Scrapple

Scrapple! How I have not thought to make this before is a wonder to me, as it combines all kinds of things I love - liver, bone broth, and I used wild rice along with cornmeal - all in a breakfast sausage/toast kind of thing. It is so good! Good enough to resurrect a blog post. Because of the collagen-y broth, this sets (and keeps) in the fridge, so you just slice off a piece and then fry it up.

I mostly followed Forager Chef's recipe, but Hank Shaw at Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook has a nice looking one for the more traditional pig head scrapple. I don't know if my farm could get me a pig head, but might be fun to try. Scrapple seems fairly flexible, and I almost always have liver and bone broth around, which makes this pretty easy. For this first attempt I used a pound of goat liver and 3 slices of bacon (because it is what I had in the fridge), though any bits of leftover meat would do. You could start the whole thing from scratch following their recipes if you have meaty bones/a pig head. 

Liver (or organ) Scrapple

• 3-4 slices bacon
• half small onion, diced
• 16 oz lamb/goat/chicken livers (or a mix of livers/hearts/kidneys)
  
• 4 c bone broth (you need the collagen!) 
• 1 T salt
• 1 c cornmeal (fine or course)
• 1 c wild rice flour (ground wild rice)
  
• 1/4 c buckwheat flour
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Prepare a loaf pan: I recommend using tin foil, parchment, or wax paper under/along the sides of a greased pan so that you can easily lift out the scrapple. Or, just grease the loaf pan and have at it. 
   
2. Cook bacon slices and render out the fat. When bacon is done, brown the onions in said fat.
3. In a food processor, process the liver (or offal) with bacon and onions and grind to a paste. (This is kind of weird b/c the offal is raw.) Put this mix into a small saucepan and cook for several minutes to sweat off the excess moisture. It will probably stick to the bottom of the pan, so stir as you go. 
4. Whisk the flours and spices in a large bowl.
   
5. In a large saucepan or pot, heat the bone broth and whisk in the flours. Keep whisking until it starts to thicken. Turn heat to low, and stir regularly for 15 minutes, then add the meat mix and cook another 30 minutes, stirring regularly so it does not stick OR put the whole thing in the loaf pan and cook in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes. **I was too afraid of all the sticking, being as my mixture was so thick after 5 minutes with just the rice and cornmeal. So I added everything in then and there and stuck it all in the oven for 40 minutes. Alan Bergo says to bake it covered, but I found mine needed to be uncovered halfway through.
6. When the scrapple is fairly solid and the cornmeal/wild rice is well cooked, "pour" (more like spoon) the mixture into the greased loaf pan. Chill the pan, uncovered on the counter until room temperature, then refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, until completely set before slicing.

Serve with eggs and whatever you like. Many people eat this with maple syrup, a la bacon and pancakes. I thought it was delicious as a conduit for runny eggs.   

Sour cherry pancakes (Cherry blintz style)

We are in the time of sour cherries! I think I have harvested about 8 gallons worth, and I might have hit my max. Cherries are soaking in various vinegar/honey oxymel ratios on the counter, they are fermenting for wine, and are in bowls waiting to be pitted, with more pits strewn on the floor, and my compost bucket heaped with more (thank you cherry pitter - what an amazing tool). My prime experimentation right now (besides the wine) is to dehydrate the cherries and make a version of craisins, hence the variety of ratios of honey/apple cider vinegar jars on the counter. I will post my favorite results, but it will be a couple of weeks yet.

My current favorite way to eat the cherries is to mash them up with some heavy cream, shredded coconut, and a splash of maple syrup. It's like ice cream that isn't frozen. And because I had an open package of bacon, I thought I might try that topping on pancakes, except I wanted something a little less rich. So I used yogurt and tahini instead of cream, which was stellar. It made me think of cherry blintzes, though I think those usually mean a more crepe-like pancake. Somehow the tahini-yogurt combo creates that cheese-like quality, and flavor-wise, this hits the blintz mark (at least as I seem to have it in my memory!). 

I had lots of whey from my raw milk yogurt exploits, so I tried an oat soaked pancake recipe that I found very tasty. To be fair, all of this extra sweet in the form of maple syrup or honey is not standard operating procedure for me, so it's like party time over here. I mean, OF COURSE stuff with a little maple syrup or honey is delicious. This is why the sugar industry is big business! Still, it's moderate enough for me, and feels like a seasonal treat that I am willing to indulge.

The pancake recipe is courtesy of Nourishing Days, which is a blog by a couple who lives off grid and favor traditional, fermented foods. It's super simple, and hearty. I followed it closely, except I made only 1/3 of it (I did not add any honey). I did use a little extra whey and water, just to make sure the oats were thoroughly covered. Basically, the soaking is just enough liquid to fill the oats up. The version below serves 3.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup whey, yogurt, buttermilk, or water with a splash of vinegar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• coconut oil or butter for cooking

Directions

1. The day before you wish to serve the pancakes for breakfast combine the oats, warm water, and whey in a medium-sized bowl. Mix well, mashing the oats down into the liquid as much as possible. Leave in a warm place for 12-24 hours. (I used a little extra whey and water here.)
   
