Keto/Paleo pumpkin pancakes

I was having early fireside musings with my friend this morning, and we started dreaming up ideas of blueberry pancakes, fried eggs and bacon. Realizing I had bacon in the freezer and some maple syrup in the fridge, and that she had blueberries and a little left over whipped cream, this breakfast idea seemed like a good start to the solstice. I went to the interwebs to seek out a recipe. Because there was some leftover pumpkin puree needing to be used up, pumpkin pancakes seemed the way to go.

A bite of this modified pumpkin pancake with bacon, syrup, a blueberry, butter and whipped cream was decadent. Totally decadent. I changed the recipe some, eliminating the nut butter, reducing the coconut flour (next time I will try it with no coconut flour at all, which I suspect would be just fine), using coconut milk, and eliminating the sweetener. The trick to these is cooking them on even heat quite slowly. Like, just hunker down to do some slow pancake cooking. I found it was better to center pancakes on 2 skillets than to cook 4 in a larger cast iron one. *I did try some with blueberries inside the pancake and it worked!

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes (makes 10-12 pancakes)
3 large eggs 
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup super fine almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
(coconut oil/bacon fat/ghee for griddle)
*opt: blueberries 

1) In a large bowl, beat the eggs then whisk in the pumpkin. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix. Batter will be quite thick. 
2) Heat a skillet or two to medium-low heat and melt cooking fat of choice. Spoon scant 1/4 cup batter to center of skillet/s and cook slowly: 3-5 minutes for each side. *If adding blueberries, add just before you flip. Be gentle with the flipping, and wait a little longer than you think. 
3) Keep warm in the oven, and serve with whatever toppings you like.  
*These apparently also freeze well. I'll try that with the leftovers to toast another morning.

Winter Kohlrabi Salad

I bought a kohlrabi at the grocery store last week because I hadn't had any in awhile, and because it is one of the still local veggies available at the co-op. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, until I found this Food 52 recipe for this lovely salad. I didn't have any cilantro, and I still thought it was great. In lieu of cilantro, spinach or arugula would also be good. This salad will become a winter staple.
*I also used this dressing on a green cabbage/carrot/apple salad with good results!

Winter Kohlrabi Salad 
1 head kohlrabi
1 apple (I used pink lady) 
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
¹/₂ tsp chili flakes
1 pinch cumin
¹/₂ teaspoon fish sauce
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

1) Peel the kohlrabi. Cut it and the apple into matchsticks, or julienne with a mandolin.
2) Mix all dressing ingredients and pour over veggies. Stir to combine.

Beef Chili with Sweet Potatoes

This is my mom's sweet potato chili recipe - it's super easy. She usually makes it with ground turkey, but I most often use beef. I had it this time with cornbread because I still had some kefir from making the skillet cornbread for my cornbread stuffing at Thanksgiving. So why not make it again to enjoy on its own?! (Also leftover labneh which I ate like sour cream on top!)

I'll be out of town for most of the week, and am prepping some meals that I can take with me to reheat. Chili, stew, and salad stuff. Seems easy.

Beef Chili with Sweet Potatoes
2 T butter
1 pound ground beef
1 large or 2 small onions, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno
1 T chili powder
2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 sweet potatoes (or one large one), diced
1 can kidney beans (or whatever beans)
3 14oz cans of tomatoes (or equivalent frozen garden tomatoes)
1 c frozen sweet corn (or more)

1) Saute onions and celery in butter until soft. Add garlic and jalapeno, and saute another few minutes.
2) Add meat and spices. Cook until meat is cooked through, breaking apart with your spoon.
3) Add tomatoes, kidney beans and sweet potatoes. Cover and cook until sweet potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.
4) Add corn. Taste for salt, and probably add a little more. Serve!

Winter Stew

I was craving a good, hearty stew, and found a package of brisket in my freezer. It was quite a fatty piece of brisket (is that always the case? I'm not sure), which I opted to cook with all the fat intact and keep in the stew. It was my first time using my wood stove as a cook top (other than for heating water or to melt butter or toast seeds) - why have I not done this before?? It was so perfect! I set my dutch oven on top and it simmered away all day as if it were a crock pot.

I followed this recipe for root veggie stew, with barely a tweak. I added rosemary because I have an enormous pot of it next to the counter, which means I put rosemary in just about everything right now. I also served it with sauerkraut, adding it just when I am ready to eat to try and preserve some of the ferment benefits. This stew, particularly, is delicious with the kraut. Maybe it's all the root veggies, or the extra fat, I don't know. But the tangy kraut with the soft veggies and hunks of beef is perfect.

