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!

Cod with Cavolo Nero & Puy Lentils

Lentils are something that I enjoy eating on occasion, Puy lentils a variety I regard as quite special.

Today, a variation on a classic Cod & Puy - you can read my thoughts on lentils in the link, but generally, I regard them as fairly inoffensive and perfectly good to eat every now and again ... if that's what you want to do.

Puy lentils, a Protected Designation of Origin green lentil variety from the Le Puy region of France owes its distinct character to the terroir within which it grows.

It's autumn, and so I'm bulking this meal out a little ...

Constituents

Fish - Cod, although any white fish will do, skin on and fried in butter

Cavolo Nero & Puy Lentils - Cavolo Nero, Puy lentils, sea salt, black pepper, sprinkle of chilli flakes and your favourite paleo fat, goose fat, here

Method

Steam your Cavolo Nero for a few minutes before transferring to a large skillet with your favourite paleo fat, toss in the drained lentils, add sea salt and black pepper along with a sprinkle of chilli flakes and warm through.

Warm some butter through in another skillet and fry the fish, skin side down for a few minutes. Loosen the fish by giving the skillet a gentle shake and flip over. Switch the heat off and let the other side cook through in the residual heat for a really tender piece of fish.

Serve out, kale and lentils down with the cod to crown.

Spicy Grilled Fish

Inspired by a Mexican dish of food I saw on the internet, I made my own grilled fish, black beans and rice with a little salad underneath and boiled egg with guacamole alongside.

It's all fairy self-explanatory ...

Gut and scale a fish, any fish - it was a sea bass for me, slash it and rub some paste in. My paste is a jerk seasoning of thyme, spring onions and Scotch Bonnet pepper with a little salt. Grill for 15 minutes each side.

Meanwhile cook your rice, your beans - the adventurous might want to combine these with some coconut milk for a Jamaican-style Rice & Peas; make a little salad, boil your eggs and make up a Holy Guacamole by blending avocado with lime juice and salt.

Plate up!

Mrs didn't like hers, which was great for me since leftovers make fantastic breakfasts ... just bung the lot into a skillet with some good fat: goose fat, for me.

I've said it before, but this is living proof that good, real food is simply a case of putting good ingredients together. No recipe, no method, just cook some real food and put it on a plate ... re-cook it and put it on a plate.

Swordfish Curry & Armadillos!

I've said it once, I've said it many a time ... ancestral eating is simply a case of putting good food together and enjoying it. What grows together goes together; what grows at the same time goes together.

Local and seasonal.

Sometimes though, food combinations come together in the strangest of ways; flashes of genius, even if I say so myself ...

Armadillos!

Armadillos? Soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside!

I have some cottage cheese that wanted finishing. So, what to do? Shallow fried? Why the hell not!

Mix together your cottage cheese with tapioca starch (or manioc flour, or polviho azedo, or whatever you call it in your language ... I guess rice flour would do at a push). I kept adding flour and mixing until it made a stodgy puck.

Add in some flavour - I went with asafoetida and a minced chilli. In retrospect, a little salt would have been good.

Into about an inch of hot coconut oil drop balls of this mixture in and let it fry off. The balls will rise to the surface as they cook. Retrieve onto a piece of kitchen roll to absorb the excess fat and enjoy!

They puff up, crisp up and have a gorgeous crispy, chewy texture.

Swordfish Curry

Delicious as the cheese balls are, they're not a meal ...

I made up a main of roasted red peppers, red onion, garlic and chilli, blended to make a wet sauce into which went quartered cherry tomatoes, pieces of squash and pieces of courgette to cook through.

Once reduced, I stirred through cubes of swordfish, added a few peas, some ground coriander, fresh coriander, poppy seeds, black pepper and celery salt for a vibrant punch of flavour.

Garnish with fresh coriander, serve with the cheese balls and a light rocket salad of leaves, thin sliced cucumber, poppy seeds, cider vinegar, splash of olive oil, a little sea salt and some pine nuts.

Cracking!

Savoy Cabbage Pilaf

... a little puzzle.

I have a Savoy cabbage to eat and visiting family. Vegetarian visiting family, which on the face of it is simple: cook the cabbage, dinner done! While delicious, it's not especially nutritious and so, time for something fringe ancestral yet highly vegetarian.

I have a bag of "Broth Mix" which would appear to be a mix of spelt, lentils and peas. I also have regular white rice. With a few other ingredients, a well rounded dish with good macronutirent distribution can be made.

... and so I made up a sort of spelt, rice and lentil risotto, cabbage, avocado and tomato stirred in.

