Fat Head Pizza

For this pie – I did a BBQ / Smoked Pork rendition. I had some leftover Homemade BBQ sauce and some Smoked Pulled Pork I had just done…

I mixed what BBQ I had left with some Rao’s Red sauce, added some Garlic, Basil and Oregano to the sauce – BOOM. BBQ Pizza Sauce. Next topping was some Spinach… then the Smoked Pork. I used a mix of three cheeses – Mozzarella, thick grated Parmesan and a bit of Fontina Fontal (a delicious white melty cheese). Just UNREAL FLAVOR. I painted the crust with a pass of Garlic butter right before the final cook off.

Crust Ingredients:

1 3/4 C shredded mozzarella
3/4 C almond flour (or 1/4 C Coconut flour??)
2 T cream cheese
1 egg – beaten
Pinch salt (or to taste)
Garlic powder to taste (or other spice profiles)

Instructions:

Cube up the cream cheese before melting with the Mozzarella. Mix both Cheeses. Microwave for 1 min, mix well. Add Almond flour, stir then microwave on HIGH for another 30 seconds.

Add Egg, Salt, Rosemary or other flavorings – mix gently.

Quick tip: Use Parchment both top and bottom when forming it. A tiny shot of cooking spray on the paper (both pieces – won’t hurt).

Place in between 2 pieces of parchment paper and work into a circular pizza shape.

Remove the top sheet of parchment paper.

If the mixture becomes difficult to work with, pop it back in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to soften again. Not too long or you cook the egg.

Make fork holes all over the pizza base to ensure it cooks evenly.

Slide the baking paper/parchment with crust, onto a cookie tray and bake at 425F for 12-15 minutes, or until brown.

To make the base crispy and sturdy, flip the crust over (onto baking paper/parchment) once the top has browned.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and add all the toppings you like. Make sure any meat is already cooked as this time it goes back into the oven just to heat up the toppings and melt the cheese. Bake again at 425F for 5 minutes.

Options:

Rosemary, Garlic or other spice profiles optional. I’ve done Red Neck Tacos – and even Corned Dogs with this recipe!! Get creative!!

Tom’s additional tips:

If you like a thinner Pizza – make it that way in the forming process (under
sprayed paper). Take care – thin crust will carry less in toppings well, be judicious.

If you like a crispier pie… cook on a plain cooking sheet (pan) – NOT A STONE!! I use my stone for presentation only. Before you add toppings, cook on one side – in the oven for 5-7 minutes… just until it just starts to get a tiny bit brown. Take it out and flip it over. Go
another 5-7 minutes.

Take it out and add toppings – cook a few more minutes. Basically long enough for the cheese to melt. 5 min at 425F.

If you are going to make a smaller pizza (when I make a batch – I usually split the dough in half and save one for later) cook one – freeze the other.

Cook the one for freezing about  5 min per side, take out, let cool and put in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. It won’t last long. You will remember where you put it.

BTW – if you like it crispier, the smaller size is much easier to flip and handle. It is not so awkward.

Good news… your next Low Carb Pizza will be done in like 5 minutes!!

(left overs – the next day. A wonderful college breakfast!!)

Extras:

Fat Head pastry can also be made by replacing the almond meal/flour with 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) coconut flour.

If you enjoy this recipe – share it with others.

Smoked Meat Loaf – Oh my…

So this past weekend we had a lot of guests on kind of a short notice – so I swung into action and made a bunch of these Smoked Meat Loaves (16 to be exact) and a Smoked Pork Shoulder (which means easy, delicious meals and lots of pulled pork sandwiches).

Here is my recipe for a smaller “home brew” batch…

Smoked Meat Loaf Recipe

1.5 lbs of Eye of Round, Sirloin, Inside Round or similar beef cut – custom grind

1.5 lbs of Pork shoulder – trimmed and ground (twice)

1/2 C Celery and Onion mixture sauteed in Butter, Garlic and Oregano

1/2 C finely diced Orange Pepper (NOT A HOT PEPPER – just plain Orange Bell Pepper)

1 T Worcestershire sauce (I use the 40% Low Sodium version)

Kosher salt and Pepper to taste

2 T of Tom’s Low Carb Rub

1 C finely ground plain Pork Rinds… (not flavored)

2 eggs

1/4 – 1/2 C Nature’s Hollow Sugar Free Honey

Heinz Reduced Sugar Katsup (about 1 gram per 1 T) as a glaze

For the last 1/2 hour – I added some Katsup on the top as a glaze…

Let them cool and store – or not…

Slice off nice thick hunks – microwave about 1 minute per loaf and then and give each slice a quick sear on a grill, in a pan or on a flat top (preferably in butter). Oh my… LOW CARB FLAVOR MADNESS!!

