Chile Verde Chili

Tonight's dinner started brewing in my noggin about a week ago when the weather turned of chilly and everyone began talking about chili, pumpkin bread, Honeycrisp apples and squashes.  Fall could very well be the best time of the year, I know I certainly think it is.  I had decided to make a white chili but since I wanted to use pork my sister kindly told me that it wouldn't be white chili because that is made with chicken.  Who knew?!  Well, I wanted pork and that was about all I was going to say about that.  I then realized that what I was thinking of was a chile verde and not white chili. So I was back on track and the ingredients I wanted to use were popping up in my head and I started scribbling things onto a shopping list.  After looking in the cupboard and the freezer I discovered I had everything I needed except one ingredient which some how did not make my shopping list.  Anyway, after running around all day and going to the retirement home to have dinner with my Grandma I got started on my "chile verde chili".  Why the extra "chili" in the title?  Well, I wanted something super meaty, like the way I make a standard beef-tomato chili, and not a straight up chile verde.  It's the kitchen after all and the cook can do whatever they want.

Chile Verde Chili

1 pound of pork roast/steak, cubed
1 pound ground pork
4-5 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 poblano peppers; skinned, seeded and chopped
2 jalepenos, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1T mexican oregano
2-3 t. cumin
1/8 c. tequila
1 can Herdez salsa verde (or better yet get some tomatillos and make your own)
2-3 c. chicken broth
3 T. coconut cream

1.  Fry the bacon in a dutch oven and remove when crispy.
2.  Working in batches, brown the pork chunks.  Remove from pot when done.
3.  Brown the ground pork and remove from the skillet.
4.  Add the onion and cook until starting to soften.
5.  Add the garlic and let cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
6.  Add the tequila and deglaze the pot.
7.  Add the poblano and jalepeno, stirr to incorporate.
8.  Add the cumin and mexican oregano, mix well.
9.  Add the salsa verde, coconut cream and the chicken broth.  Stir well.
10. Add the meat and mix well to incorporate.  Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes.  Add some fresh cilantro before serving.

So what ingredient did I forget?  A plantain.  I wanted to add a mashed up green plantain for the starchy flavor and because I thought it would thicken the chili.  But I had it in my head that I had all the ingredients for this dish and I forgot all about wanting to add a plantain.  Maybe next time or perhaps I'll go the store tomorrow and add it in to the big pot of leftovers that I have.  Then again perhaps I'll just make tostones and scoop up the chili with those.

Some cubed chayote squash or zucchini would have been pretty tasty in this as well.  Next time because there's always another supper to cook for!

Asian Pork and Cabbage

I had been seeing recipes for Asian lettuce bowl and it made me think about eggrolls.  I decided that I wanted to try a cabbage roll with a crispy coating.  I gathered all my ingredients and pulled out some spices that I thought would make a tasty profile and set to work.  When it was all said and done I was really satisfied with the flavors but maybe a little disappoint with the texture of the rolls.  I just didn't get that really crispy crunch I was looking for.  I suppose there is just to much moisture in the leaves for the coating to remain crispy.  I only made 5 rolls in my test batch and I decided to just chop what was left of the head of cabbage and make burgers out on the filling.  The flavors were still there and the prep time was significantly reduced (although not nearly as pretty).  So, I'll probably still make this in the future but I won't go through the trouble of making rolls.

Asian Cabbage Rolls (or Asian Pork Burgers with Cabbage)

1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1t. minced ginger
1/4c. to 1/2c. white wine
1T. coconut aminos
1T. Red Boat fish sauce
3T. coconut cream
1 Star Anise ground (or about a heaping 1/8t. of ground star anise)
1/4t. ground ginger
1/4t. clove
1/4t. cinnamon
1/2t. white pepper
2 pound pork
1/4c. coconut flour
1/4c. almond meal
1 head of cabbage
1 egg

1. Start a large pot of water boiling.
2. Heat fat of choice in a skillet and add the onion and carrots.  Cook until the onion is soft.
3. Add the garlic and ginger and cook about 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the white wine and deglaze the pan (about 1 minute) then add the aminos and fish sauce. Stir to mix.
5. Add the coconut milk and cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid is gone.
6. Scrape into a large mixing bowl and add the spices.  Mix well.
7. Once the onion mixture has cooled a little, add the ground pork and mix well to incorporate all the spices.
8. Separate the leaves of the cabbage and blanch in the boiling pot of water until soft.  Remove and set in a colander to drain.
9.  To assemble: dry the cabbage leaves with a paper towel, scoop a spoonful of the pork mixture at the stem end of the cabbage leaf and roll up folding the edge in after the first roll.
10. Coat the roll in the egg mixture, then roll in the almond meal/coconut flour mixture.
11. Fry up in a skillet with the fat of your choice.


