A Helpful Tool

I’m talking about my George Foreman Grill. I use it a lot, especially at lunchtime. It’s the perfect appliance for making grilled sandwiches. For example, today I made my husband a grilled turkey sandwich. Colombus Reduced Sodium Sliced Turkey from Trader Joe’s, sliced Swiss cheese (naturally low in sodium) also from Trader Joe’s, a dab of mustard, thinly sliced onion, and half a roasted poblano/pasilla chile pepper, all between two slices of my own homemade low sodium 100% whole wheat bread. The grilling elevated the lunch from a humble turkey sandwich to something special. And believe me, when you’re following a low sodium diet, you need to do whatever you can to make ordinary meals special. No matter what anyone says about eventually getting used to the lack of salt in foods, you really do miss its flavor punch. So you need to look for creative ways to add pizazz – through additional flavorings and seasonings, textural interest, and visual appeal. A grilled sandwich with its crunchy outside and toasty bread takes care of texture, taste, and visual attraction. Adding the onion & roasted chile boosted flavor appeal.

I often make grilled corn tortilla tacos on the George Foreman Grill too. If I have leftover chicken, pork, or beef, I’ll slice it up thinly for the taco filling. A shake of a salt-free Mexican style seasoning and a slice of Swiss also go into the filling. Or sometimes, I’ll just use some slices of the low sodium deli turkey. If I’ve got some roasted chiles, I’ll throw some of those in. I love using corn tortillas because I can easily find a brand that is completely salt free. I like the flavor & aroma of warmed tortillas, and they’re really great slightly toasted and a bit crispy.

I simply spray some Pam on the grill after its heated, place my tortillas inside, spray them a bit, and close the lid. After a minute or so, once the tortillas have softened, I flip them over and fill them. Then I close the lid again and let them cook until both sides are a bit crispy. Sometimes I’ll turn the filled tortillas over. Because I’m not frying the tacos, the tortillas will not get super crisp & crunchy, but that’s OK with me. In fact, I prefer them when they’re at the chewy & slightly crispy stage. I serve the tacos with a low sodium salsa. Again, a pretty good tasting lunch.

And I use the grill for crisping up corn tortillas all by themselves. I do the same thing as for tacos but leave the tortillas flat and in the grill until both sides are truly crisp and slightly browned. Much easier than using the oven or stove-top griddle. I can heat up soup or chili, make a salad, or whatever while the tortillas are crisping up in the grill.

I also use the Foreman grill for bacon, up to six slices at a time. Much easier than the frying pan with none of the splattering & mess. Of course, I’m talking about low sodium bacon. (However, when I cook up an entire package of bacon at one time, I’ll use the oven. And then, once the bacon is all cooked, I’ll wrap it up in bundles of four slices and freeze them.) I’ve also made French toast on the grill.

It’s great for quick meals of grilled boneless pork chops, beef tenderloin steaks*, and boneless chicken breasts. I’ll grill an entire pork tenderloin too. Sometimes I butterfly it and other times I just grill it and keep turning it until all side are cooked. And I use it frequently for grilled vegetables. I love grilling eggplant, peppers, and squash with it. I’ve even grilled slices of potato.

I haven’t had any problems with cleaning it either. If I cook something like a grilled sandwich, I just wipe it down with a damp paper towel. If I’ve cooked something that leaves a residue, I place a couple of wet paper towels in it once I’m done cooking, close the lid, and let the steam soften the cooked on “stuff.” Later, the grill usually wipes clean with just a couple of paper towels.

There are all kinds of sizes available. This is the size I have now. I use it so often that I just leave it on my kitchen island. I only put it away when we have special company that I want to impress with my immaculate and clutter free kitchen.

*A few months ago I bought an entire beef tenderloin from Costco. It was pricier than hamburger, but I’ve gotten a tremendous amount of meals from it. I spent about an hour cutting it up and packaging it for the freezer. Lots of 4 ounce steaks, lots of 6-8 ounce packages of beef “tips” from the weird pieces, and a couple of small roasts. I use the “tips” for stir fries and gravy type dishes.

"Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!"

A line from my husband's favorite movie, "21." And that's what we had last night, a chicken dinner. And it was, indeed, a winner! All my local grocery stores have had Foster Farms whole chickens on sale lately. A couple of days ago I was shopping and decided on a whim to pick up yet another whole chicken. Foster Farms is a California brand and all their fresh chicken products are free of the saline solution found in other brands. So when their chicken parts are on sale, I usually grab up several packages at a time.

Roasting a whole chicken is one of the easiest and tastiest meals for anyone watching their sodium intake. The chicken really does not need any salt if it is seasoned correctly. So many flavor combinations are possible: lemon with oregano or rosemary or thyme; tarragon with chopped shallots and artichoke hearts; Cajun or Creole; barbecue rub and/or sauce; poultry seasoning; South-of-the-Border chili powder; garlic... Basically, if you can dream it up, you can probably season a roast chicken with it. Of course, it goes without saying, that the seasoning blends should be salt free and any sauces should be extremely low in sodium content.

One of my favorite blends for whole roasted chicken is Penzy's Mural of Flavor. It's a mild all-purpose seasoning that's simply wonderful with chicken and pork. (It reminds me of my former favorite table salt, Vege Sal. I liked using it because it wasn't just straight salt. Even before the low sodium days I disliked the taste of a blanket of salt on my food. As a result, I rarely ever salted my food at the table. Whenever I felt something needed an extra punch at the table, I'd use Vege Sal.)

