Sunday, December 29, 2013

Oxtail Stew in the Crockpot

Saute some onions in butter.  After a while, add the oxtail and some stew meat, and brown the meat on all sides for a few minutes.

Put into the crockpot with:
Carrots
Celery
Potatoes
6 oz. of tomato paste
broth
thyme
salt
pepper

Let the crockpot rip for 8 hours on low!

First time cooking with oxtail, it was delicious!

Scooter

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Beef Jerky Recipes

Currently marinating:

1) Teriyaki sauce out of a bottle
2) Pineapple juice from a can + ginger + tamari (or maybe it was Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
3) Whiskey + smoked salt + smoked pepper + tamari
4) Horseradish mustard + tamari

Will dry tomorrow night and update!

Update: they're good!  I really liked the teriyaki.  And, of course, the whiskey.

Now in the dehydrator:
1) Coffee Rub
2) Cinnamon-Cardamom Rub
3) Hickory smoked salt and pepper Rub
4) Pepper and Alder smoked salt Rub

Scooter

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Barbecue Sauce

Decided to try to make some of my own BBQ sauce again today.  I didn't follow any specific recipe, but looked at a bunch and meshed into my own ideas.  I tried to find all the "smoky" things I had.

Pre-pre-prep:
Pull out a package of caramelized onions from the freezer.

Pre-prep:
brew a cup of Stash "Caravan" loose-leaf tea.  It's a tea that is "a dark, robust tea with a distinct smoky flavor."  I really wanted the smoky flavor.  I also add a few cardamom seeds, a few crushed coffee beans, whole cloves, and a sprig of fresh rosemary to the cup.  Let it brew while I made and ate breakfast.

Prep:
In a sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine:
1 28 oz. carton San Marzano tomatoes
finely diced caramelized onions
the pre-prep cup of tea, with all solids removed
Couple drops of Red Boat fish sauce
Couple Tablespoons of Dijon-Horesradish mustard
A little bit of pomegranate balsamic vinegar.  (I wanted to use espresso, but I was out.)  Maybe 2 teaspoons
A bit of apple cider vinegar.  Maybe 1 T.
A  bit of coconut aminos.  Maybe a little less than 1 T.
Couple pinches of hickory-smoked salt

Couple shakes of:
Penzey's BBQ 3000
Cumin
Chili Powder
Garlic
Black Pepper
Smoked Paprika

Smaller shakes of:
ginger
cinnamon

Let it simmer until desired thickness.  (on Medium for me, low was too low.)  Stir occasionally.  Mine will be simmering for at least 30 minutes.

Scooter

Friday, December 13, 2013

Spring Rolls!

Ingredients: 
Rice wrappers from the Asian food store

The fillings:
Rice noodles (the "glass" kind)
Cilantro
Basil
Mint
Arugula or butter lettuce
cabbage or cabbage slaw
bean sprouts
shredded carrots, etc.

Method:
Soak rice paper in water for 10 ish seconds, put in the fillings, wrap it up!

Delicious served with peanut sauce.

Scooter

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Salmon burgers - oven baked

This was based off a combo of recipes between Melissa and Dallas Hartwig's It starts with food and Melissa Joulwan's Well Fed 2.

In a bowl, mix together:
Big can of salmon, drained  (14 ish oz?)
Half a can of sweet potato (1/2 cup ish)
1/2 ish almond flour
2 eggs
Spices! Like:
Big shake of parsley
small shake paprika
garlic
salt
pepper

Let sit in the fridge for 10 minutes.  (Or, 2 if you're impatient like me.)

On a large cookie sheet, put some parchment paper and brush it with melted ghee.
Use a 1/3 cup scoop, scoop out mixture and form into patties.
I formed about 8.  It filled up the entire sheet, I made them around 3 in. across.

Brush the tops with ghee, bake in an pre-heated oven at 425 F for 20 minutes.  Pull them out, flip the burgers over, and brush again with ghee.  Cook for another 15 minutes.

