Carbs: a Worthy Foe

I went to San Francisco to celebrate my daughter’s birthday last weekend and deserve an award for staying on the Keto wagon. It’s tough staying on track during celebrations, especially when they’re food focused, but I did and I’ll share a little about what I did to keep myself in ketosis while the three other people I was traveling with didn’t. It was my daughter’s 17th birthday and I have to say, she has been the most supportive person throughout this process. She even tried going on keto with me… it didn’t work out for her this time, but she did change her eating habits as a result.

My generous and devoted mother arranged a splendid weekend in The City to celebrate the only grandchild in the family turning 17. There was lunch at the Palace Hotel, tea at the Crown & Crumpet and a lovely breakfast in an old school diner that’s served the city’s best Swedish pancakes since 1938. We even made a spacial birthday stop at our favorite gluten free bakery. Temptations were everywhere. I knew it would be hard to resist the many delicious (gluten free) treats that my family all would partake in, but the reward for me is my health and wellness.

Divine Crab salad at The Palace Hotel’s Garden Court

You see, I’ve got a significant amount of weight to lose to be in a healthy range. While I was more healthy than most people are before I decided to lose weight, I knew my inflammatory issues were only going to get worse. I openly expressed my concerns with my daughter before our trip to be sure she knew how I felt. I didn’t want to feel left out of the celebration because I wasn’t enjoying the “best scone” my daughter has ever eaten or the adorable macarons that were made just for her.

I’ll be honest, there were moments where my mind flashed on grabbing a roll at lunch and stuffing it in my mouth for the pure, immediate gratification I knew it would provide. But I had planned ahead for this (hints to staying on track) and remembered that even the smallest amount of carbs would throw my body out of fat burning mode and I would get really sick. All of those treats will be there for me if I ever want to indulge. It really help having my daughter’s support and even the server at the tea room was super cool about me ordering the soup and a salad while everyone ate the delicious treats.

Gluten Free Goodies @ Crown & Crumpet

The bottom line for me is that I can enjoy the multi sensory experiences this past weekend of celebration brought without ingesting carbs. It was a visually impeccable weekend, I smelled the blueberry macaron, and noticed the perfect blueberries, still plump and round in the scone. The Palace Hotel’s Garden Court has the most divine crab salad I’ve ever tasted and that, plus a cold brew from Blue Bottle Coffee, was enough for me. In the end I actually lost a half pound and we had a wonderful family weekend.

The most important things that kept me on track were: 1) a plan – crab salad and; 2) the support of my daughter.

Please comment to share your own tricks to keeping a strong will when it comes to staying on track with a food plan. Also, follow me on Twitter for some fun keto recipes.

Road Trip Snackin’

We are headed out of town this weekend and in addition to packing our personal belongings, I’m on snack patrol. Everyone gets snacky every now and then, especially when you’re spending hours in the car. When you’re on a limited diet, planning ahead is the only way to make sure you’ve got some safe munchies on the go. Whether you’re on the road or at work, here are some ways to plan for those mid afternoon snack attacks.

Yes, this is my desk drawer at work… but you get the idea.

As we know, the Keto diet is pretty restrictive. Most of the foods allowed require refrigeration, but if you’re on the go without access to a fridge or a cooler, you’ve got to find some goodies that you don’t need to keep cold. Pork rinds are my go-to Keto snack. They’re crunchy, satisfying and tasty (these are my personal favorite kind). Freeze dried strawberries are also a delight when you’re trying to stay in Ketosis, but be careful about the portion size.

low carb coconut flour peanut butter balls with pecans

Keto fat bombs are a killer way to curb midday cravings, but they do require more than just planning; you have to actually make them in advance. Don’t worry, I’ve got you: here’s a great list of several recipes for those of us who are a little more committed or have more time. Fat bombs are delicious but they can disappear quickly… if you’re not careful.

If you do have a cooler and are hitting the road for a spell, sliced cheese and salami are my go-to car snack. Hard boiled eggs are also yummy, but they’re messy if you don’t peel them ahead of time. Celery sticks, pickles and olives are also good when ice is part of the plan. Finally, pack some fresh raspberries to round out your road trip snack sesh.

Drinks are key. Staying hydrated is essential whether you’re on the go or not. I’m hooked on flavored fizzy water and try not to leave home without grabbing a couple of those. I’ve got my water bottle handy at all times, but the special sparkling water makes for a great pick me up while on the go.

There you have it! No excuses. You don’t have to fall off the wagon because you didn’t have the forethought to pack something. I keep an emergency stash of pork rinds in my car – just in case!

