Corned Beef Hash with Jicama

My original corned beef hash recipe which I posted on the Bernstein forum, I actually liked better than this one with Jicama, but I had Jicama today and wanted to try it.  I think though, that next time I make it I will try soaking the Jicama in water with some salt in it for a while and then cooking it longer, until tender before baking it.  Otherwise, this was still pretty good, although crunchier than I want my corned beef hash to be.  The original one with turnips was perfect.  You could not tell that it was not a hash with potatoes.  It tasted as corned beef hash is supposed to taste.  So I am posting the recipe below using both the Turnips and the Jicama and you can choose which you want to try.  If you use the Jicama though, I would make sure to cook until tender and soak in salt water first.  It's a little sweet (which is ok) and a little too crunchy.  

So that said, here is the video I made this morning.  Hope you enjoy it.  I know my leftovers are going to be great with some scrambled eggs in the morning!

                      

* Exported from MasterCook *

                  Corned Beef Hash and Cheese Casserole

Recipe By     :Ginny Larsen

Serving Size  : 4     

Categories    :  Beef                            Main dish

                Breakfast                       Casserole

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method

--------  ------------  --------------------------------

12 to 18            ounces  corned beef, canned  (depending on what brand you use)

4               cups  turnips -- (about 4 medium turnips, or use 4 cups jicama) peeled and diced small

1/2        medium  onion -- chopped (or you can use 1/8 cup of onion flakes)

2               cups  fiesta blend shredded cheese -- I get it at Walmart (or cheddar)

3                     eggs

1/2           cup  parmesan cheese

About 30 minutes before you put the casserole together, dice the turnips and let them soak, either in milk (but then you are getting the lactose), or better, in water with sweetener added.  I used Fasweet liquid sweetener.  It cuts the bitter taste of the turnips and makes them more "potatoey" like.  this is optional, but I think it makes them better.  Also sprinkle in some salt to the water.  I didn't measure, just poured some in.  Stir and let sit for 30 minutes.  (If you use jicama you can soak in salted water for about 30 min.)

Drain the turnips and cook in boiling water for 10 minutes (20 for jicama, or until tender).  Drain.  Cut up the corned beef into cubes or shred with fork, and mix both the turnips and the corned beef in a baking dish. Sauté onions.  Mix in onions and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese.  Beat eggs and stir them into the casserole.  Sprinkle the top with remaining Fiesta blend cheese, and the parmesan cheese.  

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until lightly browned on top and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  

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Serving Ideas : Great for a breakfast or anytime meal.

*NOTES : Using Jicama:  493 Calories; 29g Fat (54.9% calories from fat); 41g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber;

Using Turnips: 482 Calories; 29g Fat (56.0% calories from fat); 41g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce and Quick Icecream

A good friend who has lots of rhubarb gave me some the other day.  It's so nice to have friends with gardens!  I live in a town home and have a patio but no yard for a garden anymore.  I do intend to grow some tomatoes and zucchini and maybe some herbs in pots this year, but it's been cold here in Minnesota!  I haven't gotten anything started yet. But I'm thankful for friends who like to share their excess from their gardens.  I love rhubarb!  It was a delight to get some!  So I made some rhubarb sauce with it and it turned out so good, I thought I'd share it.

Of course when you have rhubarb sauce, it's nice to have something to put it over also.  It's pretty good all by itself but I've been eating it in sweetened kefir cheese, and tonight decided to make some ice cream but I didn't want to do the messy stuff in a bag.  So I just did it this way...

                   
* Exported from MasterCook *

                         Quick and Easy Ice cream

Recipe By     :Ginny
Serving Size  : 1     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Dessert

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  1/2         cup  heavy cream
  1/2         cup  Trader Joe's Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  2            packets  Truvia
  8            drops  liquid stevia -- (or sweetener of your choice)

Mix together all the ingredients and pour into an ice cube tray.  Freeze for about an hour or until solid.  Put in a food processor and process with the S blade until it's smooth and creamy.  Eat right away or freeze for about 20 min. longer or until desired consistency.