Start out with some good fat, coconut oil in my case, into which you soften a chopped onion and a few cloves of crushed garlic. Add the dry ingredients, add some bouillon, black pepper and water to cook through.

When the risotto is soft, stir through shredded cabbage and cook through for a few minutes.

Just prior to serving, stir through some chopped fresh parsley, cubed avocado and chopped tomato. Garnish with a good blob of soured cream and some paprika.

Cheats' Carne Asada

Carne Asada is simply grilled meat, nothing complex, nothing esoteric, nothing special, other than good, grilled meat and a bunch of salads.

Friday Night

Home, salad ingredients out, slug of Tequila (Salud!), time to kick back and get on with the preparation ...

I went with three salads, macerated red cabbage, marinated mushroom and green pepper, and a pico de gallo:

Shred red cabbage, pour over red wine vinegar and macerate for a good hour, turning regularly.

Slice mushrooms and green pepper, slosh over some avocado oil and some cider vinegar, add black pepper and marinate for a good hour.

Cut up some tomato and cucumber, fine chop a chilli and rough chop some coriander. Mix together and chill for a good hour.

On with the meat ....

You know what? I didn't have any meat, but I did have some burgers. 100% Venison burgers.

Flattened out a little more, grilled and sliced, it was passable ...

Served up with some avocado, boiled egg and a green chilli sauce of chopped green chillies, lime juice and avocado oil.

Gorgeous!

Primal Chow

I have absolutely no idea what to call this dish ...

It's a "use up" and "make it up as you go" kind of dish, which is pretty much how I cook, but this one is also curiously vegetarian. It is meat-less because I have no meat or fish available. And so, just a like a hunter/gatherer I have to do without when I don't have.

All I did here was to gently fry off some butternut squash in goose fat, adding in some sliced courgette and cooking through until the squash had gone beyond firm while the courgette retained some firmness.

I added a chilli, some black pepper and then turned out onto a plate tossing some avocado pieces over and some buffalo mozzarella.

With a good splash of olive oil, some freshly milled black pepper, Icelandic ash salt, shredded spring onions and some freshly chopped parsley, the dish is ready.

It was satisfying and it was good!

Corned Beef Poutine ... of sorts ...

Watching 'Diners, Drive-ins & Dives', Guy went north of the border to check out a Diner whose special was a Poutine with confit of duck leg.

I actually do have some duck legs in, but they're for another night ... tonight, I want something really quick, really easy and really flavourful. Junk food, in essence, done right.

So, tonight will be a Corned Beef Poutine.

Corned Beef to us (the Brits) comes in cans which I believe foreigners call Bully Beef. Anyway, that's what I'm using. That will be poured over some skinny chips (fries, if you prefer) fried off in goose fat and the cheese, I'm improvising, will be a stringy Emmental.

Ingredients

Meat & Gravy - Can of corned beef, goose fat, onion, mushrooms, manioc flour, garlic powder, black pepper, chillies & Guinness (yes, Guinness ... Original, please)
French Fries - Potatoes & goose fat
Cheese - Emmental

Meat & Gravy

Melt some goose fat in a heavy-based skillet and drop in a shredded onion. Saute on for a few minutes until softened and then add in some slices mushrooms, black pepper and garlic powder. Stir through to ensure the fats are all soaked up by the mushrooms.

Pour in about half a bottle of Guinness Original and sieve over a tablespoon of manioc flour. Set to reduce.

Drop in cubed corned beef, shredded chillies and reduce slowly, seasoning with salt at the end.

French Fries

Peel and slice up potatoes into skinny chips, frying off in goose fat in a heavy-based skillet.

Serve

French Fries down first, cheese on top and ladle the meat & gravy over.

Too gorgeous!

Sweet & Sour Cod

I had some cod to eat ... and some pointed sweet peppers.

Making up a sauce from condiments: Maggi Chilli Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, yuzu juice, rice wine vinegar, tomato puree, fish sauce, honey, garlic powder and black pepper, I simply poured that into a large skillet with some shredded onion, shredded sweet peppers and some coconut oil.

Cook through ...

In another skillet, touch of butter and fry off the cod, cut into pieces.

Just prior to serving, stir some bean sprouts through the Sweet & Sour Sauce, plate up the code and pour the sauce over.

Fun!

Lamb & Mint Chipolata, Black Beans & Colcannon

Happy St Patrick's Day!

More a meal that just came together than any forward planning ...

