Grilled Grass-Fed Hanging Tender (“Hanger Steak”)

Click to enlarge (shown rare)

I find myself liking grass-fed beef more and more.  Not only is it healthier for you, but if cooked properly, it is NOT tough.  Hanging Tender (also known as Hanger Steak, is one of the prized cuts of beef.  Is the one the butcher likes to save for himself!  Now I know why!  This was DELICIOUS!!  Here’s a little video from a professional chef that tells you all about this cut of beef: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MAR5XKd8lk The flavor of this cut falls  somewhere between grilled chuck and ribeye to me. The pictured piece of meat weighed about 2 lbs. and was marinated for about 3 hours in my Peppered Rib Roast marinade (I made up only 1/2 that marinade recipe) seen here:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/peppered-rib-roastd-beef/  Of course you can marinate your Hanger Steak in your favorite marinade, but this marinade never  disappoints on beef.  The nutritional counts for this recipe would naturally vary depending on the marinade you choose to use for your steak.  So all I am showing below is the count for a 4 oz. serving of grass-fed beef.  You will have to calculate the amount of meet eaten and then also add in the numbers for the marinade used.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and for Primal and Paleo devotees as well.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. trimmed grass-fed Hanging Tender (Hanger Steak)

1 recipe your favorite beef marinade I used the one linked in the above paragraph.

DIRECTIONS:  Trim any sinew or membrane the butcher may have left on the surface of the meat.  Season the the meat with pepper (I don’t like to salt meat prior to cooking as I think this draws out vital juices). Mix your marinade ingredients in a shallow ceramic or glass dish. Place the meat in the dish.  Using a basting brush or spoon, drizzle the marinade all over the top surface of the meat. Flip and repeat on bottom surface. Cover and place in refrigerator for 3 hours (or longer).  Drizzle the marinade 2 more times times at hour intervals, turning the meat over each time so you can baste both sides.  When ready to cook, prepare a hot bed of coals on your charcoal grill.  You want to grill this like you would a large steak, fairly close to the coals for best surface charring.  If you want your meat rare, the above-pictured piece was cooked 15 minutes on each side. For medium rare, cook about 20 minutes on a side. For medium, 25 minutes on a side.  Larger pieces will of course take a little longer for each stage. You do not want to cook grass-fed beef well-done or you will likely render it unpleasantly tough. Remember, grass-fed beef grazes….and all that walking reduces fat marbling in those muscles. This meat is VERY lean!  I can tell you for certain the above-pictured steak was as tender as any rare ribeye or tenderloin I’ve ever eaten!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Number of servings determined by consumer.  I would guess 4-8 servings.  Each 4 oz. serving has approximately: (remember to add in your numbers for the marinade you select)

340 calories

22 g fat

0 g  carbs, 0 fiber, 0 net carbs

32 g  protein

50 mg sodium

29% RDA Vitamin B6, 305% B12, 33% copper, 90% iron, 10% magnesium, 56% phosphorous, 64% selenium, 10% thiamin, 182% zinc

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Montreal Meatloaf

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I’ve wanted to try McCormick’s “Grillmates” Montreal Steak Seasoning in a meatloaf for some time now and I finally got around to doing that today.  I shouldn’t have waited so long!  It was delicious!  This is nothing at all like my Italian Meatloaf I’ve been making for 40+ years, but is was flavorful and a pleasant change from our norm.  I ordinarily use tomato sauce atop my meatloaves, but I happened to have some very rich, grass-fed beef gravy in my freezer from the last grass-fed brisket I cooked.  So I decided to make a delightful sauce with that, adding a dab of tomato paste and red wine.  This recipe is suitable for Phase 2 (OWL) of Atkins.  Paleo and Primal diners can also enjoy this meatloaf provided they either omit the red wine in the sauce, or substitute straight tomato sauce for the top of the loaf (adding it the last 30 minutes of cooking).

Using grass-fed beef, check out the fantastic nutritional information below for this meatloaf!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef

1 lb. ground pork (I use very lean ground loin)

2 oz. green bell pepper, finely chopped

2 oz. onion, finely chopped

1/4 c. parsley, chopped

1 T. flax meal soaked a couple minutes in 1/4 c. water

1 large egg, beaten

2 tsp. McCormick “Grillmates” Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 c. rich beef gravy

2 oz. red wine

1 oz. tomato paste

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  You can saute the onion and bell pepper in 1 T. oil first if you prefer, but I did not bother this time, as this loaf is large enough and will bake long enough to get the veggies tender without pre-sautéing.  Caramelizing these vegetables won’t have a great flavor impact here.  Your call there. In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients well, either with a fork or your hands.  Spoon out onto lightly greased baking pan.  Shape into long loaf about 8″x 4½” (or whatever shape you prefer).  Pop into 350º oven for about 1 hr. 20 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 155º.

While meat is cooking, Simmer the beef gravy, wine and tomato paste over low heat until thick and smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside until meat is done, reheating a minute or two right before serving. Remove meatloaf from oven when it reaches 155º internal temperature and slice into 8 servings.  Spoon sauce over meatloaf and serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 8 servings, each contains:

404 calories

27.4 g  fat

3.83 g  carbs, .75 g  fiber, 3.08 g  NET CARBS

31.88 g protein

471 mg sodium

324 mg potassium

36% RDA Vitamin B6, 191% B12, 13% C, 29% copper, 64% iron, 12% magnesium, 26% niacin, 51% phosphorous, 37% riboflavin, 67% selenium, 48% thiamin, 124% zinc

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Sausage Cabbage Stir-Fry

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This was a 10-minute quickie lunch that was DELICIOUS!  Colorful, too!  Nothing to it, really, but how can you go wrong with stir-fried cabbage?  This is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Primal and Paleo diners as well. Ground beef could be used instead of ground sausage meat.  If using beef, you might want to add some sort of spice or seasoning.  Garam Masala would be nice on the beef variation.

INGREDIENTS:

3 oz. pork sausage (I make mine homemade:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/peggys-breakfast-sausage/ )

1 oz. yellow onion, sliced

1 cup green cabbage, coarsely sliced

2 oz. red bell pepper (optional, but I added for color)

Dash salt and black pepper

Add up to 1 T. bacon grease if your sausage is too lean to stir-fry successfully

DIRECTIONS:  Crumble and brown the sausage in a skillet.  Add the sliced onion and allow to soften.  Add bacon grease only if your sausage is particularly lean.  Add bell pepper, salt and pepper.  Saute a couple minutes longer.   Finally add cabbage and saute/stir until cabbage is beginning to soften.    Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve it up!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 1 serving (or 2 smaller servings).  Entire batch contains (calculated using 1 T. bacon grease):

289 calories

24.2 g  fat

9.7 g  carbs, 3.2 g  fiber, 6.5 g  NET CARBS

9.3 g  protein

388 mg potassium

483 mg sodium

14% RDA Vitamin A, 28% B6, 19% B12, 133% C, 9% E, 8% copper, 11% manganese, 23% niacin, 15% phosphorous, 14% riboflavin, 18% thiamin and 14% zinc