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Per Serving: 430 Calories; 46g Fat (88.6% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 163mg Cholesterol; 133mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 9 Fat.

NOTES : 4 g. usable carbs

Here's the Strawberry Rhubarb sauce:

                   
* Exported from MasterCook *

                         Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

Recipe By     :Ginny
Serving Size  : 16  
Categories    : Dessert/Sauces/dressings/Misc.

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  6           cups  rhubarb -- diced
  1           pound  frozen strawberries, unsweetened
  1/2        cup  Torani vanilla flavored SF syrup
  12         packets  Truvia -- (or sweetener equal to 1/2 cup sweetening power)
  2           tablespoons  dry red wine
  .3           ounces  sugar free raspberry gelatin, GV -- (Walmart brand... no maltodextrin)

Place the rhubarb in a larg pot, add the frozen strawberries.  I did not thaw them, but you can if you want, or use fresh.  Add the Torani Syrup and the Truvia and the wine and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for about 6 minutes stirring all the while.  When it's turned into a sauce, remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin well, until it is all dissolved.  Place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.

It will thicken as it chills.  If you want it thicker you could add a larger box of gelatin maybe.  Mine was just right for me.

Yield:
  "2 quarts"
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Per Serving: 21 Calories; trace Fat (2.7% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 152mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Fruit.

NOTES : 3 g. usable carbs per 1/2 cup serving

Ham and Cheese on "Rye"

Just a quickie here cuz this turned out pretty good.  It's just another quick microwave bun or bread or whatever you want to do with it.  It turned out very close to a rye bread taste.  But there's no rye flour in it.  The ingredients that make it are coffee and caraway seeds.

It's made with my handy english muffin microwave gadget.

Here's the recipe:


                   
* Exported from MasterCook *

                         Ham and Cheese on "Rye"

Recipe By     :Ginny Larsen
Serving Size  : 1
Categories    : Bread/lunch/Pork

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
                        Rye Bun
  2        tablespoons  almond flour, Honeyville -- (I use Honeyville blanched almond flour.  You can use almond meal if you prefer or that's what you have)
  1         tablespoon  flax meal, Golden
  2        tablespoons  parmesan cheese -- grated (I used the canned stuff)
  1/2      teaspoon  baking powder
              sprinkle  salt -- (I gave it about 4 or 5 shakes... not much)
  1/2      teaspoon  caraway seeds
  1         large  egg
  1         tablespoon  extra virgin olive oil
  2        tablespoons  coffee -- (nice way to use left over coffee from the morning)

                        Ham and cheese filling
  1        teaspoon  mustard -- Or however much you like
  1        ounce  ham slices -- (I used deli ham, low sodium, thinly sliced) I actually don't know how much I used.  Pile on how much you like.
  1        ounce  Swiss cheese slice

For the bun: Put the first 5 dry ingredients in a small bowl (a cereal bowl will do).  Make a well in the middle and add the liquid ingredients.  Mix it well.

Take a microwave english muffin container (available at Walmart in the microwave section), or another microwave container of your choice, and put half of the batter in.  Microwave on high approximately 1 minute.

Plop it out on the counter and wipe out the container with a paper towel.  Pour in the remainder of the batter and microwave again for 1 minute.

Fix the sandwich by spreading on the mustard and adding your ham and cheese.

