Friday, December 6, 2013

calling in a sub

I just finished the last bowl of the chili I made the other day.  Let it be known I LO-O-O-O-OVE chili on chilly days.  :-)  When I went low-carb I made it much less often, because chili without beans is NOT the chili I grew up loving.  It CAN be made with frozen green beans (frozen, because they're not already overcooked and they're cut a convenient length), but it doesn't look quite right and hangs off your spoon....  A lot of other vegetables are either too starchy or sugary, or don't fulfill the bulk requirement.

This happens a lot when converting favorite old foods to low-carb.  How do you make clam chowder, or vichyssoise, or other dishes which traditionally carry a lot of potato- or rice-bulk, if you can't handle what your body does with all that starch?  Hot soups and stews are winter comfort foods!  It's just not SATISFYING to come in from the snow and chow down on broiled fish and buttered greens -- at least, not to me....

The paleo world is full of recipes using cauliflower or turnips in place of potatoes, and from a low-carb standpoint, they work all right.  As a hypothyroid, I DON'T want to be eating these things every day, even though some of their deleterious qualities are reduced through cooking.  Furthermore, the gas would keep me awake at night (mostly second-hand).  Thank you, i'll save cauliflower for holiday mash and J's wonderful casserole, and turnips (which I find too strong in most recipes) as the topping for shepherd's pie.  For years I sought in vain for potato-replacers, and I've settled on two that I really like. 

Jerusalem artichoke (aka sunchoke) will be no surprise to those who saw my harvest* photo.  Their flavor is mild and artichokey. and their texture very potato-like.  It's true that the first time I tried the stuff, I tasted some raw and had some flatulence issues, but the experience hasn't recurred, as I always cook it now. 

Celery root is a favorite!  So many soups and stews really "sing" when celery stalk is added -- celeriac has a double benefit because it adds celery flavor and potato texture.  The big problem with IT is the expense and difficulty in finding it in groceries.  Only a few places in St. Louis can be relied upon to carry it consistently:  the chance of finding it in, say, Hutchinson, KS (hi, M!) is microscopic.  (Hell, our "borrowed daughter" in San Diego couldn't find sunchoke -- we ended up sending some to start her garden with.)  Next year, we plan to try cultivating celeriac ourselves.

So how did I solve the chili dilemma?  Well, my sunchoke harvest included about a pint of large-pea-sized tubers.  The first year, I would have left them in the ground for future growth, but now that the bed is well-established, I don't think that's necessary any longer.  I washed them off, let them dry, and stored them in the basement fridge along with a bigger bag of respectable-sized chunks.  After the onion was sautéed in red palm oil, the ground beef added and browned, the tomatoes and spices cooked down a bit, (about an hour before I was ready to serve) I poured in that pint of  'chokes and let them simmer till tender.

YES.  The chili had the flavor and texture it was supposed to have.  The skins of the 'chokes kept them from mooshing, just like bean-skins do. 

Of course, if you're not growing your own, you won't end up with the pea-sized bits I had.  However, cutting larger ones to size will work just fine, and if you don't reheat several times (like I do), they shouldn't overcook.

How about my "Gentle Readers" -- do you have favorite potato-replacers I haven't mentioned?

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* dammit, I plant tomatoes and squash and rhubarb and not much happens.  the only things that I can produce in decent quantity are jalapeños and sunchokes!

30 comments:

  1. I make cream of celery soup that tastes just like potato soup to me. (Celery being celery stalk, not root.)

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  2. that sounds good! is the recipe on your site?

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  3. No, it's from a red gingham cookbook ca. 1980.

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  4. This is great news. I've been yearning for a comfort soup (yesterday it was minus 30 degrees F here) and now I'll just look into this celery soup thing. I had to go out for a walk to the store yesterday to buy some de-icer because my block heater cord was not accessible due to the cap on the end freezing. Couldn't plug my car in because of it. Yes I want sympathy. I'll be moving to a better climate soon hopefully.

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    1. brrrrr! I like it chilly, but -30 is too extreme for me! :-)

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    2. I use coconut milk instead of dairy. Don't know if that makes a difference.

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  5. Chilly without beans would not work for me. Beans, if bought dry and soaked may not be strictly paleo, but they are not that bad. The carbs are slow digesting. Just no other carbs at the same time, and not chilly as a meal but as a side dish. We humans have not done everything bad since the stone age. Even a few potatoes (<150 grams) when our glycogen is low is not that bad for non-diabetics. (< 30 gms carb) I have no idea where horfilmania is at, but it is -30C here in Northern Alberta with a stiff wind.

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    1. just trying to minimize my carbs by subbing out the beans, since my chili already has onions and quite a few tomatoes. tonight I had SOME potatoes -- I made clapshot (potato and turnip mash) to go with our haggis. :-)

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    2. FredT I'm in Edmonton so having the same weather as you are :P

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  6. Just as an aside - I have a friend who made the world championships of chili last year and I was interested to learn that competition chili never has beans. It's only meat (usually cubed pork or tri tip) and sauce. Who knew?

