Hunting through an unfamiliar supermarket, I happened upon a couple of bags of lamb escalopes in the cheap section ... unable to open the bags to take a look, it was pot-luck but it worked out well. Home, I found a number of thin slices of lamb leg ready for the skillet ...
For serving, I grabbed a good handful of leaves, added some carrot ribbons, green olives, capers and cubes of feta cheese, black pepper, sea salt and some poppy seeds.
Mushrooms, sliced and sautéed in butter for garnish over the meat.
Gorgeous!
28/12/2014
22/12/2014
Fajita Filling!
Fancying a quick dinner, I thought about Fajitas but just made up extra filling to go with a light salad and some yoghurt ...
The chicken Fajita Filling is simply chicken strips fried off in a large skillet with some coconut oil, herbs and spices sprinkled over: paprika, turmeric, coriander, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper and some marjoram, green pepper added then red cabbage.
Serve out with a leafy green salad and a bowl of probiotic natural yoghurt.
Eat, enjoy, feel replete.
The chicken Fajita Filling is simply chicken strips fried off in a large skillet with some coconut oil, herbs and spices sprinkled over: paprika, turmeric, coriander, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper and some marjoram, green pepper added then red cabbage.
Serve out with a leafy green salad and a bowl of probiotic natural yoghurt.
Eat, enjoy, feel replete.
21/12/2014
Mid-Winter Venison Meatballs
Mid-Winter, you want nothing more than good food on a plate ...
Venison meatballs with a creamy green peppercorn sauce, potatoes roasted in goose fat, red cabbage boiled with apples, honey, cinnamon & allspice and steamed sprouts turned with clementines.
Too gorgeous!
Venison meatballs with a creamy green peppercorn sauce, potatoes roasted in goose fat, red cabbage boiled with apples, honey, cinnamon & allspice and steamed sprouts turned with clementines.
Too gorgeous!
14/12/2014
Haggis, Neaps & Tatties
Sunday dinner ...
Traditional Scots serving: Haggis with neaps and tatties, or mashed parsnip and potato. Greenage is tenderstem broccoli, peas and some baby kale which can be eaten like salad leaves.
Yes, Haggis is not Primal, but it is primal ... I mean, just how much more primal can you get: take all the offals left over and stuff it into the stomach then boil it. Granted, there is some barley in there, I think, perhaps oatmeal. The ingredients are pretty sparse, so I think I got a good one.
Bloody tasty, nevertheless ...
Traditional Scots serving: Haggis with neaps and tatties, or mashed parsnip and potato. Greenage is tenderstem broccoli, peas and some baby kale which can be eaten like salad leaves.
Yes, Haggis is not Primal, but it is primal ... I mean, just how much more primal can you get: take all the offals left over and stuff it into the stomach then boil it. Granted, there is some barley in there, I think, perhaps oatmeal. The ingredients are pretty sparse, so I think I got a good one.
Bloody tasty, nevertheless ...
13/12/2014
Winter Chicken Salad
Cruising around the supermarket, I happened upon some baby kale. Baby kale? Like kale, but the young leaves which can be eaten as salad or just lightly cooked through in a little butter. Massive in vitamin K, vitamins A & C, calcium and manganese if you want the nutritional benefits.
Anyway ...
It's the middle of winter and I'm holding a bag of salad leaves, but inspiration came to me with one seasonal ray of sunshine that I look forward to every Christmas: Clementines.
So, baby kale, clementines ... and there are some chicken thighs in the reduced section. See? When you eat primal, nature (or rather the supermarket) makes your plate for you! It really is, just put real food together. Even if it is salad, in the middle of winter!
Chicken thighs are so simple to cook: just cover with water and commit to the oven for a few hours, the timing is largely irrelevant since a couple will do, four or five will not be too long. Low and slow, so 150C (300F) and just turn it down if you're not ready to eat.
Let's have some baby potatoes, too, sliced, par-boiled and sautéed in a little butter, some red onion and what's left of a couple of bell peppers. Icelandic ash salt and black pepper.
Crowning glory is the clementines. Slice through and dot around the salad.
Dinner is served!
Anyway ...
It's the middle of winter and I'm holding a bag of salad leaves, but inspiration came to me with one seasonal ray of sunshine that I look forward to every Christmas: Clementines.
So, baby kale, clementines ... and there are some chicken thighs in the reduced section. See? When you eat primal, nature (or rather the supermarket) makes your plate for you! It really is, just put real food together. Even if it is salad, in the middle of winter!
Chicken thighs are so simple to cook: just cover with water and commit to the oven for a few hours, the timing is largely irrelevant since a couple will do, four or five will not be too long. Low and slow, so 150C (300F) and just turn it down if you're not ready to eat.
