Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
From a food point of view, a low-carb diet may be helpful in keeping
cholesterol levels under control.  Many low-carbers stand by the
positive effect that low-carb dieting has on cholesterol levels.  To do
low-carb correctly, many vegetables will be consumed.  Fiber-rich
vegetables are a bounty of health.  Garlic has cholesterol reducing
qualities and it makes food exceptionally flavorful.  A low-carb diet
need not contain butter, beef or cheese.  Instead, one could consume
lots of chicken and seafood prepared with olive oil or grapeseed oil. 
Consuming soy protein (tofu, tempeh) is also another way to reduce bad
cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.  Almonds and other tree nuts
also have been shown to have a positive effect on cardiovascular
health.  So you see, low-carb does not necessarily need to be high in
saturated fats.  There is a very satisfying middle ground.

It should also be noted that the author of the South Beach Diet is a
cardiologist.  
  

    
Great idea about the wine ice cubes.
  

    
Kim... I love your comments about low carb not having to equate to
beef and cheese, although I am definitely a beef eating kind of guy.

I think low carb has gotten a bad rap because the sales pitch for so
long has been that you can go back to eating bacon and cheese and eggs.

Truth is when I'm eating low carb right, I eat better than I've ever
eaten before, types of food, quantities...
  

    
Thought I'd just share that after some ingredient specific shopping
our family has declared the next ten days Slow Cooker cooking days.

Tonight we're having Mexican Meatloaf... I also purchased a couple of
nice beef roasts and stocked up on chicken breasts to try some of the
poultry recipes.

We usually eat between 5:00 and 6:00 if anybody happens to be in the
southeast Michigan area over the next couple of days...<smile>

I'll be sure to report in with the results...
  

    
>>It should also be noted that the author of the South Beach Diet is a
cardiologist.

In point of fact, so was the late Dr. Atkins.  

And one of the studies published recently that showed improvement in
cholesterol levels on a low-carb diet was, in fact, sponsored in part
by the American Heart Association...much to their shock when they saw
the results (they were not the only group to undertake study of
low-carb diets in order to DISprove their health claims...and then be
startled by the results!)

>>low-carb yogurt

In fact, yogurt IS low-carb (in the absence of added sugars and the
like) - the label inaccurately reflects what has happened to the
lactose in the finished product.  Nutrition labels on products, at
least in the US,  calculate carb count "by difference," which means the
carbohydrate count is not measured directly.  In the case of yogurt,
this leads to a miscount.  See the following URLL

<http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/yogurt.html>

I am not a fan of excessive consumption of soy, due to concerns about
its effect on thyroid function.
  

    
Happy Slow Cooking cmf.  Mexican meatloaf is one of our favs.  We
serve it with low-carb tortillas, avacados, chopped green peppers, sour
cream and shredded lettuce.
  

    
Great discussions, everyone. Yes, some yogurt is low in carb, but I
like my yogurt sweetened and fruited, so I like the new low-carb
yogurt, and I always add some of our "Berry Sauce" from the book--also
good on low-carb ice cream products. Yes, carb is calculated "by
difference," and good point. 

Soy may not be appropriate for those with or recovering from breast
cancer, fyi. Obviously, not all foods we frequently lump together as
"healthful" are healthful for everyone. 

I'm from southwest Michigan originally...maybe I should send my
parents across the state to sample your slow cooked dinners, CMF! (I'm
not sure they've even begun to tackle cooking from our book yet!). 
  

    
Tonight was Mexican Meatloaf...

Before I make any comments about the dish, I need to kind of ask a
question/point something out.

All the ingredients for the dish are listed on the left side of the
recipe. Several of them are listed as optional, and without quantities.

The instructions for the recipe instruct you to mix all the
ingredients together and then put them in the slow cooker.

Since some of the optional, unmeasured ingredients were things like
cheese and sour cream, my wife called me wondering if THOSE items
should be mixed in with the meat as well.

