Pink Deviled Eggs and Beet Red, Cabbage, & Kale Coleslaw

Deviled eggs don't have to be the same old thing time and time again.  Have a little food fun!  I saw a photo online of deviled eggs that had been dyed pink with beet juice, and the filling made green with avocado.  Yep, had to try that one!

For the first attempt, I only had pre-cooked pink beets on hand, so I chopped them into small pieces and covered the (hard cooked, peeled) egg with beet pieces.  After a couple hours, I had very pretty pink-speckled eggs!  The downside to using beet juice for dye is that it starts turning brownish after awhile, so these are not something you can make up ahead of time and expect them to stay looking pretty.  Make them and then serve them right away.

 

After the beets, I tried sliced raw red cabbage and also some blueberries.  I thought the blueberries made the eggs look a bit weird but the red cabbage had a nice blue effect:

So, onto Pink Deviled Eggs!  In case you were wondering, the flavor of beets does not stay in the egg; you can dye the eggs without worry they'll taste like beets.

First, hard cook the eggs any way you like - I like to bake mine.  Let them cool, then peel. In order to attempt to prevent the eventual browning the beet dye does (and hoping for a cool mixed color look, which didn't work) I placed the cooled, peeled eggs into a gallon size bag with both pre-cooked, chopped pink beets and thinly sliced raw red cabbage and let it all marinate for 24 hours in the fridge, moving the eggs around in the veggies every few hours to thoroughly coat.

The result?  Very nicely dark-ish pink eggs!

The bright yellow of the yolks makes a striking contrast and is quite pretty the way it is, but I wanted a green colored mixture.  Instead of using mayo & mustard for the filling, I used 2 avocadoes, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, garlic granules, sea salt, and a very tiny bit of pepper, all mashed together until the mixture was fairly smooth.  (I meant to put a little mustard in there, but I forgot.  It was good anyway!) Scooped it back into the egg whites (pinks?), sprinkled on some fresh chives, and here they are - deviled eggs (nightshade free, at that!) - perfect for a fun spring or summer dish!

As a side note, mixing the red cabbage in with the beets did have an effect on the color: instead of turning brownish, the eggs whites turned a more pinky-lavender color after a few hours.  Definitely better than brown!

So, since I'm not the type of person to waste food - what do you do with the leftover beets & red cabbage?  Add some kale and coleslaw vinaigrette (page 5 of Cavemom's Cooking), and you've got another tasty salad to add to the table!

Happy Spring!

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Banana Pancakes - Sneak in some veggies!

These banana pancakes are ridiculously easy to make with just a few ingredients.  You won't really even need to measure anything!  The only things you really need are bananas, eggs, a pinch of salt, a little coconut oil for fat, and enough almond or coconut flour (or whatever your preference) to make a thick batter.  I use one egg and about 1/8 tsp salt per banana, so 2 bananas = 2 eggs and 1/4 tsp salt, etc.  For coconut oil I use about 1 Tbsp per banana, but really, I just pour some in.

Then it's time to get creative in adding veggies!  For today's batch, I used kale and collard greens, but I've also used spinach and other leafy greens - just whatever is on hand.  Chopped the "green stuff" fine, and the amount is largely up to you. 

To sum up today's breakfast:

3 ripe bananas, mashed
3 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp coconut oil, just melted
almond flour - enough to make a thick batter
finely chopped green stuff

a nice thick batter

Then I melt a little coconut oil on the griddle and cook low and slow.  Typically banana pancakes are crumbly and hard to flip on the griddle - but  you can get around that by covering the griddle with a pan lid - a 12" skillet lid fits nicely over a standard-size griddle. Cooking the pancakes under a lid - still low and slow - makes them flip almost as easy as traditional pancakes!  You will still want them to be smaller - about 4" around or so.






















