Replacement, Recipe, and Reading

January 24, 2009 in Books, Food and Drink, Three Good Things | 5 comments

Three Good Things for the day:

  1. Got my car battery replaced.  Good thing because the car was dead and I thought it might have to wait until Monday.  Also a good thing because Adam took care of it for me.  That man is spoiling me lately!
  2. Created, cooked and ate a dish of carrots and celery with a cream sauce.  Those are 2 of my least favorite vegetables, but I liked them this way.  The sauce was just a roux with heavy cream and chicken broth, plus nutmeg, salt and pepper.  I wonder if there is a way to make a low-carb roux substitute.
  3. Joined a book club.  Thanks, LB!

  1. Diana Hsieh on January 25, 2009 at 3:13 am

    Richard has some good advice for reduction sauces in the comments on this post:

    http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog/2009/01/pantry-cleanout.shtml

    I used his basic method today with the turkey I was roasting, and the result was insanely delicious. (It required time to cook down, but very little work.)

  2. Amy on January 25, 2009 at 10:18 am

    Diana – Those sauces sound like a lot of work to me. I don’t normally have time to do that kind of reduction either. For meat, I’m usually pretty happy with spices and I’m willing to buy sauces on occasion to save time. But I’m looking for creamy sauces for veggies to replace my usuall Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup mix. But it must be fast and easy. Any suggestions for that?

  3. Jon Prescott on January 26, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    I just deglaze sauteed veggies ( or sauteed anything, for that matter) with cream, add any salt, pepper or other spices and call it a day. It’s delicious, very quick and easy, and close to 0 carbs.

  4. Colleen on January 27, 2009 at 11:43 pm

    I usually use this sauce with pasta (instead of a thick creamy alfredo) and add a lot of vegetables to the pasta – spinach, asparagus, etc.) but it might be good with veggies and without pasta too.

    I saute some shallots (onion, chives, or garlic would work too to vary the flavor) in a little olive oil, then I add fresh grated ginger (or if I’m feeling lazy I just add dried ground ginger at the end) and saute for another minute. While that is sauteing, mix together equal parts plain yogurt (low-fat works) and ricotta or cottage cheese (again low-fat). Travis and I usually use about 1/2 cup of each and it’s plenty for two. Then mix the sauteed shallots into the yogurt/ricotta mixture, add salt and pepper, ground ginger and Parmesan cheese.

    Also I’ve used a similar sauce with boiled potato cubes and added cumin and paprika at the end and it makes a good potato salad. It’s good with sweet potatoes too (which I now always eat instead of potatoes if I can because they’re much healthier.)

  5. Amy on January 30, 2009 at 5:55 am

    Jon and Colleen, I’ll try both of those easy ideas! I actually tried Jon’s idea with lamb chops last night and it was heavenly, but I’m more skeptical about doing it with vegetables because the sauce will be so thin. I’m looking for a thicker sauce for veggies, so Colleen’s might be the answer.