Sausage & Cheese Omelet Muffins

Click the Photo to Watch the Video on How it is Made

Sausage & Cheese Omelet Muffins
A Keto Friendly Version of a Traditional Omelet

Today we’re making one of my favorite breakfast recipes of all time. Sausage & Cheese Omelet Muffins.  We’re combining all of ingredients that you’d find in an omelet, but we’re cooking it in a jumbo muffin pan instead of a griddle.

We’ll use organic farm fresh pasture raised eggs, with white cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan Reggiano cheese, cream cheese, onions, mushrooms, spinach, and fresh ground pork. This recipe looks as amazing as it tastes.

Here are the ingredients that you will need

1 Jumbo Muffin Pan
2 Tablespoons of Butter
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 pasture raised organic eggs
1 teaspoon each salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and a ½ teaspoon of fennel
8oz of room temperature cream cheese
3oz each grated parmesan, white cheddar, and mozzarella cheese
4oz chopped mushrooms
1 lb of ground pork
½ yellow onion chopped
1 small bag of baby spinach

In a pan with butter and olive oil, sauté the onions for five minutes. Add in the mushrooms & cook for five minutes and set the mix onto a plate.

In the same pan, cook the ground pork, add in the ½ of the salt, pepper, and turmeric, and all the fennel. Once the meat is cooked, and in the baby spinach and cook for a few minutes until the spinach is wilted down.

Add the mushrooms and onions back into the pan with the spinach and pork, turn the heat off and cover the pan with your lid.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

In the large bowl, crack 8 fresh eggs. Add in the rest of the salt, pepper, and turmeric, the cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and the room temperature cream cheese, and give the mix a nice stir.   

You can also use a hand mixer; just make sure that you do it slowly. One of the ways to enjoy food is by having the proper texture. An electric mixer on high speed would make all of the ingredients too fine; we want to feel the bits and pieces of the onions, mushrooms, sausage, cheese and spinach; so, in this recipe, and fork or whisk is better.

Add in the cooked sausage onions and mushrooms mixture and give it another stir. This time we’ll use a bigger spoon.

Using a ladle, add the egg mixture to a sprayed nonstick jumbo muffin pan.

Bake them in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove the omelet muffins from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Let them cool for about 10 minutes, then flip them over so that they all come out evenly.

The omelet muffins are now ready to serve. These are so good; they’re nice and creamy. Each egg muffin is only 4g of carbs, so it’s perfect for the keto diet.

It was delicious!

Until next time,
Bon appetit.
Ciao,
Mark

Chicken Croquettes with Marinara Sauce

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Chicken croquettes with marinara sauce. Similar to chicken parmesan, but the ingredients are mixed into the chicken instead of being put on top of the chicken. Boneless skinless organic chicken breast cut into dices and mixed with eggs, breadcrumbs, three cheeses, seasonings, garlic, onion, parsley, and basil. Topped with a pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil.  Since the focus of our presentation tonight is how to prepare the chicken croquettes and not the sauce, we’re using a ready-made sauce, but we will have a separate video on how to make a marinara sauce from scratch very soon.

Our mise en place for tonight’s dish is:

¼ Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Organic Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts Sliced and Diced
2 Organic Pasture Raised Eggs
½ Cup of Italian Breadcrumbs
¼ Cup of Italian Breadcrumbs for a Plate
½ Cup Each of Parmesan Reggiano Cheese, Havarti Cheese, and Mozzarella Cheese
2 Tablespoons of Chopped Parsley
1 Teaspoon Each of Salt & Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Fennel Seed, Italian Herb Seasoning, and Red Pepper Flakes
3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic Minced
½ Yellow Onion Chopped
2 Tablespoons of Fresh Basil Rolled and Chopped
13 oz Jar of Pizza Sauce (Marinara or Tomato Sauce)

In a large bowl, crack two eggs. Using a fork or a whisk, beat the two eggs thoroughly.  Add the diced chicken into the bowl of eggs, then mix the chicken and the eggs together. We want to ensure that each piece of chicken gets coated with the egg; this will help the croquettes stay together when they get cooked.

