Jo’s Indian Spiced Comfort Ground Beef

06/10/2013 1 Comment

Sweet husband of mine made this fabulous dish for me. He had it waiting with the most perfectly baked Yucca, and had the perfect wine to pair, thanks Eric! I am truly lucky in every way. I was so smitten with these tastes that you, too, should be able to enjoy such a perfect combination of Indian spice blends…in a non-traditional Indian dish. Make it in advance and wow your family and friends.

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Ingredients:

  • 3 lb. grassed beef, we buy ours from Date Creek Ranch (thank you!)
  • 3 Tbsp Ghee
  • 2 Inches of Ginger (peel)
  • 4 Large Onions
  • 2 Cinnamon sticks
  • 1 Tbsp paprika
  • 1 tsp Turneric
  • 1 tsp curry
  • 1/2 tsp salt or to taste, same with pepper
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 5-8 Serrano Peppers
  • 4 vine ripe tomatoes
  • 1/2 can coconut cream

Here’s how to make it!

  1. Sautee Onions and Ghee until glossy (browning them to golden in color on medium heat)
  2. Add Spices and continue to cook while you get ready for the next step
  3. Combine Ginger, Onions, Garlic, Peppers, and tomatoes, and mix well with a hand-held blender, until smooth
  4. Add to onions and spice mixture and cook another 3-5 minutes
  5. Add Beef and make sure it is well folded in, let it cook for another few minutes on medium heat
  6. Finally add Coconut Cream, combine and let simmer on low/medium low for another 15-20 mins – covered

Serve with our favorite Yucca and enjoy!                                …secret…it’s even better the next day. :-)  - and it always tastes better with Tiger to help us eat.

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Mixed Ceviche (without Onions)

05/13/2013 5 Comments

We love ceviche just about every way. This past spring we enjoyed some variations with juices and coconut milk  in Bogotá, Colombia. In my opinion, Colombia has some of the tastiest ceviche.

Ours today has three different seafood in it, for taste and texture. We chose to leave the onions out of this dish this time, and we did not miss them, actually.

It is very important to get enough lime juice and the proper balance of spices. I am not a big fan of adding spices in which the dish is marinating, rather we prefer to sprinkle cayenne and some turmeric over it. Mix it well and cover it and place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, stirring it every 20 minutes. We always make a little extra for a snack or lunch the next day.

photo (10)

Today’s ingredients:

  • 4 large diver scallops (cut into very small chunks)
  •  2 cups of tiny bay shrimp
  • 1.5 pounds of Tilapia filet (cut into strips and then chunk into small squares
  • 1/2 – 1 cup of freshly pressed lime juice
  • 1 great bell pepper, diced
  • 2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 4 – 6 cilantro peppers, diced seeds in
  • a little sea salt to taste
  • some fresh ground black pepper
  • sprinkle of cayenne and turmeric – for finishing
  • drizzle of olive oil, also for finishing

Note:  if your seafood is frozen, please allow to thaw naturally, not in the microwave.

Take a large serving bowl and add diced veggies and seafood. Mix well, add some salt and pepper and continue to fold in well. Add lime juice and once again mix well. Let your food sit for a minute or two and stir again, repeat this a few more times before it’s covered and chilled. The extra mixing allows for the lime juice to cook the seafood evenly, and tt will make all the difference in taste.

As you can see we served ours with some Yucca. Enjoy this dish this summer, it’s easy and it’s refreshing.

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Boneless Leg of Lamb in Heavy Cream Sauce

04/17/2013 4 Comments

My mom’s secret boneless leg of lamb recipe shared with you in honor of her. In this past visit she took such great care of us, cooking and loving us everyday, treating us to amazing meal after amazing meal. We could not help but to share this with you. As complex as this tastes, it is not that difficult to make. Top restaurants in Vienna serve this dish, in my opinion – not this good.  (and they use flour)

Give this a try and please send us your feedback.

boneless leg of lamb

The beautiful ingredients are:

  1. 5 lbs of leg of lamb, cut into 1 – 1.5 inch thinck slices
  2. 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  3. 1 tbsp unsalted butter or ghee
  4. fresh cracked black pepper to taste
  5. 1/8 tsp cardamom seeds (not pods)
  6. 2 small rosemary twigs, whole
  7. from a 1/4 lemon the zest
  8. sea salt to taste
  9. 4 tbsp heavy cream
  10. 1 tbsp fine yucca flour
  11. 1/2 to 3/4  liter of water or beef or chicken broth

Here’s how to make it:

Use a big sauce pot, heat butter or ghee on medium high and sautee the garlic until golden brown. Then add the meat quickly browning it on each side and then adding the water or broth, including all other spices and ingredients with the exception of the flour and the cream. Cover, reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook it for about two hours.

