Cuban Eggs

I don't know why this is called Cuban Eggs.  Anyway, I found this recipe in the South Beach Diet for Beginners. Beginner cooks or beginner SB dieters? However you see it,  it can be either or both. This dish is quite easy to make and takes just half an hour. I made some adaptations to the recipe as you'll see from the notes in brackets. The sauce was quite flavorful with the tang of tomato but it overpowered the cheese. AJ enjoyed these eggs and we both pronounced this recipe "a keeper."

Eggs
8 large hard-cooked eggs (I used large eggs; egg size wasn't stipulated in the recipe)
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese (I used mild)
3 tablespoons non-fat half and half (5 tablespoons non-fat milk)
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce
1/2 cup onion, chopped (I used scallion, minced)
1/2 cup sweet green pepper (for color contrast; but any color will do. I had red pepper on hand)
1 tablespoon butter (Oh, no! Use olive oil instead)
2 tins (8 oz.) non-salt tomato sauce (I used 1 salt and 1 non-salt)
1 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce, optional (my addition)
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped (I used cilantro)

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Hardcook the eggs. Put eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Cover the pan and heat the water to boiling. Turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for 10 minutes. Rinse in cold water and remove shells. Split the eggs in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and put into a small bowl. But the whites in a 9-inch square baking dish.

Season the yolks. Mash the yolks with the back of a fork. Add the cheese and the milk. In fact, add just enough milk to make the yolks a thick consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fill each egg white with a heaping tablespoon of the yolk mixture. Place the filled eggs in a single layer in the baking dish.

Make the sauce. In a small skillet, heat the oil. Add the scallions and sweet pepper and cook until fragrant. Mix in the tomato sauce and add the Sriracha, if using. Pour over the eggs.

Bake the eggs. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and garnish with cilantro, if using.

Serve. For Phase Two, serve with hot cooked brown rice.

Cherry-Cranberry Fennel Scones

The Fennel and Golden Raisin Scones looked so pretty in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook that I decided to try them. My plan was to use up all the ingredients in my pantry before leaving for the States, but  I didn't have raisins on hand. I did have dried cherries and cranberry raisins. I didn't know how the combination would work but I went ahead anyway. Halfway through preparations, this recipe has to be frozen so it must be started the night before if you want them for breakfast. Or get up really early! Since Andy will be baking a few at a time for one person, I decided to brush the tops before freezing. To make these scones from start to finish takes at least 3 hours to 13 hours at most.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons fennel seeds, plus more for sprinkling
1 1/2 cups dried cherries and cranberry raisins combined, coarsely chopped
4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup olive oil plus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg lightly beaten

Prepare the ingredients. In a spice grinder or using a mortar and pestle, grind the fennel seeds coarsely. Set aside. Coarsely chop the cherries and cranberries and set aside. It's important to chop up the fruit otherwise large pieces get stuck in the biscuit/cookie cutter.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form. Add the dried fruit, cream, and 1/2 cup olive oil. Stir until the dough just comes together.

Make scones for freezing. Prepare a baking tray lined with waxed or parchment paper. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board. Dust your hands lightly with flour. Pat the dough into a circle about 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut rounds out of the dough. (My cookie cutter is 2 1/4 inches in diameter.) Place on the prepared baking tray about 1/2 inch apart. Gently pat the scraps together and continue cutting out rounds. I got 18  rounds out of this amount of dough.  Firm up the scones by freezing them for at least 2 hours or overnight. At the point, the scones can be put up in plastic bags for baking later. They can be stored for up to 3 weeks frozen.

Bake the scones. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Combine the beaten egg with the 1 tablespoon olive oil and brush lightly on top of the rounds. Using your thumb and forefingers, sprinkle the top of each round lightly with fennel seeds. Place the scones 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the scones are golden and the tops are flecked with brown spots. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool. Scones are at their best on the day they are baked.