And it really is that easy - with ripe bananas, you won't need to add any form of sweetener, and they are tasty enough by themselves I don't top them with anything. :)

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Paleo Crab Bisque

I went to the grocery store today just to get chicken, honest!  Among many other foodstuffs, I came home with a pound of on-holiday-sale Alaskan King Crab legs.  I usually just steam them and either eat the meat plain, or dunk in melted coconut oil with a little salt and garlic.  Tonight, though, trying out bisque sounded like a good idea.  I've never made bisque, let alone eaten it, at least not that I can remember.  But I understand the basis of it - making a white sauce, then adding the veg/meat/herbs.

Now, you can't very well make a white sauce out of almond flour - it won't thicken up like a wheat-flour-based sauce does, so this is where arrowroot comes in handy.  In this recipe, the amounts used, like most of my cooking, are largely up to you.  The amount of chicken stock, coconut milk, and crab is what I had on hand. If you have runnier coconut milk, you can adjust the coconut milk/water ratio.

The "butter" I used was simply a little bit of red palm oil mixed with unrefined coconut oil and a bit of sea salt.  Gives it a nice yellow color and slightly buttery flavor.

Paleo Crab Bisque
3 Tbsp paleo "butter"
5 - 6 Tbsp almond flour
3 c water
3/4 c chicken stock
1/2 c really thick coconut milk
1 tsp lemon juice
3 oz French-type goat cheese
1lb crab legs: remove meat and mince or at least chop fairly small
1 small onion, chopped fairly small
Fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
4 Tbsp arrowroot
2 tsp cold water
Sea Salt
Pepper

Melt the "butter" in a saucepan over low heat.  When melted, add the almond flour and stir until completely absorbed.  Add the water and stir until smooth.  Add the rest except the arrowroot and cold water.  When the goat cheese is fully dispersed, put the arrowroot in a little jar and add the cold water.  Close the jar lid tightly and shake to incorporate.  When thoroughly mixed, slowly add the arrowroot/water mix to the bisque while constantly stirring to get the desired thickness.  Top with a bit of freshly ground pepper.

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Zoatmeal: Perfect Paleo Oatmeal

Chilly mornings are upon us again and I find myself wishing for a warm, sticky bowl of oatmeal.  A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for paleo oatmeal that involved cauliflower and eggs.  It was good, but to me, it just didn't have the same qualities as traditional oatmeal.  I could still faintly taste the cauliflower, and the eggs made it creamy, but it was custard-like creamy - not the smooth sticky quality traditional oatmeal has.

As I thought about how to re-create oatmeal, my zucchini pile in the kitchen was steadily growing.   I'm always up for new ways to use zucchini, since it's so plentiful at this time of year! I thought, why not using the same recipe except use zucchini instead of cauliflower?  Then of course, while making it, decided to do things a bit differently and Zoatmeal was born.

This recipe is incredibly simple, and involves 3 main ingredients:  zucchini, coconut milk, and a pinch of salt.  It involves more utensils than dumping oatmeal and water into a pan, but it takes about the same amount of time to cook. Extra items: a food processer and a fork. 



Zoatmeal topped with honey, coconut milk, blueberries, and a crabapple sauce.

Zoatmeal

• 1 very small zucchini, or half a medium zucchini, peeled
• full fat coconut milk, about half the amount of the zucchini
• pinch of salt
• arrowroot for thickening

Optional:

• cinnamon
• honey
• additional coconut milk

Peel the zucchini and chop into small pieces.  If it's a larger zucchini, remove any large seeds.  Process the chopped zucchini in a food processor until very finely minced.  Add that to a pan with the coconut milk.  Ideally you want the ratio to be 2 parts zucchini to 1 part coconut milk, but I don't measure, I just eyeball it.  Add a pinch of salt, then cover and simmer.  The cover is there for 2 reasons: this will bubble and splatter - and it helps the zucchini cook faster.  I like to add about a teaspoon of cinnamon in there, not only because I love cinnamon, but it gives the Zoatmeal the traditional light brown color.

When the zucchini is tender, begin to sprinkle arrowroot into the Zoatmeal and quickly stir it in with a fork.  Just do a little bit of arrowroot at a time - it doesn't take a whole lot and you can easily over-thicken it.  The arrowroot gives the Zoatmeal the smooth stickiness that oatmeal has.

