Welcome to the Path Lab

You may have seen bodies dissected and examined on CSI, or in a real medical school lab. You know the drill. The dearly departed is stretched out on a cold slab and people in lab coats hover over and examine the pitiful minutiae of the poor soul's remains.

Today, I'm going to show you how to dissect a recipe you see in the mainstream press and then you'll get some basic science under your belt --the belt that is getting looser and looser as you keep to your High Fat High Protein diet -- and you will know how to glance at a recipe and see if it can be salvaged. The basic question being what is healthy about the recipe and what is not.

The recipe we're working with today sounded so enticing. It was billed as a low carb dessert. Well, that gets my attention. And the photo was glorious. It was a parfait glass with layers of chocolate cake, whipped cream and cherries. They called it a Black Forest Trifle. What's not to love?
Then, reading the details of the recipe, the horrible truth began to sink in. In the first place each serving had 28 grams of carbs. Are you kidding me? They call this low carb?

The recipe began with some abomination called a sugar free chocolate cake mix. Next came the inevitable fat free Koolwhip. and finally some frozen cherries. The picture looked good, but my question was, is there any way to make this thing and not have it be lethal?

The short answer is yes. And yes, you can eat fat and grow thin. And you don't have to count calories. Just start with basic, good food, eat only until you feel full, and your belt will soon be too large too.

Black Forest Trifle

1 recipe flourless chocolate cake, made and broken into pieces

1 cup heavy cream, whipped and touched with vanilla and cinnamon

1 cup frozen IQF (individually quick frozen with NO juice) cherries

85% bittersweet chocolate to shave over the top


The assembly is past easy. Make the cake. Cool it and then layer the pieces with whipped cream and cherries in parfait glasses. Serve at once to dazzled diners.

7 oz bar 85% bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar substitute (Splenda for baking)
4 large eggs, separated

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Line the bottom of a 9 in springform pam with parchment and butter it.
3. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with butter over hot water.
4. Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar substitute.
5. Fold in the melted butter and chocolate mixture.
6. Beat egg whites until frothy by using an electric mixer; gradually add the remaining sugar substitute, beating until stiff peaks form.
7. Fold in the beaten egg whites.
8. Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 40 minutes. Please note that cakes of this type will collapse and look like a pie because no flour is used.
9. Meanwhile, whip cream with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla.
10. Defrost cherries.
11. To assemble, layer cream, cherries and cake in parfait glasses. Top with cream and shave chocolate on top. Yum
    

In Case You Lose Sight of the Important Stuff

Don't be overly concerned with your weight, it's just a number
Always try to see the glass half full

Salvation Through Label Reading

Finding something to snack on is one of the most difficult things about a diet. For the last thirty years with everybody falling for the BIG LIE about low fat diets, people just wolfed down fat free chips, and baked not fried stuff, and watched themselves fail in the diet wars. But now, with the resurgence of Dr. John Salerno's High Protein, High Fat regimen, you can snack on delicious, nutritious foods and I'll tell you just what I found in the grocery store today. I looked at a lot of labels today and put back a lot of tempting things because they had carb counts in the stratosphere. I mean you have to think, people. This is your life here. Don't pour a bunch of poison down your throat.
Take a long, loving look at the spinach dip in the photo (courtesy of TimeInc) and ask yourself, what is wrong with this picture? The chips. That's what's wrong. If you choose a spinach dip for a snack and put it onto a piece of celery or eat it with a bit of carrot, you'll be ok. The dip I bought today at Stop and Shop is made from sour cream, cream cheese, spinach, water chestnuts and Knorr soup mix, plus a list of minor ingredients as long as your arm. May I tell you that if you want to be really healthy, just make it yourself. Ditch the chemicals and the soup mix, flavor it with a shot of cayenne and chili powder and you'll be way better off. You'll also save a whole lot of money. But, barring the time to cook -- if you can call stirring a bunch of stuff together cooking -- you'll still have a decent snack where each ounce yields a mere 2 grams carbohydrates, and 80 calories, 70 calories of which are fat. This will keep you satisfied and is a perfectly legitimate snack. Munch on.

The Dark Side of Dieting

So, for weeks and weeks, I have followed the low carb diet plan faithfully, sometimes going for a week or so with no carbs at all. But once in awhile, something inside me just snaps and I have to have my old favorites.

Like today. I can't really tell you why. Perhaps its just old tapes playing. You know, You need comfort, you eat something sweet and sassy. But when i got up this morning, I just knew I had to have pancakes.

