Indian Liver

30 Apr

There are many good reasons to eat liver. Vitamins, minerals, the “nose to tail” aspect of food, traditional preparations, etc. Taste is usually not mentioned as one of these reasons. I wanted to find a way that I would be able to eat liver at least once a week, while not having to force myself to eat it.

Spices are the answer. Specifically, Indian style spices, onions, and lots of butter. I bought Indian spices at a bulk spice store, where I could get small amounts for amazing prices. At a store like that, these spices can be had for less than $10 for a 6 month supply. If you buy spices in the store already bottled, they can easily cost four times as much. I put my spices in shaker containers, and usually dose out a few shakes of each. It is worth spending some time smelling your spices, separately and together, to work out the best ratio for you.

Indian Liver

8 oz liver (I have done this with chicken and pork liver so far.)
2-4 Tbsp Fat Of Choice (Butter, ghee, bacon fat, lard, and coconut oil are all good.)
2-3 diced onions, until you have about twice as much diced onion as you do liver, by volume.
(carrots are optional, but delicious)
Indian Spices (I use a mixture of Garam Masala, ground coriander, ground allspice, ground cardamom, ground turmeric, and ground ginger. Between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp of each spice.)
Salt and pepper (Usually, if it tastes “off,” add more salt. The best tasting versions of this have been when I have added enough salt that the salt merges with the rest of the flavors. Add more if you think it needs “something.”

Melt Fat of Choice in pan. Fry Onions with some salt until starting to caramelize. Add Indian Spices, and fry for one minute. Add liver, and cook until done (no pink left in the middle.) Eat each piece of liver with at least one onion for best taste.

Meal Plan, with Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

23 Apr

I have started a new job, which has me working noon to eight, five days per week, and on my feet for most of them. Thus, I have two days off to cook for the week, and I have little to no interest in cooking after work.

Breakfast:
Pastured Eggs cooked in Butter/Lard/Coconut Oil
Glass of Raw Milk

Lunch:
Partner: Leftovers (he has access to a microwave, and can reheat leftovers)
Me: Salad with Chicken, Olive Oil, Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, and Grated Cheese

Dinner:
Monday: Lunch (me): Shmaltz with Rice Pasta. Dinner:Rabbit Ragu
Tuesday: Egg Foo Young
Wednesday: Indian Chicken
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Taco Meat
Saturday: Order In

Cooking Plan:
Monday:
Roast Chicken over Fingerling Potatoes (Or Sweet Potatoes, I just have Fingerling.) shred Chicken when Cool
Soak Black Beans for Chili, to cook overnight
Skin 2nd Chicken, Marinade Indian Chicken
Cook Schmaltz with onions and pasta for lunch
Set Chicken Bones for Stock Overnight (yay for having two crockpots!)

Cook Rabbit Ragu for Dinner

Tuesday:
Drain First Batch of Stock, Make Rice (Half for Chili Rice, half for Indian Rice) (If Paleo/Primal, skip rice and/or make Cauliflower Rice.)
Drain Black Beans, use same crock pot for Chili (technique forthcoming)
Cook Indian Chicken
Make Salad Dressing (Olive Oil, Vinegar, Salt, Pepper, Maybe some Cheese)
Make Salad Layers

To CSA, or Not to CSA

1 Apr

CSA stands for Community Sponsored Agriculture. Typically, you pay a lump sum at the beginning of the year/season, and in return you get a weekly or biweekly box of vegetables from that farm. Many have expanded to offer fruits, eggs, meat, and even seafood.

These boxes are great, for many reasons.

  • Paying in advance means the farmer is getting a guaranteed return, and cuts their economic liability
  • Consumers get a guaranteed box of farm fresh items, that change based on the time of the season
  • Consumers get the chance to try new and different vegetables, because farmers have the ability to select varieties based on taste and uniqueness, and not just what will sell to a market
  • Consumers get to support local agriculture, and create relationships with the people who are growing their food
  • Newer CSA models might include shares like winter shares (storage root vegetables and/or frozen summer produce), a forage share (with items that can be foraged wild, such as ramps, scapes, and mushrooms), or plant shares (to get seedlings that can be planted in a container or garden.)

There can be some disadvantages as well.