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    1. :-) yes, there are lots of chili variations, and many DON'T have beans. I remember from my long-ago childhood a restaurant in KC that specialized in chili -- Fritz's, maybe? -- that offered it "with" AND "without"....

      I've tried a few variations, but it's my own personal chili I like best, and it needs ... something by way of a filler. :-) so far, the sunchokes come closest!

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  7. Hi Tess,

    Yes with us too "Celery root is a favorite! So many soups and stews really "sing" when celery stalk is added -- celeriac has a double benefit because it adds celery flavor and potato texture. The big problem with IT is the expense and difficulty in finding it in groceries."

    We use celeriac quite frequently and it is more expensive then many other vegetables. At one time it was quite difficult to buy but slowly our supermarkets here in the UK are stocking it more and more. Of course that doesn't help you in the US and beyond.

    In the summer we had the opportunity of meeting up with Low Carb Dietitian Franziska Spritzler - she also talked about celeriac and the difficulty she had obtaining it. It is one of the good low carb foods, maybe if more people asked for it supplies might improve?

    Another good low carb vegetable we like is Swede, Turnip is similar but we prefer Swede. I think in the US it's from the Rutabaga family. Again a very versatile and tasty low carb vegetable. You can mash it make chips with it - I've not made a soup with it have any of your readers? If they have can they pass on a recipe idea please .........

    All the best Jan

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    1. probably a mistake on my part, but I tend to lump turnips and swedes/rutabagas together; my tastebuds don't notice a very big difference. surely, recipes for the one should work for the other? I see more recipes of all sorts that use these vegetables in old-fashioned cookbooks and "ethnic" ones. Scottish maybe, or eastern European?

      I hope you and Franziska are right about the availability (and price) of celeriac! :-D

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  8. I remember reading on the blog "Lowcarb confidential" a stew recipe when Daikon radish was used as a potato substitute. I think, parsnip root should be close to the celeriac root in taste and nutritionally, and it is sold in every store in my area. I am not a big fan of chili , so ,probably, I will not be able do distinguish between the right one and not.
    I would add to a ground beef and tomatoes in chili sauteed onion,mushrooms, carrots, parsnip, red bell pepper after several pulses in a chopper. I would also cook in a Foreman grill sliced 1 inch thick eggplant, then remove skin, chop it and add to the chili for a thicker, more viscous texture. Crashed pork skins are a good thickener.

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    1. I LOVE parsnips, but I've never even tried daikon -- I need to check them out! yes, eggplant also sounds like a great idea!

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    2. I still have some doubts about daikon - I suspect there should be a sharpness in a taste which could be covered well by other chili spices. It is also from the same botanical family of crucifers as a cabbage, turnips, horseradish and a mustard.
      I think parsnip is from a different plant family. Tess, I remember I saw some LC canned beans, I remember how the can looked like, I will check it when come to the store next time.

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    3. LC beans? interesting .... thanks!

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    4. There are also green caned boiled peanuts with 8 grams of carbs in a 1/2 cup.

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    5. Here are caned Eden Foods Organic Black Soy Beans - 8 grams of carbs in a 1/2 cup (http://www.iherb.com/Eden-Foods-Organic-Black-Soy-Beans-15-oz-425-g/13705?utm_medium=cse&utm_source=google&gclid=CMPrqe7XqLsCFWRk7AodXkcAAg&gclsrc=aw.ds)

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    6. thanks, Galina -- I appreciate you looking into this! :-)

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    7. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/products/p/blacksoybeans.htm

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  9. Have used Daikon Radish in beef stew...not bad, almost the texture of potato and milder than regular radish...quite like parsnip I think...

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    1. yep, definitely need to try the daikon!

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    2. Daikon tastes too good to throw in a soup pot! Serve it with some kimchi, seaweed and bulgogi and you'll have wonderful Korean meal.

      You can have all the turnips, parsnips and rutabegas--I don't think they taste anything like daikon.

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    3. Kimchi could backfire a big deal for a person with allergies who also has to avoid cabbage. Unfortunately, a lot of great food is problematic for other reasons than being too high in carbs. Not for everyone, of course.

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    4. yes, my histamine sensitivity means I have to be careful with fermented things. but I will try daikon plain as well as cooked!

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  10. I can give my cream of spinach soup recipe. Saute carrots, parsnip roots, onions, put it into a broth of you choice, add a pack or two of frozen chopped spinach, let it come to a boil, use a stick blander on it when cools down a little bit. Cut kielbasa in small cubes, add to the pureed soup. Serve it with chopped hard-boiled eggs, chopped green onion and a sour-cream.
    Horfilmania most probably will recognize a variation of a sorrel soup in my recipe.

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  11. Rutabaga is my potato substitute go to. Love it my curried chicken:)

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    1. rutabaga in curry -- now that sounds like a great idea! :-D

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