Winter Stew (makes 6-8 servings)
2+ lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1-2″ pieces
2 rutabagas, chopped
4 turnips, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
3 small potatoes, chopped
3 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
3 tomatoes, diced
Olive Oil or butter
1+ cup red wine
2 cups beef bone broth
sea salt
crushed pepper to taste
sprig of rosemary
*sauerkraut to serve (opt)

1. In a cast iron skillet or pan, heat 2-3 tbs olive oil or butter.  Add the onion, celery and carrots.  Saute until the onions are translucent and the celery has cooked through.  Set Aside.
2. In a heavy bottomed dutch oven, heat 2 tbls olive oil (unless your meat is extra fatty like mine, in which case just use the fat on the beef). Brown the stew meat.
3. Add the onion, celery, carrot mixture and tomatoes to the beef stew meat and saute for an additional 3-5 minutes.
4. Incorporate the beef stock, red wine, turnips and rutabagas.
5. Season with sea salt and crushed pepper. Throw in a rosemary twig or two.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2-3 hours. (I actually simmered mine for about 5 hours until the beef was really tender.)
7. 20 minutes before serving, add the potatoes and simmer until they are soft.
8. Serve with sauerkraut on top.

Resplendent Rosemary plant!

Samosa filling (Keema) and Tikel Gomen

This is the 2nd time I've made Nom Nom Paleo's beef samosa filling, Indian Spiced Keema, along with Ethiopian cabbage and carrots, or Tikel Gomen. They are delicious together.

If you want to get especially fancy, you could also make Besan Chilla, a north Indian flatbread made out of chickpea flour, that when eaten with the Keema is very samosa like. I did not make them this time around, but the combo of the three was a total trifecta. Yum.

Follow everything with a cup of turmeric-ginger tea with coconut milk, and really, it's a pretty perfect meal. (A meal in which I apparently care much more about eating than photographing. These photos are pretty atrocious!)

*My dinner companion was not eating dairy, so I used coconut oil in the keema. It was still good, just a bit less depth (in my opinion). I also didn't have cilantro. The cilantro kicks things up a notch, but perhaps like me, your cilantro is buried under some snow in the front garden!

Keema
2 tablespoons butter, ghee or coconut oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
2 pounds ground beef (or lamb/goat/combo)
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 ½ teaspoons salt
½ cup full-fat canned coconut milk
1 tablespoon garam masala
Juice from half a lemon
¼ cup minced cilantro

1) Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute onions for about 10 minutes, until translucent and beginning to brown.
2) Add garlic, ginger, and jalapeno and saute until softened. Then add ground beef. Cook until cooked through, breaking up meat with your spoon.
3) Add turmeric, salt, and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer, and cover the pan and reduce to medium low heat. Simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4) After 20 minutes, remove lid and check that the liquid is gone. If not, continue cooking uncovered another few minutes until it evaporates. Add garam masala, lemon juice, and cilantro. Serve!

Tikel Goman

1/4 cup olive oil (or coconut oil)
4 carrots, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 head cabbage, sliced

3 red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (opt)

1) Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat.
2) Toss in the carrots and onion and saute them in the oil for about 5 minutes.
3) Stir in the seasonings (salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric, ginger) and toast for a minute.
4) Add in the cabbage and potatoes. Stir to combine. Cover the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
*Mine got a little dry in cooking, so I added in a splash of coconut milk. 

Labneh, Beet Hummus, and Chrispy Chickpeas

Seasonal Middle Eastern Appetizers! That is what I decided to make when I hosted my aunties for a family sing. My talented friend teaches rounds and 3 and 4 part harmonies like nobody's business, and has a vast repertoire of traditional songs from all over the world. So. Many. Songs. It does my heart good to have a person like this in my life. Lately I want to host continual and non-stop sings. ha!

So. Singing to feed the heart and soul, and Labneh with cranberries, Beet Hummus, and Chrispy Chickpeas to feed the belly. I was in Iowa City two weeks ago and basically swooned from the Labneh at Oasis Falafel. OMG. I really had not thought much of labneh before. I'd had it, but it seemed nothing to fuss about. Now, there is life with labneh. And it is really easy. Like, so easy you are not doing anything but waiting.

Labneh
32 oz plain full fat yogurt

Labneh with Za'ater

3/4 tsp salt
cheesecloth

Mix salt into yogurt. Spread out cheesecloth over a plate or colander. Pour/spoon yogurt into center of cheesecloth. Tie ends onto your faucet over the sink (or hang somewhere else, or put cheesecloth in a colander over another bowl) and let drip for 24-36 hours. Eat! Keep in a covered container in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Top with cranberry sauce (follows) or dukkah, or olive oil and za'ater. Eat with veggies, crackers, pita, falafel, kubideh, salad, etc.
*Some people put lemon juice in with yogurt too, I will try that next time. I left mine for about 28 hours and had pretty thick yogurt to start out with. Your labneh texture can be softer or more firm depending on how long you let the whey drip off.