Pour into a serving bowl and top with whatever you like to top oatmeal with!  I like additional coconut milk, honey, and some fruit.  In the photo above, I made a crabapple sauce from crabapples off my tree.  Same recipe as my Spiced Cranberry Sauce in Cavemom's Cooking, except I used crabapples in place of the cranberries.

Delicious!  Now if your neighbors try to pawn off their excess zucchini on you, take it and make yourself a wonderfully warm, creamy, satisfying breakfast! :)
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Editing to add, this recipe re-heats wonderfully!  Don't be afraid to make a large amount and have leftovers! :)

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Nightshade free pepperoni!

Yes, that's right.  I searched online for a nightshade free pepperoni recipe and came up with nothing truly nightshade free.  I did, however, find several recipes for vegan "pepperoni" made with beets (and nightshades).  So today's experiment:  Nightshade FREE pepperoni!!

 

I modified the existing recipes to not only be nightshade free, but to my own taste:

1/2 a large beet, quartered and sliced thin

Sauce:
1/2 c. water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

grind together, either in a coffee grinder, or a mortar & pestle:
1/2 tsp dehydrated onion flakes
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/4 tsp sage leaves (dried)

Layer beets in a baking dish.  Stir sauce ingredients together, and pour over beets, stir to coat.  Spread the beet slices out, but no need to be single layer.  Bake at 325F for 20  min, and flip the beets.  Bake an additional 10 - 15 minutes, then stir, and repeat until beet slices are soft and edges begin to curl, with most of the liquid absorbed.

I had my doubts that this would taste like pepperoni, but I was wrong!  Okay, it's not exactly like pepperoni, but it is pretty close! And delicious!!
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1/23/14 Editing to add: I tried them on a nightshade free paleo pizza.  They were very tasty on pizza,but the pepperoni flavor wasn't strong enough; it was more like eating a veggie pizza.  Next up I tried marinating hamburger in the recipe above  - but while that amount of fennel is perfect for beets, it overpowers the meat.  Good thing I like fennel!  3rd attempt was the same recipe, only doubling all the spices/herbs except the fennel, which was cut to about 1/8 tsp, and using venison burger.  THAT was excellent!! Not perfectly pepperoni-like, but close!

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Paleo Chocolate Covered Cherries

With the holidays just past, paleo desserts have been on my mind.  I miss chocolate covered cherries, but don't dare eat the commercial ones. Processed sugars make my joints hurt something awful!  I modified a traditional recipe but have not really figured out precise measurements yet for the paleo version - just did my typical "throw stuff together". 

Original version: 60 maraschino cherries, 3 Tbsp of butter, 3 Tbsp of light corn syrup, 2c of powdered sugar, and 1 lb dipping chocolate.

My version: a package of frozen dark sweet cherries (approx. 30 cherries), and what I'm guessing amounted to 1/4 c (unrefined) coconut oil, 1/4 c maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 c arrowroot powder, 1/4 tsp xanthan gum, and a 10 oz package of Enjoy Life Chocolate Mega Chunks.  I'm pretty good at eyeballing measurements. :)

I melted the coconut oil with the maple syrup and vanilla extract, then added a little arrowroot powder not only to thicken, but to give that slightly powdery texture that powdered sugar would give.  It blended up nicely and I thought about putting it in the fridge to cool so it would be easier to apply to the cherries . . . but I am impatient.  So I added xanthan gum.  Now, I did not mean to use that much xanthan gum - the bag spilled.  It gelled the mixture a little more (okay, a lot more) than I wanted!  I will note that some of the coconut oil, I estimate about 1 Tbsp, refused to mix in no matter how much I stirred.  Actually it wasn't a bad thing that the mixture gelled that much - it was fairly easy to apply it to the cherries, which were still frozen. With the coldness of the cherries, the coconut oil hardened back up quickly and the mixture stayed on the cherries nicely.  Then I melted the chocolate and dipped the coated cherries, and placed them in mini-muffin paper cups.  The chocolate began to cool and the frozen cherries began to melt, so while the first half of the finished batch looked great, the second half was not particularly appetizing-looking!

