Beef Cheeks

Beef cheeks are my new favourite cut. I made this delicious Beef Cheek Stew tonight and I gotta say, this is the only cut I'll be using for my beef stews from now on. Amazing!

I don't have a recipe at the moment.  Most of the time when I cook I'm just randomly grabbing ingredients and tossing them in without measuring.  But, if you have a good stew recipe you can replace your regular stewing beef with some cheeks.  You won't regret it!

Wednesday Night Ramblings

• Breakfast?  Lunch?  Dinner?  As long as you're eating fresh whole foods, either raw, steamed or cooked in delicious healthy fats, it really doesn't matter what time of day it enters your stomach.  Leftover wild sockeye salmon for breakfast with a side salad?  Sounds great!  Bacon, eggs and sauerkraut for dinner?  Yes please! 

• Don't worry about meal time stigmas and enjoy a variety of foods any time of day.  If you're hungry, eat!  Not Hungry?  Don't eat!

• If you ever find yourself opening the fridge, looking at all your fresh pickings but nothing particular interests you, try having a glass of water.  Your trigger for thirst can sometimes be mistaken for hunger, so take a moment to think about what you really want before you start shoving food in your face.  You might just be thirsty!

• Sometimes when we're stressed, it can trigger cravings for things we wouldn't normally eat.  I fully admit to having these cravings from time to time and indulging as well (with full regret, bloating and/or headaches shortly after) .  Food is a great distraction for people and it's no wonder why the snacking industry does so well.  Sugary and salty fried treats hit those pleasure receptors in our brain making us feel good for the moment.  In the end, thinking about what the specific stressor is and dealing with the emotion or issue can help you take control of your cravings. 

Lamb's Liver Pate

What do you do when you overcook the beautiful lamb's livers that you purchased fresh from the farmer's market?  You make pate!

I'm very familiar with cooking beef or calves liver but it was my first time cooking lamb's liver.  I figured cooking times would be the same, but these delicious little things came out tougher than I would have liked.  Not wanting it to go to waste, I decided to whip up a delicious pate.

Lamb's Liver Pate

1/2 lb lamb's liver *
2 slices of bacon
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 large portobello mushroom, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Bacon Fat
Red Wine
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Thyme, sea salt, black pepper or herbs of your choice

* My liver was already cooked, but you can add the liver to the veggie saute below and cook together.  Cook liver until tender and moist.

On medium heat, fry up bacon and add onions, mushrooms, and garlic.  You can add a little extra bacon fat to the pan if needed.  Cook the onions and garlic till soft and onions slightly browned.  De-glaze your pan with a good splash of red wine or alcohol of your choice, then place deliciousness in a blender of food processor.  Blend on low and if too thick, drizzle in some of your best extra virgin olive oil.  I prefer a creamy mousse like texture, but if you prefer a course or fine texture, blend accordingly.  Once you get the consistency you like, pour into a low long dish to cool off evenly and cover or it will form a skin.  Place in the fridge to cool and enjoy with fresh veggies!

Simple and Quick Pork and Spinach

After such a busy week at home, school, and work I came home to focus on some overdue laundry and to unwind with some garbage tv shows and random internet browsing (mostly reading nutrition related articles and recipes).  After laundry I started getting a little hungry and put this little dish together in no time at all. Super delicious and so few ingredients; paleo in a pinch!

Simple and Quick Pork and Spinach

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon of ghee or coconut oil
1 lb ground pork
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 bunch spinach, chopped
good pinch of salt

1. On medium heat, saute onion in desired fat until almost tender, then add the garlic.
2. Add ground pork and continue to cook with onions/garlic
3. When pork is almost cooked (very little pink left) add your chili and cumin and salt
4. With pork fully cooked through, add spinach and turn off heat.  Mix spinach until nicely wilted.
5. Enjoy!

Kale, Spinach and Bacon Saute

Whipped up this deliciousness for a late breakfast today (1 in the afternoon) and it turned out so well, I wanted to share it with you all!  Super quick and easy to make!

Kale, Spinach and Bacon Saute

Ingredients

4 strips of bacon
1 bunch of Kale, stalks removed and chopped
1 bunch of spinach, roughly chopped
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar

In a large saute pan, cook bacon on medium heat to your liking.  For dishes like this, I prefer the bacon cooked soft, but if you like it crispy, it wouldn't lose its awesomeness.

Set cooked bacon aside and saute onion in leftover bacon fat for two minutes on medium heat.  You can add a few tablespoons of water to loosen up any bacon goodness stuck on the bottom and this will also prevent the onion from burning (If at any time you find your saute drying out, just add some water or stock). 

Add garlic and then celery for another minute.  Stir in your chopped kale and apple cider vinegar and allow to cook.  When the kale is wilted, mix in the chopped spinach and remove from heat.

Your bacon should be well cooled by now so chop it up nicely and throw it in to the pan.  Amazing on its own or as a side.

Enjoy!

Breakfast & Lunch

Breakfast: Eggs cooked in ghee topped with salsa and a side of steamed french beans

Lunch: Leftover grass-fed beef, sauteed onions and snow peas with steamed sweet potato.

Good eats!

Making Ghee

Giving up dairy has been a tough one for me.  At the beginning of 2011, I successfully eliminated dairy for 6 months and felt great.  My skin glowed, digestion felt better, minor instances of sinus congestion disappeared and I had an extra punch of energy.  How and why I got back on the dairy train I'm not sure.  I've been adding cream back into my coffee instead of my usual coconut milk and I had a not so pleasant ice cream experience on the weekend (moment of weakness, resulted in intestinal cramping and a migraine).  I think it's time to try again.

melting!

In my dairy free days I used a lot of coconut oil, homemade rendered animal fats, olive oil and ghee.  Using the ghee gave me the richness of butter that I love with zero dairy effects.  Ghee is great for cooking at higher temperatures, has an amazing shelf life, can be stored at room temperature and tastes great!


Ingredient:

prepare strainer with cheese cloth

1 lb organic butter, unsalted

Tools:

Double boiler or 1 pot and 1 stainless steel bowl (to fit over pot)
wire mesh strainer
cheese cloth
spoon
extra bowl
glass jar for storage

Using a double boiler or stainless steel bowl over a sauce pan, bring water to a boil.  Place butter in bowl and reduce heat to a medium simmer.  Butter will melt.

skim your milk proteins

While butter melts, prepare your wire mesh strainer by wrapping it in cheese cloth (two layers on top and two layers on the bottom).  This will provide sufficient layers to catch any stray milk proteins from getting in your ghee.  You will know after a few weeks if any have made it in as your ghee will turn to funky cheese.  Take my word on that.  As my husband said, "not cool".  He was the one that discovered it and cleaned it out.

slowly pour through strainer

As the butter melts, you will notice a white film form on the surface.  This film is made up of the milk proteins/solids.  When butter is completely melted, use a spoon to skim this film and discard.  Try to get as much as you can from the surface and make sure you do not stir the mixture at any point as milk solids will settle on the bottom too.

ghee collected

You may want to grab some oven mitts to grab the bowl from the heat.  Slowly pour the ghee through the strainer.  Any remaining film on the surface will be caught by the cheese cloth.  It may seem tedious, but do not dump the entire contents through.  We want to avoid the milk solids at the bottom as they are in a liquid form and will not be properly strained.  Remember: funky cheese! 

Stop pouring when you see a white cloudy film at the bottom.  You'll lose some precious ghee at this point, but it's better out than in.

Pour strained ghee into a glass jar for storage and allow to cool for a bit before screwing the lid on.

Ghee is best stored at room temperature.

Enjoy!  I especially love it for making eggs and sauteing veggies!