Fried liver and bacon

Liver and other organ meats are a great source of vitamin D. These recommendations from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland specifically list organ meats as one of the key dietary sources. The importance of getting enough vitamin D3 cannot be overemphasised. To get the technical details of this watch this seminar presented by my friend Ivor Cummins - the Fat Emperor.

I live in Ireland - known for its cloudy skies. Most Irish people don't get enough exposure to the sun to make sufficient vitamin D3. So we need to supplement and eat foods which are rich in vitamin D3. Remember to get as much exposure to sunlight without burning as you can. This may well be the best source of D3 you can get.

This is a delicious and simple way to get some D3 into your diet from natural sources. It is all low carb and is very inexpensive to make.

Fried Liver and Bacon

2 Slices of lambs liver

1 onion, chopped roughly
A handful of mushrooms, chopped roughly
2 Rashers of unsmoked back bacon, cut into strips
Lard for frying
A splash of cream if you have it

Heat the lard on a large frying pan. Cook the onions and mushrooms until soft and slightly browned. Then slice the bacon into strips and cook this in the same pan with the mushrooms and onions pushed to the side. Switch off the heat, mix in some cream and serve immediately.

The low carb breakfast

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This breakfast is pretty standard among low carb people. I had thought that making an omelette first thing in the morning was a bit of a hassle, but it only takes a minute or 2 to get this on the table and it is delicious and filling. I find I am not as hungry in the morning on low carb anyway, so sometimes I have a cup of tea and a bit of a read before I make this. We don't have eggs every day, but at the moment it is about 5 out of 7.

French omelette with fresh tomatoes

Ingredients

3 eggs
Large knob of butter
Salt and pepper
Tomatoes

Method

Place a small non stick frying pan on high heat and add the butter. As that is heating up whisk the eggs gently in a bowl. Season them. Once the butter foams up add the eggs to the pan. Immediately start to draw the cooked egg in from the edges to the centre. This moves the cooked egg away from the hot surface and so prevents it getting overdone. It also allows the raw egg to run down onto the pan and get cooked. When no more of the raw egg flows down gently fold the omelette over on itself. Give it another few seconds to cook through and you are done.
Serve with the tomatoes.

This keeps you full all the way to lunchtime with no need for a snack.

Grilled herrings with lime salsa

I picked up some herring fillets in the fishmonger in Howth last Friday. We'd never eaten herring before. It is abundant and caught in the North East Atlantic, so it is not like tuna or swordfish which gets hauled from the other side of the world. The fillets were only €1 each which is a very good price considering the labour required to get these off the bone.
It's the right time of year for tomatoes too. No point in eating them when they taste of nothing in the winter.

Serves 2 as a light lunch

Ingredients

3 fillets of herring
10 cherry tomatoes chopped
1 tbsp of capers drained
1 clove of garlic chopped
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper

Method

Place the herrings on an oiled foil sheet and oil them on top too. A pastry brush makes it easy to cover everything with oil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Grill the herrings for about 3 minutes on each side or until just cooked through. I use the highest setting for the grill - 250 degrees C.
While the fish is grilling mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.
To serve place the fillets on 2 plates and top with the salsa and juice.

Asparagus with poached eggs and smoked salmon

Asparagus has come down in price a lot in the last few years and is now much more widely available. Most of it is brought in from a long way away, but this means we can eat it over a much wider season and at an affordable price.

Smoked salmon used to be a luxury reserved for Christmas and special occasions, but like asparagus is now more affordable. It forms an important part of our Low Carb High Fat diet.

These two ingredients along with some poached eggs are all you need for a delicious weekend lunch.

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus, ends snapped off
1 small packet of smoked salmon
2 eggs
lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Method

This could not be simpler. Get a griddle pan hot and drizzle a small amount of oil on. Place the asparagus along the lines of the griddle to fry. Turn them occasionally. While that is cooking, poach the eggs - they need to be reasonably fresh or they will just wash away in the simmering water. Delia has details here.
Plate it all up with a squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper.

This is a classic LCHF meal. Plenty of fat from the salmon and no carbs except a little in the asparagus. It will leave you feeling nice and full and your insulin level will stay where it should :)

Beef Stew

This dinner is one of our staples, but a recent change to low carb/no sugar requires a few changes.

