Low Carb Philly Cheese Steak

Who likes Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches?  I do!  But I also like quick and easy meals after work.  I'll let you in on my little secret to a quick and easy plate of goodness! And to keep it low carb, I'm fine with skipping the bread.  But if you just gotta have some bread, then Pinterest is your friend for finding a low carb bread recipe!

 Low Carb Philly Cheese Steak 

Servings 2

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 green bell pepper sliced
1/2 pound shaved deli roast beef
3/4 cups beef broth
1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 slices provolone cheese

Directions:

In a medium skillet, melt the butter and add the sliced onion and green bell pepper slices.

Saute until the onions are transparent.

Meanwhile, slice the deli beef into strips.
Add the sliced beef to the pan along with the beef broth, xanthum gum.  Continue to stir and saute until the meat is heated through and the broth thickens into a gravy.

Add the 4 slices of provolone cheese on top and let it melt.

Slide half of it onto your plate and dig in!

....and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Servings 2.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 368
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 19 g	29 %
Saturated Fat 12 g	58 %
Monounsaturated Fat 4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 99 mg	33 %
Sodium 990 mg	41 %
Potassium 653 mg	19 %
Total Carbohydrate 9 g	3 %
Dietary Fiber 2 g	9 %
Sugars 3 g
Protein 40 g	79 %
Vitamin A	15 %
Vitamin C	86 %
Calcium	45 %
Iron	12 %

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

I have a new found love for tomato sauce.  This recipe is quick, easy and versatile.  You can use it for pasta sauce, pizza sauce, or as a base for a wonderful creamy soup.  Best of all you are controlling what you eat!  Say good-bye to high fructose corn syrup and hello flavor!   No more added sugar or other ingredients that you can't pronounce or know what they are.  Plus, this sauce packs a ton more flavor than the name brands we all have in our pantry for the sake of convenience!

You can tailor this sauce to include additional vegetables such as red or green bell pepper for a slightly different taste and additional nutrition.  The flavor will knock your socks off and the wonderful aroma you have wafting from your kitchen will have your family salivating!

I've always been a "from scratch" kinda cook. However, "from scratch" spaghetti sauce never included making the tomato portion of the sauce.  I have always seasoned up a can of tomato sauce and tomato paste to make my pasta sauce.  This oven roasted sauce is fresh and tasty.

I can only imagine how much better it will be when summer finally arrives and the tomatoes are fresh from my farmer's market along and the herbs fresh from my garden!  I suspect I'll be making big batches and freezing some for the long winter months!

Prosciutto, Capocollo and Carmelized Onion Pizza

Prosciutto, Capocollo and Carmelized Onion Pizza

This is a quick and easy recipe for pizza.  I tend to like thin crust pizza and as a result I had to search a bit to find a recipe that was easy, thin yet substantial enough to hold some hefty ingredients and not be doughy.  In my reading about pizza crust, I learned that the dough doesn't go through the rising process if you are want to achieve a nice thin crust. 

Organic Olive Oil

You will notice that this pizza does not call for a pizza sauce, but rather is simply brushed with extra virgin olive oil, letting the meat and veggies be the stars of the pizza.
   
I used organic olive oil produced in Italy from Agriturismo Poggio Eutrusco's organic farm near Montepulciano.  This tin of oil was a gift from my friend Pamela, who I was delighted to visit in May. 




A little information about our ingredients.....Prosciutto is an Italian word for ham.  In English, it is almost always used for a dry cured ham.  Prosciutto is made from either a pig's or a wild boar's hind leg or thigh.  The process of making prosciutto can take anywhere from nine months to two years, depending on the size of the ham. 

The prosciutto here from the local deli doesn't even come close to comparing to the fabulous prosciutto in Italy.   It is also expensive, but worth the splurge. I purchased 4 ounces for this pizza and only had a bit little left over for nibbling on later.