2. In the morning preheat your skillet over a medium-low heat.
3. Combine the eggs, baking powder, salt, and other flavorings in a small bowl. Pour the egg mixture into the oat mixture and stir to combine. It will be thick, unlike regular pancake batter.
4. Allow your coconut oil or butter to melt in your warm skillet. For each pancake scoop a heaping tablespoon or two of batter into your skillet. Gently spread the batter until 1/16-1/8 inch thick. (It really is quite spreadable, so even though it looks like a small amount, it stretches.)
   
5. Allow to cook until the bottom has set and the edges and top begin to dry out, about 4-5 minutes. Flip and allow to cook another 3 minutes or so.
6. Serve warm with butter, nut butter, jam, honey, or real maple syrup. *For Cherry Blintz version, see below!
   

Cherry Blintz topping (approximate measurements, this is highly dependent on the thickness of your tahini and yogurt):

• 1/2 c cherries
• 1/2 c thin yogurt  (if thick, use half water half yogurt)
  
• 2-3 T tahini 
• 1-2 T maple syrup

Mix the yogurt and tahini first to get a smoother consistency. My yogurt is quite liquid-y (think thin kefir), so it worked to thin out the tahini, and with the cherries and their juice, hit the perfect consistency. You would need to add water if your yogurt is thick. Add the cherries and use a spoon to press/mash them against the side of the bowl to release more liquid. Add maple syrup to taste.

*I also added some black raspberries and a few milkweed flowers just because I'd picked them this morning and they seemed in the right color pallet!

Nettle egg-cakes

Ramadan is around the corner, and I plan to fast again, so I am in the time-right-before where I feel both excited and a bit panicky. I decided this year to do a little prep (beyond just cutting caffeine) to decrease some daytime food intake now, so that the sudden switch isn't quite so, well, sudden. Which really means I am eating a little later for brunch, a bit less than I might otherwise. I made these nettle egg cakes today, a riff on the multitude of mostly korean pancakes I have tried lately. I don't know why, but sometimes it is just satisfying to have my breakfast/lunch in pancake form. Savory style. Oooh, which makes me think these would have been good with bacon. (Though I did eat them with some basturma, which is almost as good!)

I made these today with just nettles and red onion, though I have made them before using grated potato, and sometimes cheese along with the greens. This is the simplest version that I ate with some plain yogurt. They were really good, and the recipe is forgiving. You can approximate and increase/decrease the veggies to your tastes. (I am on my last, I think, batch of frozen nettles. Good timing, because the green onions are just getting big enough to harvest, and I dug up some jerusalem artichokes yesterday. And dandelion greens are starting. So, I made it through to spring time vegetables! Fasting for the month will also help with the limited produce!) *I also tried them with coconut and almond flours - I used a combo of both in place of the ones below. It turned out great.

Nettle egg-cakes - Serves 1

• 1/3 c steamed nettles (or other greens), chopped 
• 1/4 c red onion, diced small
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tsp arrowroot starch
• 1-2 T buckwheat flour

Mix all ingredients together; you want a thick consistency - think thick pancake batter. It won't pour so much as scoop. 

Heat some butter, ghee or coconut oil in a skillet. When hot, scoop your batter to the center, and flatten out to a pancake. Cook over med heat for several minutes on each side. This amount makes 2 egg-cakes for me. Serve with plain, thick yogurt, or a little butter, or top with a drizzle of mayo and sriracha. 

Za'atar Eggs

This is so simple, but so good. Fried eggs, basted in butter, za'atar and sumac, with some cilantro. I've been eating them as is, or with potatoes, or slices of olive bread to sop up the extra spiced butter. And sometimes yogurt too if I have it, which is especially good with the potato iteration. Yum. 

This recipe comes courtesy of Kahlil Omar, who I came across...somehow? and watched his middle eastern style za'atar egg youtube video. I make my own za'atar, but you can also purchase it. The za'atar recipe I make follows, which is by Sylvia of Feasting At Home. The roasted spices smell so good, and it is delicious on just about anything. Sylvia says: "There are many variations of Zaatar. This was my dad’s recipe- he was Egyptian. Other regions have different versions. There is not one “right” way. It varies from area to area, and even household to household." It is delicious on these eggs, but also on labneh, hummus, or as a rub on meat or fish. 

*If you would rather purchase yours, Sylvia recommends this one: Villa Jerada Zaatar Spice Blend from Seattle.

Za'atar Spice Mix

• 1 tablespoon dried thyme- crushed (or sub oregano)
• 1 tablespoon  cumin (see instructions about whole or ground)
• 1 tablespoon  coriander
• 1 tablespoon toasted  sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon or more aleppo chili flakes- optional

1. For the most flavor, toast whole seeds (cumin seeds and coriander seeds) until fragrant, then grind. This will make the most flavorful zaatar. If you don’t have whole seeds, feel free to use ground spices.
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container.

I toasted the cumin/coriander together, then the sesame seeds.

Za'atar Eggs! 

