Ratatouille (No, not the movie.)

My first job at the age of 14 was in a fine dining restaurant washing dishes and prepping during down time. The prep work wasn't very exciting. Usually it was peeling and de-veining shrimp or hulling strawberries for Sunday brunch. The job wasn't exactly what I would call fulfilling but it exposed me to the fast paced grueling nature of kitchen work and I liked it. I was hooked. I spent my high school years at various kitchens throughout the area and working my way up through the ranks of the kitchen brigade as well as an occasional busboy stint in the front of the house. It wasn't until after high school when I started working for an award winning Florida panhandle restaurant that I truly fell in love with cooking. It was there that I decided to attend culinary school and make a professional career out my new infatuation. This was a true professional kitchen. I started over at the bottom once again as a prep cook. The prep work was different though. I was learning. The chef taught me how to filet fish, make stocks, clean and portion tenderloin steak and make ratatouille. I remember the first time I made this dish. The chef standing over me explaining every step. Explaining how important it was to properly layer the ingredients in the pot so the flavors would meld. It was the "first date" of my life long love of French cuisine. Over the years I have probably made this dish no less than 100 times. I have made slight changes and variations along the way while still holding true to the slow cooking and stewing techniques taught to me many moons ago. Long before I didn't have to worry about what I put in my body. I guess I am fortunate to have an affinity for all foods. I would be screwed if I had the palate of most kids these days. Chicken nuggets, chips and boxed mac'-n-cheese aren't quite conducive to a healthy low carb "diabetic" diet. But, that diet is perfect if you follow the recommendations of our federal governments food pyramid. In fact, it is standard fare at the local schools. Nice to know our kids are getting a solid culinary education huh? Anyway, in this version I added fresh fennel. I love fennel and it's delicate licorice aroma and flavor. As always, buy organic when you can.
 This recipe makes a large amount and, due to the variety of vegetables, it is hard to scale back. With that said, it will last for several days in the refrigerator. If that isn't good enough then give some to your neighbor. They will love you for it. In my opinion, the gift of food is one of the greatest ever. I hope you (and your neighbors) enjoy it as much as I (and my neighbors) do.

With that said, here's my GD recipe of the week. 

Ingredients:

1 large Eggplant, sliced in 1/2" thick rounds

2 medium Yellow squash, sliced lengthwise in 1/2" slices

2 medium Zucchini squash, sliced lengthwise in 1/2" slices

2 Red bell pepper

2 Yellow or vidalia onion, sliced into 1/2" rounds

2 medium heads Fennel, sliced in half

3 medium Fresh tomato, sliced in 1/2" slices  (If you can't get good quality then use a good organic canned diced tomato 2 10 oz. cans)

5 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 bunch Basil, sliced in thin strips (chiffonade)

1/2 cup good Olive oil. Extra virgin isn't necessary

salt and pepper

Brush the red peppers with olive oil and roast on a hot grill until the skin blisters and turns black. Remove from the grill and place in a paper bag or Ziploc and let rest for 15-20 minutes. When cool peel the black skin off and discard. Slice the pepper in half and remove the stem and seeds. Dice the pepper in 1/2" pieces.

Place the eggplant on a sheet pan and sprinkle both sides with salt and let sit for 5 minutes. This will draw the bitter water out. Pat the pieces dry with a paper towel. Brush the eggplant with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the other vegetables, except for the tomato, on a sheet pan and brush with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place the vegetables on a medium grill and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. remove the veggies and allow to cool. Once the veggies are cool enough to handle cut them into 1/2" pieces and keep them separate. Heat a large pot on the stove and add the remaining olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the garlic is soft. Remove the onion garlic mixture and turn the heat down. layer the next ingredients starting with the eggplant, then zucchini, yellow squash, fennel, red bell pepper and lastly the onion garlic mix. Place the sliced tomatoes on top of the stew and slowly simmer covered for 45 minutes. Season the dish with fresh basil. Adjust the seasoning with salt and fresh ground black pepper. 

I like to eat this all by itself but it also makes a great side to a nice grilled tuna steak! I hope you like it.

Until next week, have a happy GD day. Bon apetite!

Miso tired of testing (already.)

Miso Hungry for a break!

Living with diabetes is like any long-term relationship. There are ups and downs. Times when there is no shortage of motivation, and times when staying committed is a chore. I’m only three months in to this lifelong partnership with the big D, and already I’m longing for a little variation. It's true what they say. You don't get a day off with this disease. No vacation. No Christmas break. No weekends. Just damn. 

My doctor says I need to lose a little more weight. I am eating healthy, walking five miles a day, and I'm still gaining weight. Here's the conundrum. Insulin is a growth hormone. Nice, huh? It’s a vicious cycle. Now that I have you all perked up and smiling, let’s get on to the food.

