Saturday Recipes

I know, I know. It's Saturday, and I'm posting on Confessions of a Foodie. I figure that since I've posted links to this blog late all week, I'd post a Saturday blog. The blog has actually updated early all week (before 8:00 a.m.), but because of a new job, the links haven't been posted online until later. (Feel free to check here before the links show up on Facebook and Twitter.)

And how, here are six diabetic recipes to help you through the rest of the weekend, including Pear Cranberry Clafoutis and Super Chili. Enjoy!

PEAR CRANBERRY CLAFOUTIS

This is from the fall issue of UnitedHealthCare's magazine, Renew. It begins, “A Clafoutis is a traditional French dessert — a cross between a flan and a German pancake. Whole grain flour adds a nice nutty flavor and blends well with the pear, cranberry and almonds.”

1 teaspoon softened butter

3 medium pears (any kind)

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1⁄2 cup fresh or frozen (drained) cranberries, divided

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon sugar substitute

1⁄2 cup whole grain flour

1⁄2 cup sliced almonds, divided

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie plate. Peel, core and slice pears into 12 slices each and toss with the lemon juice and zest. Arrange pears in the buttered dish. Sprinkle pears with 1⁄4 cup of the cranberries.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs and buttermilk together. Add almond extract, sugar substitute and whole grain flour. Finely chop 1⁄4 cup of the sliced almonds and stir into the batter.

Pour batter over the pears and sprinkle with the remaining cranberries and almonds. Bake for 35–40 minutes until golden brown on the edges and set in the center.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

Serves 8.

Calories: 142, Total Fat: 6.2g, Saturated Fat: 1.3g, Cholesterol: 82mg, Sodium: 52mg, Carbs: 19g, Dietary Fiber: 3.7g, Sugar: 8.4g, Protein: 5.6g

INSTANT POT ROAST

Recipe from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen, and can be viewed online at https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/recipes/instant-pot-roast-recipe.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings; Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour; Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients

1/4cup dried porcini, rehydrated

1/2 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons olive oil

One 4-to-4 1/2-pound chuck roast

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/3 cup tomato paste

3 garlic cloves, smashed

2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

2 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cups beef stock

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions

Place the dried porcini in a small heatproof bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let rehydrate while you sear the chuck roast.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over high heat. Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper, and sear, turning as needed, until the entire roast is golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the seared roast to the bowl of an Instant Pot.

To the pot that you seared the roast in, add the tomato paste, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme, bay leaves and onion, and cook until the vegetables are softened and the paste begins to caramelize, 4 to 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the stock and red wine vinegar. Pour the contents over the chuck roast in the Instant Pot, along with the rehydrated porcini and their soaking liquid.

Seal the Instant Pot according to the manufacturer's instructions and cook on high pressure for 45 minutes. Let depressurize, then remove the roast and transfer to a cutting board to slice. Season the cooking liquid with salt and pepper.

Spoon some of the vegetables onto a platter and fan slices of the pot roast over top. Drizzle the cooking liquid on top, then serve.

PICADILLO

This comes from Sam Sifton in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Sam wrote, “Picadillo is one of the great dishes of the Cuban diaspora: a soft, fragrant stew of ground beef and tomatoes, with raisins added for sweetness and olives for salt. Versions of it exist across the Caribbean and into Latin America. This one combines ground beef with intensely seasoned dried Spanish chorizo in a sofrito of onions, garlic and tomatoes, and scents it with red-wine vinegar, cinnamon and cumin, along with bay leaves and pinches of ground cloves and nutmeg. For the olives you may experiment with fancy and plain, but rigorous testing here suggests the use of pimento-stuffed green olives is the best practice. A scattering of capers would be welcome as well.”

Yield: 6 servings; Time: 1 hour.

This was featured in “The Ultimate Cuban Comfort Food: Picadillo”, and can be viewed online here.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled and chopped

2 ounces dried chorizo, diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped, or one 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and crushed

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 bay leaves

Pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of nutmeg

2/3 cup raisins

2/3 cup pitted stuffed olives

Preparation

Put the olive oil in a large, heavy pan set over a medium-high flame, and heat until it begins to shimmer. Add onions, chorizo and garlic, stir to combine and cook until the onions have started to soften, approximately 10 minutes.

Add the ground beef, and allow it to brown, crumbling the meat with a fork as it does. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Add tomatoes, vinegar, cinnamon, cumin, bay leaves, cloves and nutmeg and stir to combine. Lower the heat, and let the stew simmer, covered, for approximately 30 minutes.

