Braunshweiger

In my last 2-4 trips up north I have checked out the local butchers and meat counters for Braunshweiger - a German liverwurst that seems popular in the northern part of the state. All of the versions I have encountered include corn syrup, which I seem to react to, so I have been unable to actually consume any. But then I got a copy of an amazing cookbook from the library: The New Midwestern Table. The cookbook is a lovely homage to midwest cooking, and includes numerous (non-paleo) delights like Michigan pasties, jello salads and an entire section of potatoes and onions. She also has recipes for wild rice/manoomin, deviled eggs (that she heats at the end?!), beet pickled eggs, cucumber salads, and pickled fish. She runs the gamut of Scandinavian, German, and Russian (Nebraskan Runza's - which are bread pies filled with meat) and they all seem to be really good looking recipes.

And - she has a recipe for Braunshweiger! With no corn syrup (or any sweetener for that matter). I followed her recipe pretty precisely, except for leaving out the garlic (I seem allergic), swapping vermouth for sherry, and using just a bit more liver than she calls for. Traditional Braunshweiger seems to be about 40% pork liver, and her recipe is only about 20%. I happened to have 3/4 pound of liver and used it all (bringing the liver total to 25%). It is important that you have fresh liver, because it gets bitter as it ages by the day. I bought frozen pork liver from the Seward, which is frozen fresh and was very easy. I just defrosted it in the fridge the day before.

I actually did not grow up eating braunshweiger, but in my recent fandom of liver in every variety, (and pork belly), I was fairly convinced that I would like this. It turned out great. I didn't wait for it to chill all the way before digging in, and it was more pate-like. But once it thoroughly chilled, it was like the braunshweiger of my imagination where you could cut slices. I ate mine on paleo crackers with some dijon mustard. Yum.

Homemade Braunshweiger
Based on the recipe from The New Midwestern Table
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds fatty pork (I used half pork belly, half pork shoulder)
8 oz slab bacon (I used regular bacon)
12 oz fresh pork liver
1 T pork fat or ghee
2 T salted butter
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced (I didn't use these!)
6 T dry sherry or vermouth
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/3 c shelled pistachios (or pecans or walnuts)
Dijon mustard (for serving)

1. Combine the salt and pepper in a small dish.
2. Cut the pork and bacon into 1" cubes and put them in a wide bottomed 2 quart pot. (The pot should fit the meat in one layer, although a little double up is okay.) Add water just to cover and 3/4 tsp of the salt/pepper mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook at a slow bubbling simmer until the meat is very tender when poked with a fork, about 3 hours. *I was leaving the house, so did this step all in a crock pot on high heat for 4 hours. It worked great.
3. Uncover and drain, reserving 3/4 c of the mixed juices and fat. Cover the meat and chill. *I had A LOT of juices/fat left, which will make great soup stock. I did reduce the liquid a bit by simmering it on the stove for 30 min or so. It wouldn't be necessary, but I wanted to get extra flavor in there. It still left me with an extra 2 c or so of soup stock.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the liver. Rinse the liver and blot it dry on an old dish towel or paper towels. Cut into 1" cubes (mine from the Seward was already chopped that way?!). Heat a large cast iron skillet over med-high heat and add 1 T pork fat/ghee. Season liver with a bit of the salt/pepper mixture. When the fat is hot, add the liver and sear on all sides until browned on the outside, but pink inside - about 5 minutes. Transfer the liver to a wide bowl.
5. Add the butter and diced onion to the skillet. Season with more of the salt/pepper mixture and cook over medium heat until the onions are sweet, golden, and tender - about 20 minutes. Add the garlic slices (if using) and cook another few minutes until softened. Add the sherry and simmer until it is reduced and "clings saucily to the onions." (I found this descriptor totally accurate and compelling! It did cling saucily!) Add the cream and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Pour the onion mixture over the liver in the bowl, cover and chill in the fridge until very cold.

