Chicken Caesar Springrolls – The Ultimate Low-Carb Wrap

There are certain magical food products that are just too good to be true. Rice paper, or springroll skins, is one of them. While many of you have enjoyed these at various Asian restaurants, I bet most of you have never tried to use these at home. There’s no need for a long winded post today. What you see, is what you get. Simply dampen the rice paper and roll up some lettuce, and strips of meat and/or veggies.

These are very easy to make once you get the hang of how long to soak the paper. Since these translucent “skins” are so cheap, it’s ok to practice on a few to get the technique down. Once you do, you have an incredibly versatile wrapper for an infinite number of fillings. These are easily found in the Asian section of any large chain super market. As far as low-carb alternative to tortillas and flatbreads, these rice paper skins are like a millionth of an inch thick, and as I joked in the clip, I’m not even sure you can measure the carbs! Although, I’m sure someone will, and post a comment on the site.

If you are making a bunch of these, you can store them wrapped in damp paper towels. Just don’t stack too many on top of each other and you can keep them in the fridge for a few hours and they should be fine.



Ingredients:
rice paper springroll skins
baby romaine leave
strips of cooked chicken breast
strips of red bell pepper

Buttermilk Fried Chicken - Why didn’t the chicken cross the blog?

A loyal, and observant, reader informed me that my almost famous buttermilk fried chicken recipe had not made the move over to this new blog. I was shocked and appalled. But, I recovered quickly, and so here you go. As you’ll see, the secret is getting the spice mix into the marinade, and into the chicken, instead of just the flour.

We’ve made this Southern favorite a lot faster and easier by using boneless/skinless thighs instead of the traditional whole cut-up chicken. The thighs cook much faster and more evenly than the usual array of chicken parts. The buttermilk marinade and spice mix is fairly traditional, but hey, why mess with perfection!

I’m assuming you’ve seen the mashed potato recipe video, but just in case, I linked it here. You can't serve these beautiful thighs with some water-logged,lumpy mashers! Also, I've included a very basic chicken gravy recipe video below.

Ingredients:
8-10 boneless/skinless chicken thighs
2 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
flour, for dredging
vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

Homemade Chicken Gravy

Help us bring down the powdered gravy mix industry! It’s just about as easy as making gravy from a mix anyway. You know that we usually use the de-glazed pan to make most of our sauces, but since we don't have that luxury, this will work for you. So, back away from that powdered gravy mix! This is a VERY basic recipe that you’ll want to jazz up with things like garlic, onions, peppers, etc. Make sure to use a really good chicken stock or broth… any sauce is only as good as the stock used!



Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Flour
1 Quart Chicken Stock Or Broth
1/3 Cup Cream
Salt And Pepper

Crab, Artichoke and Potato Croquettes – Three of my favorites go Dutch

The croquette is originally a French concoction, but thanks to a Dutch baker named Kwekkeboom it was introduced to the Netherlands where it grew in popularity. He fell in love with the crisp French version, and began producing croquettes filled with beef and other meats and vegetables. In fact, Croquettes are so popular in the Netherlands that McDonalds sells a version in a bun: called the McKroket. No, I’m not Mc’Kidding.

This version is incredibly easy to make and you will love its crisp, crunchy outside and the soft, tasty inside. The secret to the crisp coating is the Panko Japanese breadcrumbs. You can get these at the supermarket, and they really make a big difference. If you can’t find them (well, quite frankly, you didn’t try hard enough), you can use regular plain breadcrumbs and still get a nice result.

There is no secret to the delectable filling inside; you take potato, crab and artichoke, smash it all together. Three ingredients that are certainly terrific alone really enjoy each others company in this satisfying recipe. Of course, you don’t have to keep your mix so simple; adding lemon, garlic, herbs, and/or other exotic spices wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.

We served this under our Olive Oil Poached Tuna, but it makes a great main course all by itself. You can even do small half-dollar size and serve them as passed appetizers at that swanky holiday party.



Ingredients:
1 large cooked russet potato
1 can artichoke bottoms (14 oz)
8 oz crab meat
1 egg
Salt, black pepper and cayenne to taste
olive oil
Panko or plain breadcrumbs
fresh lemon optional

Olive Oil Poached Tombo Tuna – Do you have the courage to submerge?

Most people think of poaching as simmering something in a stock or wine, but today I’m going to show you a new way to poach; in an infused olive oil. There are countless combinations of times and temperatures for the oil and tuna. You can use my video as a general guide for the procedure, but it may take some experimenting to get “your” version perfect. As you’ll hear me say in the demo, this is more of an idea, than a recipe. After watching, I want you to try this with different combinations of oil flavorings and spice rubs, and of course, report back to the rest of the viewers.

The method is basic. Infuse some garlic and herbs in a nice olive oil, and then gently poach the spice-rubbed tuna in this delicious bath. I cooked mine sort of medium-rare-medium, so there was a bit of pink inside. But, if you like you tuna cooked all the way through, that’s OK, you’re not a bad person. As you watch this recipe don’t worry about all that oil, since it’s just used to cook the fish in, and very little actually makes it onto the plate.

Another trick with this method is to add the tuna to the hot oil, and then just turn it off and let it cool in the infused olive oil. You can then store the tuna and oil in the fridge and use it to crumble over a salad. You may never use canned tuna again! This is referred to as “tuna confit” by some. By the way, Tombo tuna is also known as Albacore, which is the type of tuna most commonly canned. It’s also easier to find, and cheaper, than Ahi, which is that dark red fleshed tuna you’ve seen me use before.

Also, I served this simple tuna preparation on some amazing Crab, Artichoke and Potato Croquettes, which I will also demo. If fact, the tuna was really just an excuse for making the Croquettes, and when you taste them you’ll know why. Finally, if you haven’t seen Citronette video recipe clip, check it out, as it made for the perfect light sauce for this dish,



Ingredients:
2 tuna steaks cut in half (will give you four 3-4 oz pieces)
extra virgin olive oil (enough to cover, about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, smashed but whole
8 sprigs fresh aromatic herbs (anything you like)
salt
black pepper
smoked paprika