5 Ingredient French Onion Soup (paleo)

The local onions have been very nice at the co-op lately - most notably that they are very LARGE! One of my staples of late is French Onion soup. I posted a GF version about two years ago (my first FO soup ever) and I have since simplified things down to this very basic, but delicious recipe.  I do think that part of why this soup tastes so good is due to the venison Bone Broth. I have not done a post about bone broth, but fellow Minneapolitan blogger at Sustainable Paleo has, and really, bone broth tastes about 10 times better than anything you can buy (and is really good for you and your bod). So, I cannot vouch for this soup if you are having it with store bought broth, but with bone broth, it is super good and very easy and you don't need any other herbs/spicing.

5 Ingredient French Onion Soup (serves 4)
4 T. butter or ghee
3 large onions
2-3 pints Venison/Beef Bone Broth
3/4 c. dry wine (either white or red seems to work fine - but dryer is better)
celtic sea salt (in my experience this salt makes soup more flavorful than any other)

1. Slice onions as thinly as you feel motivated to go for - the thinner the better to carmelize and be silky in your soup.
2. In a heavy pot, turn heat on medium heat and melt the butter. Add onions. Stir every so often and keep your eye on the onions. This is the carmelizing stage, and it takes a bit of time. You want the onions to turn nice and brown, so keep plodding along until they get there.
3. Pour in wine and stir/scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze any buttery-onion bits that might have stuck there. Add broth (2 pints will be a thicker soup, 3 will be more broth-y! Both are good). Bring to a boil and let simmer for a few-10 minutes.
4. Salt to taste - it generally takes more than I think - a Tablespoon or two. Serve!
(Sometimes, depending on the wine, I do want a little acid in there, in which case it becomes 6 ingredients and I add a splash of cider vinegar...)

Creamed Lamb's Quarters with Eggs

Remember last spring when I posted about the really prolific and delicious weed Lamb's Quarters? Well, it keeps very well in the freezer if you blanch it/steam it for a few minutes, squeeze out any excess water, and freeze the greens in a baggie. And the lamb's quarters are DELICIOUS in the creamed spinach recipe I posted in November. Actually, they are better than the spinach I think because they are a bit heartier. Really, I will never go back to spinach. Lamb's quarters are so much better and I don't even need to plant them.

I recommend making a double batch for dinner one night: Eat one batch's worth for dinner (I ate some with steak and bacon) and then eat batch 2 for breakfast a la eggs florentine. Just reheat the creamed lamb's quarters/spinach in a saucepan or cast iron and then either poach your eggs right in the greens, or make a couple of eggs to put on top. This would be excellent on some ham with hollandaise sauce if you want to go for the whole shebang. *Note: I used a little less coconut milk/cream than the original creamed spinach recipe, and I think it turned out nicely. I also played with the ratios and used a little more coconut cream than dairy cream. I suspect this recipe would be good with all coconut milk/cream if you want to go that route.

Venison Kebabs (grilled on the wood stove)

I am a person who is a bit too lazy to get the grill going in the summer. Or maybe who has too little patience. In any case, I seem to have sort of missed the memo on the deliciousness of wood fired/grilled meat. So, note to self: Meat roasted on coals is delectable. It is especially so when you have a wood stove, or can go to someone else's house with a wood stove who will let you lay some skewers over some coals. This method aids in dealing with any lack of ambition issues to start a grill or some such, because likely the wood stove is already going!

The main thing to be mindful about is to make sure that you put some logs on the fire a few hours before dinner time. You want a bed of red coals - so adjust the flue as necessary to get the right amount of air to speed up or slow down the burning. You'll also want a metal narrow pan, or fireproof something, to go inside the stove to rest the skewer tips on (it's in the back of the photo below). The handles will stick out of the stove and can rest on a spare log of wood. This will hold the meat just over the coals (1/2"-1" above), and it seems a smart idea to try the set up before hot coals are going just to make sure it works.

