A bite into this sweet bread brings me back to my mother’s kitchen. It’s sweet, it’s tart and it’s really wonderful. The texture is very similar to the treat I remember as a kid.

Dry ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 Tbs poppy seed
• 1 Tbs lemon zest (see notes)

Wet ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (see notes)
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rich yoghurt
• 1 cup honey
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine wet ingredients.
4. Combine wet and dry mixes.
5. Prepare a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan by greasing or lining with parchment paper or your favorite method.
6. Pour mix into loaf pan
7. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 -70 minutes or until done (see video).
8. Cool and store in refrigerator.

Notes:

Cooking yoghurt will kill the bacteria so don’t consider the yoghurt in this recipe as a probiotic.

It is very important to use fresh lemon. If you use an old lemon, don’t bother making this recipe as it will be flat and you will be unimpressed. An average medium sized lemon will yield the zest and juice necessary for this recipe. Just to be safe though, have two on hand when you start. The most important thing to know about zesting any citrus is to not zest too far into the fruit. You want to remove just the color from the outside of the fruit. The white flesh under the color is bitter, so don’t zest too deep. I use a box grater and that works well.

You can find almond flour in your local grocery, but in my experience it’s pretty expensive. I buy a 25 pound box from Hughson Nut and it works out to be about $5.50 per pound delivered. Use Google and check the web.

Important: Ovens vary in accuracy so for your first time baking a loaf, check it starting at 60 minutes and then every 5 or 10 minutes until it’s done. If you do this the first time, you’ll have the proper time for your oven.

Video:

How to tell when a loaf is done.

For more videos visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

Once you’ve had roast chicken like this, you may never want to have it any other way. Everything else will be dry, tough and flavorless by comparison. Also try brining chicken that you broil, fry or bake.

Ingredients:
1 roasting chicken about 4 lbs (important note)
3 Tbs melted butter
about 2 quarts water
1/4 cup salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed (see this video for easy peeling)
1 Tbs dried tarragon
1 tsp dried rosemary or 1 sprig fresh bruised

Making brine:
1. Combine 1 quart of water with salt, garlic, tarragon and rosemary in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil then reduce to a slow simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Combine with remaining quart of water and refrigerate to chill.

Brining chicken:
1. Clean chicken and remove excess fat.
2. Place in cold brine, adding water if necessary to completely cover meat.
3. Refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Roasting chicken:
1. Preheat oven and roasting pan to 375 degree F.
2. Remove chicken from brine, rinse well and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Coat chicken with melted butter.
4. Place wing side up on preheated roasting pan and roast for 20-30 minutes until browned.
5. Rotate so other wing side is up and roast another 20-30 minutes until browned.
6. Rotate chicken to breast side up and roast until dark meat in thigh reaches 170 degrees F and the breast at least 160 degrees F, about 15 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let rest 20 minutes before carving.

Notes:
I use a jelly roll pan with a cooling rack for a chicken roaster. It’s important to hold the chicken out of the fat that will render out of the bird while roasting.

I found this container at my local restaurant supply store and it’s perfect for brining:

A digital thermometer with a probe is very handy. When chicken is turned to breast up, insert probe into thigh and set alarm to 170 degrees. Be sure to check breast temperature too when alarm goes off.

The resting time before carving is important. It allows the meat to retain as much moisture as possible. If you carve meat without a resting period a lot of the moisture ends up on the cutting board.

Experiment with brining time and amount of salt to suit your taste and schedule. You could use more salt and soak shorter for instance.

Other flavors to try: lavender, cilantro, bay leaf, oregano, fresh ginger root, kaffir lime leaf, lemon peel, sage, thyme…

A nice change from plain steamed beans.

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh green beans, cleaned
3 Tbs unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed (see this video for easy peeling)
salt
water

Directions:
1. Combine minced garlic with butter and heat until butter is melted.
2. In separate large pot, bring 1 inch of water and a big pinch of salt to a boil.
3. Put beans into boiling water and cover, cooking for 5-7 minutes.
4. Drain beans, add butter sauce, toss and salt to taste.

Notes:
Cooking the beans too long will yield a mushy bean.
The salt in the water helps the beans keep their green.
The longer the garlic sits is melted butter, the better the garlic flavor permeates.
A garlic press is a handy tool to have.

Butter is the key to making this soup rich, warm and comforting. The tiny bits of spices add a complexity and earthiness that round out the feel good factor.

Ingredients:
1 lb. stew beef (my butcher regularly has this cut-up convenience ready to go)
1 lb. carrots, cut about 1/3 inch thick (or use baby carrots)
3/4 yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 quart hot water.
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed (see this video for easy peeling)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp. ground mustard
1/16 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/16 tsp. ground clove
1/2 tsp. dried parsley

Preparation:
Before you begin, Set a quart of water on to boil (I use a tea kettle). If it boils before you are ready to use it, turn off the heat and leave it covered.

