The usuals, of course are ribs, pulled pork, and brisket. All good. All tasty. But a good sugar free barbecue sauce can make burgers sing, transform meatballs, and elevate meatloaf, replacing tomato ketchup or sauce with barbecue sauce.

Ingredients

• Tomato Puree (can use more ketchup)
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Ketchup (or sugar free)
• Yellow Mustard
• Sugar Free Maple Syrup (can use a different sweetener)
• Garlic Powder (or a few cloves garlic)
• Onion Powder (can fine dice a medium onion instead)
• Worcestershire Sauce (make sure to see notes on this if you avoid gluten or fish)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cayenne

I like sugar free barbecue sauce that has a little tang and isn’t too sweet or overpowering, and this recipe fits that. It works because it brings just enough acid to a dish for perfect balance.

More Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Big Mac Sauce
• Comeback Sauce (for Crack Slaw)
• Peach Salsa
• Pulled Pork

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Sugar Free Barbecue Sauce

Sugar Free barbecue sauce for pork, ribs, burgers, meatballs, meatloaf and more.

Course condiment

Cuisine American

Keyword barbecue sauce, sugar free

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 4 tablespoons sugar free ketchup see notes
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (sugar free)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Instructions

• Add all ingredients together. Taste for seasoning. You can add heat if you desire with a pinch of cayenne pepper as an option, but only a pinch.

Notes

If you don’t have sugar free ketchup, add in another 1/4 cup tomato puree. 

The post Sugar Free Barbecue Sauce appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Thomas Keller is one of the best chefs in America and is famous for his very high end restaurant in Napa, the French Laundry. 

 You might remember that the French Laundry was recently made a bit famous by the California governor, which is too bad, as it was already famous but for all the right reasons. For regular folks like us 

Ad Hoc is a the scaled down eatery for regular people and also located in Napa Valley.  We ate there a few years ago, munching on fried chicken, this asparagus with gremolata,  potatoes and more.

Although it’s not the French Laundry, you still need to make your reservations well in advance and give a deposit. They serve one meal per seating and you don’t get to choose, so just go prepared to enjoy some heightened comfort food in an approachable setting. 

I  love the recipes in the Ad Hoc Cookbook, featuring Iconic American dishes,  because you and I  can actually make them and we probably have most of the ingredients in our pantry.

Crab Cakes Gluten Free/ Keto Option

I’ve made these crab cakes several times but this time. I substituted the panko bread crumbs with pork panko. To my wonderful surprise, it worked. I only used the pork panko to bread the crab cakes, not for the mix itself. 

What is Pork Panko?

Did you know that even if you’re on the keto diet, the gluten free diet or the grain free diet, you can still have amazing crunchy breaded crab cakes?

The breading is not bread at all, but Pork Panko, crushed pork skins. You can make your own breading or buy Pork Panko already made into keto look-alike bread crumbs. Costco sells them now for a very good price.

There is a trick to frying with pork panko, and it took me a while to discover this trick. Once I  did, I  was able to get the crispy crunch I  was looking for.

How to fry Keto Crab Cakes with Pork Panko?

The secret is not to use any oil. I  only used a small amount of baking spray and no oil. Pork panko is already fat. It’s pork skins and can get soggy with added oil. I  actually accidentally discovered this as I  was going to bake my crab cakes and just start them on top of the stove. When I  turned the crab cakes over, I  discovered an amazing crunch. Once my crab cakes were done on the other side, that side also had crunch and the crunch stayed. This is a dream discovery. You can use as much or as little pork panko you desire. 

What Crab to Use for Grain Free Crab Cakes

Thomas Keller doesn’t use blue crab, because it is is not indigenous to Northern California. However, I  think a good crab cake has to be made with jumbo blue crab to be an authentic Maryland style crab cake, because that’s how I  grew up and there is no real substitute. Although expensive, a can will make six filling crab cakes. I  grew up on blue crab because it was easily accessible coming from Baltimore, 90 minutes away. I  had no idea it was such a delicacy and that all of America was not enjoying blue crab. If you’ve never had blue crab, you can buy it at Costco for about $25, but that’s the price of one or two crab cakes  in a restaurant (if they use blue crab). 