My kebab meat was a nice bit of rear quarter cut up into 2" pieces that were coated in olive oil and a bit of salt. The roasting goes really fast, and it is best if you pay close attention, so it's a good idea to make your dipping sauce and any other veggies in advance. I love the roasted meat with a tahini sauce. Once your meat is skewered and your coals are ready, set the kebabs on your pan/log set-up and roast each side of the kebab for 2-3 minutes, for a total roast time of about 8-11 minutes, depending on your coals, how close the meat is to them, etc. Watch them closely so they don't burn, you could jsut continually turn them too like a spit roast. Once they are a bit charred, but not too dark, remove them from the coals and let them rest for a couple of minutes. The sear is SO delicious! Serve with tahini sauce and veggies.

Tahini Sauce = tahini, lemon juice, water, olive oil and salt. I start with a good scoop of tahini and a glug of each of the liquids, then stir. It will become thinner and smooth. Taste and adjust with more water and olive oil to thin it out.

Paleo Snack Mix

I got inspired by a post from The Clothes Make the Girl blog to make her snack mix for my mini-vacation up north last week. And, wow. It is very delicious, and like no taste combo I would have ever come up with (it's based on an Indonesian condiment). I had to restrain myself from consuming the entire batch while it was cooling. My Charming Companion and I made bets as to how long the snack mix would last once we got in the car: 20 minutes, an hour...?

Anyway - I pasted her recipe below. I will note that I have been consuming more nuts than usual over the recent holiday time (as nuts themselves, but also as almond flour in baking). I primarily eat macadamia nuts due to their 1:1 balance of omega 3 and 6 and generally regard other nuts/flours as more occasional things. I am doing some "cold training" right now (cold baths) though, and one of the effects is that you get hives if you have too much omega 6. I recently had some hive-like spots, which made me want to lay off the nut feast of late. And have some fish oil. I don't notice any other physical effects of this - but as someone who gets intense inflammation from a crumb of gluten, I feel extra cautious. So. Moderation for me with the nuts. (The mini hives appeared right before departing for said trip, which I think contributed to the snack mix making it all the way til day 3 - far longer than the earlier estimated consumption time!) 

Savory Paleo Granola - makes 1 1/2 cups
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 medium onion, very finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup dry-roasted almonds
1/3 cup dry-roasted cashews

1. Preheat oven to 300F and cover a large baking sheet/cake pan with parchment paper.
2. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat until melted, then add onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook 2-3 minutes until the onions begin to soften and are fragrant.
3. In a small bowl, mix the cumin, coriander, salt, and turmeric. Add to the onions, stir to combine, and cook an additional 5-7 minutes until the onions are very soft. Add the lemon juice and cook until the mixture forms a paste, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the coconut chips to the pan and stir until they’re coated with the onions and spices. Transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon and add the nuts to the baking pan (the mixture will already be fairly dark here - that is good!) Roast an additional 10-15 minutes until the coconut/onion flakes are very brown and the nuts are toasted.
5. Allow to cool completely, then mix together and store in an air-tight container. Eat as-is or chop in a food processor until it’s the texture of coarse sand and use as a flavoring condiment on cooked vegetables, meats, soups, and salads.

Paleo Pasta with Sardines

I have had a can of sardines in the pantry for a couple months and finally figured out a way to use them.  It was so good that I am kicking myself for not trying it sooner.  The recipe was inspired by An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler.  Reading the book was inspired by Megan, so thank you for the good recommendation.  I learned so much about stretching food into multiple meals, which is an art in itself.  I do so much cooking these days and it is so great to learn how to stretch the food and not let anything go to waste.  

I love using sardines because they are wonderfully healthy little fish, and inexpensive.  They have omega 3s and are low in mercury, which is always a concern these days when eating fish.  

Ingredients: 

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 can good olive oil packed sardines

1 pound spaghetti (I substituted zucchini noodles)

sea salt

1 bunch parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

optional: dried chili flakes

Heat olive oil in a deep frying pan big enough to hold the noodles.  Once the oil is warm, add the onion and garlic and cook until it's soft but not completely tender, 5 to 10 minutes.  Add the sardines and their olive oil and let them fry in the pan, breaking them up with your spoon.  Add the zucchini noodles and cook another minute until the noodles have softened.  Toss in the parsley and chili flakes, if you are using them, at the last minute.

