Cooking/Recipes, Paleo

Smokey Roast Yay! Liver Nay!

As we all know, liver is insanely good for you and should be consumed regularly.  However, as we all also know, its texture and flavor can be, well, troublesome.  I generally like liver, but I’m on a constant quest for a better recipe – a recipe where I make it and say, “Oh.    My.     Goodness.  This liver is awesome, and I’m going to eat this whole 1/2 pound.”  I ran across this recipe and was intrigued by the idea of marinating the liver.  I thought maybe it would make it more tender and less liverish. Unfortunately, it didn’t.  It was still very livery, and I still had unpleasant liver burbs all day long after eating it.  Tim also was not a fan of the flavor of this dish.    So far the best way I’ve found to sneakily incorporate liver is to add some (1/4 a pound) to meatballs or meatloaf.  I’ve read you can also liquify it and add it to soups, but for some reason the thought of liquified liver just really grosses me out.

On a positive note, I tried a new recipe which I absolutely love:  Smokey Roast.  For this recipe you apply a spice rub of ground coffee, chipotle, cocoa powder, cinnamon, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt to a nice chuck roast. Really rub it in!  Then you heat up a skillet with some fat (the recipe calls for coconut oil, but I used bacon grease) and sear all sides of the meat.  Then you toss it in the crockpot on top of a sliced red onion, add some water, and let it slow cook.  Tim is home during the middle of the day, so he kept a watchful eye on the roast (I have a tendency to overcook roasts and dry them out), and took it out right when the meat was ready to fall off the bone.

It was PERFECT.  The meat was seared on the edges, but still a little pink in the middle.  It was ultra tender, and the the juice from the meat/spices/onions, was a tasty meat-bath of subtle deliciousness.  We ate it with Tim’s home-made sauerkraut for 2 meals.  The only regret I have about this roast is that after heating some of it up for breakfast, I acccidently left the pot out all day and had to toss the remainder of the leftovers.  Such a shame.

So try this recipe ASAP!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness

Lots of New Recipes!

School was officially over on May 10th, so I’ve finally had time to start trying some new recipes.

Primal Beef Enchiladas:  I killed a pot in the process of making this (I was boiling the ancho chiles in 2 cups of bone broth and kind of forget about them :/), but the recipe was still worth it.  My meat didn’t get defrosted in time to make this during the weekend in the oven (for 4 hours), so I made in the Nesco roaster.  I made the sauce and seared the meat the night before.  The next morning, I tossed the works into the roaster on the lowest setting and let it cook from about 7:30 to 5:30.  When the meat first came out, it seemed a little dry (as grass-fed beef is wont to be), but once I shredded it and doused it with the sauce, it was delicious.  We ate it with avocado slices the first night.  The second night Tim made some white rice and added some broccoli to the meat & sauce as it simmered.  Again – delicious.  This recipe is a definite keeper.

Crockpot Pork Stuffed Peppers:  I used the Nesco roaster for these bad boys too.  However, I think I overcooked them. It’s hard not to do when you leave at 7:30 and don’t get home until 5:30.  By the time we removed the peppers from the roaster, the peppers were total mush.  The insides though – very tasty, especially with lots of delicious salt.  🙂  I would definitely make this again.  It’s a super easy way to cook your meat and veggies all together.  I love our food processor so much.  Mom gave us an old Vitamix, and that is rocking our world too.  Tim’s been making some mean veggie smoothies with it, and I’ve been using it to make the most delicious coffee drink ever – bulletproof coffee.  The stuff tastes amazing, but I’m not totally sold on all of its supposed health benefits.  The first morning it only kept me full for about 2.5 hours.  I also seem to feel the effects of caffeine more with this coffee; I feel more anxious.  But one thing is for sure.  It’s some tasty sh!t.

Beef Liver & Onions:  I picked up a couple of pounds of grass-fed beef liver from the farmer’s market a couple of weeks ago.  I really enjoyed the Fried Beef Liver and Onions I made with the first batch, but it was kind of a lot of work.  And it was messy.  So I tried this new recipe.  I was being kind of lazy, so I tossed some liver in the food processor along with some shallots (the recipe called for onion, but mine was bad), some garlic, and some dill and oregano from our herb garden. Once all that was thoroughly mixed, I kneaded it together with some locally raised ground beef.  I used an ice cream scoop to form it into meatballs, put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cooked them up.  They turned out really tasty!  They do have that kind of… thick… taste of liver, but it’s a little lighter since it’s mixed with the ground beef.  It’s a great, easy way to get an inexpensive, nutrient-rich dose of grass-fed meat into your diet.

And….then I made this:  Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever.  This was COMPLETELY not paleo, but it was oh so deeeelicious.  I used whole milk, dark chocolate cocoa powder, and omitted the pecans (due to some nut allergies at work), and it turned out fantastic.  It was probably one of the most popular cakes I’ve ever made.  And it should be.  It’s rather a lot of work!

I JUST finished making these:  Greek-Style Lamb Meatballs.  I originally bought the lamb to make a recipe that I subsequently lost.  So I had to find a new recipe, and find one I did!  Tim and I are eating these right now.  My house smells like Hungry Boy Deli, and I really, really want some tzatziki sauce.    This would taste amazing with an onion, cucumber, tomato, vinegar, and olive oil salad.  Next time!!

Besides cooking and eating, Tim and I have been busy training for the triathlon that is LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY.  This weekend we were going to do a brick – a swim/bike brick or a bike/run brick.  However, Tim tweaked his back yesterday morning and is still recovering, so he was out of commission.  Tim bought me some new pedals for my bike – clip-ins!  He installed them today, and I gave them a go.  Getting the shoes to clip-in took some work, but once they were in – wow – I just flew!  At least until I came to a stop.  I was smart enough to get my right foot out but didn’t anticipate myself leaning to the left, the side on which my foot was still adhesed to my bike.  Down I went!  Right on my butt, knee, and elbow.  I banged my knee up pretty good, twisted my bike seat and shifter, and tore my brand new handle-bar tape.  I will survive, but this knee is going to need some rest before I can run on it again.  Oh well!  It was a good learning experience – take out BOTH feet when  you come to a complete stop on the bike.

And…that’s been the past couple of weeks.  This week will be the last full week of training. Next week my big bro and his girlfriend are coming for a visit and to support us during the Tri, so next week is going to be most excellent.

Hope you have a great week!