Cookbook Review: Better Homes & Gardens Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes

A lot of Atkins diet followers RAVAGED this cookbook in their Amazon.com reviews. And I can see why: When I gave up potatoes, I found this cookbook inherently flawed because if you're in the beginning stages of Atkins, you can't eat anything in this particular book.

But if you're not depriving yourself of carbohydrates and are looking for some recipes that are simple because they utilize a crockpot and aren't too damning in the fat and calorie column, this is a very decent cookbook.

I got this book at Half-Price Books for about $7.00 back in the day. Amazon has some for sale that are second-hand and pretty damn cheap. This cookbook isn't a tome by Julia Child, but it would be good for anyone who is short on time but are ravenous when they get home.

Suggested picks:

Ratatouille, p. 26 - not just an annoyingly cute cartoon. We're talking some serious vegetables. And if you're like me and utterly baffled by eggplants, this is an easy way to cook this seriously delicious vegetable.

New Mexico Beef Stew, p. 50 - This is one that I'll be making in deference to my future husband and his love for spicy food. This stew gets its spice from chipolte peppers that are canned in adobo sauce. (Check the Hispanic section of your market and if you don't have that, check where the taco stuff usually lurks.) The first time I had these kind of peppers was when my buddy Paul and I were experimenting with various kinds of salsa and wow - they just add depth that you don't get from your typical green, red, jalapeno, etc.

Lentil Veggie Soup, p. 92 - I have this one marked special because this is perfect pantry soup and would be good if you have some leftover carrots or celery in your fridge that need to be used.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

This is me sans noodles. I'm pretty damn tasty and don't you want to make me?

I got this recipe out of the October & November 2008 issue of Taste of Home. Ryan told me the other day that he was digging pasta with white sauce, so I earmarked this recipe to try on a night when I was relatively short on time, wanted something relatively decadent, yet wouldn't make me want to cry mercy when I was on the treadmill. So why did I choose an Alfredo sauce? Well ... this one isn't too bad ...


Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
from Taste of Home October/November 2008

6 oz. uncooked fettuccine (that's half of a small box, yo)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chiken breasts, cubed (I used 2 frozen ones)
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt (eyeball it)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (again - use judgement - you don't need no measuring spoons!)
1 T. butter
1 T. (heaping) flour
1 1/2 c. fat-free half and half**
1 c. frozen peas, thawed (don't worry if they aren't totally thawed)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
**I didn't have this, so I basically used a 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream and what I had for milk in the fridge, which ended up being the rest of my skim milk and some 2% from my honey's stash.

Cook fettuccine according to the directions on the package. While this is cooking, saute chicken, onion, garlic, salt and cayenne in butter until the chicken is fully cooked. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually (who am I kidding? I dumped it in) add the half-and-half, peas and cheese. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Drain fettuccine; toss with chicken mixture.

Drumroll ... here are the nutrition facts: 1 c. equals 425 calories, 8 grams of fat ... 49 grams of carbs. Let's focus on the calories and fat. Those are good numbers.

A shout out ...

To my mama ... today's Mama Sharon's birthday. She's the woman who taught me how to cook and she's probably one of the most fabulous people on this earth.

I love you!

Monday Madness: Meet Erin McIntosh

Erin McIntosh is a member of my "urban family" here in Rochester. You know the group of people - you spend the most time with them, their kids are like your kids, you end up spending some portion of a holiday weekend with them and you hope to hell that when old age hits, you are all entrapped in the same nursing home.

In all honesty, I would forego almost any meal in the city of Rochester in favor of just sitting at Erin and Paul's house with a big old plate of his Penne a la Vodka in front of me and a smaller plate of his Kenny Rogers corn bread to my right. Erin's cooking is just that genuine and good. And because he is one of my favorite cooks in this world, he's agreed to talk for Monday Madness:

What is your first cooking memory? Probably making Christmas cookies every year ... We would make sugar cookies and throw flour at each other.

What is your go-to dish if you're cooking for friends? Pasta is always there. (Ed. note: YES!) I always have a pasta dish of some kind ... (although) when people come over I like having different things.


What is your favorite thing to make? That's a toss up between bread and dessert. Although I really like making dessert, there are health consequences to making them all of the time.


OK - so if you were on Death Row, what would be your last meal? (Erin is one of the only people who doesn't think that this question is strange. Instead, he pulls toward him his little black box of recipes that he's tried and perfected over the years to find that perfect meal.) For appetizers, crab and lobster stuffed mushrooms. A pre-entree would be that Craisin and cashew salad. My main course would be pasta with a side of sweet potato casserole. He looks up and smiles. Basically carbs, carbs and more carbs. And then a piece of cheesecake at the end.

