Paleo tomato pasta sauce with grass fed meat balls

Anyone living in southern cal knows its been hot the last couple of days.  Normally I wouldn't cook in the kitchen with 90 degree weather outside but with time constraints tonight I had to come up with something quick and easy.  

Tonights dish we served with rice pasta.  My knee therapy has gotten more intense and the extra bump in carbs makes a difference in the way my body feels during the recovery.  Plus I'm rediscovering the joys of push ups, dips and abdominal exercises so overall my body needs a little more zip.

Ingredients:

3 cans of roasted tomatoes

1/2 cup of olive oil

1 leek (or onion I just didn't have one)

2 lbs grass fed ground beef (90/10% works better than 80/20%)

3 garlic cloves

Mushrooms

1 cup of red wine (Doon Buggy!)

Parmesan cheese

Oregano or Italian seasoning

Salt n Pepper

Red pepper flakes (optional but would add a nice bite to this dish)

1. Heat pot over medium high heat.  I like to cook this in my stock pot as it doesn't splatter as much on my white stove and countertop.  Once pot is hot (does water dance when dropped on the bottom) gently add 1/2 cup of olive oil.  The oil will get hot quickly so be careful.  Then pour in the three cans of roasted tomatoes.  I keep the lid partially covering the pot when doing this so it doesn't splatter on me.  No need to stir the pot (unless you really want to).

2.  Prep three garlic cloves.  No need to chop up.  Normally I would chop an onion but the only onion like item in my fridge were three leeks.  Leeks are a great substitute for an onion in this dish.  If you have never cooked with them before, just barely cut off the root end, cut off the leaves area (where it gets dark green) and slice open like the pic below.

3.  The leek needs to be run under water and peel apart each layer to ensure all the dirt is removed.  Chop up and add the leeks, garlic, handful of mushrooms, salt, pepper, 1 cup of red wine and oregano to the sauce.  Still no need to stir as the tomatoes will boil it in.

 4. Grate about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese into a bowl.  Add some salt, pepper and oregano.   Then the 2lbs of ground beef (or veal, chicken, turkey etc).

 5. Using your hands mix the ingredients together.  Twist, knead, turn, mold until you are confident the flavors are evenly mixed.

6.  Now go ahead and mix the sauce.  It is still over medium high heat.

7.  Roll the mixed meat into meatballs and gently place into sauce.  The meatballs will be about 3/4 covered and thats OK.

8.  In about 10 minutes gently move the meatballs around so the tops get under the sauce.  Cook another 5 minutes and serve.

I forgot to take a picture of the adults plates before we chopped up the meatballs and mixed everything together...so here is the 3 year olds's plate, plastic fork included.

The only thing I would change in tonight's meal is gone with a leaner beef.  The 80/20 blend would work great with something (mmmm crusty bread) to soak it up.

Brussels Sprouts even a 3 year old will eat (and will impress your significant other)

Since knee surgery, almost six weeks ago, I have trouble sleeping past 3:30 am.  The pain meds, ice packs and knee brace (when it was on) helped but I keep waking up.  This early morning I planned on blogging about sauteed radishes.  I transferred the photos out of iPhoto into the blog and discovered I selected the brussels sprouts instead.  Maybe it's time for another cup of coffee.

Growing up overseas exposed me to lots of different foods.  While a kid living in the middle east our live in maid was Indian and made some of the most wonderful curries.  While out with my parents I remember eating fresh shawarma of the spit, fresh roasted nuts, skewers of lamb and veggies from the small sidewalk cafes.  Traveling back to the US always resulted in a lay over somewhere in Europe.  I still remember at 11 eating real carbonara fettucini with the raw egg on top in Rome.  Oh ya, some of the most incredible pizzas too from the little food trailers.

Then my teenage years were spent in Melbourne Australia (go Collingwood Magpies!)  How ironic, my favorite footy team's colors are black and white.  Australia is a melting pot of culinary delights.  My neighbors were Italian, Greek, Chinese, Czechoslovakian and Ozzy.  There was cream in the milk, the meat was grass fed, great public transportation (which was great when you couldn't legally drive till 18) and walkability.  The local shopping center had a supermarket for basic, I'll call it canned/carb sundries.  You then made the rounds to  the  produce store, a meat butcher, a bakery, a desert shop, a flower stand...all individual businesses that focused within their specific niche to finish off the shopping trip.  And the first few years we lived there weekend shopping was limited to 1pm on Saturdays and no commercial shopping on Sundays.

