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Foodie Thread

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Creative and looks great, but a complete waste of time with only an asymmetric payoff. Buy something like that in a store. Who has the time to make something like that while not getting paid for it?!

I went the route once and use a cupcake pan and baked mini apple pies. Quick, look neat, and delicious, and without the arduous effort the above would require.

And all of a sudden the idea hit me to use a muffin pan to make pizza calzins. Hmm....
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Creative and looks great, but a complete waste of time with only an asymmetric payoff. Buy something like that in a store. Who has the time to make something like that while not getting paid for it?!

I went the route once and use a cupcake pan and baked mini apple pies. Quick, look neat, and delicious, and without the arduous effort the above would require.

And all of a sudden the idea hit me to use a muffin pan to make pizza calzins. Hmm....
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I used to make stuff like that too, mini quiches in muffin tins etc. I used to make my own version of a 'bruffin' for the ex as they are quick and easy to make and he can eat them at work with one hand. Haven't made them for the DF yet. Too fattening really. The bruffin is made with pastry, some cooked diced bacon and onion and tomatoe in the bottom, an egg cracked into it, with a bit of grated cheese on top and sealed. I used to use a square of pastry and just fold the tops over. Easy to make and quite delicious.
 
Made breaded seitan last night.

1 cup chopped seitan. 1/2 cup bread crumbs, half cup oatmeal, 1/4 to 1/3 cup white flour. Wet mixture is an egg, a little water, a little oil.

Coat the seitan in the flour, then put in the wet mixture, then the breading mix. Cook in a pan with about 1 tbsp of oil.

Served with red peppers that were cooked in a pan on high, no oil or fats. Cooked enough to get just a little char.
 
Honey Mustard glazed Baked Chicken. No fat used in the cooking, 1/2 teaspoon of honey in the glaze - rest was cider vinegar and mustard powder with some herbs. 1/2 a chicken breast each and served with steamed zucchini, corn and carrot for us and 5 brussel sprouts for me.

A delicious low fat dinner for us, though I thought it was a touch heavy on the mustard powder.
 
Thomas II said:
What are your best soup recipes?
very-hungry.gif
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I have a few favourites:

1. Potato and Leek: Take 2 medium potatoes, and 1 leek and chop them. Fine or rough - it's all good. Sautee the leeks in a little butter and oil until soft. Add the potatoe. When coated in butter and oil add a teaspoon of mustard powder or go with a curry hint and add either curry powder or your own blend of spices. Cover with chicken or veg stock and simmer until the potatoes are just falling apart. Grab your stick blender and blitz that sucker until smooth and creamy. Season to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or greek yoghurt and a few chopped chives.

2. Pumpkin and sweet potatoe soup - same as you would for regular pumpkin soup - but have half sweet potatoe and add a chopped leek. Follow steps and serving suggestions as for potatoe and leek.

3. Chicken and sweet corn. Sautee 4 chopped spring onions, some crushed ginger and chilli (as much as you want depending on how hot you want it), add a can or sweet corn kernels, a can of creamed corn, and about 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken, and about 2 - 3 cups of chicken stock. Simmer for about 10 minutes - that's all it takes. While cooking - beat two eggs until smooth. Just before serving - slowly pour the egg mixture into the soup stirring as you go (this creates an egg noodle effect). Season to taste and serve with a sprinkling of chopped chives or spring onions.

1 and 2 are good winter warmers and do freeze quite well - without the yoghurt or sour cream. :D

3 is actually quite low in fat, which basically comes from the chicken and the creamed corn. It's a good soup if you have a cold as the ginger and chilli can help clear the sinuses.

Enjoy
 
Been thinking about low cal cheese sauce alternatives. Made me think about each ingredient and the purpose it has in a cheese sauce.


  • Initially, there is the flour and butter, which are used to help thicken a sauce.
  • You have a dairy based fluid (milk for a cheese sauce, heavy cream for alfredo sauce).
  • Then you have the cheeses.
  • There can be more, but that includes garnishes that add no appreciable calories.

