Dry Sherry

Preferred Brand: Dry Sherry - Taylor

Budget Bargain - $5.67 (750 ml)

Carb Bargain - .41g Carbs/1 fluid ounce

Taylor Dry Sherry is a carb and dollar
cooking bargain.

As far as I’m concerned, one of the chief differences of really delicious Chinese food and home cooked Chinese food is the complexity delivered by blending soy sauce, dry sherry, and rice wine vinegar with garlic, ginger and chiles. Martin Yan taught us this in Yan Can Cook. Remember?

I still believe it today! When I developed hormone positive breast cancer and need to ditch soy, my heart sank, cuz it meant I had to limit eating Chinese food out at restaurants. But thanks to having dry sherry in the pantry and always having dried, fresh and pickled ginger on hand along with garlic and coconut aminos to replace soy – I no longer have to live a life devoid of delicious Chinese food!

I use dry sherry in everything from Cajun FauxTurtle Soup and other Cajun specialties, to delicious savory meat dishes and pan sauces and in the obligatory Chinese Food.

Dry Vermouth or Extra Dry Vermouth

Preferred Brand: Dry or Extra Dry Vermouth – Noilly & Pratt  or  Martini & Rossi
Budget Bargain - $7.36 (750 ml Martini & Rossi Extra Dry Vermouth)
Carb Bargain - .2g Carbs/1 fluid ounce

Dry or Extra Dry Vermouth replaces dry
white wine in any recipe 1:1

Easily the most versatile cooking "wine" in the world. It's major advantage is having a long shelf life after opening. Many sites specify refrigeration after opening. Fluffy Chix Cook do not do that and have excellent results for 3-6 months in the pantry.

I don’t like to drink it and preferred to simply wave a closed bottle over my very dry, very dirty martini (BC – Before Cancer). It is brewed from aromatic herbs and bottled. It used to be aged in wormwood (vermmut or wermmut) barrels that imparted a unique flavor to the wine. That is, before they found out how toxic wormwood was, now days the vintners bring the wormwood flavor profile in through the use of herbs.

Dry Vermouth or Extra Dry Vermouth adds great depth of flavor to any savory dish where white wine is called for in a recipe. Use it for poultry, fish & seafood, and red meats. It’s fairly cheap and widely available. Although some recommend refrigerating after opening, I have never done that and it appears to be fine.

If you look hard enough you can find dry vermouth close to $6 (Gallo). I’ve never tried the Gallo brand, but suppose it would work fine.

Oh and don’t confuse my term cooking wine with the generic “cooking wine” you see on the vinegar isle of the grocery store! That wine is adulterated with salt and other gunk and should never be used! This spirit

Taylor Dry Sauterne

Preferred Brand: Taylor Sauterne (Dry)
Budget Bargain - $5.69 (750 ml)
Carb Bargain - .23g Carbs/1 fluid ounce

Taylor Sauterne elevates roasted chicken,
turkey and Cornish game hens.

Ask anyone who knows about wines and they will remark, “There is no such thing as a dry sauterne. Sauterne by definition is a sweet dessert wine.”

Well, “they” may be right, but those folks have clearly never talked to Taylor about this little point of wine factoids. Because Taylor makes the wine we’ve used to cook most of our chicken and assundry poultry and the Fluffy Chix Cook family has been using it for many years.

Mama used to call it dry sauterne and she would differentiate with the caution, “Now don’t bring home any of that sweet stuff! Ask the liquor store for the dry sauterne made by Taylor.” In fact, she never just said Taylor Sauterne. It was always, "Taylor Dry Sauterne".

And if there’s one thing I know, Mama made THE best roasted chickens, turkeys and Cornish game hens on the planet. The entire planet.

Coconut Flour

The Gluten Free Flour That Could

Coconut Flour Got a Bum Rap Dude!

Coconut palm heavy with green coconuts

I’m coo coo for coconuts! Really! Coconuts were given a very bad rap back in the 70s when we were hit with the whole “fat is bad” theory of heart disease. In my opinion, coconuts provide superior nutrition as part of a primal, well-balanced diet.

Traditionally for thousands of years, cultures depending primarily on sustenance from coconuts and fish had very low incidence of diseases of civilization (heart disease, diabetes, cancer). Stephan Guyenet over at

 

Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup aka Heinz One Carb Ketchup

Why do you have to put sugar in ketchup in the first place? Ketchup is a tomato condiment not a dessert. Right? Do condiments really need sugar? Sure, I know, the sweet helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes and rounds out the flavor notes – adding to the umami (savory sense) experience. Uh oh, I’m going all kitchen-wench nerd on your brains…so I better stop there. But Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup passes my tests for product semi-safety and wins shelf-space in my ice box.

Shirataki Noodles

AKA konjac noodles, glucomannan noodles, konnyaku noodles, Japanese yam noodles

Konjac noodles also called
shiritaki noodles

Shirataki or konjac noodles are naturally low carb, low glycemic, and zero calories.  I don’t know about you, but I’m skeptical when I hear stuff like that. How can a food, especially pasta, have zero calories and zero net carbs? I mean, seriously. Tell me. How?