*I did the previous steps one day, and just chilled everything together in a big bowl overnight. The next stage is to grind and process the meat. She uses a grinder attachment on her stand mixer - but I don't have a stand mixer, so did everything in batches in my food processor. The goal is to really grind the ingredients to a paste - however you do that - and almost "whip" in some liquid. The food processor worked great - it's just that the mixture is quite thick and paste-like and gets a bit sticky.I use that method below.

6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
7. To remaining salt/pepper mixture, add nutmeg, marjoram, allspice, and cayenne.
8. Grind/process the meat in 3 batches in a food processor, drizzling part of the reserved liquid and part of the spice mixture into each batch. As you process each batch, empty the paste-like product to a large bowl. Once all of the meat is processed and paste-like, but also a bit fluffy from the processing - mix it all together to incorporate all of the flavors. I used a big wooden spoon, but you could also use a hand mixer. Taste the mix (I ate mine as is - it is all cooked - but you could also fry a little up) and adjust salt and pepper as desired. I needed to add another teaspoon or so of salt.
9. Scoop the mixture into a lightly buttered glass or metal 9 x 4" loaf pan. Smooth the top and press nuts into the surface. Set the loaf pan in a larger baking pan and pour hot water into it to reach halfway up the sides of the loaf pan, making a water bath. Bake until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees, about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Then unmold the loaf, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill deeply.

*Mine did not "unmold" super easily - I went a little too early while it was still warm. I sort of reformed it back, but was nervous it would not hold its shape as it chilled on the front porch. It mostly did. I ended up cutting it in half and just wrapping up half in parchment paper.

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.

Coconut flour pizza crust

Pizza! I haven't had any in a long long while, but got some fancy pepperoni some time ago and decided pizza was in order - the totally traditional kind of pepperoni, onions, olives, mushrooms and red peppers. I have not tried the coconut trust before, having only made an almond crust version. I am interested in making a cauliflower crust - but it seems slightly higher maintenance because of the pre-cooking and food processing and all that jazz. The coconut flour version seemed simpler.

My verdict is that the texture was great - it was a nice thin crust that you could lift piece by piece, and the taste was, well, coconut-y. No big surprise. I didn't mind it much though, and would make this again. If I was a garlic eater, I would add some garlic salt/powder into the crust to mask the coconut flavor. I initially was a little worried the pizza would be too dry - coconut flour is dry and dense, and without cheese it might be more so - but drizzling olive oil over the top solved that problem. It turned out very tasty.

Flipped over crust on parchment

Coconut flour crust
3 eggs
1/3 to 1/2 cup coconut flour
2 tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. oregano
1 T olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Start with about 1/3 c coconut flour, and add more depending on final consistency - brands vary so much that this will help achieve the best result.
2. I spread the dough on a piece of parchment, though I contemplated going directly on a pizza stone. You will need to flip the crust once, but it didn't seem to want to stick. I recommend spreading on parchment, or on a metal cooking sheet. Try directly on a pizza stone if you are feeling adventurous! Spread dough pretty thin, and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until brown.
3. Remove from oven and flip the crust, so that you put all the toppings on what was the under side. Once pizza is full of toppings, slide back in the oven for another 8-12 minutes until browned.
4. Let it cool a minute, slice and eat up!

As I said, my toppings were pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, red pepper, and thinly sliced onion. They went on top of a thin layer of tomato sauce sprinkled with red pepper flakes, salt and oregano. Then the whole pizza was drizzled with olive oil and baked. It tasted great.

Shrimp cocktail

It's March! Spring is not so far away! The 6 foot high snow banks can only last for so much longer. I am optimistic.

I don't know what inspired my having shrimp cocktail this weekend. I think it was that My Charming Companion and I were craving pizza, and wanted to have that with some sort of protein appetizer. So I got some shrimp. But then the evening came and the pizza was too high maintenance (we were going to try a cauliflower crust one), so we made soup instead and had that with the shrimp. (Pizza was on Sunday, but with a coconut flour crust - post forthcoming.)

