(Almost) deadly Experiments with potato substitutes

There's probably nothing so comforting as food. When we are sick, we are brought chicken soup from a caring relative, when we are sad, we are given chocolate, (in my experience), when we are homesick, we crave the foods of our country and when we are dieting, we crave everything we are told not to eat.

many people who are undertaking a low carb diet talk about getting deprivation in perspective. Not being allowed pasta, rice, potatoes or sugar is not the same as being hungry or lonely, just eat another piece of cheese. I agree, to a certain point, but sometimes, when we are down, it's easy to feel sorry for yourself, especially if you can't eat what you want to. This is why a lot of low carbers are on an endless search for viable substitutes. Carbohydrates are comfort. Pasta is pretty much sorted with the Dreamfields brand, which tastes EXACTLY like the real thing. Shirataki noodles are good enough in a soup, you can use the spaghetti for any other Asian noodle dish. There's a new product called 'Miracle Rice', which will be interesting to try and sugar is successfully substituted. But what about potatoes? Yesterday, I found a very good substitute which may have killed me.

But first, I attempted a rutabaga mash, or in this case, turnip. Any root vegetable is quite high in carbs, turnip having 7.9g per cup, compared to potato at around 30g, due to the starch and sugars, but the difference is big enough to warrant it a good alternative.

I peeled and boiled it for 45 minutes until soft and then mashed it with sour cream, balsamic vinegar and cheese. The taste was sweet and earthy, like potato but with a slightly bitter edge. The balsamic helped to cut across the richness and the sour cream added bulk. The turnip was still very wet after boiling and draining, so I wrapped it in a tea towel and squeezed out so much water there was hardly any flesh left to puree.

I decided not to stop there and wanted to create a crispy, cheesy topping to add a bit of interest. 

So, the mixture was spread into a baking dish, sprinkled with a very large amount of grated Cheddar and, as a last minute idea, topped with a few pieces of sun dried tomato snipped with a pair of scissors.

Apart from the sun dried tomato burning to a blackened crisp, the top browned nicely due to the cheese. The finished dish was OK. Neil summed it all up by commenting that it's always the texture that's not quite right. This was decidedly sloppy and no amount of sour cream or other thickener could give it that lovely creamy but dense mashed potato texture. I recently read that pureed cauliflower can be made denser by hanging over a bowl in the fridge for a night, something to try. 

Spaghetti Squash. Sometimes I wonder what Nature is thinking. How did this strange vegetable come to be? What purpose does it serve in producing long thin strands once cooked? Whatever the reasons for this oddity are, it's one tasty squash, as long as you remember to season and add butter.

Cut in half, scooped of it's seeds and cooked in the oven for 1 hour, the flesh can be scraped away with a fork, where it naturally separates into strands that resemble spaghetti. Some people have commented that this can be used as a good alternative to the actual pasta equivalent. Rubbish. In my opinion it should be enjoyed as a dish in it's own right and not attempted to be coaxed into becoming Spaghetti Carbonara as I did once with disastrous wet, congealed results. 

Now, the deadly portion:

Did you know that eating raw Taro root can kill you? No, neither did I. Apparently it contains calcium oxalate, which can cause kidney stones and other more deadly symptoms. Why isn't information like this more available? There should be a vegetable law: "If you sell this product, you must warn people about the danger". Of course, I know this isn't always possible, but really, the toxicity is so high it can be lethal! Flicking through a fruit and vegetable book I own, I also discovered that raw bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and yuca are also poisonous and don't even think about eating raw morel mushrooms! So, I'm going to share this information with you loud and clear.

TOXIC: RAW TARO ROOT
TOXIC: RAW BAMBOO SHOOTS
TOXIC: RAW WATER CHESTNUTS

TOXIC: RAW YUCA

VERY TOXIC: RAW MOREL MUSHROOMS

Of course, they were delicious once cooked. All forbidden things are. I sliced them finely and soaked them a couple of times in cold water to remove the starch. They were kind of slimy and considering the murkiness of the water, very starchy for a supposedly low carb root.

When fried for 7 minutes in hot oil they crisped and dried well and tasted like a coconut - potato hybrid with a nutty and sweet flavour and crunchy exterior. I was excited that I had found something I really could consider a good potato substitute. And then, my stomach started to hurt, at first a dull ache and then waves of sickness crashing over me. I instinctively knew it was the taro and Internet research indeed confirmed this. The problem was that I had nibbled a small piece of raw taro to see what it was like. Barely a door mouse bite, I don't think I even swallowed it, but that was enough to have me gulping down Pepto Bismol and worrying I was going to be violently ill.

Would I cook them again? Visions of mashed taro, roasted taro and other potato like dishes swam through my mind. Then, I discovered that they actually have the same if not more carbs than potatoes, having approximately 40g per cup! So, no more dilemma.

Recipe : Rutabaga mash with balsamic (Adapted from The Low Carb Gourmet by Karen Barnaby)

1 large or 3 small rutabaga, cut into quarters and peeled.

2 tbsp sour cream

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup grated cheese

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the rutabaga or turnips.

Cover and cook over medium heat for about 40 minutes until the root is soft when pierced with a knife. Drain. 

If you want a drier, less sloppy puree, wait until the roots are cool and then wrap them in a tea towel.

Squeeze as much water as possible from the vegetables and then puree in a blender or mash by hand.

Add the sour cream, balsamic, seasonings and 1/2 the cheese. Mix well.

Spread the mixture in a baking dish and add the remaining cheese.

Grill (broil) until golden brown on top. Serve as a side dish.

Recipe : Spaghetti squash

1/2 spaghetti squash

2 tsp oil

1/4 tsp salt

black pepper

1 tsp butter

Set the oven to 400oF. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and fibrous parts from the centre of the squash and place in a baking dish.

Drizzle with the oil and seasonings and bake for 1 - 1.5 hours until you can easily fork out the strands.

Remove from the oven and use a fork to scoop out all the flesh, it will separate into long strands. Place in a bowl.

Add the butter and season with some more salt and pepper if you think it needs it.

I added some chopped butter wrinkled beans and served it as a side dish.

Recipe : Taro crisps

2 medium sized taro roots, peeled and very thinly sliced. (Best to wear gloves apparently, although they didn't bother me).

1 cup oil

sprinkling of salt

Place the taro chips in a large bowl of cold water and swish around several times to remove the starch. Rinse and repeat until the water is almost clear.

Heat the oil in a deep pan and when ready, (test with a piece of bread, making sure it bubbles immediately), dry the taro very thoroughly and gently lower them into the oil. Fry them for about 5 - 8 minutes until they are golden and crispy.

Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt and eat straight away.