If I had been thinking, I would have used either a double boiler or a heating pad to keep the chocolate all melty, and kept the coated cherries in the freezer or at least on cold packs to keep them frozen for easy dipping. But at least they tasted great!  They were even better the second day.

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You ever throw together a dish and wonder what you're thinking??

That would be my lunch today.  I really didn't have a plan in mind, just started throwing things together, adding as I went.  The end result . . . well, it wasn't the most appetizing looking . . . probably should have sliced rather than shredded the zucchini for a main dish, or better yet, pureed the zucchini for soup instead . . . but it turned out amazingly good!!


This started out with me wanting to use up a partial zucchini and a box of smoked baby clams. What to do with that??  First I added coconut oil for frying.  Then freshly grated ginger root.  And because I wanted sweetness with the ginger, I added honey.  And because I like lemon with ginger and honey, I added lemon juice.  Then garlic, just because I like garlic, and it goes well with lemon and ginger.  Then I thought it should have a creamy sauce, so I added part of an avocado.  Then at the last second I tossed in a chunk of French type goat cheese for an even creamier sauce.  Black pepper sprinkled on the top of that . . .  I put a little on my plate, wondering if this would taste good, or just plain weird . . . hahaha, it was SO good I went back and ate the rest!!  (And I'm not ashamed to admit I licked my plate!!)

 

Now that I think about it a little, I think next time I would puree the zucchini and make soup. Maybe a wee bit of shredded zucchini swirled with melted goat cheese on top to pretty it up. :)

EDITED TO ADD, Round #2:
Pureed the zucchini this time.  I don't know why, but this garden zucchini had turned yellow instead of staying green.  So the darker flecks should be green, but are yellow instead.  Or, you could peel the zucchini, but I don't bother to do that. Topped with bacon, green onion, and pepper. So delicious!!! :)

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Mmmmmmm . . . Venison!!

I just had a plateful of fresh deer kidneys, oh yum!!  Braised them, then steamed them over low heat to finish.  I used one of my favorite sauces, a cherry wine/rosemary/garlic/meat juices glaze.  Added a little spicy brown mustard in there too.

This past weekend was our annual deer hunting weekend with friends.  I have to say I really, really love our friends!!  They helped us fill our tags, so we brought home 4 deer for our use, and 1 for a relative.  But because there are lots of tasty deer bits that most people don't use, we also brought home 13 hearts, 7 kidneys, 3 lungs, and 1 liver.  We somehow didn't come home with any spleens, but the season's not over yet so I'm still hoping!

We LOVE deer heart and kidneys!  The lungs were an experiment for our dog, Lola.  We raw feed her, and already know she doesn't tolerate much fresh liver but she does fine on dehydrated liver and dehydrated lungs (via the local pet food store) so we wanted to see how she'd do with fresh lungs.  Fine, so far!

After we dropped our deer off for processing, I called back to see if they'd also save the tongues for us (yes - yay!!).  Now, tongue is one of my most favorite cuts of meat - so rich and tender!  Deer tongues are fairly small - not sure if they're really big enough for a meal - but even if they're really small they'll make a nice treat for Lola.

It's funny, even the employees at the butcher shop looked at me funny when I said we save all that stuff - most people don't.  Somewhere along the years, most people decided that organs were "icky" and not worth eating when in fact they are much more nutritious than the muscle cuts!  And did I mention delicious??

Cavemom's Cooking volume 2  will have lots of tasty venison recipes! :)

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Another wild edible find! Puffball mushrooms!

Yesterday my husband told me he found these giant ball things in the woods; initially he thought they were rocks but was surprised to find out they were light and squishable.  When he described them to me, I said, "oooooooh puffballs!!!  If you see them tomorrow, pick 'em up!!"