I've had it in mind to try home soaked beans for a while. After doing some reading, I settled on black beans, soaked 'em and boiled 'em. Intending them for later as refried beans with something Mexican on Friday, I settled them into the fridge ... but ... ended up using them as part of dinner this evening instead.

We were tired and wanted something quick, easy, tasty and slightly celebratory for St Patrick's Day and so, a pack of lamb and mint chipolatas came to the rescue as the core of the meal, these beans and some leftover wild garlic mashed potato with boiled savoy cabbage alongside.

Is it Irish? Not much, but I tipped my hat to them ... and my Guinness into the beans. I guess Lamb & Colcannon is a good enough nod and wink.

Lamb & Mint Chipolata

Into the oven at 180C for about half an hour.

Black Beans

Soak for 24 hours, changing the water once. One cup of beans to three cups of water. Once soaked and drained, boil for about an hour again in lots of water.

You can eat them at this point, or put them in the fridge for re-heating within a day or two.

I re-heated in pan along with a splash of Guinness (okay, half a pint), Worcestershire Sauce, some enoki mushrooms, a finely chopped chilli, half a finely chopped onion, black pepper and sea salt.

Cook on the hob for maybe 20 minutes to reduce the liquid and really soften the beans.

Colcannon

Simply combine mashed potato and boiled or steamed cabbage.

I had some leftover mashed potato and steamed some savoy cabbage to add to the party. Combine in a skillet with a little butter.

Serve

After about half an hour, we're good to serve ... beans down, sausages over, colcannon alongside.

n=1

Very tasty! Very tasty indeed and certainly a "do again".

I see beans, properly prepared, as useful in an ancestral diet, but a starvation food nevertheless. While meat, fish, shellfish, eggs and vegetables exist, why eat off the plate? Well, our ancestors did, so this in an ode to them.

Black beans are very nutritious and beneficial for digestive tract health, cardiovascular strength and blood sugar regulation. You can read all about them with a simple search on the internet, but perhaps qualify your search with the terms "paleo" and/or "resistant starch" alongside.

Soaked and boiled, perhaps chilled and re-heated, the health benefits do appear to dramatically outweigh any potential negative, and I say potential since the unhealthy phytochemicals are largely removed or neutered in the soaking and boiling.

Bloating? Gas? Wind? I'm happy to report none of the above.

So, I now have green lentils, Puy lentils and these black beans as potentially good sources of ancestral-friendly nutrition. The list is growing ...

Reading

whfoods.org: Black Beans
Free the Animal: Resistant Starch Dietary Guidelines

Rice Pudding [Impromptu ... from leftovers]

Rice Pudding? Is it paleo? Is it primal? Is it ancestral?

Nah! But ...

You cook a great stew, cook up some starch to go with it - rice for me, mashed potato for Mrs and you end up with some rice left over.

Well, you could chill it, which I gather increases the resistant starch element ... best hop over to Free the Animal for the skinny on that one; or, you could make up a quick pudding.

You're supposed to use pudding rice for rice pudding, or you could use tapioca, but we're making this on the fly, remember ...

Simply pour in some double cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon and reduce to a thick, sticky pudding. If you really can't eat this without sweetener, add whatever it is you do - palm sugar ain't so bad.

Thoughts?

Vegetable Stew [Leftovers]

Yesterday's leftovers make another meal today ...

Vegetable Stew

Beans, properly prepared, represent a reasonable source of protein while their dietary dangers are reduced to a level that our bodies in good order can deal with.

I was reminded of this after our daughter gave us a granddaughter the other day and I set about to fill her freezer with good food that can easily be defrosted and heated through. She eats vegetarian. I don't want to make her up ugly, heavy pasta dishes, but I do want to make her something good, wholesome and primal, and therein lies a problem: protein.

What I did was to make up a huge batch of vegetable stew: onion, squash, aubergine, courgette, peppers, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, marjoram, Worcestershire Sauce, a touch of bouillon, sea salt and black pepper. Butter beans provided the protein, to be boosted with cheese, freshly grated and melted over upon re-heating.

Sounds reasonable ...

It was a compromise, but nevertheless, good food with protein from acceptable sources, both primally and from a vegetarian standpoint.

... and so, I thought it's about time we had another experiment.

I made up exactly the same for us. It was very tasty and the beans made an interesting change for us. I do have to confess that I wimped out on trusting them for protein and quickly fried off a piece of tail end sea bass fillet each. Without the fish, it would be perfectly vegetarian.

We have leftovers ...

Tomorrow, they'll be mixed with some sausages and grated cheese over, maybe a fried egg.