Pro Tips: here are a few short cut ideas…

If I had limited items available to me – I might try 2 lbs of regular ground beef and 1 lb of packaged mild sausage.

If I didn’t have access to a wood smoker – I would pick up a cheap, used electric smoker. It will work great for a lot of stuff. In fact, I am going to pick one up for all kinds of stuff I do like this. Great for short, quick smoke sessions. If I couldn’t do any of this – skip it and add 1 T of liquid smoke and just bake it in the oven. Same time – same temp.

Tom’s Low Carb Dry Rub

3 1/2 t Truvia
7 t Chili Powder
3 t Onion Powder
3 t Garlic Powder
3 t Oregano
1 T Black Pepper
1 T Kosher Salt
2 t Paprika

Whisk this rub thoroughly – then use it on EVERYTHING!!

Enjoy. 

Low Carb Smoked Pork Quiche

So yesterday – I was making a quiche with some left over Smoked Pork Tenderloin as the meat… a while back I had smoked off a bunch of different meats. Ribs, Pork T-Loins, Fish, etc, etc…

This stuff was about at the end of it’s “usefulness” so I thought – “what the heck”? Why not throw it in a quiche for breakfasts? I start trimming it up a little better… then I tossed it in my little processor…

As I was standing over this bowl – I was overcome with the incredible aroma of the smoke… WOW!! I was rolling all kinds of ideas around in my head about what I could do with this stuff. Stay strong – stay strong… just make the quiche’ and WALK AWAY!!

Low Carb Quiche recipe:

6-7 eggs
1 C Meat (in this case I used the processed Smoked Pork Tenderloin)
1 C grated Cheddar Cheese
8 oz Cream Cheese (if you like on the moist side – cut this down to 4 oz and add 4 oz of Sour Cream).
2 T of the spice base leftover when storing it…

NO CRUST – Just cooking spray, pour it in and GO!!

Note: Depending on what “version” I’m up to I will add a spice profile to match. For instance, with a more Spanish/American meat version I might toss in a packet of Sazon to amp things up a little.

Mix all ingredients well. Shoot a pie pan with some cooking spray. Pour ingredients in… bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 min. I start checking at about 30. I finished this one off with a little Smoked Paprika and just a little shredded cheese on top.

This worked out REALLY WELL.

However, when I got done processing it – I realized I had something like 3 1/2 cups of this stuff!! SCORE!! I took one cup to make the quiche – and it had CRAZY FLAVOR. Then I took the other 2 1/2 cups and decided to make a version of ham salad since it as already finely chopped.

Easy Pork Salad Recipe

2 1/2 C processed Smoked Pork Tenderloin
1 1/2 heaping T of Mayo
3 t No Sugar Sweet Pickle Relish
2 T of the Smoke Spice base left over in the storage container.
3 drops QuickSweet

Whip it all together.

Whoa… really, really good.

This was last nite. After this “Smoked Pork Salad” had a chance for the flavors to really come together over night, it was JUST UNREAL how good this was. This was our third meal/snack. All gone…

Moral to the story – don’t be afraid to be creative!!

The end

Smoke-A-Palooza 2017

My intention here was to fire up the smoker and do a bunch of meat for both us and my parents…

As you can see, I started off with 3 racks of ribs, 2 pork tenderloins, two whole chickens, some brats (for anyone wandering by during the day – something to snack on) and (not in the picture) I also prepped up 6 thick fish steaks.

For the ribs and pork tenderloins I used a rub I got some years back from a dear friend.

The Rub Recipe:

1 part Smoked Parika
1 part Salt
1 part Garlic Powder
1 part Sweetener (Brown Sugar/Splenda mix or powdered Splenda)
1 part Black Pepper
1 part Raspberry Chocolate coffee – plain grind

The 1 part will depend on how much rub you are making at one time. I think I used either a cup of half a cup and it was the perfect amount for everything I was doing. This trip through I used plain powdered Splenda – worked great.