So here today, we now have two large puffball mushrooms:

So what to do with puffballs?  First, you need to determine if they are edible.  If they are squishy or smell bad, pass them by; they are too old and will be inedible.  If they are firm, cut them in half.  The inside will look like foam or a marshmallow - you want to see white.  Also, when cutting them in half, look carefully to see if there's what looks like to be another mushroom inside of it - definitely toss that one out!!  That one is poisonous. Now, if the inside flesh is yellow or green or brown, toss it out, it's too old.  The inside flesh should be firm, like foam, too, and should bounce back after being touched.  If it leaves an impression, like memory foam, it's too old, toss it out. 

The puffball on the right, the bigger, more brown one, was too old.  It was squishy and green/brown in the center.  It got dispersed into the yard in hopes some may grow next year.  The smaller puffball on the left was just about perfect!  The outer edges were beginning to turn yellow in spots (under the visible indents in the picture)  and were at the point you can still cut that off and have a perfectly good mushroom.  Peel the outer layer off and then slice as you please.

So what do they taste like?  Some say they are mild with almost no flavor, and some say they are very earthy, and some say they have a unique flavor that is hard to describe.  Being as this is the only puffball I've ever eaten, I can only tell you what *this* one tastes like.  In my opinion, it's more of a truffle flavor, less like a mushroom flavor.   Earthy with a hint of an anise-like aftertaste.  Most of the recipes I saw online called sautéing them in butter with salt, pepper, and garlic.  I sliced up the puffball and tried a few slices fried up this way.  I can honestly say I didn't care for that combination.  The anise-like aftertaste just didn't blend well with garlic and butter.  The fried mushroom consistency was like that of French toast though, so that was my next attempt. 

I used an egg, a spoonful of coconut milk, some cinnamon, washed raw sugar, and a wee bit of salt.  Dipped the slices in that and cooked them on a griddle, then topped them with maple syrup - just like French toast.  Now, THAT was pretty tasty!  I still got that earthy taste, but it didn't clash with the rest of the ingredients.  In fact, I'm not sure most people would even know it was a slice of mushroom, and not toast!

I had just finished eating the "Puffball French Toast" when giving my son his lunch.  In his lunch, he had some of a leftover apple/mushroom side dish that had been oven roasted with lamb steaks (recipe in Cavemom's Cooking).  Of course, I ended up eating a little of his lunch, too, and found that those flavors blended well, so I'm looking forward to the next time I make that lamb recipe; I'll try adding the puffball slices to that.

I read that puffballs don't keep well in the fridge, so my choices were either eat it all, dehydrate it, or freeze it. Puffballs are HUGE, so there was no way I was going to eat it all!  For freezing, most said to cook it first.  I'd read the same thing about Morels, but froze mine raw and was very happy with how they thawed, so I froze the leftover puffball slices the same way I froze the Morels - single layer on a cookie rack over a cookie sheet until frozen, then remove and place in an airtight bag.

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YES!! Paleo lasagna!!!!!

Yeah, I'm a little excited about this one . . . I do miss lasagna.  The only non-paleo ingredient is goat cheese.  I can tolerate goat cheese just fine (can only tolerate a wee little bit of cow cheese), and its sharp flavor is a nice complement to the dish.

Today I made a nice big vat of my paleo spaghetti sauce (in Cavemom's Cooking), and in this post I talk about woodear mushrooms, which are quite noodle-like.

I didn't want to make a big pan of lasagna if this wasn't going to work out, so I did a little test:

a nice big (cooked) woodear mushroom, spread on some goat cheese, layered in some fresh spinach, then a spoonful of my spaghetti sauce, topped with a little more goat cheese.  Then fold it closed:

It was a little messy eating it this way, but I learned what I wanted to know!  I CAN make paleo lasagna and it was really good!!!

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What, you don't like Brussels sprouts?

I hear a lot of people don't like Brussels sprouts. Honestly I don't ever remember eating them growing up; I don't think I tasted them until I was an adult.  But I love 'em!!

