Part 41 (1/2)

Broil close to the heat for 4 to 5 minutes per side or grill.

Yield: 1 serving 1 serving 1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 30 grams or so of protein.

Balsamic-Mint Lamb Steak 8 ounces (225 g) lamb leg steak 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil teaspoon beef bouillon concentrate 1 tablespoon (15 ml) boiling water 1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint Slash the edges of the lamb steak to keep it from curling. Then heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a big, heavy skillet and start the steak sauteing. You'll want to cook it 5 to 7 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, dissolve the bouillon concentrate in the water and stir in the balsamic vinegar.

When the steak is done to your liking, remove it to a serving plate and pour the bouillion-vinegar mixture into the skillet. Stir it around to dissolve the yummy brown stuff stuck to the skillet and then stir in the mint. Pour this sauce over the steak and serve.

Yield: 1 serving 1 serving 32 g protein; 1 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber; 1 g usable carb.

Curried Lamb Steak 2 lamb steaks, 6 to 8 ounces (170 to 225 g) each, inch (1.3 cm) thick 2 tablespoons (28 g) b.u.t.ter 2 teaspoons curry powder 1 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 cloves garlic, crushed Melt the b.u.t.ter in large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the curry powder and garlic, stir, and add the lamb steak. Cover with a tilted lid and cook for 7 minutes. Turn, re-cover with a tilted lid, and cook for another 7 minutes. Remove the lamb to serving plates, sc.r.a.pe the curry b.u.t.ter over the steaks, and serve.

Yield: 2 servings 2 servings a.s.suming each steak is 6 ounces (170 g), each will have 2 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 1 gram of usable carbs and 23 grams of protein.

Cape Town Lamb Steaks You can use lamb chops instead, but as I mentioned earlier, I like steaks cut from a leg of lamb. When I buy a whole leg, I ask the nice meat guy to slice some steaks from the center, leaving me two small roasts from either end. Since leg of lamb is often as cheap as $1.99 a pound around here, while lamb chops are usually over $4.99 a pound, this is also economical!

1 pound (455 g) lamb leg steaks, about inch (1.3 cm) thick 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Worcesters.h.i.+re sauce 2 tablespoons (30 ml) soy sauce 2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda teaspoon blackstrap mola.s.ses 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (9.6 g) dry mustard 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 ml) lemon juice 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 ml) olive oil 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons grated ginger First get a grill going-set your gas grill to medium to medium-low or let your coals get thoroughly white.

Mix together everything but the steaks. Pour some sauce into a small bowl and brush the steaks liberally with the sauce remaining. Grill for about 7 minutes per side, basting frequently. With the reserved sauce and using a clean utensil. If you like, bring any leftover sauce to a boil (to prevent cross-contamination) and serve with the steaks at the table.

Yield: 2 servings 2 servings If you do eat all of the sauce, each serving will have 5 grams of carbohydrate, a trace of fiber, and 33 grams of protein.

Winter Night Lamb Stew On a raw winter's night, sometimes you just want stew. Here's one with no potatoes, and you can make it in your big skillet.

1 pounds (680 g) lean lamb stew meat, cut into chunks 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil 1 cup (160 g) chopped onion 1 cups (225 g) diced turnip 1 cups (225 g) diced rutabaga cup (180 ml) beef broth teaspoon guar or xanthan (optional) teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal teaspoon pepper 1 bay leaf 3 cloves garlic, crushed Put the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and brown the lamb in the oil. Add the onion, turnip, and rutabaga.

Put the beef broth and guar in a blender and blend for a few moments. Pour the mixture into the skillet. (If you choose not to use a thickener, just add the broth directly to the skillet.) Add the salt, pepper, bay leaf, and garlic, and stir.

Cover, turn the heat to low, and let simmer for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Yield: 4 servings 4 servings Each with 12 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber, for a total of 9 grams of usable carbs and 38 grams of protein.

