21-Day Keto Diet: Day 15

My mood today just feels very off. It's felt this way for a while.  Little things at work or home have been bugging me more than usual.  I got my normal amount of sleep last night, per FitBit, but I just feel so.... blech.  Enough to get me Googling "keto bad mood".   Most keto-positive articles blame any *bad* symptoms on eating a "dirty keto" diet--ie not getting enough nutrients because you're eating too much processed meat and bad fats like bacon, burgers, deli meat, etc.  

And admittedly, we have had some processed meat in our diet, like the brats from last night--but I think overall, we've made a big effort to cook things from scratch, and incorporate a lot of nutrient-dense veggies (cabbage, green/red lettuce, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc.), and use a lot of healthy fats as well (olive & coconut oil, avocados, etc.).  

Breakfast: Last of the Taco Breakfast Muffins with picante sauce, coffee with cream and half a Splenda

Lunch: Keto Salad Bowl from Chipotle (I forgot to take a pic. Pretend I took this one.)

Afternoon Snack:  I wondered if my crappy mood could be related to feeling deprived or needing a little pick me up, so I finally busted into my dark chocolate stash.  I'm pretty proud that I haven't felt the need to have any of this since starting.  Askinosie is our local chocolatier, and everything they make is amazing, including this 72% dark chocolate bar. (Note: When not on keto, this coconut bar is my favorite.)

There's nutrition info on the back, and the bar easily portions into 18 squares, so I just did the math.

Dinner:  I found some spoonbill my dad gave us in the freezer, so we thawed that. (It's similar to swordfish--more "steaky" than flaky".)  

Easy to prep: Heated a cast iron pan with some olive oil.  Then dried the fish off well, rolled the pieces in egg wash, and then tossed them in a mixture of coconut flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and a pinch of cayenne.  The coconut flour has a texture similar to cornmeal, so it worked really well as a breading.  

Then brown on each side.  Served up with some green beans, leftover homemade thousand island dressing from St. Pat's, and a side salad with olive oil dressing.  YUM.

Totals: 1667 kcal, 122g fat, 23g net carbs, 90g protein

Thoughts:  We both made it to the gym today, which is nice.  And per the gym scale, I'm down 5 lbs since starting 2 weeks ago, which is also nice. The Hubs is down 6.5 lbs.  Both still lacking in motivation and feel like sitting like a blob on the couch for the rest of the evening, though.

Bacon-Wrapped Crappie (Sac-a-Lait) & Honey Grilled Peaches

So...they tell me it's spring?  Right now, I believe it---but that snow/sleet combo last weekend makes me question our weatherman.  But you know what spring means...the crappie are biting!  I grew up crappie fishing with my parents (if I'd grown up in Louisiana, we'd call it "sac-a-lait" fishing, but I didn't).  Spent nearly every warm weekend on the water...and I have ALL the embarrassing photos to prove it.

Proof that I too was once a sassy teen with no sense of style.

I am a 37 year old woman...whose mom still brings me food.  Does anyone else have a mom like mine? I mean, I'm not complaining.  I love it.  My parents love to fish and keep their (and our) freezer stocked.  A couple months ago, my mom called and said "I found some 'Cajun Style Bacon' on sale for $1.99 a pack. Do you want some?"

Of course, I said yes.  And she brought me like 4 packages of it.

The Hubs doesn't like it as much because it's a little sweet and too smoky for his tastes, but I like it because it's thick cut, not too fatty and very flavorful.  

So in a perfect homage to my awesome parents, I decided to use both the bacon and some crappie they caught to make bacon-wrapped sac-a-lait.  To accompany, since we were firing up the grill anyway (and we had some gorgeous Georgia peaches in the house), we made grilled peaches too. 

INGREDIENTS: (makes 4 servings)

8 crappie filets, lightly dusted with Cajun Seasoning

4 strips of bacon, cut in half to make 8 pieces

8 toothpicks

2 ripe peaches, halved & pitted

coconut oil spray

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
To prep the fish, dry off the filets before seasoning, and then roll up the filet & bacon long-ways so they look like little fishy roses. Secure with toothpicks.

Place on the grill over medium heat (low flame, or away from the flame) and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the flesh of the fish is cooked through and bacon is crisped at edges.

On the top rack of the grill, place the halved peaches flesh-side down (after spraying lightly with coconut oil so they don't stick to the grill).  These don't need to cook so much as just heat through (and try to get those pretty char marks).

Combine the honey, butter, and cinnamon in a small prep bowl.  When the peaches are done, lightly brush them with the honey-butter mixture.

Serve while warm. Enjoy!

