Duck Breast

The best duck breast I've made so far 
Taste: 4 out of 5
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Source: Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
• 2 duck breasts, at room temperature
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• juice of 1 lime

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 250F.
2. Using the point of a sharp knife, score the duck skin in a crosshatch pattern. Cut the fat layer, but try not to touch the meat. Season both sides salt and pepper.
3. Preheat a deep cooking pan or a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Using a deep pan is better because the fat will splatter. When the pan is hot, place the breasts skin side down. Cook for 8 minutes, until the skin is brown and crisp. Turn the pieces skin side up and cook for 3 minutes more.
4. Transfer the breasts to aluminum foil, wrap loosely and place on a baking sheet, Bake for 5 minutes.
5. In the meantime, pour off almost all the fat from the pot, leaving about 1-2 teaspoons in the pot. (Preserve the fat for baking potato wedges.) (you should have just a teaspoon or 2 left in the pot). Stir in the vinegar, honey and lime juice and cook for about 1 minute on medium heat.
6. When the breasts are out of the oven, add the juices from the aluminum foil to the pot, mix. Add the breasts and cook for about 30 seconds on each side.
7. Remove the breasts from the heat, slice into 1/2 inch diagonal slices, drizzle with the sauce and serve.

Afterthoughts:
• It’s better to cook in a non-stick pot, otherwise the duck skin sticks to the pan and the fat splatters even more.
• When adding the honey / syrup to duck fat for the sauce, watch the pot, otherwise the sauce burns very quickly.

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Chinese Eggplant with Ground Meat

Delicious Asian dinner in about half an hour
Source: Salu-salo

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb ground turkey
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 lbs eggplant or Chinese eggplant 1 ½ lbs. Chinese eggplants, ends trimmed and cut on the diagonal into ½-inch slices
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water
For the sauce:
- 1 cup chicken stock (or 1 cup of chicken flavored Better than Bullion dissolved in 1 cup of hot water)
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp of sambal oelek or sriracha (or up to 2 tbsp for a spicy version)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Total: 6 servings

Directions:
1. Trim the eggplants and cut into 1/2 inch slices.
2. Combine the turkey with soy sauce and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. In another bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 10 to 15 seconds.
5. Add the turkey and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
6. Add the eggplants and the sauce and stir to mix well. Reduced the heat to medium, cover for about 10 minutes or until eggplants are tender.
7. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring until sauce thickens. Serve with steamed rice or cauliflower rice.

Afterthoughts:
This is a really delicious simple recipe and it works with any kind of meat: pork, beef, chicken, turkey. Might even work with ground tofu?! ;-)

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General Tso's Chicken with Trader Joe's Sauce

Lighter and faster version without deep frying and using a ready made sauce.
Source: A combination of Martha Stewart's and Heather's recipes

Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 lb green beans
- 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Genereal Tso's Sauce
- 2 tbsp canola oil for cooking

Directions:
1. In a medium sized bowl whisk together egg whites, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Add chicken, and toss to coat. Refrigerate from 15 minutes to several hours to marinate the chicken.
2. Heat a 2 tbsp of oil in a large non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer chicken pieces into the skillet, shaking off the egg white batter. Cook for about 10 minutes until golden, stirring occasionally. If there is too much chicken to fit in 1 layer on the pan, you can do the frying in 2 batches.
3. When the chicken is cooked, remove it to a plate.
4. Pour the green beans and the sauce onto the skillet and cook stirring for 4-5 mintues, until the beans are soft and the sauce thick. Add the chicken to the pan and stir to coat it with the sauce.
5. Serve over white rice (or cauliflower rice).

Afterthoughts:
The taste is good, but the lighter version does not give you the deep frying crunch that I did not really expect, but was secretly hoping for. Oh, well... And maybe I would add 2 more tablespoons of sauce next time.