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Cheese-Bacon-Jalapeno Brats

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I’ve been trialing some different cuts from my grass-fed beef supplier.  I ordered some of his beef and pork bratwursts in my last order to see how they compared with what I can buy at my local grocery store.  I don’t like the sugar and fillers in the commercial stuff. I grilled the beef brats last month and those were delicious!  I decided to try something different with the pork brats I planned for tonight.  I partially cooked them in a skillet and then split them down the center.  After adding some cheese and jalapeno to the slits, I wrapped them with bacon and finished them off in the oven. They were DELICIOUS!  We liked these much better than the beef brats, in fact.  Not sure why, other than they clearly had a different spice mixture than the beef.  This dish can be made with either beef or pork brats and is perfectly suitable for all phases of Atkins or Primal diners as well.  These are not acceptable for Paleo followers due to the cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. pastured pork (or beef) bratwurst (There were 5 links in my package)

¼ c. grated or sliced Monterey Jack cheese

2 jalapenos, seeded and cut into 10 strips

5 slices low-sodium bacon

DIRECTIONS:   Lightly brown the pork brats on all sides in a non-stick skillet.   You want them about 2/3 done.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Holding each with tongs, make a deep “canoe”-like knife slit down each one but not cutting through at each end.  Push an equal portion of the grated cheese down each slit.  Lay 2 strips of jalapeno into each sausage “canoe” (1 at each end).  Carefully wrap 1 slice of bacon around each sausage “canoe” and secure with a toothpick at each end.  I like to lightly sprinkle bacon with black pepper, but this is not necessary. Pop in preheated 350º oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until bacon is fully cooked.  Serve with a salad or your favorite sides.  Be sure to remind everyone at the table to remove the toothpicks before eating.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 5 servings, each contains:

301 calories

24.5 g  fat

.32 g  carbs,  .16 g  fiber, .16 g  NET CARBS

19.2 g  protein

310 mg potassium

183 mg sodium

25% RDA Vitamin B6, 24% B12, 10% iron, 28% niacin, 23% phosphorous, 21% riboflavin, 40% selenium, 61% thiamin, 25% zinc

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Beef-Bok Choy

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The Bok Choy was particularly fresh and pretty in the grocery store yesterday so I bought the first bunch I have bought in a very long time.  The day before we charcoal grilled a marinated piece of grass-fed beef brisket and there was a lot leftover.  So I slivered some of the leftover meat just as thin as I could slice it to create this dish. Upon examining the refrigerator, I could see fresh mushrooms and a pretty red pepper were calling out to be added to this creation.. Mmmm.  The final dish was delicious!  This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Paleo-Primal as well.  I make my own hoisin sauce and this is the recipe I’m currently using.  The only change I make is I use my imitation honey recipe whereas the linked recipe uses real honey:  http://www.paleodigest.com/pd/?u=http://www.mypaleolife.com/paleo-diet-recipes/paleo-fied-hoisin-sauce

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. coconut oil

1 lb. thinly sliced beef (I used grass-fed brisket)

2 oz. onion, sliced

2 stalks bok choy, washed and sliced ½” thick

Bok Choy

2 oz. red bell pepper, sliced or ½” dice

6 medium mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp. chile paste (I use Sambal Oelek)

3 T. Paleo-fied Hoisin Sauce seen here: http://www.paleodigest.com/pd/?u=http://www.mypaleolife.com/paleo-diet-recipes/paleo-fied-hoisin-sauce

½ c. beef broth

1 T. low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos

a bit your favorite thickener (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Slice, dice and mince all the listed vegetables and set by the stove burner. Set the bok choy white part and leafy part in two separate stacks   Gather all other ingredients and have them close at hand.  Heat a wok or large skillet and add the oils.  When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute 1 minute.  Next add the beef and saute about 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink.  Add all  vegetables BUT the green leafy part of the bok choy.  Also add garlic and ginger.  Saute all until vegetables are tender crisp, about 2-3 minutes.  Now add the leafy part of the bok choy to the pan.  Add the beef broth and all other ingredients and allow flavors to blend a couple minutes.  If you want, sprinkle your favorite thickener and stir until slightly thickened. Serve at once either alone or atop steamed riced cauliflower.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

281.3 calories

15.5 g  fat

7.73 g  carbs, 2.08 g  fiber, 5.65 g  NET CARBS

27.7 g  protein

512 mg sodium

881 mg potassium

29% RDA Vitamin A, 63% B6, 44% B12, 56% C, 9% calcium, 23% copper, 37% iron, 13% magnesium, 12% manganese, 62% niacin, 42% phosphorous, 28% riboflavin, 66% selenium, 13% thiamin, 59% zinc

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Oven Roasted Grass-Fed Beef Brisket

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Because grass-fed, grass-finished beef is so much leaner than ordinary mass-produced commercial beef in grocery stores, it tends to cook up drier and a bit tough if you don’t take special precautions to compensate for that.   The 5# chunk of brisket you see in the pic above was cooked slow, surrounded by a little water and covered with foil for part of the cooking time and then cooked open for the remaining time.  It came out tender and VERY flavorful.  Healthy goodness!  I usually put a bit of rub on mine. This is suitable for all phases of Atkins and for Paleo-Primal diners as well. I served mine with a broccoli souffle and a tomato/cucumber salad.

INGREDIENTS:

1   4-5# piece of grass-fed beef brisket

½ tsp. coarse ground black pepper

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. minced dehydrated garlic

½ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. dill seed

¼ tsp. dehydrated red bell pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all the spices together and sprinkle over all surfaces of the meat.   Place meat in large roasting pan and pop into oven, uncovered for 1 hour.  Lower heat to 300º and remove pan from oven.  Pour ½ ” water in the bottom of the pan around the meat.  Tightly cover with a piece of large aluminum foil and pop back into oven and cook for about 4-5 more hours.  Check once and replenish water if below 1/4″ deep.  Uncover for the final hour of cooking to get a nice brown crusty surface on the meat.  Meat is well done (how I prefer oven-roasted cuts like this) when it reaches an internal temperature of 140º on your meat thermometer.  I may like rare steak, but I don’t like my brisket rare.    Remove from the pan and let it sit on a cutting board for 10 minutes before cutting/slicing.  Thicken the juices in the pan with your favorite thickener, deglazing any tasty brown bits stuck to the sides of the pan, seasoning as needed with salt and pepper. Serve with your favorite sides.  Leftovers freeze and reheat well in foil.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   One 4 oz. serving contains:

340 calories

22 g  fat

50 mg sodium

0 g  carbs, 0 fiber, 0 NET CARBS

32 g  protein

22 % RDA Vitamin B6, 122% B12, 15% copper, 40% iron, 8% magnesium, 30% niacin, 39% phosphorous, 23% riboflavin, 50% selenium, 7% thiamin, 97% zinc

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Spanish Stewed Beef

Click to enlarge, shown on zucchini noodles with a side of guacamole

I’ve been stewing beef with onions for eons, as did my mother before me.  She would call it “Spanish” Stewed Beef if she added green bell peppers.  We all loved it, no matter what she called it.

Somewhere on the net recently I read that Spanish cuisine uses a lot of cinnamon and cloves (I have to admit, I’m not fond of cloves in meat dishes), so I decided “What the heck, I’m going to add some and see what I get!”

Well, I’m here to tell ya the cinnamon and cloves were magical in it!  I may even add a little more next time.  I also added a seeded jalapeno, but the final dish wasn’t hot at all, so I may not seed it next time.  I was hoping for a little “bite”.  This nutritious dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and is OK for  Paleo and Primal diners as well.  Be sure to check out the nutritional stats on this dish!  The basic ingredients would lend themselves to a rendering in lamb s well.