NutriFacts: (per serving-2 filets & one peach half)

• Calories209.8
• Total Fat8.2 g
• Saturated Fat2.6 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat0.6 g
• Monounsaturated Fat2.6 g
• Cholesterol15.2 mg
• Sodium202.4 mg
• Potassium100.6 mg
• Total Carbohydrate7.4 g
• Dietary Fiber1.3 g
• Sugars5.5 g
• Protein24.7 g

Restaurant Review: Le Bayou (French Quarter)

Say you’re in the Quarter, looking for a good meal for under $20 a plate.  You want a variety of choices with plenty of local flair. You want atmosphere, ambience, & perhaps a pint of something local.

Say you’re also on Bourbon Street near Canal.  You hear the raucous noise of 50 circuses, all ongoing at the same time, the sidewalk barkers trying to coersce everyone and anyone into their doors.  You hesitate—do I REALLY want to venture down that path?  Of course you do.  Because you need to get to Le Bayou Restaurant.

 

It’s just a couple blocks off Canal Street, at 208 Bourbon.  Is this fine dining?  No.  For that you’d have to go across the street to the famous Galatoire’s or GW Fins.  (Both of which are AMAZING, FYI.)  But you’d also have to shell out $20-35 per entree.  At Le Bayou, you can get a nice variety of local fare in the $10-20 dollar range.

The restaurant is set up a bit like your favorite sports bar; plenty of small tables, a few TVs broadcasting whatever game is on, and plenty of local kitsch on the walls and ceiling.  But it feels comfortable and homey, and you know they won’t judge you for wearing jeans (and perhaps a couple beads around your neck).  The service staff is top-notch—cheery, jovial, full of stories (true or not) and helpful advice for navigating the menu.  Our server Doc gave us his “60-second dissertation” discussing the ‘biggest sellers’ vs. his personal faves.  We decided to go with his recommendations; I got the shrimp & grits, & my husband ordered the Blackened Redfish.  We also sampled a variety of regional brews & settled on Tin Roof’s Brown Ale to accompany our meals.

Neither of us were disappointed.  The redfish came with crab-boiled vegetables (carrots, zucchini, onions, and ever-so-amazing new potatoes) and the fish was grilled/seasoned to perfection.  The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the grits…well…I usually am not a huge fan of grits (I know, I know, my Yankee is shining through—it’s a texture thing. I don’t like Cream of Wheat either), but these were fantastic.  Very creamy and flavorful and not gritty at all.  The grits were portioned in a stack between oh-so-delicious fried green tomatoes…it really is a heavenly & beautiful dish.  SUPER rich though—I couldn’t finish it.  I’d recommend boxing half of it to savor the next day or sharing with a friend.

The meal is served with soft, fresh French bread and delicious unsalted butter.  As every good meal should be.

As we enjoyed our meal, we chatted with relative ease—the clamor and barrage of music from the rest of Bourbon Street is partially filtered out by some miracle of acoustics and muted to a respectful level where one can sit back & watch the passersby, or completely tune them out, at his or her own discretion.

Food is served with what Doc referred to as a “Level 2” amount of spice (aka relatively mild) which can be dialed up or down based on the diner’s preference.

They also have a raw oyster bar (and offer some really tasty chargrilled options for those who prefer their mollusks cooked) and about seven different regional beers on tap, from brewers like Abita, Covington, Tin Roof, Lazy Magnolia, and NOLA.

(Fishy) Friday Facts: Louisiana Commercial Fisheries.

I was going to discuss the oil industry in Louisiana, but I figured, hey, this is a food blog—let’s talk about something we can actually EAT!  And when I think Louisiana, I think SEAFOOD.  Beautiful, fresh, delicious seafood.

Crawfish, oysters, shrimp, crabs, alligator, freshwater fish, saltwater fish… Louisiana is known officially as “The Sportsman’s Paradise” with a wide array of recreational hunting & fishing opportunities (I like to think the motto of the average Cajun is “you kill it, I’ll cook it”), but it’s also home to a LOT of commercial fisheries.  So here’s an assortment of facts about commercial fishing in Louisiana:

• One out of every 70 jobs in Louisiana can be attributed either directly or indirectly to commercial fisheries. The Gulf of Mexico produces more shrimp and oysters than any other area in the US; in 2010, Louisiana shrimpers harvested for 74.1 million pounds of  shrimp, second only to Texas and their much longer coast. 
  
• Earnings from commercial fisheries amount to approximately $385 million.
  
• In Louisiana, there are approximately 350 permitted and inspected wholesale seafood processors/distributors.
  
• Commercial catches in the Gulf represent approximately 25% of the total U.S. domestic commercial fishing revenue.
  
