Taking A Break

Just popping in to say a quick 'See ya later!'

Life in lovely Cork is busy at the moment. I'm studying part-time for a Postgraduate Diploma, so along with my work commitments there simply aren't the hours in the day that I'd like to dedicate to this blog. In the meantime, if you come across any interesting recipes, useful tips or new products be sure to let me know in the comments. See you on the flip side!

Beautiful Cork At Sunset

Lunch At Uncle Pete's, Paul Street

This is one of the best salads in Cork. I challenge you to find a better one. Uncle Pete's is kind of a hidden gem of Cork, they do some incredible pizzas and pasta, but they also do amazing salads. When I worked in the city centre, I was in there at least a couple of times a week.

This Warm Chicken Salad With Bacon is just delightful. Generous pieces of chicken fillet in their own coating, tasty pieces of bacon, tomato, red onion, fresh lettuce leaves and a huge amount of paremesan shavings covered with a delicous fresh, caesar dressing.

I'll be honest, when I'm feeling naughty or taking a break from being a carb-conscious individual- Uncle Pete's Pizzas* are one of my top choices, but you know what? Ordering their salads for delivery is pretty awesome, if you can't be arsed to cook. Low carb food for delivery is a pretty rare thing here.

The food is tasty, the staff are friendly and helpful. Follow them on Facebook or order from Just Eat.

*My jam is a margherita pizza with pepperoni, onions and Italian sausage.

Sunday Lunch Feat. Steak & Kohlrabi

Sunday lunch yesterday was a delicious fillet steak from Tom Durcan's in The English Market. I served this delicious piece of beef with baked kohlrabi chips (fries) and three types of purée; carrot & cumin, pea & mint and kohlrabi.

Accidental purée tri-colour

For the perfect tasty morsel of meat, read my blog on how to cook the perfect steak.

Kohlrabi is a fantastic new find of mine, which can be picked up at the Quay CoOp. It's like a turnip, but not as strong tasting. It's a starchy vegetable which is ideal for roasting, but at only 6g of carbohydrates per 100g (compared to potato's 17g!) it's a fantastic alternative.

For The Kohlrabi Chips:

1. Cube the kohlrabi and par-boil in salted water until knife-soft. This should take about 15 minutes.

2. Cover with rapeseed oil and sprinkle over a little salt and pepper.

4. Roast in a pre-heated oven at 180C/355F for 30 minutes, turning occasionally, until crispy on the outside.

For The Kohlrabi Purée:

1. Cube the kohlrabi and par-boil in salted water until knife-soft. This should take about 15 minutes.

2. Blend in a food processor with salt, pepper and a generous knob of butter.

Pro-Tip: Par boil all your kohlrabi and separate into chips and mash to make your Sunday dinner appear extra-posh!

For The Carrot Purée:

1. Slice fresh carrots and par-boil in salted water until knife-soft. This should take about 10 minutes.

2. Blend in a food processor with salt, pepper and a teaspoon of cumin.

For The Pea Purée:

1. Boil fresh peas in salted water until soft. This should take about 15 minutes. (Tinned ones will do in a pinch, but make sure to choose the low-sugar version.)

2. Blend in a food processor with salt, pepper and a handful of chopped fresh mint.

Serve it all up and bask in the admiring glances of your Sunday Dinner Guests!

Man, I don't think I've ever typed the word purée so often.

Lunch At O'Briens, Wilton

I found myself on the go for most of today, so had to grab a quick lunch in Wilton Shopping Centre. Honestly, it's not a great place for low-carb options; the restaurants offer lots of sandwiches/ bagels/ chips/ lasagnes etc. I decided to try my luck at O'Briens, near the Tesco entrance.

I opted for the turkey club salad and I was pretty happy when it arrived. There was a good amount of bacon and cheese on the plate (vital fats for keeping hunger at bay!), though the turkey was processed and a little rubbery. While it wasn't the most amazing salad I have ever had, it did the job and kept me going for the rest of the day. Worth trying the next time you find yourself starving in Wilton!

Fillet Steak

I just had to share this mouth-watering snap of last night's fillet steak, fresh from Tom Durcan's stall in The English Market.

