Cooking Corner - Q & A

A couple of weeks ago I threw out the question "How many of you can't cook?" Surprisingly quite a lot of the answers were that they could cook but wanted to learn new techniques or how to incorporate different ingredients or spice combinations. This was originally in the spirit of creating some cooking videos. Unfortunately I have not made a whole lot of progress in that regard. But in the meantime I thought it might be a cool thing to start a weekly or if it becomes popular daily Cooking thread. Either tips and tricks or in today's case Questions and Answers.

So Let's Hear it, do you have any cooking questions for us all to collaborate on?

I would like to add sauces to my meats to keep them moister and hopefully add more protein. I have used greek yogurt based sauces but have found that you can't really cook the meat in it as it curdles. Any suggestions? Would also be helpful if they could be low in sodium content. Love ,love this idea Keith!

 

 

 

OK, the trick to cooking yogurt or sour cream or heavy cream into your meal is to put it in last and to temper it if necessary. Basically cook your stuff to where it is done, turn it to low heat and let it cool down a bit, put the yogurt in and stir it up, if there are other flavors that have to marry, then blend them with the yogurt separately and let it come to room temperature, same goes for sour cream or cream cheese. Milk and cream you can temper which means to put it in a small sauce pan and heat it up to just before boiling before you add it to your main pot.

This should keep those from curdling.

For other sauce ideas, use low sodium chicken or beef broth (vegetable works too) as the base for your sauce, then you can use xantham gum, almond flour, or coconut flower to thicken it a bit. There are also low car pancake mixes that would work as well. Doesn't do much for protein but it would work much like flour does in making a gravy. Something I haven't tried yet but will in the next week or so is using corn bran to thicken something. It has a stronger flavor than flour but its very powdery like flower so I am thinking it might act more like flower. I just don't know how much it will expand like flour.

Also just letting the natural juice boil down will thicken things. Tomato paste is also a good way to thicken something but they usually have added sugar so be careful how much you use.

Thanks, I really hope this thread continues in future posts.....

I add Greek yogurt to some sauces like Butter Chicken, but the trick is to do it after you turn off the heat

I find my biggest issue with chicken, in particular, is that if it's dry at all I'm lucky to get in 1.5-2 ounces before Fred goes on strike. What I'm finding helps is to include a bit of soft cooked veg in each bite and chew them together. That makes the chicken much easier to get down and I can eat as much as 3 ounces of chicken. A spoonful of applesauce or yogurt on the side of the plate and eaten with the chicken does the same thing.

Thanks Kelly-AnneH....you were the one that originally gave me the idea to use the yogurt based sauces. I have really struggled with eating and it was such a wonderful help.  I hope that more people post on this as I think it could definitely help a lot of people.

You're most welcome.

Have you thought of adding herbs or seasoning blends (like tzaziki) to yogurt and serving yourself some along with he rest of your meal? Dry food is the one thing absolutely guaranteed to come back up for me, so I've become quite creative in making sure my food is moist.

Other moisteners: a few sliced strawberries or 1/4 cup of blueberries, sf fruit ****tail, applesauce, fat free gravy, light sour cream, 1/2 small banana, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, dill pickle spears, sauerkraut, salsa, slightly over cooked veggies...

Just a tablespoon or 2 can make a huge difference to how much protein will go down and stay put.

I have a problem with chicken too. It usually makes me vomit with two exceptions. The first is buffalo chicken dip and the other is a disk my mom makes where she coats each piece in mayo and Parmesan chees. To your point both very moist. 

That's key, isn't it?

I'm limited to chicken, turkey and finny fish when it comes to "meat." Imagine the worst food poisoning you've ever had - that's how I react to beef or pork. (I just don't like shellfish - or sashimi)

So - how to make your Mum's chicken recipe? Can it be done with boneless, skinless chicken breasts? I can't eat enough chicken in a serving to need to worry about the calories in the mayo or cheese as long as I count them.

I will get the recipe from her and post it here and on my blog but yes she uses boneless skinless chicken breasts. That sucks about the beef and pork. I have never had a problem with them. It's so funny how different we all are.