I don't often crave shrimp, or shrimp cocktail for that matter - but this was sort of a festive diversion from anything I have been eating lately. And, I LOVE horseradish and when do I eat an appetizer for my own dinner? Not so often. Also, you can make your own fish broth with the leftover shrimp shells. Just put the shells in a pot, add some onion/celery scraps, cover with water and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Cocktail Sauce
2 T tomato paste
2 T prepared horseradish*
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp mustard
salt to taste
*I used Bubbies horseradish, which has some sugar in there and is not super hot - you may want to use less if your brand is hotter

Mix all ingredients together - and that's it. You are done. So easy.

Roasted Shrimp
1 lb shrimp, shelled and de-veined
Olive oil
salt and pepper
lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss shrimp in olive oil, salt and pepper to lightly coat. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 5-12 minutes, flipping once in the middle until cooked through (mine were medium sized shrimp and I went 10 minutes). Chill (I stuck the pan on the frigid porch for about 5 minutes and that worked great - 0 degrees is good for flash-chilling!). Sprinkle with lemon juice or serve with lemon wedges, and dip in cocktail sauce.

Simple Bolognese "Paleo Pasta"

Well. The cold persists. That is all I really have to say about that. And in the words of my co-worker Jenna, "This weather just makes me want to go home and eat mashed potatoes." This isn't quite that, but is kind of comfort food-ish. I actually did eat some of this sauce on leftover mashed cauliflower this week though, and it was really good. Not so traditional, but good.

This is my go-to pasta sauce for spaghetti squash or zucchini "noodles" - it is really pretty with some (no longer) frozen garden tomatoes, and is pretty easy. I grew up eating pasta with sauce from a jar - and later homemade sauce without meat. Those were fine - tomatoes are good. But I LOVE bolognese sauce. Really. It's its own classification of pasta sauce I think. I've made a few different versions of it over the past few years, but this is probably the most simple because it uses Italian sausage rather than a bacon/beef combo, and it doesn't use any dairy or other liquids. If you have some dry wine around, or a bit of chicken broth - throw some in - but it's tasty just the way it is.

Simple Bolognese Sauce
1 lb Italian sausage
1 small onion, diced small
1 celery stalk, diced small
1 medium carrot, diced small
2-3 oz tomato paste
2 c (or so) frozen/canned tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

1. Brown sausage in a large heavy skillet or pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery to the pot to saute in any excess sausage fat. Add extra fat if needed and cook together until sausage is cooked and crumbly, onions are translucent, and carrots are starting to soften.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices/herbs. Stir occasionally and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat for awhile - an hour (ideally), but at least 30 minutes.
3. While sauce simmers, cook your spaghetti squash, or julienne your zucchini! Both are great. I just eat my zucchini noodles raw, and I use an old school mandoline slicer. If you are making spaghetti squash, just cut the squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the pulp and seeds. Roast cut side up in a pan for 45 minutes at 375. Remove from oven and separate/remove "strands" with a fork.

Dark Chocolate Chunks with Fleur de Sel

My birthday is this week, so I am making a treat!
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup quality coconut oil Note: if you do not want your chocolate to taste coconutty, you can opt for quality refined expeller-pressed coconut oil which does not have a coconut flavor. 
• 3/4 cup  cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup liquid sweetener—honey, maple syrup, agave, molasses, or a mix
• 1 tsp vanilla extract OR a good scraping of vanilla beans
• Optional: Fleur de sel or large grained seas salt

Instructions:

Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan, then add in the rest of the ingredients (except the fleur de sel). 
 





 Special bonus tip: I used my mom's old crisco measuring via cold water displacement trick to measure the coconut oil.  Less messy when it is hard. 




 Whisk together thoroughly. Turn off heat.  This happens fast.

To make chunky dark chocolate bars, line a baking dish with parchment paper, and pour in the chocolate. Refrigerate until hardened (it doesn’t take very long). Then, either cut into bars or break into chunks. If you want to add a sprinkling of fleur de sel, do so.

Another yummy idea: chop and toast some nuts, like almonds, and add to the top or bottom.  (I love this with toasted chopped almonds!)