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Gumbowl - Gumbo in Bread Bowl

For May 2011 Daring Cooks challenge
Source Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh

Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) rendered chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil
- 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) Basic Creole Spices (recipe follows), or store-bought Creole spice blend
- 2 pounds (2 kilograms) spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 green bell peppers (capsicum), seeded and diced
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 quarts (3 liters) Basic Chicken Stock (recipe follows), or canned chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 ounces (175 gm) andouille sausage, chopped
- 2 cups (480 ml) (320 gm) (11 oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Filé powder, to taste
- Tabasco, to taste
- 4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)
Total 10-12 servings

Inatructions
1. Prepare homemade chicken stock, if using (recipe below).
2. Prepare homemade Basic Creole Spices, if using (recipe below).
3. Season the chicken pieces with about 2 tablespoons of the Creole Spices while you prepare the vegetables.
4. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.
5. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.
6. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.
7. Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
8. Add the sliced smoked sausage and stir for about a minute.
9. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.
10. Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
11. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.
12. Add the chopped andouille, okra, and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco, all to taste.
13. Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé powder at the table if desired.

Afterthoughts
- This was certainly the most challenging challenge I've participated in: stirring the stew non-stop for at least an hour - wheeeeew.... I don't think I can knowingly do that to myself again - will just have to do without a home made gumbo. But I will certainly treasure every bite next time I go to New Orleans and order it :-).
- I've made a lot of changes to the orignial recipes, and the final result is not worth reproducing, so I posted here the recipe just as it appeared on the Daring Cooks site, not my version. I could not rank the taste of this recipe, because the thing I have tasted was very different :-).

Blog-checking lines: Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

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Chicken with Pecan Cream & Mushrooms

A June 2010 Daring Cooks challenge - a really original twist on pasta sauce. 

Source 

June 2010 Daring Cooks challenge by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

For Pecan Cream:
- 3/4 cup / 180 ml coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
- 1 cup /240 ml water
- 1 cup / 240 ml milk 

- 3/4 tsp salt, more as needed

- 1/2 lb / 225 g pasta
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
- 1 tsp olive oil, more as needed
- salt & pepper to taste

For Sauce:
- 1 tbsp deglazing liquid (water, broth, wine; optional)
- 1 tsp olive oil, more as needed
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml finely chopped shallots
- 1/2 lb / 225 g mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- chopped pecans, (optional garnish)

Total 4 servings

Instructions

1. Prepare pecan cream. Grind pecans in a food processor for about a minute or so until smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed. Add water, milk and 3/4 teaspoon salt; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Set aside pecan cream.

2. Cook pasta according to package instructions in salted water. Drain, rinse, and keep warm.

3. If desired, pound chicken to ¼ inch (6 mm) thickness to promote even cooking. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken; sauté 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Set aside cooked chicken on a clean plate, cover to keep warm.

4. Add deglazing liquid to pan if using and stir up any browned bits. If needed, add another teaspoon of oil (or more) to pan for sautéing the shallots and mushrooms. Sauté the shallots and mushrooms over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and starting to brown. Add fresh thyme to the pan. Stir in pecan cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 minutes till reduced slightly.

5. Slice chicken into thin strips. Divide the noodles among serving plates. Add a scoop of the mushroom pecan sauce on top of noodles. Lay sliced chicken on top. Garnish with fresh thyme and/or a pinch of chopped pecans if desired.

Afterthoughts

- A great recipe - I never would have thought of making a pecan sauce for chicken, but it turned out really yummy! Thanks to Margie and Natashya for the brillian idea :-)

- The sauce turned out too salty for me (but I barely use any salt at all, so maybe I’m not a good indicator for others). I added milk to dilute the saltiness - the original recipe did not have any milk, only water. It was still too salty, but the milk added a nice creamy texture. Next time I’ll reduce the salt and keep the milk.

Blog-checking lines
The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

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Chile and Chicken Enchilada

A May 2010 Daring Cooks challenge - a complete Mexican meal with everything made from scratch, including flour tortillas. 

Source 

Adapted from the May 2010 Daring Cooks challenge by Barbara and Bunnee

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients

For the sauce

- 4 jalapeno peppers (15 cal)

- 4 tomatoes (60 cal)

- 3 small canned tomatoes (25 cal) - I added later because the sauce was way too spicy

- 1/3 cup corn kernels (45 cal)

- 2 tbsp lemon juice (10 cal)

- 2 cups chicken broth (20 cal)

- 1 clove garlic, minced (5 cal)

- 2 tsp yellow onion, minced (5 cal)

- 1 tsp diced oregano

- 1/4 tsp kosher salt

- 1/8 tsp black pepper

- 2 tbsp cornstarch diluted in 2 tbsp water

- 3 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless (330 cal)