There is no set amount - season heavily. Sumac is a tart, tangy spice available in middle eastern grocery stores. I have tried to harvest it myself, with minimal success on the spice front, but good success on the sumac lemonade/tea front. It is from the sumac berry clusters that you see in the late summer that are so brilliant and red!

• 1-2 T Butter
  
• Eggs
• Za'ater spice mix
• sumac 
• salt
  
• Fresh cilantro
  

1. Melt a pat of butter in your skillet/cast iron pan. 
2. When it is hot, crack two eggs. As they begin to set, sprinkle with a good amount of za'atar, salt and sumac. 
3. Add 1 T butter to the side of the skillet. Tilt the pan slightly as it melts, and spoon it over the egg yolks to baste them. Cook/baste them to your liking. 
4. Sprinkle cilantro over the top, and eat as is, or with some bread-like substance, sopping up the spiced butter. (Kahlil actually ate his eggs just out of the pan with pita bread, which looked delectable!)
   

*I ate these eggs with sliced fried potatoes and yogurt and it was really good. I have also eaten them with my Caraway Olive Bread, which is decidedly a weird combo. But I really love that bread! Making it with sundried tomatoes, sans caraway, might better match these eggs. Injera or some other flat bread would also be delicious.

Hackberry-wild rice porridge

I posted about hackberries last month, and have continued to harvest more since then. It may well be the year of hackberries (for me at least) because a whole tree came down nearby in the Christmas blizzard, making the berries very accessible! I am loving my weekly treks to the fallen tree, winding my way through its downed branches to collect the tiny berries. I discovered that hackberries taste quite different from tree to tree; these ones are less sweet than the ones across the park, and are a little thinner (or have bigger seeds). I read that a traditional/indigenous way of eating hackberries is to mix fat, crushed hackberries, and ground corn to make a porridge. I tried a similar version using wild rice and butter, and it is officially My Favorite Way To Eat Hackberries.

I tried various ratios of wild rice flour to berries, and settled on the one below. The result is a right amount of crunch, creaminess, and sweet. It really is like cream of wheat (from the rice), but with some more texture. Yum. My mortar and pestle, which I'd been wanting for a long time and finally purchased so that I could grind up hackberries, is getting good use and seasoning from my exploits! *I find it is worth the extra minute or two to make sure you have really crushed all of the berries. It helps avoid too big a crunch from an un-ground seed.

Ingredients (Serves 1)

• 1/2 cup hackberries, ground to a paste in a mortar and pestle
• 2 T wild rice, ground in a coffee grinder (I tried mortar and pestle and it was a LONG road to get powder)
• good pinch of salt
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 T butter (salted is best!)
  

1. Put hackberry paste, salt and water in a small saucepan and bring to just boiling. Turn heat down and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring a few times. The water will reduce slightly, and a nice froth will form on top of the hackberries. This is my favorite step in this process, because the froth and the aroma of hackberry liquid smells so good to me. 

2. Add ground wild rice, and stir/whisk well. Simmer another 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until thick. I usually stir half of the butter into the simmering mixture, and serve with the remaining butter on top, but you could go all one way or the other if you like.

I find this ratio is just sweet enough as it is, or you could drizzle some maple syrup on top.

Keto Savory Porridge with Dukkah, Eggs and Greens

I wanted to make a keto/paleo porridge that was more like kongee or grits - a creamy, savory sort of breakfast porridge to have with eggs and greens. It was so successful! Such that I will also use this for my liver on grits recipe that I keep wanting to make again. Yum. This is modified from a sweeter "fauxt-meal" recipe that I ended up liking better than the recent one I posted because it is less chia-pudding like and more toothsome. I happened to have homemade dukkah spice (an Egyptian roasted nut, sesame seed and spice mix that is ground up) that I used for this that was stellar, but you could also use ground up pumpkin seeds or ground sunflower seeds, or another nut, no problem. The latter would also give less flavor, allowing you to top this with seaweed and kimchi and get other flavor profiles. I include an easy dukkah recipe below.

• 2 T dukkah spice (or ground up pumpkin/sunflower seeds or nuts)
• 1 T chia seeds
  
• 1 T ground flax seed
• 1 tsp sunbutter
  
• 1 tsp almond flour
  
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 c water
•  2T butter

Directions: Add everything but butter to a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer and stir frequently. After a few minutes and as porridge is thickening, add butter. Stir and turn off heat. Let sit several minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve with 6 minute eggs and greens, or whatever other savory toppings you like. My greens were just chopped up kale and onion, sauteed in coconut oil. I cooked them with a bit of water to soften things.

Dukkah spice - Typically this would include hazelnuts, or I've used pistachios, but you can use whatever you have on hand. I always have pumpkin seeds, and that is what I made most recently. This mix is good on just about anything: veggies, fish, salad, etc.

Ingredients

• ½ cup hazelnuts (or other nut or pumpkin seeds) 
• ⅓ cup sesame seeds 
• ¼ cup whole coriander seeds 
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt 
• 1½ teaspoons black peppercorns

Toast nuts and seeds separately on a cast iron skillet until they are brown or starting to pop - each will roast for different lengths of time, hence doing them separately and not together. If using hazelnuts, after toasting, rub them with a kitchen towel to try to remove the outer skin as much as possible.

