Ode to Julia Child and her Boeuf Bourguignon recipe

Julia Child Boeuf Bourguignon (Gluten-Free)

Image from Google Today, August 15, 2012, would be Julia Child‘s 100th birthday. Julia is a bit of a hero to me. She taught Americans to cook and paved the way for all celebrity chefs. But Julia is inspirational to me for other, more personal, reasons. Julia Child started her career as an advertising copywriter in … Read more

Asian-Style Beef Short Ribs (Paleo)

paleo asian beef short ribs

paleo asian beef short ribsBeef Shorts Ribs is/are one of those foods I mostly avoided prior to “going paleo”. They just seemed way too fatty to be a reasonable option for someone concerned with eating “healthy.” Or so I thought. I do remember being on vacation in New Orleans years ago and dining at Emeril’s Delmonico restaurant. We were on vacation so I was going to go a little wild. Okay, when talking about vacationing in New Orleans and going “wild” I should probably qualify that by saying my going wild amounted to eating a huge plate of beef short ribs and polenta. I was going craaaaazy I tell you!

Anyway, the meal was so fantastic I still remember it fondly not only because of the splurge on beef ribs but the accompanying polenta which was beyond delicious. For years I wondered what in the world could have been in that recipe to make it so amazing. Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve figured it out and….it is beef fat (aka tallow). Duh! That exquisite polenta was soaked in tallow from the short ribs. So imagine my delight when I read information like this telling the truth about red meat.

asian-style beef short ribs from PaleoSpirit.com

Of course, we know now that grass-fed/finished beef is higher in Omega-3 fats than conventional beef. So I do recommend when eating fatty cuts you use grass-fed beef. Although I must confess I did not follow that advice for this recipe simply because I did not have access to a higher quality product. Here’s a shot of the ribs I used.

raw beef short ribs

Instead of making polenta to go along with the short ribs (too much corn) I decided to take an asian path. Asian food is one of my favorites. Never having been able to achieve results at home that matched the food in good asian restaurants, it has usually been my preferred cuisine when eating out. The problem is I have celiac disease and am intolerant to all kinds of weird ingredients. If you have ever taken a stroll down the asian food aisle at the grocery store and peeked at the labels of some of the packaged food you will understand the problem. To get my beef AND asian food “fix” I came up with this recipe that avoids troublesome ingredients. If you are following an “autoimmune paleo protocol”** this recipe will work for you. The only ingredient that might be considered unusual is coconut aminos. Coconut aminos is a product derived from coconut that tastes like soy sauce but does not contain wheat (gluten) or soy.

When I was putting this post together I looked at the photos on my camera and had to laugh at what I saw. There were photos of beef short ribs then photos of flowers, then photos of more ingredients for asian-style beef short ribs, then vegetables from the garden and back to food and on and on. I just bought a new camera lens and I’ve been having fun practicing with it. But this is only part of the explanation. The truth is, flitting from activity to activity is pretty much standard operating procedure for me. Hmm, wonder what that means…Oh look, a spider!

spider waterdrop blackeyed susan @Paleospirit.com

Veggies from the garden.

veggies on towel

Sorry, what were we talking about? 

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Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce (Autoimmune Paleo Recipe)

Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce

From what I have heard, many people have chosen August as a month to follow the “Whole 30″. For those of you who have never heard of it, Whole 30 is essentially a strict version of the paleo diet similar to what I wrote about here. For one solid month there’s no wiggle room with sugar and no “cheats” with grains, legumes or dairy, among other things. It is a pretty drastic elimination diet but can do wonders for health. It is an absolute necessity if you suspect you have food intolerances. But it can also serve as a “reboot” for those of us who have already completed a 30 day (minimum) elimination diet in the past.

I already eat a fairly strict version of the paleo diet most of the time, but I do occasionally indulge in full fat (preferably pastured) dairy and some sugar in the form of things like maple syrup or honey. But in honor of folks following “Strictly Paleo” or “Whole 30” plans this month, I wanted to post a recipe that will fit right in.

Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce is easy, takes just a few minutes, will provide plenty of protein and Omega-3s and is also approved for those of you following an autoimmune paleo protocol. This means you are not eating nuts, eggs, plants in the nightshades family and certain types of peppers. (See my food matrix)

Even though I used pastured butter when I made this salmon dish recently (as shown in the photos) you can easily substitute ghee* or even olive oil. (Check out this post for an easy way to make ghee in the oven.)

Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce

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Paleo in Maryland: Steamed Crabs

Maryland steamed crab

I’m a very crabby guy.

But when I say crabby, I don’t mean curmudgeonly or cantankerous, although I’ve occasionally been accused of both.

I mean I love to eat crabs. Steamed crabs.

Maryland steamed crabServe’em up with some ice-cold beer on a picnic table covered with old newspaper and in my humble opinion, you’ve pretty much achieved Nirvana.

But that’s because I’m from Maryland, where steamed crabs are more than food – they’re a way of life. Marylanders have been gorging themselves on steamed crabs since the first settlers paddled up the Chesapeake Bay in 1634, and even before that if you consider Native American tribes like the Nanticoke and the Powhatan.

There was a time when hardly anyone outside of the Delmarva Peninsula – that’s where Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia all collide on the eastern side of the Chesapeake – ate much crabs, but that’s changed in recent years. It’s not hard to get a decent crab cake in most American cities nowadays, but steamed crabs? That’s a different story!

So whenever Lea and I visit my Mom & Dad on Maryland’s eastern shore, we make a point to have steamed crabs. Lea, a native Texan, had never had steamed crabs before she met me, but after 15 years of marriage she can tear into them with gusto! She also likes that eating steamed crabs fits in well with her lower-carb, paleo diet.

Now…a little bit about the crabs, themselves. The ones that we eat in Maryland are called Callinectes sappidus, which means “tasty beautiful swimmer” in Latin. But that’s a mouthful for a Marylander, so we just call them “Blue crabs,” which makes sense because before they get tossed in the pot they actually are…blue.

(Photo of Blue Crab previously posted is Copyright  John T. Consoli)

We like to think of blue crabs as our own, but the truth is they’re found all the way from Nova Scotia down into the Gulf of Mexico and even as far south as Argentina! Good thing, too, because due to over-fishing, most of the crabs we eat are imported from Louisiana! No matter, they’re still blue crabs, and nobody does them like they’re done in Maryland…sorry, Virginia!

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Hunger Games Lamb Stew with Dried Plums

Paleo Hunger Games Lamb Stew

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET THE 74th ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES BEGIN! AND MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR… Hi, my name is Ben. I am an enormously, epically, hugely, giantly, largely-big fan of THE HUNGER GAMES! I am here to do a quick book review before Paleo Spirit (aka my mom) shares a Hunger … Read more

Paleo Chipotle Chili

Paleo Chipotle Chili

Posting a recipe for Paleo Chipotle Chili today seems especially appropriate. I am traveling back to my home state of Texas for the Paleo FX Symposium 2012 in Austin. It was an early morning for me today, beginning with my 3:30 a.m. alarm, but made better by the pink sunrise highlighting the dark Manhattan skyline … Read more

Trout with Blood Orange Sauce and Cassava Bacon Hash

While perusing the fish options at Whole Foods recently, my attention was captured by the trout. According to the powers-that-be at Whole Foods (or whomever wrote the little note in front of each fish variety at least), trout goes great with sage, citrus and bacon (BACON!!!). Ordinarily I think of fish as requiring more delicate flavors. In fact, when I was living in Italy I distinctly remember the passionate view of my Italian roommates who insisted you should never, NEVER combine fish with cheese in recipes. (I did not entirely agree with that, by the way.) The given reason for this “RULE” of Italian cooking is the flavors of fish are much too delicate to withstand the strong flavor of cheese. Strong flavors supposedly overpower fish. So when I saw the bacon recommendation for trout I was intrigued. Who is this fish that defies such a universal truth?