Instructions:

1. In a dutch oven over medium high heat, saute the carrots and onions in 4 Tbsps. butter for 5-10 minutes or until they begin to brown.
2. Remove carrots and onions from pan to a covered bowl.
3. Saute beef for 3-5 minutes, until it begins to brown. Turn once and cook for 3-5 more minutes.
4. Remove beef from pan and put with carrots and onions in covered bowl.
5. Add about 1/8 inch of water to pan, scraping bottom of pan to release all the brownings. This is where your soup gets much of it’s flavor and all of it’s color so do a good job.
6. Add garlic and spices to pan and cook for another minute. Don’t let pan go dry!
7. Return carrots, onion and beef to pan and cover with 1 quart of hot water.
8. Simmer on medium for 35 minutes or until carrots and beef are done.
9. Taste soup and salt to taste. Melt remaining 2 Tbsp. butter into soup.

Notes:
Yields about 6 cups.
Additional vegetables can be added such as mushroom. Just follow the same sauteing procedure.
Freezes well.

The carrots add mellowness and color while the raisins are a nice blast of sweetness in an otherwise spicy dish.

Ingredients:
2 TB unsalted butter
about 2lbs beef, cubed about 1 inch
1/2 lb finely grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp homemade garlic powder OR 4 fresh cloves, finely diced or pressed (see this video for easy peeling)
2 tsp ginger powder OR 2 Tbsp fresh root, finely minced
2 tsp black cumin seed (kala jeera)
3 tsp homemade garam masala
1 tsp homemade chili powder
1 cup rich yoghurt
1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Melt butter in large pan over medium high heat.
2. Sautee beef cubes till browned, remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add all spices to pan and cook for 2 minutes to release flavors.
4. Add a little water to pan to de-glaze and scrape up pan brownings well.
5. Return beef to pan and add remaining ingredients.
6. Allow to come back to a simmer and reduce heat.
7. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until beef is cooked through.
8. Adjust salt to taste.

Note: Like all Indian dishes, this one will improve over time. The flavors will develop in your fridge over night and be even better the next day.

This is my favorite candy. Your family and friends will love it too and won’t believe it’s from a “diet”. When you roughly chop these, they make for an excellent addition to a fresh salad.

Ingredients:
1 lb raw shelled pecan halves
3 large egg whites, preferably at room temperature
1 cup honey
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp additional unsalted butter, melted
salt

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 300° F.
2. Roast pecans in a large pan in a single layer for 10 minutes.
3. Cool pecans completely before continuing recipe.

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 300° F.
2. Beat egg whites and a pinch of salt until it reaches the stiff peak stage.
3. Add ginger, cinnamon and vanilla extract, mixing just to combine.
4. Slowly add honey.
5. Continue mixing just until combined.
6. Fold in cooled pecans.
7. Pour 1/4 cup melted butter on large, lipped sheet pan and cover entire bottom.
8. Pour pecan mixture onto sheet pan and spread out evenly.
9. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned (see image).
10. Stir and return to over for 15 minutes.
11. Stir again and return to oven for 10 minutes, making sure nuts do not burn.
12. Place wax paper on a cooling rack and coat wax paper with 2 Tbsps melted butter.
13. Pour pecans onto buttered waxed paper and spread into one layer.
14. Lightly salt the pecans while they are still warm.
15. Let the pecans cool for about 10 minutes then transfer to storage.
16. When they are completely cool, cover and store.

Note that this treat will expand as it first cooks. That is why your pan needs to have a lip. If you try this with an unlipped pan, you will make a big nasty mess in your oven. The pan pictures above is 13 x 18 x 1 inches.

Keeps at least 3 weeks if you don’t eat them first.

Ingredients:
2 -3 lbs chicken cut into chunks (important note)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
2/3 cup water

Sauce:
2 Tbsp fresh ginger root, finely chopped
2 Tbsp garlic, pressed or finely chopped (see this video for easy peeling)
4 tsp homemade garam masala
1-1/2 tsp homemade chili powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp black cumin seeds
1 tsp cardamom, crushed
2 tsp ground coriander
1-1/3 cup rich yoghurt

Directions:
1. Melt butter in large saucepan and sauté onions until golden brown.
2. Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl, mixing till well combined.
3. Add chicken to onions and sauté for another 5 minutes.
4. Add water and sauce to pan and stir well.
5. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is done and sauce is thick enough for your tastes.

Serve alone, or over steamed broccoli.
Serves 4-6.

Notes:

Cooking yoghurt will kill the bacteria so don’t consider the yoghurt in this recipe as a probiotic.