I’m Back!!!

Posted on April 2, 2012 by paleopassage

It’s been a few months since I last inflicted my personal thoughts on everyone posted.  It became overwhelming to me to continue with the blog and all of the preparations surrounding the holidays.  Since then I have thought about writing something, but I had a lot going on (Words with Friends, increased work load, a new grandbaby, etc.) and writing the blog seemed more like work than fun to me.  Part of the Paleo life-style that I have embraced is to emphasize play and fun in my life.  The one exception to this is my job.  However, my job provides other benefits, so I will continue to do it.

TMOTH (The Man of the House) has encouraged me to return to writing the blog, particularly when he sees me doing something interesting in the kitchen.  He suggested that the blog would be less stressful to me if I backed off on the frequency of posting.  I had initially aimed to post every day.  I found that I was spending a lot of time on the weekends trying to get posts together for the next week.  Frankly, I’d rather be playing Words with Friends hiking or reading.  I have decided to see if I can maintain a frequency of “several times a week”.

My Paleo Passage has continued to evolve over the past few months.  TMOTH and I continue to follow a Paleo eating plan.  We are also becoming Locavores.  I read Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life and it inspired me to try to eat as locally as possible.  This interest has led me to become interested in growing and preserving foods.

My interest in traditional or ancestral diets continues to evolve.  I have joined the Weston A. Price Foundation and am working my way through Nourishing Traditions: . I am planning to attend their annual meeting in November.

Some things that I plan to inflict on share with you in upcoming blog posts are my continuous brew Kombucha, my struggles to adhere to my exercise plan, recipes with local food items, my continuing experiments with the odd bits, and my forays into food preservation.

Posted in Coming Attractions, Locavore, Musings, Paleo Fitness | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The Bounty of our CSA (or What we Will be Eating This Week 12/12/11)

Posted on December 13, 2011 by paleopassage

Here’s what we got this week in our meat and veggie shares from Tara Firma Farms.  It also looks like my whining emailing to ask about our egg share has resulted in the bonanza of 2 dozen eggs.

  • 2 dozen eggs
  • Top Sirloin
  • Brautwurst Sausage
  • Pork Chops
  • Ground Beef
  • Kale
  • Brown Clamshell Mushrooms
  • Leeks
  • 2 bunches of Beets
  • Green Onions
  • Spinach
  • Dill
  • Red Cabbage
  • Parsley
  • Chard
  • Arugula

Here’s what we have planned for the menu:

  • Rib Steak (from John Ford Ranch) cooked low and slow served with Southern-style Beet Greens
  • Pork Stew (Using a tenderloin I have in the freezer) with Cabbage.  I’ll use leeks, parsley, sweet potatoes, turnips and spinach in there too.
  • Pork Chops  (no vegetable announced yet, but I’ll bet it will be greens of some type).
  • Sausage Stir fry:  Cut up sausages sautéed with onions and  topped with wilted spinach and/or arugula
  • Omelets stuffed with spinach and brown clamshell mushrooms (ON (Oldest Nephew) will have to fend for himself.  He doesn’t like eggs)

That’s all we have figured out so far.  Suggestions are welcomed.

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From the Internet: How to Live a Low Carb Life

Posted on December 11, 2011 by paleopassage

In this interesting video, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt MD interviews Dr. Steven Phinney MD, PhD about maintaining a low carb lifestyle long term.  Dr. Phinney has researched low carb eating, ketosis and exercise for decades.  I find his work to be fascinating.  Both Dr. Phinney and Dr. Eenfeldt are articulate and intelligent.

If you enjoy this video and want to learn more, check out Dr. Phinney’s book The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living.

Posted in From the Internet | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Bounty of our CSA (or What We Will be Eating this Week)

Posted on December 6, 2011 by paleopassage

Here’s the bounty of our CSA this week from Tara Firma Farms:

　Our extras this week were:

  • 1 lb. Of Strauss Butter
  • Pork Bones*
  • Chicken Necks*
  • Pork Hearts*

*For the raw fed Airedale Terrierists

Our meat box this week contained:

  • Eye of Round
  • Ground Beef
  • Whole Chicken

Veggies for the week:

  • 2 bunches Chard
  • 2 bunches Kale
  • 1 bag Spinach
  • 1 bag Salad Greens
  • 1 bunch White Radishes

I’m going to do a crock-pot Coconut Curry with Cinnamon with the Eye of the Round.  I’ll do something with ground beef on Friday.  TMOTH will do something with the chicken.  We’ll fill in on the other days with beef from the John Ford Ranch and Wild Caught Alaska Salmon from Trader Joes.

I still haven’t received any eggs in my CSA.  This is the third week in a row.  I believe I’m supposed to be getting them every other week due to short supply.  I’ll have to check with the farm and see what is up with that.

