Brownlee - The low-carb gourmet: a cookbook for hungry dieters

A Ballantine Book

Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Copyright 1974, 2004, copyright renewed 2002 by Harriet Brownlee

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in different form as The Low-Carbohydrate Gourmet and by William Morrow Company Inc., New York, in 1974.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following, for permission to reprint recipe: Recipe for Steak with Mushroom Sauce from Annemaries Personal Cookbook by Annemarie Huste, copyright 1968 by Annemarie Huste. Used by permission of The Foley Agency.

Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

www.ballantinebooks.com

First Mass Market Edition: 1977

Revised Mass Market Edition: 2004

www.randomhouse.com

eISBN: 978-0-307-41721-3

v3.0

Table of Contents

To all adults who were once fat children, and now, through no fault of their own, must diet for the rest of their lives

Books published by the Random House Publishing Group are available at quantity discounts on bulk purchases for premium, educational, fund-raising, and special sales use. For details, please call 1-800-733-3000.

Acknowledgments

No book is ever solely the work of one person. Many people have influenced me in the writing of this book and I would like to take this opportunity to give them my thanks.

First to my mother, for encouraging and fostering my interest in cooking from childhood and for being my extra pair of hands during the writing of the original version of this book in hardcover; to Dr. Arnold Zentner, for giving me the freedom to create; to Mrs. Shirley Shure, for originally teaching me to bake; to Dr. Robert C. Atkins, for stimulating and fostering my interest in low-carbohydrate cooking; to Dr. Ivor Shapiro, for his gentle encouragement and support throughout the writing of the original book; to Maureen ONeal, vice president and editorial director at Ballantine Books, for her idea to republish this book; and to Johanna Bowman, who has been such a joy to work with.

Some Sample Menus

Breakfast

1. Cheese and Herb Omelet
Hot Coffee or Tea

2. Cheddar Scrambled Eggs
Sausage
Hot Coffee or Tea

3. Broiled Canadian Bacon
Easy-Mix Muffins with Whipped Butter and Sugarless Strawberry Jam
Hot Coffee or Tea

4. Double-Cheese Omelet
Cinnamon-Pecan Puffins
Hot Coffee or Tea

Brunch

1. Fresh Strawberries with Fat-Free Half-and-Half
A Favorite Omelet
Easy-Mix Muffins
Hot Coffee or Tea

2. Cantaloupe Wedges with Fresh Mint
Ham-Mushroom Omelet
Cinnamon-Pecan Puffins
Hot Coffee or Tea

3. Mushroom Souffl Omelet
Broiled Canadian Bacon
Cinnamon Bread with Light Variety Cream Cheese and Sugarless Jam
Hot Coffee or Tea

4. Easy-Mix Pancakes with Whipped Butter and Sugarless Maple Syrup or Jam
Sausage
Hot Coffee or Tea

5. French Toast with Sugarless Maple Syrup or Jam
Broiled Canadian Bacon
Hot Coffee or Tea

6. Ham Omelet
Cinnamon Bread with Nutted Light Variety Cream Cheese
Hot Coffee or Tea

Lunch

1. Salade Nioise
Lemon Cake-Pudding
Iced Coffee or Tea

2. Mushroom, Herb, and Cheese Omelet
Tossed Lettuce and Tomato Salad with Oil, Vinegar, and Garlic Dressing
Raspberry Sponge Pudding

3. Cheese-Filled Hamburgers
Potato-like Salad
Sugarless Soda

4. Curried Chicken Salad on a Bed of Lettuce
Cantaloupe Wedges
Iced or Hot Tea

5. French Omelet Filled with Chicken Liver
Saut Tossed Green Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing
Easy-Mix Muffins with Whipped Butter (served hot)
Chocolate Almond Pudding

Dinner

1. Cold Shrimp with Dilled Shrimp Sauce
Consomm with Sherry Glazed Rock Cornish Hens
Tossed Salad with Garlic-Flavored Vinaigrette Dressing
Chocolate Rum Cream Roll
Hot Coffee or Tea

2. Cold Strawberry Soup
Steak with Mushroom and Wine Sauce
Green Beans Amandine
Bibb Lettuce and Tomato Salad with Roquefort or Vinaigrette Dressing
Lemon Cream Roll
Coffee or Spiced Tea

3. Fresh Mushroom Soup (hot in winter or cold in summer)
Broiled Chicken with Shallot Butter
Tossed Green Salad with Roquefort Dressing
Strawberry or Chocolate Ice Cream
Hot or Iced Coffee or Tea

4. Hot Onion Soup Chicken Beauvais
Green Beans Amandine Tossed Salad with Garlic-Flavored Vinaigrette Dressing
Lemon Chiffon Pie with Brazil Nut Crust
Hot Coffee or Tea

5. Greek Lemon Soup
Lamb Shish Kebab
Strawberry Ice Cream
Hot Coffee

6. Melon with Prosciutto
Beef Stroganoff
Tossed Salad with Garlic-Flavored Vinaigrette Dressing
Strawberry Granite
Hot Coffee or Tea

7. Assorted Cold Hors dOeuvres
Party Veal Scallops
Braised Endive
Lemon Mousse with Strawberries
Hot Coffee or Tea

8. Cold Lemon Sorrel Soup
Shad en Papillote
Braised Celery Tomato Salad
Chocolate Mousse
Iced or Hot Coffee

9. Meat-Crusted Pizza
Tossed Green Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing
Vanilla or Chocolate Ice Cream
Hot Coffee or Tea

10. Apricot-Glazed Turkey
London Broil
Cauliflower with Cheese
Tossed Green Salad with Garlic-Flavored Vinaigrette Dressing
Jelly Roll with Apricot Jam Filling
Hot Coffee or Tea

Tips for Low-Carbohydrate Cooks and Dieters

Tips for Cooks

1. Experiment with different blends of coffee. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is superb although expensive, as is Hawaiian Kona coffee. Chocolate hazelnut and chocolate almond coffees are delicious, especially if youre a chocoholic. Theyre available as decaf also.

2. Experiment with different types of tea. There are black teas scented with fruit flavors such as strawberry, raspberry, mango, et cetera. Most of the time I dont even need to sweeten these.

3. Concentrate on the following low-carbohydrate vegetables when planning your menus: asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, cucumbers, green beans, celery, cauliflower, zucchini, endives, escarole, and peppers. These vegetables are also low in calories and contain needed vitamins and minerals. Beware of high-carbohydrate vegetables such as corn, peas, lima beans, beets, and both white and sweet potatoes.

4. The best buys in low-carbohydrate fruit are berries of all kinds, apricots, peaches, rhubarb, and tangerines. These fruits are also low on the glycemic index. Melons of all kinds are low-carbohydrate but are a little higher on the glycemic index (although not watermelon).

5. If buying filleted fish and you cannot judge its freshness, press the fleshiest part of the fish with your finger. If it leaves a dent that does not spring back quickly, the fish is not fresh. Do not buy it.

6. Herbs de Provence is a dried-herb mixture from France that is used to flavor meats, sauces, salads, and even pizza. Its a mixture of thyme, basil, savory, fennel, and lavender flowers. If not available in a gourmet food store near you, the mixture can be ordered from Zabars, one of my favorite shops in New York. Order online at www.zabars.com or call 212-787-2000.

7. Poissonnade is a dried-herb mixture from France that is used primarily to flavor fish. It consists of fennel seeds, marjoram, savory, sage, and thyme. I actually like to use this mixture for lamb also. Like herbs de Provence, this too can be ordered from Zabars, if not available near you.