LCHF Teriyaki Sauce And Marinade

I was talking to a co-worker the other day about eating low carbohydrate low fat (LCHF) and the on thing that they mentioned was hard for them were condiments. You know sauces such as ketchup, barbecue, teriyaki etc... Sauces in which you can add to your meats or use when grilling. I mentioned that I have recipes for quite a few sauces and or condiments on my blog, but there was one flavor or sauce that he mentioned that I did not have and that was teriyaki.

Traditionally, a teriyaki sauce as we know it here in the Unites States is a thick, tangy, sweet and some times sour sauce used for basting grilled chicken. While my local Walmart carries many different brands of teriyaki sauce, they all have one thing in common. Lots of high fructose corn syrup, which means they have a ton of carbohydrates. So in this article I am going to teach you how to make a dual purpose teriyaki sauce and marinade recipe for grilling and basting.

Teriyaki, The Sauce and The Marinade

Most commercial preparations of this condiment are labeled and sold as both a teriyaki marinade and a sauce, but the two are distinctly different. A marinade, is a thin liquid used cover a meat in order for the flavor of the marinade to be absorbed into the said meat to impart not only the flavor of the marinade but to sometimes to help tenderize the meat as well. A sauce, is a thickened liquid used to add flavor to a cooked meat or vegetable. It has more viscosity than a marinade and varies in thickness depending on the purpose of the sauce. Sauces are generally used as a finishing device added to grilled meats or vegetables during the final phases of cooking, and or may be served as a side for the meat and or vegetable. As mentioned, in this article, I will be showing you how to make both, as well as adding a quick bonus recipe for making great grilled teriyaki chicken thighs.

The Marinade

1 cup water

¼ cup soy sauce

8 drops sucralose or sweetener of your choice

½ teaspoon ginger powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whip together with a wire whisk and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

LCHF Teriyaki Marinade

Per Cup – Calories 39, fat 0.425 grams, protein 5.6 grams, carbohydrates 3.6 grams.

Per Tablespoon – Calories 2.43, fat 0.26 grams, protein 0.35 gram, carbohydrates 0.225 grams.

The Sauce

1 cup water

¼ cup soy sauce

8 drops sucralose or sweetener of your choice

½ teaspoon ginger powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ to ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whip together with a wire whisk and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use. When using xanthan gum, make sure you give each addition of gum 2 to 3 minutes to reach it's full thickening potential before adding additional xanthan gum.

LCHF Teriyaki Sauce

Per Cup – Calories 44, fat 0.425 grams, protein 5.6 grams, carbohydrates 3.6 grams.

Per Tablespoon – Calories 2.75, fat 0.26 grams, protein 0.35 gram, carbohydrates 0.225 grams.

Chef's Note: Generally I make my sauce just slightly thicker than what is required to coat the back of a spoon. This allows the sauce to cling to the meat when it is added at the end of the cooking process. A sauce that is to thin will simply run or drip off of your meat and not impart any of it's delicious flavor. For more information on using xanthan gum, check out my article 'Xanthan Gum: A LCHF / Keto Thickener'.

Commercially Made Teriyaki Sauces

As you can see from the following information, the amount of carbohydrates per brand of teriyaki marinade and sauce varies considerably if you are to believe the labels. Even if you purchased the Kikkoman Teriyaki marinade and sauce which has the least amount of carbohydrates per tablespoon, when you start making a dish such as teriyaki chicken which calls for 1 cup of sauce (16 tablespoons) then you begin to see the enormity of the problem. The following are the nutritional values of som of the most popular commercially produced Teriyaki sauces.

Great Value Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce

Per Cup – Calories 480, fat 0 grams, protein 16 grams, carbohydrates 48 grams.

Per Tablespoon – Calories 30, fat 0 grams, protein 1 gram, carbohydrates 3 grams.

Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce

Per Cup – Calories 240, fat 0 grams, protein 16 grams, carbohydrates 32 grams.

Per Tablespoon – Calories 15, fat 0 grams, protein 1 gram, carbohydrates 2 grams.

La Choy Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce

Per Cup – Calories 320, fat 0 grams, protein 16 grams, carbohydrates 160 grams.

Per Tablespoon – Calories 40, fat 0 grams, protein 1 gram, carbohydrates 10 grams.

LCHF Teriyaki Sauce

Per Cup – Calories 44, fat 0.425 grams, protein 5.6 grams, carbohydrates 3.6 grams.

Per Tablespoon – Calories 2.75, fat 0.26 grams, protein 0.35 gram, carbohydrates 0.225 grams.

Soy Vay Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce

Per Cup – Calories 320, fat 0 grams, protein 16 grams, carbohydrates 128 grams.

Per Tablespoon – Calories 40, fat 1 grams, protein 1 gram, carbohydrates 8 grams.

As you can see the homemade LCHF Teriyaki sauce is by water the better ketogenic choice with once cup only containing 3.6 grams. That's almost 10 times less than Kikkoman which has the lowest amount of carbohydrates of the commercial Teriyaki sauces at 32 grams per cup. The main primary reason the sauces are so high is carbohydrates is..... You guessed it sugar and or high fructose corn syrup.

Conclusion

So there you have it guys, my version of a homemade Teriyaki marinade and sauce that I use for grilling and marinating meats and chicken. It has 89% less carbohydrates then Kikkoman, the commercial brand the least contains the least amount of carbohydrates. So I hope that the next time that you decide to fire up the grill and want to make some Teriyaki chicken, or are thinking about making some Teriyaki style beef jerky that you make your own Teriyaki sauce.

