Tag: low carb

Chris’s Fiery Texas Chili

Every hunting camp needs a cook, if only to provide an opportunity for a really great hunting story. My father’s favorite camp cook story involved the hunter who drew the short straw on the night before opening day and thus was occupied doing the breakfast dishes when a big buck walked past the window.

Dropping the dishrag and picking up his trusty 30-30, he killed the buck, field dressed it and had it hanging on the buck pole before the other members of the gang came in for coffee. Before I had graduated from high school, I had heard three or four versions of the story. Dad’s was one of the more believable, since it involved only a “nice eight-pointer.” The most spectacular kill was “a sixteen pointer, the biggest buck ever taken at Fritz’s camp.” Ah well…

Our cabin becomes a hunting camp for the opening weekend of deer season, and we do have a camp cook. Since Chris does not hunt, we don’t have any stories to tell of how he bested the rest of us by bagging a prize buck from the comfort of a warm cabin while we hunters were shivering on our stands. There are other stories, however.

Like the time we came in for coffee and doughnuts which Chris always has ready for us at midmorning. He was sitting in the old Morris chair typing on his laptop when we straggled in. We leaned our rifles outside against the wall next to the patio door and came in to warm up with caffeine and carbohydrates.

When Chris announced, “Now that’s a nice buck,” we thought he was kidding us and told him so. “Look for yourselves. He’s by the fire pit. An eight-pointer at least.” There we were, three hunters with our rifles leaning again the cabin in plain sight of what turned out to be a ten-point buck. As he walked up the trail from the yard, we tried to retrieve a rifle by quietly opening the patio door.

The result confirmed my father’s proverb: “Big bucks don’t get that way by standing in front of hunters with guns.” We now make sure that one rifle is left next to the back door just in case. Fond hope, of course, but the experience did give us a better understanding of what it means to lock the barn door after the horse has escaped.

And then there was the time when we found a trail of clothes scattered in front of the bathroom door when we showed up at midmorning for our snack on opening day. “Chris,” we called,”Are you all right?”

“Just a moment,” came the muffled response, followed by Chris wrapped in a towel as he exited the bathroom. While he dressed we dug into the doughnuts and waited for an explanation. It was a pretty simple and, for three of us, an amusing story. He had been chopping jalapeño peppers for the chili when he felt the need to empty his bladder.

That led to his discovery that the oil from jalapeños burns more than mouths and eyes. Once we quit laughing we thanked him for sharing his new discovery with us. My guess is that we all are now more careful with jalapeño peppers.

Jalapeños are an essential ingredient in Chris’s Fiery Texas Chili. He has been making it since his first season as camp cook at the cabin. His wife sent him north with a cookbook and instructions to follow the recipe, which he does religiously. Over the years, the makeup of the gang has changed a bit, but everyone likes the chili, and Chris keeps making it.

I suggested that he bake some corn bread to go with the chili, and after some coaching, he has become an expert on that recipe as well, and he makes a wonderful cranberry raisin pie. Thanks to Chris, we are very well fed, even if we don’t bag a lot of bucks.

Chili, like many soups and stews, tastes even better when it has had a chance to cool and be reheated. Chris now makes his chili on the Friday before the season opens Saturday morning, so the chili is perfect for lunch on opening day. Speaking from years of experience, I can say that it makes a delicious Sunday lunch too.

INGREDIENTS:

4 lbs. chili meat
1/2 – 3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups beer
16 oz. can tomato sauce
2 medium onions (about 3 1/2 inch diameter)
2 medium green bell peppers
10 – 12 cloves garlic
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup chili powder
1/8 – 1/2 tsp. cayenne
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
8 – 10 medium jalapeño peppers

PROCEDURE:

Ask your butcher to coarsely grind four pounds of lean beef chuck. Cut off the stem and root ends and the dry outer skins of the onions. Wash and quarter the bell peppers and remove the stems, seeds and white membranes. Chop the onions and peppers into about a quarter-inch dice and set them aside in a bowl. You should have about two cups of each.

Cut off the root ends and remove the papery outer skins of the garlic cloves. Mince the cloves and add them to the bowl of onions and peppers.

Wash and cut off the stems of the jalapeño peppers. Slice the peppers lengthwise into quarters and remove the seeds and white membranes. Slice the peppers into quarter-inch pieces and set them aside in a separate small bowl.

Put about a third cup of vegetable oil into a large skillet. Add the chili meat and put the pan over moderate heat. Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat and stir it until the meat is lightly browned. It should be gray but not crisped.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to a Dutch oven or soup pot, leaving the liquid in the skillet. Add the beer and tomato sauce to the meat and put the pot over low heat to begin cooking.

Put the onions, peppers and garlic into the skillet with the liquid left over from browning the meat. Add a quarter cup of oil (or a bit more if the meat was very lean) and bring the vegetables to a simmer over moderate heat. Stir in the salt, sugar and spices along with the jalapeño peppers, reduce the heat and simmer very slowly for about half an hour.

Combine the vegetables with the meat meat and simmer the chili slowly for two to three hours. Remove the pan from the heat for at least thirty minutes to let the grease rise to the top of the chili. Skim off the excess grease. If necessary, reheat the chili, taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve with warm Buttermilk Corn Bread and butter.