If you are used to eating a lot of sweet sugary foods, Brussels sprouts will taste more bitter to you.  But I urge you to skip the extra sweetness for a few hours and give this a try.  The parsnips and pecans have a natural sweetness of their own, which blends very well with Brussels sprouts.

This recipe is a great rustic fall side dish:

Brussels sprouts, halved with stems chopped off
Parsnips, sliced thinly
Pecan halves
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Pepper

When slicing the parsnips, don't slice them potato chip thin, but maybe about 1/8" thick or so - too thin and they'll burn. Toss brussel sprouts and parsnips with oil, salt, and pepper and place single layer on a baking sheet. Roast at 450F for 20 minutes. Add pecans, stir, and roast an additional 10 minutes. 

As a side note, if your dog is no stranger to table scraps, please keep them away from the Brussels sprouts, raw or cooked.  I don't know if it's all dogs, or just Cavedog Lola, but her stomach definitely doesn't tolerate them. :)

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Today's catch: catfish roe and morels!

I don't understand why people get grossed out by the mere thought of certain foods.  Food doesn't grow in supermarkets!!  I like to eat like our ancestors did - there is SO much tasty nutrition out there, forgotten by today's world.  It's out there waiting for us to re-discover it.  And you know what?  It's worth being discovered!

Today Nick caught me a big ol' channel catfish and found it was full of roe - did a quick check online, and yup, edible!  Looked at several recipes, pretty much just fry 'em on up.  I decided to wait until tonight, hoping I'd have a bounty of morels to add to the frying pan.

Mom & I made a nice little haul of morels today in the woods.

So - on to supper!!  Most recipes I found for catfish roe said to dip them in beaten eggs and season with salt/pepper, fry until golden brown. I did that - beat the eggs, added salt/pepper, beat them some more, and added the roe to coat.  Tossed them in the pan with bacon fat, and put some morels into the remainder of the egg mixture, coated, and put them in the pan too.  When it was all done, I topped the plate with fresh picked wild onion and garlic chives.  Man oh MAN was that good!   Nick caught another channel catfish tonight, here's hoping that one's full of roe, too!

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Simple. Easy. Quick. Delicious!

Cooking paleo doesn't have to take a lot of time - it can be very quick, simple, and easy!  Last night's supper was simply grilled pork chops, seasoned only with sea salt and pepper, oven roasted Italian cauliflower, and fresh fruit. 

 

I'd done some oven roasted cauliflower recipes in the past that were a lot more involved - cook, drain, make sure it's dry, coat it with oil and crushed spices in a skillet, THEN roast it . . . granted it's good that way, but it's equally as good this way and a heck of a lot easier! 

Ingredients:
cauliflower, cut into chunks
chicken stock
homemade Italian dressing
oregano
thyme
garlic granules
sea salt

 

Just preheat the oven to 425F, place a cookie sheet on top the oven with the cauliflower, about 1/8c of saved chicken stock from a roasted chicken (the heat from the pre-heating oven helps melt down the congealed chicken stock and fat), drizzle on some (homemade) Italian dressing and the seasonings - toss to coat - and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes.  I think it actually takes longer  to preheat the oven than to roast the cauliflower!

 

Simple. Easy. Quick. Delicious!

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Shredded coconut topping for baked chicken

I never used to be a fan of shredded coconut - could not stand them in baked goods, so never tried them anywhere else.  But now . . . I like to add them to shrimp stir-fries, toast them for use on salads, and now - on baked chicken!

My first attempt at it I tried to make a batter, adding almond meal and eggs.  While very tasty, it didn't get crispy.  This time - just simply oiled up the chicken first, then sprinkled on my seasonings and the shredded coconut. Bake at 350F for 1 hr.  Paleo is so easy! And tasty! :)

 

 

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Simple but tasty

Really simple, easy salad.  I wanted something a little more filling than just grabbing an apple or some veggies - thought about adding a protein, but just wasn't quite that hungry this morning at 10am.