The Cake Baker's Notes: I discovered that the scones were underdone even after 25 minutes. Perhaps the egg wash made them soggy. In any case, I recommend baking an additional 5 minutes or more, in 5 minute increments, up to a total of 10 additional minutes. The flavor was a cross between a savory and a sweet scone. The fennel gave it a light licorice flavor and the cranberries were tangy-sweet. The cherries were negligible, probably because they were unsweetened. I'd make this again using the flavored dried cherries since they have a stronger flavor to complement the fennel.

Chicken Salad

This is a delicious low fat, low salt chicken salad from the South Beach Diet Cookbook. Instead of mayonnaise, I used sour cream.  I did not need to add any additional salt to it. The taste is light and slightly tart, just perfect for a Phase One cold lunch.

Ingredients
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
3/4 cup (fat-free) sour cream
3 scallions, minced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (parsley in the original recipe)
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Cos, romaine, and/or iceberg lettuce, chopped
Tomato cut into wedges, optional

In a medium bowl combine chicken, sour cream, scallions, cilantro, lime zest. Toss well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Scoop into a mound on a bed of lettuce. Add tomato wedges, if desired.

Egg Muffin

That's right. I didn't leave out no "Mc"!

I made these muffins at 3 a.m. I have have such bad insomnia since I went back on the South Beach Diet. Anyway, I found this recipe for Egg Muffins on Kalyn's Kitchen which has a number of recipes dedicated to SBD. I liked it because it's been improved upon, but I used large eggs and had left over egg mixture. The recipe did state to use 12 eggs but did not stipulate what size eggs. Obviously large eggs were too large. I wish I had known that before. Still, it gave me the opportunity to use up the mummified veggies and leftover broccoli and peppers from dinner. I chopped them up along with three scallions and added them to the egg mixture. As you can see, I also have trouble following directions because I was supposed to put them in each cup before adding the beaten egg. I used salt and pepper instead of that Spike Seasoning, whatever it is. I know I'm grouchy. It's the lack of sleep.  The egg muffins came out pretty looking and didn't fall in the center as they did when I made them before. And how did they taste? As they say in Oz, not bad!

Marinated Steak and Roasted Asparagus with Shiitake Mushrooms

Beef tenderloin, roasted asparagus with mushrooms, broccoli with peppers, mashed cauliflower

 It's been years since I had a steak. I bought beef tenderloin, an expensive choice, but I might as well make my re-introduction to steak a class act. So here it is:

"Jo Anne, beefsteak."

"Beefsteak, Jo Anne."

Exeunt to the kitchen. After the introductions, now, how to cook this marvelous meat? This is a Phase One (South Beach Diet) recipe for Marinated London Broil. I made some adjustments to it for herbs I didn't have.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry sherry (dry red wine in the original recipe)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons dried parsley (fresh minced parsley in the original)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (fresh oregano in the original)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin

Whisk together oil, sherry, garlic, parsley, rosemary, bay leaf, and black pepper in a small bowl. Place the steak in a deep bowl and pour on the marinade. Turn once to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least four hours.

Spray a stove-top grill pan with cooking spray and heat it. Remove the herbs and bay leaf from the steak and put it in the pan.  Grill the steak for 5 minutes on one side then turn it over and grill the second side for an additional 5 minutes. Cut into thin slices across the grain. It came out medium rare, somewhat tasty, and quite chewy. Thai beef isn't particularly tender, which reminds me why I gave up beef in the first place.

Veggies prepared for roasting

I found this on another blog with South Beach Diet-type recipes. I adapted it because I didn't have Spike Seasoning. Unfortunately, it came out mummified as you can see on the plate above! According to the original recipe, the roasting time is less than 20 minutes. That's a pretty big leeway! After five minutes I noticed the asparagus had turned a bright green. I ought not to have taken my eyes off of it.