So I hustled around in the kitchen making the basic dry mix, you know, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. All the things I NEVER eat. Then I broke an egg into the mix. I didn't have any milk in the house. I'd bought some Eggnog for the coming holiday visitors. Its one of those things I can have in the house to serve to friends, and know it will be safe because I don't really like it much. So I whizzed it into the dry mixture but it was thick and noncompliant. There was a bottle of jack on the counter so I sloshed a little whiskey into the mix. Perfect texture, thin, pale, creamy colored, and I poured it into the hot skillet. Now let me tell you, the mixture of egg nog and whiskey just made almost perfect pancakes. The flavor was mysterious and smoky, a little sweet and a lot of lovely.

I ate two of them, but I gave the other three to the dogs. Let their diet slide a little today too.

But now I'm back on the wagon. I won't be doing that again. I'll have pork loin and brussels sprouts for lunch.

And maybe I'll make the dog run extra long this afternoon, in expiation for my sins. Thanks for hearing my confession.

something to be thankful for

With the big feast almost upon us, we can stop and wonder what in the heck we are going to see on that groaning board that we can eat -- and not be into diet busting mode.

Turkey breast is easy. and enjoy all the skin too.
But from there, the menu begins to look like starch city. I mean mashed potatoes and gravy? I don't think so. Stuffing made with bread and fruit? Not on my watch. Pumpkin pie? Well, at least I can honestly say, I never liked it anyway.

So what can you do? Cook a spaghetti squash, then using two forks, scrape out the luscious golden strings. Mound them into a bowl and dress with lots of butter and cracked pepper. Oh, and to cook that squash, just pierced it a few places with a sharp point and nuke it in the microwave about 15 mintes. Cut it in half. Scoop out and discard seeds, then serve.

So, ok. Now your plate has a couple slices of turkey breast and some spaghetti squash. But what about that cranberry relish? Here's where the fun begins. Years ago, Susan Stamberg, on NPR gave out her mother-in-law's recipe. I had to pull the car to the side of the road and write it on the back of an envelope. Aren't those always the best recipes? Now the only thing I've changed from the original recipe is the sugar, which I've replaced with sugar substitute. But this relish is bright, sweet, hot, and sassy, and it's the color of Pepto bismol, which when you think about it, makes your plate look a lot more interesting.

Have a happy turkey day.

Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish Recipe

by Susan Stamberg

Avie Schneider, NPR

The Recipe's Origins

As Susan Stamberg has noted, her mother-in-law got the recipe from a 1959 New York Times clipping of Craig Claiborne's recipe for cranberry relish. In 1993, Claiborne told Stamberg: "Susan, I am simply delighted. We have gotten more mileage, you and I, out of that recipe than almost anything I've printed."

NPR.org, November 23, 2006 · Every year as Thanksgiving approaches, fans ask NPR's Susan Stamberg for her mother-in-law's recipe for cranberry relish.

"It sounds terrible but tastes terrific," Stamberg says of the Pepto Bismol-pink dish.

Below is the cranberry relish recipe, and a bonus recipe for another Stamberg favorite — garlicky cranberry chutney.

Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish

2 cups whole raw cranberries, washed

1 small onion

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar (substitute appropriate amount of stevia or splenda for a diet)

2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar ("red is a bit milder than white")

Grind the raw berries and onion together. ("I use an old-fashioned meat grinder," says Stamberg. "I'm sure there's a setting on the food processor that will give you a chunky grind — not a puree.")

Add everything else and mix.

Put in a plastic container and freeze.

Early Thanksgiving morning, move it from freezer to refrigerator compartment to thaw. ("It should still have some little icy slivers left.")

The relish will be thick, creamy, and shocking pink. ("OK, Pepto Bismol pink. It has a tangy taste that cuts through and perks up the turkey and gravy. It's also good on next-day turkey sandwiches, and with roast beef.")

Makes 1 1/2 pints.

Nuts to You: The suitable snack for a high fat diet

Well, okay. Nuts are good for you. they offer plenty of vitamin E and other good stuff. so when I'm on the hunt for a suitable snack when I'm away from home, a little bag of nuts is often the best I can do.

Here's a shot I took of a walnut tree when I was in California for the walnut harvest this september. Such glorious trees. Such great products.

But back to yesterday. I was in Target for laundry detergent, but of course -- I'd been out so long, I missed my lunch, so I thought nuts. I'll find nuts.