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Per Serving: 531 Calories; 44g Fat (73.2% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 235mg Cholesterol; 1019mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 3 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 5 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : 5 g. net carbs

Jicama

picture from Wikepedia

I love discovering new foods.  Jicama is a new food to me.  I've been seeing different places on the internet lately and have wanted to try it.  I see it in the produce section of my grocery store each week and almost buy it but then because I didn't know how to use it and didn't want it to go to waste, I didn't.  I finally bought some.  I am so glad I did!  I found that I love it.  I made hash browns with it the first time when the "norms" in the house were having potatoes.  I like it better than potatoes.  I never thought I'd say that about anything!  I have been low carbing since 2006, and sometimes I get tired of the substitutes.  They just aren't as good as the real thing.  I mean, I was ok with cauliflower mashed, hashed, riced, etc., and it was filling.  But it wasn't potatoes.  I didn't feel like, wow, this is just like potatoes!  I don't miss potatoes at all!  No... it just didn't do that for me, though I felt like I at least had something instead of potatoes that filled my plate and tasted ok.  But I do like jicama, and I won't miss potatoes as long as I have it!  I like it raw also.  I can't wait to try it in a dessert, as a pie filling perhaps?  Or a crisp?  Grated in a salad?  I like it!  I like it a lot!  Some do and some don't it seems.  I do!  Yay!  So many times when others are raving over something in the low carb community I'm thinking, "what's the fuss?"  But this time I really like it!

So I've been browsing recipes and discussions, and blogs and I have a list of links about jicama to check out if it's new to you too.  If anyone has any other links, recipes, or ideas, please share them with me!

Jicama links

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/lowcarb-recipe-help-suggestions/252042-just-bought-jicama-first-time.html

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/recipes/desserts/jicama.shtml

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/low-carb-jicama/

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/jicama_apples.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZXxc0n9LZE&feature=channel_video_title

http://www.ehow.com/how_2074707_cook-jicama.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMHH7RlfbjE
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2727/2

Chocolate Cookie Crumbs-or-Don't Throw Out Your Flops

NEVER throw away your flops.  They're too expensive when you're low carbing and gluten free!  I hate to experiment sometimes because every ingredient I use, from the flours to the sweeteners are so expensive!  I pay for my treats.  So I don't get them all that often, and have to be careful with how much ingredients I use.

I tried making some chocolate microwave brownies yesterday.  It was hot and muggy yesterday for the first time this year and I wanted something chocolate but didn't want to use my oven to heat the house.  My mistake was thinking I could multi-task while they were in the microwave rather than watch.  I know microwaves do not have the same power so times vary and you have to watch and start out low.  I just put them in for 5 minutes and let them go while I set about making the peanut butter frosting I was going to frost them with.

I took the brownies out and plopped them out of the dish, and they hit the counter with a *THUD*, sort of like what it would sound like if a piece of wood fell on your counter.  My husband felt sorry for me and decided to taste one.... which he said was good (what love will make you do).  I thought, maybe I could make them into biscotti and dunk in coffee.  They were pretty hard to swallow.  I was in no way going to throw them out.  So I decided to put them in my food processor today and make crumbs.  Turns out they made perfect chocolate "cookie" crumbs for a pie crust or whatever you want to use cookie crumbs for.  Perfect!  In fact, now I'm going to have to make this flop again so that I can make cookie crumbs again.

So I made myself a dessert today with the crumbs and the peanut butter frosting I prepared.  It was delightful.  I didn't measure, but just glopped it together so here's the way I glopped it...

I added the crumbs to my little custard cup, and moistened with a little water, and pressed them into the bottom.

I topped that with some cream cheese spread that I had on hand which was whipped with some DaVinci SF syrup.

I topped that with the peanut butter frosting I had made, which was just about 1/2 cup unsweetened peanut butter, 2 TBS. of butter, and 1/4 cup Splenda, beat together well until light and fluffy.

Topped it with whipped cream and let it tickle my taste buds.

I think I'm going to keep a bag of Chocolate Cookie Crumbs on hand from now on.  Thank God for flops.  They can sometimes turn into something really good.  The recipe for the microwave brownies were posted on  Low Carb Friends Forum, and was a great idea by Jennifer Eloff, who has a lot of fantastic recipes.  I will try it again with the suggestions further down in the thread and less cooking time watching it next time. My microwave always tends to cook in less time than most recipes call for.  I think my coconut flour that I used also was different and really soaked up the liquid so made them drier.  But I got perfect cookie crumbs!!!