Wednesday, November 9, 2016

JGE 112 - Cauliflower and Mushroom Roast

Good Day,

Last night I tried, thank you, Martha Stewart, I attempted a Cauliflower-And-Mushroom Roast.



Supper was terrific.

I pretty much followed the recipe, but I did use Portabella Mushrooms.

My blood sugar did drop 7 points this morning to 109 mg/dL, sort-of a see-saw from yesterday.

And more images -








Jim's gotta eat. Be healthy,

Jim

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

JGE 111 - Brazilian Fish Casserole

Good Day,

Last night supper - Swai Brazilian Fish Casserole and Jamaican Rice and Beans.



I found this recipe on Clifford A. Wright’s book “Bake until Bubbly”,, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, NJ, 2008.

Here are the ingredients called for –

2 tbsps Red Palm Oil – I used Coconut Oil
1 large Onion, finely chopped
4 large or 28 oz. can Tomatoes, drained
1 ½ lbs Yellowtail, Mahi Mahi, or Sea Bass – I used Swai, cut into 1 ½ cubes; I cut portions
1 14-oz can unsweetened Coconut Milk
2 tbsps freshly squeezed Lemon Juice – I used Lime Juice
2 tbsps chopped Parsley
3 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 fresh Red Jalapeño or Serrano Chile, finely chopped – I used a Green Jalapenõ
1 tsp freshly Ground Black Pepper –
½ tsp Salt – For both the Salt and Pepper I used 2 tsps+ of Badia Adobo Con Pimienta


I followed the instructions which are very, very simple but once again I sort of deviated from the actual recipe.

I turned the oven on to bake at 350˚F. I used a cast iron skillet and cooked the chopped Onion in the Coconut Oil. Following the recipe, but not using a separate casserole dish I just threw everything, excepting the Jalapeño into the Onion and Coconut Oil in the cast iron skillet. Once everything was gently mixed and blended I put the skillet into the oven and baked for 15 minutes. I did sprinkle the chopped Jalapeño on top of each plate. I definitely will repeat this one.

Supper was terrific.

My blood sugar did drop 7 points this morning to 109 mg/dL, sort-of a see-saw from yesterday.

Jim's gotta eat. Be healthy,

Jim

Monday, November 7, 2016

JGE 110 - Japanese Beef Curry

Good Day,

Last night I tried something completely new and very, very different. I cooked and ate Japanese Beef Curry.



What you see is the completed dish, the Japanese Beef Curry on top of Jasmine Rice all topped with broiled Mozzarella Cheese.

I discovered the recipe, completely by chance at the site Pressure Cook Recipes.

Was this good? Is the sky blue?

Easy to make with few ingredients but it does take about 3+ hours to prepare.

Ingredients were quite simple, and I adjusted a bit for two of us -

1 pound Beef Chuck Tender steak
6+ medium Garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 cup unsalted Chicken Broth
2 Golden Curry roux cubes
1 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 1/2 pounds Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
3 tbsps unsalted Butter
Kosher Salte and ground Black Pepper

1 cup Jasmine Rice
1 1/2 cups Water

Mozzarella Cheese, grated for topping

I will say that the preparation did take some time, especially the mise-en-place and the cooking of the ingredients, the onions. I followed the well thought-out instructions at Pressure Cook Recipes...and I used my Instant Pot.

Here are some images, and I'm not creating a cookbook, just some quick shots with my iPhone.




Supper was terrific.

My blood sugar did go up 7 points this morning to 116 mg/dL, and if I had eaten anymore I am sure that my FBS would have gone up a couple more ticks.

Right, I used my Instant Pot.

Jim's gotta eat. Be healthy,

Jim

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

JGE 109 - Pak Cham Gai Fan – aka Chinese-Style Steamed Chicken

Good Day,

I really, really, really like my new Instant Pot. Last night I tried to make Pak Cham Gai Fan – otherwise known as Chinese-Style Steamed Chicken.



My prime ingredient included -

1 large boneless/skinless Chicken breast

marinated in -

2 tbsps Regular Soya Sauce
2 tbsps Dark Soya Sauce
1 tbsp Shoaxing Wine
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp White Pepper

I added 3 cups of Jasmine Rice, rinsed, and 3 1/2 cups of water to the inner pot.

I followed the instructions directions from Happy Noodle TV and added

4 Spring/Green Onions
8 Garlic Cloves
2 Inches Ginger
150 g Shitake Mushrooms
3 Star Anise, (not sure of the plural)



It’s supposed to be an 11-minute Instant Pot recipe.  I followed the instructions and used the manual settings on high pressure.  I was expecting the typical pressure cooker steam whistling.  There wasn't any.  So I repeated the process again.



Well lo and behold every turned out okay.  The chicken was cooked.  The rice was cooked.  I plated the meal with chicken and rice topped with some Dark Soya Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seeds.  I added a teaspoon of Hot Pepper Sauce, the one I made from Habaneros.  I also steamed some Baby Bok Choy.