Sino-Cymric Shredded Lamb

Probably about as bonkers as it can get, but how about a sort of Sino-Cymric dish for dinner?

Sino-Cymric? Hell, yeah, Japanese Welsh Fusion! It's so out there it can't possibly have been done ...

The Welsh: Lamb. Shoulder of, boned and rolled around a fascine of sage, thyme and rosemary.

The Japanese: Wasabi, Yuzu, Rice Vinegar & Chillies.

On purpose? Well, no. We'd been out for the day, got back about six without enough time to cook this joint, but I have a cunning plan ...

To do this, get hold of the following:

• Lamb joint - boned, rolled and stuffed with herbs
• Garlic & Lemon
• Yuzu, Rice Vinegar & Chillies
• Potato, Butter & Wasabi
• Vegetables - Sprouts, Carrots & Peas

Lamb

Place your joint on an oven-proof plate, garlic bulbs alongside, lemon wedges, too. Salt over.

Cover with kitchen foil and commit to the oven at 180C (350F?) for a good hour and a half.

The lamb will now be technically cooked, but pretty tough. It really wants another couple of hours at a lower temperature to soften up, but we didn't have the time ...

So, out it comes, allow to just cool off and now get in there with your hands, peeling off all the sinews and membrane.

Shred with the fibres and you'll have a pile of meat.

Lamb like this is still very fatty and can be overfacing unless paired with sharp and spiky flavours. We'll be doing a Wasabi Mash, but let's cut through the meat itself.

In a skillet, load in the meat and pour over some rice wine vinegar and some yuzu juice. Chillies, too. Gently heat through while you prepare your vegetables and top up with a little water here and there.

The meat will soften and take on all these flavours.

Wasabi Mash

Boil some white potatoes.

When soft, mash with generous amounts of butter and mash in some wasabi to taste.

Vegetables

Steam 'em alongside the mash.

Serve

Put the lot together onto a plate, mash in the middle, mound the meat up on top and vegetables around the side.

Pulling the meat down through the mash and catching some of the sweet vegetables, gorgeous! Loved it!

Do again? Probably not, largely because I never do the same thing twice, but elements will make it into future dishes.

Deep! Deep! Cheesecake

I'm known for my cheesecakes and when there's a party, I make a cheesecake. Tonight, we're hosting but it doesn't matter. I'll make a cheesecake ...

The cake needs time to set, so prepare the day before and dress on the day.

You'll need:

• Cream Cheese
• Double Cream
• Vanilla Paste
• Honey
• Biscuits - gluten-free if you like
• Coconut Oil

First, the base - break up a bunch of biscuits. I used straight-up Digestive biscuits. Yes, wheat, but big deal! This is a party and a bunch of non-primals will be along so ... what does it matter? Once. Okay, twice a year. Big deal!

Use gluten-free if you like, or make up some almond and coconut flour base. Your call ... 

Either way, set it with coconut oil and stir together to ensure everything has been coated with the oil.

Now, your mould. I use a large 10" wide cake tin with one of those clips on so you can easily remove the sides. Press the biscuit mixture into the mould and press again, getting it nice and tight. Pop it in the fridge and the cold will do its magic, solidifying the base.

Next, the cheese - Using twice the amount of cream cheese to double cream, whisk together with some vanilla paste and honey. How much? Well, for this 10" I used two 300g tubs of cream cheese and a 300ml carton of double cream. Double cream? Heavy cream will do - it's not quite as fatty as British double cream, but it will do fine. Vanilla paste? Enough. Honey? Sufficient.

Cream cheese should be single ingredient. Cream cheese is made from milk, so that's what you should see on the ingredients, if they're listed at all. Philadelphia? Puke! I know I've got Digestive biscuits in the base, but the cheese is the star ... get it right!

Whisk together until it's as firm as possible and spoon into the mould over the now chilled base.

Commit to the fridge overnight and before serving, dress with berries. I went with a sort of Union Flag design for a bit of fun.

So, backing up a little ...

If you want to make these smaller in, say, Chef's forming rings, do so! You can leave the base out and just enjoy the cake - that's what it's all about. We enjoy this regularly.

Cod & Puy Lentils [Variation]

Lentils are something that I enjoy eating on occasion, Puy lentils a variety I regard as quite special.

Today, a variation on a classic Cod & Puy - you can read my thoughts on lentils in the link, but generally, I regard them as fairly inoffensive and perfectly good to eat every now and again ... if that's what you want to do.

