REC: white chowder

With the onset of cold weather, I found myself missing corn chowder. But a
dish that's mostly corn, potatoes, and flour-thickened milk didn't seem
very LC-friendly, so I made this substitute. (I gave it the unimaginative
name of "white chowder," since most of the ingredients are white.)

I don't have an exact carb count, but it's low. The onions are the
carbiest thing in it; you can leave them out if you're at an extremely low
carb level. My 2-hour PP BG after a bowl of this (and 40 minutes on the
treadmill) was a whoppingly low 69 (so I got to have a piece of chocolate
too!)

White Chowder
-------------
1 small white turnip (about the size of an apple)
2 T cream
1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 cup diced onion
2 T butter
1/2 pound extra-firm tofu
2 cups LC milk (Hood Carb Countdown Dairy Beverage)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 T Thickening Goop (see recipe below)
salt & pepper to taste

Peel and dice the turnip into 1/4-inch cubes; place in small microwavable
bowl. Pour 2 T cream over turnip; add enough water to just barely cover.
Let turnip soak (the cream helps get rid of the turnipy sharpness).

Cut the cauliflower into small pieces (about the size of grapes). Steam
until tender (about 5-7 minutes in the microwave).

When cauliflower is done, microwave the turnip (in water & cream) on high
for 5 minutes to soften.

While cauliflower and turnip are cooking:
Melt butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Saute onions until soft.
Pour in some of the LC milk and add the Thickening Goop; whisk until
blended. Add the remainder of the milk and cream, whisk to blend. If not
thick enough after a few minutes, whisk in a little more Goop; if too
thick, add a little more LC milk. (Note: if you don't want to bother with
the Goop, you could use straight xanthan gum or ThickenThin Not/Starch to
thicken it.)

Drain tofu and dice into 1/4-inch cubes. Add to milk/cream mixture in pan.
Stir in cauliflower and turnip. Simmer on low, covered, for 15-30 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste. And maybe a little more butter on top.

This made 3 sort of small but very thick, rich, satisfying servings. It
was really very good. (Next time I'll double the recipe to get more
leftovers -- I wasn't sure how it was going to end up tasting, so I didn't
want to waste ingredients.)


Thickening Goop
---------------
This was something I made by accident a while ago, but found it so useful
that now I try to keep some on hand in the fridge all the time:

In a small saucepan over low/med heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.
Rapidly whisk in 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum until it dissolves (maybe 15
seconds).
Slowly add 1/2 cup heavy cream, whisking constantly.
In a short time, the mixture will get very thick (about the consistency of
sour cream).
(If it's too thick at this point, I whisk in some water until it's
sour-cream consistency.)

Use a spoonful or so to thicken stuff like sauces, gravies, chili, chowder,
shakes, etc. (I think you can use it anywhere you might use xanthan gum
alone; I find it much easier to blend in in this form -- no lumps.) It's
great for making cheese sauces.

This goop can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge -- I'm not
sure how long it lasts; I toss it if there's any left after about ten days.

(This first time I did this, the accidental time, I used waaaay too much
xanthan gum, and the stuff pretty much exploded when I added the cream.
Not a violent explosion; more like a big POOF as it suddenly quadrupled in
volume and spilled out of the pan all over the stove.)

Em

emkay wrote:

With the onset of cold weather, I found myself missing corn chowder. But a
dish that's mostly corn, potatoes, and flour-thickened milk didn't seem
very LC-friendly, so I made this substitute. (I gave it the unimaginative
name of "white chowder," since most of the ingredients are white.)

I don't have an exact carb count, but it's low. The onions are the
carbiest thing in it; you can leave them out if you're at an extremely low
carb level. My 2-hour PP BG after a bowl of this (and 40 minutes on the
treadmill) was a whoppingly low 69 (so I got to have a piece of chocolate
too!)

White Chowder
-------------
1 small white turnip (about the size of an apple)
2 T cream
1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 cup diced onion
2 T butter
1/2 pound extra-firm tofu
2 cups LC milk (Hood Carb Countdown Dairy Beverage)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 T Thickening Goop (see recipe below)
salt & pepper to taste

Peel and dice the turnip into 1/4-inch cubes; place in small microwavable
bowl. Pour 2 T cream over turnip; add enough water to just barely cover.
Let turnip soak (the cream helps get rid of the turnipy sharpness).

Cut the cauliflower into small pieces (about the size of grapes). Steam
until tender (about 5-7 minutes in the microwave).

When cauliflower is done, microwave the turnip (in water & cream) on high
for 5 minutes to soften.

While cauliflower and turnip are cooking:
Melt butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Saute onions until soft.
Pour in some of the LC milk and add the Thickening Goop; whisk until
blended. Add the remainder of the milk and cream, whisk to blend. If not
thick enough after a few minutes, whisk in a little more Goop; if too
thick, add a little more LC milk. (Note: if you don't want to bother with
the Goop, you could use straight xanthan gum or ThickenThin Not/Starch to
thicken it.)

Drain tofu and dice into 1/4-inch cubes. Add to milk/cream mixture in pan.
Stir in cauliflower and turnip. Simmer on low, covered, for 15-30 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste. And maybe a little more butter on top.

This made 3 sort of small but very thick, rich, satisfying servings. It
was really very good. (Next time I'll double the recipe to get more
leftovers -- I wasn't sure how it was going to end up tasting, so I didn't
want to waste ingredients.)