I snapped up a couple of pounds of trout and determined to further investigate this culinary conundrum.trout

Another reminder of my former life in Italy was the gorgeous blood oranges I found in the produce section. Hmmm. Blood oranges qualify as citrus. I added them to my cart and began to formulate my plan for an amazing paleo fish recipe.

blood oranges

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Rutabaga Hash Browns with Pulled Pork

Turnip Hash Browns

Turnip Hash BrownsDo you aspire to be one of those people who plans ahead? Would you like to have your weekly meals all laid out in advance? While I know it would save me time and money to do that, the fact is I am not especially talented in this area (can you say ADD?). The following recipe for Rutabaga Hash Browns with Pulled Pork is an exception. Breakfast on the Paleo diet can be a tough transition because we are so used to eating some type of grain in the mornings. But while this recipe will not solve all weekly meal dilemmas, a few quick steps the night before and you will be minutes away from an amazing, delicious, nutritious and inexpensive breakfast the next day.

On a whim (see how I don’t plan!) I bought a waxed turnip. (I previously titled this post “Turnip Hash Browns with Pulled Pork” because I was a little mixed up about the terms. See explanatory post.) According to my crumpled receipt, which I just fished out of the bottom of my purse, I paid $1.52 for this 2.21 lb purple and white beauty. It is lower in overall calories and carbohydrates than white potatoes but high in vitamin C. Before I went to bed I peeled it and put it through the shredder on my food processor. (You could use a box grater.) It went into a big container and then my refrigerator. I ended up with about 7 cups of shredded rutabaga.

shredded turnip for hashbrowns

Next, I rubbed a 3 lb boneless pork butt (cost me $6) with some Tsardust Memories Russian Style Spice Seasoning from Penzey’s. It’s one of the spices I got on my recent trip to a Penzey’s retail store. It’s not critical that you use this exact spice. I was just experimenting and thought it might work well and it did. I also don’t remember the exact measurement but I basically covered the pork in a light layer. (Maybe 1 tablespoon?) The Tsardust Memories mix contains the following spices: salt, garlic, cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg and marjoram. I added about a 1/2 cup of chicken stock (you could use water) and cooked it on low heat overnight.

Here’s what it looked like in the morning:

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Garlic and Herb-Crusted Pork Loin

This Garlic and Herb-Crusted Pork Loin, inspired by Emeril Lagasse, goes great with my Pomegranate Raspberry Chipotle Sauce and Glaze. Christmas Eve is a perfect time to serve this dish because the red and green colors are so gorgeous and festive. I have also used the sauce to go with beef tenderloin on Christmas Day and it is absolutely delicious. The advantage of serving it with the pork loin is the whiteness of the pork makes a great backdrop to the red sauce.

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Chicken Liver Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

For years I ate boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cutting off any extra fat with the precision of a skilled surgeon. Fat was the enemy, you see, and the idea of eating organ meats was just anathema. But those days are long gone now that I have been enlightened to the health benefits of eating more than just low fat cuts of animal flesh. Organ meats, including chicken livers, are really high in nutrition. Liver is full of vitamins A and B12, Folate, Pantothenic Acid (B5), iron and selenium – all things our bodies need to function well.*

In spite of this earth-shattering information, my husband, G, has threatened to become a vegan if I try to serve him chicken livers. Now THAT’S quite a threat! But if he were to allow himself to try this recipe for Chicken Liver Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette he would find there’s no need to go to the dark side. The inspiration came from my recent perusal of a Nigella Lawson cookbook. G seemed very interested in said cookbook but I dare say it was Nigella he fancied and not the chicken livers. Nigella’s recipe calls for maple syrup and sherry vinegar but she references a time when raspberry vinegar was all the rage for similar salade tiède on restaurant menus. Since I had some raspberry balsamic vinegar on hand I decided to give it a try and it turned out delicious.

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