Luckily, there are go-to recipes that I never seem to tire of. This week, I’m sharing just one of those faves. I make this at least once a week. In my last post, I mentioned my love of all things Asian. Well, this is an adaptation of a soup that is served at any good Japanese restaurant. The traditional soup is made with wakame (seaweed). I substitute kale, which gives the soup more body and bite. I like to use all types of mushrooms. So, feel free to mix it up and go crazy with them. I promise this soup is comfort in a bowl. Enjoy. 

Miso Soup with Kale & Mushrooms

2 bunches organic kale, washed, stems removed and roughly chopped

1 1/2 lb. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thick

1 large yellow onion, julienne

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 lb. extra-firm tofu, diced into 1/2-inch cubes

2 1/2 qt. water

1 1/2 c. red miso paste

In a large soup pot, on medium-high heat, saute the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until firm. Throw in your chopped kale and saute until wilted. In goes the tofu. Cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the miso paste, stirring until it is dissolved (never boil miso or you will lose all the good bacteria). The soup is ready to be served once the miso paste is incorporated. Boom! You’re ready to eat.

Until next time, have a happy GD day!

You can't tuna piano...

Those who know me know that I have a great love and appreciation for all things Asian. I can't get enough Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai or Chinese cuisine. It was hard for me to accept that my access to rice has been cut off due to my new dietary restrictions. I have however figured out ways around it. I can still enjoy the sweet fragrant heat of a traditional Thai red curry, the buttery texture of yellow tail and sea urchin or the wonderfully clean crisp flavors of a simple stir-fry. I just eat them now without rice. No problem right? I made this the other weekend. I try not to eat much meat now so when the weekend arrives I might treat myself to the sweet indulgence of Ahi tuna. The first time I tried poke was on my honeymoon in Hawaii. The locals love this stuff. Over there you can get it in the finest dining establishments as well as the shelves of the local 7-11 and either way it's amazing and addictive. I kept a tub of it in my room refrigerator and would sneak spoonfuls late at night. This may not really be Asian but it's a good example of Japanese influence in the Hawaiian islands. It's pretty easy to make. The key is having access to really fresh Ahi. Check with your local fish monger or Whole Foods. I added a couple of ingredients to give it some textural contrast. Without further adieu, GD recipe number 2!

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh Ahi tuna cut into 1/4" cubes

1 medium granny smith apple peeled and cut into 1/4'" cubes

1 large avocado cut into 1/4" cubes

2 green onions sliced paper thin

2 Tbsp. Braggs liquid amino's

2 Tsp. Sriracha

2 Tsp. sesame oil

Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Mix all ingredients and garnish with toasted sesame seeds. I used to eat this with rice crackers. Now I scoop it into celery sticks, cucumber slices or, for a real treat, avocado halves. 

Have a happy GD day!

D(KA)-Day

Last day of school for the kids, first day of the rest of my life.

That’s where it all began, just a few months ago. I woke up early to make a dish for my son’s history class’s international lunch buffet. Got out of bed with a headache and a sore stomach, which I attributed to the previous night’s beer consumption. During the food prep and cooking, I had to stop several times to rest on the couch, as the headache had turned to dizziness and the stomach pain grew worse. I made an appointment to see my doctor that afternoon.

After explaining my symptoms and donating some fluid, he tells me my blood sugar is over 200 and that I am most likely diabetic. That explains why, in the previous two months, I’d lost 30 pounds and not been able to quench my thirst, despite downing gallons of water every day. So, my doc gives me a logbook and a script for a glucose meter. He tells me to check my sugar twice a day and come back after the weekend. It's Memorial Day weekend, so I set an appointment to see him the following Tuesday.

I get home and still feel like crap, so I head straight to bed. The only time I get out is to pee every 30 minutes, because I'm still drinking a frickin' ton of water. My wife Courtney is worried that I haven't had any food in two days, so she brings up a bowl of grapes and watermelon. (Was she trying to kill me, or did she just not know any better? I choose to believe the latter). Anyway, two grapes in and I’m puking what looks like buckets of coffee grinds.

I manage to wait until 6 a.m. to wake up my wife and tell her I need to go to the hospital. I am cold, sweaty and breathing really hard and fast. We contemplated calling 911, as we thought I was having a heart attack, but opted to just jump in the car.  

We make it to the emergency room, and they rush me back right away. Thirty minutes later, my breathing is starting to slow down and I begin to believe I may live after all. I'm on insulin and saline. The doctor tells me I am going through Diabetic Ketoacidosis. My blood sugar is 655. I was borderline comatose.

Diabetic crapalapsis? What the fuck is that? I had no idea, but found out later that it's the one thing all diabetics want to avoid. The hospital docs tell me I'm a type 2 and try to educate me on carb counting. Meanwhile I'm getting served a so called "diabetic diet" that consists of apple juice, roasted chicken, green beans, toast, pasta, mashed potatoes and apple sauce. When I look back, I think they too were trying to kill me. This was definitely NOT a “diabetic diet.”

Two days later, I'm released and thrown into my new world … life as a diabetic.

