I'mmm baaaaaaccckk!!! With Gruyere Egg Muffins

One of my all-time favorite shows is NCIS.  I LOVE Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs!  For those of you who don’t know, Gibbs operates by a set of rules.  Rule #6:  Never apologize.  (It’s a sign of weakness.)  I don’t agree with the rule 100%; however, I’ve observed that, in general, people apologize too much - and when an apology isn’t needed.  Why am I writing about this?  Because I’ve been MIA for a while - and I know it!  ;-)

I have several recipes to post over the next week or two.  Most were successful.  One was successful as to taste and not so much so as to functionality.  I made Gruyere Egg Muffins with a minor adjustment because I didn’t have shallots.  The taste was spot-on.  They just didn’t hold their functionality as muffins and didn’t come out of the paper liners easily so I ate the “muffins” with a fork!  LOL  I kinda thought these would come out as mini-quiches.  Nope.  

Immediately out of the oven they were like a soufflé - all puffed up!  I think that’s because eggs were beaten until fluffy.  Experiment!  Try not beating the eggs as much.

<-- The picture to the right is about 30 seconds after I removed them from the oven.  They deflated very quickly!

The original recipe makes 12 muffins.  I made 1/6 of the recipe - 2 muffins.  I recommend making 3-4 with the quantities below - these will puff up (big time!) and spill over the edge of the muffin well.  You can also use mini-muffin tins.  According to the original recipe, these freeze well.  I didn’t test that.  Yet.  I give the recipe 3 wing flaps (good flavor but not great or absolutely yummy).

Ingredients:

2 eggs

.25 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded

1t garlic, finely chopped

1t butter

4t HWC

dash of Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt

1.  Preheat oven to 325F.

2.  Beat eggs until slightly fluffy.

3.  Lightly sauté garlic in butter.

4.  Add garlic, cream, cheese, salt, to the eggs.  Mix well.

5.  Pour into muffin tin* and bake 25 minutes.

*I recommend greasing the muffin tin and not using liners.

Nutritional info:

Fat:  30.7g (75%)

Protein:  20.2g (22%)

Carbs:  2.4g (3%)

Calories:  371 cal

Tuna Casserole

This blogging thing is fun.  Who knew?!?!!  I'm hoping some of my online friends find me.  I know I'll get positive feedback from them at least!  Y'all have realized by now that I cook low carb.  That's obvious from the title of my blog.  Hey, that's cool to write ... my blog.  My blog.  My Blog.  :-)  Okay, back on track.  I cook low carb.  What might not be so obvious is that I try to  make my recipes LCHF aka low-carb-high-fat.  I aim for an intake ratio of at least 70% fat.  The rest (carbs, protein) depends upon my total intake for the day.  My goal is to eat no more than 20 carbs - total.  Not net.  For the time being, I don't count calories although my tracking program keeps count.

On the heels of a successful foray into the kitchen, I had a less successful one tonight.  I made Tuna Casserole.  Now you should understand, I've been making tuna casserole since I was 8 or 9 years old.  It was a staple for dinner.  And I was good at preparing it!  Back then, I made it with pasta and cream of mushroom soup.  Then my dad read about the Atkins Diet Revolution, and we swapped out the pasta for peas or green beans - and never looked back.  We did top it with french fried onions (those yummy things in a can).  I KNOW how to make a kick-butt tuna casserole.  And I biffed it tonight.  LOL  

Actually, it wasn't bad. It just lacked seasoning (I'm used to using tuna canned in olive oil and have switched back to tuna in water) and was a bit watery.  The watery part is the cauliflower.  I give it 3 wing flaps.  Next time, I will roast the cauliflower instead of boil it.  I would also use about 1/2 the amount of cauliflower.  And will add mushrooms.  If this doesn't work out the second time, I'll go back to my other recipe (made with mayo and sour cream instead of HWC).

Here's the recipe:

1.  4 cans of tuna in water, drained very (very, very) well

2.  16 oz frozen cauliflower

3.  3 stalks celery, chopped (larger cut)

4.  3/4 heavy whipping cream (HWC)

5.  8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (large holes)

6.  2t Penzy's Fox Point seasoning

Preheat oven to 350F.  Boil cauliflower and celery until tender.  Drain very (very, very) well.  Season with Penzy's Fox Point.  Set aside.  Heat the HWC and add Fox Point seasoning to it.  Put 3/4 of the shredded cheese in a casserole dish.  Add heated cream and mix to melt the cheese.  Add the tuna and mix.  Add the cauliflower and celery and mix.  Pop, covered, into oven for 20 minutes at 350F.   Remove lid.  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake another 10 minutes.  

Nutritional Information for entire recipe:

Carbs:  35.93 (6.77%)

Protein:  181.67 (34.32%)

Fat:  140.25  (59.45%)

Calories: 2,123