As I mentioned, you can use coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce, or you can use an organic soy sauce if you wish. If you have read any of my articles then you know I am not an “it has to be organic or it's no keto kinda of guy”. Rather I focus on carbohydrate counts first and then look at the associated ingredients. If you want to find out more information about coconut amino's then check out my article 'Soy Sauce VersusCoconut Aminos'. As always, I would like to ask that if you have enjoyed the information in this article or found it useful, please share that it with your friends and family. Don't forget to send me a friend request on Facebook, and add me to your circle on Google+.

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Soy Sauce Versus Coconut Aminos: AKetogenic Smackdown Where You Decide The Winner.

LCHF / Keto Lasagna

If you have been following a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) / Ketogenic (Keto) way of eating (WOE), then you have probably seen or made many recipes that substitute zucchini noodles (zoodles) in place of pasta. One recipe in particular that I think that zucchini works well in is lasagna, but I must admit it took me a couple of times until I figured out exactly how to prepare it the way that I liked it. At first there was something about the texture that I just could not get right, and the flat style zoodles were difficult to cut with a fork when eating. After two tries I figured it out that the simple trick was to peel the zucchini before slicing it on the mandolin slicer.

Leaving the peel on the zucchini would make the zoodles difficult to cut with a fork, and you would pull out the whole slice of zucchini when taking a bite. While this is not a major catastrophe, it really bothered me for some reason. Anyway, to solve this problem, I started to peel my zucchini with a standard potato peeler before slicing them with the thin blade attachment on my mandolin slicer.

Now there are several caveats to doing it this way that you must keep in mind. First, because of it's high water content, once the zucchini is peeled, it is slightly difficult to control when using the slicer. So you must be very careful not to cut yourself when using the mandolin. Second, a lot of the benefits of the vegetable (vitamins and minerals) are often found in the peeling. However, because I am such a texture eater, I choose to peel my zucchini, which makes the meal a lot more pleasurable for me. The bottom line is that you can leave the peel on if you like, but for me, once the zucchini is peeled and sliced thin, it is a better representation of a traditional lasagna noodle. Anyway, let's get on to making a delicious LCHF / Keto lasagna that I am sure that both you and your family will enjoy.

The Recipe

24 ounces pasta / marinara sauce (see below)

1 pound hamburger (73/27), cooked and drained

1 large zucchini, peeled

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 large egg

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon each salt and black pepper

Cook ground beef in a a medium sized saucepan until no longer pink, drain and set aside. If you like you may rinse with warm water to remove some of the grease, but this will decrease the fat content.

Peel, and using the thin blade of your mandolin slicer, slice the zucchini lengthwise.

Chef's Note: Care must be taken when slicing peeled zucchini as it is very slippery and can be hard to control and you can easily cut yourself if you are not careful. You can leave the peel on the zucchini, but I think it acts more like pasta if you feel the vegetable before slicing. This is however my personal preference.

Next, combine the ricotta, egg, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a small bowl and mix with a spoon until will combined. Now you are ready to layer the ingredients to make the lasagna.

Using a 9 ½ x 7 ¼-inch (11 cup) pan layer the ingredients starting with a small amount of sauce, then about one-third of the ground hamburger meat, a layer of zucchini, then the ricotta mixture, then one-third cup of the mozzarella cheese. Continue layering until you use all of the ingredients. Usually for this recipe it is two layers of each, finishing with the remaining sauce, ground hamburger and cheese as the top layer. Sprinkle a little Italian seasoning on top if you wish and then it is ready for the oven or the freezer. There is no right or wrong way to layer your lasagna so you can do it in whatever order you prefer.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 90 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes after removing from the oven before serving.

Chef's Note: One thing you may notice is that lasagna made with zucchini is slightly more watery than a traditional lasagna. Because zucchini contains a lot of water, a fair amount will leech out into the sauce as it cooks. This is not a problem for us, and it keeps the lasagna from drying out when reheating leftovers.

The following nutritional information for this recipe is as follows. When compared to a traditional lasagna that you would buy at your local supermarket you can see how the elimination of pasta really reduces the amount of carbohydrates in the meal. The Keto lasagna has 75% less carbohydrates than the Stouffers, and Great Value traditional frozen lasagnas with meat sauce.

Keto Lasagna (about 59 ounces, 6 servings)

Total Recipe – Calories 2480, fat 186.3 grams, protein 139.9 grams, carbohydrates 48.7 grams

Per Serving – Calories 413, fat 31 grams, protein 23.3 grams, carbohydrates 8.1 grams

Stouffers Lasagna Family Size (57 ounces, 7 servings)

Total Recipe – Calories 2240, fat 84 grams, protein 140 grams, carbohydrates 224 grams

Per serving – Calories 320, fat 12 grams, protein 20 grams, carbohydrates 32 grams

Great Value Lasagna Party Size (90 ounces, 12 servings)

Total Recipe – Calories 3000, fat 108 grams, protein 156 grams, carbohydrates 360 grams

Per serving – Calories 250, fat 9 grams, protein 13 grams, carbohydrates 30 grams

The Sauce

There is one thing you cannot avoid when making a lasagna and that is the fact that tomatoes have carbohydrates, generally in the form of natural sugars. You can choose to make your own marinara sauce for your lasagna, or simply use plain tomato sauce. For this recipe, I grabbed a jar of 'Classico' pasta sauce from my pantry because I was in a hurry, but most of the time I make my own. Putting aside the fact that pre-made pasta sauces have some preservatives etc that many people may not like, from a purely nutritional standpoint, the Classico has added fat (10 grams), and the protein and carbohydrate counts are about the same as regular tomato sauce.