Posted in Locavore | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Experiments with Odd Bits: Pork Rinds

Posted on December 4, 2011 by paleopassage

I ordered a pork rind as an add-on to my CSA last week from Tara Firma Farms.  I had in mind that perhaps I could make some Cracklins or Cicharrons.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I opened the wrapper.  Here’s what I got:

It was labeled as Pork Belly Skin.  When I noted that there was also quite a bit of fat, I shifted my focus to also trying to get some lard from this experiment.  I have been trying to get a pound of fat from Tara Firma Farms for several weeks.  😀  So far I have been unsuccessful.

I did some Internet research and found a traditional Cajun recipe for Cracklins.  I decided to use that as a base for my project.  First I cut the pork skins into small pieces with my kitchen shears.  As you can see, the Airedale Terrierists were supervising this experiment very closely.

After everything was cut up, I put a pan filled ¼ of the way full “on a hot fire” and brought it to a boil.  I added the cut up pork skins.  The water helps the fat to start rendering.  It evaporates off and then things start cooking in the rendered fat.

Here’s where I had a procedural dilemma.  The Cajun Cracklin recipe said to keep the fire hot until the Cracklins were brown and crisp.  The information on rendering lard for fat said to keep the temperature low so that the lard wouldn’t brown.  At this point I decided to reduce the temperature until all the fat had rendered.  It was probably 3:00 or 4:00 PM.

At 8:30 PM it looked like there was still quite a lot of fat that needed to be rendered off the skin.  I decided I would just bite the bullet and stay up as late as necessary to see the experiment to its conclusion.  By 9:30 PM I was having trouble staying awake.  TMOTH was already drooling and snoring asleep on the couch.

Note:  I don’t want to give my loyal readers the impression that TMOTH and I always spend our evenings in such a boring sedate manner.  It just happens that the day before was my company’s annual Holiday Party.  These events are traditionally similar in nature to the wild debauchery exhibited at a fraternity party very festive.

We started at 1:00 PM on the beach with a crab feed and wine.  From there we went to the hotel’s hot tub and soaked while drinking wine.  Our cocktail party started at 6:00 PM.  Dinner was a fabulous, mostly Paleo, meal that utilized local ingredients.  I had beet greens and a grass-fed rib eye steak that was perfectly cooked and as big as my head.  The Cabernet was also FABULOUS.  From there we adjorned to another room for Casino Night.  I never gamble, but I enjoy these events.  I had a hot streak going at the Craps table.  Everyone was very pleased.  I rolled for over half an hour.  My new nickname at work is El Fuego.  My co-wrokers insured that I was not thirsty while rolling.  There was an after party scheduled, but the event ran 1 ½ hours late.  TMOTH and I retired to our lovely hotel room at about 1:00 AM.  We are morning people, so we awoke at 7:45 AM.  We did not take advantage of the late checkout (1:00 PM) that had been arranged for us.

So, anyway, neither TMOTH nor I were in any shape to stay up late with the pork skin.  I decided to put it all into a crock-pot on low overnight.  When I awakened, the fat had finished rendering and there were some Cracklins.  I took out the pieces that were done and placed them on paper towels .  I seasoned them with Cajun spice while they were still warm.

I returned the rest of the rendered lard and pork skin to the original soup pot and turned the heat up to medium.  As the pieces got puffy and turned into Cracklins, I removed them.  When the Cracklins were done, I poured the lard into a strainer with a coffee filter in it (you can use cheesecloth) to save the lard.  It’s browned from the Cracklins and not suitable for baking.  However, it will be tasty for other uses, like omelets or greens.

The Cracklins were tasty, especially warm.  I think I will utilize some of them in recipes.  I have a few concepts in mind.  Cracklins could replace the bread crumbs in a Sweet Potato Au Gratin.  I’ll also probably use them for a breading for chicken pieces. I also think they would be quite tasty as an accent for greens.

The Airedale Terrierists are also very enthusiastic about the Cracklins.  Queen Barktifah has been trying to make me give them to her.  She asks to go out in the yard.  Then she runs around barking like a fool at nothing.  I open the door and call her in and she comes running and sits at my feet.  I haven’t given her any treat the last two times.  QB appears to have given up and is sleeping in the sun behind my chair.

Posted in Experiments with Odd Bits | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

My Paleo Plate-12/01/11

Posted on December 1, 2011 by paleopassage

Hello Loyal Readers!  Before I get on with showing you what I ate yesterday, I wanted to let you know that with the holiday season and all that entails, I am finding it nigh unto impossible to post daily to my blog.  I don’t think that I have run out of things to say yet.  I’m just having some issues with doing everything I want to do.

