Low-carb Munchies

Diced ham, cheese and almonds will tame the strongest snack cravings.

I stayed true to my "avoid-carbs-if-possible-diet" and purchased what amounts to a protein snack Saturday night.

Meat, cheese and nuts.

The almonds were "smokehouse" flavored and the ham was processed which made this high in sodium but it still helped keep the carb count down for the day, so I'll take what I can get. To wash it down I went with diet tea — 0 carbs.

I wolfed down my protein snack while watching an episode of Law & Order, and it occurred to me that this tasty treat would be a hit at any big-game party or movie watching gathering.

Among the millions of pounds of unhealthy food that lines miles and miles of grocery store shelves there are some alternatives – even for a guy like me that craves man-cave food. These snacks may not be as healthy as celery and carrots, but at least it's not something my body will turn into a mound of sugar that will eventually be stored on my belly, under my chin or across my ass.

Eat well, cook often ...


THE RECIPE
Smoked ham, cubed
Smokehouse almonds
Munster cheese with jalapeno, cubed

Dump and eat!

Ham, Egg and Cheese English Muffins

Ham, Egg and Cheese English Muffin

I love to make fried eggs and serve them on English muffins for breakfast ... and, I like my yolks runny.

To me the yolk of a fried egg is one of the best sauces nature can produce. Biting into a sandwich and piercing a yolk provides a rich and creamy enhancement to everything else included in the bite that ketchup, mustard or mayo could never match.

If I have to choose a breakfast bread for a sandwich there is no competition — English muffins. Toast them up. Add a fried egg, ham and cheese — that's pure breakfast bliss for me.

I made two ham, egg and cheese English muffins for myself yesterday morning and I enjoyed every bite. I wish I was motivated enough to make breakfast like this everyday but unfortunately I'm not. Until then, I will savor the moments when I get to stuff my face with such yummy grub!

Eat well, cook often ...

HAM, EGG AND CHEESE ENGLISH MUFFINS
Makes 2 sandwiches, 20 minutes
4 thin slices of smoked ham
2 eggs
2 slices of cheddar jack cheese
2 English muffins

In a fry pan over medium high heat sear ham slices until little brown bits appear on surface, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add a little oil to skillet. Cook eggs over easy. Salt and pepper to taste. While eggs cook toast English muffins. Once eggs are done and muffins toasted, stack eggs ham and slice of cheese on muffins. Then serve.

Stuffed Loin Chops

Printable version

My favorite cut of pork is the loin. It can be roasted, grilled, pan fried, braised or cooked just about anyway and it provides a canvass that works well with different flavors from fresh herbs, to marinades and spice rubs, even fruits. Recently, as I scanned the meat counter at the local grocery store, two enormous boneless loin chops jumped out at me and I knew they were destined to fill my belly.

They were cut extra thick, at least an inch, making them perfect to stuff with a special surprise. A normal or 3/4-inch cut loin chop isn’t thick enough to hold much when stuffed, but thicker cuts, like the chops features here are perfect. They can hold enough stuffing for it to be a major element.

I chose fresh sage with Swiss cheese wrapped in a thin slice of smoked ham for the stuffing. The ham would add a smoky element and make for a nice wrapper for the other ingredients.

All of these elements together added up to a tasty main course. I seared a nice crust on the outside in a cast iron skillet then finished them in the oven – which is a fun way to prepare chops, especially for a foodie like myself.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Stuffed Loin Chops

I tried something new with the presentation of this recipe. There are only 4 ingredients, but there are a number of steps in the preparation to get to the final product. With an emphasis on preparation, I decided to shoot the entire recipe at a 3/4 infinity view on a white back ground.

This is probably the only time I’ve ever presented an entire information graphic recipe without any birds-eye view shots. I think the technique will take some refining on my part but overall I like the look of this post. The repeated angle of the different elements combined with the slight overlap of each step seems to create a cascading feel in the presentation. I think I should explore this type of documentation again when it presents itself in the future.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Stuffed Loin Chops

Serves 2; 30 minutes
2 slices Smoked ham
2 sticks Swiss cheese
2 leaves Fresh sage
2 Loin chops, thick cut, boneless

Prepare chop
Place stick of cheese and sage leaf on the edge of a slice of ham. Roll into a cylinder. With a sharp skinny knife make an incision into the middle of pork chop big enough to insert ham and cheese roll. Completely insert roll into chop. Repeat.