- 2 tbsp Canola oil (240 cal)

- 4 oz Cheddar cheese (480 cal)

- cilantro for garnish

For flour tortillas (makes 9 small tortillas)

- 1 cup all purpose flour (455 cal)

- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (300 cal)

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 30 g, about 1/4 avocado (50 cal)

- 1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)

- 1/2 cup almost boiling water 

Total 2160, 3 enchiladas, 720 cal / enchilada

Instructions

Grilling the chicken

1. Pour 1 tbsp of oil into a medium sized frying pan and when it heats up add the chicken thighs. Roast for about 7-8 minutes on each side over medium heat. Remove ready chicken from the pan and shred with a fork. Set aside

For the sauce

2. Wash the jalapenos, dry and brush with a little bit of oil. Place on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and broil for 20 minutes, rotating the jalapenos every 5 minutes. They should be black and charred. Place the grilled chiles in a small bowl and cover with a towel, let rest for 10-15 minutes. Now the skin should be easy to peel with your fingers. I recommend using rubber gloves, especially if your skin is sensitive. Cut the jalapenos in half and remove the seeds. Do not rinse the jalapenos. Finely chopped the peeled and seeded peppers and set aside.

3. Place the garlic and the onion in a food processor and mince. Add the tomatoes and pulse until the tomatoes are finely chopped. 

4. Move the onions, garlic and tomatoes to a saucepan along with the chicken broth, lemon juice, chopped green chiles, corn, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened for another 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

For the tortillas

6. In a medium bowl combine the flours, the salt and the baking powder. Add the avocado and the oil and work in with a fork. Pour in the hot water in small batches mixing with your hands. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, cover the bowl with a towel and let rest for 20-30 minutes. 

7. Divide the dough into small balls (the size of a ping-pong ball). Let rest for another 10 minutes under the towel. 

8. On a clean working surface, place a dough ball, press with your palm to flatten and then using a rolling pin roll into a circle. The dough is not sticky and you don’t need to flour the working surface or the pin. 

9. Once all the tortillas are rolled out, preheat a large skillet to medium-high heat. No need to grease the skillet. Place a tortilla on a skillet and once bubbles appear on the tortilla (in about 30-60 seconds), flip it. Again, when the bubbles appear and the tortilla puffs, press it with a spatula and remove from the heat. You can make several tortillas in one skillet, if there is enough room, as long as the tortillas do not overlap. 

Assembling the enchilada

10. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Shred the cheese.
11. In a baking dish large enough to hold 3 separate stacks of tortillas, ladle a thin layer of sauce. 12. Lay three tortillas in the dish and ladle a third of sauce over the tortillas. Place half of the chicken and a third of the cheese. 

13. Stack another three tortillas, top with the rest of the chicken, more sauce and another third of the cheese. Finish with the third tortilla, topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.
14. Bake until the sauce has thickened and the cheese melted, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
15. To serve, transfer each stack to a plate. Spoon any leftover sauce over the stacks and sprinkle with cilantro, if you wish. The stacks may also be cooked in individual gratin dishes.

Afterthoughts

- First of all thanks to Barbara and Bunnee for the challenge, especially from my boyfriend, who loves Mexican food! I don’t think I would have dared to build these enchilada towers without this challenge. And I’ve wanted to make tortillas for a while, so this was a great opportunity. 

- I could not find the Anaheim chiles and the tomatillos required by this recipe, so I used jalapenos and tomatoes. 

- The sauce turned out way too hot for me, so I started looking for things to add to it to dilute the spice. I had corn and canned tomatoes at hand, and they did help to reduce the heat a little. I also used only part of the sauce on the enchiladas, and served guacamole on the side. With all these adjustments, the spice level was manageable. But next time it might be easier to just use less chiles :-).


Blog Checking Lines: Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found onwww.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

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Turkey Meatloaf

A really simple and quick recipe, perfect when you are too lazy to roll those small individual meatballs.

