Jul
14

Ethiopian Beef Stir-Fry with Kale and Onions

OK. Yes. I know Ethiopian cuisine does not “stir fry”.

But in this humble chef’s opinion, the technique of heating some aromatics in a fat, and then adding some meat and veggies, shouldn’t be limited to just a few regional forms of cooking. Especially when the stir-fry can be such a quick and easy way to get your protein and fat while minimizing carbs, and allowing you to include a wide range of vegetation that benefits from high heat. Like kale, for example.

So if you have some beef and hard winter greens waiting to be cooked, give this very simple recipe a try. You can easily substitute the Ethiopian “berbere” spice for something else you have on hand — like even a Mexican beef seasoning packet left over from taco night. I think you’ll enjoy it no matter how you season the beef, but novelty is of course the spice of life.

Scale ingredient amounts up or down depending on needs. No need to follow the same ratio that I used, although tomato sauce should be minimized in order to control carbs.

Net Carbs: ~4g per bowl.

Ethiopian Ground Beef Stir-Fry with kale and onions

Print recipe
Ethiopian Ground Beef Stir-Fry with kale and onions
Portions 2
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
Total time 25 minutes
Dietary Gluten Free, Ultra Low Carb
Meal type Lunch, Main Dish
Misc Serve Hot
Region African
By author Naomi Most
Butter. Beef. A touch of tomato and your favorite hard greens, accompanied by the iconic Ethiopian spice blend, berbere. This recipe serves 2 hungry nomads with about 3g of carbs per bowl.

Ingredients

  • 1/2lb Ground beef (Best quality you can get)
  • 1/4 cup Butter (Don't skimp on quality here either)
  • 3 cups Chopped Kale or collard greens
  • 1/2 cup Red onion, frenched or cubed
  • 1/4 cup Puréed eggplant (from can)
  • 3-4 tablespoons Berbere spice
  • 1/8 teaspoon Salt

Directions

Step 1
In a large saucepan (I use a nonstick wok, actually), melt the butter on low heat. When completely liquified, toss in the onions and sautée until translucent.
Step 2
Pour in eggplant (if using) and stir together well.
Step 3
Toss in the kale. Add a splash of water and then turn up the heat to medium. Stir to coat kale with butter and onions, then cover loosely to steam for about 8 minutes.
Step 4
In a separate medium sized bowl, mix the ground beef with the berbere powder (or alternative spices). Try to make sure the flavoring is evenly spread through the beef. Use less powder if you prefer a milder taste, and up to twice the written amount if you like your food hot and spicy.
Step 5
Remove the cover from the sautée pan. Kale should be fully wilted and cooked by now. Using your hands or a large spoon, break the beef into loose meatballs and toss them into the cooking kale and onion mixture.
Step 6
Cook beef for as long as desired, stirring regularly. When at desired doneness, remove from heat.
Step 7
Add the tomato sauce, stirring in to mix fully with the buttery, beefy sauce of the stir-fry.
Step 8
Ethiopian beef kale onion stir fry
Serve!

Special Ingredients

Jul
11

Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes (grain-free)

We are experiencing a sort of cupcake Renaissance lately, what with the hive mind’s collective discovery of things like nut flours and tapioca starch. But sorely lacking, as far as I can see, are examples of cupcakes that keep your net carb count as low as possible without resorting to gut-disrupting ingredients like pure gluten flour.

So as promised, here my first ultra-low-carb cupcake recipe, guaranteed to keep you in ketogenesis as long as you don’t eat the whole batch. The first of many, I can assure you, now that I have my rapid cupcake prototyping machine.

Net carbs: 3g per cupcake (recipe makes 12). Frosting brings it up to about 5g usable carbohydrates.

Credit goes to Carolyn at All Day I Dream About Food (dot com) for coming up with a red velvet cupcakes and donuts recipe that I drew from heavily when creating this cupcake. And for having way better pictures than I do.

Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes

Print recipe
Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes
Portions 12
Prep time 20 minutes
Allergy Egg, Milk
Dietary Gluten Free, Ultra Low Carb
Meal type Dessert, Snack
Misc Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot
By author Naomi Most
Soft but firm and a bit chewy, with that luscious hint of cocoa powder that gives red velvet cupcakes their rich dark color and taste. Made mostly of almond flour, so very paleo friendly (you can sub out the splenda for honey or xylitol, though of course that increases the carb count). Just 3 net carbs per serving!

