 | |
provided by:
For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license. Hard-cooked Egg Recipe“Hard-boiled” eggs can be a great part of a lowcarb breakfast, and they make a fabulous snack. But eggs should never be boiled but should be hard-cooked instead. If you boil eggs too long, they get a greenish-gray look around the yolk. Did I hear an “Ah-ha! That’s what causes that to happen”? Here’s how to make hard-cooked eggs:
1. Put the eggs in a single layer in cold water.
2. As soon as they come to a rolling boil, remove the pan from the heat, cover tightly with the pan lid, and let the eggs sit in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Immediately run cold water over them to cool, which makes them easier to peel too. For the best hard-cooked eggs, use eggs that are a few days old. Really fresh eggs that are hard-cooked are more difficult to peel. You can simplify the job of removing the shell from a hard-cooked egg if you begin by gently tapping it all over, rotating the egg as you tap. Then roll the egg between your hands to loosen the shell from the egg. Starting at the large end of the egg, begin peeling. To make it even easier for the peeling to slip off, hold the egg under cold running water while peeling or put them in a bowl of cold water.
FrittatasA frittata is like a flat egg cake. It’s a bit thick and is cooked until it’s firm but by no means dry. To make sure that you don’t burn the bottom of the frittata, start it over low heat on top of the stove and then finish it under the broiler, using an ovenproof skillet. My favorite old-fashioned iron skillets are the best for frittatas. If you’re a good flipper, you can flip the frittata instead of popping it under the broiler. Good luck — I, for one, don’t do this very well.
Ham and Cheese FrittataFrittatas, in my humble opinion, are even easier than omelets. Both add veggies, cheese, or meat to eggs in some manner. With an omelet, the additional ingredients are used as a filling and the finished omelet is folded over the ingredients. When making a frittata, you just throw in whatever ingredients you can find in the fridge. All of the ingredients are mixed together and poured into heated oil or butter. Most frittatas include a short trip to the broiler, so it’s a good idea to start the frittata process in an ovenproof skillet.
Preparation time: 5 to 8 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
3 eggs
3 egg whites
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
11⁄4 cups broccoli florets
6 ounces smoked deli ham, diced in 1⁄2-inch
cubes
1⁄3 cup red bell pepper strips
Nonstick cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter
1⁄2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 Preheat the broiler.
Beat the eggs, egg whites, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well blended. Stir in the broccoli, ham, and bell peppers.
2 Coat a 10-inch ovenproof skillet with sloping sides with nonstick cooking spray. Melt the butter over medium heat in the skillet. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cover. Cook for about 6 minutes or until the eggs are set around the edges. The center will be wet.
3 Uncover the skillet and sprinkle the egg mixture with cheese. Transfer the skillet to the broiler and broil 5 inches from the heat source. Watch closely, because you only need to broil for about 2 minutes, or until the eggs in the center are set and the cheese is melted.
4 Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Cut the frittata into wedges.
Variation: You can use almost any veggie in the universe in a frittata. A few more basic ideas are red and green peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, and spinach. You can also add Canadian bacon, sausage, or ham and any kind of cheese.
Per serving: Calories 205 (From Fat 113); Fat 13g (Saturated 6g); Cholesterol 193mg; Sodium 1,020mg; Carbohydrate 3g; Dietary Fiber 1g (Net Carbohydrate 2g); Protein 19g.
QuicheFor a quiche to be good, you don’t need the extra carbs of the crust. Quiches are actually very easy and quick to make, and I think you’re are going to be quite pleased how good they are the next day for a quick breakfast or a lunch to tote.
T Crustless Mushroom QuicheThis is a favorite quiche from my bed and breakfast in Branson and is quite like a more traditional quiche even without a crust (I never did make it with a crust at the B&B either). This is a great quiche to ensure plenty of leftovers for breakfast on the run or a great lunch (add a salad). But before you get to leftovers, enjoy this great mushroom quiche!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 to 40 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, cleaned and
sliced
1⁄4 cup butter, divided
11⁄2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
3⁄4 cup whipping cream
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon dry mustard
6 eggs
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cook the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat until they’re lightly browned and the excess liquid evaporates from the pan, about 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside.