Add in the breadcrumbs,  half of the parmesan cheese, half of the Havarti cheese and half of the mozzarella cheese, the seasonings, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, onions, half of the parsley, and give everything a nice mix.

Let’s go ahead get the oven ready. Turn the oven on the 425 degrees.

We have enough of the chicken mix to make about a dozen croquette bites and four croquette patties.   We’ll start with the croquette bites first.  Use a small ice cream scoop and roll the meat into a ball. This will be about the size of a golf ball. Roll the croquette bite into the plate of breadcrumbs ensuring that the entire bite is coated with the breadcrumbs. Set the breaded croquette bites onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. We’re going to sauté them in a pan of olive oil as soon as they are all breaded and ready to go. 

Next we’ll work on our croquette patties.  We’re using a cookie cutting ring; this is optional; if you want to form your patties by hand like you do when you make hamburger patties, then that is totally fine. We’re using the ring in an attempt to have them perfectly round and evenly sized for our photographs.  Using a tamper we’ll push the chicken mixture into the ring firmly. Then we’ll remove the ring and wallah! A nice chicken croquette patty is made. Repeat the process until all of the patties are made, and then coat them in the breadcrumbs and set them onto a cookie sheet next to your croquette bites.

And now we’ll get our pan ready. In a large stainless-steel pan, add in your extra virgin olive oil and turn the heat to medium low. Remember that olive oil burns if its too hot. The smoke point for extra virgin olive oil is only 325 degrees, so be careful.

We’ll start with the patties first, although it doesn’t matter which. Add the patties to the pan of olive oil and cook for three minutes on each side. ­Our goal here is to have a nice golden brown color with a crispy texture. One reason that we don’t put everything into the pan at the same time is to ensure that the croquettes are crispy   If you crowd a pan when you’re sautéing, the meat will steam instead of getting crispy.  Once the croquette patties are cooked, put them back onto your cookie sheet and leave them on the counter.

Now we’ll move on to the croquette bites. Check to make sure there is enough olive oil in the pan and add more if you need to. Add the croquette bites to the pan and cook them until they are golden brown; you’ll need to roll them around as best you can to ensure that all sides have olive oil on them. As soon as they are cooked, put them onto your cookie sheet and we’ll get them ready for the oven.

Place the croquette bites and the patties into the oven and cook them for 10 minutes. Take the croquettes out of the oven and add the pizza sauce to the croquettes. Add the shredded cheese to the top of the croquettes and this time we’ll place them under the broiler for about three minutes so that the cheese gets bubbly and starts to turn brown. Remove the croquettes from the broiler and you’re ready to serve.

And now it’s time to plate our dish…

And there it is! Chicken croquettes with marinara sauce. Golden brown bites that can be served as an appetizer. And croquette patties that can be served as an entrée. It’s a taste of Italy in your home tonight.

It was delicious!

Until next time,
Bon Appetit!
Ciao,
Mark

Shrimp & Salmon Tempura Sushi Rolls

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A Taste of California… Shrimp & Salmon Tempura Sushi Rolls

Tonight, is a Taste of California. We’re making shrimp and salmon tempura sushi rolls. Tiger shrimp and salmon filets are dipped it in tempura batter and deep fried in sunflower oil, then wrapped in nori, sushi rice, cream cheese, sliced avocado, and sesame seeds. With chopsticks and dipping sauce, the sushi will be plated on black slate plates and served with hot sake.

And why are we making this dish tonight? Well this week we were in sunny southern California with it’s beautiful beaches and breath taking sunsets. And famous landmarks like Sunset Blvd, the Whiskey a Go Go, Mel’s Drive-In and the iconic Hollywood sign. And for a taste of Asian flare, be sure to visit Nobu restaurant in Malibu. Delicious food with a view overlooking the Pacific Ocean. California rolls and chopsticks for lunch, which brings us to our dish tonight.

Shrimp & Salmon Tempura Sushi Rolls.