Classico (24oz Jar)

Calories – 300, fat 10 grams, protein 10 grams, carbohydrates 30 grams

Tomato Sauce (8 ounces)

Calories 70, fat 0 grams, protein 3 grams, carbohydrates 10.5 grams

Tomato Sauce (24 ounces)

Calories 210, fat 0 grams, protein 9 grams, carbohydrates 31.5 grams

Having said all of that, making your own marina sauce is usually cheaper (especially if you buy tomato sauce on sale, and in bulk) and you can eliminate or reduce the number of preservatives in your families meal buy making your own. If you want to make your own pasta/marinara sauce, then check out my article 'Mastering Marinara: One Sauce To Rule Them All' on our blog.

Meatless Keto Lasagna

If you want you could go all vegetable with this recipe by omitting the ground beef, using two cups of ricotta, two eggs, and small container (10 ounces) of frozen spinach (thawed). I may write another article on making my spinach lasagna with fresh ingredients, but this is a quick way to make this recipe meatless, just in case you need too. Thaw and rinse the frozen spinach and squeeze with your hands to remove as much moisture as possible. Then add the spinach to the ricotta mixture and follow the directions as listed previously in this article.

Spinach Keto Lasagna (about 50 ounces, 6 servings)

Total Recipe – Calories 1740, fat 115.6 grams, protein 96 grams, carbohydrates 58 grams

Per Serving – Calories 290, fat 19.2 grams, protein 16 grams, carbohydrates 9.6 grams

This meatless lasagna actually contains less good fat, protein, and more carbohydrates than the regular keto lasagna made with ground beef, however the carbohydrate count is still less than 10 grams per serving. It should be noted that the extra carbohydrates come from the additional cup of ricotta cheese (8 grams of carbohydrates per cup), that is used to replace the ground beef as a protein source.

Fresh Or Frozen

This recipe can be made fresh as in this article, or you can make it in a foil pan and freeze it for another day. If you wish to freeze the uncooked lasagna, make it in a foil pan and place in the freezer overnight. Then, after 4 hours, or the next day place a thin sheet of plastic wrap over the surface of the lasagna and cover with foil.

To cook the frozen lasagna, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees, remove the plastic wrap and replace the foil. Then place the frozen lasagna on baking sheet and bake for approximately 2 hours or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted. Be careful when removing the foil to check the lasagna as you can easily get burned by steam when removing the foil covering.

Conclusion

There you have it, a quick, easy, and tasty lasagna made with zoodles (zucchini noodles) cut on a mandolin slicer. This is an easy dish to make and either freeze for later and or bake and serve right away. The leftovers freeze and reheat well which is especially nice when you are on a budget. We freeze, then vacuum seal leftovers for me to take to work and they always taste fantastic.

So if you and you family are lasagna fans and have missing one of your favorite dishes since you have started the LCHF / Keto WOE, then I am sure you will enjoy this recipe. As always we ask that if you find the information in this article informative and enjoyable that you share it with your friends family. Don't forget to send us a friend request on our Facebook page 'CulinaryyouLCHF' by clicking on the link, or add us to your circle on Google+ Culinary You.

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Mastering Marinara: One Sauce To RuleThem All

 Crustless Chicago Style Pizza

Crust-less Deep Dish Pizza

I am without a doubt a pizza guy. In fact, I am not to particular, I like just about every kind of pizza, but one of my favorites is Chicago style deep dish pizza. Being on a Ketogenic (Keto) diet does present some challenges when it comes to making a good pie. There are some good cauliflower, and fat head pizza dough recipes and I have made both, but my favorite is a meat crust pizza that I was inspired to make after reading a blog post from one of Chicago's legendary pizzeria's 'Lou Malnati's'. The article mentioned a new offering of a 'crust-less' pizza for gluten intolerant customers.

In this case the crust was made by a layer of their “lean sausage as the base, then topped with out fresh mozzarellas cheese and zesty tomato sauce.” So I thought, this could be the perfect low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) Keto pizza. Now I do not know what they mean by the term “lean” sausage, but I decided to make the base of my crust-less pizza with a mild Italian sausage and build of from there. The final outcome I believe is my favorite keto style pizza yet. Having said that, it is pretty high in fat, so it is not something you want to eat everyday.

The Recipe

As pizzas go, this recipe is pretty simple if you are using store bought Italian sausage, just keep in mind that commercially prepared sausage may have some carbohydrates from sugar, especially if you are using a sweet mild sausage. Generally you can find Italian sausage in most supermarkets in both bulk 1lb packages or as links. If all your supermarket carries is the links, then simply split the casings and add the sausage to your deep dish pan as if it was bulk processed.

16 ounces Italian sausage, mild or hot

12 slices provolone cheese

2 (1.75 ounces) packages of pepperoni

1 ½ cups mozzarella, shredded

½ cup pizza sauce (see below)

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Take your 12-inch deep dish pizza pan and with your hands, press and spread the Italian sausage across the bottom of the pan until you have an even layer of sausage which will be the basis of your crust.

Next, add the pizza sauce and spread evenly over the sausage layer.

Then add the sliced provolone cheese.

Add the pepperoni or other desired toppings.