Cook chops
Preheat oven to 400°
Season chops with salt and pepper to taste. In a cast iron or oven-safe skillet, sear chops on both sides  over high heat in a little olive oil for at least 2 minutes per side to form a crust. Remove from stove and place in oven, bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until chops are cooked through. Remove and rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Grilled Ham and Colby-Jack Cheese

Printable version

What could be better than a grilled cheese? A grilled HAM and cheese! When I was in high school I worked near a small diner and I loved their grilled ham and cheese. I would have ordered them all the time if they served three per order. I could destroy one in about 20 seconds and I was always left wanting more. I would get them as a snack and they were one of my favorite items on the menu.

When I make them at home I usually make at least two. The first goes down in record time and then I can savor and enjoy the second. I don’t know what it is, but I just seem to devour these little guys like a hyena devouring a wildebeest on the Serenghetti plain.

Instead of going with American cheese I decided to get creative and I went with colby-jack, which added an extra flavor element to the final product and really just inspired me to eat the first one even quicker. Also, I use thin slices of ham, which is key - a slice too thick gets in the way of the creamy cheese. Maybe I should experiment with bigger slices of ham just to make them last longer than 30 seconds.

BEHIND THIS BITE

The first sami didn't last long enough for a photo.

Over the weekend the family was out at the campground for a Saturday afternoon dinner. I decided to make a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches to contribute. I have a new camp chef stove with a griddle attachment and I was itching to put it to use. Needless to say the grilled cheese went over like new toys on Christmas morning. Each one I made I cut into quarters turning them into finger food. The kids inhaled them and most of the adults grabbed a couple for a snack. I made some with cheddar cheese and some with a new cheese, chipotle pepper jack that was really tasty. I think the campground grilled cheese might become a tradition.

After dinner was over, the golden brown crust I had on the sandwiches became a topic of discussion. Most thought I had used butter and were surprised to learn I had used mayo. It’s the only way to toast your bread!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Divide for 4 sandwiches
1/4 C Mayonnaise
8 slices Bread
16 slices Colby-Jack cheese
12 slice Ham, cut thin

Spread a thin layer of mayo on side of bread to be grilled. Layer 2 slices of cheese, 3 ham slices, 2 more slice of cheese and top piece of bread. Repeat 4 times. Grill sandwiches until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted, flipping half way through. Then serve.

Zesty Italian Pizza

Printable version

This pizza features a yummy sauce that I recently discovered in Cuisine at Home magazine. It’s simple – just mix a little dijon mustard with some Italian dressing and that’s it. The spicy mustard with the herby dressing really goes well together and is something that I wish I would have thought of myself – but I have to give credit where credit is due.

I got the idea for the sauce from Cuisine at Home, but the concept of using it as a sauce for a gourmet pizza is mine. I decided to include fresh tomato as one of the toppings because the sauce isn’t tomato based. I also use my favorite vegetable combo on pizza – green pepper and onion. I consider them a pizza mirepoix because they add depth to the flavor of any pie. I choose ham as the protein for this pizza because of its mild flavor. Pepperoni or sausage would have competed with special sauce and I wanted that to be the star, the toppings are just compliments. Ham seemed to be the ideal choice for this concept.

In the end, this pizza rocked, and it tasted lite – almost like something you should make after harvesting from the garden. I highly recommend trying this sauce. Use it on a sandwich, wrap or pizza – whatever your fancy, it’s worth trying for sure.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I recently had an anonymous visitor leave me a couple of comments about my photography and food presentation here at behind the bites. The nameless reader said that the food looked cold, especially the pizzas. I have to agree with that assessment in some instances, it was a good critique.

The criticism didn’t end there though and the reader just got nasty. I didn’t publish the comments because the person who left them didn’t leave their name. I would have published them had the person taken credit for their words. I have experienced the “angry” reader before with years of experience in print journalism and the angrier they get, the better and more effective your work generally is.

It tickled me to finally get an angry reader here at the blog. It’s only natural with all the traffic to have someone insecure stop by and become totally threatened and therefore leave a nasty note. It was only a matter of time, and it let me know, in an ironic way, that my work is showing some promise.

I did heed my angry reader’s one good observation about the cold pizza though. The pie in the pictures for this post is hot out of the oven. I set up the shot while it was baking and worked fast to captured it while it was still gooey. I haven't reached the point as a food photographer that I'm doing things to the food that makes it look good for photos but makes it inedible. I may get there one day but for that I'm gonna need a bigger budget – I have to eat this stuff to afford doing it!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Make 2 12” pizzas; 30 minutes
1/2 C Italian Dressing
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 12” pizza crusts
1/2 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 C Ham, diced
1/2 C Green pepper, diced
1/2 C Tomato, diced
1/2 C Onion, diced
1/2 C Parmesan, shredded

Make sauce
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the dijon mustard and the Italian dressing until well incorporated.

Assemble and bake pizza
On pizza crust layer sauce, mozzarella, ham, green pepper, tomato, onion and Parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated 425° oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.