Duck-Crawfish soup

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This soup actually came about from leftovers.  I made Cajun Crawfish on “Pasta” earlier this week and had 3/4 c. leftover:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/cajun-crawfish-on-pasta/.  I also roasted a duck and had 1 c. meat leftover (plus another ½ c. tidbits of meat stripped from the stewed carcass I used to simmer down for a batch of duck stock): http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/oven-roasted-garlic-duck/.  And I had just a bit of sausage leftover in my open package in the fridge. All these ingredients made a wonderful soup that was very gumbo-like.  I didn’t start out with a roux, so I would never call this a classic “gumbo”, but the flavor of the final soup was still quite good.    This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Paleo-Primal as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. cooked duck meat, chopped coarsely

5 oz. (about 3/4 c.) cooked crawfish tail meat

4 oz. chopped onion

1  10-oz. can (about 1½ c.) Ro-Tel tomatoes and chilies

5 oz. frozen, sliced okra (about 1½ c.)

1 patty pork sausage

6 c. homemade duck stock (or chicken stock)

¼ tsp. my seafood spice blend:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/my-seafood-spice-blend/

Few drops Tobasco or other hot sauce

8 oz. shirataki tofu noodles, rinsed well and chopped a bit (I used the “penne” shape)

DIRECTIONS:  In a large soup pot, crumble up the sausage and brown slowly over high heat.  When no longer pink, add the onion and saute until tender.  Add all remaining ingredients, including the noodles, and bring to a slow boil.  Then lower heat to medium-low and simmer just until the okra is tender.  Salt and pepper to taste at table.  Serve with your favorite low-carb crackers and a nice salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 large bowls, each contains:

203.5 calories

8.52 g  fat

5 g  carbs, 1.35 g  fiber, 3.65 g  NET CARBS

20 g  protein

260 mg sodium

551 mg potassium

20% RDA Vitamin B, 29% B12, 9% C, 45% copper,26% iron, 11% magnesium, 19% manganese, 47% niacin, 31% phosphorous, 40% selenium, 21% thiamin, 23% zinc

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Roasted Lemon-Garlic Duck

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I just love duck and we tried a new marinade tonight on the baby in the pic.  I was originally planning to have it smoked, but I could tell my husband didn’t want to fool with lighting up the grill tonight (he did some yard work today), so I oven roasted it instead.   It came out delicious!  So I’ll share the marinate/sauce I made for this bird with my readers.  This VERY nutritious recipe (check out the stats below!) is suitable for all phases of Atkins (using broth rather than wine for Induction) and is suitable for Paleo-Primal followers as well if broth is used rather than wine.

INGREDIENTS: 

1 c. white wine (use chicken broth if on Induction or Paleo-Primal)

4 T. my Lemon-Parsley-Garlic Butter seen here:  http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/lemon-parsley-garlic-butter/

2 cloves garlic, minced (I think more would be even better!)

Dash each:  salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

1  whole 5-lb duck, neck and giblets removed for other use

DIRECTIONS:  Remove neck and giblets from duck and save for other uses.  My dog usually gets the giblets and neck meat, but the neck will make great stock if you want to add it to the carcass bones after dinner in a pot of water with chopped onion and carrot.  Makes great soups!  Butterfly the duck by cutting up the backbone and spreading it out in a marinating dish.  Add wine (or broth), minced garlic and other spices.  Marinate covered in plastic on your refrigerator shelf for 2-4 hours, turning and basting again with a basting brush 1-2 times.  You’ll need to allow about 2 hours to cook a 5# duck to internal temperature of 180º.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375º.  Remove duck from refrigerator and lift out of the marinating dish. Pour marinade off into a small saucepan.  Add compound butter and simmer for 5 minutes or so to allow raw duck juices to fully cook. Place duck skin side up in a large baking pan, baste with marinade and pop in hot oven.  Using a basting brush, baste duck with marinade and pan juices every half hour.  At 1 hour cooking, remove duck and cover wing tips and leg tips with small pieces of foil so they will not over brown/burn.  Pop pan back into oven, lower oven to 350º and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour longer (ovens will vary), or until a meat thermometer reads 180º at center thigh and center breast.      Serve at once with your favorite sides for fowl.  I served mine with steamed broccoli and broiled tomatoes.  If I had char-grilled the duck, as originally planned, I was going to grill some fresh pineapple slices to go with it.   Mmmm.   How I DOOOOOOOO love grilled pineapple! 