Ingredients:

600g stewing beef
1 Tin of tomatoes
Half a celeriac - optional
4 carrots
2 onions
1 beef stock cube - made up as per instructions
3 sticks celery
Handful of sage leaves chopped finely
Small handful of marjoram chopped finely (leave the stalks out)
Small glass of red wine - optional

Method:

Peel and roughly chop all of the vegetables.
Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (not extra virgin) to a large casserole on high heat. Fry the onions and beef for a few minutes until the beef is well coloured. Add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to very low and leave it to cook for 2 to 3 hours. Exact time will depend on the cut of beef used.

Differences from 'Normal':

• No potatoes used 
• No tomato puree used - this usually has added sugar
• We just serve this on its own. It has enough veg without side dishes
• It contains more beef than we would normally use for this size of casserole
• Check all ingredients used for sugar
• The red wine might be a bit of a rule breaker, but we add it early so most of the alcohol is gone and besides, it really lifts this dish

Venison stew

I was given a leg of venison by my dad. He knows a guy whose son hunts. None of them seem too keen on it, but I am. Have had venison a few times and it is always delicious. Bit pricey and tricky to get, so was very happy with this. There is a tablespoon of redcurrant jelly in this and it is served with roasted potatoes. Neither of these are low carb of course, but we had guests so needed to accommodate them too. You could of course leave these out if you prefer.

Venison Stew

Ingredients

1.5 kg of venison leg - chopped into chunks
2 Rashers of smoked bacon, roughly chopped
3 Carrots
2 Onions
3 Sticks of Celery
1 Tbsp of redcurrant jelly
1 Beef stock cube
5 crushed juniper berries

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C.
Peel and roughly chop the vegetables. Fry them in a little olive oil in a large pot suitable for the oven.
When they have softened remove them from the pot and put aside.
In the same pot fry the bacon until some of the fat starts to run. Brown the chunks of venison in with the bacon. Return the vegetable mixture to the pot and cover the whole lot with boiling water from the kettle. Add the beef stock cube and make sure it is dissolved.
Bring to the boil and place it in the oven with the lid on.
It will be ready in between 1.5 and 2 hours. Check the meat is tender before serving.
I served this with roasted potatoes and a garden salad on the side.

Stir fried broccoli

This is a very simple side dish, but it goes with a lot of different mains. I first saw this done with cabbage and it is lovely that way too, but this is a broccoli version.

Ingredients

A large head of broccoli including stalk
3 cloves of garlic sliced thickly
2 tbsp of cold pressed vegetable oil - details of what is good here
1 tbsp of Soy sauce (tamari is wheat free, so this is probably better here)
1 tbsp of Shaoxing rice wine - you can get this in chinese supermarkets

Method

Cut the stalks off the broccoli and scrape off any tough bits. Split the main stalk into 4 pieces lengthways and then slice these pieces finely. For each floret that remains do the same with the attached stalk so that there is as little stalk as possible still attached. This means that all the parts will cook together and you don't get rock hard stalks on the florets when everything else is cooked.
Heat the oil in a wok until it is almost smoking. Add all of the garlic and stir fry for a minute. Add the broccoli and stir fry on a high heat until cooked through. Make sure you keep everything moving or the garlic will burn. When it is ready add the wine and soy. Continue to cook until these have evaporated off. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Tuna and egg salad

This is very simple to make, but satisfying enough for dinner for 2. It is a variant on a Nicoise salad, but does not have any potatoes in it.

Ingredients

For the salad

4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 Tin of tuna in oil, drained
Half a jar of black olives, pitted
Lots of rocket, enough to make a thick layer in the bowls before you put the other ingredients in
4 tomatoes, sliced

Optional ingredients for the salad: 

Capers, green olives, anchovies, toasted pine nuts

For the dressing

Olive or cold pressed rapeseed oil
Balsamic vinegar, good stuff is better as its flavour dominates this dressing. You don't need much
1 tsp english mustard
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Get a jar with a screw top lid on it. A clean jam jar is fine, but a screw top plastic food storage container is better. Pour in about 1 cm deep of oil. Add the mustard and salt and pepper. Pour in some balsamic vinegar. Less than half the quantity of oil should do the trick. Close the lid and give it a good hard shake.
Line the serving bowls with rocket. Arrange the other ingredients on top. Drizzle the dressing over.

Green lentils with smoked coley and cabbage

This is a good filling main meal. It requires some chopping to get it started, but cooks away on its own without requiring any of your attention.
This serves 2 adults and takes about 50 minutes in total.