NOTES: If you or your guests are very sensitive to spicy foods, use the lower recommended amounts of cayenne and jalapeño peppers. I suppose you could use only six jalapeños, but even with ten of them, our resident Norwegian, hesitant the first time, now eats his share of this tasty chili.

This recipe makes eight to ten servings, but you can freeze the leftovers. It keeps well for up to six months.

Easy Egg Foo Young

It is not that many years ago, so my meeting with the diabetes dietician at our local medical clinic is still very sharp in my memory. I had done some research into foods low in carbohydrates after my doctor told me that I had type-2 diabetes, so I was prepared for the dietician.

She began by explaining that carbohydrates included sugar and starches found in common foods and drinks.

Holding up a test tube nearly filled with a white granular powder, she told me, “This is how much sugar is in the average can of a soft drink.”

“I don’t drink many cans of pop,” I responded.

She held up a tube only half full of the powder. “Here is the amount of sugar in an average serving of cake.”

“I like cake, but I don’t eat it very often,” was my answer. Fortunately she did not have a test tube stuffed with sugar from a large slice of cherry pie.

“Things don’t have to taste sweet to have lots of carbohydrates,” she said, ticking off a list on her fingers. “Soda crackers, potato chips, pretzels, bread sticks, Chex mix and tortilla chips all have significant quantities of carbohydrates.”

“I binge on potato chips and dip or tortilla chips and salsa once in a while,” I said, “but not very often.”

I could tell she thought I was exaggerating my will power. “Everybody snacks,” she said, “so what do you snack on?”

“Well, I really like dry-roasted peanuts and mixed nuts and a martini on the rocks while I am reading or watching the news on TV. And I enjoy one or two slices of good lunch meat as a snack. I have been checking out low-carb foods on the web, and these all look pretty good to me,” I answered.

I was feeling smug about my dietary research before she gave me a “gotcha” smile and announced. “You’re right about the carbs, but all those things have lots of calories. Calories lead to weight gain and excess fat.”

She stared pointedly at my rounded front and said, “Fat interferes with the body’s response to insulin. You might want to switch to celery and carrots and cut back on the martinis.”

Rather than taking such drastic steps I began looking for foods that were low in carbohydrates and calories to compensate for my afternoon delights. Here is a dish low in both of the “C’s” that I lucked into long before I began paying attention to such things.

Many years ago when I was still gainfully employed, there was a Chinese restaurant less than a mile from my office in Plymouth, Minnesota. Weekdays at noon they featured a luncheon special that let customers choose from several different menu items. The parking lot was usually nearly full, and there was inevitably a line at the serving counter. One got in the line and pointed to the items that he or she wanted for lunch.

That restaurant got me addicted to Egg Foo Young. I liked their fried rice, egg rolls, beef and mushrooms and stir-fried vegetables too, but it was the Egg Foo Young that kept calling me back to the place. There are many variations of the dish, which is a Chinese omelet made with eggs and other ingredients. The mixture is fried like a relatively thick pancake and served covered with a tangy sauce or gravy.

A generous serving of Egg Foo Young made with this recipe contains only about eleven grams of carbohydrates and fewer than two hundred fifty calories. You could eat all four servings and still be within the recommended carbohydrate intake for a meal. However, as the dietician lectured me, “They do have calories.”

INGREDIENTS:

For the omelet:
1 can bean sprouts (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 large clove garlic
1 cup salad shrimp or equivalent
5 large eggs
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/8 tsp. salt
About 2 T canola oil for frying

For the sauce:
1 cup water
1 tsp. instant chicken bouillon or 1 cube
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 T cornstarch dissolved in 1 T cold water
Dashes of white pepper and garlic powder to taste

PROCEDURE:

Make the sauce first. Dissolve the bouillon in a cup of cold water in a small saucepan over moderate heat. Add the sugar, soy sauce and cider vinegar. Dissolve the corn starch in a tablespoon of cold water in a cup.

When the bouillon mixture has come to a boil, reduce the heat and whisk in the cornstarch along with a dash each of white pepper and powdered garlic. Bring the sauce back to a simmer and cook for about three minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Set the sauce aside while you make the omelets.

Drain the bean sprouts and put them into a colander. Clean and chop the scallions and celery and mince the garlic after removing its outer paper. Add the vegetables and shrimp to the bean sprouts. Let the vegetables and shrimp drain for fifteen minutes. Beat five large eggs in a small bowl until they are lemon colored. Season the eggs with a teaspoon of soy sauce and an eighth teaspoon of salt. and stir them into the vegetables and shrimp.

Heat about two teaspoons of canola oil in a non-stick frying pan over moderate heat and put two or three third-cup scoops of the egg and sprout mixture into the pan. Flatten the scoops slightly with a spoon or spatula. Turn the patties after three to four minutes and fry until both sides are lightly browned. Warm the sauce while you fry the rest of the patties. This recipe makes eight patties, which are enough for four generous servings.

Pass the sauce with the patties at the table.

NOTES: We seldom have salad shrimp in our freezer, so I usually chop larger shrimp into a half-inch dice. Incidentally, you can substitute cooked chopped chicken or pork for the shrimp. Any vegetable oil works fine for frying.

Egg Foo Young is a delicious low-carb addition to the menu. This entire recipe totals only about forty-four grams of carbohydrates. Complement the Egg Foo Young with a bowl of Hot and Sour Soup, LINK and you will be serving a meal with fewer than twenty grams of carbohydrates for each diner.