keto

Fillet Beef & Black Pepper Stir-fry on a bed of garlic & ginger bok choy

Fillet-Beef-Black-Pepper-Stir-Fry

Fillet Beef & Black Pepper Stir Fry

Feeds 4 hungry people

Ingredients:

2 black angus fillet steaks (cut into thin strips against the grain)
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup cauliflower florets
1 medium red pepper (chopped into large bite-size pieces)
1 carrot thinly sliced on a diagonal
1 box mushrooms cut into quarters
4-6 cloves of garlic or 2 tsp of crushed garlic (reserving .5 tsp for the bok choy)
1 small thumb size piece of fresh ginger (minced) (reserving .5 tsp for the bok choy)
1/2 bunch of spring onions (sliced into strips about an inch wide)
1-3 heads of bok choy (Roughly chopped)
10 drops of Light soy sauce *Gluten-Free alternative for soy sauce
20 drops dark soy sauce *Gluten-Free alternative for soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Rapeseed oil & a tiny splash of sesame seed oil
1 Knor beef stock pot *gluten-free
A few drops of worcestershire

1 heaped tbsp cornflour and 1 flat teasp of baking soda

Boyne Valley Honey & juice of half a lime

Spices:
1/2 tsp crushed chilli flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
Pinch of pink himalayan salt

Preparation is everything!

Marinade:

Add cornflour and baking soda scattered over the raw slices of beef and gently coat using your hands to evenly distribute, leave sitting while you prepare your veggies and sauce.  The baking soda will tenderize the beef and the cornflour will not only help thicken the sauce it will also help to give it a lovely golden brown colour.

Sauce:

Add your soy sauce, oyster sauce and stock pot to a jug then fill with boiling water to it makes 1/2 pint – stir & set aside.

To Make:

Heat your pan with a swirl of rapeseed oil.  Brown the fillet beef in a large pan making sure you drop them in one by one letting them brown on one side for 1 min and then stiring them about for 1 minute until they are still slightly pink, then take out and leave in a large flat bowl.  Then it is time to stir-fry the veggies starting with a little rapeseed oil, add the mushrooms and peppers first, then the remaining veg, stir for a minute until the mushrooms have colour, then add your ginger and garlic and keep stiring.  Now it’s time to add your spices!  and keep mixing until the veg is slightly softened but still has bite.  Then add the sauce you prepared earlier, bring to the boil and mix for one minute, the sauce should reduce and thicken.  Add a swirl of honey and a squeeze of lime.  Then add the cooked fillet steak and your dish is complete.

Note:If you like your sauce a little thicker you can take your pan off the heat mix one tsp of cornflower with a little water making sure to take out any lumps and add to the pan mixing for one minute 1 min and put back on heat for 30 seconds.

Serve on it’s own, with some stir fry garlic & ginger bok choy or add brown rice, pilau rice,  jasmine rice or quinoa for a really healthy meal.

For a Keto-friendly meal (p.s. don’t add the honey! But if your dirty Keto go for it!! YOLO)

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Peanut Butter & Cacao ‘Fatbombs’

peanut-butter-cacao-fatbombs

Peanut butter & Cacao Fatbombs

Fatbombs are Keto heaven, learn how to make them with only 5 ingredients!

Fat bombs contain lots of fat, but on a ketogenic diet (just like on a Paleo diet), eating healthy fats is highly important to lower inflammation in your body. So, most ketogenic fat bombs contain coconut oil or coconut butter as an ingredient.  Just be aware that although peanut butter is delicious and nutritious and is allowed in limited amounts on a ketogenic diet it is also a legume not a nut as you might think. It is in fact inflammatory so you might want to substitute with cashew butter or almond butter, if you prefer. One per day is recommended.

Bottom layer:
3 tbsp organic crunchy peanut butter* with no added sugar or palm oil
2 tbsp raw organic cold pressed coconut oil
1 teasp Xylatol

Top Layer:
3 tbsp Organic smooth peanut butter* with no added sugar or palm oil
2 tbsp raw organic cold pressed coconut oil
3 tbsp raw organic cacao
5 teasp Xylatol
1 vanilla pod or 1 teasp of vanilla extract

To make:
Have 2 small pots, in one put 3 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in one, warm the mixture until well combined (No need to cook).  Put the mixture into a tiny silicone muffin tray only halfway up, then leave the bottom layer to cool in the freezer for approx 30 mins until set. You can use whatever shape you want, round square or heart shaped silicone trays.  I had none for this recipe so I used two large flat deep dishes instead and cut them into 16 slices .

For the top layer put the same ingredients with the addition of 3 tablespoons of cacao and 6 teaspoons of Xylatol and 1 organic vanilla pod in the second pot and warm up and mix well until smooth (I usually use smooth peanut butter for the choco layer. Allow to cool to room temperature. Then take the tray out of the freezer and pour the cooled choco layer on top of the peanut layer. Put back in the freezer until set.