2 Sprinkle the cheese in a buttered 8-x-8-inch baking dish and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
3 Mix the cream, salt, dry mustard, and eggs in a medium bowl. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese. Pour the mushrooms evenly on top of the egg mixture.
4 Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes, or until the eggs are set. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley. Serve immediately.
Per serving: Calories 357 (From Fat 281); Fat 31g (Saturated 18g); Cholesterol 299mg; Sodium 244mg; Carbohydrate 4g; Dietary Fiber 1g (Net Carbohydrate 3g); Protein 16g.
Crustless Quiche LorraineAh my sweet Quiche Lorraine! Here’s another recipe from my ol’ inn in Branson that you make in the microwave. This crustless quiche recipe is a favorite of a lot of quiche lovers. Like almost all quiches, this one is good hot or cold, and it’s a great portable and healthy low-carb snack. Cut the quiche in wedges, wrap it individually in plastic wrap, and you have an instant breakfast to go. If you serve this as a meal, complement your quiche with a salad of fresh greens. Feel free to experiment with this great basic quiche recipe, adding some of your favorite veggies to the mix for variety.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 to 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
10 slices bacon
11⁄2 cups shredded 3-cheese blend of
mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and cheddar
4 eggs
11⁄2 cups half-and-half
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon pepper
1⁄8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Cook the bacon in the microwave by placing 2 layers of paper towels in a shallow microwave-safe dish. Place the bacon on the paper towels. Cover the bacon with a single layer of paper towels. Cook bacon on high for 5 to 7 minutes until crisp. Let the bacon cool and crumble bacon into small bits.
2 Sprinkle the bacon and the cheese in the bottom of a 9-inch glass pie plate or shallow ceramic quiche plate.
3 In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, half and half, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until well blended.
4 Pour the blended egg mixture over the bacon and cheese.
5 Bake in the microwave on high for 9 to 11 minutes. Stop the cooking after 3 minutes, and stir and then stop again after 6 minutes and stir, cooking until the quiche is set.
6 Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Variation: If you want to bake this in a conventional oven, simply preheat your oven to 375 degrees and bake the quiche for 40 to 45 minutes.
Variation: This is a basic quiche recipe, so feel free to add veggies, other herbs and spices, and a variety of cheeses. In place of the bacon, you can substitute chopped sautéed onions, smoked salmon, diced cooked sausage, asparagus spears, or something from the sea.
Per serving: Calories 288 (From Fat 211); Fat 23g (Saturated 12g); Cholesterol 198mg; Sodium 670mg; Carbohydrate 4g; Dietary Fiber 0g (Net Carbohydrate 4g); Protein 16g.
Quiche takes you to the land of versatility. You can eat quiche as an entrée, for lunch, breakfast, or a low-carb snack. Somehow it got a bad rap years ago, and quiche was declared a rather unmanly dish. You may remember hearing that real men don’t eat quiche. This stereotyping has since disappeared, and introducing quiche to your low-carb lifestyle will add lots of variety to your menus, and will give you ways to use those leftovers — simply throw them in a quiche — all while enjoying the healthful benefits of eating eggs. Skipping the crusts in your quiche recipes is so easy and so user friendly to your healthy low-carb lifestyle. You’ll find that you can easily adapt most traditional quiche recipes to the crustless variety. Here’s a little insight on lowcarb crustless quiche: The finished product isn’t always quite the same texture as a classic quiche because you don’t use some of the binding ingredients, like hash browns for instance. If your low-carb quiches turn out to be a little fluffier and more like a scramble, it’s okay. Sometimes, I’ll cook my crustless quiches in a smaller size dish so the quiche is thicker – depending on whether you like it thick or thin. Experiment with a couple of these quiche recipes and it will take you about two tries to make up your mind how you like your low-carb quiche. So quiche on and do the low-carb quiche! When you cook in the microwave, be mindful that the ingredients keep on cookin’ after you remove them and set them on the counter.
| |
provided by:
For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.