Words of wisdom for other cooks: Make a mess, I know I do. Everything tastes better that way ... I'm serious! (Ed. note: The other secret to our success as cooks is that we have significant others that clean up after us. It's a good thing. And we love you for it.)

Penne a la Vodka
by Erin McIntosh

1 lb. penne
1 12 oz. can of stewed tomatoes or 8 oz. fresh tomatoes, quartered
Olive oil
3 T minced garlic
1/4 c. fresh basil
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. vodka
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to top with

Cook pasta according to directions on box. Saute garlic and tomatoes for five minutes. Add 1/2 c. vodka and simmer 10 minutes until reduced and thickened. Add basil and cream, heat slowly. Toss mixture with cooked pasta. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Italian Wedding Pasta

For those of you familiar with Italian Wedding Soup (commonly consists of meatballs, pasta and spinach), here is a variation by delish.com called Italian Wedding Pasta. And friends - prepare to fall in love.

Here's the breakdown ... the biggest pain in the arse factor that you're going to find with this particular recipe is making the meatballs, but after trying one of these solo outside of the pasta, I have a feeling that I might steal the meatball portion of this recipe if I ever make spaghetti and meatballs. These meatballs would freeze really well, so if you were inclined to make a ton of them, you could stockpile them in your freezer for use in this casserole, spaghetti and meatballs, etc.

I'm a pain in the arse to assemble, but you will love me!

I also like this recipe because in addition to having two of my favorite ingredients: cheese and pasta - it also has spinach. This could be a sneaky way of incorporating veggies in my someday kids' diets - especially if they take after their father and not me.

Italian Wedding Pasta from delish.com

1 lb. ground meat (recipe suggests turkey, I used ground pork because it was on sale ...)
1 1/4 c. unseasoned breadcrumbs
3 cloves garlic (you're supposed to squeeze one of them through a garlic press - I do not have that implement, so I just minced the hell out of the garlic and am pleased to report that there will be no vampire attacks in my household for the forseeable future)
1 egg
1 c. Romano cheese (I used an entire small tub of the grated stuff from Sargento)
1 box of bowtie pasta
1 T. cornstarch (didn't have ... used flour ... I'm bad)
1 1/2 c. 2% milk
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
9 oz. fresh baby spinach

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cake pan with tin foil. Make your meatballs: Combine meat, garlic and 1/4 c. of the Romano cheese. Form into balls (1 inch - should make 36 ... I did not count), bake for 20 minutes.

While you're assembling meatballs, start boiling a large pot of water for your pasta. Once water is boiling, add a little salt and the pasta - cooking for two minutes less than the package dictates. (That's about 8 minutes - keep in mind that you're going to be throwing this in the oven - your pasta will continue to cook as it absorbs the chicken broth, etc.)

Whisk together your milk and the cornstarch (or flour if your pantry's a mess like mine and Argo goes missing). Once the pasta's done, drain and add the milk mixture and chicken broth back in with the cooked pasta. Heat to a boil and boil for one minute to thicken the sauce. Stir in spinach, 3/4 c. of Romano and your baked meatballs (again, they might be not entirely done - they will keep baking in the oven). Top the pasta with the rest of the Romano cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

Verdict: I'm in love with this dish. I have some in the freezer right now to check out its leftover quotient. If it freezes beautifully, I think I might weep with joy. (Update: 11/1/08 - It freezes beautifully. I love you pasta!)

A love letter to Ina

For those of you who aren’t freaks and don’t know the traveling schedules of your favorite Food Network celebrities, my beloved Barefoot Contessa – real name: Ina Garten – signed copies of her new cookbook on Nov. 12, at Williams Sonoma in Edina. Since I have a side project working for my buddy Chuck (whose business is in Wayzata), I figured that I would mix business and pleasure and take an afternoon to drive up to the Twin Cities on Wednesday. And I would probably embarrass myself whilst walking into Williams Sonoma and drool on Ina Garten. (She’s very awesome – you need to check her out. I could only be that cool when I grow up.)

But as my luck would have it, it is a very foggy day in Minnesota this morning and I have responsibilities at my real job that I need to take care of. So Ina, my apologies for standing you up and please know that you should really travel to Minnesota in the fall or summer. If you do, you can help yourself to some of the bounty of produce that our local farmers harvest and enjoy balmy weather – not this icy shit that we are currently experiencing.

I watched the Steakhouse Classics Revisited last night and will make the filet mignon soon. I won’t even flinch if Ryan decides to put ketchup on it.

Love,
SK

A preview

Next week's Monday Madness will feature one of my favorite chefs of all-time and a recent meal he made for my urban family. The secret ingredient in every single recipe that Erin made? Alcohol.

This isn't Erin, this is my buddy Anne, sporting her contribution to the cause. And ignore the crappy quality of the photo. I was experimenting with my new career of shooting pictures of food and I forgot to turn the flash back on.