Chicken Cordon Bleu

 

This is Honky Tonk's  ALL TIME FAVORITE low carb recipe that I make. It's one of his favorites, low carb or not.  The pork rind breading gives it GREAT flavor.  I don't make it any other time except for when he is dieting and it is such a treat.

Tip: whenever possible, make enough dinner to have left overs for lunch the next day.  Most people don't have the time or the place to cook lunch and it may cause you to go high-carb.  This recipe is great for left overs. 

For the chicken:

2 chicken breasts, pounded thin

pork rinds, crushed fine

1 egg, beaten

ham slices

Swiss cheese, sliced

Season All

For the Sauce:

Heavy Cream

Butter

Parmesan Cheese, shredded

Place the chicken breasts in a gallon baggie and pound out as thin as you can with a rolling pin.  Place the pork rinds in a baggie and crush them as fine as you can.  Take the chicken out and cut it into 2-3 pieces per breast.  Try to cut them into long pieces to roll up.  Season with Season All on both sides. Take  however many slices of ham it takes lay them out on the chicken, then cover those with the slices of Swiss.  Roll up the chicken from one end and "pin" with several toothpicks.  Dredge in egg and then in pork rinds.  Place in a baking pan lined with parchment paper.  (you don't have to have the parchment, but it makes for AWESOME clean-up....just remove and trash and the dish is done!)  If you don't use parchment, spray a pan with Pam.  Bake at 350 degrees until center is done; about 25 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, melt about 2 Tbs. of butter in a pot.  Add 1 cup cream and bring to a simmer.  Add in parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup) and stir till melted.

When the chicken is done, remove the toothpicks and pour sauce over individual servings.  I like to serve it with lemoned (I know, not a word, but I like it :) broccoli.  I've never tried it, but it might be fun to roll a piece of asparagus up in the chicken...let me know if you try it!

I'll post a pic next time I make it.

 

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Mock Potato Salad

We we're having a barbeque with Honky Tonk's family the other night, and when I started to make potato salad, he groaned and said, "Please not potato salad....I love potato salad!"  So I ended up making two salads, one with potatoes and one with cauliflower.  I think they both tasted pretty good.

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cauliflower, steamed till fork tender

5-6 eggs, hard boiled (we like lots of eggs in our salad)

1/2 small onion, diced fine

1 cup Mayo

1 tsp Mustard

Vinegar

1 tsp Splenda

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

Optional:  I didn’t add these, but they might be a good idea:  dill pickle diced small, or just some dill for a little flavor punch.  I had potato salad the other day that had celery added for a little crunch and it wasn’t bad either.

Cook cauli and and drain and cool.  Cook eggs and peel and dice in large chunks.   Don’t add them until last so they don’t get smooshed (not a word, I know).  Mix your mayo, mustard, vinegar (splash or two), splenda, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Add in cooled potatoes and mix well.  Check flavor and adjust as needed with spices to add flavor or make sweeter.  Fold in eggs last so you don’t break up the pieces. 

PS…I started this post a year ago and never published it….HT is on his diet again, so maybe I’ll get a pic this time!

Italian Eggs

During induction, there is only one thing I cook for Spence for breakfast...eggs!  And then I try to do a million different variations on the theme.  I tried this one today.  Not bad.  The fresh basil on top was a little strong for the kids, so I recommend chopping it small and cooking it inside the eggs, or leaving it off all together.   Honky Tonk liked it though. 

I used to add different ingredients to scrambled eggs, but have found that the frittata is a much better medium for add-ins.  It holds all those little bursts of flavor inside vs. scramble which kind of leaves the other ingredients hanging.    I like a frittata better that an omelette, because I like to flip instead of fold to ensure it's cooked all the way through.  With a frittata, I can just broil the top, or what I usually do is just cut it in half in my small egg pan and when it is cooked through enough to flip, I just flip it over to finish cooking.  Sometimes I place a plate (I don't have a lid for my egg pan) over the top to help cook the top prior to flipping.  Just find what works for you. 

