Beef stew

I haven't made beef stew in a while. This time I thought I'd write down my basic recipe. :)

You're going to need some SCD legal beef stock, so make that first.

BEEF STOCK

1.5 pounds beef marrow bones or shank bones
water

Toss the bones into your crockpot with a quartered onion, some garlic, a few carrots, some whole peppercorns, a glug of vinegar, and a stick of celery if desired. Heat on high until the mixture comes to a simmer.

Leave your crock pot on whatever temperature keeps the mix bubbling. Check it every six hours or so and add more water.

Strain and discard bones and veggies after 24 hours.

OK, so you should have somewhere in the neighborhood of six cups of stock, if you used a 4 quart crockpot.

BEEF STEW

6 cups beef stock
2-3 onions
3-5 pounds stew beef
1/3 cup SCD legal red wine
1 pound fresh or frozen green beans
1 pound fresh or frozen carrots
1 pound frozen spinach
2 bay leaves
16 oz tomato juice
1 tsp ground celery seed (if desired)
1 tsp garlic (or more whole garlic cloves)
2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp salt

Brown the beef (in batches if you have to) with onions and a little olive oil (or reserved bacon grease - yum!). I used five pounds of beef and so I browned it in two batches, with one onion per batch.

Dump the beef into a very large stock pot with the six cups of stock. Deglaze your pan with the red wine. This is a fancy way of saying pour the wine in, let it bubble for a second, and then scrape out all the delicious bits and wine into your stew pot.

Add the beans, carrots, spinach, tomato juice, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Check the liquid level in your pot -- you don't want it too full, and if you're using frozen veggies, make sure you leave enough room for the melted ice water. Bring to a boil and then simmer with a splatter shield on or a lid slightly ajar. Add water as necessary until the meat is done and falling apart (this can take an hour or longer).

Is this a lot of work? Kind of. But most of the steps are just you throwing stuff in a pot and walking away. Plus, you end up with a huge amount of leftovers, so I'm OK with it. :)



Enjoy!

Chai

I've had a recipe for chai for a while now, and I haven't really had much success with it. Until today, anyway!

This is a nice, mild chai recipe. I'm not going to lie to you -- if you want to make your own chai, you're going to have to order some special stuff for it. Luckily, it's not too hard to find. Penzeys and The Spice House offer whole spices that are SCD legal, and The Spice House offers muslin bags.

I know, I know, muslin bags? In essence, to make your own chai, you need to make your own tea bag. Muslin bags are inexpensive and reusable, so don't forget to order a few when you order your chai spices.

OK, enough of that. Here's what you need:

SCD LEGAL CHAI TEA

2 c water
2 black tea bags (earl grey can be used), or 1 tbsp loose black tea
6 whole green cardamom pods
1 tsp whole fennel seeds (or 1/2 tsp ground fennel)
10 peppercorns

Put the cardamom pods in the muslin bag. Use the back of a measuring cup to bang on the pods. You want them open and the seeds inside to be partially crushed.

Add the rest of the spices to the muslin bag and draw it up tight. Put the bag in the water and bring to a boil.

Simmer for five minutes, and then add the tea bags. Simmer for another five minutes. Turn the heat off and let it sit for 2-3 minutes more. Pull out all your tea bags.

Put a little honey in the bottom of a large mug (I use about 1 tsp). Add the chai tea and 1/3 cup coconut milk.

Serves one person. :)

You can adjust the strength by putting the black tea in earlier or later. Try it out a few different ways until you find a strength you like.

Enjoy! :)

Ginger spice cookies

What, another recipe in one day?!

It's true.

I'm actually in the midst of a bit of a cooking marathon. I've got marrow bones in the crock pot for 24 hour beef broth, I made Murgh Kabuli for lunch, I've got green beans steaming, and I just finished making these ginger spice cookies.

I've still got to make hard boiled eggs and hamburgers, but I thought I'd take a little break. :)

I've tried to make ginger spice cookies before and they were a dismal failure. I have been trying to clean out a completely full notebook of mine, and thus I came across the failed recipe today. With a few tweaks, I had success! So here you go.



These cookies taste light and not too sweet. I think with raisins they'd make a great fake oatmeal raisin cookie!