Add the final cheese layer and place in your pre-heated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Crust-less Pizza (Total 8 slices)

Calories – 2437, protein 138 grams, fat 198 grams, carbohydrates 20.2 grams

Crust-less Pizza Per Slice

Calories – 305, protein 17.25 grams, fat 24.75 grams, carbohydrates 2.52 grams

Pizza Hut Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza (Total 8 slices)

Calories – 2960, protein 120 grams, fat 152 grams, carbohydrates 296 grams

Pizza Hut Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza Per Slice

Calories – 370, protein 15 grams, fat 19 grams, carbohydrates 37 grams

The Sauce

A pizza is only as good as it's sauce. Typically, Malnati's uses crushed tomatoes seasoned with Italian seasoning and spices in place of a traditional tomato sauce. If you choose to go this route, an easy option would be to purchase a can of small petite tomatoes diced with basil, garlic and oregano and simply crush the tomatoes by hand and place as many as you want on top of the sausage layer, or with your additional ingredients before you add the mozzarella. If your prefer a more traditional pizza sauce and you do not have any pasta or pizza sauce on hand, I have included a quick Keto recipe you can whip together.

8 ounces tomato sauce

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon fennel seed, ground (optional)

Combine all the ingredients in a plastic container and reserve until ready to use.

Pizza Sauce (1 cup)

Calories – 105.5, protein 1.4 grams, fat 0.05 grams, carbohydrates 16.55 grams

The Sausage Patty

When purchasing Johnsonville Italian sausage for your pizza keep in mind a few things. Mild sweet Italian, and the Hot variety of sausage have sugar added so it is about 3 carbohydrates per link (15 carbs per a 5 link package of 19 ounces), while the bulk varieties of mild Italian and Hot sausage are listed as having 6 carbohydrates per pound. In addition, according to the package, the individual links contain more sugar 2 grams per serving versus 1 gram per serving for the same sausage in bulk form, go figure.

So if you really want to cut down on the carbohydrates by eliminating the sugar you can make your own mild Italian sausage. Guess what it is really quick and easy to do, and you get total control of what goes into the meat. If you are going to use ground beef in place of the sausage, you may want to use a leaner beef as the pepperoni, and cheeses are already high in fat and using 73/27 ground beef generally makes the pie pretty greasy, still tastes great but I did blot off some of the oil before we ate it when I used the fattier ground beef.

1 pound ground pork, beef, or combination

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

¾ teaspoon paprika

¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon dried parsley

¼ teaspoon fennel seed, ground

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands until throughly combined and all the spices are evenly distributed throughout the sausage.

Ground Beef Sausage Patty (16 ounces 73/27)

Calories – 1314, protein 73 grams, fat 112 grams, carbohydrates 5.45 grams

Nutritional Information

The nutritional information for this recipe will vary considerably depending on the ingredients that you choose to use and whether you decide to make your own sausage or use a commercially prepared Italian sausage such as Johnsonville. Personally, I make this pizza with a homemade sausage patty made from ground beef using the spices listed in the recipe. I am listing some of the nutritional values of the items I used so that if you tweak this recipe to suit your needs you can get a general idea of the total nutritional value of the pizza.

Ground Beef Sausage (16 ounces 73/27)

Calories – 1314, protein 73 grams, fat 112 grams, carbohydrates 5.45 grams

Ground Beef Sausage (16 ounces 80/20)

Calories – 1186, protein 79 grams, fat 91 grams, carbohydrates 5.45 grams

Ground Beef Sausage (16 ounces 93/7)

Calories – 713, protein 93 grams, fat 32 grams, carbohydrates 5.45 grams

Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage (16 ounces)

Calories – 1020 , protein 60 grams, fat 78 grams, carbohydrates 6 grams

Hormel Pepperoni (1.75oz package)

Calories – 280, protein 10 grams, fat 26 grams, carbohydrates 0 grams

Provolone Cheese (Per 19 gram slice)

Calories – 70, protein 5 grams, fat 5 grams, carbohydrates 0 grams

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Per Cup)

Calories – 336, protein 25 grams, fat 25 grams, carbohydrates 2 grams

Conclusion

Making your own deep dish crust-less pizza is pretty simple and quick to do, and the end result is quite delicious. The pie that I made for this article contained a sausage patty made from 73/27 ground beef and that is what was used to determine the nutritional information for this article. You can increase or decrease the fat and protein content by changing your choice of meat to be used for the 'meat crust' layer. When compared to a traditional Pizza Hut deep dish pepperoni pizza of the same size, the caloric, fat, and protein contents are very similar. However the Pizza Hut deep dish pizza contains 296 grams of carbohydrates for the whole pie, or 37 grams per slice. Our homemade Malnati's style crust-less pizza contains only 20.2 carbohydrates for the entire pie, and a measly 2.52 grams of carbohydrates per slice. That's 88% less carbohydrates just in case you were wondering.

So how does this recipe stack up against other keto pizza recipes? I am not sure and maybe that is another article waiting to be written, but if you have a craving for deep dish style pizza, this recipe is hard to beat. Still with it's 305 calories and 24 grams of fat per slice, it is not something that you can eat everyday and still lose weight, but if you get the craving for a great deep dish pizza, this recipe definitley satisfies. As always, I hope that you have found this article informative and beneficial for you and your family, if so please take the time to share it with your friends so that they can benefit as well. Don't forget to follow our blog, or check us out on our Facebook page 'CulinaryYouLCHF' or add us to your circle on 'Google+' to continue to receive our latest LCHF and Keto recipes.