It was funny because in looking at the recipe myself I had that same
exact question.

We decided it couldn't hurt, and mixed them all in.

Now that we've made the meal, I have a sense that these optional items
(top of my head -- scallions, sour cream, grated cheese, chopped
lettuce) were meant to be accoutrements, not a part of the actual
recipe.

So, is my final reckoning correct? And if so, it might be something to
look at for the future. I know a lot of folks will think us silly, but
I also know we won't be the only people confused by this.
  

    
Good point re the ingredients in Mexican meatloaf. That must have
escaped our editors/proofreaders, but your second thought is
correct--they're to be served on top, if desired, not mixed in. The
last line in step 3, serve with your faovrite garnishes might have been
clearer if it noted that those garnishes would be the "optional"
ingredients....should have aelso noted that come all ingredients didn't
mean to include the optional ones. So sorry this was confusing. People
who use their slow cookers a lot would have caught this (knowing that
putting lettuce in a slow cooker couldnt' be right!). However, it's
unclear; our apologies. We'll make a note of it....
  

    
Just out of curiosity - how did it turn out?  I am guessing that slow
cooked iceberg lettuce may not be that appealing.  Our apologies for
the misunderstanding, I checked the recipe this morning, the optional
ingredients could have used a bit more explaining, just as Kit stated
above.

Whats on the menu for tonight?
  

    
Fortunately we didn't put any lettuce in the <smile!> 

It was actually pretty good and we're confident it we'll be better. I
think we used more than the 2 pounds of ground beef suggested so ours
could have used another packet of taco seasoning.

I also think that the cheese and sour cream kind of watered down the
flavor as well... Now then, added after the fact, I think it would have
been awesome. We're kind of chalking this one up to "user error" and
we're definitely going to try it again.

The cool thing is that it tasted a little like eating a burrito or an
enchilada without the tortilla.

As for tonight...

Defrosted a roast, but then found we didn't have all the ingredients.
Some of that is our fault. And some of it... well, I think the only
negative I've found with the book is that there are a good number of
recipes that call for things I don't usually stock in my kitchen, and I
consider myself a pretty successful cook. I don't know that I'd
consider this an issue with the book though. For starters you do a good
job of addressing staples in the front of the book.

And having said that... I can see there's a reason for this and I
alluded to it a couple of days ago. I really don't look at this book as
the standard slow cooker cook book. These recipes are designed to be a
step above, or at least that's my take on it.

I do have to ask you this. What is the purpose of the tapioca in the
classic roast recipe and <pulling hair out> where the heck do I find it
in the grocery store!?

Going to make a stop tonight at the store. Roast on the schedule for
tomorrow.
  

    
It's a thickener.  I know I've seen it in the grocery store here. Try
the pudding section, baking supplies, perhaps even the bulk section. 
  

    
That's what I assumed, in all counts, but was unsuccessful in my first
search.

Will try again tonight.
  

    
Yes, the quick cooking tapioca thickens the gravy for the roast. Many
slow cooker recipes use it, and if you plan on using your cooker more
in the future, you should have it on hand. Find it by the boxes of
pudding mix in your store (in mine it's on the top shelf by the
"exotic", imported mousse mixes, etc. ) It's a tiny box...look hard

Hope this roast turns out better for you! Don't give up on us yet! 

And, we hope you're right, that our recipes are a notch above what one
usually expects with slow cooker cookbooks...
  

    
One of the things I HAVE noticed is that I like using the book as a
reference point. A chance to see some of the combinations you've worked
with and then add or subtract from them a little.

I plan on doing that tonight and thought some input might be nice. I
like the recipe for the Cinnamon Walnuts, only I'm going to use pecans
instead. Or am planning to. 

Any experience with this? Should the pecans be tasty too?
  

    
On the topic of meat confusion:  I have the gingham-covered Better
Homes and Gardens cookbook too!  And it's a great resource for basic
information about cuts of meat.

