Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook (34 page)

Unfortunately, balsamic vinegar contains carbohydrates, so while one is on a low-carb eating plan, the vinaigrettes need to be made without balsamic. For the sugar substitute in this recipe, I use a product called Stevia in the Raw. Also, for the vinaigrette here, I splurge and use fleur de sel. This salad meets the strict requirements of looking good and tasting fabulous.

For the vinaigrette:

In a glass bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk the mustard with the vinegar, sugar substitute, salt, and pepper to taste. Whisk well to make sure the sugar substitute and salt are dissolved. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. You are making an emulsion, so keep whisking until the mixture is thick and evenly mixed. You may need to check the sides of the bowl or measuring cup, and use a spatula to scrape all the sugar substitute into the mixture. Set aside while you make the salad, but do not wash your whisk; you will need it again.

For the salad:

Divide the arugula among 4 salad plates. Top the arugula with the sliced strawberries (each serving gets the equivalent of 4 strawberries). Top each serving with 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Whisk the vinaigrette again and sprinkle about 1 tablespoon vinaigrette on top of each serving.

Makes 4 servings

This will fool your brain into thinking you are having mashed potatoes. (You can imagine what our family thought of mashed cauliflower. So I served them baked potatoes when I had the cauliflower mash.)

1.
Bring a large pot of spring water to a boil over high heat. Add the florets and salt and reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook, uncovered, until the cauliflower is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Drain thoroughly in a colander. You may need to shake the colander to remove moisture
. (This is the key to having a mash that is not watery.)

2.
When the cauliflower is no longer dripping any water, place it in a large bowl and either use a potato masher to mash it, or beat it on low speed with an electric beater. You can also process it in a food processor.

3.
Place the butter in a large skillet and melt it over low heat. Add the mashed cauliflower and stir. Add cream a little bit at a time, until you have reached a consistency you like. Salt and pepper the cauliflower to taste, and heat very gently. Whatever you don't consume that night can be cooled and stored in the refrigerator.

Makes about 6 servings

Spinach and garlic are yet another marriage made in culinary heaven. To avoid dealing with little bits of burned garlic, use garlic oil, available at specialty food shops or by mail order.

1.
Wash the spinach, but do not spin it. You want some moisture on the leaves.

2.
Pour the oil into a large sauté pan, and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil ripples slightly, put in the moist spinach. It will sizzle, so stand well away from the pan. Using tongs, toss the spinach for a moment, until it cooks down enough to place a lid on the pan. Cook until the spinach is completely wilted, only about a minute or two. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 to 3 servings

When I was young and started doing the family cooking, one box of frozen vegetables used to be called “Green Beans Amandine.” It was easy to make: Boil a bit of spring water, add the block of frozen sliced beans, cook for a few minutes, then open the teensy-weensy package of sliced almonds that came with the beans, and sprinkle them on top. Now, we are very fortunate to have fresh, slender French green beans (haricots verts) at almost every grocery store. We can also buy roasted, salted Marcona almonds. (At this writing, both are available at Costco.)

1.
Bring a large quantity of spring water to boil. (If you have a pasta pentola, it will work perfectly, because you will not be cooking the beans long, and they need to drain quickly.) Add the 1 teaspoon salt to the cooking water. Have your serving dish ready.

2.
Add the beans to the water and reduce the heat. Cook 1 minute. Using tongs, remove one bean from the water, allow it to cool slightly, and taste it. It should be just done. If it still tastes raw, cook the beans another 30 seconds.

3.
Quickly drain the beans. You want them to be cooked, but crunchy. Place them in the serving dish, place a large hunk of butter on top, and sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and chopped almonds.

Makes 4 large servings

On a low-carb diet, mayonnaise and avocados are a-okay. This recipe is good if you have people over for a summer lunch or dinner. It is similar to a dish from
Chopping Spree,
but that dressing contains sugar. The
sauce gribiche
here is full of flavor. (You can also serve it with the Tenderloin of Beef,
here
.) When this dish is sprinkled with paprika, it looks ready for a photo shoot. Use one avocado per person if you are serving this for a main dish. (For the shrimp, I buy the “wheel” of shrimp cocktail from Costco or the grocery store, discard the sauce, and remove all the shells.) I make the
gribiche
first, so the avocados do not have a chance to turn brown.

For the
sauce gribiche:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the scallions, gherkins, capers, parsley, tarragon, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, sugar substitute, egg, and pepper to taste. Stir in the mayonnaise. Process until the ingredients are well mixed (but not puréed; you want the distinctive aspects of the sauce to shine through), 10 to 15 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to use. Just before serving, take the sauce out of the refrigerator.

