Shrimp and Chorizo Stew

Sausage and seafood in a   one-pot  dinner  in less than 30 minutes, delicious!  Potatoes are pretty much nonexistent  at our house,  so I replace them  with extra kale and shrimp, and the calorie and carb   count drop dramatically.    Be sure to buy Spanish chorizo, not Mexican ~  they are very different in both taste and texture. And don't use bulk  chorizo.

Heat  1/4 c  EV  olive oil  in a Dutch oven- size -pan over medium heat. Add 1 large  diced Spanish onion, 4 cloves  peeled & smashed garlic, & cook til golden, about 15 minutes.  Add 4 oz  sliced Spanish chorizo, casings removed.  2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp kosher salt.  Cook til the oil turns deep red, about 2 minutes.  Add  1 c.  roughly chopped canned whole plum tomatoes, ( reserve the juice) 2 bay leaves, 1/4 tsp each thyme and oregano.  Cook 1 minute.

Add 1 lb russet potatoes, peeled, in 1" chunks, 2 c. water, the reserved tomato juice and 1 tsp kosher salt. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover & simmer til potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes.  Add  1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped.  Cook about 10 minutes, til both the potatoes and kale are tender. Stir in 1 lb medium  raw shrimp, peeled and deveined..Simmer just til they curl and turn pink, about 4 minutes,  Discard the bay leaves before serving.   Great with crusty bread for mopping up the broth.

'Flat Fudge' Wondrous Dark Chocolate Cookies

The 'fudge factor' of these cookies is very  high - there's a thin layer of  moist chewy fudge  hiding inside that  thin, glossy, crackled  top layer.  And what, exactly, is  the wonder?  So many things ~  no flour, no gluten,  hardly a bit of  fat, one bowl, one step ~ and  so fast that they're  ready to go in the oven by the time it finishes  preheating. There's no  point  waiting to see if your chocolate-deprivation crisis passes.  Get moving  quickly when the urge strikes, so there's no turning back.

  An easy way to toast the nuts is to put them in the oven on a baking sheet as   you preheat the oven..... at ten minutes, they're toasted.   Remove them from the pan to cool before  adding them, and if you are going to use that pan for  your cookies, let it cool completely. 
Preheat the oven to 300.   In a medium bowl,
 mix 1 3/4 c. powdered sugar, ( purchase faux powdered sugar if you'd rather skip sugar completely),  1/2 c. Dutch process cocoa powder, ( I use Hersheys Special Dark Chocolate Cocoa, which  is what's usually  on  hand.  Use better-than-ordinary cocoa)  2 tsp cornstarch, 1/4 tsp salt.   Gradually mix in 2 egg whites and 1 egg, then 1 c  toasted chopped pecans or walnuts.  Egg Beaters- ype  liquid egg whites work too, especially if you make multiple batches of these cookies -- no  extra yolks  to deal with. Remember,  recipes are  written based on LARGE eggs, to standardize the amount. Using other sizes may change results, particularly  in baking.

Stir until it's well mixed and no  white sugar is visible.    If it's too loose ( egg white volumes will vary) add a tiny bit more sugar  and cocoa, but don't exceed  3 or 4 TB.   Expect that the  'dough' will be  way more fluid than  normal - more the consistency of thin  frosting..    Using about  one big TB each,   just plop them down - about 15 all together -    on parchment paper,  and sort of round them off as they come off the spoon.  Se sure to use  a parchment-lined  baking sheet. They're  very moist and fudgy, and after they cool  you'll not be able to  peel them off a pan!     Bake 16-19 minutes, until the cookies are shiny and crackled.

  If they are not fudgy/chewy,  you've overbaked.  When done,  remove pan from the oven and just slide the whole sheet of parchment off the hot pan and onto a counter.  Cool completely --- they will firm  up a bit as they cool.   Don't even try to peel the cookies from the paper  until  cool !  Then pull the paper away from the cookies, instead of the reverse.