  • It can be quite a bit of money to pay upfront for a whole season (it is around $600 for my area, for June to November deliveries, which averages $21 per week, but is still a significant upfront cost.)
  • as you are buying into a single farm (usually) or area, if there are any natural disasters, it may reduce or eliminate your remaining share.
  • it can be daunting to face a box of strange vegetables every week, and make sure they are used or preserved before they go bad or the next weeks share is in.
  • The pickup times may be inconvenient, and many have additional work requirements.

I’m sad to say, but I don’t think I will be participating in the CSA this year, mainly because the pickup time is not convenient (I’m working), and the day of the pickup is the day my workweek starts, so I would have less time to deal with the produce.

However, I do want to support my local food economy, and I want farm fresh vegetables to do so. I will be doing a “Make Your Own CSA,” and a monetary commitment to fresh vegetables that will be split among the local farmers markets, and my local food cooperative.

I pledge:

  • To spend $20 per week on local vegetables, bought at the farmers market or food coop. (the CSA is around $21 per week, so this should get me a comparable share. )
  • To try at least one “new” vegetable each week, to signify the variety that would appear in a CSA box

In addition, I will be purchasing local poultry from the markets, and my dry goods through the food coop. I also want to do a few bulk purchases of tomatoes, so I can can my own tomatoes to reduce my BPA exposure.

What has your decision been? Have you bought a CSA share, or can you pledge to spend a similar amount at local food places?

Coconut Garlic Fish Soup

26 Feb

There are so many people that talk about fish stock as being the best thing in the world. Problem is, it’s kinda fishy for me to drink on its own, and it is hard to find good recipes for fish soup that doesn’t call for exotic ingredients. (not that those soups are not amazing, but I don’t keep a lot of spices they call for.)

I bought a fish caracas from the grocery delivery service I sometimes use. I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but it had black skin. (it was sold as “fish for stock,” so it was a non oily fish.) Since it was used to make fancy fillets, there was still quite a bit of meat on the bones, I removed the extra pieces. (look, fish nuggets!). If you buy a whole fish, most fishmongers will fillet it for you, and give you the carcass. Many fishmongers will have extra carcasses around and will give them away or sell them cheap.

Put the fish carcass in a crock pot, add a few onions and some salt, cover in filtered water, add a splash of apple cider vinegar, and slow cook for 4-8 hours.

Strain the broth and cook. Pick any remaining pieces of meat off the bones, being careful of small bones.

I used a 4 quart crock pot, and got about 3 quarts of fish stock. I put the stock in the fridge overnight.

I started the soup by bringing the stock to a boil, and let it reduce by around half. After it reduced, I added a bag of chopped onions and carrots (about a cup of each or so, but add whatever you have around), and cook until soft. Add a can of coconut milk, and cook for a bit. Mince 3-5 cloves of garlic (5 cloves made it quite garlicky, but delicious), and about 1/2 inch of ginger, minced, and add to broth. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until delicious.

Add the fish that was picked from the carcass, and cook until heated. If you want more meat, you can cook the fish nuggets and add to the broth as well.

This made around 6-8 servings, depending on size.

Some notes: yes, this would be better for you with wild caught fish, and BPA free coconut milk. Using cheap ingredients, this cost me around $5 ($3 for the fish, $1 for the coconut milk, and around $1 for the vegetables). Use the best that you have and can afford for your family. This recipe is GAPS friendly, gluten and grain free, and dairy free.

Shared with Weekend Gourmet

Tags: , , , , ,

Raw Garlic Butter

3 Feb

I received an email from my local raw milk farmer, which stated that there was wild garlic in the hay that the dairy cows ate, so there might be a small difference in how the milk and milk products taste.

First, I love that my milk reflects what the cows are eating. We, as a society, are used to things tasting the same around the country and around the year, and this is not natural. Milk and butter should taste different at different times. Just as how mother’s breast milk changes based on what she eats, so does dairy cow’s milk. Another reason to know your farmer, and what your meat and dairy eats.

Second, this confirms what many already know: the flavor in milk is in the fat. While my whole raw milk tastes fine, the cream has a distinct garlic taste. Not so good in coffee, but excellent in butter. (I haven’t tried the yogurt, but that will probably get made into garlic yogurt cheese.)

(By the way, I know the “heavy cream” is far heavier and superior to the store by the sheer amount of butter i get out of it. I regularly get 60% butter out of the heavy cream. No wonder it is so delicious!)