• The Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries (LDWF) manages approximately 1.7 million acres of public state water bottoms for the purposes of oyster fishing and issues private leases for harvesting oysters; in 2006, private leases accounted for 392,118 acres of water bottoms with over eight thousand active leases.

(Taken while working.  We were doing an oyster assessment to evaluate quantity & size of oysters per square meter…usually we have to dive in order to do this---thus the wet suit—but my coworker got really lucky this day.)

• Louisiana is one of the national leaders in oyster production, averaging over 12.8 million pounds of oyster harvests, worth approximately $35-50 million in annual revenue.
  
• In 2010, nearly 110.9 million pounds of crawfish were raised, with a total value of more than $168.5 million. 

(…it takes a lot of time (and beer) to train your crawfish to conga…)

• Blue claw crab production runs on an average of 50 million pounds annually, along with about 100,000 pounds of soft shell crabs. (Mmmm, BBQ soft shells…)
  
• As if having an estimated 1.5 million wild alligators roaming the bayous wasn’t enough, approximately 500,000 of the giant reptiles are raised on alligator farms each year.  Louisiana alligator hunters harvest over 30,000 wild alligators annually and farmers harvest over 280,000 farm-raised alligators annually. Raw meat and hide values are estimated at over $10 million for the wild harvest and over $33 million for the farm harvest in 2005.

(Taken while working in Louisiana…I think I should have gotten hazard pay.)

• Common sport fish in Louisiana offshore waters include blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, red snapper, mangrove, cobia (also called lemonfish or ling), blue marlin, mahi mahi, amberjack, and shark.

LING! (Caught by my former boss for the 2007 Tibby Faulk Tournament…definitely not by me.)

• While fishing in Louisiana, you may be privy to absolutely beautiful scenery.

Wednesday Word/Phrase of the Day: comme ça.

This is another phrase that I picked up in Louisiana & it has stuck...I use it in conversation with non-Louisianians & get a raised eyebrow & a quizzical look, like I was momentarily possessed by a demon. In Louisiana, where peeps can recognize simply by every other word in a sentence that I am not a native, a slightly proud sparkle glimmers for a moment in the corner of their eye, as they realize their infectious way of life has ensnared the heart & tongue of an outsider.

To be fair, I was familiar with the phrase "comme ça" (come sa) before I moved to Louisiana, as I had 4 years of French classes under my belt. But I was familiar with it in the following usage:

"Comme si, comme ça", meaning "so-so", as a response to someone asking "How are you today" (Comment allez-vous aujourdhui?) While there are MANY correct responses to that question, "Comme si, comme ça" was the one I used most frequently. I mean, as a stressed-out college student with a 12-hour course load and 2-3 part time jobs at any time (during my senior year, I was delivering pizzas, bartending at a pool hall, and working as a photographer for the campus newspaper), it was either that or "Je suis fatigué" (I'm sure you can figure that one out.)

But I think it was my friend/coworker Dre who first introduced me to the more Cajun usage of the phrase back in '06. Dre was a draftsman & we were discussing a set of maps:

Dre: *draws on the map* So you want it comme ça?
Me: I want it what?

Cajuns typically have a bad rap for butchering the French language, but surprisingly, in this instance the Cajun usage is actually more accurate than the "so-so" translation I was familiar with.

The literal translation of "comme si, çomme ça" means "like this, like that". Cajuns use "comme ça" for "like this" or "like so". Some still use the "like" in front of it, indicating that it represents just "so", or they'll say "like ça". Just depends on the mouth that's saying it.

And since I so RARELY get to use any of the French I spent 4 years learning (because I've never been to Canada and our most frequent immigrants are coming from the South, not the north), I latched onto comme ça almost instantaneously. It wasn't a conscious effort--I just heard it SO often around our office that it just wormed it's way into my vocabulary.

Uses in sentences (complete with Louisiana pics, of course):

As a measurement: "I caught me a decent gaspergou*...it was like comme ça..."

(freshwater drum, also referred to as a "croaker" because of the grunting noise it makes when caught)

Or as instruction: "You see, you gotta peel the crawfish comme ça..."

Oven "Fried" Fish, Macque Choux, and Creole Vinaigrette.

Okay, big entry! With not one, but THREE recipes. This meal was inspired by one of my favorite things: Missouri sweet corn:



Fresh corn was 4/$1 at the supermarket last week, so I got a HUGE craving for macque choux.

So, if you didn't grow up in Louisiana, you might be asking, "WTF is macque choux and why would I want to make it?"