These beauties were blotted with kitchen paper and sprinked with sea salt to help dry the meat out.

Preheat the oven to 90C/195F. Then heat your frying pan to smoking point- I use a heavy cast iron pan which means I don't need to add any oil.

Once the pan is super hot, each steak gets 2 minutes on either side. Don't move it around in the pan, just let it sit where you've placed it.

Then I popped the steaks into the oven and pushed the needle of my indespensible meat thermometer to the centre of the thickest steak. I like mine to be pink through, so aim for a centre temperature of 54C/130F. S likes some red in the centre of his, so we'll usually take his out at 51C/124F.

I know this all sounds a bit mental, but just a couple of degrees can make such a difference!

Let your steak sit for a minute or two before cutting into it. You shouldn't get any blood running out if you dry the meat beforehand and use this cooking method.

Did you know you can order Tom Durcan's meats for delivery to anywhere in Ireland and the UK? Visit their site for more details, you can also follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

Dinner At CoqBull

Last night I had dinner with my family at Coqbull on French Church Street in the city centre. It's a great place for low carbers to eat because you can easily order without seeming awkward or fussy and the food is really great.

I ordered the half rotisserie chicken, with a caesar salad instead of chips and a side of coleslaw. The meat was really juicy, the skin was crispy and the coleslaw was really tasty.

They also have the option of ordering a burger without the bun (no pics, sorry!), which comes wrapped in a giant lettuce leaf and with a tasty burger sauce. They also ask how you like your burger cooked, which is how it should be.

There is a great list of salads on their menu, I'll have to pop in there for lunch some day and report back.

You can visit their website here, follow them on Facebook here and on Twitter here.

Lunch At Perry Street Market Cafe

I recently had lunch at Perry Street Market Cafe and really enjoyed it. The salads on their menu board all seemed to have potato or some other carbohydrate so I just asked for a mixed plate of meat and salads and the staff were happy to oblige. I got chicken breast and a choice of three salads and everything was delicious and very fresh.

My only complaint would be that the plate was HUGE and there was far too much food- I ended up leaving almost half the salads after me. Including a drink, this lunch was a little on the pricy side at about €12 so it really was a shame to have to leave so much behind.

You can see their TripAdvisor reviews here and follow them on Facebook here.

Lunch At O'Flynns Gourmet Sausages

The other day I wandered over to Winthrop Street on my lunch break and decided to check out O'Flynns. I've bought their tasty sausages a few times in the English Market- the Cumberland, Pork & Leek and Honey & Mustard are particular favourites of mine, while S prefers the more exotic Bratwurst and South African Boerewors.

The restaurant is well known for their sausage rolls with lovely crusty bread, but I wanted to see what they could offer a low carber. For €8 I got a footlong Pork and Leek Sausage, fried onions, salad and dollop of relish- it was pretty tasty and easily hit the lunchtime hunger spot. I'll definitely be back.

You can visit their website here and follow them on Facebook here.

Coffee In Cork: Sugarcube

As you may remember from my previous Coffee In Cork post, I appreciate being able to call into a restaurant or coffee shop and easily order a cappuccino with soya milk.

One place that I've consistently ordered a great coffee is Sugarcube at the Grand Parade/ South Mall board walk. The soya milk is heated to the right temperature and the bubbles are nice and tight.

Sugarcube cappuccino with soya milk & dash of cocoa powder stirred in

Unlike my disastrous experiences at a certain coffee shop chain, this has been easy and reliable to order.

Sugarcube's glass walls make it a great place to sit and people watch and I'd highly recommend trying their coffee. They have some great low carb lunch pots on the menu too, featuring chicken and feta salads. I haven't made it there for lunch yet but hope to soon and will report back. 

Have you tried their lunch pots? What did you think?

Lunch At Italee

I recently got a great recommendation from my brother. As a footballer, he's always on the lookout for a healthy, low carb lunch. I don't often venture down to the Parnell Place end of Oliver Plunkett Street, but now I know what I've been missing!

Italee is a gorgeous restaurant with great coffee and a good selection of low-carb lunches. I had the mozzarella, parma and pesto plate and damn was it good! Everything was fresh and flavourful and I'll definitely be back.