Cranberries to go atop Labneh (title links to original recipe)

Overly thick cranberries!

2 c fresh cranberries
1/2 c sugar
1 T lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 jalapeno, minced (opt)

Put all ingredients into heavy pot over medium-high heat. Once it is boiling, lower heat and cook until cranberries pop. (I left mine too long and it got pretty thick - but still tasty!)

Crispy Chickpeas (suggested amount - make however much you want)
1 1/2 c cooked or 1 can chickpeas
1 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp herbs/spices

These do not keep long - they get chewy as they sit out, and are best right out of the oven. The main thing to know is to dry your chickpeas well, which I have done using a dish towel. This time I made my own chickpeas for the first time in a long while (think my vegetarian days in the early 2000s), cheaper and tasty. Heat oven to 400. Stir dry chickpeas on a sheet pan with the olive oil and salt so that all of them are coated. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crispy on the outside, shaking or stirring the pan once or twice as they cook. Sprinkle spices over the top (I made za'atar and it was delicious). 

Roasted Garlic Beet Hummus

1 large beet
head of garlic
2 c (or 1 can) chickpeas
2 T tahini
1-2 T olive oil
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1-2 tsp sea salt

1) Wrap beet in foil. Roast it and head of garlic (I removed the outer paper only) in a 350 degree oven for about an hour until beet is tender. Remove and let cool. Peel skin off of beet and unpeal garlic cloves. I used about 7 cloves in the hummus, and mixed the rest in eggs the next morning.
2) Mix ingredients in a food processor until smooth. *For a super smooth, creamy hummus you need to have one of those vita-mix type mixers. Maybe an immersion blender would do it too?

Andouille Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing (GF)

I have never really liked stuffing, even when I ate gluten. I don't even remember the last time I tried it - something like 20 years ago. But my aunt went up and changed things around this year and assigned us all new dishes to bring to Thanksgiving to get out of whatever old ruts and recipes we've been making for too long. I was assigned GF stuffing, and decided to attempt to find my own love of the stuff. This recipe mostly succeeded - it was delicious and spicy and chewy and crunchy. And still, I think stuffing is kinda weird. Like, it seems better to have for breakfast with eggs?!

I don't generally like most GF breads - or I do, but all that rice flour and stuff makes me feel wilty in my soul. I like some grainy heft. So I went with a cornmeal-only cornbread recipe - with sausage, cranberries, and apples. The original recipe is from Food 52, which I followed and is what is listed below. (I didn't have apple cider so used ginger brew, which I did have, instead. It seemed to work out just fine! In typing this out, I also realized I forgot the egg?! Oops. Still good!)

The cornbread in this recipe is amazing: a not sweet, buttery, grainy, crusty cornbread. I will make it again. I made the cornbread one day, cutting it into cubes to dry out overnight, and made the stuffing the next. You could, as the recipe originator notes in the comments, make the whole thing in advance and store in the fridge til you are ready to bake and serve.

Stuffing:

• 6 tablespoons butter, divided, plus more for baking dish
• 2 large onions, diced
• 3 large celery stalks, diced
• 2 apples, cored and diced
• 1 pound Andouille sausage, removed from casing
• ¹/₂ cup apple cider (or ginger brew)
• 1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• 1 recipe Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread (below), or 1 10-inch cornbread, cut in 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg, beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup chicken stock

Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread

• 1 ¹/₂ cups coarse yellow cornmeal
• ³/₄ teaspoon baking soda
• ¹/₂ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ¹/₂ cups plain drinkable yogurt, kefir, or buttermilk
• 1 ¹/₂ tablespoons maple syrup or honey
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Stuffing Instructions:

1. Place corn bread cubes on a baking sheet and leave out over night to dry. Or, toast the cubes in a 350 F degree oven for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Butter a 9X13-inch baking dish. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, celery and apples and sauté until softened, about 7-9 minutes. Add the sausage, crumbling it into small bits, and sauté, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until cooked and browned. Add the cider, cranberries, rosemary, and sage and cook until the cranberries soften, about 5 minutes. Scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.

 

3. Place mixture in a large bowl and add the corn bread, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and enough chicken stock just to moisten the mixture. Stir well. Pour stuffing into prepared dish. Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake until stuffing is heated through and top is golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

Cornbread Instructions:

1. Preheat an oven to 425 F degrees. Heat a 10-inch seasoned cast-iron skillet in the oven for 10 minutes, until it's very hot.
2. Combine the cornmeal, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Whisk together the eggs, yogurt and maple syrup in a large bowl.
3. Remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter, swirling it until it's melted (it's OK if it slightly browns). Working quickly, pour the hot, melted butter into the egg and yogurt mixture, and whisk until combined. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and and bake until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Allow cornbread to slightly cool before cutting.