yesterday's meal

Yesterday's meal (which will also be today's meal since I can't leave unfreezable leftovers in the fridge for three weeks while I'm gone) turned out not to be "gyro" pizza but more like "gyro" tostadas, and since I used a pack of low-carb tofu tortillas for the tostada part of the meal, the meal itself was no longer really keto. It also didn't help that the lovely cheese sauce that I'd made on Sunday (which was perfect then) solidified into an unmanageable mass overnight, then split in the pan when I tried to reheat it, necessitating a small measure of cornstarch followed by a small measure of xanthan gum to get everything to recombine. And since this was no longer a pizza, I realized that the cheese sauce was largely unnecessary except for its feta content—and I could barely taste the feta under all of that heavy cream and mozzarella. I also fried up two of the tortillas on their own and dusted them with a bit of salt and garlic powder. Surprisingly delicious... or maybe not so surprising since tofu, which doesn't have much of a taste in its uncooked state, tends to fry up nicely like most proteins. Maillard reaction and all that.

Below are photos of (1) the prep process and (2) two out of three of the tostadas I ended up eating, plus a third, tortilla-less plate. Not pictured: the two tofu tortillas I'd fried, salted, and garlicked. After frying, they tasted a lot like corn tortillas. I've had tofu "chips" before, and I could taste that these fried tortillas were heading in the same direction.

one of my favorite elements of the meal: the beef/lamb mix, spiced up

Yeah, the grease is gross, but (1) it has its uses, (2) it tastes good, and (3) it provides moisture.

a panoply of sides

oi-muchim up close—a Koreanish ingredient in a faux-Greek recipe

two of my faves: cheongyang gochu (chilies) and sliced olives

minced dill pickles (more of a shawarma thing) and congealed cheese sauce

Tzatziki with some unmixed olive oil (but it still tasted awesome, as usual); I remixed the oil.

I had to use an ice-cream scoop to remove the cheese sauce, which I melted into some more heavy cream. You can already see the splitting happening. I did my best to rescue the sauce and was 70% successful.

I'd almost forgotten about the oven-dried tomatoes I'd left in my oven.

chewing on part of a fried tofu tortilla

second plate

third plate, but no tortilla

The fried tofu tortillas were good in and of themselves, but they didn't harmonize perfectly with the other ingredients, so I pined for naan or a sturdy pita, but I survived. I think the most basic combination that I like best—and it approaches a döner except for the red sauce, which would be a welcome addition—is meat, feta, tzatiki, and chilies. The oi-kimchi, dill pickles, and olives are good, but I don't really need them. Overall, this meal gets a thumbs-up. The cheese sauce, when it split, was an annoyance, but today, I see that the addition of a half-teaspoon of cornstarch to repair the sauce* did nothing to my blood sugar, so no worries on that end.

I don't think I'll be visiting that law office today—I have a lot to do right here and now—but I'll try to go tomorrow after my practice walk. Today, then, I'll get my bus ticket and a haircut, then putter around my place just doing... stuff.

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*I added xanthan gum, too, because it binds better with fat. Cornstarch, as a sauce-thickener, is better for watery sauces like, say, that of a boeuf bourguignon.