During several visits to Italy, I have had the pleasure of staying at Agriturismo Cretaiole where I had the opportunity to visit our host's farm and sample their prosciutto from their farm raised pigs. It is always a melt in your mouth treat!

Luciano's Prosciutto

For my pizza today, I used Prosciutto and another Italian cured meat, Capocollo.  Where Proscuitto comes from the ham, Capocollo is made exclusively of meat from  the shoulder or neck. 



 
I layered on red, yellow and orange bell peppers along with caramelized onions.  I topped off the pizza with fresh herbs from my garden and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella.

Basil, Rosemary and Oregano

Caramelizing onions is easy to do and they are wonderful on this pizza.    Start by thinly slicing 2 medium vidalia onions.  
Drizzle 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil into a large non-stick skillet.
Add 1 Tablespoon brown sugar and stir over medium heat.

You will see the onions start to turn opaque.  Continue to let them cook, stirring frequently.  When they are finished they will be a lovely caramel color, like the photo below.  Remove the onions from the heat and set them aside to cool.  I generally cook up a nice supply and keep a stash in the frige.

Caramelized Onions

Now it's time to make the pizza dough.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1  .25 oz. package of active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup 110 degree F water
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Happy Yeast

1. Place a pizza or bread baking stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. 
2. Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Set aside for 8 minutes.  At the conclusion of the 8 minutes your yeast should be happy and foamy. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and the salt.
4. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon.
5. Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead until smooth, about 2 minutes.
6. Working from the edges to the center, press the dough into a 12" circle.  You can hold the dough up off the counter and stretch it evenly. 
7. Sprinkle a pizza peel liberally with corn meal.

Assembling the Pizza:

1. Place the pizza dough onto the peel.
2. Drizzle the surface of the dough lightly with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and spread it evenly with your hands.
3. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.
4. Sprinkle with a combination of Italian seasonings that you like.  I used Rosemary, Oregano and Basil from my garden along with some fennel seed  and cracked black pepper. 
5. Evenly spread the caramelized onions over the crust. 
6. Arrange the paper thin strips of Prosciutto evenly over the onions.
7. If you'd like to add additional veggies you can, for my pizza, I use a mixture of bell peppers, whatever I have on hand.
8. Top it off with another 1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (not that stuff that comes in a green can) and Mozzarella cheese.   

Pizza ready for the grill

I often use my grill to bake the pizzas.  It results in a lovely crust, but you do have to watch it to make sure it doesn't burn.  When I use the grill with the stone positioned on the grate.  I max out the heat, pumping it all the way to 600.  The pizza cooks in around 5 minutes.  I wish I had an outdoor pizza oven...maybe someday!

The list of instructions is long, but if you have things semi ready, you can mix up this pizza and be eating in around 30 minutes, and it is better than the Pizza chains that we all frequent. 

...and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!

Cannellini Bean Salad

I recently returned from a fabulous vacation in Italy where I fixed this salad as one of our contributions to the Pici Night Dinner at Cretaiole.  Pici is a hand rolled pasta that is specific to the Val d'Orcia area of Italy where I was staying.  More on that some other time.

This is an easy recipe with simple ingredients that is very good and healthy.  I hope you enjoy it.

Breakfast Bake

I made a frittata last week and it was so good, I decided to make a similar version to pack for my breakfasts this week.  It is a good breakfast  dish or can be used for lunch or dinner, just add a tossed salad as a side.   

Substitute fresh vegetables to your liking.  I used what I had on hand.  Onions and bell peppers and carrots are  staples in my veggie drawer in the fridge so mixing this up is super quick and easy.

You can also change up the meat(s) in this recipe to fit your family's tastes as well. 
 I made sausage earlier this spring and have it in handy 1 pound packages in the freezer.  I also had some bacon remaining from another recipe so I chopped it up, cooked it until crispy and added it to the mixture. 

If you are not a meat eater, you can leave out the meat, add some chopped, sauted portabella mushrooms instead or just use more fresh veggies.  You can truly  "have it your way".  