Puy lentils, a Protected Designation of Origin green lentil variety from the Le Puy region of France owes its distinct character to the terroir within which it grows.

It's autumn, and so I'm bulking this meal out a little ...

We'll have roasted cod over a sort of hash of leek, potato, carrot, puy lentil and spinach, with a green peppercorn sauce.

Constituents

Fish - Cod, athough any white fish will do, along with your favourite paleo fat, goose fat for me

Lentils - Puy lentils, leek, garlic, potato, carrot, spinach, black pepper, turmeric, ground coriander, chilli, fish sauce and your favourite paleo fat, goose fat, here

Sauce - Cream, fish sauce, spring onions and green peppercorns

Lentils

Let's get the lentils going ...

In a heavy based skillet, melt some fat and start to soften some shredded leek with the spices - I wanted a spicier version, although not necessarily a curry, so used ground coriander, tumeric and black pepper.

In with some potatoes and carrots, or any roots you fancy; doesn't have to be what I used. Swish in the fat to colour up with the turmeric.

Pour in drained can of Puy Lentils, topping up with hot water, squirt of tomato purée, chopped garlic and a little fish sauce for the saltiness.

Let that simmer on for about half an hour, over which time the liquid will reduce and the flavours consolidate. Optionally, add a splash of Worcestershire Sauce to boost the umami - I didn't, I like the flavour as is and consider the little tomato purée to do that admirably.

Just prior to serving, stir some spinach through along with a shredded chilli.

Sauce

In a saucepan, pour in double cream, a chopped spring onion, splash of fish sauce for the saltiness and some green peppercorns.

Allow that to very gently simmer on the lowest heat you have, adding a teaspoon of water periodically, if the sauce becomes too reduced. We want the flavours to melt, the sauce to darked ever so slightly and reduce just a touch.

Fish

Simply pat dry and lay on an ovenproof plate over your favourite paleo fat.

It'll take maybe 20 minutes at 180C, sufficient just to colour up without drying out.

I'm guessing that the above prep took about 10 minutes, so we're good to put the fish in now ... if the lentils have to go over the half hour, so be it.

Serve

Spoon the lentils out onto a plate as the base, fish on top and spoon the peppercorn sauce over.

What a buzz! The pepperiness really boosts the dish and works so well with the cod.

Cream sauces tend to work better with smoked white fish, something I'll probably do next time, but it'll be a year or so until that happens, so don't hold your breath ...

n=1

No adverse side effects noticed, not immediately afterwards, an hour after, overnight or the following day. Properly prepared, lentils can be perfectly nutritious ... every now and again.

Swordfish & Spelt Risotto

Spelt? SPELT? Isn't that a grain?

Yes, it is ... it's an experiment.

At the very fringe of ancestral eating is the mesolithic, where grains were just starting to come into the human diet. We know full well just how actively dangerous to human health the consumption of wheat is, but some folks amongst our community do experiment with ancient grains.

Amaranth, Buckwheat, Millet, Quinoa, Kamut, Teff and Spelt seem the popular ones.

What is interesting here is that spelt is biologically related to wheat, yet people with quite visible intolerances to wheat do seem able to eat spelt. My own wheat intolerance manifests itself as nuclear heartburn within about an hour of eating.

Why? I'm curious ... that's all. I don't have any burning desire to eat this stuff regularly to work it into my regular routines. I saw a packet and thought, "why not?".

Pairing with swordfish was not deliberate either ... I simply had some swordfish that wanted eating that evening and I wanted to try out the spelt. I put some purple sprouting broccoli alongside.

To be fair, it worked ...

Ingredients

Swordfish.

Spelt, Bouillon and parsley.

Purple sprouting broccoli.

Spelt

Spelt takes about halt an hour to cook through properly. Treat it like a risotto that you don't need to stir and you shouldn't go wrong.

Maybe a cup per person and half a pint of water each, lid on, bring to the boil and lower to a simmer. Bouillon to taste - that's the mirepoix flavour.

Fish & Veg

After 15 minutes, pop the tenderstem broccoli over the spelt in a steamer pan.

Fire up your griddle and lay the fish on.

Serve

With everything cooked through, place the broccoli on the side, a good helping of spelt in the middle garnished with freshly chopped parsley and fish over to the other side.

n=1

Flavour was not at all bad - think somewhere between risotto and Bulgur Wheat or Pearl Barley and you're there. I can see myself using this again for something like a good, rustic central European stew in place of barley.

I did not get even a hint of heartburn, something which wheat would bring on within the hour ... but ... erm ... I did get wind. It passed, or rather, I passed it. No ill effects the following day.

