~*~Soft Foods Suggestion~*~

[MsRhodes]

Originally posted by ShawtyCat
There are ways to modify this to your tastes. Ill look up a recipe for you. Although Im sure someone will beat me to it.

Jodi

PS

What about sodium? Do you need to adjust that too? Are you on Low Fat, Low Sugar or Low Salt? Would help a bunch with our suggestions.

Edit: Here is a link to sugar free dessert recipes you can try.

Sugar Free Desserts

Yes Please I would appreciate a recipe. Yes I am on sugar free diet also but I do not like the aspartamen taste or Sweet and Low nasty taste so I am going to go to Splenda's website and see what kind of recipes I can find on there. Sodium does not have to be adjusted just the sugar.

Fawn

[MsRhodes]

Originally posted by Pete
How about:
-baked winter squashes such as acorn or butternut
-fruit smoothies
-flavored mashed potatoes (I could live on mashed potatoes!!)
-scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and herbs
-black bean soup (spicy or not)
-curried creamed spinach
-cheese soup (another one of my favorites)
-If you have a food processor you can create purees out of just about any veg. you could think of carrots, cooked dried beans, chickpeas (hummus), eggplant (baba ganouj)

Hope this helps. At least it is a start.

Butternut I will try!
I have been doing the smoothie thing I need a variation.
I like Mashed potatoes too but to much flavor right now makes me sick I have stick with the plain :-(.
Scrambled eggs w/Smoked salmon and herbs sounds good however I think that is a lil too much right now -- but I will try the scrambled eggs or scrambled tofu.
Black Bean soup cant do it is too spicy and to much garlic for me right now.
HATE CREAMED SPINACH
Cheese soup too heavy
but into pureerd veggies -- however the hummus and baba ganouj I do eat.

Thank you sooooooooooo much!
Fawn

[MsRhodes]

Originally posted by FunnyTummy
Certain bland foods are really good at taking on the taste of whatever they've been cooked in, cooked with, or had mixed into them. These are smooth and creamy:

yoghurt
soft tofu
custard (unsweetened)

You can add pureed fruits and veggies to all, as Pete suggested, or jazz them up with spices and extracts.

How much longer do you have to wait before you can bite down on something crunchy?

I am eating yogurt the flavored sweet kinds and and I am using tofu also. Custard I have only tried in its sweet form not savory.

I can not do a lot of spices because as your screen name implies I got a funny tummy right now

I have about two months befor I can get into cruchy stuff.

[alexia]

Here's a recipe from Jean Georges Vongerichten that I tried. In your case, you can mince the chard leaves into the ones you will eat and mix it into the flan, wrap those for other people as in the recipe and bake or steam.

I think the steaming timing is a bit off on this; it took considerably longer for me.


SWISS CHARD TIMBALES from VONGERICHTEN: (4 SERVINGS)
May be assembled a day or two in advance and steamed at the last minute.

1 lb Swiss chard
juice of 1 lemon
2 cups cream
1 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
salt and black pepper
x
cut stems from chard, keeping leaves as intact as possible; wash both stems and leaves. If stems are thick, cut them the long way into 2 or 3 slices. Chop stems into 1/4" dice.
x
bring 2 pots of salted water to boil; add juice of the lemon to one. Cook the stems in the acidulated water til tender, about 10 minutes. Drain Cook leaves in other pot til wilted and quite tender, 3 - 4 minutes. Drain, then immediately submerge in large bowl of ice water. When cool, drAin in colander.
x
Combine cream and garlic in small pan and cook over medium high heat 15 minutes til reduced by more than half. Stir in chard stems and reduce eat to medium low. Cook another 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Cool mixture a few minutes. Stir in Parmesan, egg yolk, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
x
While cream reduces, line 4 custard cups with plastic wrap. Pat chard leaves dry with paper towels, then line each of them with as few as 3 - 4 or as many as 6 - 7 per cup, depending on size.
x
Fill cups with the stem mixture and fold leaves over, fold the plastic wrap over all. may be prepared up to this point and refrigerated up to 2 days.

Place in steamer for 5 - 10 minutes (longer if they were refrigerated) til heated through. Or microwave them. Carefully remove packages from plastic wrap and serve on small plates.

