Nutritional scientist Jürgen Vormann’s high-fat, low-carb recipes can encourage weight loss, as long as you get the ratio right.
Braised Pork Tenderloin with Paprika
Serves 2
- 200g pork tenderloin, sliced into roughly 4cm cubes
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 400ml meat stock
- 4 tsp butter
- 400g button mushrooms, quartered
- 100g cream
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp mild paprika
- freshly grated nutmeg
- salt and pepper
Generously season the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper. Put the coconut oil in a pan over a medium heat and sauté the meat on all sides for 5 minutes until golden brown. Add the onion to the pan and continue frying for 10 minutes. Once the meat and onion have acquired plenty of colour, stir in the tomato purée and cook for a further minute.
Pour over the stock and cover the pan with a lid. Braise for 30 minutes over a medium heat. Top up with hot water if necessary.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat and sauté the mushrooms briskly until they begin to brown. Add the mushrooms to the meat and pour in the cream.
Bring to the boil over a high heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes to reduce the sauce to a creamy consistency. Add the dried thyme and paprika and season with some nutmeg, salt and pepper.
A TASTY ALTERNATIVE
If preferred, you can use diced pork neck instead. The stewing meat will need about 20 minutes longer to cook to make sure it is nice and soft once braised. You will need to keep checking the liquid levels and topping up the dish with hot water. Most of the liquid will be cooked off subsequently when you reduce the sauce.
Cauliflower Risotto
Serves 2
- 600g cauliflower florets
- 150g (²⁄3 cup) cream
- 4 tsp butter
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 200ml vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp flaked almonds
- 1 tbsp almond nut butter
- 20g Parmesan, finely grated
- 3 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
Bring 500ml of water to the boil in a pan and add salt. Add a quarter of the cauliflower florets to the pan, cover and cook for 10 minutes before draining and transferring to a blender. Add the cream and process everything to a fine purée.
Blitz the remaining cauliflower florets in a food processor until you have crumbs resembling grains of rice. Add the butter to a shallow pan over a medium heat and sauté the onion for 3 minutes. Then add the cauliflower crumbs and continue frying for 1 minute, stirring in the curry powder as you go. Pour in the vegetable stock, cover and cook over the very lowest heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, dry-toast the flaked almonds in a non-stick pan until golden and aromatic.
Add the cauliflower purée, almond nut butter and three quarters of the Parmesan to the cauliflower in the pan. Stir and heat through for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide between two deep plates, garnished with flaked almonds, parsley and the remaining Parmesan.
Crispy Courgette with Herb Aioli
Serves 2
FOR THE AIOLI
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1½ tsp milk
- 50ml (¼ cup) olive oil
- 1 medium egg yolk
- 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
- salt and pepper
FOR THE COURGETTE
- 1 medium egg
- 20g Parmesan, finely grated
- 30g ground almonds
- 1 tsp mild paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 large courgette, sliced into 8mm thick discs
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- salt
Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Add the milk, olive oil and egg yolk to a blender. Slowly blend in pulses until the mixture has thickened to form a kind of mayonnaise. Add the garlic and herbs to the mayonnaise and mix again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Whisk the egg in a deep bowl. Mix the Parmesan with the ground almonds, paprika, thyme and a pinch of salt in a second bowl. Dip the courgette slices in the egg, then coat both sides with the almond mixture. Add the oil to a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Fry the coated courgette slices in the hot oil on each side for 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let drain on kitchen paper before arranging on two plates.
AIOLI WITHOUT EGG
If you prefer to avoid raw eggs, there is a simple alternative. Place the ingredients (minus the egg yolk) into the beaker of a blender. Insert the hand blender into the beaker and switch it on only when it is immersed, then slowly raise and lower it. The mixture will keep its consistency only for a few minutes. So, if you choose the egg-free version, it’s best to make the aioli just before serving.
Chocolate Coconut Balls
Makes 20 balls
- 1 avocado, peeled and destoned
- 100g full-fat cream cheese
- 50g soft butter
- 60g (½ cup) coconut flour
- 30g (¼ cup) cocoa powder
- ½ tsp vanilla powder
- birch sugar (xylitol, optional)
- 60g ground almonds
- 20g desiccated coconut
Scoop the avocado flesh into a food processor. Add the cream cheese, butter, coconut flour, cocoa powder and vanilla powder and process until well-combined. Add some birch sugar, if desired. Transfer to a bowl, knead in the ground almonds and let it rest for 10 minutes. Shape 20 equal-size balls from the mixture using your hands and toss them in desiccated coconut. The chocolate coconut balls will keep for up to 1 week if stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
A DIFFERENT COATING
Instead of the desiccated coconut, roasted, unsalted pistachios can be chopped up in no time and ground in a food processor and will be considerably cheaper than raw, ready-shelled pistachio kernels. Another great option is to use flaked almonds, chopped slightly smaller using a knife.
An edited extract from The 28 Day Keto Cure, by Professor Jürgen Vormann with Nico Stanitzok (Hardie Grant Books, $29.99)
