Rosemary Lemon Drop

I assure you, I have been cooking. I've just been a tad busy running for Congress, getting the last two kids off to college all while my oldest graduated from college and got married. Want to check out my Pattie Curran for Congress website? You can view it here.

I never follow recipes, I mean, I always adapt recipes.

My version of a Rosemary Lemon Drop

Rosemary Sugar for Rimming the Glass

I mixed 2 tablespoons of hopped rosemary with one cup of sugar and stored in an airtight container for 5 days. Before using, I ran it through my Vita Mix. Not long enough to powder the sugar, of course.

Rosemary Lemon Drop

1 1/2 ounces Ciroc Vodka

1/2 ounce Villa Massa Limoncello

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

1 ounce simple syrup  (some recipes call for 1/2 and ounce, but I prefer a sweeter cocktail)

1 sprig fresh rosemary

Optional: one drop of food grade rosemary essential oil (adds a great rosemary flavor! It's my "secret" ingredient)


Rim a large martini glass with rosemary sugar. Place ice, rosemary sprig and ingredients into a shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into sugar rimmed glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary, if desired.

Gianna's Cookbook

My friend's daughter has spina bifida.She also has a latex allergy. Gianna just published her first cookbook!

I'd love for you to check it out here.

I've been MIA on my cooking blog because Obamacare is financially destroying my family and all of my energy has been spent working to fight and repeal the law.

Eggs in a Muffin Tin

This is super easy. I greased the muffin pan with butter. Placed the eggs in an baked at 350 degrees for just over 20 minutes. ( stoneware has a slightly longer cooking time, so I'd say 18-20 minutes in a regular pan.)

My Favorite Potato Bread

This recipe is one I made from several recipes, really.  I never have potato flour or potato flakes on hand, so I use potato water.  What is potato water? The left over water from boiling potatoes.  I often store it in a jar in my fridge for up to a week. 

3 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dry whole milk
1 1/8 cup potato water

Combine all ingredients and knead together until you have a soft, smooth dough.  Add more potato water or flour to make the dough the proper consistency.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour.  Shape dough for loaf  and place in loaf pan or on sheet. Cover and let rise about an hour. For potato rolls,  I like to add 3 small balls of dough to each muffin in a muffin pan to make clover shaped rolls. Let rise for one hour.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven. For loaf, approximately 60 minutes, tenting in the last 15 minutes, if needed.  For rolls, bake approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.  I thought I had a picture of my potato rolls to share. May have to add one next time I make them!

Zero Net Carb Turkey or Chicken Gravy

As I just posted in my Low Carb Roux post, Xathan Gum is the magic zero net carb thickener.  Xanthan gum has 7g of carbs per serving and 7 g of fiber per serving for a 0 net carb rating. :)

When making gravy from my roasted/baked turkey or chicken, I add one teaspoon of xanthan gum at a time.  Xathan gum soaks up much more liquid than flour and thus thickens with far less!  I use a mixture of Xanthan gum and water to make a thickening gel for my youngest (he has Mitochondrial Disease, which causes him to have swallowing problems). Xanthan gum is also used in gluten-free baking to give products more of a wheat texture and helps the products rise.

This is really something you'll have to play around with. Since my baked turkeys and chickens never yields the exact same amount of liquid, I've learned to add a little at a time until the desired gravy thickness is reached.

Happy low carb eating!

Low Carb Roux (0Net Carbs)

Being from Louisiana, going low carb was difficult. So many recipes start with, ahem, ROUX! I've found a wonderful, tasty solution with 0 net carbs. That's right, 0 net carbs. I've been using it for about 6 months and it hasn't failed me.  Even my non-low carb friends didn't notice a difference in my gumbo or sausage and gravy recipes.

What is the secret ingredient? Xanthan gum! Xanthan gum has 7g of carbohydrates per serving and 7g of fiber per serving for a 0 net carb total. The biggest trick to using Xanthan gum as opposed to flour is to remember that you use FAR less Xanthan gum than you would flour. I use one tablespoon of Xanthan gum for recipes calling for 1/2cup - 1 cup of flour. So, for gumbo, I heat 3/4 cup oil and then add one tablespoon of Xanthan gum. I brown it to the desired color and make my gumbo as I would with regular, flour based roux.  I also use this ratio for my sausage and gravy recipe. 

For recipes using a butter roux (etoufee, etc) use one to two teaspoons per stick of butter, depending on the amount of liquid you will be adding.  The first roux I made with Xanthan gum, I substituted the same amount of Xanthan gum for the flour in the recipe, and I couldn't add enough liquid! The Xathan gum roux just soaked it up. I had so much roux after that, that I cooked with it for a week and ended up throwing away what was left.  Melt your butter, add the teaspoon of xanthan gum and darken to desired color.  I usually go with a peanut butter color for my etoufee.

Last tip: Xanthan gum darkens faster than flour, so be sure to stir constantly!  It does seem to burn a bit faster, too, so have your other ingredients ready to add or space on the stove to push it aside.

Happy Cajun Cooking!