Here's a recipe from Southwest Tastes that looks good, though I haven't tried it

AVACADO MOUSSE: (SW TASTES, serves 8-10)
8 small avocados (6 yields 7-8 cups pulp),
juice of 4 lemons
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
dash Worcestershire
salt, white pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream

Line 9 x 5" loaf pan with parchment; leave enough to cover the top.

Peel avocados, sprinkling cut surfaces with lemon juice. Set aside 2; cube remaining 6; put in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients; mash well (use mixer or hands). Whip cream to soft peaks (chill bowl, beater.

Fold whipped cream into avocado, adjust seasoning, pour half into mold. Halve remaining avocados; place them, hollow side don in loaf pan. Tap to remove holes; fill with remaining mousse. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Be sure parchment is directly on surface of mousse to prevent discoloration. (or plastic wrap.

Serve with tomato sauce, shrimp.

I've been thinking about syrups and extracts that might wake your taste buds up a bit without flipping out your digestive system. So far I've come up with:

Rose water
Vanilla
Grenadine
Maple syrup
Pistachio

I'm guessing that fruit syrups that are highly acidic wouldn't be acceptable. What a challenge! I think if I was in your shoes I'd be consulting with a really good nutritionist.

[MsRhodes]

Originally posted by FunnyTummy
I've been thinking about syrups and extracts that might wake your taste buds up a bit without flipping out your digestive system. So far I've come up with:

Rose water
Vanilla
Grenadine
Maple syrup
Pistachio

I'm guessing that fruit syrups that are highly acidic wouldn't be acceptable. What a challenge! I think if I was in your shoes I'd be consulting with a really good nutritionist.

Funny Tummy:

Thank you for your suggestions!!!
Rose Water and vanilla sound really good. Although, the Maple Syrup and Grenadine are lil to high in sugar for me and I am not to much of a fan of Pistachio. I do have a nutritioninalist -- however, thus far everything she has suggested has made me sick. I ate less than a teaspoon of corned beef hash this morning and got sooooooooo sick and I ate two small bite of scrambled egg whites and I was just very sick so I guess I really am going to have to stick with broths, smoothies and vey light soups -- oh and my gatorade. :-)

Thank you so much for your help I really do appreciate it.

Some times it is really hard for people to relate to being ill until they are in your shoes.

Fawn

[MsRhodes]

Alexia:

Thank you so much for this recipe I will indeed try it once I am feeling somewhat better -- today was a rough morning for me.

Thank you again!!

Fawn

Originally posted by alexia
Here's a recipe from Jean Georges Vongerichten that I tried. In your case, you can mince the chard leaves into the ones you will eat and mix it into the flan, wrap those for other people as in the recipe and bake or steam.

I think the steaming timing is a bit off on this; it took considerably longer for me.


SWISS CHARD TIMBALES from VONGERICHTEN: (4 SERVINGS)
May be assembled a day or two in advance and steamed at the last minute.

1 lb Swiss chard
juice of 1 lemon
2 cups cream
1 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
salt and black pepper
x
cut stems from chard, keeping leaves as intact as possible; wash both stems and leaves. If stems are thick, cut them the long way into 2 or 3 slices. Chop stems into 1/4" dice.
x
bring 2 pots of salted water to boil; add juice of the lemon to one. Cook the stems in the acidulated water til tender, about 10 minutes. Drain Cook leaves in other pot til wilted and quite tender, 3 - 4 minutes. Drain, then immediately submerge in large bowl of ice water. When cool, drAin in colander.
x
Combine cream and garlic in small pan and cook over medium high heat 15 minutes til reduced by more than half. Stir in chard stems and reduce eat to medium low. Cook another 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Cool mixture a few minutes. Stir in Parmesan, egg yolk, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
x
While cream reduces, line 4 custard cups with plastic wrap. Pat chard leaves dry with paper towels, then line each of them with as few as 3 - 4 or as many as 6 - 7 per cup, depending on size.
x
Fill cups with the stem mixture and fold leaves over, fold the plastic wrap over all. may be prepared up to this point and refrigerated up to 2 days.

Place in steamer for 5 - 10 minutes (longer if they were refrigerated) til heated through. Or microwave them. Carefully remove packages from plastic wrap and serve on small plates.