I used a pressure cooker for this dish both to speed up cooking and to help tenderize the grass-fed beef.  Grass-fed beef is so lean, it tends to cook up tougher than regular beef.  I pressured the meat, carrot and water for about 20 minutes.  After opening the cooker, I added all other ingredients, stirred and pressured another 10-15 minutes.  Then I slightly thickened the liquid so it would bind with the meat.  If you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can cook this with an ordinary large stew pot.  Doing so will, however, require more time in the first step for the meat to get fully tender.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ lb. boneless, cooked beef, cut in thick slices or large cubes (I used leftover grass-fed chuck roast)

1 medium carrot, grated

water to amply cover the meat and carrot (about 3 cups)

5 oz. onion, sliced or chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (seed for milder dish; don’t seed for hotter result)

1/4 c. pimiento, sliced (fresh or type in a jar)

1 cloves garlic, minced

5 Roma tomatoes, chopped (or 1½ c. canned tomatoes, no-sugar added)

1 bay leaf (2 if small ones)

¼ tsp. each salt, black pepper, and cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:  Cut up meat and place in cooking pot or pressure cooker.  I’m sure this could be prepared in a crock pot, but I don’t own one, so you’re on your own there as to how log to cook it.  Add grated carrot and enough water to the pot to cover all ingredients well (about 3 cups).  Cover and bring to a boil (or to pressure) and lower heat to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour in a stew pot (20 minutes in a pressure cooker).  Remove cover (run cold water over pressure cooker lid to release pressure and remove lid).  Add all remaining ingredients, replace lid and bring to boil (pressure) once again and cook for about 20 minutes (10 minutes under pressure) or until veggies are just tender.  Release pressure and lid and thicken slightly with your favorite thickener.  When I was growing up, we would have had this over a bed of rice.  But I  served this tonight on zucchini noodles, which was OK.  But next time I think it would be better atop a good batch of mashed cauliflower.  

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

306 calories

11.8 g  fat

6.83 g  carbs, 1.7 g  fiber, 5.13 g  NET CARBS

40.42 g  protein

186 mg sodium

441 mg potassium

18% RDA Vitamin A, 33% B6, 110% B12, 44% C, 9% E, 20% copper, 51% iron, 10% magnesium, 43% niacin, 37% phosphorous, 24% riboflavin, 82% selenium, 10% thiamin, 121% zinc

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Indonesian Beef Soto Soup

Click to enlarge

Our best friends of some of 30+ years are wonderful cooks and often introduce us to interesting Indonesian foods and spices.  Though he is as American as apple pie, she is American-born Indonesian and often cooks Indonesian foods.  This dish came about from my exposure eating dinner with them and my reading of a number of Beef Soto recipes in cookbooks.  I combined a mixture of spices traditional to the dish, and then added some veggies I thought would also be good in it. The result of this experiment was delightful, and quite simple since the grass-fed beef brisket I used in this was already cooked.  This dish would also be good made with cooked lamb or venison.  What a hearty, rib-sticking meal this was!  You can prepare this from scratch with raw beef, but it will naturally take much longer than my version made with leftover meat, as the meat will have to be first browned in oil and then simmered in the broth/water for at least an hour to get tender before adding veggies to the pot.  This dish could also be served as a dinner entree if you made it with less broth, thickened it with your favorite thickener or mashed veggie puree and served it over basmati rice (for the non-lowcarbers, of course).  This dish is suitable for Atkins Induction and passes Paleo-Primal muster as well.  

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. palm oil (or coconut oil)

3 oz. onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, chopped fine

10 oz. lean, cooked beef (or lamb, if you prefer), cubed large (I used grass-fed beef brisket)

8 oz. summer squash, cut up large (I used calaba, similar to zucchini)

12 cherry tomatoes

1 tsp. dried red guajillo chiles (these are mild), seeded and chopped coarsely

Guajillo Chiles

½ tsp. ground cinnamon (or 1″ stick if you prefer)

1 tsp. Thai red curry paste

Dash of chipotle chile powder

1 thin slice ginger, minced

½ tsp. each galangal powder (lemon grass) and turmeric

2 c. water or beef stock (more if meat is not covered in the pan)

DIRECTIONS:   In a large soup pot, heat the palm oil.  Brown the onion until it begins to caramelize.  Add shallot and continue to saute until shallot begins to “toast” a bit.  Add garlic and cubed meat and saute a few minutes longer.  Lower heat, add liquid and the cinnamon, guajillo chiles, ginger, turmeric and galangal powder, along with the Thai curry paste.  Simmer for 15 minutes if meat was already cooked, simmer for 30 minutes or longer if meat was raw when you started.  This will allow the spices to mingle with meat and the meat to get tender.  Add cubed squash and continue to simmer until squash is done.  Add tomatoes and cook just until tomatoes have softened up a bit, but have not fallen apart.  Thickening is optional, but you can if so desired.  I had a dab of leftover sweet potato puree in the freezer and added 3-4 tablespoons of that for thickening my soup a bit.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 3 large servings, each contains:

309 calories

19.8 g  fat

9.23 g  carbs, 2.23 g  fiber, 7 g  NET CARBS

24.2 g  protein

627 mg potassium

193 mg sodium

24% RDA Vitamin B6, 82% B12, 19% C, 14% E, 27% copper, 34% iron, 15% magnesium, 16% manganese, 26% niacin, 34% phosphorous, 19% riboflavin, 35% selenium, 11% thiamin, 71% zinc

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New England Boiled Beef

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This is one of my husband’s favorite dinners.  The very first time he ever had it was at Brennan’s , in the French Quarter in New Orleans.  He simply fell in love with it.  He’s not very fond of cabbage, but absolutely loves it cook in a pot of beef stock like this.  Using grass-fed beef for this for the very first time tonight, made this the very best boiled beef dinner I have ever made!  I used a grass-fed beef chuck arm roast that was fairly small, about 2 lbs. total, with a small marrow bone in it.    The meat literally fell apart taking it out of the pot, it was so fork-tender.  No knife needed!  The wonderful stock, after our meal, was placed in jars and frozen for soups and other uses.  I don’t like to cook my vegetables to death in this boiled dinner, so I like to simmer my meat for an hour or two, until completely done, before adding the veggies.  The vegetables only simmer in the stock for about 20-30 minutes, just until tender, depending of course on how large I cut them up.  This way the veggies don’t disintegrate in the stock and lose their vibrant color.  AS it is nearly impossible to calculate the per serving counts for this as that will vary on the size of the meat portion and veggies, but I have attempted to do so basing it on a 5 oz. portion of meat and the specified portions of veggies.  Since the classic New England Boiled Beef vegetables are usually higher-carb veggies, this dish is fairly high in carbs.  You can cut the carbs by about 12 net carbs by skipping the ½ small potato listed and shown above, subbing in either red radishes or turnips.  This dish is better saved to AFTER INDUCTION, since it is so carb-y.   But I would add that it is a very nutritious dinner indeed.  Check out the stats on this one!  It is definitely suitable for a Paleo-Primal lifestyle.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lb. small grass-fed beef arm roast (should serve 5 people after bone removed)