References:

Calorie Count, There's Strength In Numbers, accessed December 18, 2016

Fat Secret, accessed December 21, 2016

Self Nutrition Data,Know What You Eat, accessed November 19, 2016

Lou Malnati's Crust-Less Pizza
 

LCHF Sriracha Sauce

Pronounced 'C-Rha-Cha', Huy Fong's Sriracha hot sauce (aka Rooster Sauce) is one of the most popular hot sauces produced in the United States. While Huy Fong's sriracha sauce is not really that high in carbohydrates (1 carb per teaspoon, 3 carbs per tablespoon), you can reduce the carbohydrates significantly and create a superior flavor by making this simple sauce yourself.

So will the recipe(s) in this article taste exactly like Huy Fong's sriracha? Well no, but it is pretty darn close and I assure you, you will be pleased with the results. Now there are a lot of sriracha recipes out there on the internet, but the goal of this article is to make a low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) or Ketogenic (Keto) version to help you stay keto strong. Let's face it, if you eat a lot of sriracha then making your own sriracha sauce will definitely make a difference in the number of carbohydrates that you consume. This article contains several variations on a theme when it comes to making your own sriracha, but my favorite is the 'original' style. So I encourage you to play around with the various recipes in this article to see which best meet you and your families needs. In addition, I have included a recipe to make your own sriracha mayonnaise if you are so inclined.

Sriracha Original Style Chile Sauce (Yield: 24 tablespoons)

25 – 30 fresh red jalapeño peppers (about 1 pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Nutritional Value (28 jalapeños)

Total Recipe – Calories 169, protein 5.11 grams, fat 3.07 grams, carbohydrates 30.3 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 7, protein 0.21, far 0.12, carbohydrates 1.2 grams

Huy Fong Original Sriracha Chile Sauce (Yield: 32 tablespoons)

Total Recipe – Calories 480, protein 0 grams , fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 96 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 15, protein 0 grams, fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 3 grams

Cut the stem end off of the peppers and roughly chop (if you have sensitive skin you may want to wear gloves). Combine the peppers, garlic, salt and water in your food processor or blender and process until smooth. Then transfer the pepper puree (mash) to a glass container and cover with plastic wrap and place in a dark place and to allow the pulp to ferment for 3 to 5 days. Make sure you remove the plastic and stir the sauce at least once a day while it is fermenting making sure to scrap down the side of the container. You should see small air bubbles in the sauce as the fermentation process gets underway.

Chef's Note: You can omit the fermentation process, and still have a great tasting sauce, but the fermentation process adds an additional depth of flavor that cannot be beat. Make sure you do not add the vinegar until after the sauce has fermented as the acid in the vinegar can prevent fermentation.

Once the sauce has fermented for 3 to 5 days, place it back into your blender and add the vinegar and puree again until smooth. Then place a fine mesh strainer over your sauce pan and strain the pulp through the strainer using a wood or plastic spoon to push as much of the mash (pulp) as possible through the strainer. When done, discard the pulp.

Heat the sauce over medium high heat just until it begins to boil (make sure you have on the vent hood as you are making pepper sauce). Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary adding additional sweetener, or vinegar. Once you have the flavor the way you like it, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool then place into jars or a plastic squeeze bottle. The sauce should slightly thicken as it cools.

Chef's Note: While the original 'Huy Fong' sriracha sauce is smooth, if you like your sauce to have more body, then do not strain it. Unstrained the consistency is more like 'Huy Fong's' chili garlic sauce. Just remember if you do not strain it, it will have more heat from the seeds and you will not be able to place it in a squeeze bottle.

Sriracha Style 'Hot' Chile Sauce

25 fresh red jalapeño peppers (about ¾ pound)

6 red Serrano peppers (about ¼ pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Mature red Serrano peppers are about eight times hotter than red jalapeño peppers, so substituting about ¼ pound of Serrano for the jalapeños makes for a hotter chile sauce. Follow the same directions as if you are making the original recipe.

Nutritional Value

Total Recipe – Calories 157, protein 4.81 grams, fat 2.77 grams, carbohydrates 27.6 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 6.54, protein 0.2, far 0.11, carbohydrates 1.15 grams

Sriracha Style 'Mild' Chile Sauce (Yield: 26 Tablespoons)

20 fresh red jalapeño peppers (about ¾ pound)

2 red bell peppers (about ½ pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Substituting red bell peppers for ¼ pound of the jalapeños makes for a milder sauce. Follow the same directions as if you are making the original recipe.

Nutritional Value

Total Recipe – Calories 173, protein 6.25 grams, fat 2.67 grams, carbohydrates 29.9 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 6.65, protein 0.24, far 0.10, carbohydrates 1.15 grams

Red Versus Green Jalapeños

So what happens if you can only find green jalapeños in your local supermarket? Can you really make your own 'rooster' sauce with green jalapeños? The simple answer is yes. Green jalapeños tend to have a milder flavor whereas red jalapeños have a slightly sweeter, hotter bite. Although they are the same pepper, red jalapeños are left on the plant longer so that they can mature. This maturing process allows the pepper to develop more capsaicin which makes the pepper hotter. All peppers are rated on the Scoville scale for heat; jalapeños have a Scoville scale rating of 2,500 - 8,000 Scoville heat units. So green jalapeños tend to be lower on the scale somewhere around the 2,500 – 5,000 range, while maturing red jalapeños are closer to the 8,000 Scoville heat range. So while the color of the pepper definitely makes a difference in the heat of the pepper, my experience is that they essentially taste the same.