Ingredients

200g Green lentils - I got mine in Dunnes Stores
1 litre of vegetable stock - Marigold is good, but any that is not full of rubbish will do
3 Carrots, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
3 Sticks of celery, finely chopped
1 Tbsp of Olive oil
2 smoked back rashers, chopped
4 bay leaves
200g approx of smoked Coley
About 5 leaves of green cabbage, stalk trimmed out and discarded

Instructions

Heat the oil in a thick bottom pot. Add the bacon and vegetables and cook for about 20 minutes on medium. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking. Add the lentils, stock and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for about 25 minutes until the lentils are almost done. Cut the cabbage into strips and cut these cross ways - this just makes it easier to eat without scalding your chin. Add the cabbage and fish to the pot and push them down beneath the surface of the liquid. Cover again for about 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top.

Puy lentil casserole with balsamic vinegar

We have been making variations of this for years. Lentils are low GI, so less impact on insulin levels than other more processed foods.

Eating low carb can lead to more meat consumption. Just because meat is good for you does not mean that it has stopped damaging the environment. This meal is a tasty and satisfying meat free one.

Ingredients

200g Puy lentils
1 litre vegetable stock - Marigold powder is good
3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 sticks of celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
Oil for cooking

Method

Cook the vegetables for about 30 minutes in some oil over a medium heat. Stir it now and then to make sure it does not stick and leave the lid on to keep the steam in.
Next add the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil and cook until the lentils are tender - this varies by the exact type of lentil, but expect about 30 minutes.
Using a stick blender blend about half of the lentils in the pot. Add the balsamic vinegar and give everything a good stir.
I serve this with a rocket salad with tomatoes, toasted pine nuts and a balsamic and mustard vinaigrette. Grate plenty of parmesan on top of the lentils.

Meatballs in a Provençal Sauce

Another variation on the provençal recipe. The quantities here are for 2 people.

Ingredients

For the meatballs

500g of minced beef
Handful of fresh sage and marjoram, chopped finely
Salt and pepper
Rapeseed oil for frying

The sauce

3 Carrots, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Handful of pitted black olives, cut in half
2 tbsp of capers
A small tin of anchovies in oil
2 Tins of tomatoes
4 bay leaves, dried are fine
Black pepper
Butter, about the size of 2 walnuts
1 tbsp of olive oil for cooking
A handful of french beans cut into bite sized pieces

Method

Place the mince in a bowl and add the herbs and salt and pepper. Mix it well with your hands. Add the oil to a pan and get it nice and hot. Remove a golf ball sized piece of mince and shape it into a ball. Drop it into the pan. Do this for the whole lot. Keeping the heat quite high, keep the balls turning to that they don't burn. Do this until they are firm when squeezed. This means they are cooked through. Next for the sauce

Heat the oil and butter in a thick based pot over a high heat. Once the butter is bubbling add the onions, carrots and garlic. Give everything a good mix to coat in oil and butter and put the lid on. Lower the heat right down. Give this about 40 minutes stirring occasionally to allow the vegetables to soften. Then add the olives, anchovies in their oil and capers and cook for another 10 minutes or so. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the meat balls. Give everything a good stir and put the lid back on. Once the carrots are soft add the cooked meat balls. Cover them with the sauce and continue to cook with the lid on for about 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls to serve.

What's for Breakfast?

There are some brutal possibilities for low carb breakfasts. Sardines or a half a block of brie anyone? Not for me. There are only so many eggs that I can eat and to be honest cooking rashers and eggs first thing on a work day is not on.

So I stick with porridge. Well it's not really low carb is it? Not that low, but I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. There are some details here about the different types of porridge and their carb content along with some of the good things that porridge gives you. Stuff like soluble fibre. Also if you eat a big enough portion you can get away with not having anything else till lunchtime. The instant oatmeal mentioned is the equivalent of something like Ready Brek. A nice memory from childhood, but too processed to fit into a low carb diet.


I eat rolled oats - just normal porridge. I buy Jumbo Organic Oats in Aldi. I cook them with semi skimmed milk in the microwave and then add more milk to cool them down a bit. I don't add any sweetener - sugar or honey and I make sure I eat plenty of them. A half of a large cup of dry oatmeal and twice that of milk. If you are microwaving, make sure you use a very large bowl as it will boil over very easily. About 4 minutes does it.

It is a delicious start to the day - followed of course by a cup of tea. I thought I would get bored of this, but have been enjoying it for over 6 months now. I am converted.

Hot Smoked Mackerel Pate

This is really simple and only has a few ingredients. These packets of hot smoked mackerel are very versatile. It's not really a pate as the fish is just mashed with a fork. You can blend it for a smoother paste if you prefer, but it is not necessary. Delicious as part of a weekend lunch.