So the first thing that comes to mind is that butter. Why is there butter in a cheese sauce? Of course, some people may need the butter because they aren't ignoring the other part of the recipe that calls for only x cups of cheese, instead of 3x the cheese, which has enough fat that requires you to use a whisk to spread out the fat. Is that why there is butter in those recipes?

Otherwise, that butter could go away.

The next thing is the dairy fluid. How important is the fat content? I must suspect it is rather important. A skim milk will not be able to produce the same consistency as a whole milk or especially a heavy cream. Which them begs the next question. The fluid has fat, but not a lot of fat, compared to butter (or lite butter, which I have found to work exceptionally well). Is the well saturated and mixed fat within a cream or whole milk a better fat than a melted butter? Can you substitute less fat in a cream/milk for the higher grams of fat in a solid butter?

Cheese! Alright, I suppose there are lower fat cheeses, but I ponder that the key to this is to use less cheese, which means using sharper cheeses to enhance the flavor. Of course, less cheese, means less fat, which means a runnier sauce. I wonder if you can flour out the difference.

Most of this is typing out loud, and I haven't experimented. I was curious other people's thoughts on reducing the calories in a cheese sauce, without sacrificing good flavor. How low can you go before you might as well not even bother?
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Been thinking about low cal cheese sauce alternatives. Made me think about each ingredient and the purpose it has in a cheese sauce.


  • Initially, there is the flour and butter, which are used to help thicken a sauce.
  • You have a dairy based fluid (milk for a cheese sauce, heavy cream for alfredo sauce).
  • Then you have the cheeses.
  • There can be more, but that includes garnishes that add no appreciable calories.

So the first thing that comes to mind is that butter. Why is there butter in a cheese sauce? Of course, some people may need the butter because they aren't ignoring the other part of the recipe that calls for only x cups of cheese, instead of 3x the cheese, which has enough fat that requires you to use a whisk to spread out the fat. Is that why there is butter in those recipes?

Otherwise, that butter could go away.

The next thing is the dairy fluid. How important is the fat content? I must suspect it is rather important. A skim milk will not be able to produce the same consistency as a whole milk or especially a heavy cream. Which them begs the next question. The fluid has fat, but not a lot of fat, compared to butter (or lite butter, which I have found to work exceptionally well). Is the well saturated and mixed fat within a cream or whole milk a better fat than a melted butter? Can you substitute less fat in a cream/milk for the higher grams of fat in a solid butter?

Cheese! Alright, I suppose there are lower fat cheeses, but I ponder that the key to this is to use less cheese, which means using sharper cheeses to enhance the flavor. Of course, less cheese, means less fat, which means a runnier sauce. I wonder if you can flour out the difference.

Most of this is typing out loud, and I haven't experimented. I was curious other people's thoughts on reducing the calories in a cheese sauce, without sacrificing good flavor. How low can you go before you might as well not even bother?
Click to expand...

I generally make lower fat versions using low fat cheese and low fat milk. I don't have any problems. But then, something like a cheese or bechamel sauce is something of a luxury for us.

What I do do now, instead, is use lite yoghurt or sour cream for creamy sauces, or a bit of coconut milk.

My question would be 'Where do you use cheese sauce and what else could you use to dress it instead?'
 
Why use any sauce at all? Isn't it ruining the natural flavour of the food you're dressing? Salad? A very light balsamic and virgin oil dressing is about the best one can do to a mean salad.
 
angelo said:
Why use any sauce at all? Isn't it ruining the natural flavour of the food you're dressing? Salad? A very light balsamic and virgin oil dressing is about the best one can do to a mean salad.
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Macaroni-and-nothing is probably fairly healthful, but it tastes a little boring in my opinion :D
 
bilby said:
angelo said:
Why use any sauce at all? Isn't it ruining the natural flavour of the food you're dressing? Salad? A very light balsamic and virgin oil dressing is about the best one can do to a mean salad.
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Macaroni-and-nothing is probably fairly healthful, but it tastes a little boring in my opinion :D
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That type of food is an exception. Even there, I will only eat my pasta with a rich tomatoe sauce sprinkled with Grana Padano cheese. Or, spaghetti alla marinara is great too, or just with prawns in a garlic and olive oil dressing.
There many ways to eat pasta of all shapes and sizes.
 
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