Uncover the pan, and add the raisins and the olives. Allow the stew to cook for another 15 minutes or so, then serve, accompanied by white rice.

CUBAN-STYLE ARROZ CONGRI

This is from Kim Severson, also in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Kim wrote, “The combination of white rice and black beans is a Cuban staple. Black beans served on top of or next to white rice is most commonly called Moros y Cristianos, a reference to the medieval battle between Islamic Moors and Christian Spaniards on the Iberian Peninsula. When rice and beans are mixed with sautéed aromatic vegetables and sometimes bits of pork, the result is called congrí. (In some Cuban households, it is also called Moros y Cristianos.) As a rule, congrí is a fluffier and drier dish than Moros y Cristianos. Yolanda Horruitiner, who has lived in Cuba for all of her 70 years, makes this simple version of congrí without pork or cumin, which is a staple in some versions. Feel free to add either to the sofrito base. This recipe uses a stovetop to cook both the rice and beans, although the dish can be assembled more quickly using a pressure cooker and rice cooker and making the sofrito in a separate sauté pan, then mixing it into the rice before it’s all cooked.”

Yield: 6 to 8 servings; Time: 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.

This was featured in “For Cuban Home Cooks, Ingenuity and Luck Are Key Ingredients” and can be viewed online here.

Note: This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon dry red wine, or vino seco. Since I don’t keep alcohol around, I would substitute 1 tablespoon water.

Ingredients

1 cup dried black beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

1 small green pepper, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

5 or 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon dried dill

2 small bay leaves

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon dry red wine, or vino seco

1 1/2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed

Preparation

Rinse the beans and pick them over for any small stones. Put the beans and 8 cups water in a medium-size pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer, partly cover and cook until tender, about 1 to 2 hours. (Time will vary depending on the bean.)

Meanwhile, make the sofrito: Put the oil in a medium-size pot (large enough to hold the rice as well) over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onion, green pepper and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and several grinds of pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are limp. Stir in the oregano, dill and bay leaves and remove from heat.

Drain the beans, reserving the broth and being careful to not break the beans. In a large measuring cup, add the vinegar and wine, 1 cup of the reserved bean broth and enough water for all the liquid to measure 2 1/4 cups.

Put the sofrito back on medium heat, add the rice and stir to combine. Cook the rice for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the seasoned bean broth/water mixture and the salt. Bring to a boil, stir, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 17 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and return cover to pot for 10 minutes.

Remove bay leaves and put rice mixture into a mixing bowl. Gently mix in the beans, being careful not to break them. Season well with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve hot.

SUPER CHILI

One of my inventions, this can be found in my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking.

2 C pinto beans

2 T oil or butter

4 C water

1 lb. ground beef

4 – 8 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 lb. bacon, chopped

2 – 4 onions, chopped

28 oz. can tomatoes (undrained)

2 T chili powder

6 oz. can tomato paste

1 tsp. oregano

1 T chili powder

Soak beans in water for several hours. Drain & place in 4 C water. Add 2-4 cloves garlic, 1 onion & 1 T chili powder. Bring to boil, stir, reduce heat, cover & simmer several hours, or until soft & creamy. Add tomato paste & 1 T chili powder & water as needed. Stir, cover & let simmer 30 more minutes. While beans are simmering, brown 1-3 onions, 2-4 cloves garlic & ground beef in butter. Add to beans. Cook bacon & add to beans. Add tomatoes, oregano & 1 T chili powder. Cook for 1-1 1/2 hours. Great for anyone who likes good, hot chili. Better the next day.

BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

From Diabetic Connect

To view this online, go to http://www.diabeticconnect.com/diabetic-recipes/general/2418-broccoli-cheese-soup

Ingredients

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1 cup half & half - fat free

4 ounces cheddar cheese

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon onion

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

4 cups broccoli florets - bite-size

Directions

Combine chicken broth, water, half & half, cheese, flour, onion and pepper in a large saucepan. Whisk to break up any lumps of flour; turn heat to medium/high. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat to low.

Add broccoli and simmer for 15-20 minutes until broccoli is tender, but not soft.

For each serving spoon one cup of soup into a bowl and garnish with a Tbsp. of shredded cheese and a pinch of parsley.

Nutritional Facts: Servings: 8; Each (app 1 1/2 cup) serving contains an estimated: Cals: 126; FatCals 42; TotFat: 5 g: SatFat: 3 g; PolyFat: 0 g; MonoFat: 2 g; Chol: 14 mg; Na: 253 mg; K: 368 mg; TotCarbs: 15 g; Fiber: 2 g; Sugars: 5 g; NetCarbs: 13 g; Protein: 9 g