Mix the flour with a little bit of water (typically 2 – 3 tbsps water) and slowly work into the meat. Increase heat to medium and add cream and reduce the heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

Note, you can also remove the meat and set aside as you are preparing the sauce with a hand blender and then add the meat back in for a more consistent sauce texture.

Serve and enjoy with your favorite salad or carbohydrate, such as yucca, sweet potato or beets.

Thank you mom for this great dish!

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Strawberries with Goat cheese wrapped in Pancetta

02/19/2013 4 Comments

What a lovely dish this is. I like to serve this as an appetizer with some crisp perfectly chilled white wine. You can prep this ahead of time and then roast/saute them in a hot pan. The Pancetta will provide you with just enough fat to get these guys perfectly browned each side.

This is so easy to make and it will make your dinner guests and friends smile!

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Here’s what you will need.

  • 1/4 lb of Pancetta
  • A bowl of large strawberries, the kind you’s buy for making chocolate covered ones
  • 1/2 small wedge of goat cheese
  • toothpicks

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Cut the strawberries in half, and scoop out the middle with a small sharp knife like a V.  Cut and place a small piece of goat cheese inside the strawberry. Carefully wrap the strawberry with goat cheese in the Pancetta securing it with a toothpick and place it into a hot pan. Keep rotating until they are golden brown and tiny bit crusty. You will love these!

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Crab Cakes

01/07/2013 3 Comments

We can never eat crab cakes because of the breading, but I love them. We haven’t eaten one in years, but recently, amazing Chef, Abbie accommodated me by making me gluten-free crab cakes. Thank you Chef Abbie! She has a wonderful restaurant in tucked away, but worthwhile to visit Cottonwood, AZ. We took a quick drive up to see our family that was visiting the Grand Canyon, and on the way down we met for a most wonderful day ending at Abbie’s. Our cousin, Rick Schwartz radio personality, treated us that night – thank you so much and it was so great to see you!! Next time we’ll see you in Moab. :-)  Catch his show sometime.

Needless to say that night inspired me to come up with my own gluten-free crab cakes, and OMG, these are really good. Why did I not make these sooner?

crab cakes

Ingredients:

  • 240 grams of “real” crab meat (if you used canned, be sure to drain it very well)
  • 1 tsp of organic dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp of Manioc flour (coarse, you’ll find this in the Asian market, we prefer Goya)
  • 1 egg
  • pinch of sea salt, I used pink Himalayan
  • fresh cracked black pepper to taste
  • tiny pinch of ground Coriander
  • pinch of ground Cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Curry powder (Indian)
  • 2 tsp rice vinegar

Whisk the egg first till a little frothy, then add all other ingredients. Whisking it all very well, and then blending it in to the crab meat ensuring that all ingredients mix seamlessly with the crab. With a tablespoon spoon out a perfect little pile with which you’ll make a little medallions. You could make these into two or four cakes, but in this recipe, we’re featuring these as an amazing appetizer. You decide.

Chill these medallions for an hour and then get a pan hot with ghee and cook them for about 5 – 7 minutes depending on your pan and stove.

These are really good, you should give these a try – you’ll be sure to amaze your dinner guests, or surprise your spouse for a weekend afternoon goody with some of your favorite white wine.

Love to eat – Love life!

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Almond Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

12/17/2012 Leave a comment

Have you ever wanted to bring something homemade to your friend’s house or a function, but decided not to because you thought it would take too long to make? Well now you’ll have a very easy, quick and super delicious recipe to whip up into a batch.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of almond meal
  • 2 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
  • 1/8 cup of coconut butter (mana) – melted
  • pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt
  • few drops of almond extract
  • 4 cage free eggs
  • 1/2 cup of dark semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • generous 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar (you can adjust depending on how sweet you like it; we always stay on the less sweet side)

Mix everything well together in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Scoop each cookie to be with a small ice cream scooper or spoon and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 – 13 minutes at 350 degrees convection and cool for a few minutes – Enjoy warm or cool. My fellow yogi teachers loved these – what’s your feedback?

