Showing posts with label appetizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appetizer. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Super Simple Pork Rind Crispy Chicken Drumsticks

I like to make these chicken drumsticks as a snack, like jumbo chicken wings.  I like them to be spicy, but you can easily season them differently (salt & pepper or honey garlic for example).


Ingredients
200g of crushed up pork rinds
4 chicken drumsticks
1 egg
2 tsps of hot sauce
seasoning (to taste)
a dash of salt and pepper.


Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease aluminum foil on a pan (I use coconut oil).
2. Crush up pork rinds. I like to use a spoon to crush them in a medium bowl.
3. Add dry seasonings (except salt) to pork rinds.
4. Crack egg in a separate bowl.
5. Add 1/2 tsp of hot sauce to the egg mixture (optional).
6. Add a dash of salt to the eggs mixture.
7. Let the chicken drumsticks sit in the egg mixture for about 5 minutes.
8. Roll chicken drumsticks in the crushed up pork rinds. Try to coat as much of the drumstick as possible. This will depend on how crushed the pork rinds are.
9. After you coat the entire drumstick place it on foil and bake for 15 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and flip. Spoon hot sauce over the drumstick.
11. Bake for 15 more minutes.
12. Remove from heat. Spoon more hot sauce onto the chicken (to taste).
13. Wrap foil over chicken until you are ready to serve.

Nutritional info to come...

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Spicy Jalapeño Butter Shrimp


We love to switch up our seafood mid-week. 'Spicy Jalapeño Butter Shrimp' is one of our favourite ways to prepare shrimp, it is SO quick and SO easy. Perfect to make when you get home from work in a hurry to eat. We have started throwing jalapeños into the pan when we make the shrimp, but they are optional.
We often use the shrimp as a side with other things like Flatout Mini Pizzas. 
Ingredients:
-1lb Bag of Shrimp
-1/4 cup of butter
-1/2 can of Jalapeños (optional)
-salt & pepper to taste
-1 tsp. chili flakes
-1-2 tsp. chili powder
-1 tbsp. coconut oil
*season to taste, if these seasonings are too much for you reduce them

Procedure
1. Thaw shrimp (if frozen).
2. Heat coconut oil in pan on stovetop at medium heat.
3. Add butter to the coconut oil.
4. Add thawed shrimp to the pan.
5. Add seasoning to the shrimp and butter.
6. Cook shrimp for 5-10 minutes (this may vary by stove/will be different if you are using precooked shrimp).
7. Add jalapeños (optional). Let sit for 2-5 minutes. 

Nutritional Information: 
(to come)


Thursday, June 13, 2013

Pork Rind Breaded Chicken Bites

We made these amazing pork rind chicken bites on a night when we had run a little tired of our normal
grilled chicken breasts.

They are super easy and you can vary the recipe by using different sauces.

For this batch we used Guy's BBQ Sauce (0 carb) and cut it with hot sauce.

We wanted hot bites, if you are making 'salt and pepper' bite or garlic bites you may not want to spice the egge mixture with cayenne pepper and chili flakes.

Ingredients
1 Egg
1/2 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon of Chili Flakes
2 Chicken Breasts
A Dash of Salt and Pepper
1/2 Bag of Pork Rinds
2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

Procedure
1. In a small bowl mix together salt, pepper, egg and spices.
2. In another small crush up half a bag of pork rinds for breading the chicken breasts.
3. Cut chicken breasts into bite sized portions or strips.
4. Heat one tablespoon of coconut oil at medium heat in pan.
5. Dip chicken in egg mixture.
6. Coat chicken with crushed pork rinds.
7. We make them in two batches, frying half the bites at a time. Fry for about five minutes. Flip and fry for an additional 2 minutes.
8. Plate the bites and then spoon sauce over the bites.


You may not want to use sauce at all for coating the chicken bites. You can alternatively just use a dipping sauce.

Nutritional Information 
(will be updated soon)

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Bacon Cheddar Cauliflower Fritters

I have a hard time adding cauliflower into the mix in my meals. I am not a huge fan its the taste, but I
love the potential it has for substituting foods like potatoes in my diet.

One potato product I really, really missed was breakfast hash browns. I love them loose and McDonald's style and this recipe is spot on with producing the texture of grated potato hash browns.

Now, this recipe is time consuming. Give yourself a good hour the first time you make it.

It should make twelve fritters.

Ingredients
-5 slices of crispy bacon
-1 medium head of cauliflower
-1 jalapeño
-3 eggs
-1 teaspoon of onion powder
-1 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I use tex-mex)
-1 tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese
-3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of almond flour
-salt and pepper
-coconut oil (for the frying pan)

*serve with salsa and/or sour cream

Procedure
1. Prepare 5 pieces of bacon, make sure it is crispy and easy to break up!
2. Steam cauliflower florets until tender. I did this on a frying pan and it took 7-8 minutes.
3. Rinse cauliflower with cold water and mash it like potatoes. Try to break up all of the big pieces.
4. Place cauliflower in a colander let water drain for 10 minutes.
5. Remove seeds from jalapeño and chop it up into small pieces.
6. Whisk together eggs, jalapeño, parmesan cheese, bacon, 2 tablespoons of almond flour and a dash of both salt and pepper.
7. Drain cauliflower and add to egg mixture. Whisk together.
8. Add cheddar cheese and the rest of the almond flour to the mixture. Whisk together well.
9. Heat coconut oil in a skillet or pan, make sure it is covered well.
10. Add batter in your desired size, I recommend a heaping tablespoon.
11. Press each cake down with a fork and fry until golden brown.
12. Flip.
13. Remove and place on paper towel.