Because the green jalapeño is the most popular pepper consumed by Americans, and the red jalapeños take longer to ripen, your local supermarket may not stock red jalapeños in their produce section. So can you make sriracha sauce out of green jalapeños? Well yes, there are a number of manufacturers who make green sriracha sauce, however Huy Fong foods does not currently make one. The recipe to make green sriracha sauce is the same, only you use the milder, more popular green jalapeños in place of the red in the original recipe.

Sriracha Green Style Chile Sauce (Yield: 24 tablespoons)

25 – 30 fresh green jalapeño peppers (about 1 pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Nutritional Value (28 jalapeños)

Total Recipe – Calories 169, protein 5.11 grams, fat 3.07 grams, carbohydrates 30.3 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 7, protein 0.21, far 0.12, carbohydrates 1.2 grams

Chef's Note: For an even milder green sauce, substitute two green bell peppers for eight of the jalapeños.

The Fresno Chile Pepper

Often confused with the red jalapeño, red Fresno peppers are a close cousin to the jalapeño. They have a slightly thinner wall which makes it more conducive to drying. Similar in heat to the jalapeño, it has a Scoville heat rating of 2,500 – 10,000 heat units. When matured, it is said that the Fresno has a slightly smokier, fruiter taste than the jalapeño, but the taste is very similar in my opinion. When I wrote this article, my local Walmart did not have any red jalapeños, however they did have red Fresno peppers.

The problem was that the Fresno peppers were $3.48 per pound, and I was able to get green jalapeños on sale for $0.88 for two pounds using my 'Flipp' app on my smart phone. As they were on sale at one of the Hispanic markets in the Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) area. Having said that, the red Fresno pepper is a good substitution for the red jalapeño when making your own sriracha sauce, it's just kind of pricey.

Conclusion

So why make your own sriracha chile sauce? Well, it's easy to do, and making your own sriracha style chile sauce can reduce the number of carbs of Huy Fong's original sriracha sauce by 58%. This reduction in calories is primary done by using liquid sucralose or another zero calorie sweetener in place of the granulated white sugar used by Huy Fong's original recipe. My version of sriracha used in this article was inspired by a recipe posted by Chef John on allrecipes.com (see his original recipe and video by following the link in the references section).

As I have stated many times in my previous articles on making your own condiments, that commercially made condiments and sauces contain a number of hidden carbohydrates that many of us do not think about, and often times forget to count. Failure to count for these hidden carbs can blow you right out of ketosis leaving you wondering what you are doing wrong when you suffer a stall in your weight loss and or fitness goals. In addition, making your own sriracha sauce allows you to control exactly what goes into the sauce so that you know it is safe for you and your family. As always, I hope that you have found this article informative and beneficial for you and your family, if so please take the time to share it with your friends so that they can benefit as well. Don't forget to follow our blog, or check us out on our Facebook page 'CulinaryYouLCHF' or add us to your circle on 'Google+' to continue to receive our latest LCHF and Keto recipes.

Sriracha Mayonnaise (Bonus Recipe)

1 cup LCHF Mayonnaise or Regular Mayonnaise

3 to 4 tablespoons LCHF sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice

½ teaspoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix throughly.

Similar Articles On Our Blog:

Making Your Own LCHF Condiments

LCHF Jamaican Jerk Barbecue Sauce

References:

How To Make Homemade Sriracha Sauce, Allrecipes.com

Calorie Count, There's Strength In Numbers, accessed December 18, 2016

Fat Secret, accessed December 21, 2016

Self Nutrition Data,Know What You Eat, accessed November 19, 2016

My LCHF Jamacian Barbecue Sauce

This is the barbecue sauce that I use when I want to add the flavor of Jamaica to my meals. This sauce is not a high fat sauce, but you could add 1 - 2 tablespoons of butter to not only increase the fat content, but to give the sauce an even smoother taste and greater “mouth feel”. I use this sauce primarily on grilled chicken (yes with the skin on) when I do not have the time to marinate the chicken overnight in my jerk marinade. I also use it on hamburger patties whenever we cook them on the grill. In addition, it is a great sauce for ribs and other meats as well.

Traditionally jerk sauce is made with scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, in this recipe I use cayenne pepper giving it a milder tastes so that my wife can enjoy the sauce as well since she is not quite the chili head that I am. If you like your sauce to have a little more kick, then please use a scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, or you can increase the cayenne pepper to suit your tastes. For a milder kick add a minced jalapeño or two (0.9 carbs for a medium to large jalapeño) in place of the habanero or scotch bonnet pepper.

LCHF Jerk BBQ Sauce Yield (23 tablespoons)

8 ounces tomato sauce

2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon Jerk Seasoning

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or ½ scotch bonnet pepper

1 drop liquid sucralose or 1 teaspoon granulated sweetener of choice (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

In a medium saucepan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Remove sauce from heat and cool before bottling in jar or plastic bottle.

Total Recipe – Calories 120.8, protein 2.57, fat 0.36 grams, carbohydrates 17.8 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 5.25, protein 0.11 grams fat 0.01 grams, carbs 0.76 grams

Jerk Seasoning

You can make your own Jerk seasoning or purchase a ready made variety. Just make sure that if you use a ready made Jerk seasoning that you check the ingredient list. Some may contain sugar with will increase the carbohydrate count. If you are watching your sodium, you can omit the salt, from this recipe and simply adjust the seasoning of the sauce just before bottling. This recipe is my variation of the Jerk Seasoning that I originally found in a Helen Willinsky's cookbook 'Jerk: Barbecue From Jamaica'. Not only is this recipe an important part of this barbecue sauce, but you can use it as a seasoning on grilled meats and fish.