In all, fun.

Andouillette Sausage

... a pal of mine has been abroad again.

He always brings me back something interesting from the local cuisine, previously I've been handed such delights as smoked reindeer heart and sheep brain "jam", but this time he's been to France and came back with a sausage.

Andouillette Sausage.

ANDOUILLETTE! Not Andouille.

The difference?

Wiki: "Andouillette sausage is very different from the American andouille sausage, which is largely a mild to spicy garlic-flavored sausage. It is closer to French andouille, but is never smoked. Tripe, which is the stomach lining of a cow, is sometimes an ingredient in the filler of an andouillette, but it is not the casing or the key to its manufacture.

True andouillette will be an oblong tube. If made with the small intestine, it is a plump sausage generally about 25 mm in diameter but often it is much larger, possibly 7-10 cm in diameter, and stronger in scent when the colon is used.

There are a number of French versions of andouille produced that generally provide a spicy, smoky, rich, earthy flavor, which may also have a slightly sweet taste.

Andouille sausages are commonly found in many countries. By contrast, true andouillette is rarely seen outside France. All have a strong, distinctive odor related to their intestinal origins and components. Although sometimes repellant to the uninitiated, this aspect of andouillette is prized by its devotees."

So, sausages of pig intestine, perhaps stomach, perhaps colon. Yummy!

What should I serve it with? My gut instinct (get it) is onion boosted sauerkraut with lots of black pepper. Alas, Google is poisoned with "Andouille Sausage" for inspiration, Andouillette being almost impossible to find.

I decided to keep it simple, just cooked, with onion, sauerkraut and mustard, and frites.

After eating, I won't say never again ... but I will say, not for a long time will not be too long a time.

First impressions ...

The smell. Yes, like a pissoir, a public toilet. That Pungent bowel scent which is not altogether off-putting, but certainly not enticing. That is part of the character of the sausage and so I'm going to go with it.

Let's slice bit off and give it a go ...

Not too bad. Initially, Fatty, pungent ... definitely pungent. I thought it might be better cooked, but in retrospect, I think I preferred it cold.

I caramelised an onion and met it with a good helping of sauerkraut and mustard; English, naturally, not that 'orrible French stuff. The sausage is bad enough - let's give it some class!

I fried off the sausage and then put nice rings on it in the grill pan.

Succumbing to French ways and served it with a small portion of fries: potato fries cooked in goose fat. Yes, potatoes, as paleo eaters we are getting the idea that potatoes might not be a bad thing every so often, and fried in goose fat, proper French, that.

Let's eat ...

I got through the first one, skin and all. The second one, I simply cut open and ate the insides ... almost finished it, too, leaving maybe a teaspoon of innards and the skin.

It does take over all your senses - I can smell that smell with everything, taste that taste with everything, but it's again, not absolutely revolting; more a reminder (and not a gentle one, neither) of what I've just eaten. Apparently this will stay with me for the day.

It's not up there with Hákarl (Icelandic putrified shark), but it's not far behind. I could eat it again, quite happily, but much less next time and as a little taste in a much larger dish, perhaps cold ... with an egg salad.

I guess I've earned my AAAAA badge ... Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillette Authentique, roughly: Amicable Association of Admirers of Authentic Andouillette.

Until next time, I'll be happy to admire from afar ...

Warming Lamb Stew

WARNING: Chick Peas Ahead!

Why? Well, the ethnicity of the cuisine does call for them and it's worth an experiment every now and again.

... or, I don't know. I just did.

Aside from the chick peas, this is a perfectly good paleo Lamb Stew, so let's enjoy it for what it is.

Get a load of lamb pieces, on and off the bone, into the oven in a large lidded dish with chopped onion, garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, sea salt, topped off with water and a couple of bay leaves. Set the oven to low (say, 125C) and leave it in there all day.

The slow-cooking will give you really tender lamb as well as breaking down all the sinews and releasing the marrow from the bones. The onions will have almost completely disappeared while the garlic and the spices will have matured giving a really heady stew. That, in itself, is a perfectly good meal.

Maybe an hour from when you want to eat, add in some shredded savoy cabbage, cubed sweet potato, soaked chick peas and a couple of shredded chillies.

Serve out into wide-brimmed bowls and garnish with fresh coriander.

Warming, deep and sumptuous.

In hindsight, I would have preferred to have left the chick peas out. They really didn't add anything to what was otherwise a perfectly paleo stew.

n=1

Wind ... 'nuff said.