Lemon Yogurt Soufflé (sugar-free)

Sometimes I think it would be useful for someone to start a content aggregate site which only includes trusted recipes from sites that actually test the recipes and have positive feedback from people who successfully duplicate their results (not just rave about the pretty food pictures). A great many recipes out there are mere eye candy for attention and the resulting food is pretty crappy. In other words, the food looks good, but the texture or taste is really disappointing.

There are more recipes for sugar-free, low-carb or low-fat foods that disappoint than any other type of recipe. It's easy to fail when it comes to such things since sugar, fat, and flour are integral parts of many successful dishes. One of the reasons I blog about these types of things (besides the fact that it helps me keep track of what I have tried) is that it allows me to say, "this is a good recipe" or "this is a bad recipe".

I tend to give sites two chances when it comes to "bad recipes". If I try them and the result is poor, I leave a comment and ask if I made an error and that perhaps contributed to the poor result. If the comment is published, then I will give the site's author's recipes another try. If the comment isn't published, I will never try that author's recipes again since they clearly can't be trusted not only to be honest about the results of their cooking experiments, but they also won't allow anyone to say the recipe may not turn out well for those who have actually tried it. They'll publish a hundred comments about how good the food looks in the picture, but not one dissenting opinion about how the results were disappointing for a particular person. For the record, no one who I have left a comment with saying I tried the recipe and it failed has ever published my comment, even when I am polite and ask for advice on where I may have gone wrong. They just delete it in moderation.

One site which I absolutely trust when it comes to healthy variations on recipes is Eating Well, Living Thin. The mistress of this site had bariatric surgery and is maintaining her weight, at least in part, by modifying old favorites so that they are lower calorie and healthier. I've tried several of her recipes, and they have always turned out well. This lemon yogurt soufflé recipe from her site was my latest attempt at one of her recipes, and it turned out very well. I did change it a little based on a desire to cut back the recipe a bit, and because I only had 3 ramekins. Here is the recipe with my (small) modifications. The original recipe is a little better nutritionally than mine, and mine is more lemony and uses regular yogurt instead of Greek.

Lemon Yogurt Soufflé

• 1/2 cup of strained plain, low-fat yogurt*
• 2 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
• 4 tbsp. granular Splenda (or just use white sugar if you want)
• 1.5 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cream of tartar

In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt, egg yolks, 3 tbsp. Splenda (or sugar), flour, vanilla, lemon juice and salt until smooth.

Spray 3 ramekins with cooking spray (or grease them manually). Dust them with Splenda (or sugar) and set them aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and 1 tbsp. Splenda (or sugar) until stiff peaks form. If you aren't familiar with the best way to beat egg whites, you might want to read the instructions in the original recipe but I was taught to first beat the whites at a relatively low speed until foamy, add the cream of tartar and sugar (or sweetener, in this case) and then beat at a higher speed until the peaks stand up straight.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F./190 degrees C.

Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the lemon-yogurt-egg-yolk mixture. Be careful not to stir in or you'll lose all of the air from the egg whites. I use the "cutting" method to fold in egg whites. To do this, spoon in about 1/4 of the egg white mixture and cut through the center of the yogurt mixture with a large spoon. Fold over half of the mixture. Cut through and fold over the other half. Slowly add in the egg whites by quarters repeating the folding in this manner until there are no pockets of egg white.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared ramekins, place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 15 minutes until the tops are a golden brown. Serve warm. These are about 100 calories each, which is incredibly low considering the size and quality of the dish.

The soufflés will start to fall after about 40 minutes, but Linda (the person who originally posted this recipe) warns readers about that. She said it becomes like cheesecake after it falls. As of this posting, I haven't tried it cold after it has fallen.

My husband and I both really liked this a lot, though I made it this first time with only 1 tsp. lemon juice and we both thought it'd suit our tastes better with more lemon (hence the reason that I put "2 tsp." in the recipe above as that is what I'll use next time). The texture was really good, as was the flavor. Also, frankly, this was a little sweet for my tastes, but my husband thought it was quite fine as is so it's probably just me (and I have no plans to alter the sweetness levels the next time). We'll definitely be having this again!

