Good morning everyone,
I got a recipe for Shepherds Pie with Cauliflower and Squash topping from that great site Carb-lite and I see in this recipe (and others I've seen) that the author has used "corn starch". I really am not familiar with what corn starch does in a recipe. Is it like Corn Flour? and it sounds to me like something we low carbers shouldn't be having. I was wondering what you guys/gals do..would you substitute corn starch for something else? Or do you feel corn starch is perfectly okay to use in a recipe. The carb count for the recipe is 10 useable carbs and it uses 2 tsps of corn starch. So should I go shopping for some corn starch? Where would I find it? or should I substitute. That is the question!?
I am grateful for any light you can shed on this.
Thank you in advance.
God Bless!
ps should i post this on another board as well?

Hi lcaussie,

Cornstarch is American for cornflour. And no, I personally don't use anything like that. Can you post the link to the recipe? I can tell you then what I'd use. I would imagine that for something like Shepherd's Pie, you'd do fine just leaving it out.

And no, don't post it on another part of the forum. Duplicate posts just confuse people and we big mean ol' moderators remove them.

Cheers,

Roz

Hi Rosebud,
I really really appreciate you doing this as I am about to go shopping shortly and I only go once a week so if I had to get something it's nice to know before I go
http://www.carb-lite.au.com/61MEATBEEFVEALGAME/allrecipes61/shepard's_pie_with_cauliflower_squash_topping.html
here's the link.
Thanks!

A wonderful LC substitute for cornstarch or cornflour is called "Guar Gum". It will thicken any liquid either cold or hot. But it REALLY thickens, so start with 1/8 teaspoon to a cup of liquid until you see how it goes.

It gives the same 'transparent' quality to the liquid it thickens (like cornstarch/flour). So gravies don't look the same as with wheat flour.

Guar gum is available in health food stores in North America.

Thank You Very Very Much!

Hi LC,

I would just leave it out.

I usually add a bit of tomato paste to anything like that with mince - it thickens things nicely. Just be sure to measure the tomato paste. According to Dietclub, 1 (Australian) tablespoon of tomato paste has 1.2 carbs.

HTH

Roz

both sound like good suggestions. I could do either one I suppose.
Do you happen to know if there is a carb count on guar gum?

I haven't yet found a need for it. I've heard it can be a bit slimy. (Not saying it is, just that I've heard that. ) And no, I'm sorry I don't know what its carb count is.

Roz