Keto Gnocchi

 Trying out a low-carb gnocchi recipe from Pinterest.

It contains...

• 8 oz (by weight) of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 5 tbsp of almond flour
• 1 tsp of xantham gum
• a pinch each of salt, pepper, and garlic powder

The process:

1. Obviously shred your cheese. Don't want to be buying pre-shredded with its anti-clumping additives.
2. Prep the egg and egg yolk in a small bowl.
3. Prep all of the dry ingredients in a cup or bowl.
4. Melt the cheese in a microwave for 30 seconds. Stir it up and microwave for thirty seconds more.
5. Combine all ingredients and knead/work into a "dough".

 

The dough that resulted from the recipe was wet and sticky. From watching cooking shows on YouTube, it's my understanding that you deal with a wet dough by adding more flour. I wasn't sure about adding more almond flour, so I used a "vital wheat" low-carb flour that I also have. This is obviously a deviation from the published recipe, so if it doesn't work, it's on me.

I left the gnocchi in the fridge for an hour or so before it was time to finish dinner prep. It's standard gnocchi procedure: put them in salted boiling water until they float, then take them out.

I served these with leftover lamb paprikash (which I salted up some), and I'm calling it a win. The overall salt content was around my upper limit, but the gnocchi are quite good. Definitely cheesy: you're definitely going to know there's a lot of mozzarella in them, but you won't be sad. Not as firm as grocery store gnocchi, but that might be adjustable.

Haricots Jaunes

This one is really about the yellow beans from the Madison Farmers' Market. These came from Una Acre Farm somewhere in Middle Tennessee. Cherry tomatoes are from the same source.

 

The chicken thighs were seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and put in the air fryer at 380F for thirty minutes. No big deal.

The cherry tomatoes were cut in half (for the most part) and seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, and Gina's Italian Seasoning. They got to marinate most of the afternoon.

I've never had yellow beans before, but I was told I could treat them like green beans, and haricots verts are the version of green beans that I have been able to tolerate. Don't give me boiled green beans, I don't want them.

1. Blanch the green beans in very salty boiling water for about three minutes.
2. Drain the beans (and dry them in a salad spinner, if you're me) and return them to the pan with half a stick of butter.
3. Season the beans with black pepper while sautéing them.
4. Remove the beans from the heat when they are tender enough to suit you and serve immediately.

Nothing complicated, but I am happy with the result, so I think I'll be picking up some more yellow beans while they are in season.

Lamb Paprikash

I found a beef paprikash recipe on Pinterest, and I decided to try it with lamb, so here we go.

You will need:

• At least 2 lbs of lamb, cubed into 1-2 inch pieces (I got a a 2.8 lb butterfly leg roast from BJs, but they don't get a link unless they pay me)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour (I'm using a keto wheat flour I found at Kroger)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 1 diced green bell pepper
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 3 tbsp paprika
• ½ tsp dried Mexican oregano (although Mexican wasn't called for specifically)
• ½ tsp caraway seeds, pounded a bit in my mortar and pestle
• 15 oz can of whole tomatoes that I crushed with an immersion blender
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 bay leaf

To make it happen:

1. Cube the lamb, dice the veggies, measure out the spices, and otherwise have your mise en place.
2. Coat the lamb in salt, pepper, and flour. Brown the lamb in a pot or dutch oven on medium-high heat for about a minute on each side. Remove the lamb to a bowl.
3. Sweat the onions for about a minute on medium heat in the same pot. Add the peppers and garlic and cook for another minute. Add oregano and  spices (and salt and pepper as needed) and stir to mix well.
4. Add the tomatoes and beef broth, deglaze the pot, throw in the bay leaf, reduce heat to low, and simmer for an hour or more. You could also braise in the oven, if the weather is cold.

I served this with "Skinny" low-carb angle hair pasta. I was a bit too conservative with the salt on this try, but that's easily fixed. I don't think that the low-carb flour has the thickening properties of a regular all-purpose flour, so this was rather thin. Lessons learned, but we're definitely moving in a good direction.