Put all ingredients in a spice grinder (I use a coffee grinder) and blend until the texture is coarse crumbs. You could also do this in a mortar and pestle if you have one. Store in an airtight jar in the fridge. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Beets with beet greens & soft eggs

I planted my beets a little earlier than usual this year, and they are so lush! It was a good move. I am going through and eating a few of them to thin things out as we progress through the summer, since they are a good veggie that will keep well into the fall. Last fall I remember walking home from my garden with an overflowing basket of beets and their greenery, and an older couple stopped me to ask about them. They told me beet greens were their favorite greens and they go to the farmers market just to buy them as they are hard to come by elswhere. I used to not like beet greens as much as kale or collards, but then I started to steam them briefly before loading them with butter. They become so soft and luscious, it is pretty much the only way I eat them now.

I made a 1 person serving, so adapt this as necessary!

2-3 small/med beets with greens

2 tsp Butter

2 tsp Dijon mustard (I used my homemade stuff)

salt/pepper

fresh dill sprigs

2 eggs

1. Chop beet and beet stems into 1" pieces; chop greens. Boil salted water in a small saucepan and add beets and stems. Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes, then add greens and simmer another couple of minutes. Drain water, and add butter, mustard, salt and pepper; toss to coat.

2. While beets are simmering, make a 6 minute egg: bring enough water to cover eggs to boil in a small saucepan. Once boiling, carefully add eggs (I use a spoon so they don't crack) and cover pot. Set timer for 6 minutes. When done, remove eggs and cover with cold water to stop the cooking.

3. Plate beets and greens, top with eggs, and sprinkle dill over the top. Eat!

Eggs and Asparagus Broiler Breakfast

I got this idea from Nom Nom Paleo, where the main flavoring is furikake, which I don't have, but sounds delicious. Basically, you just saute some asparagus in a cast-iron skillet for a few minutes, then crack some eggs in the same pan, and put the whole thing under the broiler until it's done to your liking (for me, like 2 minutes or so, but I'm a time optimist, so I could be wrong about that estimate).

The flavorings I use are also inspired by Nom Nom Paleo - before I read her cookbook, I'd never thought of using powdered mushrooms before. She has a flavor mix she calls Magic Mushroom Powder, which I've made before and which is good. Lately, though, I've been using an onion powder mix, which I made partly with spices from an outfit called Burlap & Barrel, and I also sprinkle some dried porcini powder on top.

You can get dried porcini mushrooms in small packs at the co-op, and then blitz them in a spice grinder or coffee grinder (if you don't also use it for coffee). I just keep mine in a jar next to my stove.  Add it to anything, for FLAVOR.

SPICE BLEND
Onion Powder
Sumac (I used sumac that was flaked and then cured in oil and salt, as opposed to whole berries)
Pepper flakes (I used "Aleppo-style" pepper flakes - also cured in oil and salt)

I think I used fairly equal parts of the three ingredients, but possibly more onion powder than the other two, as it's kind of the base. I keep this in a jar by my stove, like the mushrooms. It does get kind of caked up, so you have to crumble it with your fingers over the food. I think the oil-cured ingredients help it to not turn into a total brick, which has happened to me before with other onion-powder blends.

BROILER BREAKFAST
Handful of asparagus, washed and chopped (or you can cook them whole)
Two (or more) eggs
Your favorite fat to fry eggs in (I've been using some schmaltz I made)
Oniony spice blend to taste
Dried porcini mushroom powder to taste
Salt to taste

1. Turn on the broiler.
2. Heat the fat in the skillet on the stovetop.
3. Add asparagus and saute them for a few minutes, to par-cook them.
4. Crack the eggs into the skillet and turn off the heat.
5. Sprinkle everything with salt, the spice blend, and the mushroom powder.
6. Put the pan under the broiler and cook until the eggs are done how you like them. I don't like undercooked whites, but I do like the yolks to run a bit, so I wait until there's a skim of white on the top of the yolks (see picture above, and below, where I've scraped that white away so you can see the yolks aren't overcooked).

Blog return: GF Sunchoke latkes

I have made all kinds of interesting things lately, and decided to return to blog posting in order to have a recipe compilation location. And because it is fun!!

I harvested my sunchokes in May I think, and still have a drawer-full in my fridge that I am finally turning back to. There were so many other veggies there for awhile! Now, I am lamenting the end of my greens. I made these latkes this morning that were delicious: nutty from the sunchokes, with carrot and potato mixed in. I free-formed the recipe a bit, modeled after this one from an internet search. I am listing the amounts, but obviously vegetable sizes differ. It seems forgiving.

The addition of rosemary and onion are thanks to my friend, self-dubbed the "resident jew," who was here for breakfasting.

Sunchoke-Carrot Latkes - made 15

4 sunchokes
2 golden potatoes
3 carrots
1/3 c oat flour (ground oats)
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 eggs
Black pepper
1/2 small red onion, minced
1 T fresh rosemary* chopped
*or try tarragon or thyme
4-6 T Coconut oil for frying


1) Grate or shred carrots, sunchokes, and potatoes. Use a medium sized box grater, or if you have a special grater, use that. I have an old 1970s one like this in the middle right/lower left:

2) Mix all ingredients in a large bowl by hand.

