You Had Me At 'Hollandaise Sauce'

Steve's a clever guy. He sent me a link to a keto diet website he's been working on - ahealthyketodiet.com - and I found good deal of useful tidbits. From a diet calculator to a 10 day diet plan, it's a true stash of accessible guidance and easy to follow instructions for all; from a casual investigator to the die-hard keto adherent and everyone in between. How he ever finds the time to indulge in so many projects, I will probably never know. But I can say with absolute confidence that he's good at everything he sets his mind on. His ketogenic diet info is no different. 

I spent New Year's smoking a smaller cut of brisket that I'd prepped and rubbed the night before. Between spritzing and buzzing around the kitchen, I happened upon Steve's Keto Eggs Florentine (day two of his meal plan, click here to read ) and found myself thinking about it over the heavy haze of hickory* and rendering beef filling the house. Having an open hour, we decided to go to brunch with my eldest daughter. Instead of chastising her for never having gone caving with us, I decided to eat a serving of crust-less quiche on special instead, effectively disabling my fat mouth. Truthfully, it was Steve's dish, served in pie form, nearly exactly. It was the inclusion of spinach and hollandasie sauce  on herbed eggs that kept me from a steak and runny eggs - there was something about the idea of that mess - I dunno, I had to jump in that pool feet first. It didn't look as tasty when it arrived. But, in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose. I kindly set the accompanying bowl of fruit in font of my dear non-caving daughter and ate the pie. It wasn't bad, but the sauce couldn't cover the fact that Steve's was probably better. But the sauce got me thinking...

I trim less fat off of my briskets and smoke them longer and lower than most of the instructions out there on the interwebs. As it turns out, free advice is frequently worth exactly what you pay for it. I use a rather mundane rub and one of two spritzes, depending on where or not I have a half a can of Dr Pepper on hand. All in all, my brisket is a fairly normal construction; the temperature, rub, the wood and the spritz, none of which, alone or combined, are true secret of a good smoked meat.**

In any case, fat does render and run off, no mater the cut. Some, like brisket, are only worthwhile when that fatty alchemy happens. Others, well, they might need help, especially when cooking around keto's goals of balancing fat, protein and carbohydrates. A common misconception about a ketogenic diet is that it's all 'beef, bacon and chicken,' when truly it's about using those items to deliver fats to our systems; a face full of meat alone will not get you there. You can either go broke buying prepacked fat bombs or learn to correct the point of your cooking to compensate. It's not hard.

I picked up this sauce recipe a few years back and I use it occasionally to fatten up cheap steaks from our local supermarket. It stores well and can be summoned into being in a pinch and, as the nutritional breakdown shows, it can 'keto up' just about anything. Cheers!

Believe me. It's better than it looks. No, I did not have a prettier picture.

Keto Any Meat White Sauce:

1/2 shallot, minced

1.5 oz blue cheese

3 oz white chedar, shredded

1.5 cup heavy cream, 40% milkfat

3 tbs salted butter

Directions: In a 7 inch skillet, melt the butter on a notch over low. Add shallots and simmer but do not brown or burn. Cook until they are translucent. Add cream. Add blue cheese and stir until dissolved. Add white cheddar and repeat. Serve immediately. 

Makes about 3 servings. Approximate nutrition details below: 

* I mean, the scent of a smoothly smoldering proprietary blend of aromatic hardwoods.

** I will die alone in a cave no one can find, recipe in hand, long before I will give up my smoking secrets. True words.

*** The preceding words are a record of my personal journey and are not intended to replace or circumvent any recommend guidance provided by your health care provider. Before starting any life changing endeavor, such as a diet and/or exercise regimen, please start by having an honest conversation with your doctor. Links and references to products and services are unaffiliated - I don't make a dime from this blog. Oh and please don't ask for cave locations. Believe me, if I can find them, so can you. ***