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
1 lb mushrooms, (I like shiitake) stems trimmed and caps sliced in half
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt (Spike Seasoning in the original recipe)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Combine all ingredients and spread on a single layer in a baking pan. Roast vegetables for 10, not 20 minutes, is my best guestimate.

Paper Wrapped Chicken Bundles

Poulet en papillote. Chicken in parchment. There is a recipe for it in the South Beach Diet cookbook but I got bored with it. Since I'm cooking for Phase One, I left out the sugar. I also left out the salt because it really didn't need it.  In my iteration, marinated chicken is wrapped in parchment bundles with bits of vegetable, and,  instead of deep frying, it is baked for just 5 minutes. The secret is to add a little oil to the marinade and slice the chicken into thin slivers with a sharp knife. Try these variations, such as, other kinds of meat, fish, and shrimp. This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Oriental Cookbook.

Ingredients for marinade
2 chicken breasts sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 tablespoon minced scallion
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Sliver of chicken sliced on the diagonal

Slice the chicken breast on the diagonal into 32 slivers of meat. To make it easier to slice, partially freeze the chicken. Place in a medium bowl with the marinade ingredients. Toss to coat thoroughly. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cut parchment paper squares and prepare vegetables for bundles.

Ingredients for bundles
32 five-inch squares of parchment paper
32 snow pea pods sliced in half on the diagonal
4 scallions sliced on the diagonal in 1 1/2 inch lengths

Ingredients ready for assembling into paper bundles

Place a parchment square with a pointed side facing you. Put two halves of pea pods in the center with a few scallions. Put a sliver of chicken on top.

Fold the bottom of the parchment towards the top, covering the filling. Crease. Fold the sides towards the center. Tuck the top flap into the folds.

Paper wrapped chicken bundle

As you wrap, preheat the oven to 400˚F. Place the bundle on a baking tray. Continue bundling and wrapping.

Bundles on a baking tray

Bake the bundles for 5 minutes. Through the parchment paper, you will see the chicken has turned a creamy color and will no longer be pink.

Chicken "en papillote" with sesame rice salad

Cinnamon Griddle Scones

Scones are always a good choice: they are egg-less and easy to make, plus there is that incomparable taste of warm fresh bread for breakfast. Well, I think so. When I found this recipe I wanted to try it because the scones are cooked on a griddle rather than baked in the oven. Another motive for making griddle scones is to try out the new griddle I bought this Christmas at Emporium. It was a splurge. I got it at 20% off for Baht 1200 (US $40.00). It wasn't exactly the best deal but I needed a good griddle pan. It's not on the South Beach Diet but I like to bake anyway and I have a husband and son who like to eat whatever I bake. So, here goes!

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons dry nonfat milk powder (original recipe: dry buttermilk solids)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening

Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, salt, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and the nonfat milk powder in a large bowl. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together in a ball.

Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead lightly.  Pat into a 6 1/2 inch circle. Here I'm using my metal Domo ruler to make sure it's wide enough--it's 7 inches.

Cut the circle into fourths and then into eighths.

Melt the two tablespoons shortening on a hot griddle pan.

Scoop up the wedges with a bench scraper and put them on the griddle. I like the fact they look a little "rustic" and uneven.

When the underside turns a golden brown, flip them over.

Cook the second side until it is golden brown.

Griddle scone ready to eat!

The inside should be dry and fluffy, looking more like a biscuit than a pancake.

Enjoy a plate of griddle scones with butter and jam. They are not sweet at all with just a hint of cinnamon. I'd like to try this again with dry buttermilk solids--if I can find it!

Shrimp Kabobs

This is a quick and easy meal to make that only takes half an hour from start to finish. The white soy sauce is a light brown soy sauce that barely colors the marinade but adds just the right amount of flavor. I adapted this recipe for Fish Kabobs from the South Beach Diet cookbook. So delicious!