Here's a recipe from Southwest Tastes that looks good, though I haven't tried it

AVACADO MOUSSE: (SW TASTES, serves 8-10)
8 small avocados (6 yields 7-8 cups pulp),
juice of 4 lemons
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
dash Worcestershire
salt, white pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream

Line 9 x 5" loaf pan with parchment; leave enough to cover the top.

Peel avocados, sprinkling cut surfaces with lemon juice. Set aside 2; cube remaining 6; put in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients; mash well (use mixer or hands). Whip cream to soft peaks (chill bowl, beater.

Fold whipped cream into avocado, adjust seasoning, pour half into mold. Halve remaining avocados; place them, hollow side don in loaf pan. Tap to remove holes; fill with remaining mousse. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Be sure parchment is directly on surface of mousse to prevent discoloration. (or plastic wrap.

Serve with tomato sauce, shrimp.

[alexia]

I hope by now you are beginning to feel better. If this is to continue for some time I'll keep looking for tempting recipes for you and posting from time to time. So just signal the hoped for "basta!"

Here: a couple recipes for Garlic Flans I haven't yet tried but look forward to. You could probably add some other pureed vegetables to the second one if you like for variety and to add veggies to your diet (you say you don't care for veggie purees). The second recipe would accomodate anything not too watery, even perhaps minced crabmeat or other fish.

And don't forget souffles, just give trade the crispy bits on yours for the soft bits on the other plates. A souffle is, after all basically a super beaten custard with a starch thickener.


ROASTED GARLIC CUSTARD (AIOLI) HAMERSLEY (from BBC website): serves 4
1 cup cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ cup roasted garlic purée
Salt, pepper
Pre-heat oven to 325F.

Scald the cream and the crushed garlic and allow to cool slightly.

In a bowl, stir together the whole eggs and the yolk. Temper the egg mixture by adding 2 oz of the cream to the bowl. Then stir in the remaining cream. Pass through a fine sieve into another bowl.

Stir in the garlic purée. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter four 3 oz molds and ladle the custard into each one. Place molds in a shallow pan and fill the pan with hot water so the liquid reaches half way up the side of the molds.

Bake covered in the oven for about 50 minute or until the custards are just set. Allow to cool slightly.

Run a knife around the inside of the mole and turn the custard out onto each of 4 plates. Serve with vegetables, meat or fish.

GARLIC FLANS WITH BASIL AND SALAD from ROCKENWAGNER's cookbook: (serves 6)
Flan:
1 1/4 cups cloves garlic, peeled ( 3 heads)
1/3 lb parsnips, washed, peeled, cut into 1" cubes
1 ½ cup milks
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
½ tsp salt
black pepper
dash tabasco
1 tsp finely chopped garlic, optional

Combine garlic parsnips, milk and bring to boil. Lower heat so liquid simmers; cook til parsnips are soft, about 15-20 minutes. Strain, reserve 3/4 cup milk. Puree parsnips and garlic in a processor for 2 - 3 minutes or til smooth. Add reserved milk, eggs, cream, salt, pepper, tabasco. Add additional tsp garlic and process til sooth, scraping down sides of bowl.

Preheat oven to 325f. Butter 4 oz ramekins and set in bain marie, boiling water half way up. Place pan on stove top and bring back to the boil. Then transfer pan to oven and bake til center of each flan is firm, about 50 minutes Remove ramekins from water bath and let rest 10 minutes.

For those eating solids: Serve with arugula/basil salad with balsamic dressing.

Assembly: Unmold ramekins, invert onto plates, scatter a few greens around the flan and garnish with red peppers. Serve warm.

[alexia]

I've looked over your previous posts and didn't see anything about avoiding salt, so perhaps this might add some variety. The first is a recipe I found somewhere attributed to Motherwell, the artist. It's a direct version. The second is downloaded from one of Martha's TV segments. It's more complex preparation, but adds a note of flavor from the garlic confit which you can add less/none if the garlic is too much for you. there's also a version that substitutes an olive tapenade for the garlic confit. The advantage of this dish is soft and as bland as you like it for you, but the others at the table can pile on the confit or tapenade to spice it up.

Be sure to use mealy type potatoes. Some people soak the cod in a bowl, letting a small stream of water continue to drip in while it soaks, presumably carrying the saltiness off in the runoff.