Raw Garlic Butter

Raw cream from a cow that ate wild garlic
Blending mechanism (I used a magic bullet blender, but a regular blender, food processor, or even shaking a mason jar would be fine)

Place heavy cream in blending mechanism. Blend until the butter separates from the buttermilk. (with the magic bullet blender, I have to stop and scrape the sides down a few times, because the blending is not happening.). Once butter has separated, pour buttermilk into container, and place in fridge. Take the butter, and “wash it.”. (it sounds weird, but put it in a bowl, and press the butter against the sides with a spoon. Pour off liquid, and run cold water into bowl, and repeat until water is no longer milky.)

Enjoy as is, or add salt and garlic powder for extra garlic taste.

Fermented Food Challenge

11 Jan

I’ve been learning about bacteria, and how much of our bodies are made up of bacteria. (By number of cells, bacteria outnumber human cells by around 10 to 1.). Since we have so much bacteria residing in our bodies, it seems like a no brainer to know that if something goes wrong with our bacteria, other really bad things can happen.

Traditional cultures use fermentation as a way of preserving food, as well as adding taste, texture, and flavor into foods. These foods add good bacteria to the digestive system, helping the body balance itself.

Surprisingly, pickles were my introduction to good fermented foods. When I moved to New York, I would get these bright green, slightly salty, and crispy pickles at restaurants. I was so used to the vinegar pickles, that the “new pickles” (only a few days old, in a fermentation of salt brine) we’re amazing. As these ferment, they turn into half sours, and the full sour pickles. (I haven’t made these myself, but I get them from The Pickles Guys. They are generous with the samples, including a pickled watermelon rind that I will have to try myself next summer. Also, for GAPS people, they sell their sourkraut and sourkraut brine as well.)

Next came kimchi. Served at Korean restaurants, the spicy and sour condiment is good. Yogurt is good with some honey, and I am learning to like kombucha.

I have joined the 28 Day Probiotic Food Challenge. My goal is simple: eat or drink at least one fermented food per day, and make at least one fermented food this month.

What is your favorite fermented food?

2. Eat beef, lamb, game, organ meats, poultry and eggs from pasture-fed animals.

9 Jan

Eat beef, lamb, game, organ meats, poultry and eggs from pasture-fed animals.

Animals raised on “Pasture” are nutritionally healthier than those raised in feedlots. Feedlot and grain fed animals contain more Omega 6 fat, which is inflammatory in the system. Pastured animals have more Omega 3, as well as CLA. But, in the interest of eating “whole foods” rather than nutrients, pastured meat products are healthier for humans, animals, and the entire environmental ecosystem. (Check out The Meatrix for a look at CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations) animal raising.)

Look for animals that are raised primarily outdoors, with the chance to run around, and eat their natural foods. For Beef and Buffalo, this is grass. For Pigs and chickens, this is usually supplemented with high quality feed, which may or may not include grains.

Pastured Eggs are the cheapest and one of the healthiest pastured foods that you can buy. Here in New York City, I regularly pay $5 per dozen for pastured eggs, whereas my grandmother in Texas pays $2. Still, for 42 cents each, pastured eggs are a bargain. I cook mine in butter, lard, or coconut oil at least 5 mornings a week.

I buy beef in bulk from a farm upstate that raises their beef on grass. Chickens are a LOT harder to raise on grasslands (due to predators), and often I can only find “free range” chickens. Pigs do not eat grass, but do best in forest or heavily wooded areas. (After reading Is Pork Bad for You at Food Renegade, I only eat traditionally cured pork products and marinated pork.)

Your Challenge Eat only Pastured Meat this week. Yes, it might be a bit more expensive, especially buying smaller cuts instead of in bulk.

Bone Broth/Stock

3 Jan

Bone broth is a healthy way to stretch both your food budget and nutrition. Broth (technically Stock) is created through boiling bones and water together for 4-48 hours.

Bone Broth made in the traditional way includes an acidic ingredient, to draw even more nutrients from the bones. Also, you can boil bones multiple times, each time creating a stock with less gelatin, but with more nutrients.

The Nourished Year’s Stock Procedure

Start with Bones. I buy beef soup bones from a local butcher for 1.99 per pound, and save chicken bones from the whole chickens that I buy. I also occasionally buy chicken bones for stock. My 5 quart crock pot holds about 3 pounds of bones.

