THE LOW-CARB COOKBOOK - By Fran McCullough

Someone over in the Barry Groves forum mentioned how much she likes this cookbook so I got the idea to start a series of low carb cookbook reviews. Tell us which recipes you've tried from this book and what you thought of them, whether they were great or duds. Don't post the actual recipes here because of copyright issues. If you've tweaked one of the recipes to come up with your own version, feel free to post it in the recipes section at the top of this forum.

NOTE: I'm going to start a separate thread for each cookbook that we review so only post your comments about "The Low-Carb Cookbook" in this one.

My favorite Low Carb Cookbook:

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes

hahaha... I have actually printed out copies of all your recipes and have them in a 3-ring binder. They are so practical with everyday ingredients. I LOVE the ratings that you give them.

THAI-STYLE BEEF CURRY - page 231

I had to use two cans of coconut milk to get 2 1/2 cups, but I think that one can would have been sufficient. There was too much liquid for the amount of meat and I'd rather not waste part of a can of coconut milk if I don't have to. Fran didn't say to skim off the fat but there was so much of it that I hated to leave it in. The flavor of this is very similar to my Rendang Pedang recipe, but you're saved the trouble of buying all the spices. My Rendang calls for only one can of coconut milk, so I will definitely use that amount in this recipe next time. I've adjusted Fran's cooking time a bit. My meat wasn't quite tender enough even after adding an extra 20 minutes to Fran's time. I also added some xanthan gum to mine. I found that it helped blend the remaining oils into the sauce and made it creamier. This is a spicy dish so you may want to cut back on the curry paste if you don't like your food too hot. I rated this recipe a 3 out of 5. My version is posted on my site here.



ZUCCHINI PASTA - page 267

I also have this one posted on my website here. I doubled the amount of meat to make 4 servings instead of just two and also to reduce the carbs from the tomatoes. I also simplified the cooking method. Fran used two different pans (three if you count the one to brown the sausage which she cooked separately) and cooked the zucchini separate from the sauce. There seemed to be too many steps when everything ends up in the same skillet in the end anyway. This dish is simple yet tasty. I used my homemade Italian turkey sausage but you can use commercially made Italian sausage and the carb count will remain about the same but the calorie and fat count will be a lot higher. I rated this a 3 out of 5.

You're so sweet, regandy. If you really do want to review some of the recipes on my site, you can start a new thread for it. I'm going to put each cookbook that I review in a separate thread. I just hope that people will be honest with their opinions of my recipes, but maybe not TOO honest if they didn't like something, LOL.

Fran McCullough’s “The Low-Carb Cookbook” was the first cookbook I received on low-carb. My cousin sent it to me raving about the cheesecake recipe and insisted that I try it. I did, and it is a very good cheesecake. To respond to your question, LindaSue, I pulled my book out and realized that it is well-worn, indicating that at one time I used it a lot. I haven’t used it in years and looking through it I think it may be because it calls for Equal in the desserts … I have since found many many recipes that are very good and call for Spenda. My notes in the book indicate that Crème Fraiche (page 131) was good; and using the basic quiche recipe (page 240) gave me a good start on my quiche journey when I first started on low-carb. There’s a mayonnaise section (under sauces, marinades, and salsas) that has very good recipes and given me other ideas, along with Horseradish Cream that I was delighted to find to replace the horseradish sauce I could no longer have.

Personally, none of the meat dishes have appealed to me … nothing like your cheese chili chicken and the enchilada casserole recipes that have become a hit!

GREAT IDEA, Linda! I have a few reviews from my blog that I'll scrounge up sometime to bring to this section.