Source 

Inspired by Martha Stewart’s meatloaf 

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1 lb lean ground turkey (500 cal)

- 1/2 lb breadcrumbs (500 cal)

- 1/2 medium onion (30 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 1 small canned tomato (10 cal)

- 1/4 cup milk (30 cal)

- 2 egg whites (30 cal)

- salt and black pepper to taste

- 1/2 cup tomato juice + 1/2 tsp sugar for brushing the top (20 cal)

Total 1130 cal, 6 servings, 190 cal/serving

Instructions

1. Peel the onion and the garlic and puree in a food processor with a canned tomato. 

2. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk for about 5 minutes (I made my own breadcrumbs from fresh bread in a food processor). 

3. Combine the meat, the breadcrumbs, the egg whites and the onion puree; season with salt and pepper and mix well .

4. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, grease well and sprinkle with dried breadcrumbs. Form a free shaped meatloaf. Brush the top with tomato juice and sugar mix. Bake in an oven preheated to 400F for about 50 minutes to an hour. For glossier meatloaf, brush the top with the tomato juice-sugar mix 2-3 more times throughout baking. 

Afterthoughts

I usually make meatballs, but it’s so much more work. I recently watched a Martha Stewart DVD, where her mother was making a really nice meatloaf, so I was searching for a recipe on-line and found a little different version. I did not follow the recipe exactly - I wanted to use turkey and some other ingredients I had available, but I found this recipe very inspirational. My version turned out very tasty, I believe the original Martha’s recipe would too :-). 

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Brunswick Stew

A great recipe for a cosy family meal when it’s cold outside (and my first Daring Cook challenge)

Source 

April 2010 The Daring Cook Challenge
Adapted from Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1 sausage (130 cal)

- 1/2 tsp sambal oelek (very spicy East Asian chilly paste)

- 2 tbsp canola oil (240 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz stewing beef, cubed (860 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz skinless, boneless, chicken thighs, cubed (475 cal)

- 1/2 tbsp sea salt for seasoning

- 2 cups chicken broth (20 cal)

- 1 bay leaf

- 1 celery stock (10 cal)

- 450 g / 1 lb potatoes (350 cal)

- 2 medium carrots (25 cal)

- 1 large onion (65 cal)

- 1 cup frozen corn kernels (135 cal)

- 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (365 cal)

- 2 cups / 6-7 whole peeled tomatoes, drained (140 cal)

- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (5 cal)

- juice of 1 lemon

Total 2820, servings 6, 470 cal/ serving

Instructions

1. Very thinly slice the sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet to medium-high heat and add the sliced sausage with 1/2 teaspoon of sambal oelek. Fry until the sausage is well done. Transfer into a small bowl and set aside to cool. Reserve the oil in the pan. 

2. Season the chicken and the meat with salt and black pepper to taste and brown in the pan on high heat for up to 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken into a large bowl. 

3. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock to the frying pan to deglaze it and simmer until it reduces in half. In the meantime peel and dice the potato and chop the celery. Puree the sausage in a blender to a uniform paste. Add the sausage puree to the reduced stock, add one more cup of stock and mix well. 

4. Pour half of the hot broth in a slow cooker then place the meat, arrange the potatoes and the celery on top. Pour the remaining stock over the vegetables. Add a bay leaf, close the lead and cook on high for 3 1/2 hours.

5. In the meantime, chop the onion and cook with 1 tbsp of oil over low heat for about 30 minutes until caramelized. Stir occasionally. When the onion is ready you can either puree it in a blender or leave it as is.  Chop the tomatoes. 

6. After 3 1/2 hours, take out the bay leaf from the stew. Add the onions, the beans and the corn. Stir them well to evenly distribute them in the stew. Spread the carrots and the tomatoes on top and cook for 1 1/2 hours more. 

7. Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and the lemon juice. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.

Afterthoughts

- It turned out really good, but I think it would been ready much faster and would have been even softer and juicier without the slow cooker. 

- This was my first daring cook challenge, which I enjoyed a lot. So thanks to the Daring Kitchen for the forum, to Wolf for the recipe and to Audax Artifex for all the slow cooker tips.

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Turkey Moussaka

A classic Greek recipe with healthy low calorie substitutions and the same great taste.