*If you don't want to go through the trouble of blanching the cabbage and rolling you can just chop the cabbage and cook in a skillet and make burger patties out of the pork mixture (I added some of the almond meal/coconut flour mixture to the meat just to have that flavor in there).  They aren't as pretty but just as tasty.

Tostones filled with Cuban Pork Roast

Every now and then I make something that knocks my socks off. Maybe it's because I sometimes just wing it in the kitchen and perhaps it's because I'm trying new ingredients and don't know what to expect. But I just love it when it happens.

A few days ago I was checking out the new post at Modern Paleo Warfare and was completely inspired to try out a new ingredient, plantains.  Now, I think that I have tried a plantain before but since I can't really remember what I did with it, I'm not going to count it.  So for all intents and purposes I'm saying that this is the first time I've used a plantain.

I had decided that I wanted to pair the plantains with pork and I wanted to do something a little Cuban or Caribbean inspired.  I also had come across a site selling tostones (fried plantains) presses.  One of the presses would make little cups and I found these totally cute so I had to try!

I'm pretty sure that tostones are my new favorite thing.  I can't get over the chip like quality they had after frying.  These will take care of a chip craving if you are having one.  They would be perfect for salsa if you want chips and dip.  Plantains aren't sweet like bananas are and are quite starchy.  Perfect for chips, right?!  The green plantains (which are unripe plantains) aren't sweet at all and are perfect for frying.  Heck, for all I know the black (ripe) ones may fry up well too.  A few days ago I had read about soaking the green plantains in salt water and then peeling them and slicing but I had forgot all of that by the time I went out today and purchase them.  I got home and sliced them in about 1 inch chunks and then scored the peel and pulled it off.  I didn't have any problem at all with removing the peel.  I'm not sure why those recipes said to soak them first.  Perhaps it was for flavor and not ease of peeling.  Anyway, I did not soak them because I was really wanting to get started.  To make the plantain chunks into cups I just put each chunk (after frying it first) into a well of a mini muffin pan and using a tart shaper I pressed down until I formed a little cup.  I took them out and put them back in the oil for the second fry.  *Note: I found it easier to press the plantain chunks into cup form while the chunks were still hot from frying.*  Alright, enough babbling!!  Let's get on with a photo and the recipe!

 
Tostones filled with Cuban Pork Roast

For the pork:
1-2 pounds of pork roast cut into chunks
1 small onion, diced
1T of garlic, diced
1/2 of a tiny bottle of white wine (93 mL)
2t. cumin
1t  mexican oregano, crush it in your palms when you add it to the pot
1/2t. smoked paprika
1/2 C orange juice
juice from half a lime
juice from half a lemon
zest of one lime
zest of one lemon
1/2 C chicken stock
1/2 can of coconut milk (I used the cream and not the watery part of my can)
salt and pepper to taste
1T. chopped cilantro
1-2T of FOC (I prefer bacon grease or lard)

1. Heat the fat of your choice in a dutch oven.  Once hot add the pork in batches and sear until browned.  Remove from the pot to a plate with a slotted spoon.
2.  Add the onion and garlic to the pot and saute until it starts to soften.  Add the wine to deglaze the pot.
3.  Add the pork back to the pot with the onion and garlic.  Add the cumin, mexican oregano and smoked paprika to the pot and stir.
4.  Add the orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, chicken stock and the zest to the pot.  Bring to boil and cover.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.
5.  Add the coconut cream and mix well.  Add salt and pepper. Cover and simmer another 10 minutes.
6.  Remove the lid and allow the mixture to cook at a fast simmer until most of the liquid evaporates and a thick sauce remains.
7.  Remove the chunks of meat with a slotted spoon to a cutting board.  Roughly chop the chunks to get a small bites of meat.  Add back to the sauce in the pot, add the cilantro and mix well to coat.

For the tostones:

3 unripe (green) plantains
FOC

1. Cut the plantains into 1 inch chunks (they should fit in the mini muffin well without sticking out the top).
2. When the fat/oil is hot, add the plantain chunks and fry until lightly golden.  Remove from grease to a paper towel.
3.  Place the fried plantain chunk into the muffin well and press down firmly with a tart shaper.  Remove the plantain cup and place it back in the oil for the second fry.
4.  Fry until they are a deep golden/lightly browned color and remove.
5.  Fill the tostones cups with the meat mixture and sprinkle with some extra cilantro and maybe a dab of fresh salsa or guacamole.