 To make our dish as authentic as possible, we’ll visit a real Asian market to do our shopping. We went to Super H Mart in John’s Creek Georgia and got the following items:

Seafood and Vege
6 oz Salmon Filet
½ pound of Tiger Shrimp
1 Avocado Sliced into Strips

Tempura Batter
Carbonated Water
Corn Starch
Rice Flour
Salt & Pepper
Seafood Seasoning

Rice
Sushi Rice
Salt
Rice Wine Vinegar
Sugar

Sushi Rolls
Nori Roasted Seaweed Sheets
Bamboo Shaper
Cream Cheese
White and Black Sesame Seeds
Plastic Wrap

Breadcrumbs
Japanese Style Panko Breadcrumbs

Dipping Sauces
Soy Sauce
Wasabi Sauce
Sriracha Hot Sauce
Horseradish
Mayonaise
Dijon Mustard

Beverage
Japanese Hot Sak
Sake Cups
Sake Warmer

Serving Utensils
Black Slate Plates
Dipping Sauce Bowls
Chopsticks
Chopsticks Holder

Our first step is to make the dipping sauce. We’ll use ketchup, sriracha sauce, and mayonnaise to get started. In a small ramekin combine a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise, a tablespoon of ketchup, and about a teaspoon of sriracha sauce and stir them together.  Taste for heat and flavor and adjust accordingly. 

Next we’ll get our sushi rice ready.  We’ll add rice wine vinegar, sunflower oil, salt, and sugar to a small pot.  Bring the pot to a boil and stir everything together thoroughly. This will be added to the rice once it is cooked.   Sushi rice is a short grain rice. It needs to be rinsed several times before it can be used. Pour the rice into a bowl and add water to the bowl of rice. Wash the rice thoroughly and then drain out the water. Repeat this process five or six times until the water is clear. This process eliminates the excess starch in the rice.  Add water to a pot, turn the heat up to high, and bring the water to a boil.  Add in the rinsed sushi rice, give it a stir, cover, and cook the rice on simmer for 20 minutes.

Next we’ll get our salmon ready. Slice the salmon longways into strips. These salmon strips will be dipped into a tempura batter and panko breadcrumbs and deep fried. This is also a good time to get your shrimp peeled and de-veined.

Once the rice has finished cooking, we need to let it cool. Add the rice to a glass dish and space it out. Add in the vinegar, sugar and salt mixture a little at a time and fold it into the rice thoroughly. Put the dish of rice aside; we’ll use it a little later.  

Now let’s get our tempura batter ready.  Add in a half cup of rice flour, a half cup of corn starch, two teaspoons of seafood seasoning, we’re using a custom mix from our friends at Elite Spice, but if you can’t get that, then you can use Old Bay brand of seafood seasoning available at your local grocery store.  Salt, pepper, and whisk it together evenly. Add in 6oz of cold carbonated water a little at a time and whisk it into the mixture thoroughly.   Add in a pinch more rice flour if the batter is too thin.

To get our deep frying ready, add the sunflower oil to a small deep pot. You can use an electric frying pan or a deep fryer if you’d like to. Bring the heat up to medium.  While the oil is heating up, add your panko breadcrumbs to a plate. Begin to dip the salmon strips into the tempura batter, allow the excess to drip, then place the coated salmon strip into the panko bread crumbs and cover the salmon strip with the breadcrumbs thoroughly. Repeat the process with the other salmon strips and the shrimp. 

Once the oil is hot, begin to add the salmon strips into the oil and cook for about three minutes. Place the cooked salmon strips onto a plate and keep them in the oven at 170 degrees to stay warm and crispy.  Repeat the process with the shrimp; cook them for three minutes, place them on a plate and into the oven to stay warm.

Now we’ll begin the process of building our sushi rolls.   Place a sheet of the nori onto your cutting board.    Then add the sushi rice onto the nori sheet.  Using your fingers, spread the rice out evenly across the sheet. Fill in the gaps and then flip the sheet over; don’t worry the rice is sticky and will remain stuck onto the nori sheet.   Spread a thin layer of cream cheese onto the nori sheet; the cream cheese is for flavor, and it also helps the salmon and shrimp stick the roll.