3) Heat a large cast iron skillet on medium-high, and add some coconut oil. When pan is hot, form thin palm-sized pancakes. Fry for 4-5 minutes on each side until crispy. Keep warm in oven until all are made.

We had these with fried eggs and salad. I neglected to consider sriracha at the time, but that would be delicious (as noted in aforementioned recipe source, with poached eggs).

Carrot-Sweet Potato Cakes (and hollandaise)

All the rain this spring created some beautiful, large carrots. I've been sort of holding back on picking them since the zucchini and green beans are first in order, but I picked a few this weekend to make these. I've made these latke-like cakes a few times over the past several months - but this was my first time making them with garden carrots. Yum! I decided to go all out and make hollandaise sauce too for a proper paleo eggs benedict. It turns out hollandaise isn't as hard to make as I imagined. I also didn't really realize that hollandaise is really just like a butter or ghee mayo, but with egg yolks instead of egg.

The original recipe for these fritters is spiced more sweet than savory, with cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg. I go more savory and just use salt and pepper for flavor because I find they make really good burger buns, or as a platform for an egg - they are sort of bread-like with the sweetness from the carrot/sweet potato. These cakes are similar to the root veggie latkes I posted some while back, but these don't include onions and are a little egg-ier. I find these ones simpler, and the extra eggs lend to a more bun/bread-like experience.

Carrot-Sweet Potato Cakes (makes 8 cakes)
1 cup sweet potato, shredded
2 cup carrots, shredded
4 teaspoons coconut flour
4 eggs
coconut oil for cooking
salt to taste at end

1. Mix shredded carrots and sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Add coconut flour and stir to coat the shreds evenly.
2. Beat eggs together and pour over carrot/sweet potatoes. Mix thoroughly. The mixture will be quite wet and shrink a bit.
3. Heat coconut oil in cast iron skillet or griddle on medium heat. When the oil is hot, spoon out (or use your fingers like I do), a heaping 1/4 cup's worth of "batter." Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned and a bit crispy. As the cakes are cooking, sprinkle some salt on each one. (You could add salt to the mix too, but I find this causes the cakes to get more wet - better to salt at the end.)
4. These are ready to eat right off the griddle, or you can keep them in a warm oven if you are using them for burger buns or eggs benedict. I've had them at room temp too and they are still good.

For paleo eggs benedict top these cakes with some bacon, egg, and hollandaise sauce (see below). Yum.

Hollandaise (makes about 1 1/2 cups)
*This is how I made mine and it was delicious. There are lots of recipes out there with varying amounts of butter and egg yolk, but this one worked for me. It helps to have a cooking companion to help pour while you whisk.
2 sticks butter (lightly salted or unsalted)
3 T water
3 egg yolks
2 T fresh lemon juice
Warm water

1. Melt butter (or ghee) in a small saucepan. Simmer on low heat.
2. Create a double boiler using a small pot with water in it, and a larger metal mixing bowl on top. You want rounded edges in the metal mixing bowl since you are going to be whisking and you don't want egg caught somewhere. Heat water in the pot to boiling. When it is near boiling, put your egg yolks and water in the large mixing bowl (off of the steaming pot) and whisk together for 30 seconds until frothy.
3. When water in pot is boiling, put mixing bowl on top (this is your double boiler) and continue whisking. It will take a minute or two for the bowl to heat, and what you are going for is a very subtle cooking of the egg and water. This will take another minute or two (so 3-4 minutes total), and you are looking for the egg yolks to become pale and creamy. They will leave a trail, or tracks, behind them that hold for a few seconds. As soon as this happens, remove the eggs from the double boiler and turn the heat off under the pot. Whisk the eggs another 30 seconds or so to cool them a bit.
4. Slowly pour in the warm butter as you continue whisking (still off the double boiler). This will take several minutes - you are adding the butter slowly because you don't want to "break" the emulsification. Once the butter is added, add your lemon juice. I like a lemony hollandaise, so kept adding it until it tasted right to me. 1-3 T should be good. Also add salt to taste if you used unsalted butter.
5. You can rest your sauce on the double boiler pot until you are ready to serve - don't turn the heat on, it will be warm enough there to hold it. Mine sat at least 15 minutes - I'm sure it can sit longer if you whisk it occasionally.
6. If your hollandaise is too thick: I like a slightly thinner sauce. If yours is thicker than you like, whisk in warm water (again a little at a time) before serving (I just used the warm water from the double boiler pot). I added 2-3 T worth until it was the consistency I like.

This recipe makes plenty to serve 4 (8 carrot-sweet potato cakes and 8 eggs); I had extra left over. And I have been eating it up! It was delicious spread on left over chicken breast and to dip my carrot sticks in. You can also gently reheat this - again in a double boiler - to bring back to the warm, pourable texture. Cold it is more like a thick mayo, or a very soft and creamy butter.

