2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020
HOME & LIVING
KETO
3. Beat the eggs in a wide,
shallow bowl. In another wide,
shallow bowl, mix the remain-
ing almond fl our with the
Parmesan, paprika and garlic
powder.
4. Dip chicken in the eggs to
coat. Let the excess drip off,
then coat thoroughly in the
almond fl our mixture. Place
on a plate and repeat with the
remaining chicken.
5. Heat ¼ inch of ghee or
avocado oil in a large skillet
over medium-high heat until
hot but not smoking. Add half
the chicken and cook until
golden on one side, about
3 minutes. Flip and cook
until golden on the other side,
another 3 minutes. Transfer
to a paper towel-lined plate
and repeat with the remaining
chicken, adding more ghee or
oil if needed. Serve with lemon
wedges.
Continued from Page 1B
The rules of the keto diet
are highly restrictive, which
can make cooking diffi cult.
You need to avoid fruit,
sugars, grains, beans and
legumes, rice, potatoes, candy
and juice.
Ingredients to be encour-
aged include meat, fatty
fi sh, eggs, butter and cream,
cheese, nuts and seeds, cer-
tain oils (olive, avocado, coco-
nut) and low-carb vegetables
— most green vegetables,
tomatoes, onions, peppers
and the like.
It’s a lot to take in, so I
began with a simple and
entirely wonderful dish of
Citrus-Marinated Olives.
These are a marvelous treat,
combining the heady earthi-
ness of olives with bright
notes of orange and lemon.
Though the fl avors are dispa-
rate, they work surprisingly
well together.
Best of all, you make them
in mere minutes.
Another winner was
Keto Egg Cups, a dish that
concisely presents everything
that is good about keto cook-
ing: Little cups made from
prosciutto hold eggs mixed
with cream, spinach, roasted
red peppers and mozzarella
and Parmesan cheeses.
It’s a delightful conglom-
eration of high-fat goodies
that come together into a
hand-held snack. And it’s just
as fun at room temperature
as it is warm.
Two entrees came next.
First, I took a recipe for
Instant-Pot Keto Mediter-
ranean Chicken and made
it a recipe for Keto Mediter-
ranean Chicken Without an
Instant Pot. It only took about
fi ve minutes longer than the
Instant-Pot version, and it
was deeply satisfying.
I’ll admit, though, that I
could not commit to full keto
cooking with this one. As
written, the recipe calls for
searing six chicken thighs and
then cooking the dish in the
resulting fat.
My six thighs rendered out
a half cup of fat. I just couldn’t
do it. I couldn’t cook with —
and I certainly couldn’t eat
— that much fat. I know the
keto diet requires what seems
like a shocking amount of fat
to work, but I just couldn’t see
it. I poured out half of the fat,
and the dish still felt greasy
to me.
Greasy, but delicious.
Meaty chicken thighs are
paired with olives, capers,
oregano and a cutting splash
of vinegar. It’s presented
with a fresh-tasting yogurt
sauce, making an impressive
presentation. I’d happily eat it
anytime, especially if I poured
out all but one tablespoon of
that fat.
The other entree, Keto
Breaded Chicken Cutlets,
isn’t bad — but I’d only make
it again if I were on the keto
diet. The chicken is dredged
through almond fl our before
frying, which gives it a duller
fl avor than wheat fl our.
With wheat fl our, the same
recipe would be excellent, if
familiar. If you’re on the keto
diet, almond fl our is defi nitely
the way to go. Just be sure to
use a lot of salt.
The last dish I made was
a dessert called Black and
White Keto Fat Bombs. Seri-
ously, that’s the name, and
seriously, that’s what they are.
They are chocolate-and-vanil-
la candies that are made with
coconut oil and almonds, plus
low-carb, powdered sweetener,
sugar-free vanilla extract and
unsweetened cocoa powder.
How did they taste? Not
bad, actually, or at least not
too bad. But the texture was
Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Citrus-marinated olives
so oily and off-putting that
most taste testers threw away
their samples. One said it was
like eating butter.
If you’re on the keto diet
and you’re looking for an
extra infusion of fat, then I’d
say to go ahead and make it.
Otherwise, this is one to avoid.
My friend, Robin, swears
by the keto diet and says she
is passionate about it. Her
health indicators are all great,
and she says she has higher
energy and alertness. And
though the diet is restrictive,
she likes what she can eat:
cheese, olive oil, butter, nuts
and dark chocolate.
The biggest thing she
misses is fruit, but she does
not miss the 40 pounds she
lost.
Then again, I have another
friend, Roger, who lost 65
pounds. He just eats more
healthfully and mindfully, and
walks every day. That sounds
easier.
BLACK AND WHITE
KETO FAT BOMBS
Yield: 15 servings
2 cups slivered almonds
1 cup coconut oil
1 to 2 tablespoons of
your favorite low-carb
powdered sweetener
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
(sugar-free if on keto diet)
Small pinch salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened
cocoa powder
1. Line a mini-muffi n tin with
mini liners.
2. Pulse and then process the
almonds, oil, sweetener, va-
nilla, zest and salt until smooth
except for small chunks of
almond (like chunky peanut
butter). Remove half to a small
bowl and stir in the cocoa
powder.