My new target is three posts a week.  I’ll try to be FABULOUS and fascinating.  Some days that’s a real stretch for me, especially around the holidays (Bah!  Humbug!)  TMOTH is Cindy Lou Who and I am The Grinch when it comes to the holiday season.  I suspect the shorter photo period has some influence on this.

Without further ado, here’s My Paleo Plate for the last day of November 2011:

Just as a reminder, here’s the Paleo version of the My Plate icon courtesy of the folks at Fitbomb:

For breakfast today I had a CSA Omelet.  Here’s a photo of the inside before I folded it.

The omelet is a western style omelet with green bell peppers and onions cooked into the egg.  It’s filled with mixed field greens, bacon and trumpet mushrooms from the CSA box.  It was FABULOUS!

Lunch at my desk was comprised of a medley of leftovers.  I had Roasted Root Vegetables, featuring beets from the CSA box.  There was also Lemon Chicken from Tara Firma Farm and Beef Cross Rib Steak from the John Ford Ranch.  I used my homemade garlic-rosemary mayonnaise as a sauce for the beef.  I am drooling just remembering…

Dinner was a creation that I will call Harvest Medley Soup.  I sautéed some onions and ½ pound of sausage I had leftover in a large soup pot.  I added the broth I made from the turkey carcass along with the meat that came off the carcass.  I brought that to a boil and added pumpkin puree (leftover from the puree I made for my pies), trumpet mushrooms and white mushrooms.  I seasoned with 2 TBS Curry Powder, 1 TBS Cinnamon and a sprinkle of Cayenne Pepper.  I let it simmer for about an hour and then stirred in 1 cup of coconut milk.  I let it heat for 5 more minutes and then TMOTH and I fell on the food like ravenous beasts sat down to dinner.

Posted in Locavore, Musings, My Paleo Plate, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Bounty of Our CSA (or What We Will be Eating this Week)

Posted on November 29, 2011 by paleopassage

Here’s what was in the Tara Firma CSA boxes that we picked up last night:

  • Beef Bones*
  • Chicken necks*
  • Ground Beef
  • NY Steak
  • Bacon Ends*
  • Pork Rind*
  • Beef Heart*
  • Radishes
  • Salad Greens
  • Baby Bok Choi
  • Chard
  • Collard Greens
  • Baby Potatoes
  • Beets
  • Trumpet Mushrooms*
  • Bell Peppers
  • Parsley

*These are extra items that I added from the farm’s web store.

Here’s what will be cooking this week:

  • Beef Broth (already simmering away in the crock-pot)
  • Tuesday Dinner:  Ground Beef sautéed with onions and Collard Greens
  • Wednesday Dinner (utilizing left-overs from last week):  Pumpkin Sausage Soup with trumpet mushrooms, turkey broth (from carcass), & turkey meat (from carcass) & Beets with beet greens and bacon ends
  • Thursday Dinner:  Pork (from the freezer) stir fry
  • Saturday Dinner:  NY Steak BBQ

Friday we’ll be eating out at a work function.

Here’s what I’ll be doing with some of the odd-bits:

  • Chicken necks are going to the Airedale Terrierists raw diet
  • Beef Heart:  I plan to attempt to make some jerky in the dehydrator for the Airedale Terrierists
  • Pork Rind:  I will attempt some cracklins or chicharrones.

We’ll do something with the potatoes to go with the NY Steak (primarily for ON (Oldest Nephew) who needs bulk or he’ll eat all the NY Steak).  I usually do at least one breakfast a week that includes sautéed green.  On Sunday I look at what we have on hand still and figure out what to eat that night.

It’s been fun combining eating local with eating Paleo.

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From the Interet: The Periodic Table of Meat

Posted on November 28, 2011 by paleopassage

This amused me:

http://pleatedjeans.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/periodic-table-of-meat.png

Posted in From the Internet | 1 Comment

Paleo Recipe: Turkey Chili Verde

Posted on November 27, 2011 by paleopassage

I don’t know about you guys, but one of the challenges I have with the Thanksgiving holiday is what to do with all the turkey leftovers.  This challenge became even more pronounced this year since I am eating Paleo and strictly grain-free.  In past years, one of my go to favorites with the turkey was a sandwich with dark meat seasoned with pepper, mayo, lettuce and onions on whole wheat bread.

This year I decided to make a Chili Verde with a big chunk of the turkey.  It was a success, and facilitated my goal of turning the inventory in my refrigerator quickly (having my oldest nephew (ON) here has also resulted in increased inventory turns of the food supply.  He’s 21, and young men at that age can put away vast quantities of food).