2 T. olive oil

3 large 8″ carrots

1 large onion

3 small red potatoes

20 oz. green cabbage, cut in 5 wedges

10-12 black peppercorns

Sea salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS:   Heat olive oil over high heat in large stew pot.  If you wish to speed up cooking, I recommend cutting roast in half.  Brown meat well on all sides in the hot oil.  When well-browned, cover with water enough to cover 1″ above the meat.  When it comes to a boil, lower heat so that it is just simmering.  Add peppercorns, cover and cook low about 1-2 hours or until done and pretty tender.  While the meat is cooking, cut your veggies.  Cut the carrots into large 1-2″ pieces.  Cut the potatoes into halves.  Cut the onion into 5 wedges.  And finally, cut five 4 oz. wedges off your head of cabbage.   When the meat is done, place the carrots, potato, onion around the meat.  I like to lay the cabbage on top of everything, so it really steams and doesn’t overcook.  That way you can dip whole wedges of cabbage onto each plate for a nicer visual appeal.  If there is not enough stock to half cover all veggies, add a little more water to the pot.  Bring to a boil again, lower to a simmer, cover and cook about 20 minutes, just until potatoes and carrots are just done but not getting mushy.  Serve at once.  This is great served with your favorite low-carb rolls and butter. (these are my favorites:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/rosemary-onion-dinner-rolls/  )

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 5 servings (5 oz. meat each).  Each serving contains:

377 calories

13.1 g  fat

30.0 g  carbs, 6.1 g  fiber, 23.9 g. NET CARBS

35.4 g  protein

162 mg sodium

1273 mg potassium

44% RDA Vitamin A, 80% B6, 111 B12, 73% C, 12% E, 9% calcium, 37% iron, 24% magnesium, 24% manganese, 64% niacin, 58% phosphorous, 67% selenium, 31% riboflavin, 107% zinc

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Iranian Gormeh Sabzi (my way)

Click to enlarge (the above made with pork)

I’ve mentioned before on the site that I lived in Teheran, Iran between the ages of 10-12.  One of my fond memories of Iran is the wonderful evening aroma of a national dish known as Gormeh Sabzi.  Gormeh means stew; sabzi means herbs.  It is basically a variety of greens and herbs stewed down with a few beans or lentils and then it is served over Iranian rice (their rice is is the most unique in the world to me).  Not a very photographic dish, to say the least, (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://jpastudents.org/images/gs.jpg&imgrefurl=http://jpastudents.org/megan.html&h=1025&w=1293&sz=176&tbnid=TT8nAVaAkiCvnM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=124&zoom=1&usg=__ZkfPeHWo4ctAfGVclUQz9l8WZh8=&docid=qizYSiK89aqkcM&sa=X&ei=SUZwULn9A-XI2AXh_oEw&ved=0CC8Q9QEwAg&dur=643) but a very tasty dish!  My first time to taste this dish was when our maid, Fatimeh, invited my brother and I to her daughter’s wedding.  I learned it tasted even better than it had always smelled to me.  I could just never get past the unappealing “look” of the dish.  I finally tasted it at the wedding.  I think the fenugreek is what makes this dish so unique for me.  I order my fenugreek from Penzey’s spices; find my fenugreek leaves at a Middle Eastern importer in Austin.

Happily, years later, I discovered the recipe was included in the 1960 Officer’s Wives’ Club recipe/calendar booklet my mother brought back to the States and that recipe is adapted below.  The spices are correct as they appeared in the original recipe, but the additions of the meat, the dried mango and use of coconut milk for the traditional yogurt are mine and mine alone.  It is NOT traditionally served with fruit or meat in it.  I might add the two ingredients bring much flavor to this wonderful herb dish.  Omitting the meat and cooking the greens in the basic sauce will result in a wonderful side dish to serve with kebab or roasted/grilled lamb, if you prefer to make it the traditional way.  Low carbers could even add a drained 1/2 can of soy black beans to the simmering greens. for a more authentic side dish.  Without the meat, this makes an excellent vegetarian main dish.

I cook the sauce/stew in one pan and saute the greens separately in another, serving the meat stew atop the sauteed greens when ready to plate at the table. I find that approach visually more acceptable.  You can, however, stew the chopped greens right in with the meat if you want it to look more traditional.

This dish, with all the greens, is quite carb-y, but the nutritional info is so impressive, who cares?   I actually made the above-pictured batch with pork, because I had some thawed tonight.  But pork would never be eaten in Iran.  It is referred to as “unclean meat” in the Koran.  They would use either young lamb or beef if they added meat to this.  If you can’t find dried mango, you can sub in dried prunes, cherries, apricots or raisins, provided they are the type with no added sugar.  I can get all of these at my local Natural Grocers.

This dish is suitable for any phase of Atkins and for Paleo-Primal diners as well.

For the MARINADE:

16 oz. lean lamb (or beef) cut into 1-1½” pieces

½ c. coconut milk

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. ground fenugreek seed

1 T. dried fenugreek leaves (available at Middle Eastern Grocers)

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

For the meat STEW:

4 T. clarified butter or olive oil

5 oz. onion, sliced

2 tsp. ginger root, peeled and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. homemade chicken or beef broth

1 cinnamon stick

6 each cardamom pods and whole cloves

2 bay leaves, whole

Pinch sea salt

1 oz. dried mango, cut into strips (the kind with no added sugar)

To prepare the SABZI (greens): 

1 T. olive oil

2 c. spinach leaves, chopped

1 c. kale leaves, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 c. parsley, chopped

OPTIONAL:  1 c. leeks or green onion, chopped (not included in stats below)

DIRECTIONS:  Marinate meat in coconut milk mixture for 1 hour covered in the refrigerator.  When ready to prepare meal, heat butter in large skillet.  Add onion and saute until nearly tender.  Add ginger and garlic.  Spoon meat and all the meat marinade into the pan and saute a few minutes.  Add all remaining listed stew ingredients.  If cooking the greens with the meat, add them to meat pan now.  Otherwise, lower heat and simmer the meat mixture for about 20-30 minutes, tightly covered.  Stir once or twice during cooking to blend spices throughout sauce. When the dried mango (or whatever dried fruit you are using) has plumped/softened and the meat is done, you can, if desired, thicken the liquid with a pinch of your favorite thickener (I used a pinch of arrowroot powder).  Heat 1 T. olive oilover medium-high heat in a separate non-stick pan if doing greens separately.  Place greens in the hot oil  and saute 4-5 minutes or until they are thoroughly wilted.  Serve stew atop a bed of the sauteed greens.  You either want to try to remove the cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaves and cardamom pods before serving or caution your guests not to eat them.  They are not pleasant to bite into.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

447 calories

29.9 g  fat

16.75 g  carbs, 4.15 g  fiber, 12.6 g  NET CARBS

29.25 g  protein

139 mg sodium

818 mg potassium

66% Vitamin A, 30% B6, 108% B12, 75% C, 16% E, 10% calcium, 50% copper, 72% iron, 25% magnesium, 46% manganese, 72% niacin, 40% phosphorous, 53% riboflavin, 11% selenium, 28% thiamin, 45% zinc

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Sri Lankan Curry

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I recently came across Sri Lankan curry powder and decided to buy a bottle on a whim to see what it was like.  According to the internet, Sri Lankan Curry Powder is most commonly made from coriander, cumin, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black peppercorns and curry leaves.  Recipes for it abound on the net.  I would say the major taste difference between Sri Lankan curry powder and the Sharwood’s brand I’ve used for years is that the Sri Lankan is heavier in cloves than what I’m accustomed to, but not overpoweringly so.