3. Fill half of one liner with
the vanilla mixture and then
quickly fi ll the other half with
the chocolate mixture (it should
remind you of a black-and-
white cookie). Repeat with the
remaining vanilla and choco-
late mixtures. Tap the tin on the
counter a few times.
4. Freeze until solid, about 30
minutes. You can remove the
liners if you’d like. Refrigerate
in an airtight container for up to
fi ve days.
KETO
MEDITERRANEAN
CHICKEN
Yield: 4 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 bone-in, skin-on
chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons white
wine vinegar
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
¼ cup fresh fl at-leaf parsley,
roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint
leaves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2. Grease the cups of a muf-
fi n tin with the 1 tablespoon
of butter (or brush with 2
tablespoons of melted butter).
Line each cup with a slice of
prosciutto, folding and overlap-
ping so that the entire surface
of the cup is covered and no
metal is peeking through.
Divide the mozzarella evenly
among the cups. Repeat with
the Parmesan, spinach and
roasted red peppers.
3. Whisk the eggs and cream
1. Heat oil in a large pot
in a large measuring cup or
or Dutch oven over medium
small pitcher; add some salt
heat. Liberally sprinkle chicken and a few grinds of pepper.
with salt and pepper and cook Pour the egg mixture in each
half of the pieces, skin-side
cup, making sure not to overfi ll.
down, until the skin is deeply
4. Bake until the eggs are
browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip
set and wobble only slightly,
and cook until the other side
10 to 12 minutes (the eggs will
is deeply browned, 4 to 6
continue to cook after they
minutes. Transfer to a plate and come out). Let cool 5 minutes,
repeat with remaining pieces
then use a thin knife or offset
of chicken.
spatula, if necessary, to loosen
2. Pour out all but 1 table-
the prosciutto from the edges
spoon of the fat (if on the keto of each cup. Transfer to a plate
diet, keep all the fat in the pot). for serving.
Return pot to heat and add
garlic; cook until golden brown,
about 1 minute. Add the olives,
capers, vinegar, oregano and ½
cup water; stir to combine and
to scrape up any browned bits Yield: 4 to 6 servings
at the bottom of the pot. Return
chicken pieces to pot and stir
¼ cup olive oil
to mix.
¼ teaspoon crushed
3. Cover and cook at a
red pepper fl akes
simmer until chicken is done,
2 sprigs fresh thyme
about 30 minutes. Remove the 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
chicken and boil the sauce to
1 strip lemon zest, removed
reduce it by half.
with a vegetable peeler
4. Meanwhile, mix the yo-
1 strip orange zest, removed
gurt, parsley, mint, lemon zest
with a vegetable peeler
and lemon juice, plus a large
Salt and pepper
pinch of salt and pepper. Stir
1 cup Castelvetrano olives
to combine. Taste and season
1 tablespoon lemon juice
with more salt and pepper, if
1 tablespoon orange juice
needed.
5. Serve the chicken with its
Heat the olive oil in a small
sauce, and the yogurt sauce on saucepan over medium heat.
the side.
Add the red pepper fl akes,
thyme, garlic, lemon zest,
orange zest, salt and pepper
to taste and cook, stirring oc-
Yield: 3 servings
casionally, until garlic is pale
golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in
1 tablespoon butter, see note
olives and cook until just warm,
6 large, thin slices of prosciutto 2 minutes. Remove from heat
1/3 cup shredded
and stir in lemon juice and
mozzarella cheese
orange juice. Serve warm or at
¼ cup grated Parmesan
room temperature.
¼ cup packed baby spinach
leaves, chopped
¼ cup roasted red
peppers, chopped
Yield: 4 servings
6 large eggs
¼ cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
1 ½ pounds thinly sliced
raw chicken breast
Note: To make this recipe
Salt
even more keto-friendly,
2 cups almond fl our
instead of greasing the muffi n 3 large eggs
tin with 1 tablespoon of but-
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
ter, melt 2 tablespoons and
1½ teaspoons paprika
brush the tin with it. It will
½ teaspoon garlic powder
pool in the bottom of each cup, Ghee (clarifi ed butter, see note)
but that is OK.
or avocado oil, for frying
Lemon wedges, for serving
1. Position an oven rack in
the center of the oven and
Note: To clarify butter, gen-
tly melt butter over medium-
preheat to 400 degrees.
CITRUS-MARINATED
OLIVES
KETO EGG CUPS
KETO BREADED
CHICKEN CUTLETS
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GUN SHOW
Sat. Feb 22nd • 9am-5pm
Sun. Feb 23rd • 9am-3pm
La Grande Convention Center
401 12th Street, La Grande, OR 97850
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For more info call
541-910-8377
Sponsored by
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Sales, C&M Country Store, Hines Meat Co.
low heat. Carefully skim foam
off top. Pour carefully into
a container, stopping before
any of the white solids on the
bottom of the pan pour out.
Store in an airtight container
for up to nine months or in a
refrigerator for up to one year.
1. If any of the chicken
slices are thicker than ¼ inch,
pound them out one at a time
between two sheets of plastic
wrap or waxed paper with a
meat mallet to a thickness of
¼ inch.
2. Sprinkle chicken all over
with salt and just enough of
the almond fl our to lightly coat
both sides.
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