Lamb Stew Provencal I turned this recipe over to my sister to test. She's mad for French food, especially from Provence. She gave this the thumbs-up.

3 pounds (1.4 kg) lamb stew meat-shoulder is good, cubed (Have the meat guys cut it off the bone.) Salt and pepper 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil 1 whole fennel bulb, sliced lengthwise 1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 bay leaf 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, whole needles 1 can (15 ounces, or 425 g) black soybeans, drained 1 cup (240 ml) beef broth 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon concentrate teaspoon dried basil teaspoon dried marjoram teaspoon dried savory teaspoon dried thyme Guar or xanthan Season the lamb with salt and pepper. In a big, heavy skillet, heat the oil and brown the lamb on all sides over medium-high heat.

Place the fennel, onion, and garlic in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the bay leaf and rosemary. Dump the soybeans on top of that. When the lamb is browned, put it on top of the vegetables.

In a bowl, stir together the broth, bouillon, basil, marjoram, savory, and thyme. Pour the mixture over the lamb. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 8 to 9 hours. When it's done, thicken the liquid to the texture of heavy cream with guar or xanthan. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Yield: 8 servings 8 servings Each with 41 g protein, 8 g carbohydrate, 4 g dietary fiber, 4 g usable carbs.

Irish Stew I came up with this for St. Patrick's Day, and it's amazing. The Ketatoes mix gives it a true potato flavor, while keeping the carb count remarkably low. This takes time, but not that much work-so make it on a day when you're hanging around the house getting ch.o.r.es done.

2 pounds (910 g) leg of lamb, cut in 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes 2 large turnips, cut in inch (1.3 cm) cubes head cauliflower, cut in inch (1.3 cm) cubes or chunks 3 medium onions, sliced cup (25 g) Ketatoes mix Salt and pepper Water to cover teaspoon chicken bouillon concentrate teaspoon beef bouillon concentrate Guar or xanthan You'll need the meat and vegetables all cut up before you do anything else; make sure the lamb cubes are well trimmed of all fat. Spray a Dutch oven or large, heavy soup pot with nonstick cooking spray.

Now, put a layer of mixed turnip and cauliflower in the bottom of the pot. Add a layer of onion. Scatter 2 tablespoons (6 g) of the Ketota-toes mix over that and then put in a layer of cubed lamb. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Now repeat the layers two more times, at which point you should be out of meat and vegetables.

Pour cold water over everything to just barely cover. Put a lid on the pot and set it over the lowest possible heat. Let it simmer for 2 hours.

Take the lid off and stir in the chicken and beef bouillon concentrate. Now, continue to simmer over lowest heat, uncovered, for another 2 hours or so-you're cooking down the gravy a little.

Finally, using a whisk and guar or xanthan, thicken up the gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste and then serve.

Yield: 8 servings 8 servings Each with 29 g protein; 13 g carbohydrate; 5 g dietary fiber; 8 g usable carbs.

13.

Sauces and Seasonings

Dana's No-Sugar Ketchup Ketchup is an essential ingredient in so many recipes, but store-bought ketchup usually has so much sugar. Recently, commercially-made low-carb ketchup has been appearing in the grocery stores. If you can get this, do so because food manufacturers can get ingredients the home cook cannot, so store-bought low-carb ketchup is lower in carbs than this. If you can't find low-carb ketchup, however, this is easy to make, tastes great, and is about half the carbs of regular ketchup. Be aware that recipes in this book that list ketchup as an ingredient are a.n.a.lyzed for this homemade version, so if you use commercial low-carb ketchup, the carb counts will be a tad lower.

1 can (6 ounces, or 170 g) tomato paste [image]cup (160 ml) cider vinegar [image]cup (80 ml) water [image]cup (8 g) Splenda 2 tablespoons (20 g) minced onion 2 cloves garlic 1 teaspoon salt [image]teaspoon ground allspice [image]teaspoon ground cloves [image]teaspoon pepper Put everything in a blender and run it until the onion disappears. Sc.r.a.pe it into a container with a tight lid and store it in the refrigerator.