Breakfast Bake
 Yield:  8 Servings

Ingredients:

1 pound sausage (breakfast, italian, turkey - you decide)
8 oz. bacon, diced and cooked
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1/2 sweet vidalia onion, diced
1 cup shredded carrots
12 eggs, beaten, or equivalent egg substitute (I used the substitute)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (again, use what you like or have on hand)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray a casserole dish with non stick spray.  This fit nicely in my "hand me down" pyrex dish that had been my mom's.  It measures 7 1/2 x 12 inches.
3. Preheat 12" skillet over medium heat, add the sausage, cook until brown and crumbly.  Remove sausage with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
4. Add the chopped bacon to the pan and cook until crispy.  Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling.
5. Chop the bell peppers and onions and shred the carrots (hint - buy the carrots already shredded, it is easier and saves your knuckles).
6. Place the meat in the greased casserole.
7. Layer on the vegetables.
8. Beat and pour the eggs over the top.  Sprinkle with black pepper.
9. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.
10. Give everything a quick stir to evenly distribute the ingredients.
11. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes until set in the center.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers is not something we ever had when I was growing up, or at least not that I can remember, but they are something that I really like and they are easy to make, taste good and are good for you!

I was having a craving for stuffed peppers and like many of the things I make, my stuffed peppers are something I just throw together and as a result they never taste quite the same way twice.  Today's recipe was no different, but now that I'm blogging to share recipes that I make, adapt or create, I keep a notepad and pen alongside the camera in the kitchen so I can easily jot down the ingredients and measurements I go.

Maybe this time I was so hungry for  stuffed peppers that the filling tasted extra good, or maybe I just hit upon a combo that is extra special.  I have to admit that I had enough filling to fill another pepper, so what to do with the leftover filling?  Hum..I must confess that I got myself a spoon and shamelessly ate the rest of the filling while standing over the kitchen sink. 

I cooked the filling and baked these peppers in my new Le Creuset 3 1/2 quart Buffet Pan.  If you have something similar, this recipe makes and bakes in one pan and clean up is a whiz!

Some recipes you find will instructions to preboil the peppers.  Personally, I like my veggies to be a bit more crispy and less wimpy, so I prefer to just let mine cook in the oven. If you prefer yours precooked, you can certainly do that in addition to steps listed below.  If you do precook the peppers, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and reduce baking time to approximately 30 minutes.

I did not specify the color of the peppers.  I will leave that choice up to you. I personally prefer the red, yellow or orange to the green, but any color will do. You will see from the photos that I used mostly red but did have a green one thrown in for variation. 

Give this recipe a try.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

5 Bell Peppers, any color
1 Tablespoon Garlic Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
1.25 lbs. lean ground Turkey
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon medium Chili Powder
1 cup shredded Carrot
1 box of frozen shoe peg corn (or 2 ears of fresh cut corn)
1/4 cup Taco Sauce (your favorite)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Wash and cut bell peppers in half, top to bottom so you have 2 halves to fill later.
3. Remove the seeds and membranes and rinse to remove all the seeds.
4. Heat a heavy oven proof skillet over medium heat.  Drizzle in the garlic infused extra virgin olive oil.
5. Add the onions, ground turkey, salt, cumin and chili powder and stir, cooking until turkey is done. Continue to cook until all liquid (water) has evaporated.
6. Chop one of the 5 bell peppers and add it to the turkey along with the carrots, corn and taco sauce.
7. Mix over medium heat just to warm everything through.
8. Remove stuffing mixture to another bowl.
9. Spoon stuffing into each bell pepper half and arrange them in the heavy ovenproof skillet or a separate casserole dish, repeating until all of the peppers are full.
10. Put an extra teaspoon of taco sauce on the top of each pepper (my sauce has a squirt top, so I just squirt some on).
11. Top with shredded cheese.
12. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!