Alternatively, you can fry your batter up in a loose fashion. It does not look as pretty, but it is a great alternative if you like it crisper (or with breakfast). You can add salsa to the mix if you make in the loose fashion.


Nutritional Information (per fritter)*
Calories: 170
Total Fat: 14.1g
Carbohydrates: 3.7g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugar: 1.1g
Protein 8.5g

*This will vary depending on what type of bacon you use and minor changes on exact amounts of cauliflower used. I used very thick bacon, an easy way to cut calories (etc.) is to use a thinner cut of bacon.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

This one is super easy!

Its a great appetizer or side for dinner parties and it also doubles as a quick greens fix when you are feeling overwhelmed by meat (even though this still includes meat). I never really liked asparagus until I tried it roasted in olive oil. It is as simple as cutting the asparagus out and just cooking the asparagus in the tablespoon in olive oil. If you are are on a budget, try switching the prosciutto out for normal deli ham.

And, for a little more flavour add parmesan cheese to the mix. Sprinkle grated parm over the cooked asparagus.

I recommend eating your delicious asparagus as soon as possible after removing the from the oven. Or, plating them for a second time afterwards so that the remaining olive oil will not make your asparagus soggy.



Below are the directions to make one serving (one prosciutto wrapped asparagus) for four people. You make as many servings as needed by increasing the asparagus spears and prosciutto at a three to one ratio.


Ingredients: 
- 12 asparagus spears
- 4 pieces of prosciutto
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil







Procedure: 
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
2. Trim asparagus.
3. Wrap three asparagus with one pieces of prosciutto. I like to cut the pieces of prosciutto in half, length wise and use the two halves to wrap the asparagus.
4. Coat each in olive oil.
5. Once the oven has pre-heated cook for 7 minutes.
6. Flip asparagus and cook for 4 minutes.

Nutritional Information (it makes 4 servings)
Calories: 70
Total Fat: 5.11g
Carbs: 1.8g
Fiber: 0.9g
Sugars: 0.6g
Protein: 5.1g


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Keto Jalapeño Poppers-> Four Different Types

This recipe makes 10 poppers.

Originally, we started making this recipe using the standard bacon to wrap the poppers. But, we found they were greasy and looked for a way to solve this. 

Don't get me wrong, the bacon was delicious, but here are three other alternatives to the bacon recipe. 

1).  Cheesy Poppers-> can be crispy if you allow the cheese topping the stuffed jalapeño to firm

2).  Prosciutto Poppers-> these do not leave the jalapeño as soft and greasy as bacon, lighter and easier to handle as well.

3).  Ham Poppers-> not as much taste, I used Piller's Simply Free Breakfast ham. They are not as greasy, but are thick and can absorb the jalapeños heat. 


Cheesy Poppers (crispy option)

Ingredients
5 jalapeño peppers
1/2 cup of grated marble or cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons of cream cheese

Procedure
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-Cut jalapeños in a half and remove the seeds from inside.
-Stuff each jalapeño with cream cheese.
-Sprinkle grated cheese on top of each stuffed jalapeño.
-Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
Cheesy Poppers and Ham Poppers
-Briol for a few minutes to crisp cheese further.

Nutritional Information (per popper)
Calories: 54
Total Fat:  4g
Carbs:  3.7g
Fiber:  1.5g
Sugar:  1.9g
Protein: 2.1g


Ham Poppers 
Ingredients
5 jalapeño peppers
5 pieces of breakfast ham 
4 tablespoons of cream cheese

Procedure
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-Cut jalapeños in a half and remove the seeds from inside.
-Stuff each jalapeño with cream cheese.
-Cut each strip of meat in half.
-Wrap each stuffed jalapeño with a piece of ham.
-Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per popper)
Calories:  47
Total Fat:  2.6g
Carbs:  4.1g
Fiber:  1.5g
Sugar: 1.9g
Protein:  3.2g

Prosciutto Poppers (my favourite)
Ingredients
5 jalapeño peppers
5 pieces of prosciutto  
4 tablespoons of cream cheese

Procedure
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-Cut jalapeños in a half and remove the seeds from inside.
-Stuff each jalapeño with cream cheese.
-Tear each strip of meat in half.
-Wrap each stuffed jalapeño with a piece of prosciutto.
-Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per popper)
Calories: 47
Total Fat:  2.9g
Carbs: 3.6g
Fiber:  1.5g
Sugar: 1.9g
Protein: 2.7g