Update: The next day, this was even better. It was like a sponge cake with a bit of a baked cheesecake feel. Also, it seemed less sweet (maybe because the granular Splenda on the outside was absorbed and not hitting my tongue directly). This was truly amazing as a low calorie treat.

*Strained Yogurt Instructions:

To make thick, creamy strained yogurt, buy regular plain, low-fat (unsweetened) yogurt. Take a coffee filter and affix it with rubber bands to the mouth of a glass or bowl which is the right size for your particular filters. The coffee filter should be suspended above the glass and there should be at least an inch (2.5 cm.) below it. Spoon the plain yogurt into the filter until just full. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow the whey to drain for at least 24 hours. There should be very thick yogurt the consistency of sour cream in the filter. Most yogurt will be reduced in size by 40-50% using this procedure.

If it seems too watery after 24 hours, drain the whey from the bottom of the glass or bowl, rinse it out, affix a new coffee filter to the top of it, and transfer the strained yogurt into a new filter. When you strain it twice, it gets even thicker, though usually straining it once is enough.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Eel River Triple Exultation

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The Triple Exultation was an experiment, of sorts.  I've been wanting to brew my own old ale for some time yet, but it hasn't quite gotten to the top of the priority listing thus far.  However, since it is a variety that's not exactly en vogue these days, I decided it would be a good idea for me to get a feel for what I would be shooting for in my eventual batch.

Eel River seems to have put together an ale that caught me off-guard, but most definitely in a favorable way.  This beer's smell was significantly fruitier than I anticipated; the malt was extremely prevalent.  However, the fruit was only minimally present in the taste.  Instead the malt came through strongly, which, as one might expect, led to a somewhat high-gravity final product (the beer didn't list its FG on the bottle, but it had a lingering feel to it).  To balance the sweetness, there was a significant amount of some form of grain I couldn't quite put my finger on (my best guess was rye).

You may notice from the image above that there was a significant level of carbonation present; very much higher than most beers I consume.  That said, it was balanced well by the high level of alcohol and the thickness of the beer itself.

Pairing Suggestions
This is an interesting question; I don't typically have beers that are this malty, so I'll have to wing it and see how it goes.  I would imagine this would balance well with an acidic dish, perhaps even a spicy one (pad thai?), as the thickness of the beer would help calm down the fire.  I wouldn't recommend any light flavors, however, as they might get overwhelmed quite easily by the beer itself.

Whole Wheat Peach Cobbler

This is a tiny, tiny cobbler - that's just a tablespoon (slightly heaped) of whipped cream nearly smothering the cobbler.

I've been busy doing English level tests by telephone over the past week. That means that I have more time than usual in which I am shackled to the computer. And during one 2-hour session, half of the students didn't feel they needed to trouble themselves to call. This not only resulted in my time being compensated at 1/5 the maximum possible rate (as I'm paid much less if they don't call and complete the test than if they do), but in a lot more time to surf the internet.

When I ran out of things to read, I turned to the usual suspects in the food porn areas to entertain my wandering mind. I don't recall where I found the picture which sent me to this recipe, but I was intrigued by the recipe and wanted to give it a try. Of course, peaches are not in season at present, but I had a can of peaches in heavy syrup aging under my cabinet so I decided to finally put it to use.

Because I used canned peaches in syrup, I didn't bother with the part of the recipe which involved cooking the peaches with cornstarch, sweetener, juice and cinnamon. Other than that, I stuck pretty closely to the original recipe.

Whole Wheat Peach Cobbler:

• 1 can peach halves (4 halves) in syrup
• 2-3 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• cinnamon (to taste)
• 2 packets Splenda sweetener (or 3-4 tsp. sugar)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp. 50% fat margarine (reduced calorie)
• 1/4 cup low-fat (or skim) milk
• *whipped cream (for serving)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F./190 degrees C.

Drain and rinse the peach halves and dice them. Toss the peaches with the juice, cinnamon and sweetener (or sugar). Spray 4 muffin tins (I used aluminum) with cooking spray and divide the peach mixture evenly between the tins, gently pressing down with a spoon to even things out.