Bones can be cooked before using for stock. Chicken and Turkey bones are usually cooked with the meat, then stripped of meat after cooking. Beef bones, you can roast for 20-40 minutes in a 350 degree oven before putting into the crock pot. (I usually only roast the beef bones if there are extra marrow bones included, so I can extract the marrow and eat it :)

The First Batch.
Places Bones in crockpot. Barely Cover with Filtered Water. Cook on Low for 6 hours for chicken bones, and 12 hours for beef bones. Strain broth through a strainer. This is the first batch, and is the most flavorful. For Chicken Broth, I use this to drink, adding sea salt and seasonings as desired. For Beef Broth, I use this for Soups, or in recipes in place of water.

The Second Batch.
Return the Bones to the Crockpot. Barely cover with filtered water. Add a few glugs of vinegar (I use unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar.) Let sit for an hour. After an hour, turn the crockpot to low and cook for 12 hours for chicken bones, and up to 24 hours for beef bones. Strain broth through colander. This is the second batch, and is usually used for cooking beans and lentils.

At this point, chicken bones are typically almost finished. If bones are brittle, there are few nutrients left in the bones. Beef Bones can usually be cooked another times.

The Third Batch.
Return beef bones to crockpot, and follow the procedure for the Second Batch. Broth can be used to cook beans and lentils.

1. Eat Whole, Unprocessed Foods

2 Jan

Welcome to the dietary Guidelines Series. Throughout the year, I will be looking at individual guidelines from various eating plans, and setting a weekly goal associated with the guideline.

We are starting with the Dietary Guidelines from The Weston A. Price Foundation. Guideline Number One is to eat Whole, Unprocessed Foods. I interpret this as foods that are bought in their whole, unprocessed, and uncooked state, with some leeway for healthy processing. I shop primarily from a local food coop and year round farmers markets, as well as buying meat in bulk from local pasture based farms.

The best action that one can take to become a healthier person, no matter which food plan they choose, is to cook more at home with locally sourced ingredients.

(Note, I am cheating on this week, as I am still traveling. My “week” starts when I get home :) This weeks meal plan will be posted on Friday.)

Your challenge: eat only foods that you cook yourself from whole, unprocessed (or minimally processed) ingredients.

Pastured Eggs Cooked in Grass Fed Butter

1 Jan

A few blogs are gearing up for an influx of new to Nourishing, traditional, and real food people. I am part of that newbie group, and my year starts January 10.

A question that I have answered in a few places is “what is the first step someone can take in their path to real foods.” my answer has been: pastured eggs cooked in grass fed butter.

1) the number of egg choices is huge. It is hard to stand in front of the egg case and find the eggs that you want, and sometimes even harder to pay twice as much for pastured eggs than for “free-range” or “omega 3″ eggs. Just knowing that pastured eggs are so much healthier for you can make this a little easier, and get you on the right path to learning where your food comes from. If you cannot afford pastured eggs, then go with the best that you can afford, and know that eggs are nourishing regardless of the source. Pastured is just that much better.)

2) Real food is about cooking. Learning how to cook a few good, quick, nourishing meals is important. Eggs make a great breakfast, a snack, a quick dinner, or a late night munchie buster. I make mine over medium, and my partner takes his scrambled. Both take less than a minute to cook. Throw some fat in a pan, crack eggs into a pan (or into a bowl into a pan, if you are not confident about not getting shells in the eggs), cook until the eggs look done.

3) Sourcing grass fed butter starts the education process to why grass fed and pastured animal products are so healthy, and how finding these high quality ingredients can improve your health. While butter might be hard to find in the winter, you can find grass fed ghee (clarified butter) in most health stores. Again, if you cannot afford pastured and grass fed products, go with the best saturated fat that you can afford. Regular butter is so much better for you than canola oil.

4) Butter is important, not only because it tastes amazing, but it starts the introduction process into other saturated fats. If you are dairy intolerant, or are looking to expand past butter, you can cook with coconut oil (I use refined without the coconut taste), lard, pastured bacon fat, and more.

So, with a simple phrase, a few bewildering minutes in the food store, and a pan with lots of fat in it, cooking an egg can be a great start to a real food and nourishing approach to life.

This post is linked with:
Fresh Bites Friday at RealFoodWholeHealth.com
Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist
Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade

← Older Entries