For six years I wore a shirt, tie, slacks and blazer to school.   90210 was the show I'd watch, on one of three commercial TV channels, to see what life was like in the US. I learned to drive on the left side of the road, ate fish and chips with lots of vinegar and wrote/spoke the Queen's English.  I also ate some of the traditional Queens food-banger and mash, scones with cream, marmite (or even worst Vegemite - sorry my ozzy friends), real mint jelly and brussels sprouts.  Brussels sprouts  were served gooey, overcooked and covered in butter.  The butter was the best part.

So fast forward to ten years later; I'm in my late 20's dating my wife and deciding to try a new vegetable in the kitchen, good old brussels sprouts.  After all it's part of the cabbage family and should be good for us.  But I don't want them to be soft, gooey, stinky mess.  So lots of butter later (I didn't understand the positive health benefits at the time), a little sea salt and moderate heat I discovered sauteed brussels sprouts.  It has taken a few more attempts to master and now it is a weekly staple in our house.


I prefer fresh brussels sprouts however Trader Joe's use to carry a frozen bag that would work in an emergency pinch.  In this recipe I cheated and used jarred garlic.  Somehow I forgot to buy fresh and the Trader Joe's jar is a good backup.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb to 1 lb brussel sprouts (I get mine at Fresh and Easy)
Chunk (2 Tbsp) Good butter
1-2 cloves minced/squashed Garlic
Water
Twist of sea salt

1.  Cut the hard bottoms off the brussels sprouts and remove the outer leaves (I do because it is the most exposed side of the veggie and if I don't I get the germ hebe jebes).  Rinse under cold water.  If the brussels sprout is large you can cut it in half.  The goal is to have a uniformed size for cooking.

2.  Put on a high heat.  I love this fry pan.  It is almost shot and the other night the handle started falling off.  But it has cooked hundreds of happy meals on multiple stoves, in multiple cities, over multiple grills, served to multiples of friends and family.

 3.  Add enough water to immerse the veggie about 1/4 to 1/3.  Let the water boil rapidly.

 4. Monitor the veggie.  As soon as the water boils off angle the pan over the heat and push the veggies to the side.

 5. Drop a big chunk of butter on the open side of the pan and let the butter melt into the veggies.  Be careful not to burn yourself.  And don't angle the pan too much otherwise the chunk of butter will slide into the veggies unmelted.  Add the garlic and twist or two of sea salt.

 6.  Place back on high heat, toss a couple of times with a flick of the wrist and grub up.

Comments, feedback, thoughts-Please.

Grilled guacamole

Avocados.  I didn't start eating them until I was 32.  And at that point I could only tolerate a few slices on a bacon cheese burger covered in blue cheese dressing.  When "J" started eating solid foods one of the first and still to this day favorite is avocados.  She can eat them directly out of the skin-no salt, no pepper, no hot sauce, just plain old avocado in a primal fashion.

Enjoy this guacamole with corn chips, next to your steak, on top of your burger or just eat straight out of the serving bowl with a spoon. Traditionally a jalapeno is also mixed in...but with a three year old I cut it out of the recipe.

This is a non measured "add X" amount recipe.  Sorry.

Ingredients: (makes serving for 2 adults and 1-3 yo)
2 Avocados
1/4 onion chopped (or grill a couple of round slices and then chop)
1 lime (but I use 2 because I like the extra lime juice flavor)
Cilantro (small bunch) chopped
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Optional:
1 small tomato diced and added to mix
1 jalapeno (grilled and seeds removed) chopped
Hot sauce

Directions:
1. Heat grill

2. Slice avocado in a long quarters i.e. top to bottom leaving skin on

3. Slice limes in half

4. When grill is hot place avocado and limes over medium to high heat for about 3 minutes

5. As items grill flip gently with a bbq spatula

6. Once the avocados get grill marks, like a steak, on both sides remove from heat - the limes should be done about the same time

7. Remove avocado skins and mash

8. Squeeze limes over the mash (I prefer to use a hand lemon/lime juicer)
9. Add the onions and cilantro to the mash and mix together with a fork (along with any other optional ingredients)

10. Enjoy! Add salt and pepper to adjust for your liking.

Sidenote-"N" prefers to chill the mash before eating.  I'm happy with it hot or cold.