Source 

Improvised

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 2 large eggplants (220 cal)

- 4 tbsp canola oil (480 cal)

- 500 g extra lean ground turkey (550 cal)

- 1 medium onion (60 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 1/2 cup tomato juice (20 cal)

- 2 tbsp tomato paste (20 cal)

- 1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley

- 1 bay leaf

- 50 g bread crumbs (200 cal)

- 2 eggs (140 cal)

- 4 tbsp low fat cottage cheese (60 cal)

- 40 g gruyere cheese, roughly shredded (170 cal)

- 30 g feta cheese, crumbled (100 cal)

- nutmeg, dried dill, dried basil, salt and black pepper to taste

Total 2030 cal, 6 servings, 340 cal/serving

Instructions

1. Peel and cut the eggplants lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices. Sprinkle both sides of each slice with salt and let stand for 1/2 an hour. Then rinse the eggplants to remove the salt. This step is suppose to remove the bitterness from the eggplants. 

2. Roughly chop the onion, crash the garlic and cook them with 1 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan until the onion caramelizes (about 15 minutes). Remove the onion from the heat and move to a blender. Add one more tablespoon of oil to the pan and saute the ground turkey over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes until it starts to brown. 

3. Puree the onion and the garlic in a blender. Roughly chop the parsley. Add the pureed onion, parsley, tomato paste, tomato juice, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste to the turkey. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for about 20 minutes. Then discard the bay leaf.

4. Brush each side of the eggplant with a little bit of oil (use 2 tbsp of oil for 2 eggplants) and grill them under the broiler for about 3 minutes on each side (you might need to do this in batches). Place the grilled eggplants on paper towels to absorb excess oil. 

5. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x7 inch baking dish and sprinkle with a 1/4 of the bread crumbs. Place half of the eggplant slices over the bread crumbs. They might overlap slightly. 

6. Beat 2 eggs lightly. Mix about 2/3 of the eggs with the beef and the remaining bread crumbs and spread on top of the first eggplant layer in the baking dish. Cover with the second half of the eggplants. 

7. Mix the remaining eggs with the cottage cheese, half the feta cheese and half the gruyere. Season with nutmeg, dried dill and basil and spread over the second eggplant layer.

8. Bake for about 20 minutes. Then sprinkle the remaining feta and gruyere on top and bake for 15 more minutes. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. 

Afterthoughts

- The moussaka turned out quite good. I actually used only 2/3 of the turkey-onion mixture and reserved the other 1/3 for meat-stuffed parathas, that I’ve been planning to make for a while. And that saved me 60 calories per serving. 

- Many of the moussaka recipes want you to use beef, fry the eggplants and then add the creamy béchamel sauce. Such moussaka can cost you up to 800 calories per serving. So I think my turkey-cottage cheese substitution with 340 calories is a pretty good deal.

- Do not add too much salt to the eggplant - it might take out the bitterness, but you could end up with very salty eggplants. 

- Most of the moussaka recipes call for pine nuts. I did not have them, and instead I sprinkled the ready moussaka with pistachios (somehow I associate them with the Mediterranean region, so I thought it fits the spirit of the dish). 

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Pomegranate Chicken

Source 

Improvised

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1/2 lb / 250 g boneless skinless chicken thighs (300 cal)

- 1/2 medium onion (30 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 1/4 cup walnuts (200 cal)

- 3 tsp canola oil (120 cal)

- 2 small pomegranates (150 cal)

- 1 cup orange juice (130 cal)

- 1/4 tsp turmeric

- 1/4 tsp paprika

- 1/4 tsp nutmeg

- salt and pepper to taste

Total 940 cal, 4 servings, 235 cal / serving

Instructions

1. Wash and cut the chicken into small pieces. Mince the garlic, mix with 1 tsp of oil, salt and pepper and brush the chicken with a mixture. Heat a frying pan with 1 tsp of oil and saute the chicken for about 20 minutes until nicely browned and cooked.

2. Finely chop the onion and the nuts. When the chicken is done remove it from the frying pan, add to the pan 1 more tsp of oil, the onion and the nuts and saute on low heat until the onion is translucent. 

3. In the meantime juice the pomegranates using a strainer. Reserve a handful of seeds for decoration. Add the pomegranate juice, the orange juice and the spices to the onions and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. When the sauce thickens, add the chicken and simmer for 5 more minutes. 

4. Sere over rice. 

Afterthoughts

Nice dish. Could use more juice to have a bit more sauce. 