(excuse the terrible phone pic)

Coffee In Cork: O'Conaill's

As easy as it is to control your diet when you cook for yourself, it can be hard to make good choices when out and about. One of the problems I've encountered is getting a good cup of coffee with soya milk.

When I started in a new job last Spring, I started going to a chain coffee store just around the corner from the office to pick up my morning coffee. However, within a week I was fed up.
Of the five days I went in, I was told three times that they were out of soya milk and ended up leaving with an Americano- something I'm not overly fond of. Three days out of five?! Either there's a problem with their stock ordering and upkeep or they just don't really care.

The third time this happened, I looked at the menu on the wall to make sure they were really advertising that they had soya milk and realised they were charging 50c more for the pleasure. Well now I was seriously unimpressed.

O'Conaill's cappuccino with dark chocolate

Remembering that I used to frequent the nearby, independent O'Conaill's for great hot chocolate as a teenager, I decided to pop my head in and see what their coffee and soya milk situation was.

There was no problem when I asked for soya milk and they even have the option of a sprinkle of their own dark chocolate on top of your coffee to make it extra delicious. And in a rare twist, it's exactly the same price as a cappuccino with regular cow's milk; €2.80.

The Slow Laura Burger

Friday evening and the eternal question- what to have for dinner? After a busy, busy week I was certainly not in the mood for anything boring or blaaaaaah. I wanted flavour, sensations, craziness!

These amazing burgers are a version of the Slow Larry as cooked by The Rivestaurant.

Constraints on my time and availablity of some of the ingredients at short notice meant that the following recipe is an approximation of the culinary genius you can watch at the link above. 

The original recipe calls for a mixture of beef and pork mince, but unfortunately I could only get beef. I've made gorgeous meatballs with a mixture of beef and pork several times, so I'd imagine the burgers would be awesome. But these turned out pretty darned tasty nonetheless. Next time though, I will certainly be trying it his way.

Recipe for the Slow Larry, done my way: The Slow Laura. 

Makes 4 giant burgers.

Ingredients 

800g Minced Beef

250g Streaky Bacon

1/2 Block of Cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 a white onion, finely diced

1 Medium Egg

1 Tablespoon Paprika

1 Tablespoon Barbeque sauce - I used the Jack Daniels Smokey sauce

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

Salt & Black Pepper

Jalapeño Slices- I used these Discovery ones 

Method

1. Fry off the streaky bacon in a little bit of oil. I use steamed coconut oil from Biona, which is odourless and flavourless. Once lightly cooked, take off the heat and finely chop.

2. In a bowl, combine the minced beef, bacon, diced onion, egg, paprika, barbeque sauce and garlic powder. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix these ingredients well, using your hands if you don't mind that.

3. Now for the cheese filling. Put the grated cheese in a bowl.

4. The jalapeño bit: The Rivestaurant roasted their jalapeño before mashing it, but in Tesco at 7:30 Friday night there wasn't a fresh jalapeño to be found. 

I had a jar of Discovery jalapeño slices at home, so in a pinch these would have to do. De-seed and mash about two tablespoons worth of flesh and add these to the cheese. Though this tasted great, next time I'm going to try to roast it.

5. Mix the cheese and jalapeño well, don't be afraid to sqeeze it and get it all mushed up. Just don't then touch your eyes without washing first.

6. Next I took the full bowl of minced beef, and divided the mixture into half, then half again so I had four equal-sized balls of meat.

7. On a clean work surface or cutting board, slap down one of the balls of meat. Press down on it and even it out so it's in a very large circular patty. Make the patty double the size you would make a burger.

8. In the centre of the patty place a small handful of the cheese and jalapeño mixture. It might be a good idea to divide the cheese mixture into four pieces before you begin stuffing burgers, so you end up with an even spread.

9. Carefully curl up the edges of the patty around the cheese mixture, covering it completely. Make sure there are no gaps for the cheese to seep out of. You can see exactly how The Rivestaurant do it here.

10. Once all your burgers are formed, place under the grill for about 15 minutes in total. I turned them once during cooking and they didn't break open but be fairly careful with them.

11. Serve! 

The Rivestaurant have a couple more recipes for sides to go with this dish, but at that time on a Friday I wasn't getting into all that. We had ours with a giant pile of mixed greens and a couple of sauces I knocked together.