Grilled romaine wraps with bacon, onions, blue cheese and reduced balsamic

Damn these were good!  I am using an iPhone to take the pictures and the pictures do not do justice to the flavor of this meal.

Since eliminating gluten from my diet lettuce has become my official wrap for In&Out burgers and sandwiches.  This week I was inspired to grill romaine as another alternative for bread like products (tacos, burritos, bun).  With the dense leaves I figured worst case I could throw the outside leaves away while salvaging the inner lettuce guts.  This was not necessary.  They outside leaves were slightly wrinkled and softened while the inside stayed crunchy.  The grill flavor was so good and I envision more grilled romaine meals using ground burger, lamb, feta cheese, salsa...stay tuned for other ideas.

Ingredients: (assume 1 romaine lettuce per person)

Romaine lettuce

Bacon (2 slices per person)

Onion (1/4 cup per person)

Olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Blue Cheese - crumbled

1. Heat grill
2. Dice bacon and onion, add to fry pan and cook over medium heat until the onion is browned and bacon slightly crunchy - set pan contents aside

3. Add about 1/3 cup balsamic to fry pan and heat over a medium heat - the vinegar will bubble and slowly thicken up.  Do not overcook it as it turns into a taffy like substance.

4. Cut romaine lettuce in half and coat the inside with olive oil

5. Place lettuce on grill and monitor closely.  Turn often and remove from grill when browned and outer leaves wilted.

6. Place two halves on a plate.  Top the lettuce with bacon, onions and crumbles of blue cheese.  Drizzle the reduced balsamic vinegar on top and enjoy.

On an interesting side note, my cross country truck driving friend Steve is starting the Primal diet.  His challenge we be finding places to eat primal while on the road.  I am going to work on simple meals that he can cook on the small propane grill he is adding to his gear.  If you want to minimize your efforts, you could cook this meal all on the grill.  Grill the bacon crunchy-set aside.  Grill the onion by cutting it in rings, covering in olive oil (or butter) - set aside.  Reduce the balsamic in a small cast iron pan over the grill or not reduce it at all.

Kind of Primal (egg free) pancakes

Besides for the occasional bite of pizza, a couple of strands of pasta and emergency tortilla wrap, wheat products have been out of my diet for over a year.  However these pancakes we devised for "J's" egg allergy are pretty good and I've become addicted to a couple (slathered in butter and almond butter) a week.  The mix is commercially produced and I've discovered when I eat wheat/gluten I tolerate bleached flour products better than whole wheat products.

(You can read more about the wheat health issues in Mark Sisson's book available at amazon through this link The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy.)

The recipe is pretty simple and slowest part is cooking the pancake mix.  Some days I will get out my two burner griddle but most of the time I use a small, flat fry pan.  The mix is pretty thick and I recommend keeping the pancake sizes to about that of a soda pop can circumference.  Anything bigger takes too long to cook and the outside burns.

Ingredients: (For 8 small pancakes - feeds my family of 2 adults and 1 3yo) 20 mins start to clean up
1 Banana
2/3 cup of bisquick
2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
Butter

Optional: mix in if you want
Chocolate chips
Blue berries

1. Put pan over medium heat
2. Mash banana in a bowl with a fork until consistent with baby food
3. Add bisquick mix to bowl
4. Add cream to bowl
5. Mix together until the dry ingredients are wet
6. Check heat of pan by dropping a little bit (water hanging off your finger) of water onto the pan-if the water sizzles and dances the pan is hot enough - adjust heat if necessary
7. Add a little bit of butter onto pan and swish around
8. Using a measuring cup pour pancake mix onto pan to form small pancakes
9. Cook until the mix bubbles and there is adequate firmness to flip over
10. Cook other side and serve

Without the egg, and by adding the banana, the pancakes will not cook the golden brown we have all become accustomed to.  Let me know how you like the flavor.

The first photo is from breakfast today.  Apples for the ears and arms, crispy bacon for the legs, blue berries for the eyes, raspberry for the nose, almond butter for hair and chocolate chips for the mouth (added after pancake was cooked).