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Olympic Turkey Meatballs

Source

Improvised

Taste 3 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 10 oz / 300 g ground turkey (705 cal)

- 5 oz / 150 g bread (370 cal)

- 1/2 medium onion (30 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 2 tsp sun dried tomatoes in oil (45 cal)

- 4 egg whites (60 cal)

- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro

- 1 tsp dried basil

- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/3 cup water

For the sauce

- 1/2 cup orange juice (65 cal)

- 1/2 cup chicken stock (5 cal)

- 4 tbsp tomato sauce (40 cal)

- 1/2 tsp soy sauce (5 cal)

- 1 tsp dijon mustard (5 cal)

- 1/4 tsp sambal oelek

Total 1340 cal, 30 meatballs, 45 cal/meatball

Instructions

1. Cut the crust off the bread and soak the crumb (the softer inside part) in water.

2. Puree all the ingredients, except the meat and the wet bread, in a blender.

3. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a large baking sheet with a silicon mat or a lightly greased aluminum foil.

4. Mix everything, form 1 inch balls, and place them on the baking sheet . It might be helpful to have a bowl of warm water nearby to wet the hands if the meat sticks.

5. Bake for 15 minutes on one side, flip the balls and bake for 15 more minutes on the other side.

6. For the sauce: combine all the ingredients in a small sauce pan and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until the sauce reduces by half.

Afterthoughts

- The balls turn out to be very moist, whether it’s good or bad - it’s up to your personal taste. I like the baking part, because there is no need to use the oil (saves calories).

- Goes well with baked veggies (served with baked zucchini in the picture).

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Orange Chicken with Turnip Puree and Cabbage

Source

Improvised

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 12 oz / 350 g turnip (100 cal)

- 1 lb / 450 g cabbage (110 cal)

- 2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (220 cal)

- 1 garlic clove, minced (5 cal)

- 1/2 cup orange juice (55 cal)

- 1 cup chicken broth (10 cal)

- 1 tsp agave nectar (20 cal)

- 1/4 cup milk (30 cal)

- 1 tsp canola oil (40 cal)

- 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

- 1/2 tsp soy sauce

- 1/2 tsp dried basil

- salt and pepper to taste

Total 590 cal, 2 servings, 295 cal/serving

Instructions

1. Saute the minced garlic clove in 1 tsp of canola oil for about 3 minutes, stirring. Add the chicken and cook on medium heat for another 5 minutes. In the meantime mix together the orange juice with the balsamic vinegar, the soy sauce, 1/3 cup of the chicken broth, salt and pepper. Flip the chicken, pour the sauce over it and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

2. Peel the turnips and chop into 1/2 inch cubes. Boil water, add the turnips and salt to taste and cook on medium high heat until soft, for about 20 minutes. Drain the water, add the milk and using an emersion blender mash the turnips.

3. Cut cabbage into 1/4 inch-wide slices. Cook on medium heat with 2/3 cup of chicken broth for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp agave nectar, salt and pepper to taste, stir well and cook for 5 more minutes, until the cabbage softens a little.

4. All the ingredients should be ready in about the same time. Enjoy.

Afterthoughts

I like it: it’s a combination of sweet and salty, it’s healthy, it has the variety and the vitamins and all in less than 30 minutes and 300 calories.

To Recipe...

Summary only...

Hawaiian Pizza

Source

Improvised

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 2 pieces of Hawaiian style chicken with sauce (360 cal)

- 1/2 cup pineapple chunks (80 cal)

- 2 oz/ 55 g coarsely shredded mozzarella cheese (200 cal)

- pizza dough for a 12’’ pizza (I used Peter Reinhart’s Napoletana dough recipe)(500 cal)

Total 1140 cal, 2 servings, 570 cal/ serving

Instructions

1. Cook the sauce in a small sauce pan over low heat until thickens and reduces by half.

2. Roll out the pizza dough to 12’’ diameter. Place the dough on a pizza peel lined with a parchment paper. Spread the sauce over the pizza crust, place the chicken and the pineapple chunks, and sprinkle the shredded mozzarella on top.

3. Slide the pizza with the parchment paper onto the hot baking stone.

4. Bake for 8 minutes in an oven preheated to 550F.

Afterthoughts

A very good pizza, I liked it way better than the original chicken recipe :-).

To Recipe...

Summary only...