Now you would think I could find some nice, simple walnut halves wouldn't you? But no. I went like a shot to the jars of fancy nuts. And then to my alltime fave cashew32s. Two for $7.00 I thought that sounded pretty good, so I grabbed on jar of pepper flavored nuts, and then -- against all good sense, the triumph of hope over experience, and any other single thing, I got a jar of those luscious sugar coated nuts. I told myself, I'd save those for a party.

You know where this is going don't you. Over the rest of that day, I ate the whole damn jar of sugar coated cashews. Telling myself the truth, I toted up the calories. 1300 calories with more sugar than I've had in WEEKS. Oh lord. The guilt. I only ate one thin brothed cup of soup for supper. Punishment.

But by this morning, I'd decided to fess up. I got on the scale. And here's the unbelievable part. I lost six pounds. I am not making this up. Is the body not more peculiar than we know? But I'm back on the straight and narrow today. I ate my two eggs for breakfast. Had a couple cups of good strong coffee with cream. Now I'm ready for lunch. Gonna have mesclun in evoo and balsamic with walnuts, dried cranberies, and aged gouda alongside a slice of Pate Forestier. Lemon water to drink.

The moral of the story is, if you fall off the wagon, don't beat yourself up. Just get back up and ride again another day. Because who knows? You might even lose some weight.

Here's what I learned about cashews.

Diet Nutrition & Cashew Nuts:

Cashew nuts, like all nuts, are an excellent source of protein and fiber. They are rich in mono-unsaturated fat which may help protect the heart. Cashew nuts are also a good source of potassium, B vitamins and folate. They contain useful amounts of magnesium, phosphorous, selenium and copper.

Calories in Cashew Nuts:
1 oz/25g = 160 calories

This is before they dipped them in sugar. argh

How To Start the Fight Fat With Fat Plan

The Full Fat Fast is shock therapy for your system. Getting rid of carbs from your diet will quickly put your body into fat-burning mode, and if you adhere to this for two weeks you will lose from five to fifteen pounds and two inches off your waist.

The amazing thing about this diet is that eating plenty of saturated fat will actually help you LOSE weight. And IMPROVE your blood chemistry. don't ask. I'll explain later.

The picture shows a restaurant serving put in front of me a couple weeks ago. It's two to three meals. So I cut the fish into pieces and saved the left overs for lunch the next day. When you start out, eat the salmon, and leave the spinach. Once you've gotten to the second stage -- the Marathon -- you can wolf down the spinach too. All you want of it. At one sitting.

But back to the beginning:

Here’s a step-by-step guide to your day on the Full Fat Fast:

• Within one hour of rising each morning, eat two large organic eggs, cooked any way you like (suggestions and recipes below). You can add a side of bacon or sausage or ham if you want, and you can also have coffee or tea with cream and sweetener.
• Three hours later have a small snack: a stick of string cheese, a handful of nuts, jerky, an ounce of sausage, or even some pork skins. Add another cup of coffee or tea with cream and sweetener if you wish.
• Eat lunch three hours later: two ounces of cooked steak, hamburger, lamb chop, pork chop, any preservative free sausage, salmon, sardines with mustard, tuna salad made with regular mayonnaise. You may even choose a couple more eggs, perhaps made into a salad.
• Three hours later have another snack of about fifteen nuts (macadamias, brazils, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, or pistachios are fine). A hand full of pork skins, a stick of cheese, or some jerky is also ok.
• Have your dinner three hours later: another two ounces of steak, burger, chops, poultry or fish.
• Drink lots of water-based liquids during the day, at least 64 ounces. Coffee with heavy cream is fine, iced tea with fresh mint, or lemon water, which is ice water with a squirt of lemon juice and a packet of sugar substitute. Stevia is best, but sucralose (Splenda) is fine too. Remember that these products are much sweeter than sugar, so use a small amount in the water. Plain, old fashioned water is perhaps the best choice. Just drink and drink and drink.
• On the first day of your fast, measure yourself. Weigh in and write it down. Use a tape measure around your waist. After a week, weigh yourself again, and then weigh yourself one more time at the end of the Full Fat Fast one week later.