But in the search for a more in-depth source of information, I came
across this Web site, which has tons of info about meat, not to mention
just about every other ingredient you can name:

The Cook's Thesaurus
<http://www.foodsubs.com/>
  

    
I have a book called The Cook's Book with a lot of basic stuff like
that.
  

    
Quick Cooking Tapioca can be a bit of a challenge to find, but it is a
very standard item in grocery stores.  As Kit, said look for the
little red box, usually on the top shelf.  If you enjoy slow cooking,
it is a very handy thickener that adds minimal carbs.

Regarding Cinnamon Walnuts, yes absolutely you can substitute pecans. 
It will be delicious.  I love to eat these for breakfast with some
cottage cheese and sugar free maple syrup.

Thanks for the tip on foodsubs.com  I'll check it out.
  

    
Hey, I just noticed something.  No lamb recipes!  What gives?

(I've only really discovered lamb in recent years, but I'm a big fan.)
  

    
Question about tapioca vs flour:
According to my carb-counting book (Barbara Kraus' "Calories and
Carbohydrates"), flour is lower carb than tapioca, tablespoon for
tablespoon. What's the advantage of tapioca over flour as a thickener in a
slow cooker?
  

    
About lamb, I generally found that I could not consistently find
standard lamb items at my grocery store.  Obviously, certain cuts of
lamb are more geared towards slow cooking.  I really wanted to do a
lamb shank recipe but I couldn't get my hands on the lamb shanks
without special ordering them.  Since you are a lamb lover, you could
substitute lamb sausage for many of the sausage dishes.  It might be
especially good in the sausage and white bean soup.

Tapioca vs. flour.  Tapicoa has a cleaner flavor and it is better
suited to slow cooking.  If wanting to use flour as a thickener, it is
best to cook it with some butter and to make a roux for thickening. 
Roux is easy enough to make, but it must be well combined with other
liquid ingredients to avoid lumps.  Also flour thickened recipes are
better prepared if they can be stirred when cooking, once again to
avoid lumps.  People who slow cook seem to prefer simple preparation,
therefore we opted for the popular "slow cooking" ingredient (tapioca).
  

    
Ah. Thanks for the feedback on tapioca vs. flour, Kim. That makes sense.
  

    
Speaking of tapioca, I had a related issue (similar to the mexican
meatloaf "optional" ingredients) when making the chicken satay bites.
Under ingredients, the first section is "For the marinade" or something.
There's a bunch of ingredients, then another section "Peanut sauce".
The tapioca is listed with the marinade ingredients, and since the
recipe says 'whisk together the marinade ingredients' and the tapioca
is listed with those I ended up putting it in the marinade.  Which
worked ok, but then of course the next step says 'mix in the tapioca'
and I just skipped it.

I made a note in my book that the tapioca was not one of the ingredients
for the tapioca, but it should be separated from the list...
  

    

Axon checking in; I've been traveling.

I think the book is gorgeous!  It's one of those things you just love
to page through, looking at the pictures and reading the recipes.  I
haven't had the chance to attempt any of the recipes, but I have made
mental notes of the things I want to try.  I need to get an ice cream
freezer and make that ice cream!
  

    
Axon; are you sure you have the right book? Ours doesn't have any
pictures! However, we'll take the compliment! 

By the way, tapioca friends, I went to the Satay recipe and found that
yes indeedy, you're right re the placement of that ingredient. I hate
to be the one to keep making excuses, but frankly this was a publishers
layout decision... In our original, the tapioca is separated. I think
sometimes that accuracy is sacrificed for style. Sad, but true. 

Another recipe tip, in general it's best to completely read through a
recipe before starting it. That way you know what's coming up. I've run
across numerous things such as this in other books and many, many
times in magazines, which tend to cut up recipes and move chunks of
them to different pages. 

Just a tip. Thanks for pointing this out.