Yield: Makes roughly 1 cups (360 ml), or 12 servings of 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Makes roughly 1 cups (360 ml), or 12 servings of 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Each with 1 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g usable carbs.

Stir-Fry Sauce If you like Chinese food, make this up and keep it on hand. Then you can just throw any sort of meat and vegetables in your wok or skillet and have a meal in minutes.

cup (120 ml) soy sauce cup (120 ml) dry sherry 2 cloves garlic, crushed, or 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 tablespoons (12 g) grated fresh ginger 2 teaspoons Splenda Simply combine everything and store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

Yield: Makes 1 cup (240 ml). Use about 1 to 2 tablespoons (23 to 30 ml) per serving of stir-fry. Makes 1 cup (240 ml). Use about 1 to 2 tablespoons (23 to 30 ml) per serving of stir-fry.

Each serving contains 2 grams of carbohydrates, no fiber, and no protein.

Thai Peanut Sauce teaspoon hot sauce 1 tablespoon (6 g) grated ginger 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 scallions, sliced, including the crisp part of the green [image]cup (85 g) natural peanut b.u.t.ter [image]cup (80 ml) coconut milk (You can find this in cans in Asian markets or grocery stores with good international sections.) 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam) 1 tablespoons (23 ml) lime juice 2 teaspoons Splenda Put everything in a blender or in a food processor with the S-blade in place and process until smooth.

Yield: Makes roughly 1 cup (240 ml), or 8 servings of 2 tablespoons (30 ml) each Makes roughly 1 cup (240 ml), or 8 servings of 2 tablespoons (30 ml) each 4 grams of carbohydrate per serving, and 1 gram of fiber, for a usable carb count of 3 grams; 3 grams of protein.

Not-Very-Authentic Peanut Sauce This is inauthentic because I used subst.i.tutes for such traditional ingredients as lemongra.s.s and fish sauce. I wanted a recipe that tasted good but could be made without a trip to specialty grocery store.

1 piece of fresh ginger about the size of a walnut, peeled and thinly sliced across the grain cup (130 g) natural peanut b.u.t.ter, creamy cup (120 ml) chicken broth 1 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoons soy sauce teaspoon hot pepper sauce 1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, crushed 1 teaspoons Splenda Put all the ingredients in a blender and run it until everything is well combined and smooth. If you'd like it a little thinner, add another tablespoon (15 ml) of chicken broth.

Yield: About 2 cups, or 16 servings About 2 cups, or 16 servings Each with 2 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

Hoisin Sauce This Chinese sauce is usually made from fermented soybean paste, which has tons of sugar in it. Peanut b.u.t.ter is inauthentic, but it tastes quite good here.

cup (60 ml) soy sauce 2 tablespoons (32 g) creamy natural peanut b.u.t.ter 2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda 2 teaspoons white vinegar 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil [image]teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder Put all the ingredients in a blender and run it until everything is smooth and well combined. Store in a snap-top container.

Yield: Roughly Roughly[image] cup (80 ml) cup (80 ml) Each 1 tablespoon (15 ml) serving contains 2 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

Of course, this sauce is essential for Mu Shu Pork (page 418)-or Mu Shu anything, for that matter-but it's also good for dipping plain chicken wings in.

Duck Sauce What are you going to eat duck sauce on, now that you're not eating egg rolls? Well, Crab and Bacon Bundles (page 77), for one thing. It's good with chicken, too. This does have the sugar that's in the peaches, of course, but not all the added sugar of commercial duck sauce. And it tastes better, too.

1 bag (1 pound, or 455 g) unsweetened frozen peaches or 2 to 3 cups (500 to 600 g) sliced, peeled fresh peaches cup (120 ml) water 2 tablespoons (30 ml) cider vinegar 2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda teaspoon blackstrap mola.s.ses [image]teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 clove garlic, crushed Put all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring them to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the peaches are soft (about 30 minutes).