Let's have some baby potatoes, too, sliced, par-boiled and sautéed in a little butter, some red onion and what's left of a couple of bell peppers. Icelandic ash salt and black pepper.
Crowning glory is the clementines. Slice through and dot around the salad.
Dinner is served!
12/12/2014
Turkey Steaks & Creamed Chicory
Creamed chicory goes so well with lighter meats like pork and chicken; tonight, with turkey ...
Chicory? You might know it as endive, but I know it as chicory, so ... it's creamed chicory. We're having it over turkey steaks on a bed of rice pasta combined with mushrooms and spinach.
Let's go!
Griddle pan on ...
Two small skillets out ...
Milk pan out ...
Turkey steaks on the griddle pan for maybe four or five minutes on one side, then flipped over.
Meanwhile, in one skillet soften your spinach with a little butter, sea salt and white pepper. Once wilted and reduced, remove to a chopping board and really smash it up! In the other skillet, soften some sliced mushrooms in a little butter.
Once the steaks are turned over ...
Combine the two into one skillet (the one that had the spinach in) and keep the other skillet (the one that had the mushrooms in) for the creamed endive, which is a simple case of removing the leaves from the core and pouring cream over ... low heat, sea salt, white pepper and perhaps some powdered garlic, certainly some herbs: chopped parsley. Control the heat to just wilt the chicory and slightly reduce the cream.
Ready to eat?
The rice pasta that I like cooks simply with boiling water poured over for 60 seconds. Let's do that and then retrieve the now cooked pasta into the skillet with the spinach and mushrooms, splash of olive oil and combine together.
Plate up with the pasta down, the turkey steaks sliced on a Chef's angle and crowned with the creamed chicory sauce.
Super!
Chicory? You might know it as endive, but I know it as chicory, so ... it's creamed chicory. We're having it over turkey steaks on a bed of rice pasta combined with mushrooms and spinach.
Let's go!
Griddle pan on ...
Two small skillets out ...
Milk pan out ...
Turkey steaks on the griddle pan for maybe four or five minutes on one side, then flipped over.
Meanwhile, in one skillet soften your spinach with a little butter, sea salt and white pepper. Once wilted and reduced, remove to a chopping board and really smash it up! In the other skillet, soften some sliced mushrooms in a little butter.
Once the steaks are turned over ...
Combine the two into one skillet (the one that had the spinach in) and keep the other skillet (the one that had the mushrooms in) for the creamed endive, which is a simple case of removing the leaves from the core and pouring cream over ... low heat, sea salt, white pepper and perhaps some powdered garlic, certainly some herbs: chopped parsley. Control the heat to just wilt the chicory and slightly reduce the cream.
Ready to eat?
The rice pasta that I like cooks simply with boiling water poured over for 60 seconds. Let's do that and then retrieve the now cooked pasta into the skillet with the spinach and mushrooms, splash of olive oil and combine together.
Plate up with the pasta down, the turkey steaks sliced on a Chef's angle and crowned with the creamed chicory sauce.
Super!
08/12/2014
Haddock & Crushed Potatoes
Monday evening and I just want something quick ...
Kettle on, water boiled ... pototoes on and a steamer of broccoli, asparagus & peas and a couple of lime wedges ready to go on towards the end.
Small skillet on, cream, sliced mushrooms, garlic powder, white pepper, smoked sea salt and chopped dill. Low, slow heat ... let the mushrooms colour through the cream which will reduce to a thick and suptuous sauce.
Almost there ...
Pop the steamer over the potatoes and get a larger skillet on with some butter. Pan fry the haddock fillets for three or four minutes on the presentation side then flip over and remove from the heat allowing the heat from the pan to finish the cooking.
Meanwhile, crush some butter into the potatoes, add in sliced spring onions and some sliced chicory.
Server out, potatoes down in the middle, green vegetables over to one side and the fish the other, sauce over the fish.
Monday dinner, done!
Kettle on, water boiled ... pototoes on and a steamer of broccoli, asparagus & peas and a couple of lime wedges ready to go on towards the end.
Small skillet on, cream, sliced mushrooms, garlic powder, white pepper, smoked sea salt and chopped dill. Low, slow heat ... let the mushrooms colour through the cream which will reduce to a thick and suptuous sauce.
Almost there ...
Pop the steamer over the potatoes and get a larger skillet on with some butter. Pan fry the haddock fillets for three or four minutes on the presentation side then flip over and remove from the heat allowing the heat from the pan to finish the cooking.
Meanwhile, crush some butter into the potatoes, add in sliced spring onions and some sliced chicory.
Server out, potatoes down in the middle, green vegetables over to one side and the fish the other, sauce over the fish.
Monday dinner, done!