Essentially, it translates as "smothered corn", or some refer to it as "cajun-style stewed corn". Imagine...the best creamed corn you could ever have. It's also one of my absolute favorite cajun dishes. Buttery, spicy, and creamy...and gawdawful for you, like most truly delicious things.

Thankfully, we have our good friend Chef Jude Theriot to the rescue!


If you ever stumble across this cookbook, I suggest snatching it up. It's 288 pages of pretty-doggone delicious stuff, and a staple in my cooking repertoire.

So, how do we get from a book, to THIS?


Well, since it takes the longest, we start with the macque choux. For 4 servings, you'll need the following:

4 ears of corn
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter (or, if you have it, bacon grease. I highly recommend the bacon grease; you'll get a ton of added flavor with the same amount of calories/fat)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato, seeded & chopped
2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup skim milk

First: enlist your sweet husband to help with the chopping, including scraping the kernels off the corn. Be sure to get as much of the corn off as possible, including the liquidy "milk", as this will help with the creaminess of the dish.


Heat a large skillet over medium heat; add the olive oil & heat so that the pain gets well coated. Add butter (or bacon grease), onions, bell pepper, and garlic; saute until the onions are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the corn & cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add in the tomatoes, cajun seasoning, pepper, and milk:

PREEETTTTYYYYyyyy...

Then reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer, stirring often until the corn is tender, about 10-15 minutes.

CORN = SMOTHERED.


-----

So--while that's cooking down, we move on to our fish. The recipe calls for four 6oz pieces of catfish, but any whitefish you have around the house will work fine--we used about eight crappie (which Louisianians refer to as sac-au-lait) filets.

You'll need a wet mix & a dry mix for your fish--but first, heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Wet ingredients:
1 egg white, beaten
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tsp hot sauce

Dry ingredients:
1/4 cup corn meal (um...yeah, I totally didn't have corn meal in the house, so I improvised with a box of cornbread mix...it worked okay.)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp flour (if you use the cornbread mix, you can bypass this ingredient)
2 tbsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp dried basil

Combine the ingredients in separate bowls, like so:


Wash the fish filets well, then pat dry; then place into the wet ingredient bowl. Move filets over into the dry bowl & coat well, shaking off excess before you move them onto a baking sheet. If you have a pan with a wire rack, you can use that, or, you can lightly spray a cookie sheet with Pam & use that. Lightly spray the tops of the filets with the cooking spray (butter flavored works best), then place in the oven for 12-14 minutes, or until the fish flakes when touched with a knife:


So while your fish & corn are finishing up, howsabout whipping up a quick creole vinaigrette dressing? (NOTE: this recipe comes from the 1971 Time Life cookbook I talked about in the last blog post.) Super quick & easy. You'll need the following:


This makes about 1/2 cup of dressing (about 8 servings):
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Creole mustard (NOTE: I used Tabasco Spicy Brown mustard; Dijon mustard would also work just fine)
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
6-8 tbsp olive oil
Salt (to taste)

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl & stir to combine. Then whisk in olive oil slowly until no more oil is absorbed by the emulsion. Taste, & add salt if desired.


Serve over mixed green salad.

So what's the damage here?

Macque Choux
Calories: 125 (35 from fat)
Fat: 4g
Protein: 3g
Carbs: 23g
Cholesterol: 3mg
Fiber: 1.7g
Sodium: 115mg

Fish (per serving)
Calories: 388 (72 from fat)
Fat: 8g
Protein: 41.9g
Carbs: 32.6g
Cholesterol: 101mg
Fiber: 0.9g
Sodium: 952mg

Dressing (per serving):
Calories: 73.2
Total Fat: 8.1 g
Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 6.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 122.4 mg
Potassium: 9.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 0.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.1 g
Sugars: 0.2 g
Protein: 0.0 g

----

So, this was my first time trying all these recipes. Our verdict? The macque choux was to-die for. Already planning to make that again for Thanksgiving this year. The dressing was nice too--different, but in a good way. The bitter, spicy kick really went well with the salad. The fish we were kinda "meh" about--possibly because we used the cornbread mix. It just ended up being kind of sweet. If I had it to do over again, I think I'd make this pan-fried catfish dish from a previous entry instead, to tie into the flavor of the mustard in the salad dressing.

So, enjoy folks! Happy Eating!

Pan-Seared Fish & Boiled Veggie Medley: A creole-cajun hybrid fish dish.

Hello all! It's been a while! How've you been? Hectic as always here. But not too hectic for me to share my most recent creation with you. And by recent, I mean I just ate devoured it about half an hour ago.