Supper was terrific.  (But I am looking for that burst of steam.  Maybe I am wrong.)

My blood sugar dropped 13 points this morning moved up 2 points to 107 mg/dL.

Right. I am sold on the Instant Pot.

Jim's gotta eat. Be healthy,

Jim

Saturday, August 13, 2016

JGE 108 – New Instant Pot Challenge – This Morning: Congee

Good Day,

Breakfast - Congee..




And yes I do like kitchen gadgets. I hummed and hawed about getting another small appliance some time ago. I thought I would never use it. But I got suckered…sort of.

Yes, I did get a new Instant Pot. The model I got on an Amazon.com super deal moment. Instant Pot IP-LUX60 6-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker, 6-Quart 1000-Watt.

And this morning after checking the slight upward swing of my fasting blood sugar count I decided that I wanted to have…to make some Congee.

There are 320,000 Google results for the phrase “Congee recipes”. When I change the search phrase to “Congee recipes, Instant Pot”, I received 74,000 results. And of course who knows how many are just duplicate copies or each other.

Well this morning I decided to pattern my Congee concoction after the “Instant Pot Congee (Jook)” from the website BudgetByte$.

Of course I did not have similar ingredients. My ingredients:

1 cup Long-grain Rice
6 cloves Garlic
2 inches fresh Ginger
6 large white Mushrooms
5 cups Chicken Broth
2 cups Water
½ tsp Salt

Toppings:

Dash of Soy Sauce
2 Green Onions
Dash of toasted Sesame Seeds.

I followed the directions for the Instant Pot.



And there was left-overs. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have made Congee on my stove-top.



Everything turned out fine, and I had me a bowl of freshly made Congee after I completed my sit-ups this morning. Will have to wait until tomorrow to see if there is any impact to my A1c calculation.

Right. I am sold on the Instant Pot.

Jim's gotta eat. Be healthy,

Jim

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

JGE 107 - Habanero Sauce

Good Day,

Yes, I've been growing peppers; Habaneros and Red Thai/Bird's Eye Chilies.

And I harvested the habaneros and figured I've got to do something with them.



I found Rick Bayless' recipe for Habanero Hot Sauce.



Quick list of ingredients: Habaneros, Onions, Carrots, Garlic, Apple Vinegar, Water, Salt, and Sugar.  And of course I tweaked the amounts; more to the plus-size.








Hot! Spicy! Hot! Damn sweet.



Any questions, thoughts, ideas, comments email me at Jim’s Gotta Eat. Oh yeah, Jim’s Gotta Eat has a new URL address – http://jimsgottaeat.com.

Jim’s gotta eat. Enjoy,

Jim

Monday, July 11, 2016

JGE 106 – Supper Showdown – Grilled Basque Wings

Good Day,

And I had a craving for Grilled Basque Wings.



This morning’s blood sugar count showed a net change of 2 points from my last posting July 5th. And the early morning FSB recorded at 98 mg/dL. It actually decreased by 10 points for the day before.

Supper was a tall order of Gilled Basque Wings and a Grilled Potato and Onion Salad. And I had a Shock Top Belgian White and of course a couple scoops of ice cream.



What I like about these chicken wings is that they are grilled plain on the bar-b-que and then dunked after into the sauce.

From the book on my shelf: I used the recipe for Grilled Basque Wings - Thrill of the Grill by Chris Schlesinger & John Willoughby the ingredients included, as I changed them: Garlic; Lemon Juice; Olive Oil; Habanero; Fresh Oregano; Salt and Pepper; and Chicken Wings.



And from The Joy of Grilling by Joe Famularo I followed, sort-of, the recipe for Grilled Potato and Grilled Onion Salad. My ingredients: Potatoes; Olive Oil, Onions; Vinegar; Lemon Juice; Green Onions; Fresh Thyme; Salt and Pepper.




And my approximate carbohydrate tally for supper-

Grilled Basque Wings ≈ 0.0 grams
Grilled Potato and Onion Salad ≈ 25.0 grams
Shock Top Belgian White Beer ≈ 15.0 grams
Ice Cream ≈ 40.0 grams

My unscientific and approximate total ≈ 80.0 grams

This morning’s results –

FSB – 98 ↓ down 108 (Normal range 100 – 125 mg/dL)
A1c – 5.37 ≈ 5.37 (Normal range 5.7 – 6.4 %)
eAG – 107.4 ↓ down 107.5 (Normal range 117 – 137 mg/dL)

Tune in tomorrow to Jim’s Gotta Eat to see the comparison of the results...and the set up a new Supper Showdown.

Food for thought – Try not to eat too late in the evening. Manage the amount of food that I eat. Do not over eat because my eyes see good food.

I am trying to control my diabetes with exercise and food. I have eliminated all diabetes medication. I am keeping my weight stable, and Jim's gotta eat.

Enjoy.

Jim