Anyway, I decided to try making a curry with it tonight using some of the slow-smoked roast pork picnic (shoulder) we grilled earlier this week.  Mmmmm. Did this curry ever come out good!  I think it might even be better with beef or lamb.  Since my meat was already fully-cooked and tender, I didn’t have to simmer my curry more than about 20 minutes, just long enough for the flavors to mingle.  If using raw meat, you will have to simmer it a bit longer before adding your coconut cream to get it done and tender.    I served hubby’s on steamed basmati rice and mine over shirataki tofu noodles.  It would also be good over steamed cauliflower, sauteed zucchini noodles or shredded stir-fried cabbage.   I sauteed a sliced banana in butter to serve alongside this dish and it complimented the curry wonderfully.  This dish is suitable once you reach the nuts and seeds level in Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL).

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. cooked lean pork, beef or lamb, cut into cubes (slices if using raw meat)

2 T. coconut oil

2 oz. sliced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped fine

1 tsp. ginger root, peeled and minced

1/3 c. cilantro leaves, chopped

4 large mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. Sri Lankan Curry powder (or whatever type you have)

1½ tsp. Garam Masala:  (I use mine:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/garam-masala-indian-spice-blend/)

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 Roma tomato, cut into large pieces

1 c. pork (or beef) broth + 1/4 c. water (more if you like more sauce)

½ c. coconut cream (or coconut milk)

Dash salt

DIRECTIONS:  Cut up meat and onion.  Heat coconut oil in non-stick skillet or wok over high heat.  Add onion and saute until it begins to soften.  Add meat and saute until meat is beginning to brown a bit.  Add all remaining ingredients except the tomato and coconut cream. Stir well, cover tightly, lower heat to lowest setting and simmer about 10 minutes (longer if you used raw meat, to ensure it gets tender).  Once your meat is tender, add tomato and coconut cream and simmer 10 minutes longer until tomato is just beginning to soften but is not falling apart.  If you use coconut cream, this will be thick enough as is (was for us).  You can always sprinkle with your favorite thickener at this point and stir until it thickens up to your taste.  At this point, I like to saute some banana slices in butter on a griddle (flipping only once when the first side is golden brown) and always serve them with my curries if I have them in the house.  You want to saute nice RIPE ones for the best flavor. 

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains (not including rice or whatever veggies you serve this over):

373 calories

25.5 g  fat

4.2 g  carbs, 1.28 g  fiber, 2.92 g  NET CARBS

31.6 g  protein

170 mg sodium

556 mg potassium

38% Vitamin B6, 37% B12, 8% C, 28% copper, 27% iron, 42% niacin, 45% phosphorous, 47% riboflavin, 84% selenium, 63% thiamin, 60% zinc.  (pretty nutritious, huh? not to have any veggies to speak of in it)

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Swiss Steak

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Swiss Steak is something my mother fixed often when I was young and I just LOVED it! She was inclined to serve it with traditional carb-y mashed potatoes, but I serve mine now with a mash of seasoned cauliflower.  Just as good in my opinion.  Mom didn’t put the red wine in her Swiss Steak either, but I think it transforms the ordinary into something special.  You can use cube steak, round, chuck, sirloin or I even occasionally use 20-21 oz. raw beef shank (5 oz. worth of marrow bone must be trimmed out).  I like to pound whatever meat I use for this with a cleaver to tenderize it a bit.  The Resistant Wheat Starch (mostly deductible fiber) I dredge over this meat before browning isn’t necessary, but it only adds .25 net carbs per serving and tends to make a much browner, tastier gravy. Your call on that one. You can just brown the meat directly in the oil and save the fraction of a carb from each serving, if you don’t have RWS or prefer to not use it.  This dish is Induction friendly and extremely nutritious.  Check out the stats below!

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. beef cube steak, round, chuck, sirloin (or 21 oz. cross-cut beef shank, bone trimmed out)

1 T. Resistant Wheat Starch (optional, but calculated below)

2 T. coconut oil (or olive if you prefer)

4 oz. sliced onion

1 large green bell pepper, sliced

3 Roma tomatoes, cubed large

Dash each salt and black pepper

¼ c. red wine (I used Zinfandel)

2 c. water (or beef broth)

Small amount of your favorite thickener (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Cut meat into 4 portions.  Pound meat on both sides with a cleaver to tenderize it a bit. Dredge both sides of each piece with the Resistant Wheat Starch, if using.  Heat oil in non-stick skillet and brown over high heat until nicely browned on both sides.  Add onion and brown a minute or two.  Add bell pepper and tomato, the water (or broth) and wine.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  you want the meat to get tender, but not to cook the veggies to death.  If I can remember, I wait 15-20 minutes into the simmering before adding the bell pepper so it doesn’t totally fall apart.  I like to thicken my gravy with a sprinkle of thickener,  but thickening isn’t necessary.  Serve topped with a generous portion of the sauce and veggies.  This is nice with mashed cauliflower or steamed, seasoned zucchini noodles.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes four 4-oz servings, each contains:

352.3 calories

15.75 g  fat

8.3 g  carbs, 3.28 g  fiber, 5.02 NET CARBS

40 g  protein

97 mg sodium

530 mg potassium

45% B6, 83% B12, 53% C, 19% copper, 43% iron, 51% niacin, 38% phosphorous, 20% riboflavin, 70% selenium, 84% zinc

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Hot Roast Beef Poor Boy

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When I was a wee lass, age 4-5, my father was stationed in Springfield, Illinois.  During our stay there, with some regularity, my folks would order these incredibly delicious hot beef poor boy sandwiches from a little Italian restaurant known then as Twins’ Corner.  It wasn’t very far from our house, actually.  I have since discovered on-line that it is still operating as Saputo Twins’ Corner!  It has been operated continuously by the Saputo family since 1948, the year I was born!  These poor boy sandwiches were so good, and so popular, you had to order them early in the day to insure you would get one and at that, STILL had to wait in line to pick them up!  But they were well worth every minute you had to wait!  They would just melt in your mouth!!!  As the delicious juices permeated the homemade chewy Italian hoagie roll, they would be fairly messy to eat, but who cared?  They were so good!  The beef was slow-simmered all day long to render  it so tender no chewing was needed really.  I was shredded up in the very liquid is was cooked in.  Mmmmm …….that flavor has remained with me to this day.  I have come up with my version of that sandwich  and find it VERY close to the original at Twins Corner, other than the fact that I must serve mine on a low-carb roll, above it is shown on two of my 5″ long hoagie rolls:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/peggys-hotdog-buns-or-hoagie-rollbuns/.   These low-carb buns will not support the juice for picking it up with your hands, unfortunately, and therefore will require a fork.  But who cares when they are THIS good?  Provided they are served on an Induction-friendly low-carb sandwich bun, these poor boys will be a wonderful addition to your Induction menu rotations.  You’ll see by the nutritional stats below this is a VERY nutritious dish, providing major amounts of many needed nutrients.