I made a much smaller batch of the rub for Mom and Dad’s stuff. He’s supposed to be on a strict low sodium regime and she doesn’t like things as spicy.

I covered the ribs and tenderloins in a plain yellow mustard coating – let it set up just a bit, maybe an hour or so in the fridge.

I had put them all on a rack covered in tin foil. So I could handle them easier…

Then I generously doused and rubbed all the pieces with the rub. One of the pork tenders and one rack of ribs was meant for Mom and Dad so I cut out all the salt in the rub, cut the hotter spice profile in half and added some extra Splenda / Brown sugar mix to their portion. Mine I did a little different.

The Brats didn’t really need any treatment.

Here is the brine/marinade I made for the chicken and fish.

Brine recipe:

16 Cups water
3/4 Cup Kosher salt (I cut this number way down for this batch)
2/3 Cup powdered Splenda
2 Heads Garlic (I think I used minced garlic – if I recall correctly)
1/4 Cup Sage
1 Bay Leaf
1 TBSP Peppercorns
Cook on stove top 20 min. Take off and let cool (at least 2 hours). Don’t put the chicken in hot – you will start the poaching process.

I mixed it up in a medium / tall pot. Before I dumped the chicken in the brine I dipped some of the mixture out for the fish (which I waited to brine until about 6 hours before I was ready to smoke). The chicken would eventually end up soaking for about 36 hours. 8 is plenty – but it was in the fridge. No biggie.

I had everything ready – then we had some serious storms in the forecast. I decided to leave everything as it was in the fridge overnight and try again the next morning. No problem.

The next morning I fired up the smoker. Good thing we waited, I had a hard time getting it to draft properly so I moved it out in the open and put a plain box fan about 4 feet away from the firebox on low – worked great. Got everything moving right along. I would have been drenched all day.

I put the 3 racks of Ribs, 2 Loins, and some Brats on first – trying to keep a consistent 225* heat profile. Turns out I didn’t have room on the smoker for any of the Chicken.

I wound up letting the ribs go about 8 hours on the grill. At the 3 hour mark I put them in a double foil wrap and dumped a bunch of Apple Cider Vinegar in with them. They were looking a little firm on the way in – the ACV started working that right out. When they came off the grill, I wasn’t super impressed with the tenderness… so I put them in a 13×9″ metal baking pan – poured all the juice from the tin foil over them. I covered them with the same foil and stuck them in the oven. I let them bake off at 250* for another 2 hours or so.

Here is what they turned out like…

This particular pic was from a “Rib Snack” about 10:30 one day… YUM!!

Psssttt –  That sauce is my very own LOW CARB BBQ Sauce.

I did much the same with the Pork Loins but not as long. Same grill – same temp, at the 3 hour mark I took them off, double foil wrapped them (if you don’t do this – you almost always puncture the foil and lose all the juice), then I added plenty of ACV to them as well. At 5 hours I took them off and let them rest a while. Ready to serve – WHOA!! Good stuff.

Here’s a shot of the Pork Loin done… nice smoke ring – huh??

The Brats really didn’t take that long – and they didn’t last long afterward either. The first pack was gone really quick. Myself, Arlyne, Dad and couple of workers at the shop – POOF. Gone. I sent Arlyne down to the store for a couple more packs – why not?? I was gonna’ be here anyway. The next two packs didn’t last long either… anyone within “smell range” had one!!

In the space on the smoker grill where the Brats had been – I put the fish. I did very little to them other than the marinade. A light, quick coating of Olive Oil, a light (and I mean LIGHT) dusting of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and on they went… for about an hour – 1 1/2 hour. Depends on the size what they look like. I did them in 2 batches of 3. My stainless fish rack is kinda’ small. Plus – I really didn’t have much room left on the grill surface.

Here’s what the fish looks like as starter for Fish Tacos… this was 1/2 of one filet (maybe not even that much?).

The flavor of the fish was just UNREAL GOOD.

Here is another shot of a half rack of the ribs… (this is making my mouth water all over again). Writing this crazy blog might not have been such a good idea. Ha Ha!!

Here’s a “during” shot of the same half-rack after I got into it for a minute… SERIOUSLY GOOD STUFF.

PRO TIP: This had all been done at once… These ribs have set finished in the fridge for at least 2 days. I cut out what I wanted for lunch. I dded the ribs and plenty of the juice/renderings to a plain sauce pan – threw it in the over for about 20-25 min at 250*. Just gently bringing it up to a comfortable temp. STUNNINGLY GOOD.