In a clean bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut the margarine in with a fork until evenly crumbled. Add the milk and mix just until a dough forms. Divide the dough into four parts and gently form rough disks of dough with your hands and pat one on top of each cup with peaches. Bake for about 20-25 until the "cobbler" is lightly browned. Run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the cobbler and overturn onto plates to serve (mine came out very easily). Serve topped with a tablespoon of whipped cream.

This was good, but certainly would have been better with fresh peaches. The "cobbler" part turned out surprisingly well for something that was whole wheat and low-fat. It lent a good texture and hearty flavor and went well with the sweet peaches. I'm going to try this again with blueberries, though I'll have to use the method described in the original recipe to make a thicker sauce with the berries as they won't come with the same syrup as the canned peaches.

This was better fresh from the oven than the next day, but it was still good the next day. I recommend giving it 20 seconds in the microwave to warm it up a bit if you're having it the second day. I stored mine in the refrigerator and a few seconds in the microwave seemed to liven it up a bit. I ate this for breakfast, and I figure it's little different from having whole wheat toast with butter and jam from a nutritional standpoint.

*I make my own whipped cream by buying whipping cream or non-dairy "whip" (which is probably a liquid form of Cool Whip) and whipping it up with Splenda and vanilla using my hand mixer. This results in a sugar-free topping. If I lived in the U.S., I'd just buy a tub of sugar-free Cool Whip.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Spicy Chicken (possibly with cheese)

I discovered this recipe on Lisa Tries to Cook and Get Healthy. Of course, I changed it somewhat because that's what I do. This recipe appealed to me for a variety of reasons. First of all, it uses chicken breasts, and lately I've been finding that my local green grocer sells that particular cut for 19 yen per 100 grams (21 cents for 3.5 oz. or 96 cents per pound) on occasion. That's as cheap as chicken gets in Japan. When I find these sales, I load up on breast meat and freeze it.

The second reason is that this is a fairly simple recipe, though I made it fussier and more complex because, again, that's what I do. Third, it's fast. With an original cooking time of 20 minutes, it takes a lot less time in the oven than I'm used to and this is something I appreciate as we gear up for four and a half months of misery in Tokyo (humid and hot, then hotter until around mid October). And finally, it uses spices I tend to only use for Indian-style dishes. Using cumin for something which isn't Indian gave this dish a different flavor and I'm all for dressing up my breasts (chicken breasts, you dirty-minded people) in an unusual way.

Chili Chicken

For this recipe, you need:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

I decided I wanted to marinate the chicken and add an acidic component in order to enhance the flavor and increase the chances of tender, juicy white meat. First, set up the marinade:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• the juice of half a small lemon (only use fresh juice)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin (I think it could use more, I misread the original recipe and thought it was "teaspoons", but it was "tablespoons")
• 1 tsp.  salt
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1/3 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Whisk all of the above together in a medium bowl that you have a lid for. Dredge the chicken in it (rub them together if necessary to coat evenly as it's a small amount of liquid). Put all of the breasts in the bowl, seal with the lid and leave in your refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Longer is fine. I think mine marinated for about 5.5 hours, but I'm thinking overnight would be just as good.

• 2 small green peppers (piman, in Japan), cut into rings
• 1 small diced yellow onion
• 1 large tomato (coarsely chopped)
• Colby Jack cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 205 degrees C. or 400 degrees F. Place the marinated chicken into a lightly greased baking pan (or sheet). Layer the vegetables on top of the chicken and cook in the preheated oven until the juices in the chicken run clear. Top with cheese if desired and serve with a green salad.

Mine took about 38 minutes, but the breasts I used were large and crowded in my pan. I also layered more vegetables than Lisa did in her original recipe. The one thing I learned this time and will do differently next time is not to slice the thin-skinned Japanese peppers so thinly. Next time, I'm making thicker rings so they don't burn in spots.

My husband liked this a lot, and the chicken came out nice and moist (as you can see by the picture, the interior is juicy). The vegetables compliment the spices well and take on a roasted flavor. I had mine "as is" and my husband had his with cheese. I think it is certainly good either way, but I took a picture of mine because he cut his up pretty fast.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Oatmeal Crepes

I had to harpoon it with a toothpick because it was so small that it wouldn't fold properly.