3 eggs

1 Tbs heavy cream

1 tsp water

butter

3 Tbs crumbled sausage

1-2 Tbs Feta with tomato and basil (Athenos)

1-2 Tbs green onions, sliced thin

2-3 Tbs shredded parmesan cheese

2 Tbs. diced tomato

fresh basil (optional)

salt and pepper

Cook sausage and turn off heat.  Beat eggs, cream and water.  Heat egg pan on med/low to  melt butter to coat. (you've got to use a good, heavy pan so you can cook long enough without burning) Pour in eggs.  Salt and pepper them.  ( I cannot stress the importance of salt enough when it comes to flavoring your food!)  Sprinkle in sausage.  Crumble the feta as small as you can while you sprinkle it on top.  Sprinkle onions on top.  If you want to put in chopped, fresh basil, do it now.  Cook eggs, sliding spatula around edges and underneath occasionally.  I may turn my heat all the way to low to let them slow cook without browning too much.   Option 1: As it cooks through enough to flip, cut it in half and place your spatula under eggs from the middle facing out.  Flip over each half.  Option 2: After cooked most of the way through, place (oven safe pan)

under broiler to finish cooking.  Add cheese after cooked and let melt.  Garnish with tomatoes and if you want a little basil...I think I added a little too much.  Next time I'm going to try cooking mine inside. 

Watch for the Green Chile Frittata next...it's our favorite!

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Fish Tacos in Lettuce Tortillas

 

Sometimes you just need Mexican food...right?!?!  I took a fish taco recipe that my friends introduced me to and turned it totally low carb last night.  Honkytonk (my husband) loved it!  I forgot cabbage at the store (aye yi yi!) and since we live outside of town, there was no hope to go back to the store.  So next time I'm going to try it either using cabbage as the tortilla or inside.  I think it may be a little heavy on the greens if I do both the lettuce wrap and cabbage inside...we'll see.  Let me know if you try it that way.  Also, they didn't have any ripe avocados at the store (you may be hearing me complain about "my store" a lot on here, but they WOULD HAVE been a great addition. 

Please forgive the vagueness of my recipe.  I didn't measure anything, but always check back because I'll try to turn it into a "real" recipe next time I make it. 

Ingredients:

white fish (I used tilapia, 2 filets)

pork rinds (regular or hot if you want heat; i mixed them)

season all

1 egg

oil

Cut fish into small cubes.  Season with Season All.  I highly recommend Season All for fish, but salt would be a good substitute.  Dredge in egg then in crushed pork rinds. Fry in a couple Tbs. of oil on medium heat.  It will only take a couple of minutes or less, turning once.

Beforehand, prepare:

Sauce:

1 cup sour cream

1 Tbs. powdered Hollendaise Sauce Mix (schilling)

1 Tbs. powdered Guacamole Mix

Pico De Gallo:

1 tomato, diced course

4 green onions, sliced small

squirt of lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

tsp. of jalepeno pepper diced fine (you can omit this if you want to.  I found that if you use the spicy pork rinds, that's plenty of heat)

Lettuce or cabbage Tortillas:

Peel off lettuce in whole pieces and cut into smaller sizes resembling cups.  You want them fairly small so you don't overwhelm the other ingredients.

ASSEMBLY:

Place 5 or 6 pieces of fish in the lettuce cups. Top with a couple tsp. or sauce and a spoonful of pico de gallo.  Add a splash of Tapitio hot sauce (Mexican food section of grocery store) and a squeeze of lime.  G

arnish with diced avocados and cilantro. (I forgot the cilantro....oops...and I had some right out in my herb garden...can't blame the store for that one!)

You should have left over sauce and pico, so throw some sour cream sauce in your scrambled eggs or frittata tomorrow morning along with some ham and green chiles and top with the pico de gallo...delicious! 

A big thanks to Josh and Annie for the original recipe!

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