SCD LEGAL (ITALIAN) GINGER SPICE COOKIES

2 cups almond meal (I used the Trader Joe's brand)
1/3 c palm shortening
1/3 c honey
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon or allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Grease two cookie sheets with extra shortening. Beat all ingredients together and drop onto trays, about 2" apart or so. Bake at 325 (or 300, depending on your oven) degrees for about 15 minutes -- watch the bottoms for burning. Cookies should be evenly golden brown.

Makes about 14 cookies.

Let them cool completely... if you can wait that long. We couldn't. :)

EDITS: I changed the temperature, and I added the word "Italian" to the recipe. I am Italian, so I figure I'm allowed. LOL.

Murgh Kabuli

Today I finally finished up my recipe for SCD legal Murgh Kabuli.

Obviously this isn't an authentic recipe, but it's close enough for me!

I never had the chance to really fall in love with Indian food, before I learned that I wasn't going to be able to eat a whole bunch of foods. I do remember sharing a meal with my very best friend from college, and dipping naan into palak paneer, which I thought was absolutely amazing. That was the only time I enjoyed Indian food before realizing I was unable to eat gluten.

So I've been interested in trying more ethnic recipes for some time.

I cobbled this together from a variety of sources; I expect it would work well in a crock pot too.

SCD LEGAL MURGH KABULI (STAGE TWO, STAGE THREE WITH ONION)

EDIT: 2 chopped onions
3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp almond butter
1/4 c coconut oil
1 can SCD legal coconut milk (Trader Joe's makes a legal one)
2 tsp SCD legal garlic powder OR up to six cloves garlic
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a large skillet, combine 2 tsp garlic, 2 tsp ginger, 1/4 c coconut oil, and half the can of coconut milk. Turn the heat on medium, and add the chopped tomatoes.

EDIT: If you're using onions, start by sauteing the onions in the coconut oil until translucent, then add the garlic.

Cut the chicken into 1" pieces (I use kitchen shears) and add it to the pan while the skillet is heating up. Add 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cumin, and 2 tsp coriander

Mix it all together and place a lid on the pan slightly ajar. Simmer for 30 minutes on medium.

Check the chicken (it should be done). Add 2 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 tsp pepper, the rest of the coconut milk, and 2 tsp salt. Stir well, turn off the heat, and let sit for 15 minutes.

When serving it, taste it, and if desired, top with a drizzle of honey and a touch more salt.

Enjoy!

Meatloaf

I loooove meatloaf. Of course, most recipes involve breadcrumbs. I've decided to omit them, and I've come up with a pretty basic recipe that works for us, so I'll share it with you here.

But! I'm also going to give you tips on making meatloaf in bulk.

Generally I make four meatloaves at one time, each of them weighing in at about 1.5 pounds.

First, I get my largest Pyrex bowl and a small bowl or container.

I measure two sets of the spices listed below -- one set into the large bowl, and one set into the small bowl/container.

Then I dump three pounds of ground beef in with the spices in the large bowl. I mix well, and shape this into two loaves, which go into a prepared foil-lined pan.

I then dump the smaller container of spices into the now-empty bowl, add three more pounds of ground beef, and mix and shape two more loaves.

Voila! Six pounds of meatloaf, baking at once and ready for your whole week (or for freezing).

Here's my three-pound recipe.

MEATLOAF (STAGE TWO)

3 pounds ground beef
3 tbsps SCD legal onion powder
1 tbsp SCD legal garlic powder
2 eggs
1 tbsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 tbsp salt

Mix well and divide into two (or three) loaves. Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour, or until a meat thermometer shows 165.

As a variation, you can add about 1 pound steamed spinach per 3 pounds beef.

ETA: OR try my stage one version here!

Serve with SCD legal ketchup (reduced Campbell's tomato juice). Yum!

Fat, addicting foods

You may have seen a recent news report that stated that high fat foods were "addictive."

Instead of linking to the report, I'll just link you to the Fat Head analysis.

I admit, I hit the roof when I read about it, because they almost completely ignore the role of SUGAR in the addictive nature of certain foods.

I doubt very much that the rats couldn't stop eating a plain stick of butter. Have you ever tried to eat just butter? I can do it in small amounts, but I guarantee you I couldn't eat the whole stick.

But if you soften the butter and mix it up with sugar, I'm betting you could eat it all juuuuust fine.

Blah!