Ingredients

1 Packet of Hot Smoked Mackerel - Aldi
1 tbsp of horseradish sauce
1 tbsp of crème fraiche

Instructions

Peel the skin from the mackerel and remove any small bones. Flake it into a bowl. Add the horseradish sauce and crème fraiche and mix the whole lot thoroughly.

Serve with some tomatoes on a bed of rocket.

Hummus with Cashews

We have been making our own hummus for quite a while now and thought we had it about right. But this post last week from Seth Godin adds cashew nuts. They are great in it and lower the proportion of carbs in the dish. As for the carb content, well chickpeas are not top of the list of low carb foods, but we think there are more advantages than disadvantages. Sometimes the snacks available to low carb eaters can be less than inspiring, so hummus is a nice addition. More on the carb content and some other technical details here. This site suggests that a higher proportion of tahini lowers the carb proportion too, so we might try upping that next time.

Our recipe is not exactly the same as Seth's, so here goes. We don't bother with all that cooking nonsense. Used to, but not any more.

Ingredients

1 Tin of Chickpeas
1 Tbsp of Tahini paste
A handful of roasted cashew nuts
Juice of 1 lime
Olive oil - a good glug
Salt and pepper - to taste
Pinch of cumin

Method

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor along with a good splash of water and blend until smooth. This takes longer than you might think. A minute being about the minimum to get a nice consistency. Add more water if you think the mix is too dry.

We eat this with thin slices of carrot. It is much better before you put it in the fridge.

Other ingredients that we have added before are raw garlic (lots, crushed) and dried chillies. This depends on whether or not you expect the kids to eat it too.

Sources of ingredients

Everything is from Aldi except the tahini which is from SuperValue.

Low Carb Goulash

One of the things I try to do with low carb versions of dishes is to incorporate as many additional vegetables as I can. A classic Hungarian goulash contains far fewer ingredients than this, but this version works well. Also Hungarian Goulash is usually served with rice and I leave that out here to keep the carbs down.

Ingredients

500g Stewing beef pieces
2 Onions, chopped roughly
2 Carrots, chopped roughly
1 red and one green pepper, chopped roughly
3 Sticks of celery, chopped roughly
1 heaped desert spoon of smoked paprika
Salt
Olive oil for cooking
1 Tin of tomatoes
Creme Fraiche to serve

Method

Brown the beef in a pressure cooker with the lid off. Use plenty of heat to thoroughly brown the outside of the meat. Remove the meat from the pot and put aside. Fry the onions, carrot and celery in the same pot until they are beginning to brown. Return the meat to the pot. Add the tomatoes and paprika and put the lid on. Cook at pressure for about 45 minutes. Add the peppers. Bring the pot back to cooking pressure and turn the heat off immediately. Let it come to normal pressure in its own time. This is sufficient to cook the peppers.
Ladle the goulash into bowls and add a dessert spoon of creme fraiche and stir in.

Provençal Style Salmon with Chard

There are lot of different protein sources that you can add to this basic sauce to make a delicious low carb dinner. It works great with meat balls for example. The quantities here are for 2 people.

Ingredients

3 Carrots, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Handful of baby sweetcorn, cut into 1 cm pieces
Handful of pitted black olives, cut in half
2 tbsp of capers
A small tin of anchovies in oil
2 Tins of tomatoes
1 Red pepper chopped small
2 Salmon darnes
4 bay leaves, dried are fine
Black pepper
Oregano, I used dried
Butter, about the size of 2 walnuts
1 tbsp of olive oil for cooking
Small bunch of chard, central rib trimmed out an shred the leaves

Method

Heat the oil and butter in a thick based pot over a high heat. Once the butter is bubbling add the onions, carrots, baby sweetcorn, red peppers and garlic. Give everything a good mix to coat in oil and butter and put the lid on. Lower the heat right down. This is basically a type of mirepoix, but with extra vegetables. Give this about 40 minutes stirring occasionally to allow the vegetables to soften. Then add the olives, anchovies in their oil and capers and cook for another 10 minutes or so. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the salmon. Give everything a good stir and put the lid back on. Once the carrots are soft it is ready for you to add the salmon and chard. Mix the chard in first and then place the darnes on the surface of the sauce and spoon the sauce over them so that they are covered. Put the lid back on for about 10 minutes. Check that the salmon is done and ladle into bowls to serve.

Ingredient Sources

I got the salmon darnes in Aldi for € 3.99 for a pack of 2. We have had these before and they are excellent. Almost everything else if from Aldi too.
The chard is from the garden.