*I had plenty of meat leftover so you could buy a couple more plantains.
*Don't forget to press the plantain chunks while they are hot.  I found they pressed easier while hot.
*If you don't have Mexican Oregano don't worry about it.  However, please do not replace it with the old standard oregano.  They are completely different and you wouldn't want your Cuban feast to taste Italian would you?

Pork in Coconut Milk

Back to my 3 ring binder I went in the hopes of finding a recipe for the pork steak I defrosted.  What I found was a recipe that I printed from the NY Times.  It turned out so much better than I hoped and will certainly be a go to recipe for me.  It's super simple and the flavors are great!  I paired it with some sauteed kale and it was out of this world.  Well, that might be a little over the top but it was really good.  Sorry I don't have a picture with the kale on the plate but I added it as an after thought.  I had tried kale a few times before and wasn't that crazy about it.  But it paired up really well with this dish which I hadn't planned on.  It was so yummy that I told my brother-in-law that he should try it.  My sister and her husband (they are still scared by Paleo) ate a plateful and said it was really tasty.  So, I may get them converted at some point.

Pork in Coconut Milk

2T neutral oil, grape seed
2-3 pounds pork shoulder steak, cubed
3-4 T shallots, diced
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1T minced fresh ginger
2 cans unsweetened coconut milk
1 T. coconut aminos or tamari
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven.  Add the pork and brown, season with the salt and pepper.
2. Once pork is browned, add the shallots, jalapenos and ginger.  Cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the coconut milk and coconut aminos and/or tamari.  Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Serve with kale.

Sauteed Kale
1-2 bunches of kale, chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
2-3 pieces of bacon, chopped
1-2 T water

1. Cook the bacon bits in a large skillet until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy.
2. Add the onion and cook until it begins to get soft.
3. Toss in the kale and the water and cover the skillet.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Grill Time!

It's not often that my Sister and I have the same day off.  When we do we usually plan to hang out and generally plan dinner for the night.  Since the weather has been warming up, I knew I wanted to get my little Lodge Sportsman grill out and throw some stuff on.  So tonight we decided on ribs and we picked up a wide assortment of veggies at the grocery store.  I didn't take a pic of my plate but my sister broke out her iPhone and snapped a shot.

We put 2 slabs of babybacks on the grill and used two different homemade dry rubs.  They were both awesome!  The first was a Memphis style rub and the other is a seasoning rub that Emeril makes called Bayou Blast.  It was a toss up but I think I preferred the Bayou Blast.  We served it with roasted brussel sprouts, Mediterranean green beans and a warm salad comprised of zucchini & yellow squash, red onions, asparagus and a medley of olives in a oil/wine brine.  It was a wonderful meal.

Memphis Rub

• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cayenne

Bayou Blast

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Mediterranean Green Beans

• 1 lb. green beans, top and cut in half
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• juice from 1/2 a lemon

1.  Saute the onion in olive oil until soft.
2.  Add the garlic and cook until it's aromatic.
3.  After rinsing the green beans add them to the skillet while the water still clings to them.  Cook until they are all bright green.
4.  Add the tomatoes and a little water if necessary.  Cover and simmer until they are cooked through.
5.  Add the lemon juice and toss.

*I've never really timed it but I think it takes about 30-35 minutes for the green beans to cook.  Make sure they don't dry out. 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

My favorite way to have them!  Just cut the ends off and remove outer leaves.  Cut them half and toss in a bowl with olive oil and pepper.  Put them in a baking dish and pop in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, tossing midway through the cook time.

Squash Asparagus and Onion Salad

For the warm salad we just cut the squashes into spears, the onion into thick slices and the asparagus into thirds.  We cooked them all in a grill pan then tossed with the olives and their brine.

Dinner Pics

Just wanted to put a few dinner pics up.  I need to do better about this but I usually cook in the evening and when I get done I just want to eat a be done with the day.  Recently I've been thinking a lot about the quality of foods that I've been buying.  I wish I were able to afford grass fed meats, game meats and organic veggies but the truth is I can't.  I am on a very, very limited budget and the organic/grass fed products are about double the price of traditional grocery fare.  I've got to make my funds go as far a possible.  I live very sparingly so there really is no way to make cuts in order to pay for better food.  I do work in a few items such as nitrate free bacon.  I am hoping to hunt for some game meat this year starting with turkey this spring.  I'm also pretty excited about my parents buying chicks this spring which means farm fresh eggs and maybe some fryers for butchering.  This will all help reduce the grocery bill while adding quality meat/eggs to the table.  I know that I spend a lot less on food because I no longer eat take out and I don't eat near the quantity that I previously did.

