Sweet Potato Gratin

This recipe comes from the ABC's The Chew


The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 2 Sweet Potatoes
• 1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese (plus some extra to sprinkle on top)
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Jalapeno - Minced
• Pepper - To Taste
• 1 Garlic Cloves - Minced
• 1/3 Cup Scallions -  Chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cut sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch slices.
3. Bring heavy cream to a simmer.  Add scallions, garlic, jalapeno, and 1/3 cup parmesan.
4. Add a layer of potatoes to a pan.  Pour some of the cream mixture over the potatoes.  Continue layering until all the potatoes and cream have been used.
5. Top potatoes with a bit of extra parmesan.
6. Cover pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Uncover for the last 10 minutes.

Thoughts About The Dish:

We liked this dish, but not enough to make it an all-the-time feature of our menu. We will be making it again, but it will probably be a little while. When we do make it again, we will probably keep most or all of the jalapeno seeds in the mixture, and/or add another jalapeno. As it was, the cream and sweetness of the sweet potato over shadowed any taste of spiciness in the dish.

The other thing  worth noting here is that if you, like us, are big fans of au gratin potatoes, it will pay to keep in mind that this is a dish from sweet potatoes (that's why it's paleo!), and sweet potatoes have a very different flavor than normal potatoes - they are MUCH sweeter, so this dish will have a lot of different flavors than your typical gratin. It is still tasty, but it's different than you may initially expect when you think of a gratin.

Creamy Chicken Scampi

This recipe comes from the Peace, Love and Low Carb Blog

The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken Breast - Cut into tenders sized pieces
• 2 Tbs. garlic - Minced
• 3 Tbs. Butter - Divided
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese - Grated
• 6 oz. Mixed Bell Peppers - Sliced (I used a bag of frozen sliced bell peppers)
• 1 Onion - Diced
• 1 tsp.  Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes 
• Pepper - To Taste

Directions:

1.  In a large saute pan, over medium-high heat, pan-sear chicken in 2 Tbs. butter.  Sear on both sides until a nice golden brown - 3-4 minutes each side.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  (Chicken will not be fully cooked at this stage.)
2. Using the same pan, reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 Tbs. butter, and  sliced onion.  Saute onions until transparent, about 3-4 minutes.  
3. Add the garlic and brown with the onions. About 1-2 minutes.  Be careful not to burn the garlic as it will turn very bitter.
4. De-glaze the pan with chicken stock.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape off and mix in any stuck on pieces of chicken and garlic.  Add Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low to simmer.  Let simmer 2-3 minutes.
5. Add heavy cream and allow to simmer 5-10 minutes to allow sauce to begin thickening.  Mix in Parmesan cheese and pepper to taste.
6. Mix peppers into sauce and add chicken back to the pan.  Finish cooking chicken in the sauce on low.  Let simmer for 10 minutes.

Thoughts About The Dish:

After making this dish several times, it is a clear favorite.  Substituting the heavy cream with milk is still tasty but a bit disappointing by comparison.  The dish works great as an entree with a side of vegetables.  It also works well over top of spaghetti squash however the flavor is less intense this way.

Chicken Bacon Crock Pot Chowder

This recipe comes from the Peace, Love and Low Carb Blog

The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 12 oz. Turkey Bacon (1 package)
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Cups Chicken Stock - Divided
• 3 Tbs. Butter - Divided
• 4 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Ribs Celery
• 1/2 Large Onion
• 1 tsp. Parsley
• 1 tsp. Pepper
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp. Thyme

Directions:

1. Turn crock pot on low setting
2. Chop all of your veggies.  Add the veggies, 2 Tbs. butter, 1 cup of chicken stock, pepper to the crock pot, cover and allow the vegetables to sweat for about an hour
3. Chop up your bacon and cook it until it is nice and crispy - Set aside
4. At the same time, pan sear your chicken breasts in the remaining 1 Tbs of butter until they are a nice caramel brown color on both sides (They will not be fully cooked at this stage)
5. Remove the chicken from pan.  Cut into cubes.  De-glaze the chicken pan with the remaining 1 cup of chicken stock. 
6. Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, cream cheese and seasonings to the crock pot.  Stir until well combined.  
7. Add the chicken and the bacon to the crock pot.  Cover and let cook for 6-8 hours. 

Thoughts About The Dish:

This was tasty and good, with a cheesy flavor that combined with the bacon to almost seem reminiscent of a cheese steak sandwich. That said, it could have gotten by with half the bacon and would probably have been tastier with 2 or 3 times as much pepper.

There are two directions you could take with modifying this dish:

• Keeping the same flavor: Without changing things too much, you might enjoy adding more celery and/or onion (as both break down very well in the crock pot). Other options for additions include peas (not for the whole cooking time), diced tomatoes (not for the whole cooking time), and possibly green peppers. If you're a mushroom fan, they would go great here too!
• Embrace the Mexican: This dish would lend itself well to developing into a Mexican flavor by adding green peppers, jalapenos, diced tomatoes (not for the whole cooking time), green chiles (not for the whole time), and Mexican spices (perhaps cumin).