What do you like to eat on the road? For more Keto food ideas and recipes, follow me on Twitter!

Get to the Point

There’s nothing more personal to a chef than their knives. There are countless appliances and tools you can use in a kitchen, but the tools of the trade are knives. If you know anything at all about cooking, you know that owning good quality cooking knives will not only save you from injury, but will make cooking a lot more enjoyable. It’s a dull blade that’s most dangerous, as it can easily slip off whatever you’re cutting and cause terrible injury. Many chefs sharpen their own blades, but I prefer to have mine professionally sharpened every year or so, depending on use.

The knife I’ve use most in my life is my 10″ chef knife. More recently, I got a 6″ chef knife that I love to use on a daily basis, but my old 10″ was part of the first set I got as part of the program at the culinary academy. They’re classics and not only do they have the school logo stamped on them, my name is on them, too. I use some of these guys every day. I even have names for the 12″ ones: the serrated is “Light Saber” and the chef’s knife is “Excalibur.”

I’m very particular about caring for my knives. They never go in the sink unless they’re being washed at that moment and they most certainly never go in the dishwasher! They’re stored in a knife block and when I need to travel with them, they have special blade guards to preserve the edges. Here are some common mistakes when handling kitchen knives. The yellow tape you can see on the handle of my salmon slicer has been there for 20 years; since I was in culinary school. Everyone’s knives looked the same and the best way to keep track of yours was to add colorful tape. Obviously, I don’t use that one as much as the others!

If you can afford it, I highly recommend investing in good quality knives for your kitchen. Here are some great tips for basic knife skills; but there’s nothing more important than practice, practice practice.

Please comment with your favorite kitchen tool, or with any questions about knife care. I’m always posting great recipes on Twitter, so come on and follow me!

Sick Day Soup

Being sick is the worst. Being sick on your birthday? The infinite WORST. My poor daughter spent the holiday weekend with the stomach flu. Her 17th birthday is today and she’s home recovering from her weekend of horror. She hasn’t eaten solid food in a few days and all she wants is my special sick day soup I made her (and forced her to eat) all weekend. It’s my take on a Chinese style broth with mild seasoning, tons of ginger and a touch of tamari.

This is another perfect time to make bone broth; it’s nutrient dense and filled with all the good things. There’s science behind why we ‘prescribe’ chicken soup for illness, but what’s truly comforting is the the warm, nourishing broth. It just seems to sit well when nothing else will. Now, I’m certainly not a doctor, but I am a mom, and I’m all about holistic home remedies. Even though I take great precautions to avoid illness, every once in a while one of us succumbs to illness.

This recipe can be enjoyed at anytime – you don’t have to suffer from an illness to enjoy the simple goodness of a broth based soup. In fact, this is a go-to weeknight meal for us. Before we went keto, we would frequent our local Vietnamese noodle house for deliciously satisfying pho on a weekly basis. This rustic soup has large slices of ginger for chewing and settling unruly tummies. I serve my patients the broth of this soup if nothing solid is staying down.

Ingredients:

• 1 qt bone broth or chicken stock
• 1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
• 4 green onions, root end removed
• 1 leek, split, rinsed and sliced thin
• 3 baby bok choy, quartered and rinsed
• 1 cooked chicken breast
• 1 dash of tamari sauce

Procedures:

• In a 4 qt pot, bring the broth to a boil on medium/high.
• Add the sliced ginger, green onions and leek to the boiling water and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
• add the bok choy and chicken, simmering for another 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and splash some tamari in to taste.
• Serve immediately.

Of course this soup could be spruced up with quartered mushrooms, cilantro, lemon grass and even sriracha; but for surviving the stomach flu, I keep things as simple as possible.

I hope this message finds you well (or at least better than my poor kid). Please follow me on twitter if you haven’t already.

Egg-cellent

Cooking seasonally doesn’t require too much preparation, as long as you’re aware of what’s available. As Easter quickly approaches, images of fresh peas and rainbow carrots float gently to mind. If you’re new to keto, like me, making adjustments to you diet can be a little sad, especially when it comes to holiday celebration meals. Luckily, there are some tasty alternatives to chose from, but the star of any Easter weekend are the eggs.

I love eggs. I eat them every morning for breakfast, enjoy hard boiled or egg salad for lunch from time to time and even squeeze them into the occasional dinner. With the rise of instapot popularity, I’ve heard many reports that hard cooking eggs in one of those makes them come out perfect every time. I’ve got a foolproof method I learned many years ago that I’ll pass on to you today. It yields a perfect yellow yolk, just done, no grey. Now, if you like them done a little more, just leave them in a few minutes longer.

For perfectly *just* hard boiled eggs, place the eggs in a pot with cold water. Turn the burner on high and bring the pot to a boil. Here’s the trick: as soon as the water boils – a good rolling boil – turn the heat off, cover the pot tightly and remove the pot from the burner. Set the timer for 11 minutes and wait. If you like a harder yolk, allow the pot to boil for 1 minute before turning the heat off and wait for another 2-3 minutes when it’s off the heat.

Place the pot of eggs in the sink and run cool water over them. If you’re using them right away, go ahead and peel them under the cool water; otherwise keep chilled until you want to use them. Another wonderful thing about hard cooked eggs is they come with their own packaging! Pack some up for lunch (don’t forget salt!) and enjoy.

To make egg salad, one of my personal favorites, smash two hard cooked eggs in a bowl. Add a tablespoon of mayo, a pinch celery salt, white pepper and paprika. Mix it up and lunch is served! Eggs are such a versatile medium, you can add pretty much anything to them and they’re delicious. Some people like to add chopped celery or green onions. I’m a purist when it comes to eggs, salt and pepper are the perfect accompaniments, in my opinion. This is where the type of salt you’re using really make a difference. I go into more detail about salt in my blog: High Steaks.

Here is a great site showing how to color eggs naturally for the holiday. This is my favorite, though, since I always buy brown eggs, which are notoriously difficult to dye.

Please follow my blog to learn more about my take on food. I’d also love to hear from you, please comment below, if you’re so inclined.

Earth Day Birthday!

It’s Thursday – or as I prefer to call it: Friday eve – and the weekend is calling! This weekend is extra special, not only because it’s Easter weekend (my favorite holiday as a child), but we’re celebrating my daughter’s 17th birthday this weekend! This will be an extra special day for us; here’s what I have planned for our Sunday of feasting:

• Sunday Brunch – Asparagus Prosciutto Quiche
• Afternoon Tea – Angel Food Cake with Strawberries
• Dinner – Chicken Parmesan (special request of the birthday girl!)

Surprisingly, even though I named her Angel, I’ve never attempted to make Angel Food cake! Time to remedy this. It’s truly unbelievable that my daughter is one year away from adulthood… it’s been quite an adventure thus far. As a single mother, my daughter and I have a very close relationship. It’s just us and the pets at home, so she and I do pretty much everything together. Including keto. It just makes sense, since that’s what I’m cooking and it’s healthier for us, anyway.

That being said, we may be slipping off the keto wagon for this special occasion. We will always be gluten free, there’s no going back to wheat for me, but the sugar really offers meringue a structure that replacements simply can’t provide. Everyone says cheating on keto is terrible because the sugar will turn straight to fat… now I plan to dip my toe in the sugary waters and quickly pull it out. This diet is truly a lifestyle change for me, so I may make two cakes to see how the keto one does. Regardless, here’s a blog from All Day I Dream About Food, about getting back on the keto wagon, should you slip off momentarily.

Please follow my blog to see the results of the extravagant day of celebration! I’m sure I’ll make my own recipe instead of following the link I posted – I always do – so you cane be sure there will be new treasures coming your way. I’d love to hear from you, too! Please leave a comment below.

Keto Cake!

Life without cake is not a life I want to live. Cake has special meaning in most people’s lives. It represents gathering, sharing and celebration. Special occasion cakes are even more splendid. I used to make special occasion cakes as a side job. These were full carb, full buttercream masterpieces with built in structural elements… Cake is delicious.

One of the main reasons I didn’t want to give up sugar is cake. Now that I have found my way to keto, I have also discovered it is possible to make delicious sugar-free, low carb, keto cake! This blog journey began with my gluten free birthday cake recipe. In the past weeks I’ve made a significant switch in my life to go keto. In the beginning, it was temporary – maybe I’ll see what results I can see after three months – now, I realize this is a lifestyle change.

The biggest shift in my perspective came with the realization that I could maintain the keto diet indefinitely. Not only can I, I want to stay on it. The results are mind blowing. My inflammation is gone, my mind is crystal clear, I’m full of energy and I’m not hungry. Let’s celebrate! In the past I would reward myself with decadent food that was unhealthy for me; now I reward myself and stay on plan: incredible.