This was inspired by an amazing dish I had at the famous Commander's Palace in New Orleans. Now, as you may or may not know, there are two primary "camps" of cooking here in Louisiana: Cajun, and Creole. Creole is typically associated with the city, specifically New Orleans, a more "classic" style of cooking, historically eaten by the upper class. Cajun is more akin to what the average "country" Louisianian might eat. For the math or word play buffs out there:

Cajun : Creole, as Ruth's Chris : your favorite local hole-in-the-wall diner

or even

Boeuf Bourguignon : Chicken Fried Steak

It's ALL good as far as taste goes, it's just stylistically different.

However...hybrids happen. Particularly when you're like me and have lived all over the state, and as an "outsider", have no loyalties to either camp.

So...that's how we have this: Feauxcajun's Fresh Catch Fish & Veggie Melange:


So, here's the breakdown & what's what about this dish:
Creole: classic plating, sauce separate from primary dish, creole mustard sauce
Cajun: "Boiled*" vegetable medley, cajun seasoning, freshly caught bayou Channel Catfish

(* I never experienced a traditional Louisiana seafood boil (you Northerners, think "backyard BBQ" only with a big pot of spicy water & seafood) until I moved into Cajun Country, so "boils" will always be "Cajun" to me.)

Shopping List:
- 1 tbsp Liquid crab boil
- 6 baby carrots, halved
- 1 rib celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 6 cloves garlic, whole
- ½ mirliton (or chayote), cubed
- 6 mushrooms, quartered
- ½ cup fresh corn kernels
- 4 new potatoes, quartered
- 4 fresh fish filets (catfish, drum, redfish, flounder, or bass is recommended)
- Cajun seasoning, to taste (Feauxcajun recommends: Fontenot & A Half--more details later)
- White wine (for deglazing pan)
- 1 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 tbsp creole mustard
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp thyme
- ½ tsp minced dried onion
- 1 tsp flour

Directions:
Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water, and a medium pasta pot ¾ full of water, setting both to boil. When the saucepan water reaches a boil, add crab boil, stir, and remove from heat, letting cool.

When pasta pot comes to boil, add garlic & potatoes to the water and cook for about 15 minutes (or until potatoes are tender). Take half of the crab boil water & add to a bowl of ice to create an ice bath for the veggies. Remove the potatoes from the water, shock in the ice bath, then move to a colander to drain. Add the rest of the veggies plus ½ of the lemon to the boiling water and let cook until tender but firm (about 15-20 minutes).

Boiling veggies:


While that batch of veggies is cooking, season the fish filets liberally with the Cajun seasoning. This is where I pause to SHAMELESSLY promote a fantastic product made by two of my good friends. Fontenot & A Half is the ONLY cajun seasoning I use in my house anymore--it's less salty than the more commercial brands (read: Tony's or Zatarains) but still has a great flavor and perfect amount of heat. They're currently working on their website, but if you'd like to order, it's $3/can (plus shipping), and until the site's back up, it can be ordered by calling 225.749.4049.


Okay--back to the good stuff.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat, then add fish filets & cook 2-3 minutes on each side. If fish begins to stick to pan, sprinkle a few teaspoons of white wine into the pan to loosen when flipping or removing.

The fish is done when it's flaky white on the inside, and looks like this on the outside:


I can see you drooling. :)

Once fish is cooked, set aside on a plate & cover with aluminum foil to rest. Add chicken broth, mustard, thyme, dried onion, a few splashes of white wine, juice from the other half of the lemon, & vinegar to the sauté pan & stir well. Sprinkle in flour & whisk until thickened (about 2 minutes).



While sauce is cooking, reheat the saucepan of crab boil water over medium-low heat. When veggies are done, shock in the ice bath, drain, then add all veggies back into the remaining crab boil water to reheat (about 1 minute). Drain well, then season with Cajun seasoning to taste. Arrange vegetables on plate, & drizzle mustard sauce over the fish. Serve with a fresh warm roll.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Info
Calories 331.2
Total Fat 16.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 8.9 g
Cholesterol 91.8 mg
Sodium 471.5 mg
Potassium 997.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 17.9 g
Dietary Fiber 4.7 g
Sugars 2.1 g
Protein 30.6 g
Vitamin A 49.2 %
Vitamin B-12 67.0 %
Vitamin B-6 22.6 %
Vitamin C 53.3 %
Vitamin D 3.3 %
Vitamin E 4.3 %
Calcium 8.1 %
Copper 20.0 %
Folate 9.4 %
Iron 15.1 %
Magnesium 19.0 %
Manganese 18.5 %
Niacin 26.8 %
Pantothenic Acid 16.6 %
Phosphorus 43.6 %
Riboflavin 13.6 %
Selenium 41.2 %
Thiamin 50.3 %
Zinc 13.4 %