Personally,  I would not recommend cooking this in a crock pot.  I ditched two of them because I never ate anything cooked in them I liked.  Just not fond of crock pots.   If you try using one on this, be certain the crock pot is big enough to totally cover the meat and veggies with water and stay covered with water until the end of cooking.  The last thing you want is for all the juice to cook away.  I have done this dish in a pressure cooker a couple of times, but again, it wasn’t as good as the slow, half-day cooking method in a regular old stew pot.  Here’s what mine looks like in the pot, so you can see the level of water you want to maintain:

Just before adding thickener

INGREDIENTS:

3 lb. chuck roast, trimmed of major fat

2 T. olive oil

1 large onion, sliced (mine was 6 oz.)

2 c. celery, diced large

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

Water to just cover meat (add more as needed to maintain the meat being just covered)

Thickener of your choice

DIRECTIONS:  Trim off any major fat bands off the outside of your chuck roast.  Heat olive oil in a deep Dutch oven or soup pot (mine is non-stick).  Brown meat well on both sides on high heat. I like to cut my roast into 3 smaller pieces to speed up cooking, but it is not really necessary.  Add to the pot the sliced onion and celery.  Pour enough water over all the ingredients to just cover.  Add salt and pepper and bring to a full boil.  Lower fire to just a gentle simmer, cover and cook for about 4 hours (5 hours if you don’t cut the roast into 3 smaller pieces) or until the meat is literally beginning to fall apart when tested with a fork. I you use a pressure cooker, you can have this tender in under an hour.  Once the meat is tender, break up the meat into nice, small pieces, some shreds.  See the pic above. I don’t like to reduce it totally to shreds, as I find that to be a bit visually off-putting after reheating leftovers. Just my personal hang-up there, so you can shred it up however you like.   While low heat is still on the meat, add a little of your favorite dry thickener to just slightly thicken the liquid surrounding the meat.  I dust a few sprinkles of xanthan gum successively (Paleo folks will want to use arrowroot to thicken) stirred in until the liquid surrounding the meat is just barely thickened and clinging to the meat.  It is not supposed to be as thick as beef gravy, however.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 8 servings (possibly more).  1/8 batch of the meat mixture contains:

254 calories

7.09 g  fat

2.54 g  carbs, .69 g  fiber, 1.85 g  NET CARBS

38.3 g  protein

682 mg potassium

23 mg sodium

66% RDA Vitamin B6, 125% B12, 22% copper, 41% iron, 14% magnesium, 60% niacin, 51% phosphorous, 25% riboflavin, 86% selenium, 14% thiamin and 122% zinc

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Italian Spinach Casserole

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This casserole came out scrumptilious!  I just kept throwing more stuff onto the browned ground beef and the end result got a fantastic reaction from both me and my husband.  The leftovers should freeze nicely, too!  The key to throwing something like this together easily is having the homemade spaghetti sauce at the ready in your freezer.  I try to keep a big batch frozen in smaller portions for just such purposes.  My own ground beef spaghetti sauce is what I used for this tonight.  Just made a 5 X batch this week, in fact.  Because of the ricotta, this recipe is not suitable until you get to the “more dairy” level of the Atkins OWL ladder.    There’s way too much cheese in the for Paleo folks, but Primal followers might like to try it on for size.  My spaghetti sauce has ground meat in it, so if substituting a sauce without meat, you will want to increase the meat called for by another ½ pound or your dish won’t be quite as good, in my opinion.    Get a load of the nutritional info for this recipe!  A very nutritious meal indeed. It was sooooooo good I’ll be making this one again and again! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. 90% lean ground beef

2 c. my meaty spaghetti sauce ( http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/peggys-spaghetti-sauce/ )

12 oz. frozen spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed out all moisture

1   6.5-oz can sliced mushrooms, drained

12 black olives, sliced

½ tsp. fennel seed, crushed

¼ c. Parmesan cheese

2 c. mozzarella cheese, grated

½ c. ricotta cheese

4 black olives sliced for top garnish

4 leaves fresh basil, chopped

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Brown the meat in a non-stick skillet.  Sprinkle evenly into a 8″x12″ greased casserole dish.  Crumble the well drained and squeezed spinach evenly over the top of the meat.  Sprinkle with all the Parmesan cheese.  Next spread the mushrooms and olive slices evenly over the mixture.  Now spread the spaghetti sauce over all without disturbing the lower layers too much.  Sprinkle with the crushed fennel seed and chopped basil leaves.  Dot the surface intermittently with the ricotta cheese and sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top of the casserole.  Garnish the surface with the 4 sliced olives.  Cover with foil and bake at 350º for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for about 30 more minutes or until bubbly all over.  Allow to cool 5-6 minutes before attempting to dip it up or the servings won’t be so pretty.  It’ll still taste good, however.  Serve with a nice green salad and your favorite low-carb garlic bread.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 servings, each contains:

530 calories

36.6 g  fat

12.77 g  carbs, 4.03 g  fiber, 8.74 g  NET CARBS

38.33 g  protein

500 mg sodium

400 mg potassium

59% RDA Vitamin A, 25% B6, 110% B12, 18% C, 15% E, 40% calcium, 23% copper, 40% iron, 22% magnesium, 24% manganese, 27% niacin, 60% phosphorous, 39% riboflavin, 47% selenium, 13% thiamin, 64% zinc

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Beef Barley Soup

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This is one of my favorite homemade soups.  It’s very hearty, filling and very tasty!  Barley is a very healthy grain to fit into your diet once in awhile.  To keep this down to what I consider low enough carbs I would limit the barley to 1/4 c. raw.  It swells when cooked, so it’s more than you think.  This soup is not suitable until the grains rung of the Atkins OWL ladder.  Though this soup is a little high in carbs, it it extremely nutritious as you can see by the stats below.  You can use chicken stock in lieu of the water if you prefer a richer soup.

INGREDIENTS:

22 oz. beef (shank, chuck or sirloin), chopped fairly small

2   14-oz cans tomatoes, crushed or diced, (no-salt added)

4 c. water

1½ T. bacon grease or oil of your choice

¼ c. pearl barley

2 oz. onion, chopped

1 c. green cabbage, shredded

Dash salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:  In large soup pot, brown meat in the bacon grease over high heat.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to lowest setting possible and simmer covered for about an hour.  Stir occasionally to be sure barley is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  It has a tendency to do so as is swells and as water evaporates.  Add more water if needed to prevent this from happening.  Serve with your favorite low-carb bread or crackers.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes about 6 servings (about 1½ c. each) with each containing:

222 calories

7.33 g  fat

11.87 g  carbs, 2.68 g  fiber, 9.19 g  NET CARBS

24.67 g  protein

96 mg sodium

457 mg potassium

36% RDA B6, 144% B12, 22% C, 43% iron, 46% niacin, 34% phosphorous, 22% riboflavin, 39% selenium and 93% zinc  (what did I tell ya? )

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Mushroom Barley Soup

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We used to enjoy the most wonderful mushroom barley soup at a wonderful restaurant in Houston called Alfred’s Delicatessen.  Not sure if it’s still in operation or not, as I’ve been gone from the area for over 10 years now. This soup, bar none, was  THE best mushroom soup I’ve ever eaten!!  I don’t know if they use beef stock or pork stock, so all I know as it was GOOD!  We ordered it every time we went in the place…..along with their delicious hot pastrami sandwiches.  The above is my attempt at copying that wonderful gastronomic experience.  It was close, but my stock wasn’t as rich I don’t think.  Next time I’ll increase the meat broth and reduce the water by that amount, but 1 c. beef stock was all I had in the freezer.  But this was still very good and I will definitely make it again!  This is not suitable until the grains (final) rung of the Atkins OWL ladder as it has barley in it.  I used an 8 qt. Mirro pressure cooker to cook this soup in just 20 minutes once the cooker came to pressure (which took about 8-10 min).  I just LOVE cooking soups up FAST with a pressure cooker!!  If you don’t own one, this is going to take you about 1½ hours to cook in a conventional stew pot in order for the barley to get totally done.  Mine above is shown with my Rosemary Onion Almond Thins, recipe found here:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/rosemary-onion-almond-thins/.

