Secret Recipe Club: Rutabaga Chips - Low Carb, Too!

Do you know what a rutabaga is? Do you know how to cook them?

If not, you're missing out on a great tasting root vegetable that's full of vitamins and minerals - and the best part is that its relatively low carb, too!

You can cook them and serve them as mashed potatoes, chunk them up and throw them in a crock pot with a roast or cut them up and serve them my favorite way - as fries or chips!

When I received my Secret Recipe Club blog this month, Gastronomical Sovereignty, I was hoping to find a recipe that was low carb or one that I could change to make low carb. I was thrilled when I came across Kristy's recipe for rutabaga chips!

Rutabagas are relatively low carb (approx. 8 carbs per cup), especially when comparing them to the much missed potato. I discovered them on my first journey into low carbing. I get easily bored eating the same vegetables over and over again so I often grab something that's unfamiliar to me (after reading it on a low vegetable list, of course), buy it and then hit the Internet to find out how to prepare it. This was the case years ago. Since then, I've prepared them in all of the ways that I mentioned above - I love them! Often described as having a sweet taste, I think that they have more of a slight peppery taste too them - that's why I love them.

It's a super simple recipe that wields lots of taste!

Rutabaga Chips

For one serving:

1-2 small rutabagas, sliced paper thin
2 tbsp. olive oil
sprinkle of black pepper and all natural Mediterranean spices


Toss the chips with the olive oil, pepper and any other spices of your choice. Lay the chips in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bake for 5-6 minutes @ 450*. Turn over and bake for another 4-5 minutes, keeping an eye on them to make sure you don't burn them.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Serve with low carb ketchup or low carb ranch dressing, if desired but I find them to be delicious on their own!

 **Tip** Eat the chips as soon as they are cool enough to handle because they will go soggy - and while they are still tastey, they're more like fried potatoes than chips.

Kristy's blog has so many delicious recipe to pick from. Definitely take some time to flip through her blog. The pictures are mouthwatering, too!

Thanks for another great month here at the Secret Recipe Club!

***I have to take a minute to thank my son for helping me to type up this post. I pulled the muscles in my right hand and arm from a fall on Friday evening. He came to my rescue to help me today!**

Don't forget to spread some bloggy love by taking a few minutes to visit all of the blogs in our wonderful blog hops!! 

December SRC - Chocolate Coconut Patties

By the time our reveal for the Secret Recipe Club posts this month, Christmas will have come and gone. I hope that everyone had a joyous holiday!

I was assigned the blog Oh! You Cook to choose a recipe from this month. Dena's blog is full of wonderful recipes! My choice this month was simple - not much more than chocolate and coconut -  but it was just what I was looking for to add to our Christmas treats. If you like Mounds bars, her recipes for Mounds Wannabees is spot on and so delicious! I changed the recipe up just a bit by mixing the chocolate and the coconut together, making patties instead of bars. Either way, the chocolate and coconut is an excellent combination!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Chocolate Coconut Patties

1 - 14 oz bag  shredded sweetened coconut
8 1/2 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 - 15 oz bag melting chocolate

Line a large baking sheet with wax paper.

Add coconut and corn syrup to a food processor. Pulse 8-10 times, or until corn syrup is evenly distributed and mixture clumps up.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stir the coconut into the coconut and mix until thoroughly combined.

Shape into patties and lay on the baking sheet to harden. For quicker results, stick the pan into the frig. for 10 minutes.

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Makes approx. 45 patties

SRC Group B - Gingerbread Cups

As many of my readers know, I'm a hostess for the Secret Recipe Club. If you don't know what the SRC is all about, take a minute to check it out to see what fun you're missing out on!

There are 4 groups to the Secret Recipe Club and when one of the groups end up with an orphaned blog - a blog who didn't have a recipe chosen from and made for the month - the group hostesses try to jump in and help out. I did just that this month. I was happy to be able to lend a hand to Tina in Group B!