Begin putting the shrimp onto the roll. Sliced avocado is another great ingredient for sushi rolls; you can slice your own or buy it already sliced at your local grocery store. Start to roll up the sushi roll; try to keep it tight. Then get your bamboo roller, cover it with plastic wrap, and begin shaping and rolling your sushi roll.  Its going to take some practice but continue to pull the bamboo roller tight so that your ingredients are nice and tight inside the sushi roll. Unroll it and repeat the process with the remaining shimp and also the salmon strips. And now we’ll get ready for slicing.  You’ll need a thin sharp knife; if your blade is too dull, you’ll squish the sushi roll instead of slice it.  

And now it’s time to plate our dish.  

And there it is! A Taste of California!  Shrimp & salmon tempura sushi rolls, made with tiger shrimp, sliced salmon filets, tempura batter, panko breadcrumbs, and dipping sauces. Garnished with wasabi, eaten with chopsticks, and served with hot sake. A treat from the Pacific Ocean.

It was delicious!

Until next time,
Bon Appetit!
Ciao,
Mark

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Mushrooms & Port Wine Cream Sauce

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Tonight, is a Taste of France… Pork tenderloin medallions with mushrooms and port wine cream sauce.    Tender and juicy pieces of pork tenderloin seasoned and dipped in a light coating of flour, then sauteed in butter in a stainless-steel pan, topped with mushrooms and a creamy and savory sauce made from port wine, chicken stock, lemon juice, heavy cream and butter.

Our “Mise En Place” for tonight’s dish is

The Meat
1 lb Pork Tenderloin
1/2 Stick of Unsalted Butter
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ Cup of Flour
1 Teaspoon Each Paprika, Coriander, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, & Pepper

The Sauce
2 Tablespoons of COLD Unsalted Butter
8 oz of Sliced Mushrooms
½ Cup of Port Wine
1 Cup of Chicken Stock
2 oz of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
½ Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Preparation
In a small pot, bring the heavy cream up to a simmer. Make sure that you stir the cream frequently so that it doesn’t burn.

Turn the oven on at 170 degrees. This will be used to keep the food warm as we cook.

In a large pan, add in the ½ stick of butter on medium high heat.
The French version of this recipe is to use butter only; you can add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil if you want to. Add the mushrooms to the pan and give them a nice stir ensuring that all the mushrooms are coated with the butter.  Season with salt & pepper. Sautee the mushrooms until they are browned which will take about 10 minutes.  When the mushrooms are browned, put them onto a plate and place them in the oven to stay warm.

To prepare the meat, remove any silver skin, then cut the pork tenderloin into 2 inch wide pieces. Using a whisk, mix the seasonings and flour together in a bowl. Coat each piece of the sliced tenderloin and set them onto a plate.

In the same pan that the mushrooms were cooked, add the pieces of seasoned pork tenderloin medallions and cook them for three minutes on the top, then another three minutes on the bottom, then cook the sides for one minute each.   If you have a meat thermometer, check to make sure that the internal temperature is 145 degrees for medium rare. Be sure that you don’t overcook the meat; these should be tender and juicy.  Place the pork medallions onto a plate and place them in the oven to stay warm.

Now we’ll make our sauce. Pour in the port wine into the pan. Use a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan and remove any pieces of mushrooms or meat that stuck onto the pan. Add in the chicken stock, lemon juice, and heavy whipping cream, and turn the heat up to medium high. Bring the liquids up to a simmer for a few minutes to let them reduce. To help thicken the sauce and add flavor, use a strainer, and add a few tablespoons of the seasoned flour into the sauce and stir it in with a whisk.  After the sauce has reduced, remove the pan from the heat, and add in two pieces of cold butter and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and give it a nice stir.

Add the mushrooms back in the sauce and give them a nice stir.

And there it is! a Taste of France… Pork tenderloin medallions with mushrooms and port wine cream sauce.

It was delicious!

Until next time,
Bon Appetit…
Ciao,
Mark