I have never enjoyed a low carb cookbook more than The Low-Carb Gourmet by Karen Barnaby. It makes low carbing sensuous and luxurious with a serious "how to" wrapping. Not only do you get to eat the box of chocolates, you learn how to recreate the experience again and again.
This is a cookbook -- with its high production values -- that I am actually reading cover to cover. I am actually learning things about food that I never knew, and, as a result, I am taking low carb to the "Godiva" level on an everyday basis. This is the Julia Child of low carbing, but it also includes simple, easy but luxiourious recipes.
For the next four weeks I will be highlighting this book with recipes that they have kindly allowed me to post, but I urge you to get your own copy and experiment before the holidays, because this Thanksgiving you can actually have a feast with low carb staples, and holidays filled with low carb delights. You will not feel deprived in the least!
This rest of this post will tempt you by describing some of the recipes I have already tried to give you a sample of my candy store shopping... I can't post some of these specific recipes, but I can post others.
I have already experimented with low carb sushi (actually her Shrimp & Nori Roll recipe) that I haven't been able to eat since I've been on low carb. I'm still working on this recipe because I've never actually made sushi before, and the wrapping part is tough, but the taste is delicious! (I used the powdered wasabi, available in a large grocery store or an Asian market, so I can always have the ingredients on hand to make this. The seaweed wrappings are dried so they can keep in the cupboard as well, but I think I have to try another brand of the seaweed wrapping next time. Shrimp is always frozen.)
What's more, I'm branching out in the vegetable department, always a good thing. I've discovered Edamame through this cookbook, a blanched soybean that is still in the pod. We were totally ignorant about this vegetable (I got it frozen at Trader Joe's.) I have a little story that tells you just how ignorant. I had to take my daughter to rehearsal and my son to his breakdance class so I left the cookbook with my husband to whip up this Stir-Fried Edamame with Garlic, Chiles, and Soy recipe. (He is a very good cook.) Well, he made the recipe but he didn't read the note that said to "pull the pods through your teeth to extract the beans and the flavor coating the pods." I was late coming back, so he was eating his dinner and eating the whole pod, which is kind of tough, but must have a lot of fiber in it.
Finally, I tried her Basic Almond Sponge Cake (absolutely the best low carb cake I have made from scratch!) I couldn't find parchment paper so I used a two part round cake pan instead. It came out just beautifully. Of course, you could just frost this, but I used it to make a low carb Chocolate Bourbon Bread Pudding, my absolute downfall! My mother and father thought it was so rich that they couldn't believe it was low carb! I brought it over for them to try and gave it to my dad while he was watching TV. He said he hated bread pudding and he didn't want to try it. I asked him to taste one bite. He immediately ate the whole thing. He loves dark chocolate, and this stuff is just full of it! My kids really prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate, so I would just make two almond cakes, one to frost for them and one to make into bread pudding for the adults. Surprisingly, we actually preferred the bread pudding cold with whipped cream on top rather than hot. I have a picture of this before it was sliced with the whipped cream on top. 
Now, for all you folks who would like a recipe you can try from the cookbook, this week I am posting her low carb from scratch My Brownies recipe, which requires almond flour.
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