The blog that I baked from is named Six Kilos of Pumpkin. It full of great recipes. I especially enjoyed looking through her dessert recipes. I found the perfect recipe for the holidays...Gingerbread Cuffins with Cream Cheese Icing - nope, Cuffins is not a typo. She describes these treats as a mixture between cupcakes and muffins. After baking them, I can totally understand what she is describing. I decided to stray away from the usual cupcake or muffin this time and instead, I baked the batter in 4 oven-safe cups, perfect single serving desserts. Instead of cream cheese frosting, I'm topping ours with whipped cream. Sorry, no pictures of the whipped cream, we will be eating them for dessert later this evening.

How jealous are you that you can't smell the wonderful scents surrounding me in my little apartment?!?

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas! :)

Gingerbread Cups

original recipe @ Six Kilos of Pumpkin 

1 c plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

7 tbsp. butter, softened

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp organic maple agave syrup

1 tsp molasses

Preheat oven to 350C. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients, up to and including the brown sugar. 

Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix for 3 minutes with a hand mixer or until the batter is light and fluffy. 

Spoon the batter into 4 large oven-safe baking cups. Bake for 20 - 23 minutes, until a toothpick stuck into the middle of one cup comes out clean.

Serve warm or bring to room temp and top with whipped cream.

Delicious!

Please take a few minutes to visit Six Kilos of Pumpkin to let her know that she is not alone in bloggy land!

November SRC - Chicken with Rustic Balsamic Tomato Sauce

I can't believe that it's the end of November already! That means that it's time once again for our reveal party for Group D of the Secret Recipe Club.

I was paired with Kathleen's blog, Gonna Want Seconds. I knew from the first couple of minutes of thumbing through her recipes, that I was going to find many, many favorites to try. Her recipe for Chicken with Rustic Balsamic Tomato Sauce is a perfect match for my ways of cooking so I decided that would be my choice for the SRC.

Like Kathleen, I do not peel nor seed tomatoes unless it's absolutely necessary - and then it better be for a worthwhile cause. hahaha! This is a one pan dish so full of flavor. I made a couple of changes - I couldn't find decent plum tomatoes anywhere so I subbed two containers of grape tomatoes, which worked perfectly fine. I also left out the Rosemary because I thought that I had some in my freezer but I didn't and I didn't feel like running back to the store before dinner. I'm sure that the fresh Rosemary would add even more wonderful flavor to this dish. I left out the shallots because my family doesn't care for them. I love balsamic vinegar and the reduction in this recipe is fantastic when cooked with the tomatoes.

I served the chicken over rice but egg noodles would work nicely, too. If you want a lighter meal, serve the chicken with a side salad.

Chicken with Rustic Balsamic Tomato Sauce

4 tsp olive oil-divided
4-5 skinless boneless chicken breast - I used a 2.5 bag
2 tbsp fresh rosemary-chopped - I omitted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 c. shallots-chopped - I omitted
3 tbps  garlic-minced
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
6 plum tomatoes-diced - I used 2 pints of grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 c.chicken broth
1/4 tsp sugar - I added it
1/4 c. fresh basil-chopped


Heat 2 tsp oil in a large pan.  Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.  Add to skillet and brown on both sides.  Transfer the chicken to a platter.

Add 2 tsp oil to the pan.  Lower the heat and add garlic. Cook about two minutes, stirring often.

Add the vinegar, stirring to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the vinegar is almost evaporated.

Stir in the tomatoes, chicken broth and sugar. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add chicken back to pan, turn to cover with sauce.  Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in basil.

Serve over rice or egg noodles. For a lighter meal, serve the chicken with a side salad.

Here's how you can join us in the Secret Recipe Club!  

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Looking to switch things up a bit for the holidays instead of the usual pumpkin pie? Try Paula Deen's recipe for pumpkin cheesecake.

This is one beautiful, creamy cheesecake! It's easy to make, too. I followed her directions, only adding more spices to it.

Pumpkin Cheesecake 
From Paula's Home Cooking/Celebrates cookbook

Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon - I used 1 tbsp
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg - I used 1 tsp
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves - I used 1 tsp
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours. I made our cheesecake the night before and refrigerated it. Set it on the counter for 15 minutes before cutting it for easier handling.