How did he accomplish all this? In the Vichyssoise, he substituted olive oil for the butter for sautéing, reduced the amount of cream he used by about a third and he exchanged the chicken stock for vegetable stock. Then for added fiber, he stirred finely ground almonds into the soup at time of service. In the Stroganoff he again substituted olive oil for the butter in sautéing. He used a leaner cut of beef and then replaced the egg noodles traditionally served under a stroganoff with spinach noodles made with whole wheat flour, lowering the cholesterol and raising the fiber content. In the Fricassee we find him repeating the theme of olive oil instead of butter for the sauté, and he also used skinless chicken. He used whole wheat flour for his roux to bump the fiber content up a notch or two and used a vegetable stock instead of a chicken stock for the same reason as well as to lower the fat content. He found a repeating theme, olive oil for butter, vegetable stock for chicken stock, then in a stroke of what his mom would call genius, he replaced the white rice called for in the Pilaf with a wild and brown rice blend, reduced its quantity by 300gr and substituted 200gr of millet, then also added 250g each of peas and corn. Seemingly simple solutions to what had started out being a daunting task.
He made a celiac-safe cake with a chocolate and hazelnut gateau that used gluten-free flour and incorporated ground hazelnuts and chocolate for an awesome dessert. And then he turned his attention to the diabetic sensitive dessert. I’ll let him take it from here.
My mom has diabetes so to make a sugar-free dessert was just a little bit of a memory jog for me. I knew that diabetics are deficient in insulin and can’t process sugar efficiently. Therefore, creating a dessert that was sugar-free wasn’t too difficult.
I decided I would do this one for my mother and made one of her favourite desserts. I chose the Fudge mainly for my mom but also because I feel as though Fudge is one of those things that people associate with sugar. I figured that many diabetics didn’t realize that they could eat Fudge. I wanted to show everyone that, really, anything can be made diabetic safe if you substitute sweetener for the sugar.
I went back to the stock room and made sure we had some Sweet’n Low and some unsweetened chocolate for the Fudge. I decided to put pecans in because I feel that nuts and chocolate go hand in hand. Chocolate by itself is sort of boring, that’s why most chocolate bars have so much other stuff in them. So I chose pecans because they are a good nut and very different from hazelnuts.
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
120 ml (1/2 c.) Sweet’n Low
5 ml (1 tsp.) vanilla extract
120 ml (1/2 c.) chopped pecans
In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, chocolate, sweetener and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in the pecans and pour into and 8 inch baking pan lined with foil.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Cut into squares, serve chilled.
Yields: 16 servings
Preparation Time: 10 minutes plus refrigeration time
So there you have it. Leaps of faith, tributes, and life going forward. Look to this space each month for a twist on the ordinary and lots of news, anecdotes and reasons to smile.
Here’s my wish that your New Year brings you everything you need for a happy life in abundance.
TTFN!!!