Carrot-Sweet Potato cake as a burger "bun" with mayo.

Roasted root breakfast veggies

This post has some music and food. Food and music. I've been listening to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros lately - it's like some kind of spiritual nourishment or something. You know how sometimes songs do that? I don't generally seek out music much, but My Charming Companion sends me "music transfers" over the email. One was the duo of songs below.

I spent much of yesterday listening to youtube music and cleaning the house, starting the day off with this really good breakfast (that filled me up and kept me going for hours!) I still am on the pork belly train and get them regularly, so breakfast included a couple slices of pork belly and some eggs. I love meals where you just put them in the oven and do some other stuff and then it is all done. Plus you can still get local carrots and beets right now, and maybe parsnips too. You could make this an entirely local meal except for the tahini sauce.

Roasted veggies with Tahini sauce
*makes several servings
1-2 large Carrots
1-2 med Beets
1 small Sweet Potato or Parsnip
1-2 T lard, ghee, olive oil

1. Chop everything in a small dice (if using sweet potatoes, chop them a bit larger than the other items since they cook faster). Coat everything in your fat of choice - I have plenty of excess pork fat and I use that and toss in a baking pan. Cook at 375 for 30-40 minutes, stirring once or twice.
2. While they are cooking, mix up a little tahini sauce: lemon juice, salt, water, and tahini. I like a lot of lemon juice, but just taste as you go, and add enough liquid so that it is a "drizzle-able" consistency.
3. Serve veggies with tahini sauce. I usually have plenty extra to just reheat the next morning or two.

Paleo Quiche

Sometimes I get in the mood to try something a little novel in the grain-free eating realm. This weekend it was quiche, using a coconut flour crust. I find that baking things with coconut flour usually works out well, it just has a slight dryness/density that feels specific to coconut flour (more so than almond flour). Sometimes I get in the mindset that I don't want to have as many nuts because of the omega 6s, so often coconut flour baking is more appealing than nut flour baking. In any case - the quiche turned out well - there was a solid crust that worked perfectly. I think I might prefer an egg bake to paleo quiche because I find the dryness of the crust less appealing. My Charming Companion was loving the crust however, so, if you want crust - this is a good one.

*Incidentally I had a little leftover crust mix and used it to make a mini-ramekin sized pie crust. It looks beautiful! I have not yet had a chance to make a filling for it - but pumpkin custard, chia seed pudding, or apples would be pretty awesome I think.

I followed this recipe for the crust and as a guide for the filling. The ingredients I used were a little more dry (kale, sausage and onions) - and like I said - I want a more moist quiche. So I recommend filling your quiche with oven roasted tomatoes, a green like spinach or arugula, mushrooms &/or red peppers - maybe bacon too. No matter what you use, it will still be good.

Crust (for a 9" pie plate):
1/2 cup coconut oil or ghee, melted
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 350. Combine eggs and coconut oil until well-blended. Stir in coconut flour and salt and mix until a dough forms. Press dough into the bottom and up the sides, into an even layer. (I used coconut oil and because it was cold in the kitchen, it started to firm up on me. It will still spread, you just have to work the dough a bit more!) Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes and set aside.

For the filling:
5 eggs
1/2 c coconut milk
salt and pepper
1 t mustard/mustard powder
1-2 cups veggies/sausage/bacon (pre-cooked)

1. Saute your quiche filling in a large skillet. Be sure to cook and sausage or bacon thoroughly. Anything would be good in here: broccoli, olives and bacon; mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes; greens and onions with sausage, etc.
2. While the veggies cook, mix together the rest of the ingredients.
3. When veggies/meat are cooked, put them into the crust. Pour the egg mixture over it. Bake the whole thing for about 25 minutes, or until firm in the center. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes so that the eggs "set" and serve!

The ramekin mini-pie crust!

Puffball mushroom crepe

My Charming Companion found a big puffball mushroom where he was hiking last week, so I got to experiment with it last weekend/this week. I have never eaten a puffball before, but they are pretty unmistakeable. I've seen one once, a soccer-sized ball stuck in the middle of a field. My friend Ella, who I was with at the time, saw the puffball and said, "There is fungus among us!" Which I now think of in direct correlation to puff balls.

Puffballs are usually white and round, often smooth, but sometimes a bit bumpy or warty. The one thing you want to verify to make sure it is a) a puffball and b) edible is to bisect the puffball down the middle (as in photo). It should be entirely white throughout, and the texture should also be the same consistency. If there are gills, you will see them immediately upon bisection and know that this is a very poisonous mushroom in your hands. If not, and if there are no brown, yellow or purple shades, forge ahead! One note - you need to remove the tough outer skin. The edge of the peel will be evident from your bisection and you can probably just peel it off with your fingers, but if not, a knife will work. Underneath will be this soft, poofy sort of delightful marshmallow-y substance.

Puffball slices

I was perusing the interwebs for some puffball ideas, and didn't actually get very far because early on I found a recipe that used sliced puffball as what they called a "fritter" but what I quickly realized could be like a crepe or tortilla of sorts. And of course I was immediately super excited about that option and discontinued all searching and decided to give it a try. Crepe/Tortilla/Wrap thingies are all I did with that big puffball because the opportunities for such items in my paleo/whole30 world are pretty non-existent. And really, a person does not come by puffballs very often, so when one does, I think crepes are a good idea!