BRANDADE DE MORUEny ckbk: Motherwell; 8 appet, 4 1st course)
1 lb dried salt cod
3 large baking potatoes
6 cup fish broth or bottled clam juice SINGLE OK
2 cloves garlic crushed
½ cup evo
½ cup whipping cream
sea salt and pepper

Soak cod 8 hour or overnight in cold water, changing every few hours

Preheat oven to 450f
Bake potatoes til soft (hour); cool; scoop pulp

Drain cod, discard skin, bones, tough parts. Cut into small bits, combine with broth in non-reactive pan over medium heat. bring to simmer and cook 20 minutes. Drain.

Place fish in bowl or mortar, pound it to fine paste (food mill ok, processor no) Add potato, garlic, pound to combine. Still pounding drizzle in olive oil and cream. salt and pepper to taste.




BRANDADE DE MORUE WITH RIAD Nasr MS: APRIL 25, 2000 (Balthazar, a Parisian-style brasserie in New York City).
a renowned Provençal dish of pounded salt cod, puréed potatoes, olive oil, garlic, milk, and cream. The name is derived from the French Provençal “brandar,” meaning to stir, and “morue,” the word “cod.” There are as many versions as there are chefs - some insist upon generous amounts of garlic, while others might shy away from the potatoes.
x
Salt cod is dried whole cod fish cured in salt. The skin and bones contribute to its intense flavor. Because of the large amount of salt used in the preserving process, salt cod must be soaked for hours, with many changes of water to remove the salt and rehydrate the fish before cooking. The best-quality dried salt cod should appear ivory, almost yellow-colored, with green flecks. It should be pliable and not board-stiff. Once rehydrated, salt cod's appearance will resemble that of fresh fish.
X
BRANDADE DE MORUE: Serves 4 to 6
1 pound dried salt cod, cut into large pieces
2 cups milk
2 heads garlic, halved crosswise
2 bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, 1 sprig rosemary, 6 sprigs thyme, tied
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
½ cup olive oil
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, warmed
Garlic Confit, for garnish (recipe follows)
Toasted croutons

1. In large bowl, completely cover cod in water, and soak for at least 24 hours, changing water every 2 to 3 hours.

2. To make the bouquet garni, bunch bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme together and tie with kitchen string. In a medium saucepan, place cod with a head of garlic, bouquet garni, milk, and 1 cup water. Over low heat, bring to simmer. Cook until fish is flaky (about 10 minutes). Discard garlic and bouquet garni.

3. Place potatoes in medium saucepan, and cover with salted water. Cook potatoes at a simmer until fork tender (15 to 20 minutes) and drain.

4. In small saucepan, place oil with remaining garlic and bouquet garni. Over low heat, warm the oil (about 10 minutes). Discard garlic and bouquet garni.

5. Put potatoes through a food mill while still warm. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine potatoes and cod on low speed, until just incorporated. Slowly add the infused oil, then add 1 cup cream. Do not overmix or potatoes will become gluey.

6. Garnish brandade with remaining 2 tablespoons warm cream and garlic confit. Serve with toasted croutons.

GARLIC CONFIT: Makes about ½ cup
1 head garlic, peeled and separated into cloves
½ cup olive oil

Place garlic in a small saucepan over low heat, and cook slowly until soft and golden brown (45 to 50 minutes).

Hi Fawn,

Corned beef hash? Isn't that very spicy? Perhaps roast beef hash would be gentler on your stomach.

Do you like aspic? It would at least give you some variation in texture, unless of course you've been eating a lot of Jell-O and are sick of the stuff. What about foods that would dissolve in your mouth, like fruit leather?

I really feel for you, even though I've never been in your situation. I have varied and severe food allergies and had quite a struggle 15 years ago trying to find a balanced, palatable diet that wouldn't make me sick. It's a double-edged sword because repeated incidents of illness in response to eating can have the effect of making one not want to eat at all...and that's very dangerous.

Anyway, I browsed www.amazon.com for cookbooks that might be useful to you. Not knowing all the details of your dietary limitations I'm just going to point you at the category and you can browse it to see if anything might fit your circumstances. The URL for that category is too long to paste here, but you could go to amazon's web site and search for "Cookery for the sick".

One other thing...do you dream about food? When my diet was most limited I dreamed a lot about foods I couldn't eat that I missed. I also sometimes imagined that I could smell or taste them...when I was awake, that is. Odd how the mind can play tricks on a person like that.