Ingredients

dry

  • 2 cups almond flour (best/finest quality you can get (it matters))
  • 1/4 cup splenda for baking
  • 1/4 cup whey protein powder
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

wet

  • 5 tablespoons cottage cheese (or cream cheese)
  • 1/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 3 eggs (large)
  • 10 drops liquid stevia extract
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1 dash red icing coloring (or 15 drops of red liquid food coloring)

wet (Optional)

  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Note

Quality of almond flour matters here. Make sure you acquire a fine-grained almond flour (not almond meal) made from blanched almonds. I use JK Gourmet brand almond flour.

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2
Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes: wet ingredients part 1
Blend together the butter and cottage cheese (or cream cheese) and almond milk. Using a high-speed blender like the Magic Bullet achieves the best results to break up cottage cheese clumps. Also add in the stevia, splenda for baking, and vanilla at this time. Set aside.
Step 3
Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes: sifted flours
In a medium bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Make sure to break up all small lumps. (Most almond flours will be a bit clumpy.)
Step 4
mixing wet ingredients together
In a separate large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Pour in the wet ingredients from the blender, and whisk to mix.
Step 5
just a touch of frosting dye!
Use an oyster fork or pair of chopsticks, and dip the end of the utensil into the frosting coloring. You really only need a small amount to color the entire batch. See the attached photo.
Step 6
a little dab of frosting color goes a long way
Stir the frosting color into the wet ingredients. Whisk to let color suffuse the mixture completely.
Step 7
Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes: mixing wet and dry
Now you will combine the wet and dry ingredients. Pour HALF of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl. Stir to mix thoroughly before adding the rest of the dry stuff in. Mix well without beating.
Step 8
Red Velvet Keto Cupcake batter is bright red and sticky
When fully mixed, batter should be brick red and fairly sticky.
Step 9
Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes going into the oven
Deploy 1/4 cup sized lumps of batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners. Put in the oven.
Step 10
Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes all done!
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in preheated oven, checking for doneness at the 12 minute mark. If the middle seems mushy, the cupcakes need more time. Remove when a cupcake passes the toothpick test (an inserted toothpick comes out clean).
Step 11
Red Velvet Keto Cupcakes frosted with a berry on top
Let cool; frost with something tasty, like basic butter-cream frosting!

Special Ingredients

jk gourmet Almond Flour

Sweet Leaf vanilla creme flavor liquid stevia

Splenda for baking

Excuses

I promised this recipe a week ago, on July 4th. Wouldn’t that have been convenient? But I screwed up the first “confirmation batch” badly enough that I had to do them over again, and then ran out of time while finishing the second “confirmation batch”. Which meant having to hold off on doing the frosting until the next day.

On the bright side, that first screw-up batch gave me a clue for how to produce some truly excellent chocolate cake, which I am proud to say that I have since perfected and will be posting the recipe in a week or two, after some more savory submissions go up. (I want to make sure I sprinkle in foods other than cake and icing on The Hardcore Chef, considering I don’t intend to be “the hardcore bakery”, which has sort of a different sense to it, eh.)

Jul
04

Basic Butter Cream Icing (ultra low carb)

What would cake be without frosting?  Here’s my very first ultra-low-carb icing recipe, made with cream cheese, butter, and cream. Maybe one day I’ll find a way to include yet another form of milk product (whey protein perhaps?) but for now, three forms will do.

I’m a sucker for coconut icing, so I’ve been mixing this basic recipe with finely shredded coconut flakes (unsweetened of course), using it to top the red velvet cupcakes whose recipe I will post later today, after I make another batch of it. Today is the 4th of July, after all, so red velvet cake topped with white and blue icing would seem de rigeur for such a patriotic holiday.  Unlike the French expression I just used.

Until then, you could just eat this icing all by itself, or use it to top some ultra-low-carb pancakes!

Basic Sugar-Free Butter Cream Icing

Print recipe
Basic Sugar-Free Butter Cream Icing
Floating somewhere between "butter cream" and "cream cheese icing" lies the perfect concoction to top ultra-low-carb cakes and other treats. Use this very basic recipe as is, or as the basis for any number of frosting types, from chocolate to hazelnut to coconut and beyond.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 4oz cream cheese (softened)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar-free syrup (any flavor)
  • 8 drops liquid stevia extract (any flavor)

Optional

  • 1/3 cup finely shredded coconut (unsweetened)

Directions

Step 1
Place all ingredients into the Magic Bullet or into a bowl you can use with an electric mixer. (Except for the coconut, if using.)
Step 2
Blend (or mix) ingredients until fully creamed together, resulting in a firm but soft frosting. (If adding coconut, mix in after other ingredients have been mixed.)
Step 3
Done! Go frost something!
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