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon Colman's mustard powder
1 tablespoon white soy sauce
36 medium shrimp, shelled and deveined, with tails (large shrimp is okay)
9 bamboo skewers (not necessary to soak them)

Preheat oven to 450˚F. Lightly oil a grill and place it over a pan lined with a sheet of aluminum foil for easy clean up.

In a medium glass baking dish, add the oil, lime juice, mustard, and soy sauce. Blend well with a spatula. Add the raw shrimp and toss to coat thoroughly. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes.

Thread 4 shrimp per skewer and place them in slightly overlapping rows. It's okay for the tails to touch. Put the shrimp kabobs in the oven to bake for 5-10 minutes, slightly longer if you are using large shrimp. The shrimp are cooked when they turn pink on both sides and are no longer translucent. Serve immediately.

The shrimp can also be grilled or broiled and will be cooked in half the time.

Glorious Sponge Cake

It really is a gorgeous cake! Light and airy yet moist and tender. I baked this cake for AJ and I frosted it with my favorite crème fraîche topping. It's better than ice cream! This cake recipe comes from allrecipes.com . For best results use a high speed mixer and a large (minimum 6 quart) aluminum mixing bowl.

6 eggs, cold, separated
1 cup superfine or caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon lime juice (lemon juice in original recipe but I like lime)
1 teaspoon lime zest (lemon zest in original recipe)
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Prepare to bake. Preheat oven 350˚F. Use a two-piece tube cake pan, ungreased and unfloured.

Mix the yolks. Separate the eggs. It's best to separate them cold. In a large bowl, whip egg yolks on high speed until the yolks thicken and turn lemon yellow. It took forever with my 280 watt hand held mixer. Gradually add the sugar. Add the water, lime juice, lime zest, and cake flour. Combine until dry ingredients are just moistened. Set aside.

Whipping the egg yolks until smooth and lemony

Whip the egg whites. In another large bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt. Whip until stiff peaks form. Add egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. Using a spatula, combine egg whites and yolk mixture with a cut and fold motion. Turn the bowl one quarter turn after each folding. Do not overmix the batter.

This is perfectly mixed and ready to pour into the pan

Get ready to bake. Scrape the batter into the tube pan. Cut the batter with a thin blade spatula to eliminate air pockets. Bake 1 hour or until done. The cracks should be dry, or the surface of the cake, when it is lightly pressed, springs back. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately invert onto a metal funnel or bottle.

The bottle with the thinnest neck in my kitchen happened to be a bottle of Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce

Perfect sponge cake

Frost the cooled cake. Cool in the pan one hour. Using a thin blade spatula, separate the sides and tube. Push down the tube onto a wire cooling rack and remove the sides. Using the thin blade, separate the cake bottom from the pan bottom. If desired, frost the cake by whipping up a batch of crème fraîche. Frost the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Crème Fraîche (from The Cake Bible)
1 carton heavy cream (about 8 ounces)
1/2 carton sour cream (about 4 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar

Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl and refrigerate 15 minutes. Whip until stiff peaks form. Frost the cake. Reserve any remaining crème fraîche for serving with the cake.

Sponge cake with crème fraîche frosting

To slice the cake, use a knife with a serrated edge, sometimes called a bread knife. Cut with a sawing motion. Don't press down. Refrigerate any uneaten portions. Tip:  cover the exposed cut cake with a piece of waxed paper to prevent it drying out in the refrigerator.

Perfect!

The finished height of this cake is approximately 5 inches. There are about 124 calories in each slice of cake and 110 calories per two tablespoons of crème fraîche.

Balsamic Chicken and Surprise South Beach Mashed "Potatoes"

Dinner was light--but filling! To go with oven baked balsamic chicken, there was sugar snap peas with tomatoes, cole slaw, pickled vegetables, and a creamy delicious mashed "potato" made from cauliflower.  Both recipes for the chicken and the cauliflower come from the South Beach Diet book.