Jerk Seasoning (3 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon allspice, ground

1 teaspoon thyme, ground

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ground

¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ground

Mix all ingredients in a small plastic container and store in your cupboard with all your other spices.

Total Recipe – Calories 44.5, protein 0.96 grams, fat 0.4 grams, 17.84 carbohydrates

Per Tablespoon – Calories 14.8, protein 0.32 grams, fat 0.13 grams, carbs 0.99 grams

Conclusion

One of the milestones in my life was meeting my soul mate and getting married on a beach in Jamaica. There were a lot of things we experienced on this trip that we will never forgot, one of those being the discovery of Jerk chicken. This fiery, delicious chicken marinated overnight and grilled over pimento wood served with a Jerk style barbecue sauce is simply delicious. Although we have been back to Jamaica several times, when I make Jerk chicken my mind is always flooded with memories of our first trip eleven years ago, and that's a good thing.

I have adapted this barbecue sauce recipe from my original recipe to be low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) and keto friendly. I know this recipe will not have the same powerful memories for you that it has for us, but I hope that you and your family will enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. As always, we ask that if you have found this recipe informative and enjoyable please share it with your friends. Don't forget to follow use on our Facebook page 'CulinaryYouLCHF' or add us to your circle on Google+.

Other Related Articles On Our Blog:

'Sweety Que' KC Style LCHF Barbecue Sauce

Making Your Own LCHF and Keto Condiments

References:

Willinsky, Helen, Jerk: Barbecue From Jamaica, The Crossing Press, CA, 1990.

LCHF Honey Mustard Dressing

As always for Thanksgiving, my family cooks both a turkey and a spiral cut ham. You know the ham that comes with the plastic package of brown sugar and spices to make a honey glaze. As expected the cooking duties fall upon me an rightly so, it sorta comes with the territory of being the chef in the family. Because my wife and I have embarked on our low carbohydrate high fat journey (LCHF), it was time to throw away the brown sugar glaze packet and come up with another type of glaze for the ham. The package for the glaze did not have any nutritional information on it however it contents included brown sugar, refined sugar, and powdered molasses. Suffice it to say it had more carbohydrates than either of us was willing to have.

The first thing that came into my mind was honey mustard, but I really did not want to add the carbohydrates from even 2 tablespoons of honey (34 carbs). However, I figured that since we have been using liquid sucralose, that I could come up with a quick recipe to make a honey mustard dip and or salad dressing that would work as a glaze. So in this article I will show you how to make my version of a LCHF faux honey mustard dressing that is quick, delicious, and your family and or your guests will never know that it is not made with honey. Best of all it contains almost no carbohydrates.

The Recipe

You can search the internet and find a variety of LCHF style honey mustard recipes, but many of them still use honey as their primary sweetener. Granted that 2 tablespoons of honey would only increase the overall carbohydrate count of the total recipe to 36 carbohydrates (2.25 per tablespoon) , I really wanted to make this recipe as low carb as possible, while retaining the flavor of a quality homemade honey mustard dressing. As I try and do for all of our LCHF recipes, I have included the nutritional information of a few commercial brands so that you can compare the nutritional data.

LCHF Honey Mustard (1 cup, 16 tablespoons)

½ cup LCHF mayonnaise or regular mayonnaise

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

3 drops of liquid sucralose (equal to 1 tablespoon sugar)

1 – 2 pinches of salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and combine with a wire whip or spoon. Place in a mason jar and or other container and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Chef's Note – I think the combination of the three mustards give this dressing a fantastic depth of flavor that is hard to beat. You can use any type of mustard that you want to make this recipe, however if you only want to use one type of mustard I would suggest Dijon, but if regular yellow is all you have, that's fine, it will still make a great dressing, it will however, not have the subtle flavors of this particular recipe.

Total Recipe – Calories 793, protein 3.8 grams, fat 85 grams, carbohydrates 3.8 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 50, protein 0.23 grams, fat 5.31 grams, carbohydrates 0.23 grams

Kraft Honey Mustard Dressing & Dip

Per Tablespoon – Calories 45, protein 0 grams, fat 3 grams, carbohydrates 4 grams

Ken's Steakhouse Honey Mustard Dressing

Per Tablespoon – Calories 65, protein 0 grams, fat 5.5 grams, carbohydrates 3 grams

Wishbone Honey Mustard Dressing

Per Tablespoon – Calories 60, protein 0 grams, fat 6 grams, carbohydrates 3 grams

A quick comparison of the commercially prepared honey mustard sauces versus our LCHF version made with liquid sucralose reveals that the honey mustard dressing sold on most supermarket shelves contains 13 times more carbohydrates per tablespoon (3 / 0.23 = 13.04). Just in case you are wondering the prepared honey mustard dressing contains 92% more carbohydrates. Even I was amazed by this number. For more information of liquid sucralose as an alternative zero calorie sweetener, check out our article on the blog regarding 'Liquid Sucralose'.

Conclusion

Well I did not manage to get this recipe posted before Thanksgiving, if you are going to prepare a ham for Christmas, this might be a good LCHF glaze option for you. Brush it on the ham during the last 30 minutes of baking. My suggestion would be to mix equal parts of the LCHF honey mustard salad dressing with equal parts of the pan juices before basting the ham.

As a salad dressing or dipping sauce, the commercially prepared versions of honey mustard are no match, this recipe has a flavor profile that they simply cannot compare with. If you like bold and spicy flavors, try adding some cayenne pepper, hot sauce or horseradish to the sauce. I think you will be amazed how versatile this recipe is.