I tried cooking the slices of puffball a few different ways: with a little extra oil, more on the dry side, thicker vs thinner, etc. I sort of settled on an in-between-ness. I never got to try baking them, but it seems another experiment for a future puffball.

Puffballs are very mild - almost like tofu in texture and flavor too. The flavor/texture of puffballs seems to be a favorite to eat with eggs, which is also how I ate mine. In terms of storgae, you want to keep them pretty dry - store the puffball halves in the refrigerator in an open bag so that they can breathe and don't get condensation in there. They don't last long, just a 4-5 days. Watch that they don't start to turn yellow/brown.

Puffball "crepe"

1. Slice your puffball into 1 cm thick slices, trying to be as uniform as you can.
2. Heat a small amount of fat in a large cast iron skillet. Turn the heat to medium and when the fat is hot, lay the puffball slice/s in a single layer. You are basically just pan-searing them for a minute or two on each side. You will notice the top side of the puffball will start to bead up with moisture as the first side cooks. Go ahead and flip it shortly after. I found that the slices could be cooked pretty dry - though they tended to stick to the pan a bit. They suck up the fat some, and get more wet with more fat. You can experiment with your preference, but I liked to go drier and risk the sticking.
3. Keep the puffball slices warm in the oven while you cook more slices, but note that they will continue to perspire a bit. If you want to keep them dry, it might be worth stacking them in layers of a tea towel or something (I did not try this).
4. Serve slices of puffball with scrambled eggs, thinly sliced pork belly or bacon, and sauteed veggies (onions and red pepper, roasted eggplant, roasted tomatoes, etc); or try them like a breakfast taco with sauteed pepper/onion, avocado, eggs, bacon and salsa. Fill each puffball piece with fillings, sprinkle salt and pepper on top, and consume!

Note: I think a crunchy something (as in bacon or pork belly) is more necessary to these crepes because the puffball is so soft and smooth. Texturally I just wanted the chewy crunch. And really, I don't need an excuse to add in some pork belly/bacon!

Wild Rice Porridge

I've been reading some books by Jim Northrup, an Anishinaabe writer and Vietnam war veteran who lives up north near Cloquet. He writes a column called the Fond Du Lac Follies that is printed in The Circle newspaper, though I have been reading a book compilation of the Follies from the past 10 years or so. I enjoy his writing so much! He talks about tapping trees for maple syrup and going ricing in much of his writing - and ricing season is right now, so I am thinking about it. My Charming Companion has gone ricing several times - including processing it himself, so I found myself asking questions about the knocking, drying, parching, hulling and winnowing of the rice. That lead to some storytelling about ricing, and that all seems fitting for the season.

My Charming Companion still has some wild rice left from ricing a couple of years ago that he shares with me. I don't eat it often, but I have taken to bringing some "wild rice porridge" when going to the Boundary Waters. It is delicious, delicious, delicious hot cereal that is creamy and nutty tasting. It's also really light and easy cooking, so makes a nice meal to bring while camping - especially in the fall when the mornings are cool. I'm heading up to the BWCA next week and am bringing at least two meals of wild rice porridge. There are two options for canoe entry points, but I am leaning towards Crab Lake, which includes a mile long portage at the start of the trip. I don't know, maybe it's the hiking trip from a couple of weeks ago, but somehow I am not feeling daunted by the mile long portage (which will be 3 miles because of the 2 trips to get all the stuff). It'll be a nice workout on each end of the trip, and I'll get more practice carrying the canoe. We'll see!?!

"Chocolate porridge" with coconut milk and butter - not yet mixed together!

Wild Rice Porridge
Grind wild rice in a coffee grinder. I do this in batches so that there is a more even grind. If you want to be persnickety, you could even sift the rice "flour" so as to have really consistent grains. But I usually don't do that step and just grind to have a product that will be finer than cornmeal, but not as fine as white flour. *One important note here is that this works with true wild rice and not the kind from a paddy field (at least, I've never tried it, but the cooking times vary so much that I don't think it would be the same, and certainly not as good due to less flavor in the paddy rice). True wild rice is lighter (on the right), whereas the paddy kind is dark.

The water to wild rice flour ratio is 4:1. I generally eat 1/4 cup of the flour - though on a canoe trip that is closer to 1/3 cup. For an extra treat, add in some cocoa powder to the wild rice flour - it makes it even richer and more delicious. 

Mixed up a bit. YUM!

The only tricky part to making the porridge is that the wild rice can sometimes clump up (much like my cream of wheat used to when I was a kid) - so it is helpful to have a mini-whisk to break up any globs. I boil the water first, than whisk in the wild rice because it seems to result in less lumps. The cooking does not take long because the rice starts to thicken and absorb the water right away. Stir while it cooks and keep the heat low. If it is going pretty slowly, you can also cover the pot (after your whisking) to let it finish.

