Can Crusted Beef with Sticky Sweet Potato and Mustard Cream Really Be a Diabetic Friendly Dish? You Bet When the Chef is Michael Moore
by Larry Cox on Jan. 23, 2012, under Uncategorized Blood Sugar: Inspiring Recipes for Anyone Facing the Challenges of Diabetes and Maintaining Good Health by Michael Moore (New Holland, $39.95)
With nearly 26 million children and adults in America living with diabetes, it is encouraging that Chef Michael Moore’s latest cookbook features recipes that are easy to prepare, diabetic friendly, and delicious. Moore, who is himself, diabetic, faced the challenges of healthier eating after suffering a major stroke while out to dinner with his family. That event changed his entire life as he began to re-think food and take steps to improve his personal health.
Moore, one of the top chefs on the planet, discovered that being a diabetic didn’t mean being stuck in a “gastronomic wilderness.” Keeping blood sugar under control and maintaining good health wasn’t an exchange of delicious food for bland and to prove his point, his recipes in “Blood Sugar” are anything but ordinary.
This is a marvelous cookbook. Chef Moore serves up such delectable dishes as Romesco Soup With Chicken and Chorizo Sausage, BBQ Pork Salad, Polenta-Crusted Pork with Fennel and Orange Salad, and Scotch Beef Fillet and Caramelized Onion Soup. The desserts are equally intriguing. Consider three: Warm Cherry Custard Pie with Roasted Cherry Sauce, Passionfruit Yoghurt Pots with Chocolate Biscotti, and a Very Dark Chocolate Mousse with Bananas.
Moore shares tips on how he manages his diet along with nutritional tips, the best ways to balance food types, and ideas for both healthy eating and even planning meals for special occasions and entertaining. The recipes are accessible and especially surprising since one would never guess they are prepared with a special diet in mind.
The recipes are divided into nine basic sections: Brunch and Light Meals; Snacks; Salads and Vegetables; Soups; Pasta, Rice and Eggs; Seafood; Meat; Dessert; and Sauces and Dressings. The rich photography of the various dishes adds culinary excitement and shows off American cuisine at its most innovative. Did I mention that they are also diabetic friendly??
I love this cookbook. Being Type 2, I put it to the test and prepared an even dozen recipes over the period of a month. My choices included an awesome Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Sticky Sweet Potato and Mustard Cream made with agave and a crust featuring sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts, two desserts, a Cherry Custard Pie with Roasted Cherry Sauce and the Very Dark Chocolate Mousse with Bananas. I have been searching for a good Caesar Dressing and found it in this collection. I love veggies and the possibilities in this cookbook are almost endless.
This is one of the better diabetic cookbooks I’ve tested. It is superior in every way. Hooray for Michael Moore. I thanked him from the bottom of my black heart and almost jumped head first into the Chocolate Mousse following a main course of Roasted Vegetable Salad with Lime Dressing.
CRUSTED BEEF WITH STICKY SWEET POTATO AND MUSTARD CREAM
Serves six
Sticky Sweet Potato:
1 lb 9 oz sweet potato
1 Tbs agave syrup
2 Tbs light soy sauce
16 oz beef tenderloin
Cooking spray
3 oz sunflower seeds
3 oz whole almonds
3 oz walnuts
2 oz lowfat spread or butter
___________________________________________________________________
Mustard and Horseradish Cream
2 Tbs horseradish puree or sauce
2 Tbs wholegrain mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, finely chopped
¼ bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 oz light sour cream
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
+++++++++++
Preheat oven to 400F.
Peel and cut sweet potato into large chuinks. Coat well with agave syrup and soy sauce and place onto a shallow baking sheet. Roast in oven for 35 minutes, turning over halfway during baking time.
Spray tenderloin with cooking spray and seal evening in a hot non-stick skillet for 2 minutes each side, or until brown. Remove and cool.
Process seeds and nuts to a coarse crumb. Add butter and process until just mixed through. Press nut crust into the tenderloin and reduce oven heat to 350F and bake for 25 minutes. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Mix mustard and horseradish ingredients and season to taste.
Serve sliced beef with sweet potato and mustard and horseradish cream.
