite method of doctoring it up.

Ingredients:
1 6 oz container Chobani (or other) plain Greek Yogurt
2 tbsp DaVinci SF Gingerbread Syrup
6 tbsp Reddi Whip Extra Creamy (or homemade whipped cream)

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, syrup and Splenda until well blended. Add 6 tbsp Reddi Whip, and fold in gently. Transfer to dessert bowl and chill in freezer for 10 minutes to firm.

Makes 1 serving, containing: 9.5 g fat, 8 g carbs, 17 g protein.

Suggestions:

• Can make this with any flavor syrup: pumpkin spice, lemon and caramel are favorites.
• Reddi Whip Extra Creamy does contain some sugar, but it is minimal in this quantity. If concerned, you can substitute SF or home made whipped cream. 
• Even yummier with a few fresh blackberries on top

Low-Carb Fried Macaroni & Cheese

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.

Dreamfields + Paula Deen = Delicious

The bitter cold weather outside has given me a hankering for warm, rich comfort foods. In particular, I've been craving homemade macaroni and cheese.

Pasta dishes are typically carb heavy, and therefore not DS-friendly. That is where Dreamfields Pasta saves the day. Admittedly, I am not 100% clear on the science behind Dreamfields. Their website has an explanation about why the "protected carbs" are not digested, but it all sounds a bit hinky to me. However, given that testing has apparently verified that it works, I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I choose to simply think of it as magic.

Anyway, this evening, armed with a box of Dreamfields elbow macaroni, I decided to make Paula Deen's Creamy Macaroni and Cheese .

It came out delicious. To my palate, it was completely indistinguishable from ordinary mac and cheese. The numbers were excellent as well. Each serving had 16 grams fat, 6 grams net carbs, and 11 grams protein.

If you like your mac and cheese straight-up, those numbers really rock.

Personally, I wanted to bump up the protein a bit. Besides, what isn't better with bacon, right? I crumbled two slices of crispy, thick-cut bacon and scattered them on top of my portion.  It added a fantastic crunchy texture, along with 8 additional grams of protein and 10 additional grams of fat.

I have a few other mix-in ideas for enhancing the flavor and increasing the protein: ham, seasoned ground beef, italian sausage. I may use some or all of these on the leftovers.