12. Bonus Step: Dips

To make your dips, put three tablespoons of mayonnaise in three bowls. 

Into one I added a teaspoon of French's mustard, into another I added a teaspoon of Encona West Indian Hot Sauce, and into the third I added Mexican tinga paste, which contains chipotle chilli flakes. This gives you a great range of flavours to choose from with every bite.

Chicken Breast On The Bone With Crispy Skin

When did we all start eating boneless chicken fillets? Was it a product of the 'good times'?

Our lives were so busy and important that buying clean-looking, equal-sized, pink chicken portions just became habit. But what were we missing out on? Moisture. Crispy Skin. Flavour.

While they're undeniably useful for certain types of meals, boneless fillets can also be horribly dry and ridiculously over-priced. Most of the time I'll use chicken on the bone, with skin on.
You can pick up five giant portions for just €7 at O'Sullivan's Poultry in The English Market (near the fountain). These chicken pieces have a wing attached, so if you like the dark meat as well as the breast meat you'll love this. The oil and spices make the skin crispy and delicious, and placing just a small knob of butter under the skin keeps the meat incredibly tender.

just look at that juicy meat under the crispy skin! Mmmmm....

Just one of these will do me when having it with cauliflower mash & veg, though S likes to have two with a smaller amount of veg- you can adjust according to your own particular low-carb cravings.

Ingredients
1-2 chicken breasts per person (on the bone, with skin, and with a wing attached- if possible)
Olive oil
Schwartz Chicken Seasoning (paprika, onion, cayenne & parsley)
Butter (real, not the processed crap)
Salt & black pepper

Cooking Time
About 40 Minutes at 180C/360F

Method
1. Lay the chicken breasts out on a baking tray (deep-fill, if possible), with the skin side up.

2. Working from the bottom to the top part of the breast, use your finger or a knife to gently pull the skin out and create a space between it and the flesh.

3. Push a dice-sized cube of butter in between the skin and the flesh, and pull the skin back down around the breast. Placing the butter under the skin will make the chicken lovely and moist.

4. Using a pastry brush (or your fingers) brush the outside of the skin with a little olive oil.
You'll need about a teaspoon per portion, but I'm mad about this Filippo Berio olive oil spray- one pump per portion is all you need.

5. Sprinkle over with a pinch of salt, some black pepper (I like lots of pepper) and about a teaspoon of Schwarz chicken seasoning per breast.
If you can't get your hands on this type of seasoning, follow this link to see the basic ingredients & easily make up your own version.

5a. Massage the spices into the skin. They'll look something like this:

you can see the knobs of butter just under the skin on each breast

6. Pour a small amount (about 20ml) of cold water into the bottom of the baking tray. This will help to keep the chicken moist, and make life easier for you when you come to make the gravy.

6a.  No need to cover the meat, just pop the tray into a pre-heated oven at 180C/360F degrees for about 40 minutes or until the juices run clear. The skin will be dark, and slightly crispy.

If you have a meat thermometer you can stick the probe into the thickest part of the largest breast and then forget about it until it beeps. This is my favourite way to cook. Make sure to do a spot-check on the other breasts too though- salmonella is a nasty illness.

Side Note: A poorly defrosted chicken curry led to salmonella the day before I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2005. Six hours on a train and a day in the middle of Phoenix Park at the height of summer probably wasn't the best cure but there was no way I was missing the concert!

7. Once you've taken the meat out of the roasting tray, you can add a little hot water (~100ml) to the juices at the bottom of the tray to make a gravy. Whisk for a couple of minutes over a medium heat until blended.
If your oven tray isn't suitable to sit directly on the hob, scrape the juices into a small saucepan then add the water.

8. If you need to thicken the gravy, add a small amount of low carb-friendly Xanthan Gum while whisking. I'll usually start with a 1/2 teaspoon to begin with, and add more as/if needed.

Serve with Cauliflower Mash and your favourite veggies.

Low Carb Megastore

As fantastic a city as Cork is for foodies, sometimes it can be hard to find a particular low-carb product or alternative, and sometimes you just don't want to wander around the town in the rain.
lowcarbmegastore.com is a great UK site which delivers to Ireland, with charges starting from about €15.