A few quick notes…

I have used the above rub, off and on for a few years. I’m going to experiment with a little more of a “Cajun twist” and several other sweeteners. For instance, how about dousing a rack of ribs with a No Sugar Maple Syrup? Or the Sugar Free Honey Substitute from Netrition.com? I’m also going to toy with some other sweeteners in the actual rub. One never knows, I might find something I like better.

The Chicken didn’t ever make it onto the smoker. I’ll be smoking again soon. I’ll include Chicken… and wings… probably some fish. Ha Ha – you get the idea.

BTW- I used Apple wood and some commercial hardwood chips in a smoker box to get started. Once everything is in foil, wood choice doesn’t matter that much. I finished with some Oak – I think?

I forgot to mention – towards the end, when I had some space I smoked off a pan of Roma Tomatoes and a couple of Onions. I made a Smoked Tomato and Onion salad dressing… I’ll share the recipe in another post soon. The veggies carry the smoke flavor way better than you might think. Pretty awesome.

I did bake the Chicken off in the oven the other day. It turned out great. I cleaned it all. I’ll use the breasts for salads… maybe some Chicken Salad?? I’ve got a killer recipe for that. Mom says it’s the best one she’s ever tasted. I’ll post it soon and let you decide.

I also cleaned all the leg and thigh meat and minced it down. It’s in the fridge as I write this – I’m plotting some VERY LOW CARB “Boneless Buffalo Wing nuggets” in the deep fryer soon… I can’t WAIT!!

See you soon!!

RIBS DAY!! (for lunch)… but first…

Breakfast:

We did Scrambled Eggs, grated Cheddar Cheese and left over chicken in breakfast tacos. I can assure you there was some Valatina salsa picante’ in there somewhere. We only had one each. I used the Mission brand Low Carb Tortillas – the 3 Net Gram version.

Pro Tip:  Toast those Low Carb Tortillas off – takes about 45 seconds and really brings the whole thing together – just toss it on a skillet or flat-top with no sauce and let it warm up a bit. It should develop just a few dark spots – then it’s nice and toasty. Don’t leave it on either side too long. That’s no good.

Pro Tip #2: The Tupperware you see under the tortillas – store all tortilla type products in their bag – then in Tupperware. Shelf life = unknown?? Hahaha…

On a side note – I usually don’t push it on the “net carb” items (tortillas, breads, etc, etc…), even things I am pretty sure of. For instance, if I have one meal where I use something like the Mission Brand tortillas (1 or 2 – almost NEVER 3) then I won’t do any more like that for the rest of the day. Maybe longer.

Lunch:

Half a rack of ribs and a chopped salad.

We’ve obviously covered these Ribs in the “Smoke-A-Palooza” post… These ribs have set finished in the fridge for at least 2 days. I cut out what I wanted for lunch (about a half a rack each). I added the ribs and plenty of the juice/renderings to a plain sauce pan – threw it in the oven for about 20-25 min at 250*. Just gently bringing it up to a comfortable temp. STUNNINGLY GOOD.

Supper:

For “Supper” – we really just had a snack tray… Some Kentucky Bourbon Bellavitano Cheese, some Blue Diamond Salt and Vinegar Almonds (these can be addicting – BTW) and some Pepperoni (garden variety). I can almost guarantee the pepperoni got dunked in some of the Sriracha Lime Mayo I mentioned in another post.

Now – before I go any farther, I must point out – this Kentucky Bourbon Bellavitano Cheese is RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. It is the most rich, succulent cheese I have eaten. Cheese is one of our “things”. We like to sample different kinds – this here… it’s a WINNER. DO NOT MISS. You might find it a the upscale Kroger’s around here – maybe finer grocery stores near you.

Next week (when I get the money – we’re going to try a Merlot Bellavitano – and report back).

Late Nite Snack:

Total violation of one of the “3 rules”… however…

So anyway – I got hit by some late night cravings and figured – “what the heck??”

I had about a half a bag of regular Kroger Pork Rinds bathed in my Sriracha Lime Mayo dressing… solved the craving problem. However, what would it do to my weigh-in tomorrow?

(Note: I actually lost about 2 tenths of a pound – even after the late night snack. No harm, I guess?? I doubt I make it a habit)