Enjoy!

Leftover Turkey Stew

I made another turkey for Christmas.  This time it was a huge 15 pounder.  I used the roasting bag again and it turned out just as good as the one I made at Thanksgiving.  Now I have a huge amount of leftover turkey and I am on the hunt for lots of ways to use it.  Tonight I made turkey stew, which was really just a little bit of this and that, and it turned out really well.  It had a lot to do with the lovely turkey broth I was able to make from the turkey carcass.  The broth was really flavorful and that helped to make my stew good as well.  Since I had just made a big turkey dinner I had quite a few leftovers to add to my pot.  Here is a list of what went it.

Ingredients:                      

Turkey
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Turkey Stock
Fresh Parsley
Fresh Rosemary
Sea Salt
Pepper
Butter
   
Instructions:
I let the carrots simmer in the broth until they were almost tender before adding the onion and celery to the pot.  I let all the veggies simmer for 5-10 minutes and then added the turkey and, parsley, and rosemary.  Salt and pepper was added as I went.  After ladling it into a bowl I put a pad of butter on top, which gave the meal some much needed fat and a little extra hit of flavor.

Soup making is one of my favorite past times these days.  I don't usually follow a recipe.  It is much more fun to just get the pot on the stove and add things.  I make a lot of pureed soups, which will be even easier thanks to the hand immersion blender my Mom got me for Christmas- Thanks Mom!  Now I can blend the soup right there in the pan- amazing!

Paleo Venison-Braised Burritos

Last year my friend Conrad made me a fajita dinner where he used Cabbage leaves as the taco shell. Up until that time, I had tried to use lettuce leaves as the "tortilla" - or I just made a big taco salad of sorts. Cabbage leaf as tortilla = Fantastic.

I also wanted to try a recipe from Nom Nom Palo for Oven-Braised Mexican Beef - which is a slow-cooked (3 hours) recipe that includes some salsa, chicken broth, chili powder, onions, etc. The meat turned out very tasty, though I wanted even more spice. I'll make this again, but will really amp up the spices - I found that I wanted more of a mole sauce with chocolate and chipotle. (I ended up sprinkling unsweetened chocolate powder on there, which added a nice touch.) I wondered if people make beef mole sauce, and it turns out they do, though of course chicken is most common. Until I get to my own beef mole, here is her recipe that I used (which is very easy) with slight modifications:

Oven-Braised Mexican Beef (or Venison):

Nom Nom Paleo's lovely photo

2½ pounds boneless beef short ribs, brisket, or stew meat cut into 1½-inch cubes
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon chipotle
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon coconut oil or fat of choice
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed (optional)
2 T unsweetened chocolate powder, or 2 oz. 80% chocolate
½ cup roasted salsa (I used my homemade salsa and then added some liquid smoke)
½ cup chicken stock
½ teaspoon gf fish sauce (I used some anchovy paste)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees; position oven rack in bottom 1/3 of oven.
2. In a large bowl blend beef, spices, and salt. Stir to cover meat evenly.
3. In a large casserole dish, melt fat and add onions. When translucent, add tomato paste, garlic, and chocolate. Stir and cook for 30 seconds to coat onions. Add beef, salsa, stock and fish sauce/anchovy paste. Bring to a boil.
4. Cover and place in oven for 3 hours or until beef is tender. Taste for seasoning and adjust in needed.

I served mine with some sauteed peppers, more salsa, and lettuce, all wrapped in steamed red cabbage leaves. To steam the cabbage leaves, it works best to put the whole cabbage head in a large steamer pot. Cut out the core first, and then set the cabbage core side down in the steamer. After 15 minutes, the outer layers should easily peel off. Continue steaming to get more layers, and stop whenever you have enough. You can lay the fixings inside and wrap it up, or you can do a tight roll. Photo here is the looser variety (with a different filling, but you get the idea!) *You can do this with raw cabbage too, it just tears as it comes off of the cabbage.