To Store:
Put them in the fridge in an airtight container and they will be fresh for about 1-2 weeks.

Enjoy the deliciousness with a cup of black coffee for a Keto heavenly moment of yummyness….mmmmmmm

Gaelic Moussaka

This dish is a legend! Creamy, juicy and absolutely delicious!

greek-mussaka

Greek Mussaka

Ingredients:
1.5 Lb of Irish grass fed round steak minced
1 jar of Bunalun Organic Passata*contains no added sugar
1 full head of garlic crushed
10 mushrooms diced
1 onion diced
1 red pepper diced
1 green pepper diced
1 red chilli finely diced
1 green chilli finely diced
1 teasp paprika
1/2 teasp cumin
1 teasp turmeric
1 teasp chilli powder
1/2 teasp of mixed herbs
1 handful of fresh parsley chopped
crushed black pepper to taste
1 tube of Organic Bunalun Tomato Paste*contains no added sugar
1 Knorr Beef Stockpot

Ingredients for the cheese sauce:
250ml full-fat Avonmore double cream
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 chicken stock pot
1 cup grated Arla lactose-free mild cheddar cheese

Layers:
Fresh aubergine x 2 sliced about 8cm thick

To Prepare the meat sauce:
Brown the steak mince in a large pot. Add the chopped veg,  onion, garlic and chilli first then stir for 1 minute before adding the remaining veg until they are partly cooked. Stir in the spices and then add the tomato passata and herbs. Simmer on a low heat for about 30-40 minutes with the lid on. Then add the full tube of tomato paste.

To make the cheese sauce:
Warm the cream slowly and then add the grated parmesan and 1/2 a chicken stock pot (no water) simmer until the sauce thickens and reduces to a thicker consistency. Add a small bit of the cheddar if you like it or a knob of butter if you like it less cheesy.

Prepare the aubergine:
Some people call it ‘eggplant’ but we will stick with aubergine since we are in Ireland and we grow shamrocks and other cool stuff like that!  So this is something that my friend graciously unearthed to me and I have never forgotten… by slicing your aubergine into 8cm thick slices and laying them onto a plate with 2 layers of kitchen paper and dusting with salt and covering with another 2 layers of kitchen paper. You will absorb all the moisture from the aubergine within about 5 minutes and they will be ready to dry fry.  We do this on a skillet for a couple of minutes on each side until them are golden, this will prevent it from going soggy and they will taste unreal.  If you have some rapeseed oil that you would like to lightly spray the pan with before you fry that is also acceptable and will help to brown them better. *(do not douce them in oil it makes them taste gross)

Assemble:
In a large oven proof dish start to layer, meat, then aubergine, then cheese sauce and repeat. Then top with the remaining cheddar cheese and cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 200C or until the top is golden.

To Serve:
Accompany with home-made chips by cutting a few potatoes into chips and then coating in 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil, salt and a dusting of paprika and cook for about 25 minutes in a really hot oven 225C until crispy.

Make it Keto:
It’s already gluten-free & keto so all you have to do is serve it with cauliflower & green veg for a really satisfying keto-friendly dish!

It gave me about 8 portions once its cooled down it was perfect to store in the fridge until the next day and also to freeze for up to 3 months.  For all you meal preppers out there.. I find it defrosts and reheats really well in the microwave.

Chicken & Cashew nut Stir-fry

chicken-cashew-nut-stir-fry

Chicken & Cashew Nut Stir Fry

Feeds 4 hungry people

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts 9 (cubed)
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup cauliflower florets
1/4 cup asparagus (chopped into bite-size pieces)
1/4 cup zucchini (chopped into bite-size pieces)
10 mushrooms cut into quarters
4 cloves of garlic
1 small thumb size piece of fresh ginger (minced)
1 shallot (cut into strips)
1 red chilli (finely diced)
1 mini red pepper
1 mini yellow pepper (cut into small strips)
1 tbsp tamari *Gluten-Free alternative for soy sauce
1 tbsp raw virgin coconut oil (melted) or 1 tbsp rapeseed oil & a splash of sesame seed oil
1 Knor chicken stock pot *gluten-free
1 handful of cashew nuts (optional)

Spices:
1 teasp turmeric
1 teasp paprika
1 teasp onion salt
1 teasp garlic salt
handful of fresh parsley

Preparation is everything!

chicken-cashew-stir-fry-preparation

Chicken & Cashew stir-fry preparation

To Make:

Brown the chicken in a skillet pan with the coconut oil for about 8 minutes, then add the onions, garlic, chilli, ginger, mushrooms and the remaining vegetables until slightly softened this should take about 3 minutes.  Then add the tamari and the stock pot with a tablespoon of water and cook for 1 min.  Add the cashew nuts at the very end.

Serve on it’s own for a Keto-friendly meal or add brown rice, pilau rice,  jasmin rice or quinoa for a really healthy meal.