Serve with cream or coconut milk, butter and a little sweetener. Maple syrup is amazing here if you want to go all out.

Paleo Biscuits

My Charming Companion was jonesing for some biscuits last weekend, so after looking for some recipes online, we found one that seemed promising. I've made these twice already and thought they were great each time - I might have made them again this weekend, but the HOT weather suggests I might wait til later in September to try these again! 

Anyway, these biscuits are sort of cornbread like in consistency - not particularly fluffy, maybe more scone like. I have not had them a la english muffins for Eggs Benedict, but I think they would be great for that. They would be excellent with fruit and whipped cream/coconut cream for strawberry shortcake. So far I've had them with a bit of butter and honey or jam (delicious), or with a scrambled egg and some bacon or sausage (also delicious and very filling).

These are really easy, and do seem to have some variation depending on coconut flour. The original recipe calls for 1/3 c of coconut flour, but I've had to use more than that both times. I use Bob's Red Mill Coconut flour, and it may be that that brand just absorbs less liquid. I noticed that the Seward now carries Coconut Secret brand coconut flour (cheaper too), so I'll experiment with that to see how things turn out. In any case - go for consistency here, rather than an accurate measurement. You want the biscuits to look like the picture below before cooking - where you can actually shape them a bit. I've used both melted butter and melted coconut oil and both were good. The butter version was a little less coconut-y tasting. I do wonder if using chilled butter that you grate/cut into the flour will give a puffier biscuit - might be worth a try.

Paleo Biscuits
1/2 c coconut flour (Bob's Red Mill - use less flour if other brand)
5 T butter or coconut oil, softened or melted
4 eggs
5-8 drops stevia (optional)
dash of salt
½ tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder) and add butter. It will be a thick paste if you use melted butter/coconut oil. Next add the eggs and stir well to get any lumps out of the batter. Add more flour if needed to achieve a batter that is not runny and that you can form biscuits with.
3. Using your hands, form dough into 6-8 biscuits. They should be about 1/2" thick (they only rise a little, so you could play with this a bit if you want to try thicker).
4. Bake for 12-16 minutes until just starting to brown.

Yum. I'm excited to try these in the fall/winter with chili or stew, or maybe as a topping on a fruit cobbler. Enjoy!

Herby Pork Breakfast Sausage

I am working my way through some more pork products, namely ground pork - which makes terrific sausage! (I also tried them in a meatball recipe that I'll post soon too.) My herbs are so over-flowingly bountiful right now, that I wanted to use lots of them in my breakfast.

This was a super easy recipe that I found from a blog called Use Real Butter that I modified just slightly. I did put in a little honey in the sausage, but you could very easily leave it out if you don't want added sugar. The sausage mix will last a week or so, or you could freeze it if you don't want to eat all the patties at once. These would be amazing with pancakes, though I have been eating them with lots of veggies with herbs for breakfast, and that is great too.

Herby Breakfast Sausage (makes 8 patties)
1 lb. ground pork
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well-blended. Form patties to desired size (mine were 2-inches in diameter). Place a skillet on medium-low heat and set the patties in the pan. Cook until the bottoms are browned, then flip and continue to cook until the sausage is done (about 10-12 minutes).

Snap Peas!

Well, the time of peas will soon be over, but I have enjoyed them SO much! My favorite has been the pea puree, and last weekend I had a chilled pea soup that was amazing. I will try making it sometime, but it included English peas, mint, lavender, and vegetable broth. Omg - it was like a smoothie in a bowl, but savory too. Yum. The snap peas have also been delicious - I've been tossing them in salads and eating them straight from the garden. I tried this slaw recipe from Bon Appetit for Snap Pea and Cabbage Slaw this week, and it turned out nice - crisp and sweet.

Snap Pea and Cabbage Slaw

My favorite way to enjoy snap peas though, at least of late, is to eat them for breakfast with eggs. The light saute of the peas brings out extra flavor, and with some soft scrambled eggs it tastes like sweet and savory summer (whatever summer tastes like, I am calling it peas).

Northside Homestead Dakota Fire Pit!

My Charming Companion has been experimenting with some outdoor cooking set-ups to better bridge living in the bwca to living in the city. This one was an underground system called a Dakota Fire Pit - though since he has built a rocket stove that I think is the better design. It is higher up so it's easier to use, and is super efficient because it gets so hot in the brick tower that even the smoke burns, so you use barely any fuel. Fuel in this case was sticks that blew down in the yard, and some kindling that had been in the shed for about 10 years.

Dakota Fire Pit design

Snap Pea Scramble
Bunch of snap peas, strings removed
Onions
Eggs
Ghee

I used the white onion part from the garden green onions. The green part is too tough now, but the white part is really nice. Chop onions small and saute in ghee for a few minutes on medium heat. As they start to brown, add chopped snap peas and saute another 2 minutes. Add eggs (I like to scramble mine right in the pan) and turn heat down just a hair. Cook just until eggs are done, stirring to push the cooked egg to the side.

I have been eating these eggs all week - here I had them with lamb's quarters, but they are also great with sauteed green beans (they are just coming into full bounty).