Low-carb support thread 2016 Part 2

We have just started eating our own cauliflowers from the garden. They are a heritage variety and quite loosely formed so I have been using much more of the stem and leaves. Delicious flavour and texture. We have a lot of cauliflower gratin, saff or parmesan mash and spicy florets done in a pan with a splash of water. We did Ottolenghi's whole roast the other day and that was lovely too.
It is the village May day walk and picnic tomorrow and I am making the pear and almond brownies. OH is making a fougasse as they like his bread!

Cauliflower is a great low carb veg and I have become addicted to it in all its forms, roasted with spices, mashed and riced. Watching Masterchef contestants in a London restaurant kitchen last week what where they preparing but cauliflower roasted, plus thin slivers of purple cauliflower and cauliflower "couscous". Cauliflower is now posh grub! Simple food at premium prices no doubt!

The recipes I looked at had sugar in them.

I keep looking at it merlot but haven't yet tried it.

I don't have time to look back through the thread but has anyone tried cloud bread? The recipe looks similar to a cheese soufflé (albeit a sunken one!)

I thought it might be nice to try it with a burger.

Children are surprising with seafood - DGD declined salmon but ate a large bowl of moules mariniere!

?

I drop my GSs at school most days and they stay over on Thursday nights. Discussing this weeks dinner and suggested fish stew as they both love seafood of all sorts. The 6-year old read the recipe I was looking at and suggested 'I think this would be better if you added some calamari.

What's more, he's right!

I have been trying a few of the Tom Kerridge recipes from his Dopamine diet book. We had Shepherds pie this evening. Absolutely wonderful. A bit fiddly to make but well worth it. We had the leg of lamb with spices last week. DH is really won over.

I recently made these Beetroot & Feta burgers for my vegetarian sister, using chickpea flour instead of plain, and only two tbsp not three. Very tasty particularly with the tang of the feta & mint.

Beetroot burgers

The beetroot was raw and ready-spiralised, I just chopped it up a bit more.

Beetroot

Ah that explains it. Lots of artistic blooms as garnish.
We once went on a foray here to pick edible wild shoots and flowers, then back to a French country cottage to cook and eat them. It was great fun but apart from elderflower fritters we were not sure that it was worth the effort. ?

It was a wildflower paddock. So quite nice really. ????

Paddock and sapphire. Yum. ???
We had a fab Easter meal. We had been given a haunch of venison and we marinated it in oil and herbs and cooked it on the barbecue. It was so tender and tasty, never tasted anything like it before. We had it with our first cauliflower from the garden which we roasted whole and followed it with chocolate mousse (30gm very dark chocolate, one egg and dollop of cream each).
Tonight we have venison shepherd's (deerherd's) pie.

And sapphire too! Hope you didn't break your teeth

Haddock ( paddock indeed!)

And this evening, just for a change, by request, we had, smoked paddock, two poached eggs and buttery sapphire. Lovely. ?

YesAnya we have that often!!!
We are having a Tom Kerridge tonight. Gammon with cabbage and frankfurter. It is very easy and I am shattered having dug nearly all the garden. We have to dig in the compost tomorrow. Oh happy day!

Well it was pretty leisurely Anya. ? I was with my French friends from the U3A and we chatted all the way round. My worst mistake was not taking a hay fever tablet. ?
We had more of our butcher's delicious sausages last night with the first courgette dauphinoise of the season.

Impressed with the exercise Mamie especially in that heat.

BB if your DH loves smoked haddock have you tried the Hairy Dieters Smoked Haddock with Spinach recipe. My DH loves it. We cook the 'Serves 4' version and scoff the lot BUT my variation has cheese. I add a bit to the basic recipe and grate the rest on top after I add the eggs, so it's al bubbling away nicely.

Very easy, tasty and surprisingly filling.

Thanks Tricia have some horseradish in the garden now and stocked up in Waitrose at half-term.
Kedgeree was nice. Not as good as rice but perfectly acceptable alternative. I put mushrooms in Anya, I know it isn't conventional but I fry them in butter with the spices and onions. ?
Bouillabaisse is brave BB. ? We do a Rick Stein gurnard with bouillabaisse sauce. Gurnard is ridiculously cheap here.
I agree about veal Lazigirl. The butchers here all sell it "sous maman" and it is completely different from the tasteless white stuff. We marinade the chops in oil and herbs and barbecue them.
Enjoy your meal everyone. I am off to leap round the keep fit class having done a 10km charity walk yesterday in 26°. ?

ps my previous post was to Mamie.

Horseradish is easy to grow - husband dug some up this pm.
You can buy a root online, bury it, and after a couple of years it's gone mad.
I also got a root from a local greengrocer. In France. I could post you some if you like.

It's interesting re reflux and indigestion. I used to suffer a lot, but since low carbing am hardly ever troubled. Re the veal, I prefer to eat meat from animals that have at least had a happy life, ie free range, but think it's a pity most bull calves are culled at birth which is wasteful, as they could be reared for veal - but most people in this country won't eat it because of the association with animal cruelty and transportation in crates to EU.

Mary Berry did a sort of cauliflower cheese with smoked haddock. She used potato as well, but I left that out. DH will do anything for smoked haddock so it suited us both very well. Just come in after having spent all day gardening ( moving a soil heap) Going to make boulliabaise (? ) for dinner tonight,