INGREDIENTS:

1 large pork (or beef) bone (I used a pork shoulder roast bone that had exactly 1# meat I cut off it)

3 oz. onion, chopped

1 c. celery, chopped

12 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped not too much

1 c. beef or pork broth (I just happened to have some beef broth in my freezer)

2½ qts. water

¼ c. pearl barley (preferably NOT the flat, instant stuff!) [Too high in carbs to add more]

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. onion powder

1 c. heavy cream

Sprinkle of cayenne or paprika (optional, for garnish)

Xanthan or guar gum to thicken (about 1/2 tsp.)

DIRECTIONS:  Place leftover bone in pressure cooker.  Add all but the last 3 ingredients listed above to the pot.  Seal the lid on the pressure cooker and on high heat, bring to pressure, which will take about 8-10 minutes.  When knob begins to rock quite vigorously releasing steam, lower heat slightly until the knob just rocks gently.  Cook for exactly 20 minutes after lowering heat.  Remove cooker to over your sink, run cold water over cooker lid to release pressure faster.  CAUTION:  Avoid leaning over the cooker while pressure is releasing under the water flow.  I turn my head away.  When vent button goes down, open the cooker and remove the bone to a cutting board to cool enough to handle.  Cut all meat from the bone (discarding fat and gristle) and chop.  Add meat back to the pot. Add cream.  Turn on heat and simmer low as you sprinkle xanthan gum (or your preferred thickener) over the surface of the soup, stirring it in immediately. Wait a couple minutes and add more thickener, as needed (I had to add it 4-5 times) until it is the thickness you like.  Serve in soup bowls with a sprinkle of paprika or cayenne pepper on top.  Serve with your favorite low-carb crackers or bread.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Calculated on 6 servings (about 1½ c. each), each contains:

292 calories

16.05 g  fat

12.22 g  carbs, 2.68 g  fiber, 9.54 g  NET CARBS (would go up to 14.7 NC if you doubled the barley!)

24.88 g  protein

443 mg sodium

659 mg potassium

35% RDA Vitamin B6, 30% B12, 35% copper, 18% iron, 50% niacin, 43% phosphorous, 50% riboflavin, 63% selenium, 75% thiamin and 31% zinc  (a VERY healthy soup indeed, so well worth the carbs!!)

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Italian Cottage Pie

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My husband just loves casseroles and I finally got around to converting my Cottage Pie recipe of old to make it acceptable for my low-carb eating program.  And since I love mixing meats in casseroles, I decided to do this tonight with both beef and a little of my homemade Italian Sausage in it:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/italian-sausage/.   You can use all beef if you prefer, but I think it would be too rich using all Italian Sausage, personally. This super easy dish is delicious and suitable for Atkins Induction, unlike its higher-carb cousin, made with real potatoes.  I decided to save some carbs and calories by not pureeing the cauliflower with butter and cream as I usually do.  I just pressed it with a fork.  Of course, you can mash the cauliflower if you prefer, but be sure to add in the nutritional info for the cream and butter if you do, as I have NOT included that in the nutritional info below.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. lean ground beef

8 oz. Italian sausage, removed from casings  (I use my own homemade recipe)

1 c. green bell pepper, cut in ½” dice

2 oz. onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1  14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes  (no salt added)

Dash salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. oregano, dried leaves (or 1 tsp. fresh, chopped fine)

2 c. steamed cauliflower (about 1/2 medium head)

8 oz. grated Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Steam, boil or microwave the cauliflower until tender.  While that is cooking, in a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the crumbled ground beef and Italian sausage until no longer pink.  Add onion and green pepper and saute together with meat until onion is translucent.  Add tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Simmer meat mixture until the tomatoes are beginning to fall apart and most of the liquid has been absorbed.  All the vegetables will be fully done in the mixture at this point. Now drain any liquid off the cauliflower and lightly mash lightly with a fork (or puree with butter and cream).  Spread cauliflower over the meat mixture.  Top with grated Cheddar and bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until cheese is thoroughly melted.    Serve with your favorite salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

468 calories

31.9 g  fat

8.42 g  carbs, 2.18 g  fiber, 6.24 g  NET CARBS

35 g  protein

428 mg potassium

726 mg sodium

16% RDA Vitamin A, 102% B12, 30% B6, 61% C, 23% calcium, 35% iron, 10% magnesium , 30% niacin, 49% phosphorous, 30% riboflavin, 40% selenium, 75% zinc

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Beer-Braised Beef Shanks with Leeks

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Bought my first beef shanks in a very long time this week.  They were too pretty and lean to pass up!  I like to braise them in beer or wine as a rule.  This is one of my all-time favorite braised beef recipes and ever so simple.  Cooks itself really, after searing the meat.   This dish is equally good made with large pieces of chuck roast or with beef short ribs, if you can’t get shanks.  The carbs are coming from the leeks but they are really good with this meat.  This dish is Induction friendly and offers an incredible nutrient analysis.  I served mine with buttered, steamed carrots and my Seeded Dinner Rolls:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/seeded-dinner-rolls/ . My husband likes his leeks stewed to “death”, as they appear in the photo.  But I would recommend if you like yours less “dead” (as do I), wait to add them to the pot after the meat has simmered for the first hour hour.   I thicken my broth with xanthan gum, but you can use whatever thickener is acceptable for your eating plan.

INGREDIENTS:

29-30 oz.  lean, cross-cut beef shanks  (about 1 3/4 lb. raw, weighed bone in)

1 T. coconut oil

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 leek, cleaned and chopped into 2″ pieces

7 oz. large mushrooms, wiped clean

12 oz. low-carb beer (I used Michelob Ultra at 2.6 carbs per bottle)

1/4 tsp. ground thyme

1½ c. rich beef broth

about 1 c. water (enough to cover meat)

thickener of your choice

DIRECTIONS:   Cut root tip and top 1″of green part off the leek.  Slice it lengthwise and wash carefully with water between layers to get all “hiding” dirt out.  Cut into 2″ pieces and set aside.  Wipe mushrooms clean with a dry cloth, cut huge ones in half, leave others whole.  Set aside.    Heat a large dutch oven or stew pot until nearly smoking and add coconut oil.  Sear the pieces of meat on high flame until they are well browned on each side.  Add yellow onion, garlic, broth, beer, water thyme, salt and pepper.  Cover and lower heat to  slow simmer.  Simmer 1 hour.   Add mushrooms and leeks, lightly stirring them into the broth.  Cover again and simmer for about 30 more minutes or until meat is very tender.  Serve with your favorite low-carb bread or dinner rolls and a salad or another vegetable if you prefer.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains: (I have calculated the stats below assuming you consume an entire 1/4 of  the thickened broth, which is probably unlikely.  Actual consumed net carbs on the broth might be less than the 6.22 g. shown below.  But the actual consumed would be difficult to calculate any other way than I have shown at 1/4 the broth, 1/4 of the meat and 1/4 of the veggies.)