I'm 46 years old. How in the hell did this happen to me? I know my diet is bad and I drink too much beer, but I'm not supposed to get diabetes. Needless to say, I fired my old doctor. You know, the one who sent me home with a glucose meter and no medicine? So, I get a new doctor, and he turns me on to a reading list. He tells me, "Do what you want to do. You can change your diet and your way of thinking, or you can eat whatever you want and offset it with insulin." Courtney orders one of the books off the list, The End of Diabetes, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I dig in to begin my education. A few pages in and I realize that what the hospital nutritionist was telling me was garbage. What my new doctor and Dr. Fuhrman were saying made a lot more sense.

A little history … in my previous career, I was a chef. I graduated from one of the top culinary schools in the country, spent over 20 years cooking professionally and have a pretty solid knowledge of food and nutrition. So, I took what I learned from my new read and started applying it to my diet. I don't really use recipes, but began basing my meals on ideas I got from the book. Most of Dr. Fuhrman’s stuff is geared toward the seriously overweight and has absolutely no fat. Since, I had “no fat” to spare (insufficient insulin prevents the body from getting glucose from the blood for energy, so the body starts burning fat and muscle), weight loss was clearly not my objective. I was staying away from most fats and live an almost 100% vegan life. Sometimes, I reward myself with some steak, sashimi or hot wings. Three weeks into my diet and I went from taking 70-80 units a day to 20-25. My numbers keep dropping and my average glucose over the last eight weeks is 112. That average includes the 655 reading at the hospital and the first two weeks of 200+ readings.  

So, I'm making all this great food and posting pictures to Facebook, and everyone keeps telling me that I should write a cookbook for diabetics. But, given my attention span, a blog seemed much more attainable. So here we are.

Still with me? I know this is getting a bit long, and it’s probably the longest entry I will ever do on this blog, as writing just isn’t my forte. I just felt like I had to introduce myself and my story.

OK. Here’s another confession. I'm not much of a recipe person. I’m more of a concept and technique guy. So, there won’t be a lot of exact measurements coming. I'm not going to break down exact carbs either. Just know that they’re always part of the creative process. And, of course, I'm not a doctor (and don’t play one on tv), so please don't take anything you read here as medical advice. I just want to share some ideas for tasty, low carb, high nutrition food that is pretty simple to prepare. 

I'm going to start with my morning meal, because it’s my favorite and it just seems  … logical. I eat this stuff every morning. (Courtney calls it my berry glop, but even she admits it is de-lish). Adapted from a recipe in Dr. Fuhrman's book, it’s basically soaked oats with fruit and nuts. Trust me when I tell you, it tastes so much better than it sounds.

I should mention here that there are a few go-to “recipes” that I make on the weekends and just keep on hand. It's just easier and less time consuming for my mornings. These are three of my faves, and together they make up the breakfast berry glop.

Crunchy Nut Mix:

Start with equal parts raw almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews and sunflower seeds. Roast each at 250 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Once the nuts have cooled completely, mix and store them in an airtight container. This nutty mix gets used in all kinds of stuff. I sprinkle it on my berries, my salads and even some of my soups. It also makes a great afternoon snack, so I keep a stash in my desk at work. I usually buy 12 oz. packages of each nut in the “healthy section” of my local grocery store, and that lasts me a couple weeks or more.

Power Seed Mix:

This one starts with 12 (or so) ounces of whole chia and/or flax seeds and two sticks of cinnamon. I like to grind all this myself for freshness. (Tip: Invest in a cheap coffee grinder for your spices. You won’t believe the difference in taste.) Grind everything up and throw it in the fridge in a big Ziploc bag. I mainly use this mix at breakfast, but sometimes add it to my salads for an extra punch of energy. Chia and flax are packed with Omega-3 fatty acids and are said to reduce food cravings (win win!). This mix lasts me a month or more.

Soaked Oats:

Oats are high in fiber and proven to reduce cholesterol. Plus, they keep you feeling full all morning. I prefer Bob's Red Mill Organic Steel Cut Oats, but use whatever you have on hand. I also like to use unsweetened organic soy milk, but you could substitute any nondairy milk you prefer. Put about a cup and a half of the dry oats in a container and add the milk to an inch over the oats. Stir, cover and refrigerate (at least overnight). If you think about it, give it a stir after a few hours. This comes out to about 3-4 portions and lasts me that many days. Any longer and it starts to sour, and nobody likes sour oats.

The rest is easy. In the morning, just mix a handful each of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. Throw in a sliced Granny Smith apple (so named after an actual Granny Smith … Google it sometime), a half-cup of soaked oats and about two ounces of your nut mix. Sprinkle with spoonful of power seed mix and stir gently. That's it.

This dish just gets better every time I eat it. People told me that my taste buds would adapt as I got used to not eating sugar and salt, but I’m not sure I believed them at first. I guess that’s just another one of those perks of being diabetic!

Have a happy GD day!