I made this recipe for our dinner on Friday.  We had it again on Saturday.  It was even better the second day.  TMOTH and ON finished off the turkey I didn’t use on Saturday.  We rolled into Sunday with one bowl of the chili left.  I think we did an excellent job of making sure that none of our FABULOUS Willie Bird turkey was wasted.  I have the carcass in the crockpot right now making some broth.

Without further ado, here’s my recipe for Turkey Chili Verde:

Ingredients (makes about 6 servings)

  • ½ lb. Chorizo (pork, turkey or chicken)
  • 3 cups chopped onion
  • 2 TBS chopped garlic
  • 2 TBS chili  powder
  • 1 teas cumin
  • salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 2 cups chicken or turkey stock
  • 6 fresh (or canned if you must) tomatillas finely chopped
  • 1 can (10 oz) Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
  • 7 poblano (pasilla) chilies, fire roasted, seeeded and chopped
  • 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped (optional-I prefer the chili with this added.  TMOTH, the wimp, would have enjoyed the chili more if I had left this out)
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
  • Juice of one lime
  • 2 lbs. Cooked turkey cut into 1 inch chunks (you could also use this recipe with leftover chicken or pork)

To roast the poblano peppers:

  1. Preheat oven broiler
  2. Coat each pepper evenly with oil.  Avoid extra-virgin olive oil as it will burn in the broiler.  I melted some coconut oil and applied with a pastry brush
  3. Arrange peppers on a cookie sheet and place on the highest rack in the oven
  4. When dark splotches begin to appear on the peppers, remove from the oven and turn the peppers over using tongs
  5. Return to the oven.  When the tops of the peppers begin to darken again, remove them from the oven and place them in a large bowl.  Cover the bowl tightly with foil or plastic wrap and let the peppers steam for 15-20 minutes.  This will cause the skin to loosen.
  6. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, pull off the stem.
  7. Hold one end of the pepper down on a flat surface and gently pull the akin off each pepper.
  8. Slice the pepper open and remove seeds.  Scrape off any ribs or membranes that remain in the pepper.

To make the Chili:

Note:  I used my food processor to do most of the chopping.  I processed the onions and garlic together and then set aside.  I then processed the tomatillas, jalapeno, roasted peppers and Cilantro together.

  1. Heat a large heavy-lidded pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add chorizo.
  2. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat.
  3. Add onions and garlic.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Stir in the Chili Powder and Cumin to coat the onions.
  5. Add chicken stock, tomatillas, tomatoes, poblano chilies, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice.
  6. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Cook uncovered 20 minutes
  7. Add turkey and cook about 10 minutes more.  Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Thanksgiving Recap

Posted on November 25, 2011 by paleopassage

I intended to photograph the completed Thanksgiving Feast before the family fell on it and devoured it sat down to eat dinner.  However in the hubbub surrounding the final minutes of food prep I completely forgot about taking pictures.

We had a spectacular feast with wonderful company.  Most of the dishes were gluten-free and Paleo.  The exceptions were the dinner rolls that OO (Oldest Offspring) brought and the Apple Pie that TMOTH (The Man of the House Made).  I did not partake in either of those items.  I am finding even the slightest accidental exposure to gluten is not worth the fleeting pleasure that eating the offending article might have given me.

I had some concerns about altering the food at such a traditional meal.  I didn’t want my family to feel that my new dietary regime was affecting their holiday adversely.  I was pleased with the results, and it appears that the family was too.

The Pumpkin Pies with the nut crusts were very well received.  The filling was lighter than the filling from my previous recipe.  I think this was due, at least in part, to using fresh pumpkin puree instead of canned.  The fresh puree didn’t seem to be as heavy and dense as canned puree.

The stuffing was remarkably delicious and actually very close in texture and taste to the stuffing I have made in the past.  It contained sausage, celery, carrots, onions, mushrooms, dried cherries, sliced almonds, chicken stock, sage and thyme (and maybe garlic powder).

For me, the stuffing is critical.  Stuffing is primarily used as a foundation for my favorite usage of leftovers.  I am having this for breakfast right now:

Mmmmm! Mmmmmmm!  The Breakfast of Champions!  It’s very simple to prepare.  Put stuffing in an oven-proof bowl.  Top with cut up turkey skin and dark meat  Heat in a 350 F oven for about 20 minutes (until it’s hot and sizzling).

The family can expect to see a rerun of at least a few of the new dishes next year.  OO at least will be pleased.    She told me this year was the best Thanksgiving meal ever.  OO has learned that sucking up positive reinforcement works on me.

Coming attraction: Creative leftover utilization. I’m planning to make a green chili that utilizes leftover turkey (plus chorizo) for dinner tonight. If it works out, I’ll blog the recipe tomorrow.

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