310 calories

10.4 g  fat

7.55 g  carbs, 1.33 g  fiber, 6.22 g  NET CARBS

40.2 g  protein

450 mg sodium

932 mg potassium

64% RDA Vitamin B6, 240% B12, 36% copper, 62% iron, 88% niacin, 60% phosphorous, 55% riboflavin, 66% selenium and 152% zinc

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Peggy’s Chicken “Fried” Steak

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I live in Texas and man, have I ever missed classic chicken-fried steak with cream gravy!!  Well no more yearning for a long-lost love!  I just created a low-carb CFS that’s pretty dang close to the real deal!  I’ve had such good luck with my mayo-pork rind coating for “fries”, numerous veggies as well as on fish filets, I thought to myself many a time, “Why not give it a whirl on beef”? Well, IT WORKED!

My first thought on how to go about this was that the beef would exude too much moisture during baking, if I just coated it raw.  Didn’t want the pork-rink coating to get “soggy”.  So I decided to sear the meat first to seal in those juices before I began.  That turned out to be a VERY good decision.  this came out FANTASTIC!  And the gravy was SUPER, even without the usual browning of flour.  The natural caramelized meat juices deglazed from the skillet made a DELICIOUS cream gravy without one bit of flour!  Who’da thunk?

I served this alongside a saute of radishes and onion and steamed broccoli. I got distracted cooking the radishes and almost browned my meat TOO much!  Timing is crucial in the kitchen.

You can use round steak for this dish if you prefer, but I have always preferred chuck or sirloin for my CFS.  Better taste in my opinion.  I’m not very fond of round steak.  This recipe is OK for Atkins Induction and all phases thereafter!  It s also OK for Primal/Paleo followers.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. trimmed sirloin, chuck or round steak

1/3 c. homemade mayonnaise (I make it this way:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/homemade-mayonnaise/  Commercial mayo will require more, as it is thicker)

1 T. coconut oil (or oil of your choice)

2 oz. pork rinds, crushed fine

½ tsp. spice seasoning of your choice (I used my Seafood Spice Blend: http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/my-seafood-spice-blend/ )

1 c. water

½ c. heavy cream

Dash salt and black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Crush pork rinds fine and stir in spice seasonings.  Place into shallow bowl with a spoon for applying and set aside while you prepare the meat.  Trim meat of all visible fat and gristle.  If using chuck or sirloin that is very thick, slice it laterally if need be to to create pieces about ½ thick.  Preheat oven to 425º. Cut meat into 4 portions and pound the pieces with a meat cleaver or mallet to tenderize it a bit.  Heat oil in skillet and sear meat on both sides until lightly browned, sprinkling lightly with black pepper as it sears.  You don’t want to cook the meat DONE here, just sear it on the surface.    Remove from heat.

Pour mayo into a saucer and using a brush, holding the HOT meat on one tip with tongs (I use tiny ice bucket tongs), coat both sides of each piece of meat well with mayo.  Then move over to the bowl of crushed pork rinds and using a spoon, spoon the rinds over both sides of the meat.  You’ll get decent coverage without any one piece getting excess.  I have found that if you just dip the meat into the rinds, it “grabs” more coating than is necessary, resulting in not having enough rinds to finish the job at hand and I will then have to crush more (been there; done that) and increase calories.   Place the coated meat onto a non-stick baking sheet and pop into preheated 425º oven.  Bake about 20 minutes or until browned to your liking.

As the meat is cooking, make your cream gravy.  Add 1 c. water to the skillet you seared the meat in and over low heat, completely deglaze all the tasty brown bits off the bottom by scraping the bottom of the pan with a spoon or spatula.    Add the cream and simmer to reduce.  This add both color and flavor to your gravy.  Add a dash of black pepper and salt to taste.  If you prefer a thicker gravy, you can slightly thicken with your preferred thickener.

Serve with gravy dipped over meat.  This goes well with many of your favorite vegetable dishes.  I hope you ENJOY! When you note the nutritional stats below, you’ll say the moral of this story is EAT MORE CHICKEN FRIED STEAK!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes four 4-oz servings, each contains:

471.3 calories

30.8 g  fat

1.9 g  carbs, .03 g  fiber, 1.87 g  NET CARBS

45 g  protein

356 mg sodium

523 mg potassium

59% RDA Vitamin B6, 112% B12, 43% iron, 75% niacin, 65% phosphorous, 52% riboflavin, 128% selenium, 93% zinc

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Tamale Pie

Click to enlarge

My mother used to make a dish she called Tamale Pie that had a wonderful cornmeal masa topping that was baked on top.  I just loved this dish.  Well cornmeal is so carb-pricey I just won’t use it anymore.  But I tinkered around with my Mom’s old recipe and came up with an acceptable low-carb version of this dish we found good enough we will be continuing to experiment with the topping until I reach cornmeal masa Nirvana.  But in the meantime, this casserole was pretty darn close to the original recipe in flavor.  This recipe is not suitable until the nuts rung of the OWL ladder. The nutritional info is so impressive for this dish it is well worth serving despite the slightly higher carb count than most of my casseroles.

INGREDIENTS:

14 oz. lean ground beef

3 oz. onion, chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped (or half of a 15-oz can crushed tomatoes,drained)

1 tsp. chili powder

Dash dried ancho chiles, crushed (optional)

2¼-oz, pitted black olives, sliced and drained

6 oz. cheddar cheese, grated

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

¼ tsp. Salt

15 oz. canned baby corn, drained, divided (I use Dynasty brand)

2 large eggs

½ c. almond flour

2 T. flax meal

2 T. corn bran (I order from Honeyvillegrains.com)

¼ c. heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  You will need a medium casserole dish for this recipe, but no greasing will be necessary.

For the bottom meat layer:  brown meat over med-high heat until it releases its grease.  Add onion, garlic, salt, chili powder and crushed ancho chiles.  Saute until onion is getting tender.  Add tomatoes, olives and half of the baby corn, sliced or chopped coarsely.  Saute until tomatoes are getting soft and releasing their juice.

For the masa topping:  Blend or pulse the remaining half of the baby corn until smooth.  Add almond flour, flaxmeal, corn bran, cream and eggs and pulse until a smooth batter.

Pour the bottom meat layer into a ceramic casserole dish.  Sprinkle the cheese over the meat layer.  Then gently spoon the topping over the meat mixture.  Bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes or until topping is cooked completely.   Serve with a nice sliced avocado lightly dusted with garlic powder or your favorite guacamole salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

625 calories

43.6 g  fat

15.7 g  carbs, 6.78 g fiber, 8.92 g NET CARBS

43 g protein

588 mg potassium

1322 mg sodium (mostly from the cheese)

24.5% RDA Vitamin A, 35.7% B6, 146% B12, 32% calcium, 28% copper, 59% iron, 18% magnesium, 12% manganese, 39% niacin, 70% phosphorous, 48% riboflavin, 67% selenium, 16% thiamin, 101% zinc

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