Be sure to store your chocolate in the refrigerator or even the freezer so it doesn’t get melty. Coconut oil liquifies at 76 degrees.

You can also use this chocolate for dipping things like fruits, nuts, marshmallows, or pretzels.

Carrot Soup with Dukkah Spice

It is light out until 6pm! I think the longer days, plus the occasions of snow melting (before more falls again) is giving me some excitement for spring. I really notice the increase in daylight - and even though I still go to bed around 9:30, I feel a little more ambitious in the evenings. You know, I work on my rug braiding or cook rather than just getting into bed shortly after I get home! Which, btw, I've been listening to lots of This American Life lately, and I have several faves, including one about relationships and Gottman's research about successful couples. It references how gay couples outshine their heterosexual counterparts in communication and positive relational skills. In his limited study, he says that the best straight couples are almost as good as the worst gay couples. What!? More research I say!

Anyway. I made a big pot of chicken bone broth over the last 30 hours or so (in the crock pot), only to realize when I got home that I am totally out of containers to freeze the stock in. I used to use cream containers, but now I don't drink cream, and my supply of old yogurt containers is also maxed out. I need to find a new stock container system. After ransacking the cupboards, I found a couple of things to use, and then just decided to make a batch of soup with the last quart. I also drank a mug full because I was sick last week and the healing properties of bone broth seemed like they would be helpful. Gut health, anti-inflammatory and tons of nutrients! I have some stockpiles of both chicken and venison broth in the freezer and I want to start being more intentional about eating it more often. Plus it is so delicious.

So I decided to make a carrot soup, except I actually made it with a combo of carrots, sweet potatoes and squash. This is the 2nd time I've made this soup and the first version of straight up carrots was equally good. Really, the best part of the soup is the dukkah spice. I've never heard of it before, but the original recipe comes from Bon Appetit, and an internet search finds that dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend of nuts and seeds. In this case pistachios, sesame seeds, fennel, cumin, and coriander. Yum. I actually did not have cumin or coriander seeds, so had to use powder, which turned out fine but I think the seeds would be even better. It makes a delicious topping for the otherwise very simple soup - giving it a flavor punch and also a nice crunchy texture. I loved the dukkah and it would also be great on chicken or fish or cauliflower mashed potatoes. Mmmm.

Carrot Soup with Dukkah Spice
2 pounds carrots, chopped into 1-2" pieces*
1 onion 
2 T ghee/lard/etc
1/2 cup unsalted, shelled raw natural pistachios 
2 T sesame seeds 
2 tsps coriander seeds 
2 tsps cumin seeds 
1/2 tsp fennel seeds 
1/4 tsp whole black peppercorns 
1 tsp kosher salt plus more
Freshly ground black pepper 
1 quart chicken bone broth
*Or substitute sweet potatoes or winter squash for some of the carrots.

1. Toast pistachios in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a small plate and let cool. Add sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and peppercorns to same skillet. Toast, stirring often, until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Transfer spices to plate with nuts and let cool. Transfer nut and spice mixture and 1 teaspoon salt to a food processor or a mortar and pestle and coarsely grind. *I ground mine up in a coffee mill, and it ground everything up pretty small. I think a rougher grind would be nice, but the coffee grinder seemed easiest. (This can be done ahead and stored in a container for a week or so.)
2. Preheat oven to 425°. Place the carrots and onion on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with melted ghee/fat or olive oil, season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast until the carrots are tender and just beginning to brown, about 25-30 minutes. Let the carrots cool slightly. 
3. Transfer the carrot mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the vegetable broth. Blend mixture until soup is very smooth, 1-2 minutes. (I had to do this in a few batches.) Pour the soup into a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add water by 1/4-cupfuls to soup for a thinner consistency, if desired. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. 
4. Divide hot soup among bowls. Spoon a dollop of coconut cream/milk into center of each. Sprinkle with dukkah. (I think sprinkle is an understatement, I sort of doused it!)