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Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls

11/05/2012 2 Comments

It’s about time that we share our fresh spring rolls with you. Our favorite version is this one, clean, fresh and delicious, perfectly suitable for lunch or an appetizer.

The beauty about making your own spring rolls is that you can pretty much chose any ingredients that you like and enjoy, as long as they are fresh. Celebrate fresh ingredients whenever you can!

Here are our ingredients for our fresh rolls:

  • get a package of rice paper for spring rolls (you will have a lot left over for next time)
  • baby arugula
  • basil (remove all large stems)
  • mint (leaves only)
  • organic pea sprouts
  • 1/2 large English cucumber, Julienne
  • 1 Manila mango, Julienne
  •  1 – 2 inches of fresh minced ginger
  • 1 pound of cooked shrimp, remove tail and slice shrimp in half (as if you were to butterfly them, but cut through all the way)

Grab a pie pan and fill 1/2 way with warm water, soak one rice paper sheet at a time for about 10 seconds, remove very carefully with both hands and place onto your working surface. Place 2 – 3 basil leaves in the middle first, then place some arugula, a couple of mint leaves, some pea sprouts, few slices of mango and cucumber, sprinkle a little ginger and place 4 – 5 shrimp halves down the middle. Very carefully fold ends in first and then roll (if you are right handed, right to left rolling it tightly and slowly.  The first couple might be sort of a disaster, but those can be a snack while making the food. :-) Don’t worry, they will get tighter and perfect as you do them.

Place them whole on a sheet or plate and cover them with a wet paper towel. I have a water spray bottle near by to spray the towels to keep them moist. Once you are ready to serve them, you should cut them in half diagonally.

Henry made this amazing dipping sauce:  ..mix really well the following…

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup almond butter
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 3 tbsp coconut aminos
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 4 Thai chilis, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
  • some fresh cracked pepper

Filed under Condiment, Entree, Hors D'Oeuvre, Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe, Salads, Side Dish Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Zwetschkenknoedel Nutty Kitchen Style

09/18/2012 7 Comments

YUMMM! That’s all we can say. I grew up eating these all the time, but they were made with flour. The end of summer is perfect for these as the European plums are in season and they have just the perfect ripeness and flavor. The original dumplings are made with dough from flour and are boiled and then rolled in buttered bread crumbs, which believe me were amazing. But for those of us who can’t have gluten or simply chose not to, these are a terrific alternative.

We made ours with Yuca root aka Cassava and they are just out of this world and rank up there in our most loved desserts. Even though we don’t post many recipes about Yuca, we eat it often and use it for versatile dishes.

This time around we thought we would teach you how to make an amazing dessert with it. It’s simple, delicious and it’s power food for those who love to gear up for some good sweating in the morning. Every time we eat it for dinner, we sleep like babies and wake up with a ton of power. For those of you who just love an amazing dessert, just go for it and give this a try.

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Here is what you’ll need:

  • 1 – 2 medium or 1 large Yuca root
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 to 1 cup coconut oil
  • tiny pinch of sea salt
  • European plums (1 for each dumpling)
  • 1 – 2 tbps homemade jam (low sugar – we use honey with ours and real fruit chunks) Apricot is best

First heat a large pot with slightly salted water and bring to boil. Peel and Yuca, cut into 2 – 3 inch chunks – quarter those and remove the woody stem from the middle and boil until they get opaque in color. They should be fairly soft for this. 20 – 30 minutes on medium cooking.

Remove and strain well – place into a food processor while hot add butter and a tiny pinch of salt and pulse on dough. You can absolutely use coconut oil instead of the butter. It will be really sticky so prepare yourself for that! Remove it all and put  into a dish covered tightly and place in the refrigerator over night. Don’t wait more than two days before making this or it will get dry and it will not work.

It will be best if you make it the next evening.  Take out your cast iron pan or your favorite equivalent and heat coconut oil. The reason for the cast iron pan is that it heats evenly and you’ll get the best results.

Sprinkle your counter or favorite surface with coconut flour and dust your hands, so that the dough will not stick.

With a small serving spoon scoop out a golf size ball of dough. Roll it between your hands and then press it into a patty. Then roll it out with a dough roller, I use a small wooden one. Once you have a nice flat round dough patty fill it with a pitted European plum that has been filled with the apricot jam and close the dumpling up. Be gentle so not to rip it.