For the salad:

Arrange 4 or 5 lettuce leaves on each of 4 salad plates. Peel, halve, and pit the avocados. Place 2 avocado halves on the arranged leaves, and place 4 shrimp on each avocado half. Spoon about ¼ cup
sauce gribiche
on top of each serving. (Any unused
gribiche
—you may have about ½ cup—can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 2 days.) Sprinkle each serving with paprika. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

This was actually one of the very first dishes I made for Jim that wasn't out of a box. Mrs. Tita Peters, an amazing cook and the mother of my maid of honor, Louise, used to make it. Tita sent me the recipe, to which I have made very few changes over the years. Jim loved this dish, as does the family to this day. You make the brine first, so the chicken can soak in it for several hours or overnight before cooking.

1.
In a large glass bowl, stir the salt into the water. Stir until it is completely dissolved. Carefully place the thighs in the brine, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.

2.
When you are ready to make the chicken, line one or two large plates with paper towels and have more paper towels ready. Carefully place the bowl in the sink and drain off the brine. Rinse the chicken pieces with cold water, then fill the bowl with cold water and allow the chicken pieces to sit for 10 minutes, to remove excess salt.

3.
Using tongs, place the chicken pieces on the paper towels and pat them dry.

4.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

5.
Smear
all
the butter in a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish. Place the chicken pieces (you should have about 6) into the pan. Pour the
lemon juice over the chicken. Crumble the tarragon over the chicken pieces, so that each piece is thoroughly covered. Salt and pepper the chicken, and place a meat thermometer into one of the pieces, so that it does not touch the bone or the bottom of the pan.

6.
Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the thermometer reads 170˚F. Remove the pan from the oven, tent it with foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

7.
Using tongs, place the chicken pieces on an attractive platter. Pour the accumulated juices into a gravy boat. Surround the chicken pieces with large stems of parsley and serve.

Makes 6 servings

This is our favorite dish for holiday dinners. The only challenge, if you buy a tenderloin that is untrimmed, is trimming it of the fat and membrane. Once trimmed, you wrestle the beef into a cylinder and use kitchen twine to tie it, so it will cook evenly. You must have a working meat thermometer to prepare this dish properly.

1.
If you are using the untrimmed tenderloin, use a sharp knife to carefully trim the beef of fat and visible membrane.

2.
Allow the beef to come to room temperature.
Tuck the slender end underneath the meat. Using four 12-inch pieces of kitchen twine, tie the beef at 2-inch intervals, so that it is in an even cylinder.

3.
Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Brush some of the garlic oil on the rack of a roasting pan.

4.
Place the meat on the roasting rack. Rub the meat with some garlic oil and pour any left over on top. In a small bowl, mix the salt, pepper, and tarragon. Sprinkle this evenly over the roast. Insert a meat thermometer into the beef. (For this and all other recipes using a meat thermometer, I use a digital probe type, set to a certain temperature.)

5.
Roast until the meat thermometer reads 125˚F for medium-rare (about 1 hour, but watch the
thermometer carefully, or if your thermometer comes with an alarm, set it to beep to remind you when the roast comes to 125˚F). Remove the roast from the oven and tent it with foil. Allow to rest for 15 minutes. (The meat will rise 5 degrees in temperature while it is resting.)

6.
Place the meat on a platter. Either pour the accumulated pan juices over the meat or serve it separately in a gravy boat. Serve with
sauce gribiche
or horseradish sauce.

Makes 8 to 12 servings

One of the few guilt-free desserts you can have on a low-carb diet is berries, either sweetened with sugar substitute or served with sugarless yogurt or cream. Still, it's better than nothing, and you can also serve berries with the Sugar-Free Vanilla Gelato (
here
). I originally developed this recipe before Greek yogurt was widely available. I have tested the recipe with Greek yogurt, and it works well. The finished Yogurt Cream will be softer if you use Greek yogurt, but using it means you can skip the overnight draining step. If you choose to drain plain yogurt overnight, the resulting Yogurt Cream will be thicker and more substantial. Either way, you can indulge in a healthful bowl of lusciousness while the family is slicing into pieces of (store-bought) chocolate cake.

1.
If you are draining the regular yogurt, cut two 18-inch pieces of cheesecloth, wet them, and wring them out. Use them to line a sieve that you place over a large bowl. Spoon the regular (not Greek) yogurt into the sieve and cover the mixture with plastic wrap.

2.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator and allow the yogurt to drain overnight. In the morning, discard the accumulated liquid in the bottom of the bowl. (Again, if you are using the Greek yogurt, there is no need to do the overnight draining.)

3.
Just before serving, whip the cream. Stir in the vanilla, then the yogurt. Taste and carefully add sugar substitute, if desired, a small amount (less than a teaspoon) at a time. (A little goes a
long way here, and you cannot take it out once you've put it in. You may find that you like the yogurt-cream mixture as is, and do not want any sugar substitute. But I doubt it.)

4.
Place a cup of berries in a bowl and spoon a ½ cup or more of the yogurt cream over it. Enjoy with abandon.

Makes 4 or more servings