Pan Seared Wild Coho Salmon and Poached Eggs

When cooking breakfast on a keto diet, it is easy to fall into the bacon and fried eggs trap.  This is a healthy alternative, that is just as easy, and a nice change of pace.

I like to make this after grilling salmon the evening before; I purchase a filet that is a half of a pound more than I need for dinner, and save the uncooked extra for the next morning.  This lets me have uniformly thick pieces for the grill, and a nice relatively thin piece for pan searing.

My favorite salmon to use for this is wild caught Coho Salmon.  It has a lower fat content than either King Salmon or Sockeye Salmon, which works great when cooking in additional fat.  Just be sure not to forgot it in the oven, as the lower fat content makes it easier to dry out this type of salmon.

I recommend prepping everything before starting to cook your salmon.  Your water should be hot and ready for the eggs, and the eggs should be waiting to pour into the water.  I make two eggs, I poach the first when the salmon goes into the oven, and the second as it is cooling.  If I am frying an egg for my fiancee (she doesn't like poached eggs, her loss), I will also fry it while the salmon is cooling.

Ingredient

• 1/4 lb Wild Caught Coho Salmon per person
• 1 tsp coconut oil (or enough to coat your pan)
• 2 tbsp butter (exact amount depending upon salmon size)
• 2 eggs per person
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Pan Seared Salmon

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Remove the skin from your salmon, and cut a small piece (from the smallest side) for testing.
3. Season your salmon with salt, pepper and any additional seasoning.  I prefer it basic with just salt and pepper.
4. Preheat your oven safe non-stick pan on medium-high heat.  
5. Add enough coconut oil to coat the pan, and then add your butter.  I prefer adding the coconut oil first, since it has a higher smoke point, and lets you judge the heat of the pan.  If the oil smokes, it is too hot for the butter.
6. Add your test piece to the pan.  You should hear it give a nice sizzle.  The test piece will help us ensure the pan is at the right temp.  You should remove this before you put your pan in the oven.
7. Place your salmon with the presentation side down.  This should be the non-skin side.  
8. Cook your salmon until you begin to see the white seeping out of the edges.  If you have a large spatula you can check to ensure you have a good sear, but I find judging by the appearance works just as well with less chance of breakage.
9. Flip you salmon.
10. Baste 6-7 times with the brown butter, ensuring you coat the entire piece.
11. Move to oven for 3 minutes.
12. Remove from pan and allow to rest for 3-5 minutes.

Poached Egg

1. Crack eggs into individual ramekins ahead of time, this will ensure you have eggs with unbroken yolks for poaching.
2. Bring water to just under a boil in a pan.  I like to heat the water in my electric kettle and then keep it hot with medium-low heat on the stove top.
3. Add 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar to the poaching liquid. Do NOT add salt. 
4. Ensure that your water is not boiling, but is simmering.  You should see small bubbles, and the water should look to be on the verge of boiling.
5. Softly pour your egg into the liquid, loosely cover the pot and let cook for approximately 3 minutes.
6. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the plate.
7. Add a small portion of butter, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Approximate nutrition info per serving

• Calories - 390
• Fat - 28g
• Carbohydrate - 0g
• Protein - 34g

Note - The fancy centerpiece in the first image was the October project of Little Miss Orange Blossom

Chocolate Whipped Cream

Instead of buying a mini container of ice cream (I prefer Haagen-Daaz myself on a cheat day), I decided to come up with a healthy dessert that would satisfy my need for ice cream.  I ended up going with a thick chocolate whipped cream. 

Recipe -

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar or 1 tsp powdered sugar replacement (Truvia is what I use in specific)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• vanilla extract to taste

Steps -

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, whisk together violently.  
2. Stop whisking when you have stiff peaks on the whipped cream.
3. Spoon out and serve.

Optional - Dust the plate with a small amount of powdered sugar.

Servings 2
215 Calories with powdered sugar

• 40g  Fat
• 8g Carbs
• 0g Protein

200 Calories with powdered stevia, I do think that there should be some carb and protein since it is milk, but the carton shows 0g at the small serving size.

• 40g  Fat
• 0g Carbs
• 0g Protein

This whipped cream has a nice thick consistency, and works great to share with someone.  A little goes a long way, and eating this entire recipe by yourself can be a bit too much unless you love whipped cream.

If you find you need to add a little sweetness, I prefer to dust some powdered sugar over the top.  You'll need to use less to increase the perceived sweetness. 

Hot Dog & Cheese Scramble? Yes Please...

Super simple recipe for breakfast today. This recipe was for two servings.

1 Hot Dog ( I used organic grass fed beef hot dogs).
3 eggs
1/4 cup cheese (smoked firehouse cheddar)
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp Coconut Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

I start out by cutting the hot dog up into small pieces, and browning it in the butter/Coconut Oil. Once it is nicely browned, I add in the scrambled eggs. Slightly before I would normally take the eggs out of the pan, I kill the heat and grate the cheese over the eggs. The residual heat in the pan will get the eggs cooked where I like them, and melt the cheese.

Grilled Lemon Garlic Chicken

One of my favorite meals to make is free range whole grilled chickens. This tasty little guy (4lbs) was picked up this morning from Lucky Dog Ranch at the local farmer's market. With the backbone removed they are very easy to cook evenly, an ability which has always escaped me with intact birds.

Tonight I wanted to do a lemon garlic version of grilled chicken, which meant stuffing crushed garlic, and lemon thyme underneath the skin where the flavor could seep into the meat. Then sliced lemon went on top of the chicken once it hit the grill. I then lightly grilled another half of lemon, and used the juice on top of the chicken once it was on the plate.

I also grilled some home grown (by my father, no squash growing here :( ) squash, with oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Pretty standard fare this time of year, but always tasty.

Finally things were finished off with some salad; including bleu cheese and sun-dried tomatoes of course!

Chicken -
1 Whole Chicken (back bone removed)
4-6 cloves garlic
1 lemon
5-6 sprigs lemon thyme (or plain if you have that growing instead)
Favorite chicken seasoning (I used the Old World seasoning from Penzey's )


Salad -
50/50 Spinach Spring Mix
Bleu Cheese
Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Sundried Tomatoes
Salt
Pepper


Grilled Squash -
Assorted squash
Coconut Oil (Enough to lightly coat)
Salt
Pepper
Red wine vinegar (just a couple small splashes)