How to Mix and Make Authentic Keto Crab Cakes

I’ve taken some liberties with adapting the original recipe. I  added lemon but eliminated butter, onion, garlic and peppers. This recipe is closer to the crab cakes I  grew up on.

Read my article here that breaks down the differences and similarities between these diets. Did you know that most keto friendly food is gluten free, but much gluten free baking is not keto friendly. Find out how to sort these differences.

Cajun Remoulade is Perfect for Crab Cakes

• Keto Pumpkin Bread, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Paleo
• Summer Side: Green Beans, Golden Potatoes with Pesto
• Crack Slaw with Comeback Sauce Recipe
• Cheeseburger Stir Fry with Best Burger Sauce (Keto friendly)
• Parmesan Cheese Fried Eggplant Bruschetta (no breadcrumbs)

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Keto Maryland Crab Cakes

Inspired by Thomas Keller, modified for grain free or keto diet

Course Seasfood

Cuisine American

Keyword crab cakes, keto bars

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 minute minute

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

• 16 ounces jumbo lump crabmeat
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise can use more if needed
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon flat Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon pimento chopped
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 1/2 cups Pork Panko or panko of your choice (see notes)
• 1 cup Remoulade

Instructions

• Drain crab meat well, but do your best to leave it in lump form.
• In large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients except pork panko.
• Add crab meat to mixture.
• Form into six crab cakes.
• Gently roll into pork panko.
• Heat non stick pan to medium low Fry crab cakes using no oil if using pork panko. Turn once the side is very crispy about five minutes per side.
• Serve with lemon wedges, tartar sauce or your favorite mayonnaise. I use an avocado oil based mayonnaise.
• Remoulade recipe here

The post Keto Crab Cakes – Grain Free Option appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I know there is a lot of fuss for one dish meals, which I love too, and slow cooker comfort food, but the easy twenty minute meal still rules for us.

This burger steak recipe is the perfect easy dinner when you want the comfort of slow cooking, but you need it fast. The sour cream will add that luscious layer of creaminess while not taking away from the mushrooms or the meat.

This Burger Steak Recipe is Oven Baked for an Easy Dinner

These burger steaks are made the same way I made hamburger steaks with onions, completely oven baked. While the burger steaks are in the oven, you can sauté the mushrooms. Wait just until you’re ready to serve to add in the sour cream. Once you make the sauce complete, you need to serve immediately.

A good side would be mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower (for low-carb), but I’m always sure to add in a green, like this melted kale.

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I used cremini mushrooms, sliced medium thin, and sauteéd first in butter. When they were cooked through and golden but not browned, I added in the sour cream and a little more Worcestershire sauce. (You can use wine in the mushrooms as an option). I added herbs de provence.

When dishes are simple like a burger steak recipe, use quality ingredients.

I used a high quality grass fed ground beef with some added olive oil, as sometimes grass-fed beef can be dry. If you are not using grass fed meat, you can skip the olive oil. I used organic sour cream which is so much better than regular sour cream.

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More Ground Beef Recipes from Spinach Tiger

More Keto Recipes

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Burger Steak Recipe with Sour Cream Mushroom Sauce

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup grass fed ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil see notes
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Sour Cream Mushroom Sauce
• 4 cups mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup full fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
• black pepper

Instructions

• Mix mix gently with olive oil, Worcestershire Sauce, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper.
• Form into hamburger steaks. I like an oval shape for this recipe, but you can make rounds
• Bake in oven at 350 degrees F. for about twenty minutes or until your meat reaches the temperature you want.
• Make Sour Cream Mushroom Sauce
• Scrub, pat dry mushrooms. I use a mushroom brush. Slice thinly.
• Add butter to frying pan and cook mushroom on medium low heat until softened.
• Add in a tablespoon of white wine and cook down until wine has evaporated. If you don't want to use wine, use more Worcestershire sauce. If mushrooms are done before meat, turn heat off.
• When ready to serve, heat up mushrooms, add in sour cream and toss until you have a sauce the consistency you want.
• Serve immediately.

