Easy Cloud Bread--gluten free, NUT-free, low carb, low calorie and STILL good.

I saw a lot of mixed reviews on cloud bread, but I've been wanting sandwiches, and something to dip in soup and sop up gravy.  We've been using commercial cauliflower bread rounds, and they're lovely toasted or as pizza crust, but don't cut it otherwise...so I finally tried these!  I modified the recipe of course, since it didn't even call for salt... c'mon!

 I'm allergic to nuts so all the wonderful low-carb keto bread recipes are useless, for me. 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons cream cheese  (I misread the recipe and used 3 ounces!  Oh well...I'll try it both ways!)

3 eggs, separated
  

1/4 teaspoon baking powder (or a bit more)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle of garlic powder 

(I may try additional shredded cheddar, or herbs, who knows?)

The second batch was mostly done in the big oven.

Directions

    Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (yeah, oops, I greased aluminum foil.  Parchment would work better.)

    Take cream cheese (or neufchatel) out of the fridge and let it get warm. Measure, mix in salt, garlic powder, and egg yolks until smooth.

    Place egg whites and baking powder in a glass, metal, or ceramic bowl; beat until stiff peaks form.
 
    Fold yolk mixture gently into egg whites until batter is just combined.

    Scoop 4" rounds onto parchment covered baking sheet and flatten peaks with the back of a spoon if necessary.
 
    Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 17 to 20 minutes.

We both pronouced these more than acceptable!  J. made herb-encrusted roast beef with gravy and they worked wonderfully to sop up leftover gravy.  Tomorrow, a sandwich!

Definitely made a great "Egg McCloudbread" for breakfast  Later, we had ham salad sandwiches...

Simple pleasures...

 

Not only did I enjoy PAINTING the interesting little thing that looked like it was right out of The Jetsons, but the eggs taste great, too...

He'd told me about this thing for years...I was delighted he finally found an affordable one on eBay.  But I'll let Joseph share about this in his own words!

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Ya gotta wonder...

…about the elegantly beautiful inventions from the past that are no more. Why did they become extinct? What stupid business decision caused them to be “improved” out of existence?

Behold the Sunbeam E2 Egg Cooker.




Prick the narrow end of up to a half-dozen eggs with the needle inside the lid (to keep them from exploding), measure the amount of water you need for the desired hardness (using either the graded levels inside the lid or, if you want to be really precise, the plastic measuring dohicky on the top), pour the water in, add the eggs, put the lid on, and turn it on. When the water inside the unit is steamed away, your eggs are done to perfection. A heat sensitive metal contact trips the electric switch to the off position with a loud click. Kate nearly jumped out of her skin the first time this happened!

My mom had one of these, probably from when it first came out in 1954. It was in her kitchen cupboard up until around the time she passed away. Whether she gave it to someone, or it got moved to some other place in the house, garage or storage shed, or someone simply walked off with it, remains unknown. But courtesy of eBay I now have a replacement.

I love soft-boiled eggs but I have never had the patience to sit beside the stove with a timer to get them done properly, probably because I grew up with this marvelous device. I’m happy to have one in our kitchen once again.

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Gotta love those simple pleasures, too...

Oh, my...savory cream cheese onion pie!

I tweaked a recipe that turned out to be just the basic inspiration for this dish...the original was in Diane Mott Davidson's novel, Prime Cut, but I took off (wildly!) from there. 

Almost no carbs, lots of protein and LOTS of taste...

1 package cream cheese or neufchatel 

4 eggs (preferable free range, cage-free)

1/2 yellow onion, diced and sautee'd in butter or oil

1 C. spinach or wild greens...cooked, drained well and chopped  (we had some heavy-duty salad greens from a biodynamic farm that made great cooked greens...)

1/2 T. Dijon mustard

1/4 C.  grated Parmesan (I used a mix of Parmesan/Asiago/Romano)

1 C. grated Gruyere, if you have it.  If not, any amount of whatever cheese you like.  I had Cotswold chive...and only about 1/3 cup.  Whatever.  It's not an exact science!)

Sprinkle of paprika (I used smoked)

Little bit of cumin or cayenne (I couldn't find the cayenne)

Sea salt

Pepper to taste (you can use Pepperman for these last two...it's gorgeous!)


If you think you need more liquid, 1/4 C. cream, milk, white wine, chicken stock, whatever.  No biggie.  It's only 1/4 cup!

If you've got scallions or chives, add 1/2 cup chopped.  If not, don't worry about it, it's going to be delicious anyway!

I skipped the crust 'cause I'm skipping empty carbs as much as possible.

Mix the cream cheese/neufchatel till soft, beat in the eggs one at a time (or all at once, who cares?)  Add the Dijon and mix well with a mixer.

Saute' the onions, drain and chop the greens, grate the cheese and stir them all in along with the spices and salt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake for about an hour, until the mixture is set and browned on top.  The scent will drive you crazy well in advance of this, of course...

Perfect for a chilly late fall day...

Italian Egg Brunch

OK, as I mentioned, I finally realized one reason I haven't been doing this as much is because I don't always take time to do art first!  So, since I JUST finished a lovely Italian Egg Brunch and it's a lovely, lazy Sunday morning, I'm going to share it with you anyway!  (Hey, cooking itself is an art!)

We like Victoria Marinara Sauce, but haven't been able to find it locally.  Happily, Bertolli Organic with Olive Oil, Basil and Garlic certainly takes its place with style, AND it's organic! 

I aim for that whenever I can, even though much commercial organic isn't like buying from the farm or growing your own...according to a lot I've read, you just get more from the food you eat if you go organic.  More vitamins, more minerals, more LIFE.  Maybe even fewer doctor visits!

Seems like a good use of our food dollars, to me...


So.  Let me know what you think?

ITALIAN EGG BRUNCH

1 cup of the Italian sauce of your choice--home made and organic is marvelous, of course!

2-4 eggs (we get the most wonderful orange-yolked, farm-raised, organic eggs through my best friend's food coop, or from the organic section of our grocer's.  They stand up and salute in the pan!)

1 T. extra virgin olive oil OR butter

1-2 T. grated cheese (if we buy the commercial stuff, we like the Parmesan, Romano, Asiago mix)

or (and?) 1 slice of Provolone cheese, diced

1/2 sweet Vidalia onion, if possible (any sweet yellow onion will do, of course), sliced like this and sautee'd till golden:




Add squash, mushrooms, green pepper, whatever, if you have it, and saute till soft.

I went for butter to grease the pan--luscious, though...





Put the tomato sauce into the same skillet and bring it to a simmer, then drop in the eggs.  Sprinkle with cheese and herbs, if you like (we got some fantastic Tuscan Herb mix from Penzey's Spices.  Oh, yum...)





You can sprinkle on some bread crumbs if you like--I'm avoiding gluten, so I didn't! n

Cover the pan, turn the heat to low, and let the eggs poach till the whites are, well, white instead of transparent.  Check it occasionally, I like this with the yolks still soft...if you want, spoon some of the hot tomato sauce up over the eggs to speed their cooking.

This is SERIOUSLY good, and just filling enough...great brunch for a chilling winter morning!