So if you are a diabetic looking for a good honey mustard dressing alternative that will not cause your blood sugars to rise, then this a great salad dressing and dipping sauce for you and your family. If you are actively engaged in living the LCHF lifestyle, then this is another salad dressing and dipping sauce to add to your growing repertoire of sauces and dips that will help your maintain your LCHF goals. As always, I hope you have found this article to be informative and helpful and if so we ask that you share it with your friends. Don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook on our page CulinaryYouLCHF or add us to your groups on Google+.

Similar Articles On Our Blog:

LCHF Thousand Island Dressing

LCHF Ranch Dressing

LCHF Caesar Dressing

LCHF Chipotle Honey Vinagrette

Liquid Sucralose

 

References:

Calorie Count, There's Strength In Numbers, accessed November 21, 2016

Fat Secret, accessed November 21, 2016

Ken's Steakhouse Honey Mustard, accessed November 21, 2016

Kraft Honey Mustard, accessed November 21, 2016

Self Nutrition Data,Know What You Eat, accessed November 21, 2016

Wishbone Honey Mustard, accessed November 21, 2016

LCHF Kansas City BBQ Sauce

With it's bold, sweet, and tangy flavors, Kansas City (KC) style barbecue sauce has become one of the most popular styles of barbecue sauce purchased by Americans. Now there are quite a few different commercially prepared KC style barbecue sauces, but there is only one problem, not one of them is low carb. So what are you supposed to do if you get a hankering for some good old fashioned barbecue, but are diabetic, or are following a low carbohydrate high fat diet? Well, make your own of course. So, if you love the sweet tangy flavors of KC barbecue sauce, then you should love my low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) version of this popular style sauce that I call 'Sweety Que'.

Kansas City Style barbecue sauces start with a base of tomato sauce, tomato paste, onions, and garlic. The sweetness comes from brown sugar, molasses, and sometimes honey, while it gets it tartness from vinegar or lemon juice, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. It's final flavor component comes from it's spice mix of salt, black pepper, chili powder, dry mustard, allspice, and cayenne pepper. Because Kansas City sauces are bold in flavor and thicker than other barbecue sauces, they are typically used as a finishing sauce which is brushed on just before serving or near the end of the cooking cycle.

In this article I will teaching you how to make my LCHF version of KC barbecue sauce 'Sweety Que'. For this recipe we substitute the brown sugar and molasses with liquid sucralose which contains no carbohydrates, and in place of the traditional ketchup we will be using tomato sauce and tomato paste.

The Recipe

If you love the sweet tangy flavors of Kansas City barbecue sauce, and you have been looking for a low carbohydrate alternative to commercially prepared sauces, then I guarantee you that you will love my LCHF version of KC style barbecue sauce that I call 'Sweety Que'. While tomato sauce and tomato paste have carbohydrates, most of the carbohydrates in commercial KC style barbecue sauces come from brown sugar and molasses. In this recipe we will be substituting liquid sucralose for the sugar and molasses.

KC 'Sweety Que' (Yield 2 ½ cups, 40 tablespoons)

2 (8oz cans) tomato sauce

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup water

8 to 10 drops liquidsucralose (25% concentration)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ medium onion, diced

1 whole clove, ground

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dark chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried mustard

1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1 drop liquid smoke (optional)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onions, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, paprika, red pepper, allspice, and cloves and cook, stirring, until paste is dark brick red, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and heat just until the sauce simmers, the cook for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. Remove and discard bay leaf. If desired, puree with an immersion blender or add to a table top blender once the sauce has cooled.

Chef's Note – I suggest that you start out with 8 drops of sucralose and then taste the sauce for sweetness, if it is not quite sweet enough then add 2 more. Remember KC style barbecue sauce tends the be sweeter than other styles, but as always adjust the sweetness to suit your personal preferences.

Total Recipe – Calories 399, protein 5.75 grams, fat 14.89 grams, carbohydrates 44 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 10, protein 0.14 grams, fat 0.37 grams, carbohydrates 1.1 grams

Just for comparison, I have listed the three most popular commercial KC style barbecue sauces with their nutritional information.

Bull's-Eye Kansas City Style

Per Tablespoon – Calories 25, protein 0 grams, fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 6.5 grams

Heinz Kansas City Style, Sweet and Smokey

Per Tablespoon – Calories 30, protein 0 grams, fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 7.5 grams

KC Masterpiece Original

Per Tablespoon – Calories 29, protein 0.2 grams, fat 0.1 grams, carbohydrates 7 grams

As you can see, all of the commercially prepared KC style barbecue sauces have at a minimum 6 times more carbohydrates than my KC 'Sweety Que' barbecue sauce. That's quite a substantial difference especially for those of us who are diabetic or are following an LCHF diet regimen. And the best part of all my 'Sweety Que' will not cause your blood sugar to spike like all the others mentioned in this article.

Conclusion

This has become one of my families favorite BBQ sauces. It is low carb and will not cause your blood glucose levels to spike. So if you are a diabetic or are eating LCHF you no longer have to worry about the number of carbohydrates in your barbecue sauce as this recipe only has 1.1 grams of net carbohydrates per tablespoon. For information on how to use and where to purchase liquid sucralose check out our article on the subject on our blog.

As always, I hope you have found this article to be informative and helpful and if so we ask that you share it with your friends. Don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook on our page CulinaryYouLCHF or add us to your groups on Google+.

Similar Articles On Our Blog:

Liquid Sucralose