Scooter


Snowy Day 2 ish week food prep

So, I decided I wanted to prep a bunch of meals at once.

The recipes, with a few variations of ingredients:
Beef Stew - Crockpot
Chili - Stovetop
Chicken Chile - Stovetop
Meatballs - Oven (Bison)
Blueberry Pork Breakfast Sausage - Oven
Chicken Thighs - Oven

The method:

I needed to go to the store for a few ingredients, so I prepped the Beef Stew in the Crockpot first, then set it on low.  It'll go for 10 ish hours.

Then:
Chopped onions and garlic for Chili and Chile and put in a bowl.
Chopped sweet potatoes for C&C, put in a separate bowl.
Chopped bell peppers, zucchini, and celery for Chili, put in a separate bowl.

Heat up olive oil in a pot, cook half of onions/garlic for Chili.
Add 1 lb. ground beef.
Add spices.

When meet is brown, heat up olive oil in another pot for Chile.
Add onions/garlic.  After 5 minutes, add sweet potatoes to Chile.
Keep checking in on Chili to make sure it's OK.
Add peppers/zucs/celery to Chili

Open cans of tomatoes for Chili, chicken for Chile, and green chiles. Drain.
Chop Chiles.
Add tomatoes and sweet potatoes to Chili.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour.
Add chiles, cumin, salt, and pepper to Chile.

Add broth to the chile.  Bring to a boil, simmer for 20 min.  Add chicken, long enough to warm it up.

Clear off counter area.

Heat oven to 425 F.

In a large pan, lined with foil, place chicken thighs.  Salt and pepper both sides.  Drizzle with olive oil, add rosemary on top.  Put in oven.

Immediately make breakfast sausages and put in oven with chicken.

Make meatballs.  In 20-22 minutes, pull out the breakfast sausages and put meatballs in oven.
Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Pull both meatballs and chicken out of the oven.

Cool everything off, package, and freeze!

Scooter

Blueberry - Pork breakfast sausages

This recipe was based off of the Stuff I Make my Husband blog.  That recipe has actual amounts of spices (and a few different ones), I just wing it.

Mush together in a bowl:
1 lb. ground pork
handful of frozen blueberries.  (could use fresh.  don't need to thaw)
a couple shakes of the following:
sage
paprika
salt
thyme
coriander
nutmeg
pepper

The recipe calls for cooking it in a skillet, I just formed patties with my hands and baked in the oven at 425 F for 21-23 minutes.  I had it on the low rack, and the juices that were running off started to burn.

I can't believe I've never made my own breakfast sausage blends before, these are awesome!

Dear Self: I made 11 patties, needs a big cookie sheet to cook them on.

Scooter

Friday, December 6, 2013

Orange-Ginger-Garlic Chicken

This was also based off a recipe in Diane Sanfilippo's 21 DSD.

On a stove-top,  preferably in an oven proof skillet, add salt-and-peppered chicken thighs, skin side down, to coconut oil.  Cook for 5-10 minutes.  Add minced onion, minced garlic, minced ginger, juice from several oranges, 1/3 cup coconut aminos, several teaspoons of fish sauce.  Add all this to the chicken.

Her recipe calls for baking it in the oven at 425 F for 30 minutes, but since a fire started in the oven when we turned it on, we just left it on the stove-top, covered, for about the same amount of time, occasionally stirring.

Really, really good.

Scooter

Monday, December 2, 2013

Broth-y greens soup

This was based off a recipe out of Diane Sanfilippo's 21 Day Sugar Detox cookbook

In a soup pot, combine about a quart of broth (I used turkey), a couple tablespoons of coconut aminos, and a few drops of fish sauce.

Heat on Medium High until it starts a low boil.

Add several cups of chopped greens: bok choy, green onions, and kale.  Heat through for a few more minutes.

Easy and good in a very simple way.

Scooter