Foods to Adore

FOODS TO ADORE
Fats	extra virgin olive oil, butter, unrefined flax oil, fresh lard, foie gras, nuts (walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, and hazelnuts)
Proteins	organic or grass fed beef, pork, veal, lamb, game, chicken, turkey, duck and other fowl (where possible). Chicken or veal liver, nitrate free bacon and sausage, all seafood from cold, deep water (including codfish, halibut, and salmon), shellfish, and eggs
Dairy	butter, raw milk cheeses, organic full fat cream, yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream from pasture-fed cows
Beverages	water, lemon water, coffee, tea (at least 64 ounces a day)
Condiments	sea salt, best quality balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar, mayonnaise, mustards, soy sauce, fish sauce

Foods to Abhor

FOODS TO ABHOR
Fats	highly processed vegetable oils like canola or soybean, margarine, vegetable shortening
Proteins	processed meats
Dairy	processed cheeses, reduced or non-fat dairy products
Carbohydrates	fruits and vegetables, any highly processed carbohydrate, white flour or anything made from white flour (including bread, cookies, crackers, pastas, and dry cereals), high fructose corn syrups, refined sugars, irradiated or genetically modified grains, chocolate mixed with sugar in any form
Beverages	soda, full strength fruit juices, bear, wine, rice milk
Condiments	catsup, commercial baking powder, MSG, artificial flavors, additives and colors

We all scream for ice cream

I try to do the right thing, and most of the time I stay on the high fat, high protein diet, but in the name of science, I have to try ice creams to see if I can find a better one than the one I developed (see recipe below). Now, life in this new age is complicated, and I also try to buy local products as much as possible, so you can imagine my delight when my new neighborhood Whole
Foods store had a local ice cream for sale (the big sign over the case trumpeted the story) called 5 Boroughs.

So, ok, I live in the New York metropolitan area with its 5 boroughs and I thought, now this is good. One of their flavors was called "Cha Cha Chocolate". Sounded good. I grabbed it and went - as in my usual style of grab and go grocery shopping. Never bothering to read the fine print.

As we all know, people, you gotta read the label. Its part of being an informed shopper. Especially if you're on any kind of special diet. But god forbid I should follow my own rules. This cha cha chocolate is flavored with habaneros and chipotles. Excuse me? Now i'm from Texas and i can stand tall with the best of them at the capsaicin counter, but this ice cream flavor was not a marriage made in heaven. And you don't even want to hear about the calorie and carb count. OK. But I did love the vanilla. Yum. But, I learned my lesson. I went back to the ice cream recipe I developed for the book, made up a pint in my trusty Cuisinart and everybody was happy. even Doctor Salerno who knows that i fall off the wagon once in a while. You don't have to. Just make the ice cream I developed. In fact, if you don't have an ice cream maker, you could even just freeze it in a pan then whiz it up in the food processor before serving.

And yes, you can eat this home made ice cream from day 1 of the Fight Fat with Fat diet. didn't I tell you you'd never have to suffer???

Full Fat Chocolate Ice Cream Makes 1 quart 15 minutes to cook custard 4 hours + to cure in the refrigerator 20 minutes to freeze in electric ice cream maker One of my particular weaknesses is ice cream. I might be able to eschew cakes and pies, even my beloved chocolate chip cookies, but ice cream? I don’t think so. I dug out my first cookbook and made a version of my favorite traditional custard ice cream, simply substituting stevia for the sugar, and adding some fine European cocoa I’d brought home from my last trip. I used the traditional method, and when it was made, the flavor was fantastic. You can substitute other flavorings for the cocoa: lemon zest and juice, orange, crushed coffee beans, a vanilla bean, smashed strawberries or blueberries. You get the idea this is your lifeline. 4 large organic egg yolks 4 cups heavy cream ¼ cup best quality unsweetened European Dutch process cocoa Pinch salt 8 -10 drop liquid stevia (or to taste) Whip egg yolks and half the cream in a glass measure or bowl. Pour remaining cream, cocoa and salt in a heavy bottom saucepan and heat until cocoa is completely dissolved. Pour custard and cocoa mixture together and whisk thoroughly. Cook until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Pour the mixture into the ice cream canister and freeze in your ice cream maker.* *No ice cream freezer? Just freeze it in a pan, then dump it into the food processor and whiz it up before serving. Yum.

Want to lose weight? don't want to suffer?

Dr. John Salerno has taught me a fantastic way to lose weight without suffering. It's called the full Fat fast. For a week or so, you eat nothing but fat and protein, and your weight will plummet. I lost 12 pounds in 8 days. Next step, you segue into a long marathon of eating only wholesome, whole foods and your weight will normalize. I know it sounds crazy, but you can eat foie gras, heavy cream with berries, steaks, lobster, butter, and your blood chemistry will improve, your weight will drop, and your waist size will come down.

You can eat out easily. Last week, I had this lamb shank, and just left the corn on the plate. I'll teach you how to eat out, feel good, and lose weight.

Tomorrow I'll tell you how to start.