My continuing mission, and I have chosen to accept it, is to take oatmeal to the limits of its integrity as a foodstuff. To that end, I thought I'd give this recipe for oatmeal crepes a toss with just a smidge of a change.

Oatmeal crepes:

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
  
• 2 tsp. white all-purpose flour
• 2 packets Splenda sweetener (or omit for a plain crepe or use about 4 tsp. sugar)
• pinch salt
  
• 1/2 cup skim milk
  
• 1 medium egg
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Put the oatmeal in a food processor and process as finely as possible to get oat flour. Add the flour, salt, and Splenda (or sugar) and give the process a quick hit to mix them in. Add the milk, egg, and vanilla and blitz in the processor until thoroughly mixed. Allow to rest while you warm up a non-stick skillet.


Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat. Oil, butter, or put margarine in the skillet and pour in enough batter for a small, thin crepe. Cook on one side until set (the top should look pretty dry) and flip and cook about a minute or two. Makes about 3-4 small crepes.

Total calories: 184 for the whole batch
3 crepes: 61 calories each
4 crepes: 46 calories each

Flipping these crepes was challenging. Mine stuck like mad despite my using butter one time and margarine the next (and a non-stick skillet). At first, I made a big crepe and it simply tore up too much during flipping. It could be my craptacular pans or spatula (or my ham-fisted handling), but it seemed super delicate.

The thing about this which surprised me is that it tasted great by itself as a fresh crepe. It was nicely sweet, had a good flavor overall, and was similar to a pancake. I'm not sure if the flour I added did anything for these or not. I mainly added it because my food processor isn't very good and I didn't think my oat flour was really fine enough and I wanted a little boost to the cohesion of the crepe.

I had one of these the next day filled with yogurt, unsweetened applesauce and blueberries and it was good, but lost some of it's appeal. I think they'd be fine the next day, but it'd be best to warm it in the microwave first to give it back a bit of its "pep".

I'm going to give these another go. They're essentially my attempt to make the base for a low-GI dessert for my husband, but also to just try something new. I think they're actually pretty good, though not as thin as a conventional crepe by a long shot.

by Shari (Orchid64)

Maple Baked Oatmeal (sugar-free)

Yeah, my cutting board is stained. So?

I feel like I'm running a test kitchen for every possible palatable version of baked oatmeal. That being said, it's a worthwhile endeavor. I know there are those who love their gummy, gooey bowl of porridge in the morning, but I'm not one of them nor is my husband so I'm trying to extract all of the benefits of oat consumption without the texture issues. This latest incarnation was inspired not only by my husband's love of maple, but also the fact that we have run out of peanut butter from Costco and Japanese peanut butter costs a lot more than the vats of Skippy you can get at Costco. The peanut butter version, by the way, is a big favorite of my husband's.

Baked Maple Oatmeal:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 granular Splenda (or use white sugar)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I made my own)
• 1/2 cup skim milk (or use whatever milk you want)
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. imitation maple flavoring (I used McCormick because it's what we have)
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F./175 degrees C.

Grease and flour a loaf pan. Whisk the egg, applesauce, milk, Splenda, vegetable oil, salt, vanilla, and maple flavoring together until thoroughly mixed. Add the oats, sprinkle the flour and baking powder on top and mix with a spoon until the flour and baking powder are mixed in and the oats are thoroughly moistened. The mixture should be fairly wet compared to the other types of baked oatmeal I've listed. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until set (check with a toothpick or tester). Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, remove from the loaf pan and allow to cool completely before cutting. Cut into 6 servings.

whole loaf: 663 calories
1 serving (1/6): 111 calories

This turned out incredibly moist, far moister than the other versions. It was also softer and more cake-like. It makes me wonder if I ought to modify the pumpkin version so that it is wetter since this seemed to have a nicer texture. The unsweetened applesauce really does take over pretty effectively for the moisture-inducing properties of both sugar and oil. This also has the most impressive calorie profile per serving because of the small amount of oil. This might be an interesting recipe to vary by using maple syrup if you're looking to avoid artificial sweeteners and don't need to worry about blood sugar fluctuations.