  Sadly, although  it's almost fat free,  this is  an almost  pure-carb cookie,  16 carbs   each,  unless you use the powdered-sugar substitute, which is available everywhere these days.  Make them on  a day when your chocolate craving  overrides your conscience.

Farmhouse Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes

Light-as-air?  No, they are  thick and heavy and  lovely, like a warm cloak of  comfort for your belly.  And because they're made with old fashoned oats, not heaps of white flour, they're  healthier, as well as  incredibly  delicious. Simple to convert to low-sodium too *   This is a plan-ahead  item  since the oats need to  languish overnight in the buttermilk.   Freeze any leftovers  with plastic wrap or parchment  between them, to nuke and  enjoy  again  as breakfast or warmed & topped  with a sprinkle of granulated sugar for a yummy snack. A scoop of peach ice cream  often appeared on pancakes on our family birthday mornings when the kids were here.


The night before:  mix 2 c old fashioned oats with 2 c. buttermilk in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.  When ready to cook, beat in 2 large eggs and 1/4 c. melted, cooled  butter.  Stir in 3/4 c raisins.  In another bowl mix 1/2 c flour, 2 TB sugar or substitute, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp  baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt.     Add to the wet mixture and  stir briskly, just until moistened.  If practical, let this sit for 20 minutes before cooking.

Heat a lightly greased pan over medium heat. Don't get it too hot, because  these take longer to cook due to the dense ingredients Make a test cake with 1/4 c batter, and if  the batter seems too thick  add some more buttermilk, a TB at a time, until the consistency seems right.... not to exceed adding 3 or 4 TB --  this is supposed  to be a very thick batter, it will not 'pour'.   Cook pancakes until bubbles appear, turn  to brown. You'll probably turn a few times to make sure the interior gets cooked.   They are quite dense and take a little longer than ordinary thickness  pancakes. The centers should still be moist when cooked,  through. If they start to burn before they're ready, your pan is too hot.

Serve with  the syrup of your choice ~  cinnamon syrup is perfect for  these.    Makes about 18 small pancakes or 9  large.

*  For those watching sodium, make 'buttermilk' with the lowest  sodium milk you have, or any no-sodium coffee creamer. Put it in a cup and add 1 TB vinegar for each cup of 'milk'.  Don't stir, let sit for 5  minutes and presto: 'buttermilk'.    Use no-sodium baking powder & soda and use  unsalted butter. Use the salt or not, it goes a long way.

Blueberry Cobbler French Toast

 Say  'good morning' with this  easy, warm  casserole of bubbly blueberries crowning thick,  puffy golden french toast,  and have a little more than you might otherwise, since  it might be , depending on which ingredients you choose,   pretty  healthy  too.   It's best  when soaked overnight but in a pinch you can get by with  a 2-hour head start in the morning.

Use  an 8-oz loaf of French or whole grain french-type bread, sliced diagonally into 10-14  3/4" thick slices  placed on a rimmed baking sheet.  In a medium bowl, whisk  together 4 eggs (use Egg Beaters if you choose), 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 c milk, 1 tsp vanilla.  Slowly spoon/pour  over the bread slices, turn to coat them completely.  Cover with plastic wrap and  refrigerate overnight or let sit at room temp for a couple hours.

Preheat oven to 450.  Butter (or spray) a 9x13  baking pan and dump in 2 1/2c   fresh or still-frozen blueberries into it.  Sprinkle with 1/2 c. sugar or splenda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cornstarch.  Stir to coat the berries. Fit the bread slices in the dish,  wet side up.  Wedge/squish tightly,  (even so,  you may not always get them all in).   Brush the tops with 2 tsp melted butter, and bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes..the time may vary depending on the thickness and density of the bread..When the berries are bubbling around the edge, remove  from the oven, let it sit for 5 minutes  before serving.   Just lift the slices onto plates and spoon the berries over.  Sprinkle with 10x sugar if you like.

If  it's a birthday breakfast, top with a little vanilla ice cream for a decadently  melting  start to the day, and leftovers served chilled  can be presented as a delicious blueberry bread pudding.