The post Burger Steak Recipe with Sour Cream Mushroom Sauce (Low Carb) appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I grew up eating only a few salad dressings that weren’t a vinaigrette.  I’m Italian and we only ate oil and vinegar on our nightly salad. When we did venture away from that it was blue cheese dressing when dining out.

My family believed that bottled dressings weren’t good enough or healthy enough, and frankly, they were salad snobs.   Most of the time the blue cheese dressing was served with the classic wedge salad, a creation from the 1950’s, where people weren’t afraid to eat bacon, cheese and sour cream. Then the 80’s came and people started getting nervous about fat. I never bought into that, but I do admit to pulling away from blue cheese dressing for a while.

Lately I’ve seen the return of the wedge and I started ordering it again as my hefty starter, but believe it or not I never made a wedge at home, until now, because this is my first and best blue cheese dressing. I do mention at the end of this post that you can make a wedge with a blue cheese vinaigrette as an easier option. I love both.

Blue cheese dressing is the epitome of salt, fat and acid or it should be. In fact, my secret to the very best of the blue cheese dressing (aside from a nice blue) is adding enough acid. I took three routes using worcestershire, lemon and vinegar. You can mix those up if you like, or skip the lemon and add more vinegar, but I had all three, so I used all three. I wanted to use a champagne vinegar but was out and the apple cider vinegar worked liked a charm.

The key will be to taste and make sure the dressing is a little bit tart and exciting. A good blue cheese shouldn’t be bland like a ranch dressing. Also know the blue cheese taste will become more profound as it chills.

What Blue Cheese Should You Use to Make the Best Blue Cheese Dressing?

There are three kinds of blue cheeses.

• Creamy
• Crumbly
• Firm

Crumbly blue works best like a Maytag or gorgonzola, which is what I used here.

Gorgonzola is an Italian blue cheese with a milder flavor than the very pungent blue cheese, although sometimes you may find a very strong one.   It’s great for eating by itself, pairing with apple or pear slices or topping on purple potatoes.

Make the blue cheese dressing jar a day or so ahead of your next dinner party and cut up smaller wedges and serve with tomato, bacon, and hard boiled egg for a classic or make this festive wedge if it’s holiday time. If you want to add extra color, radishes are nice as well as pomegranates.

Blue Cheese Vinaigrette.

One more note: Some days I like a simple blue cheese vinaigrette. This is perfect for the no mayo camp. Just mix olive oil, vinegar, dijon mustard) and add small crumbles of blue cheese.

More recipes using blue cheese from Spinach Tiger

More Salad Dressings from Spinach Tiger

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Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing, perfect for the wedge salad or for dipping.

Course Salad Dressing

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise.
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce.
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons blue cheese or gorgonzola cheese crumbled, divided – See notes
• 1 tablespoons white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and pepper.

Instructions

• Mix together mayonnaise, milk, sour cream, worcestershire sauce, 1/3 cup blue cheese, and half vinegar, salt and pepper in blender.
• Taste for acidity and add more vinegar as necessary.
• Add in remaining blue cheese for a chunky dressing. You can choose to add all blue cheese to the blender if you want your dressing completely smooth.
• Taste, as some blue cheese is stronger than others and you may need to add more.
• Refrigerate at least four hours, ideally overnight.

Notes

Blue Cheese – Depending on the strength of your blue cheese you may need to add 1/2 cup. You will have to taste and then taste again after the dressing has been in fridge for a day.

The post My Secret to the Best Blue Cheese Dressing appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Ground beef might have the working class reputation when you put it up against the rib eye of the suburbs and the filet mignon of the upper middle class.

In reality, food and what is good or supposed to be good is all about perception. We Americans, when dining out, will search high and low for the best burger, the bison burger, the lamb burger, the juicy wagyu burger, but at the end of the day, we flock to the simple beef burger. Yes we do. We feel happy when we are eating burgers.