Whip the egg with a fork until frothy and then bathe the dumpling before placing it in the hot oil. Once you start baking/frying the dumplings reduce the heat to medium so not to burn them and keep rotating them with a fork until all sides are golden. Serve warm and sprinkle with coconut flakes and serve with your favorite side. Coconut whipping cream, Greek yogurt, or heavy cream, whatever floats your boat. :-) These will make you smile; they are worth the effort – let us know what you think.

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Sauteed Beef Kidneys

07/30/2012 2 Comments

We haven’t posted any offal lately, but could not resist sharing this with you. We got our whole steer not to long ago from our favorite local ranch, Date Creek Ranch. Always make sure that you eat grass-fed, and know where your meat is coming from.

Why should you eat kidney? Kidney is a good source of Protein, Vitamin C and Zinc, and a great source of Vitamin A, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Iron, Phosphorus, Copper and Selenium.

Here is what you will need and how to go about making it. Serves 4, unless you are Jo and Henry then it’s for two. :-)

Ingredients:

  • 2 whole beef kidneys
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 2 large yellow or white onions, sliced
  • 3 – 6 red dried Thai chilis, whole
  • 2 – 3 Anaheim pepper, sliced
  • 1 – 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • pinch of sea salt, to taste
  • fresh cracked rainbow pepper, to taste
  • pinch of caraway seeds
  • pinch of marjoram, rub between palms to activate herb

The beef kidney has a very thick white cord connecting the various nodes of the organ. Ensure that you use a very well sharpened knife, I like a boning knife. Try to get all the white cording out, this is a time-consuming task, so know that going in and take your time with it, it’s actually really interesting.

Whole kidney with cord in tact

Kidney with carefully removed cord

Next it is very important to soak the kidney in a bath of 1/3 vinegar (we use coconut vinegar) and 2/3 parts water. Soaking is important to ensure that there is no smell or taste of urine. If the kidney is not cleaned properly there is a chance that your dish might be ruined – IF you don’t soak for about 20 minutes. Rinse very well and set aside.

Kidney soaking in vinegar/water bath

In a large wok or saute pan, brown onions in 1/4 cup of coconut oil, once they are glossy add peppers and all other ingredients, except for the kidney – this goes in last, as kidney cooks as quickly as liver does.

While your onions and veggies are sautéing on medium heat, begin to slice your kidney into thin slices.

Sliced kidney

Once your veggies are caramel in color and beautifully glossy, add kidney and stir well, up your heat to almost high and cook for 2 – 4 minutes, only.

Cooking kidney – almost done

Cook until you see almost no pink; it will continue to cook in the pan even after you turn off the stove. It’s crucial not to overcook your kidney.

Serve and enjoy!

Beef Kidney! We served it with sweet potato hash.

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Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Soup)

07/03/2012 1 Comment

We love Thai food and find it so complimentary to our beliefs and lifestyle. This is a staple in our house, which we love to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Give this a whirl and let us know what you think.

Ingredients for Soup

  • 2 lbs of organic skinless chicken thigh meat, cubed; if you prefer you can substitute 1 lb of shrimp & 1 lb of scallops
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 3 cups of fresh sliced mushrooms, white or brown, really your choice
  • 1 – 3 tbsp fish sauce, start with one tbsp at a time and taste, add more as your taste buds build
  • 2 -3 stalks of fresh lemongrass, wash well, peel outside layer off, chop very fine, or leave in large chunks your choice
  • 1 small onion or 1/2 of a large one, sliced
  • 1 heaping tsp coriander seeds, whole
  • 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
  • 4 – 6 Thai chili peppers, chopped (we like it hot, but you can make it as spicy as you like)
  • 2-3 cups chicken stock, make your own if possible, we also use some of our bone broth if we are out of chicken
  • 1 – 2 pinches of salt (you can always add more later to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar (we buy ours from the Asian market)
  • 1 – 2 inch piece of galanga root, cut into small pieces (ginger is in the same family, tastes differently, but is a great substitute and will not ruin this dish; try the Asian market for galanga root, it’s tough to find)
  • 3 – 5 kaffir lime leaves, chopped up, if you don’t have any, use some fresh lime zest, it will be delicious
  • 1/2 lime’s juice
  • fresh cracked pepper, we like rainbow pepper to taste

Preparation

Add all ingredients except for protein and fresh cilantro into a soup pot, bring to a boil and cook on medium – low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, add protein and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer/low and cover for 5 – 7 minutes.  Add fresh cilantro and lime on the side.  Love and enjoy this soup for breakfast, lunch or dinner; it’s so good. Jo & Henry

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