Their sugar-free maple syrup is a particular favourite of mine and goes well with crepes. It's naturally sweetened with chicory root, and you only need to use a small amount to get your sweettooth fix.

I've had this bottle since August and still have loads left, so it is fantastic value. While you're there check out their range of sugar-free sweets and lollipops and other low-carb products. 

If you're eating low-carb to lose weight some of the products won't be suitable as they'll tip you over your 20g per day limit, but if you're just interested in cutting back on your carb intake there are some good alternatives on this site.

Welcome To Low Carb Cork

This blog is a collection of recipes and tips I've collected over the course of my transition to a low-carbohydrate diet.

People typically think of a low-carb diet as consisting mainly of unhealthy, samey fried meats day in, day out. This blog shows the many varied, delicious and healthy meals you can put together while avoiding unnecessary sugars. And some of those fried meats too.

Some of these recipes have come from friends and family, some I've picked up from TV, books, other blogs. Some are just experiments I've come up with over the course of switching to a low-carb diet. A little bit of trial and error later, what is posted here is the end result. I'll also try to include local recommendations for other ketoers in the Cork area.

A lot of the information and ideas come from S, who is at this stage a low-carb expert and my keto spirit guide.

What is a low-carb diet?

Carbohydrates in the form of sugars and starches come from foods like potatoes, grains, (most) fruits, pasta, rice, breads, sugary drinks and cereal. A typical diet will burn carbohydrates for energy and convert the left-over carbs into stored body fat.

Eating low-carb food removes sugar and starch from the diet, and forces the body into a state called 'ketosis'. In ketosis the body will instead burn fat for energy (including stored body fat). Ketosis is a much more efficient metabolic process and more in line with the diets of our ancestors than typical modern diets.

Typically, a low-carb diet for weight loss should contain less than 20g of carbohydrates per day. This does not include dietary fibre, which is passed through the body. If you're at a healthy weight but want to cut back on your carb intake, the recommended level is about 50g per day.

Even if you are not trying to lose weight, eating meals made up of low carbohydrate ingredients can help health issues from asthma and arthritis to PCOS and diabetes. If you are interested in finding out more, the keto thread on reddit is a great source of information.

Once you start to take notice, you will be shocked at how many every-day foods contain sugar.

Beautiful West Cork

What can I eat?

You can eat as much as you want of dark green leafy vegetables, small amounts of high-water content veg such as peppers and cucumber, red meats, white meats, fish, offal, eggs, seeds & nuts, full-fat dairy (including cream and cheese, but no milk) or anything else you can find rich in nutrition, fat, protein and fibre.

Stay away from any 'diet' or 'low-fat' products- these contain man made chemical compounds which often consist of sugars.

If you like a drink, stick to spirits with tonic water or sugar-free mixers. Dry red wines like syrah or cabernet sauvignon are also a great option, with about 2-3g of carbs per glass.


Any Tips?

If you want to undertake a low-carb diet in order to lose weight, get some Ketostix (aka urinalysis strips). You can use these to test if you’re ‘in ketosis’ or not.

As long as you are in ketosis you will be burning your fat stores. If you fall out of ketosis, you'll have to go back into it again which means going through sugar withdrawl all over again.

It's very important to keep hydrated on a low-carb diet, so drink as much water as you can. Drinking a large glass as soon as you wake up will kick-start your system and boost your energy levels.

A Food Thermometer makes cooking steak, ham, roasts and chicken so much easier. It allows you to cook just about anything with little knowledge. Just stick it in the oven and wait for the beep.

Stevia is a natural sugar substitute plant extract. It looks and tastes like sugar and can be used in baking or added to tea and coffee.

Take some supplements. Green Tea Extract will increase the rate of weight loss and boost energy and Psyllium Husk is great fibre supplement to keep you regular and prevent diarrhea.


Disclaimer

And hey, I'm not a dietitian so don't be looking for detailed nutritional information. If you're trying to lose weight make sure to do your carb math based on the ingredients you use. I'm just posting recipes that I love, and that keep me on the dark end of the keto strip.

All oven temperatures are in degrees celsius, unless otherwise stated.