Thickening Goop
---------------
This was something I made by accident a while ago, but found it so useful
that now I try to keep some on hand in the fridge all the time:

In a small saucepan over low/med heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.
Rapidly whisk in 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum until it dissolves (maybe 15
seconds).
Slowly add 1/2 cup heavy cream, whisking constantly.
In a short time, the mixture will get very thick (about the consistency of
sour cream).
(If it's too thick at this point, I whisk in some water until it's
sour-cream consistency.)

Use a spoonful or so to thicken stuff like sauces, gravies, chili, chowder,
shakes, etc. (I think you can use it anywhere you might use xanthan gum
alone; I find it much easier to blend in in this form -- no lumps.) It's
great for making cheese sauces.

This goop can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge -- I'm not
sure how long it lasts; I toss it if there's any left after about ten days.

(This first time I did this, the accidental time, I used waaaay too much
xanthan gum, and the stuff pretty much exploded when I added the cream.
Not a violent explosion; more like a big POOF as it suddenly quadrupled in
volume and spilled out of the pan all over the stove.)

Em

Sounds good! Will try it this weekend. Thanks for sharing.

Myway

This reminds me that I made myself some fish chowder last week. I didn't
measure everything, but basically I fried two strips of bacon in a large
saucepan, removed the bacon to dry on a paper towel, then gently sauteed
about 1/2 cup of diced onion in the bacon fat until the onions were
transparent but not brown.

I added a cup or so of water, then a pound of fresh haddock. Put on the
lid and poached for 15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes. Then, used a fork to
gently flake the fish into large pieces. Added a cup of cream (I used
part half-and-half, part heavy cream) and stir gently. Heat just until
warmed up (don't boil or the cream will get icky). Season to taste with
salt and pepper. Ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with dillweed and crumbled
bacon.

So good on a cold winter day! And I didn't miss the potatoes at all
because I used a lot of fish.

- Anne

"Myway"
Sounds good! Will try it this weekend. Thanks for sharing.

For THIS I scrolled down the entire post with my arm in a cast.

Trim or top post! Sheesh.

Ruth CM

RPM1 wrote:

"Myway"
Sounds good! Will try it this weekend. Thanks for sharing.

For THIS I scrolled down the entire post with my arm in a cast.

Trim or top post! Sheesh.

Ruth CM

whiner...arm in a cast? then don't read replys.

emkay wrote:

[chowder part snipped]

Thickening Goop
---------------
This was something I made by accident a while ago, but found it so useful
that now I try to keep some on hand in the fridge all the time:

In a small saucepan over low/med heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.
Rapidly whisk in 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum until it dissolves (maybe 15
seconds).
Slowly add 1/2 cup heavy cream, whisking constantly.
In a short time, the mixture will get very thick (about the consistency of
sour cream).
(If it's too thick at this point, I whisk in some water until it's
sour-cream consistency.)

Use a spoonful or so to thicken stuff like sauces, gravies, chili, chowder,
shakes, etc. (I think you can use it anywhere you might use xanthan gum
alone; I find it much easier to blend in in this form -- no lumps.) It's
great for making cheese sauces.

This goop can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge -- I'm not
sure how long it lasts; I toss it if there's any left after about ten days.

(This first time I did this, the accidental time, I used waaaay too much
xanthan gum, and the stuff pretty much exploded when I added the cream.
Not a violent explosion; more like a big POOF as it suddenly quadrupled in
volume and spilled out of the pan all over the stove.)

Em

Wow! This thickening goop (nice name!) looks very useful.
Thanks, Em!
--
Jean B.

Anne wrote:

This reminds me that I made myself some fish chowder last week. I didn't
measure everything, but basically I fried two strips of bacon in a large
saucepan, removed the bacon to dry on a paper towel, then gently sauteed
about 1/2 cup of diced onion in the bacon fat until the onions were
transparent but not brown.

I added a cup or so of water, then a pound of fresh haddock. Put on the
lid and poached for 15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes. Then, used a fork to
gently flake the fish into large pieces. Added a cup of cream (I used
part half-and-half, part heavy cream) and stir gently. Heat just until
warmed up (don't boil or the cream will get icky). Season to taste with
salt and pepper. Ladle into a bowl and sprinkle with dillweed and crumbled
bacon.

So good on a cold winter day! And I didn't miss the potatoes at all
because I used a lot of fish.

- Anne

I keep thinking I want to try something like this--or a potatoless
clam chowder. In fact, I still have a lot of cream to use up, so
maybe I will do it soon. I also am thinking of trying cold tart
cherry soup, but that depends on the number of cans of cherries
per recipe. If it is one, then 1/3 of a can = 11 g carbs (and I
don't think I'd eat 1/3 of the recipe at a time). Also, I am
trying to increase my carbs some, and I REALLY want fruit!!!!!
--
Jean B.

Steve wrote:

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 7:57:20 -0500, Myway wrote
(in message ):

RPM1 wrote:

"Myway"
Sounds good! Will try it this weekend. Thanks for sharing.

For THIS I scrolled down the entire post with my arm in a cast.

Trim or top post! Sheesh.

Ruth CM

whiner...arm in a cast? then don't read replys.



Most computers have a "Page End" or "End" key which will allow you to
jump to the end of the post with a single keystroke.

it's also possible to scroll using the space key instead of the mouse
(or at least it should be in any decent news reader), which doesn't even
require you to move your arm.

"Myway"
then don't read replies.

Certainly not your full quoted, bottom post "me too" posts
that's for sure. Good advice. Thanks!

Ruth CM

RPM1 wrote:

"Myway"
then don't read replies.

Certainly not your full quoted, bottom post "me too" posts
that's for sure. Good advice. Thanks!

Ruth CM

Looks like somebody did't have a nappy time today!