Keto Chocolate Snack Cake

Cake Ingredients:

• 2 c Almond Flour
• 1/2 c Coconut flour
• 1 c Monk Fruit Sweetener
• 1/2 c Cocoa
• 1 1/2 t Baking Powder
• 1/2 c Butter (or Coconut Oil) room temp
• 1 t Vanilla
• 3 Eggs
• 1 c. Almond Milk

Frosting Ingredients:

• 8 oz Cream Cheese, room temp
• 1/2 c butter, room temp
• 1/3 c Monk Fruit Sweetener (powdered if you have it, I used granular)
• 1 t Vanilla
• 1/3 c cocoa
• 1/4 c heavy cream

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven to 375 (high elevation), 350 (sea level)
• Mix the dry ingredients well in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment.
• Add the butter, vanilla and eggs, mixing well on medium to medium high.
• Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, mixing in any unincorporated ingredients.
• Gradually add the almond milk while mixing.
• Pour into a prepared 9×13 pan (I use parchment paper)
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, cake will be slightly firm to the touch.
• Remove the cake form the oven and cool. Remove it from the pan and cool on a rack. Place it on a tray when it it cool.
• Place the cream cheese, butter and sweetener in a mixing bowl and whip it on high until fluffy.
• Add the vanilla and cocoa, whip it some more.
• Add the cream to smooth it out, mixing a bit more until a spreadable consistency is achieved.
• Frost the cake and enjoy!

I hope you’re enjoying these recipes as much as I am! Please follow my blog and follow me on Twitter for more recipes.

High Steaks

Want to know how to cook a perfect steak every time? There are a few ways to determine the internal temperature of red meat. Of course, a thermometer is out because piercing the caramelized exterior of a piece of meat is disruptive to the juicy interior. I’ve heard many people use the soft part of their hand, between the thumb and forefinger, with different extensions of the fingers to mirror the firmness of the steak on your grill. This is not my preferred approach, as the firmness of peoples’ hands is not consistent. There’s science behind cooking, which is one of the many reasons I’m so passionate about it. News flash: I’m a super nerd.

When I tell people I’m a chef, they tend to ask what my specialty is and I have a hard time with this question. I love cooking of all kinds, but grilling over charcoal is my favorite; you could say it is my specialty. I’m going to share with you how to cook a steak on the stove or a gas grill, today, but please stay tuned for a cooking with fire blog. As an expert, there are several key factors to grilling or pan searing the perfect steak.

Select the Meat

When selecting your steaks, look for grass fed beef. By now, we’re all aware of how factory farmed beef is killing our planet, so please try to find sustainable sources of beef, if you have access to it. It’s better for your health and for the planet. If you can’t find grass fed, organic is the next best option. Here’s a comparison of the two posted by Nutritious Eats. Marbling is important, you want to see an even disbursement of fat throughout the muscle.

Temper and Season

Protein denatures (cooks) when heat is applied and the first thing to pay attention to is the heat of the pan or grill before the meat goes down. I can’t stress this enough: ALWAYS preheat your pan or grill before you put anything in it. The smoking hot surface creates a caramelized layer on the outside of the meat. This is made even more delicious by first allowing the steak to rest at room temp – out of the fridge for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Second, season the meat – the spice blend is key. The most important ingredient is salt. You can get away with just salt and pepper – I’m very particular about the salt I use. Here’s a simple guide to salt from Wide Open Eats.

Karin’s Grill Mix:

• 2 T Salt – Celtic sea salt is my personal favorite, anything but iodized
• 2 t garlic powder
• 1 t paprika (or any chili powder)
• 2 t onion powder
• a pinch of cumin
• 1/2 t fresh cracked pepper

Sprinkle the grill mix/ spice blend liberally onto one side of the raw room temperature meat (heavily on any fatty areas) and turn the pan (or grill) on high. Once the pan is hot, add a little oil/fat of some kind if you desire. This isn’t necessary if there’s enough fat in the meat to release it from the pan while cooking. I add a little butter as it cooks. Place the meat in the pan seasoned side down and reduce the heat to med-high. Depending on the thickness of the meat, cook for 4-5 minutes for a normal (1.5″ thick) cut of rib eye. Season the other side of the steak while it cooks. Use tongs to flip the steak and wait another 2 minutes before adding a tablespoon (or two) of butter. Once melted, slide the steaks around in the butter and drizzle it on the top of the cooking steak so it soaks in. Continue cooking on med/high for another 2 minutes.

À Point

Here’s where the magic happens. Watch the surface of the steak for red juices. When there’s a pool of juice on top, the water is being released from the cells and the steak is rare. Slowly, the juices will soak back into the steak. As soon as that happens the steak is a perfect MEDIUM RARE – “À point,” as the French say (meaning: on point), remove the steak for resting. As a chef, I can attest that no other temps really matter, but there are some who prefer a medium steak give it another minute or two and watch for the pink juices to bead on the surface.

