Lannister Reuben Sandwich

'You alarm me!' said the King. 'I feel faint—Give me a ham sandwich!'

-Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There

Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you this is a low-calorie rueben sandwich, but we at least played around with the thousand island recipe to cut down a few calories.  We were so excited to try out the sauerkraut we made back in october, and it didn't disappoint!  All in all, this ended up being a delicious sandwich (despite not being able to find rye bread... stupid snow!)

What you need for the Thousand Island Dressing:

• 3/4 cup Plain, nonfat greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp Ketchup (we used some great gourmet ketchup we purchased at the farmer's market from Further Farms of Nashville)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp minced onion
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp sweet relish
• 1/4 tsp salt

What you need for the Reuben:

• Rye bread (preferably)
• Corned Beef (we cooked this in the slow-cooker)
• Swiss Cheese
• Sauerkraut
• Thousand Island

To make the thousand island dressing, just mix everything together really well.  To get the hard-boiled egg to the right consistency, I would recommend pressing it through a strainer.

The sandwich is just as easy.  Take two slices of bread.  Place corned beef on one slice, and top the corned beef with sauerkraut.  Spread the dressing on the other slice of bread, and then place a piece of swiss cheese over the sauce.  

Toast the sandwich in a sandwich press (or on the stove) and voila!  Delicious sandwich!  One of these days, Stoney and I will make a post on making sauerkraut.  We jarred over a gallon of it 2 weeks ago, documenting our methods.  This kraut was just a spur-of-the-moment decision and we didn't even measure how much salt or pickling spice we used.  Verdict?  Tasty.  

Tower of Joy: Black-eyed Pea Masala and Curry Cornbread

The New Year is upon us!  And what better way to celebrate than with black-eyed peas and cornbread, in traditional southern style (minus collards)?  To put a fun spin on both, we opted to flavor them with curry.  I mostly got the idea for that because we rang in the new year eating at a wonderful restaurant (Chauhan Ale & Masala) that specializes in blending together Indian cuisine and traditional southern fare.

What you need for the Black-eyed Peas:

• 2 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas (be sure to soak them and then retain the water)
• 2 tbsp curry powder 
• 3 tbsp garam masala
• 3 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 3 serrano chiles, deseeded and diced
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/3 cup ghee
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 fat free plain greek yogurt
• 2/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 4 1/2 cups water

 What you need for the Cornbread:

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup corn (I heated up frozen corn for this)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 tbsp yogurt
• 1 dried red chile pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1 tsp ground corriander
• 2 tsp garam masala

Black-eyed Pea Masala

Heat the ghee in a skillet over medium heat, and then add the serranos, onion, and garlic.  Sauté the mixture for approximately 5 minutes.  

Transfer the mixture to a large pot, and then stir in the curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, and cumin.  Once the spices are thoroughly mixed in, add the tomatoes.  Let cook for 2-3 minutes, and then pour in 4 cups of water.  Use the retained water (we only had 3 cups of saved water, so we added in 1 cup of tap water, as well.  Stir in the black-eyed peas.  

Bring everything to a boil, so that it looks like a bubbling cauldron of deliciousness.

Bubble, bubble, toil & trouble!

Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the yogurt and cilantro.  Serve garnished with yogurt and cilantro.

Curry Cornbread

Blend the corn, chile, sugar and salt in a food processor (or the vitamix!).  Next, mix together the flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.  Add in the ghee and the yogurt and knead the mixture until it is blended.  Mix in the corn mixture, and then add water until you have a soft, sticky dough.  We used approximately 1/2 cup.

Grease a 6-cup muffin tin, make the cornbread into balls, and put a ball in each cup.  

Bake at 375 degrees fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

Bread & Salt: Savory Mushroom Bread Pudding

The mushroom, of course!

Alice in Wonderland

I am a huge fan of bread pudding.  One of my favorite things to make and eat is leek bread pudding, which is full of cheese and cream and other delicious diet-killers.  So, I decided to try a lower calorie bread pudding for Stoney and I.  Rather than cream, I used 2% milk.  Rather than a pound of Gruyere, I used 5oz. of goat cheese.  And I loaded the whole thing up with mushrooms and other veggies (including leeks, because as I said, leek bread pudding!  nom!).  The result was a fantastically delicious bread pudding that actually fit in with a lower-calorie lifestyle.  Plus, it had the added bonus of feeling like we were cheating by eating it!

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cup 2% milk
• ~ 1/3 lb Cremini Mushrooms, chopped
• ~ 1/3 lb White Button Mushrooms, chopped
• ~ 1/5 lb Shiitake Mushrooms, chopped
• 1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and sliced
• 5 oz. goat cheese crumbles
• 1 loaf of Sourdough bread
• 4 eggs
• 1 Leek, white and light green part finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tsp Herbes de Provence
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp garlic

The prep-time for this is pretty short.  I got the whole thing prepped during my lunch hour.  Start by heating your oil in a large skillet over medium heat.   Toss in your leek, chopped mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste, and saute until the mushrooms have begun to soften and brown and the leeks are soft and becoming transparent.  This whole process doesn't take very long.  Maybe 10 minutes.  Next, add in your roasted red peppers and parsley, cooking for a few minutes more, just enough to get everything stirred together and looking fantastic.

Next, cut your bread into chunks around 1" each.

They don't need to be perfect, as you can see

Sprinkle a little goat cheese in the bottom of an 8 x 11 baking dish, add a layer of bread, and then add a layer of mushroom mix.  Repeat.  Sprinkle the last of your goat cheese on the top.

At this point, you can stick the baking dish in the refrigerator overnight or for the day.  This lets the bread really soak up some of the great flavors in the mushroom mixture.

When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350.  Whisk together the milk, eggs, garlic, and Herbes de Provence, then pour the mixture evenly over the bread.  Put the baking dish back in the oven for 15 minutes or so, and then bake for 45 minutes.

Let everything sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.