06/12/2014
Rice & Peas, Jerk Chicken ... and Breakfast
I'm experimenting with occasional meals that include legumes, just a small, select few: so, Puy lentils, green lentils, red lentils, black beans and gungo beans.
Tonight, it's that Jamaican classic: Rice & Peas with Jerk Chicken ...
Jerk Chicken
My jerk sauce is simple: crushed up Scotch Bonnet peppers, spring onions, sea salt, fresh thyme and olive oil. Massage into the chicken (I went with some drumsticks), slashed ... and commit to the oven for about an hour at 200C (400F?), turning over once during the cooking.
... which leaves us perfectly sufficient time to cook the Rice & Peas.
Rice & Peas
Rice & Peas should not be rushed. Personally, I think of it like a Pilaf but with coconut milk in place of the stock, and if you keep that in mind your Rice & Peas will come out perfect!
Take a large skillet and soften some finely chopped onion in butter.
Add the rice (remember, rice will swell up during cooking, so have a sufficient sized skillet) for which I go with a ramekin amount per person, which will make plenty for a dinner and plenty left over. Just allow the rice to get coated in the remaining butter.
Add a pint of chicken stock and boil hard and fast for about five minutes after which the liquid will be slightly reduced and the rice well on its way.
Add in a 400g can of coconut milk and a 400g can of gungo beans. That's the peas.
Low heat and very gently simmer for the remainder of the time it takes to cook the chicken through. If your rice is fully cooked, just add as splash of water to keep it going until you're ready.
Serve
Serve out a mound of Rice & Peas and lay the chicken alongside.
Drink? Guinness, of course, in my case a pack of Foreign Extra from the Nigerian brewery. Awesome!
Anyone else experimenting with legumes in their primal paradigm?
Breakfast
Leftovers. Breakfast is leftovers ... and something easy enough to come by, say some eggs or a fish.
Sprats for me! I love 'em! Whole, heads, guts in, the lot ... so does my mog, especially the crunchy heads.
Tonight, it's that Jamaican classic: Rice & Peas with Jerk Chicken ...
Jerk Chicken
My jerk sauce is simple: crushed up Scotch Bonnet peppers, spring onions, sea salt, fresh thyme and olive oil. Massage into the chicken (I went with some drumsticks), slashed ... and commit to the oven for about an hour at 200C (400F?), turning over once during the cooking.
... which leaves us perfectly sufficient time to cook the Rice & Peas.
Rice & Peas
Rice & Peas should not be rushed. Personally, I think of it like a Pilaf but with coconut milk in place of the stock, and if you keep that in mind your Rice & Peas will come out perfect!
Take a large skillet and soften some finely chopped onion in butter.
Add the rice (remember, rice will swell up during cooking, so have a sufficient sized skillet) for which I go with a ramekin amount per person, which will make plenty for a dinner and plenty left over. Just allow the rice to get coated in the remaining butter.
Add a pint of chicken stock and boil hard and fast for about five minutes after which the liquid will be slightly reduced and the rice well on its way.
Add in a 400g can of coconut milk and a 400g can of gungo beans. That's the peas.
Low heat and very gently simmer for the remainder of the time it takes to cook the chicken through. If your rice is fully cooked, just add as splash of water to keep it going until you're ready.
Serve
Serve out a mound of Rice & Peas and lay the chicken alongside.
Drink? Guinness, of course, in my case a pack of Foreign Extra from the Nigerian brewery. Awesome!
Anyone else experimenting with legumes in their primal paradigm?
Breakfast
Leftovers. Breakfast is leftovers ... and something easy enough to come by, say some eggs or a fish.
Sprats for me! I love 'em! Whole, heads, guts in, the lot ... so does my mog, especially the crunchy heads.
03/12/2014
Alternative Spag Bol!
Spag Bol is not Spaghetti Bolognaise. Spag Bol is a British institution, a dish done quite wrong what with the sauce not being incorporated into the pasta, but so what? It's Spag Bol and the sauce on top of the pasta is how it's done. Deal with it ...
Spag Bol is: beef mince, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano, carrots, mushrooms and stock.
Carrots and mushrooms, neither of which I have in so I went with butternut squash and courgette, both of which I did have in.
It worked out well ...
Same drill, beef mince, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano, butternut squash, courgette and stock. Serve over pasta - in my case, a rice noodle which is a bit like tagliatelle. Fresh basil to garnish.
Spag Bol is: beef mince, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano, carrots, mushrooms and stock.
Carrots and mushrooms, neither of which I have in so I went with butternut squash and courgette, both of which I did have in.
It worked out well ...
Same drill, beef mince, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano, butternut squash, courgette and stock. Serve over pasta - in my case, a rice noodle which is a bit like tagliatelle. Fresh basil to garnish.
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