Ingredients:
apple, divided in half
onion
mushroom
asparagus
oil of choice
freshly grated ginger
white wine
leafy greens
sea salt
pepper

Chop the apple, onion, mushroom, and asparagus, cook it up in a little oil of choice.  Just for fun, I added a wee bit of ginger and white wine.  I tossed the asparagus in at the end so it'd still be crispy.  Toss it all on a bed of leafy greens, sprinkle on a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and you've got the other half of the apple for dessert.  Quick, simple, easy! (and tasty!!)

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Paleo Noodles . . . sort of!

I don't miss pasta for the most part.  I can't say as I ever really liked the taste of it by itself, but it was nice to pair it with a tasty sauce for added texture/filling.  When you think of spaghetti, you automatically think sauce + noodles, right?  So what happens when you go paleo and noodles are no longer an option?  What exactly do you serve that sauce on? Just meat by itself?  Well, sure, you can do that but I still feel like the dish needs a 3rd texture to round it out.  (By the way, since we are nightshade free I have an awesome nightshade-free recipe for spaghetti sauce in Cavemom's Cooking!) 

I like serving the sauce over meat served on top a bed of shredded raw zucchini, but it's still not quite what I was looking for.  Serving it over a bed of leafy greens works too, but again . . . not quite what I wanted.  I even tried shirataki noodles . . . they had zero flavor of their own and are too processed for my liking.  Then, at the grocery store, I found dried woodear mushrooms. 

This edible fungus has an interesting history of uses (I'll let you look that up).  I've tried them a couple different ways - tossed into dishes dry and let the moisture of the dish reconstitute them, which may leave some of them still crunchy, or simmered them to reconstitute.  Personally I like woodears just a little bit crunchy, but I liked the texture of crunchy noodles too.  Reconstituted they have a kind of rubbery texture, but it's not too terribly different than pasta. By themselves, woodears don't have a strong flavor, but they do complement dishes nicely.  They can be purchased whole or shredded/sliced, which would make them much more noodle-like; I got mine whole.  You'll probably have better luck finding them online than in most grocery stores unless it's holiday time.   A word of warning for the grocery stores though:  Around here all you can get is a 1 oz package for $4 - $9.  Pretty expensive! They can be found online in bulk for much cheaper, which is how I'll be sourcing them from now on.

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Everything's Better with Bacon!

While wanting a healthier diet, I reeeeeaaaally didn't want to give up bacon . . . so like everything else, I thought I'd try making it myself. First I tried switching to side pork, frying that up with a little seasoning, but it tasted just like a fried pork chop - not the bacon-y goodness I was looking for.

This recipe was one of those instances where the idea just popped into my head while I was actually in process of frying up some side pork. The idea? Add apple cider vinegar to the pan. Now, I knew about brining bacon, but we have a small fridge and don't have extra space to allocate. It took some experimenting with amounts and heat settings, but I finally did it: quick, easy, bacon-on-the-fly that *gasp* actually tastes like bacon! I really like a maple-flavored bacon, but adding maple syrup is up to you.

Ingredients:

Side pork, sliced

Sea salt (best with applewood smoked sea salt, which you can easily make yourself with a smoker, some applewood, and some sea salt)
Pepper
1 part maple syrup (1 part = about 1 Tbsp per pound of bacon)
2 parts apple cider vinegar

Arrange side pork in a large skillet. Sprinkle well with salt and pepper and fry on medium heat until the side pork starts to brown. Add 2 parts apple cider vinegar and 1 part maple syrup. Swirl around in the pan to coat the side pork. Continue to fry (a splatter shield is recommended). When good and browned on the bottom, flip side pork over and sprinkle salt and pepper on the browned side. Continue to fry until slices are as done as you like. Tastes like bacon!

We actually prefer this recipe over commercial bacon. Today, I did basically the same recipe except we smoked it with hickory instead of frying it. Takes longer, but ooooooh was that ever good!!

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Wine? Yes please!

While our paleo ancestors certainly weren't bottling wine for fine dining, it wouldn't have been an total impossibility for them to have found and eaten fermented fruit.  Therefore, I like to cook with wine!