Both my husband and I really liked this and felt it came closer than the other versions to being like a "cake". It's very moist, though still a bit crumbly. I don't particularly care for baked oatmeal, but I really did like this. I could even see serving it as a healthy treat as opposed to a quick, healthy breakfast.


By Shari (Orchid64)

Lagunitas Hop Stoopid IIPA

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Although most craft beer drinkers are likely familiar with Lagunitas due to their widely-distributed IPA, they actually produce a rather wide variety of other beers, most of which I would consider highly drinkable.  That said, given my latest penchant for Imperial IPAs and their bretheren, it should be somewhat unsurprising that I gravitated immediately to their "Hop Stoopid" ale, which proudly boasts that it brings 102 IBUs (International Bitterness Units - a scale that is supposed to top out at 100, but the recent surge in robust IPAs has most breweries claiming higher).  Since the brewers seemed to have me pegged (I was drawn not only to "stoopid" for the word itself, but for their choice of spelling), it seemed only appropriate that I give it a shot.

As one might expect from an IIPA, the Stoopid was extremely floral, with notes of flowers that I don't know how to pick out, so don't ask.  This is balanced by a nice level of fruit, notably oranges and apples from what I could tell.  Despite its appearance in the photo, the carbonation was relatively light on the tongue, which goes well with its medium gravity level.  Considering its claims, its bitterness wasn't really as high as I anticipated; certainly it was lower than other IIPAs I've had in the past.  That said, this certainly isn't a complaint; I would definitely recommend this one.  As far as this variety goes, it can't match Stone's Ruination, but it certainly makes a valiant attempt.

Pairing Suggestions
The fruit and mild bitterness level of this beer would lead me to believe it would pair well with roasted (or ideally, grilled) pork.  A good pulled pork sandwich would be fantastic, but it would probably also do well with a thai-style dish, as it would do well to balance a mild spiciness.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Stout

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Sierra Nevada is largely known for their famous Pale Ale, a beer that I've never been hugely impressed by, but as far as a mass-produced beer, it's certainly not bad.  That said, it seems like I've started seeing more variety from them in the past few years; I'm not sure if this is due to my imagination, to my increasing interest in small-batch beers, or an actual effort on their part to diversify.  Regardless, these more interesting brews have been most impressive to me, and none more so than their first (of a series of four) 30th Anniversary Ale.  To celebrate the brewery's significant anniversary, the brewers are teaming up with other brewers from around the country to produce four different types of beer as one-off releases; if this bottle is any evidence of what's to come, I predict that I'll be buying multiples of each release as soon as it appears on the shelf.

The 30th Stout is an excellent demonstration of what a stout can be: malty, toasty, and extremely complex.  The initial flavor is an almost overwhelming maltiness that is counterbalanced by the toasty bitterness from the darker grains present.  As the beer lingers on the palate, mild hints of fruit come out, followed shortly by a strong espresso flavor that holds long after the beer is gone.  The stout's typical light carbonation gives it almost a creamy head that helps lighten what is most certainly a high-gravity beer.  Little in the way of hops are immediately present, but then, the point of this beer is to highlight malt, not flowers.  As you may be able to tell, I cannot recommend this beer highly enough; the unfortunate fact that it is a limited one-time release (which, sadly, was released over a month ago) leads me to suggest that if you find it on the shelf anywhere, buy it immediately.  If nothing else, it's robust enough to age well on the shelf for years to come.

Pairing Suggestions
A beer of this magnitude is probably best paired with rich hearty fare; I picture a greasy leg of roast beast with a very distinct flavor that is not at all mild.  A good grilled tri-tip roast or rack of ribs would do well here, as the weight of the beer would go well with the weight of their flavors.  Additionally, much like the Bison Chocolate Stout, this would do well as a dessert beer, paired with dark chocolate (a mousse, perhaps?) or cheesecake.  If you're feeling heretical, I bet it would reduce into a fantastic steak sauce, but please don't tell me if you end up doing so; this beer deserves better.