Easy Hamburger Steak Recipes will Go Further than Wednesday Nights.

However, when we are dining out, we wouldn’t dream of choosing a hamburger steak, nor would we easily find such on a menu. We have decided that ground beef doesn’t stand on its own. We put it with spaghetti when we make meatballs, and we stuff into hamburger buns. But, for probably more than a century we haven’t been fond of just placing it on a plate as an entree unto it’s own.

Easy hamburger steaks have to start with high-quality, grass-fed ground beef.

My favorite meat comes from ButcherBox where I am a subscriber.

What is Butcher Box?

ButcherBox is a meat subscription service that sources the highest quality beef, pork, lamb, chicken and seafood and ships directly to your door. Every month a beautiful box of  frozen meat arrives at the door, and always includes a few pounds of grass fed ground beef.  I change my box every month, but always have ground beef, Italian Sausage and rib eye steak in my selection. 

How does ButcherBox work?

ButcherBox delivers 100% grass-fed beef, free range, organic chicken and heritage breed pork directly to your door. You can choose one of four curated boxes or customize your own.

We loved it so much I wrote and asked to be an affiliate which means I am compensated when people subscribe. I can’t say enough good things about the quality of the meat, chicken and seafood they source. I thought a service like this was going to be  expensive, but it ends up being very reasonable, especially for meat humanely raised. 

Kick off 2021 with ButcherBox! Get up to 10 lbs of high-quality meat - a pork butt, bone-in chicken thighs, and ground beef - FREE in your first box.

Ground Beef  Means Flavor

Enjoy the serious flavor of ground beef, especially when seasoned the way I tell you to, with plenty of mustard, and baked with onions. Easy Hamburger Steak recipes are to be considered a meals of worth, not a “what can I make to get by on Wednesday night.” It will, if you have patience, and bake them to perfection. I bake them on a low heat.

There are many variations for hamburger steak. Serve with kale pecorino mashed potatoes or plain mashed potatoes.

I love it smothered with a Mushroom Sour Cream Sauce

Steak Mushroom Sauce 

Mushrooms, bacon and shallots turn hamburger steak into something really special.

Steak Mushroom Sauce Recipe Here

Sour Cream Mushroom Sauce

Sauté mushrooms with a knob of butter, a splash of Worcestershire or white wine and turning the heat to low, mix in 1/2 cup of sour cream and stir until you have  a smooth sauce. Turn heat off.

Easy Red Wine Sauce

Equal parts of red wine, water, ketchup and Worcestershire. (3-6 tablespoons each). Stir together on low heat, until reduced down by half. Smooth out with a bit of butter at the end.

No matter how simple or how fancy, if you buy good ground beef, preferably grass fed, and bake slowly, you’ll enjoy any of these hamburger steak recipes.

More Ground Beef Recipes from Spinach Tiger

Steak Mushroom Sauce Recipe

Ground Beef  Taco Meat

Southern Meatloaf

No Beans Chili

Stuffed Peppers

Italian Meatballs

Italian Ground Beef, Peas and Onions

Authentic Bolognese

Crack Slaw with Ground Beef

Joe’s Special

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Easy Hamburger Steak Recipes

Seasoned Hamburger steak recipes with caramelized onions or variations.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds grass fed beef
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or enough to saute onion
• 1 large onion sliced

Instructions

• Mix ground beef with mustard, Worcestershire Sauce, Salt and Pepper.
• Form in into oval shaped patties.
• Place in oven in oven proof frying pan at 325 degrees.
• In the meantime, saute the onions just until they are softened, about 10 minutes.
• Add them to the hamburger steaks in the oven and continue to bake for another 10-20 minutes, making sure your hamburger steaks are cooked to at least medium rare.
• See above for optional sauces.
• Serve with mashed potatoes.

The post Easy Hamburger Steak Recipes appeared first on Spinach Tiger.