Funny thing is, I'm not a wine drinker.  There's very, very few wines I can stand the taste of, most of which are sweet red wines, and I like them over ice.  My absolute favorite is Cherry Wine from St. James Winery, in St. James, Missouri.   It's what I use in my recipes that call for red wine.

There's just something about the flavor of a good sweet cherry wine, roasted garlic, and rosemary that works well on so many meat roasts.  So remember, before you drink it all, save some for the food!! :)

Note: If you know who to credit for the comic, please let me know and I'll add it! :)

ooooh, smoked duck!!

We recently got ourselves a cheap little smoker on Walmart clearance.  With some modifications made to it (online suggestions from others who own the same one) it's a nice little unit.  We've since smoked pork roasts, chickens, side pork, northern pike, and today: a duck.

I don't have too much experience with duck; so far I only have 1 recipe I really like.  I looked at a few online smoked duck recipes - one was as simple as just maple syrup, salt, and pepper.  Another called for honey, soy sauce, garlic, and red wine. 

So, today's creation:

1 whole duck
sweet cherry wine (my favorite, of course)
maple syrup
sea salt
pepper
garlic granules
rosemary

I poured a little wine into the cavity of the duck, poured on the maple syrup (and rubbed to thoroughly coat), sprinked on the seasonings. I did prick the skin a little bit with a filet knife.  Lola will get the neck and giblets with her supper.

There was of course some liquid leftover in the pan, so I took some side pork, smooshed it all around in the seasoned sweetened wine, put it on a rack and added salt and pepper to the top.  This will be smoked along with the duck. 

We're using mostly hickory, but some apple wood in the smoker too.  Can't wait to eat this one!!!

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Oxtail Stew: my favorite winter comfort food

My mom likes to come over on grocery shopping day under the pretense she is "helping" me wrangle the kid.  I just really enjoy her company while shopping for food, food being one of our favorite topics of discussion.  For our lunch today, I made one of my all-time favorites, Oxtail Stew.  Now, this one is probably the most complex or labor intensive of all the recipes in my cookbook, but the flavors are well worth the effort.  It's messy - or maybe that's just me, since my stove looked like something exploded on it by the time I was done. 

 

I'm not really sure how I even came up with this recipe; in my original hand-written version, it's modified from an earlier original recipe of mine that was most definitely not paleo and certainly not Kaiden friendly.  Some of the original ingredients were carrots (instead of parsnips), corn, and barley.  For whatever reason, Kaiden can't have carrots; they - along with nightshade foods - triggered his seizures.  Since sweet potatoes did the same thing to him, the only thing I can think of is the high Vitamin A content.  Which, really, is fine with me - I've never liked sweet potatoes, and while I like carrots, I do not care for their flavor paired with beef.  Parsnips, now, that's another story.  I love parsnips with beef!

 

So, without further adieu:

 

Oxtail Stew

Diced beef, or left over beef roast, sliced

1 pkg oxtail

2 parsnips, chopped

1 onion, chopped

Honey mushrooms (oyster mushrooms would also work well; cremini mushrooms are a little too bland)

2 – 2 1/2 c cooked pumpkin or butternut squash

1 peach, chopped

Garlic cloves, chopped, slightly crushed

Olive oil

Sweet cherry wine

Sea salt

Pepper

Rosemary

Thyme

1/2 tsp homemade curry powder (I have a recipe in the cookbook for paprika-free curry)

Water, as much as you wish to make stew

 

Add veggies to water.  In a skillet, brown the garlic in olive oil with rosemary, salt, & pepper.  When browning, add a little sweet cherry wine and reduce.  When liquid is almost gone, add oxtail and braise.  Add contents of skillet to stew. Deglaze skillet with a bit more wine and add to stew. Then add rest of seasonings to stew.  Simmer 30 – 40 minutes.  If there is enough  meat on the oxtail, when the stew is done pull out the oxtails, cut meat off, and return the meat to stew.

 

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