Anyway, here are some food pics of some recent dishes.  First up is a meal pic of grilled salmon, brussel sprouts and swiss chard.  I wasn't real keen on the chard but that may have been due to the preparation.  I had found a recipe that called for some lemon juice but I think it made it to sour/bitter for my liking.  I might try chard in the future but right now I'm in love with collard greens.

Here are some pork chops that I dusted with coconut flour.  They were pretty tasty.

This is mashed cauliflower that I added a little bit of coconut milk to in order to gain a little creaminess.  They were delicious with the chops and some collard greens.

Tonight I cooked some Italian sausage up then added onions and peppers to the skillet until they were soft and starting to caramelize.  Then I added a little organic sugar free mushroom pasta sauce that I found in the health market section of Hy-Vee.  I served this atop some spaghetti squash and thought it was absolutely scrumptious!!

Before I go, I wanted to share a couple of links that I stumbled across during the past week that will make hunting and gathering recipes more enjoyable.  As you know, I'm always checking TasteSpotting for veggie and meat recipes that I can tweak or use for inspiration.  Sometimes looking at all those cupcakes, cookies and pasta pics makes me miss the old days.  Well, not anymore!  I've discovered a couple of sites that are TasteSpotting-esque but for Paleo chefs!!!  They are called The Foodee and Chowstalker.  Now I can gaze at food pics all day long and feel good about it!!!  Yippeee!

Please, pack your knives and go.

I think the first thing I learned when trying to lead a Paleo lifestyle is preparation.  It's the key to success.  In my early efforts I would fail to buy the right things at the grocery store.  Overbuying some weeks and falling short on others.  I would sometimes get home with three different types of squashes and no other veggies.  I was a disaster when it came to grocery shopping and awful at preparation.  I'm doing a little better now and I must say that I really like the menu lists and shopping lists that Paleo Plan provides me.  The past couple of weeks I have ventured out on my own and haven't used the lists.  I think I've done a fairly good job with purchasing and preparing my meals without guidance.

Another obstacle is my work week.  I work 12 hour shifts and every other weekend I put in 4 days in a row.  During this time I don't like to do anything except get up, shower and grab a bite for breakfast.  I then gather my lunch and dinner out of the fridge and put it in a sack and head to work.  When I get home I go right to bed.  So I try to prepare all my meals in advance for this little stretch.  That's my key to eating Paleo during this time.  In my pre-Paleo days I would hit the drive thru, order take out, raid the candy bins in the cafeteria and eat whatever meal I brought with me (spaghetti, enchiladas,etc).

I truly enjoy cooking and while I may not be a top chef in the kitchen, I think I do a pretty decent job for someone who just started cooking in the past couple of years.  Sure, sometimes I bomb and from time to time I make something inedible but since it's just me eating this food I don't really worry about it.  I'm just glad I'm not cooking for these three.  

Here are some pics of what will be on my lunch and dinner menu while I work this week.

Omelette Muffins for breakfast so I don't have to cook in the morning!  I just chop up whatever veggie I have, saute some onions and sausage and put a scoop in each muffin tin and fill with beaten eggs.  I bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  I use a jumbo tin so for a regular size tin just cut back the time.  They freeze up great and I just pop one in the microwave in the morning to heat it up.  Great time saver!

Mashed Rutabaga is going to be a side dish for some leftover braised shortribs that I had earlier in the week.  I just cubed up the rutabagas and tossed them in a small pot with some water and boiled, covered until they were soft and then I mashed them with a little chicken stock.  I found the recipe for the braised shortribs here.  I simply made whatever adjustments I needed to the recipe in order to make it my style of Paleo.

Baked chicken leg quarters using a recipe in one of my Rick Bayless cookbooks.  This one called for making a little marinade with orange juice, mexican oregano, diced garlic, ground canela, cloves, apple cider vinegar and pasilla chile powder.

Sauteed Kale in tomato sauce.  I find that I always make kale with a tomato sauce so the next time I'm going to search for a recipe sans tomato.  I suspect I do this because I'm still trying to get use to the taste of kale as well as other dark greens.  I never ate these in my pre-Paleo days so I'm trying to acquire a taste for them.  I simply soaked some ancho chiles and then ground them up in my vita-mixer with some crushed tomatoes and chicken stock.  I sauteed some onions in a skillet and then added the tomato-chile mixture.  I let it cook for a minute or so then added the chopped kale and covered it so the kale could steam.

Jumbo pork chop braised in some apple juice with aromatics.  I mix in some crushed ginger with the apple juice and then chopped up some celery, apple and onion.  I put this all in a baking dish and baked the chop until I thought it was done.  I think I may have over cooked my protein which would get me booted off Top Chef.  Thankfully Tom, Gail and Padma  aren't critiquing my dish.