Balsamic Chicken (adapted from the South Beach Diet Cookbook)

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more or less
1 teaspoon salt, more or less
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4-6 tablespoons white wine, optional
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Marinate the chicken, preferably overnight. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Mince the rosemary leaves (I didn't do it and  I think it would have tasted better without the big leaves of rosemary). Mince the garlic. Combine rosemary, garlic, pepper and salt in a small bowl and mix well. Place the chicken in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil and rub with the herb mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 10 hours.

Bake the chicken. Preheat the oven 450˚F (200˚C in my convection oven). Spray a heavy roasting pan with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the pan and bake for 10 minutes (7 minutes in the convection oven). Turn the chicken once. If the dripping sticks to the pan, stir in 3-4 tablespoons water or white wine (if using).

Make pan drippings. Bake about 10 minutes more (7 minutes in the convection oven) or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 160˚F. If the pan is dry, stir in 1-2 tablespoons water or wine to loosen the drippings. Drizzle the vinegar over the chicken breasts.

Serve. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate or serving dish. Stir the liquid in the pan and drizzle over the chicken.

Surprise South Beach Mashed "Potatoes"(adapted from the South Beach Diet Cookbook)

4 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 1/2 heads)
1 ounce butter (tastes better) or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
1 ounce fat free half and half or fat free milk
salt and pepper to taste

Steam or blanch the cauliflower until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Puree in a food processor, adding the butter or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and the half and half or milk. Season with salt and pepper.

Traditional Pancake Recipe

I used up the last of the Vietnamese strawberries to make pancakes for AJ's breakfast. No maple syrup but a liberal sprinkling of cinnamon sugar! This pancake recipe is my favorite. I've used it for years, doubled it, too. I've added chocolate chips and slices of banana to the batter.  I've made pancake faces for the kids when they were little and enjoyed a stack of them for Stampede Breakfast at Mom and Dad's house. Here is my "sovereign" recipe for pancakes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook.

1 egg, beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Spray cooking spray on a griddle on medium-high heat. Pour about a ladleful of batter on the hot griddle to make a four inch pancake.   When the top begins to bubble, flip the pancake over. Cook on the other side about 30 seconds or until golden brown on the bottom.  One batch makes four pancakes. Of course, spoon less to make smaller pancakes.

My New Year's Resolution: South Beach Diet Redux

Grilled pork tenderloin steaks, sugar snap peas with tomatoes, broccoli with peppers, and cole slaw

Of course, what new year's resolution does not involve going on a diet? 

This is actually Day 3 of the South Beach Diet. We went on the diet the day after we got back from Vietnam. The guys have been good sports about this, although this is also Andy's second circuit on the diet with me. Not surprisingly, he rebelled and requested banh mi (Vietnamese meatball sandwiches) yesterday. I stuck to the diet and ate this horrible fish fillet that tasted tough even after it had been defrosted and cooked. It's hard to go on a diet in Bangkok, especially when the city is in the midst of one of its mysterious food shortages. Sugar has disappeared from the shelves, no loss there, but it means there are other, um, disappearances. Tilapia is gone from the freezer section (my substitute for the expensive orange roughy). No red onions for cole slaw. Well, an onion is an onion. Cauliflower has disappeared, too (essential for Surprise South Beach Mashed "Potato"). Substitutions are indeed a must. However, I'm quite sure the cole slaw is not a fair substitute for the mashed "potato" but life isn't fair either!

Cole Slaw
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced (use red onion for color, if you wish) 
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lime zest
salt and pepper to taste

Shred the cabbage and put into a large bowl. Add the onion and the lime zest. Slice the lime and squeeze over the cabbage. Add the sugar, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Chill until ready to serve.

This is a great recipe and I particularly recommend using fresh lime juice instead of a vinegar substitute. It adds such a nice tart flavor to the salad.

I felt bad for the guys that there are no more desserts in the house so I baked an almond buttercake tonight. Then AJ grumbled he'd rather have it without the almonds.  It's impossible to please everybody, diet(ing) notwithstanding.