Preparing the 4-1/2 pound chicken was easy. I cut off the big globs of fat, removed the innards, and wiped it down (inside & out) with paper towels. Then I sprinkled and rubbed Mural of Flavor all over it. I placed the seasoned bird on a rack in a baking pan just a little bit larger than the chicken, and I put it uncovered in the refrigerator to completely dry out. I also placed two crumpled up paper towels in the cavity to absorb any excess moisture. About 45 minutes before roasting, I took the chicken out of the fridge to lose the chill. I also removed the paper towels from the cavity and seasoned it with some Mural of Flavor. I pre-heated the oven to 450 degrees and roasted the chicken breast side down for about 45 minutes. Then I flopped it over and continued roasting it for about another 20 minutes. I didn't use a thermometer, just wiggled the legs, took it out and let it rest.

While the chicken was resting, I made a quick side dish of Lower Sodium Stove Top Stuffing. When prepared according to package directions, it has about 250 mg. sodium per 1/2 cup serving. Whenever I make it, I always add some vegetables to cut the sodium content even more. This time I added about 3/4 cup each of chopped celery and onions that I sauteed in 2 tbsp. of unsalted butter. I also used Minor's low sodium chicken broth base for the liquid.

And there you have it. Chicken and stuffing served with a small salad. There are enough leftovers for tonight's dinner and chicken salad sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch. "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!"

Baking Marathon, Part 1

Fall has finally arrived in my neck of the woods and I’ve gotten busy baking. I really like to spend a couple of days in a baking marathon and then freeze everything. I especially enjoy having a variety of breakfast items in the freezer. That way my husband can help himself when he gets up in the morning (usually a couple of hours earlier than me). Then, we I finally drag myself out of bed, I can easily fix myself something too.

One of my favorite breakfast treats remains oatmeal scones. They’re not too sweet and chock full of old fashioned rolled oats. I’ve discovered another recipe that I really like. It’s from Quaker, the oatmeal folks. One thing I really like is that the scones are short & buttery not cake-like. Also, because the quantity of flour & oatmeal is less than my other recipe, the scones aren’t as huge or as filling.

The recipe can be found on the Quaker Oats site here. I’ve made some changes, though. First of all I used brown sugar because I like the flavor. I also used unsalted butter and the sodium free baking powder, Featherweight. Of course, I omitted the salt. The first time I made this recipe, I felt the scones were a bit too short and, therefore, very crumbly. So I’ve lessened the butter down to 7 tablespoons. I also use 1/4 cup of white whole wheat flour. Lately I’ve been including dried sour cherries. And, finally, I don’t sprinkle on any cinnamon/sugar topping, but I do brush the scones with cream before baking.

When my son & his family visited a few weeks ago I decided to give blueberry muffins a try. I found a “guaranteed" blueberry muffin recipe on the King Arthur Flour site. I followed the recipe exactly using the sodium free baking powder and yogurt. I didn’t sprinkle the muffins with sugar nor did I use any salt. I’ve explained before that my experiences using a sodium free baking soda product were not satisfactory, so I use the regular store-bought stuff. These turned out really well and were a big hit with my granddaughters.

Then I tried out an oatmeal muffin recipe that had been posted on the Harvest Forum. You can probably guess that I’m a sucker for oatmeal in baked goods, so I was sure I’d enjoy these muffins. I used brown sugar, plain yogurt, sodium-free baking powder and omitted the salt. I decided to make these with butterscotch chips (I added just a half cup because I figured the butterscotch chips would be really sweet). They came out perfectly. The oatmeal muffin part is not overly sweet. I think it’s a good basic recipe that could be adapted to include all kinds of add-ins.

And to finish off my quick bread baking marathon, I made the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for drop biscuits. I discovered this recipe a while ago and have been making it ever since. It’s easy because it doesn’t require patting out dough and the flavor is really good. I used the sodium free baking powder and Knudsen brand buttermilk because it's the lowest I’ve found in sodium. I also omitted the salt.

The thing that really sets this recipe apart from other drop biscuit recipes is the technique for combining the buttermilk and the butter. “When you stir slightly cooled melted butter into cold buttermilk, the butter will clump. Although this might look like a mistake, it's one of the secrets to this recipe. The clumps of butter are similar to the small bits of cold butter in biscuits prepared according to the traditional method and help guarantee a light and fluffy interior.”

Cook’s offers three flavorful variations – Bacon & Black Pepper, Cheddar & Scallion, and Parmesan & Rosemary. I’ve made the plain and cheddar & scallion versions. This time around I made a Parmesan & black pepper variation using only 1/4 cup of grated Parm. The suggested quantities are listed below:

6 strips bacon , cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Best Drop Biscuits
Makes 12 Biscuits. Published November 1, 2007. From Cook's Illustrated.

If buttermilk isn't available, powdered buttermilk added according to package instructions or clabbered milk can be used instead. To make clabbered milk, mix 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and let stand 10 minutes. A 1/4-cup (#16) portion scoop can be used to portion the batter. To refresh day-old biscuits, heat them in a 300-degree oven for 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup buttermilk (cold)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing biscuits

Instructions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and 8 tablespoons melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.

Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl. Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (biscuits should measure about 2 1/4 inches in diameter and 1 1/4 inches high). Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.

Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving.