Low Carb Diabetic Diet

Although popular, deep frying cooking method is best avoided as it adds too much fat to our food. Other cooking techniques that use less fat, e.g. steaming, are therefore recommended. If you occasionally deep-fry, use very clean oil which has neither been burnt nor contains any previously burnt food.
•    When deep-frying without a coating or batter, e.g. potatoes, dry the food before cooking it.
•    Avoid deep-frying large pieces of food, like chicken, which take too long to cook and absorb a lot of fat.
•    Keep oil at a constant temperature during cooking. Ideally it is around 160-170°C (320-335′F).
•    Avoid cooking too much food at one time. This reduces the temperature of the oil, thus lengthening the cooking time and allowing more fat to soak into the food.

Fried Oyster, Clams or Scallops Recipe

Chicken Fried Round Steak Recipe

Brush vegetables with a little oil and cook on a rack rather than in the tray where they will absorb fat unnecessarily. Carrots, pumpkin and sweet potato can be roasted in their skins but must be well washed first.

Roasted Corn On the Cob Recipe

Roasted Orange, Carrot and Parsnips Recipe

•    Preheat the oven before roasting.
•    Cook your roast on an oven rack.
•    Do not allow juices and oil in the bottom of the pan to burn.
•    Place diced onion and/or one or two cloves of garlic in the roasting pan halfway through the cooking to give flavour to your gravy.
•    Once the roast is cooked, remove it from the oven and leave it to rest before carving (15-45 rains, depending on the size of the roast). This resting time relaxes the meat, which has tensed up during the cooking process, and also redistributes the moisture which the heat has: pushed in towards the centre of the meat.
•    To serve, slice your meat thinly across the grain.
GRAVY Discard the fat from the roasting pan but leave the onion and garlic in it. Place the pan on top of the stove and, over high heat, pour in one cup of liquid (water, or wine and water, a little brandy and water, or orange juice and water) and reduce this liquid by half. Season with pepper and strain into a sauce boat or bowl. For special flavor, add a tablespoon of chopped herbs, e.g. tarragon with chicken, veal or beef, basil with lamb; and parsley with just about anything.

Roast Pork With Fennel Recipe

Roasted Pork Chop Recipe

•    Trim meat of as much fat as possible before cooking.
•    Keep meat in one piece. Ask your butcher to stria it together if it is loose, or do it yourself. Even a chicken is better when the drumsticks and wins are trussed close to the body.
•    Before cooking, brush your roast with a little oil, perhaps mixed with spices and herbs.
•    Do not add salt to meat before roasting; the salt  absorbs juices from the meat, wasting flavor, moisture and nutrients.

Roast Pork With Fennel Recipe

Roasted Pork Chop Recipe

All cooks know the joys of roasting. There is great pleasure in observing the meat change color and become more and more appetising. The aromas are irresistible, and when the roast is carried to the table to be carved, the family is united by a feeling of anticipation. It is important that we preserve this wonderful tradition.

By today’s standards, keeping in mind the recommendations of the Anti-Cancer Council, a beautiful roast is lean, the fat having been trimmed before cooking; the meat is not overcooked and is therefore moist; it has retained its nutritive value and taste and preserved its natural salt content; and the outside of the roast is golden. The serving for an average adult should be about 125 g of meat.

Roast Pork With Fennel Recipe

Roasted Pork Chop Recipe

Pan-frying allows food to be cooked in a minimum of  fat. As mentioned earlier, for best results it is important to use the right size pan, for if you cook a small piece of meat in a large pan, the fat around meat will burn. A few points to remember:
•    Use oil (olive, cold-pressed or other polyunsaturated) rather than margarine or butter
•    Brush the pan with oil rather than pouring it, and you will cut your oil consumption by at least half.
•    Wait till the oil is hot before you start cooking.
•    Never allow the oil to burn.
•    Dry ingredients well before pan-frying, as moisture or juices create steam and lower the temperature the oil.
•    Trim fat from all meat before pan-frying.
•    Avoid pan-frying cuts of meat thicker than 3 cm.

Fried Clams, Oyster or Scallops Recipe

Low Carb Diabetic Diet

VEGETABLES

When stir-frying vegetables only, you may add a little water or stock after a while and the wok can then be covered to finish the cooking.
STIR-FRIED MEAT AND VEGETABLES

In a stir-fried mix, the meat is stir-fried first and then removed. The vegetables are next placed in the wok to stir-fry and, to finish off the dish, the meat is tossed with the vegetables and the seasoning stirred in.

OIL IN STIR-FRYING

It is always good to cut down on total fat intake. In most Asian cookbooks stir-fry recipes recommend using 3-4 tbsp of oil to serve four people. Such quantities of oil bring too many calories and simply too much fat into our Western-style diet. As little as 1-1 1/2 tbsp oil is sufficient to stir-fry food for four people, but remember, you must take care to stir and toss the food constantly.

Pork Chop Sweet-and-Sour Apples and Onions Recipe

Eggplant Parmigiana Recipe

Asians treasure the wok as their favorite cooking utensil. Wok cooking is both fast and economical and, as well as being extremely tasty, stir-fried food is good for us. This is because the wok’s large heating surface seals food rapidly, locking in juices and flavors. In my own kitchen it is a well-used utensil, suitable for stir-frying vegetables and for doing quick meat and vegetable dishes, soups and curry-style dishes. Anything cooked in a wok has a flavor all its own; food tastes more fresh and more natural.

The ingredients cooked in a wok are cut into bite-size pieces or smaller. Before use, the wok must be very clean; heat it before any oil is added. Wok cooking requires high heat and, when stir-frying, the cook must take care to stir the contents of the wok constantly to prevent food from sticking and burning.

Pork Chop Sweet-and-Sour Apples and Onion Recipe

American Fried Potato Recipe

A casserole is always a popular dish and has the added advantage of giving the cook very little last-minute work. While there is no liquid to be thrown down the sink, thus leaving the nutrients in the dish, long cooking can affect heat-sensitive vitamins, so it is best not to overcook a casserole even if it sometimes tastes better with protracted cooking. Ina mixed vegetable and meat casserole, whether you begin by sealing the meat or by frying the vegetables, use as little fat as possible by simply brushing the pan lightly with oil. Cover your casserole and cook it at a low simmer on the stove or in the oven.

Broccoli Onion Casserole Recipe

Seafood and Artichoke Casserole Recipe

The microwave oven functions via electromagnetic wave power, not heat. Most dishes are cooked at high or medium-high power, and the lower power is used for such things as defrosting food and melting butter. Specially designed cookware is available, which assists the microwaves in their action upon the food; and, before being cooked, the dish is generally covered with plastic wrap to protect the food from drying out. Cooking time is usually in proportion to the weight of the food to be microwaved. A medium-size potato may require four minutes on high power, while two medium-size potatoes would take eight minutes, and so on. Cooking times also vary according to the type of food to be cooked. As the microwaves continue their action in the food even after removal from the oven, it is important to allow what is termed a ‘standing time’. Thus the food is removed from the oven slightly undercooked and is left for a standing time of a few minutes before being served. This time varies, depending on the weight the food.

Generally speaking, microwave ovens are best suited to cooking simple dishes, e.g. vegetables or fish, and dishes in which there are not many ingredients mixed together. They cook food quickly, and it is this point that sometimes causes difficulties. Before placing the food in the oven, the cook must calculate how much time an ingredient is going to need. This is not always easy, and overcooking or undercooking is a common problem for the inexperienced cook and for those who fail to consult the instruction booklet. Beginners can seek advice from an experienced demonstrator and can inquire via microwave oven manufacturers. If you intend buying a microwave oven, I would certainly advise taking classes before doing so. I do not own a microwave oven myself as I enjoy taking an active role in cooking and prefer to use a more traditional approach.

Stuffed Flounder Recipe

Hominy Grits, Eggplant and Tomato Casserole Recipe