Once the steaks are removed from the heat, allow them to rest for at least 10 minutes. This will allow the juices to settle into the meat, providing the juiciest possible steak. Enjoy!

Please post questions in the comments, I could go on and on about this (my favorite) topic and I’d love to hear from you!

Keto on the Go!

It’s easier than you might think to order off of a restaurant menu to your special diet. As a chef, I have an advantage, but anyone can learn the tricks I use to identify whether a restaurant can accommodate my keto diet. Look for components, not complete meals. Modify the dish to remove the carbs and add fat if you can. The image above was taken at a diner I visited recently. The dish was listed on their eggs Benedict menu and since it already included steak, crab, eggs and hollandaise, I knew removing the English muffin and replacing the potatoes with cottage cheese would provide me with plenty of food to and the

Whether you’re on a ketogenic diet or any sort of restrictive diet, meal planning and prepping will help you maintain a healthy level of food intake throughout your day. There are meal prep services that cater specifically to keto diets, but if you’re a control freak, or a chef (or both), like me, you’ll prefer to manage this yourself, regardless of your schedule/workload. I’m also on a tight budget as a single working mother, enrolled in school full time, so I do everything myself!

Here’s a slew of recipes from The Every Girl to get you started on thinking ahead about what your weekly meals will be. For me, I like to prepare two and a half times what we need throughout the week on a Sunday evening. For example, I’ll broil a side of salmon on Sunday and we will have two more dinners or lunches from that preparation. Depending on my class schedule (or, as I call it, my night job), I’ll prepare a supplementary dish that will feed us for the remainder of the week.

This works for larger families, too. As long as you know what size portions your family consumes, just double or triple it and serve it throughout the week. Sometimes I’ll cook a couple chickens on a Sunday and use the meat for chicken salad or zucchini wrapped enchiladas.

I love going out to eat. The keto diet has drastically limited my selection of restaurants, but I’ve gotten very good at finding and customizing menu items over my years of being a gluten free chef. It’s almost easier to eat keto, because it’s very clear whether something is keto or not. Restaurants are becoming more and more accommodating of special diets as Women’s Health magazine shows in this gallery of keto friendly restaurants.

Please comment your favorite restaurant keto hack!

Sugar Crash

To me, ditching sugar is common sense; but it wasn’t an easy switch. Sugar is a form of fuel for the body, but in most cases, the levels in which it is consumed are toxic. Nutritionists have touted the benefits of the keto diet for years, but I simply couldn’t imagine ditching sugar (for me, it was mainly the fruit) for good. I have tried many other eating plans, but in the end, I knew I needed to completely stop eating carbs if I was going to get anywhere.

The fact of the matter is, there’s a sugar addiction epidemic in our country. Sugar is big business which has many tentacles that are literally squeezing the life out of unsuspecting Americans. This has been a problem beginning in the ’60s as NPR explains in this eye opening article showing how large sugar companies minimized the significance of negative scientific findings. Sugar is scientifically linked to a multitude of diseases, mainly of the nervous system, and more specifically, of the brain. Alzheimer’s disease is even being called type 3 diabetes. Most processed foods are chemically modified to increase the sugar content using labels hide sugar by using different names for it. There are 61 different names for sugar!

Giving up sugar seems like sacrilege coming from the family I come from where food is love and sugar is king. There’s a reason it’s taken me 42 years to give it up. Essentially, I impacted an extreme amount of pressure on myself professionally and academically to institute a massive life change without knowing where it was going. In the end, my switch to a keto diet and developing an arsenal of recipes became my passion.

My 17 year old daughter has since picked up the keto challenge, which is a freaking miracle! It’s so easy to make keto ice cream, and that’s where she started.

Keto Peppermint Chip Ice Cream

Keto Mint Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2c organic heavy cream

1/2c sweetener of choice – we use monkfruit

1t vanilla extract (2x)

1t peppermint extract

2-3 drops of natural red food coloring

1c organic whole milk

3oz monkfruit sweetened dark chocolate

Procedure:

1. Whip the cream on high until stiff peaks form;
2. Gradually add the sweetener while continuing to beat on medium/low
3. Add the extracts and coloring, while stirring;
4. Slowly add the milk;
5. Freeze in an ice cream maker until thick;
6. Melt the chocolate and drizzle in when ice cream is almost done (should be soft serve consistency);
7. Store in the freezer in an airtight container

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! Please share your favorite keto sweet in the comments! Or, better yet, share a sweet you would like to enjoy and I will keto-fy it.