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

791 calories

65.3 g  fat

2.4 g  carbs, .2 g  fiber, 2.20 g  NET CARBS

36.4 g  protein

485 mg sodium

446 mg potassium

23% RDA Vitamin A, 45% B6, 44% B12, 48% copper, 66% iron, 11% magnesium, 66% niacin, 44% phosphorous, 47% riboflavin, 69% selenium, 30% thiamin and 45% zinc

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Grilled Marinated Elk

Click to enlarge (medium rare)

I was at my Natural Grocers a couple weeks ago and picked up an elk chuck roast.   I had no earthly idea how I planned to cook it, but did know I wanted to do it on the grill outside, since I think that brings out the best flavor in meats.  I had only tasted elk one other time in my life and couldn’t actually remember the flavor, only that it was delicate and similar to beef.  Not really as gamey as venison to me.  So I came up with a fairly simple marinade that really did a great job of tenderizing what otherwise would nave been a fairly tough cut of meat.  Elk has virtually no fat, so there is no fat marbling to help tenderize it.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and is certainly fit for any Paleo-Primal table.  I served mine with a small oven-baked sweet potato, grilled pineapple slices and a nice green salad.  All I can say is man, oh, man, was it ever good!!  My husband REALLY liked this marinade and has eaten elk many more times than I.

NOTE:  You can use low-sodium soy sauce or tamari if you can’t get coconut aminos.  I use the latter now for health reasons and the lower sodium count.  I find it at Natural Grocers and it is available on-line and probably places like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lb. elk, steaks or chuck, cut 1¼-1½ thick  (reduce cooking time if using thinner cuts)

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 T. coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce

2 tsp. onion powder or 1 T. finely minced onion

1 tsp. garlic powder or 2 Cloves minced garlic

½ tsp. coarse black pepper

¼ tsp. smoky Chipotle powder (or cayenne)

4 T. unsalted butter or ghee, melted

DIRECTIONS:  Prepare meat by trimming off any obvious large pieces of sinew.  Butterfly larger/thicker roasts so they are between 1¼-1½” thick.  Place meat into a gallon ziploc bag.  Mix the next 8 ingredients (all but the melted butter) in a small bowl.  Stir and scrape the marinade into the bag.  Zip bag and manipulate with your hands to evenly coat the meat.  Marinate for 4 hours in the refrigerator, turning and manipulate the meat and marinade bag every hour.  When ready to cook, prepare a bed of hot charcoal in your grill.  When the coals are ready, place meat on grill.  Using a sauce brush, baste the meat (and 5/8″-3/4″ pineapple slices if making them) with melted butter/ghee several times while cooking to help with moisture.

This will need to cook about 6-8 minutes on a side if you like your meat very rare.  Allow around 10 minutes per side for medium rare, as shown in the pic above.  Medium will take about 12 minutes on a side.  You ABSOLUTELY DO NOT want to cook game well done on the grill (as it has no fat/marbling to help keep it moist) or therein lies the path to a tough, dry result you will be VERY disappointed in.  And elk is too expensive to fall prey to “death by overcooking”.  This marinade will work just as well with beef or lamb.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 servings, each contains: (does not include pineapple slices)

307 calories

16.7 g  fat

2.58 g  carbs, .17 g  fiber, 2.41 g  NET CARBS

35 g  protein

202 mg sodium

497 mg potassium

21% RDA copper, 54% iron, 35% phosphorous, 27% selenium, 46% zinc, 10% magnesium

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Paleo Pot Pie

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I was wanting to use some leftover baked chicken breast meat for dinner tonight and my husband voted for chicken pot pie.  I have a pot pie recipe on my site already that is Atkins suitable, but it has Carbquick in it and therefore I can no longer eat that one.  I told hubby “I don’t think I can do that and stay true to my new Paleo way of eating.”   Then I thought about it a few minutes and realized I just might be able to pull it off so that it would be tasty, satisfy his desire for one of his comfort foods and meet all Paleo recommendations.  AND I DID!  MIKEY LIKED IT!!!!  

This dish is suitable for anyone who is at the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL ladder or who follows a Paleo-Primal program.  The nutritional stats below are very impressive, making it a most nutritious dinner! This would also be good made with turkey or rabbit.

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

2 c. homemade chicken stock

1 1/3 c. carrot, diced

1 1/3 c. red radishes, diced

½ c. red bell pepper, diced

1½ c. green beans, cooked and chopped a bit

½ tsp. red palm oil (for yellow color)

2 c. chicken breast, cooked, diced

½ tsp. glucomannan (Konjac) powder (or your favorite thickener)

Dash black pepper

3 T. coconut cream

3 T. homemade mayo

Dash olive oil to grease baking dish

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

1 c. almond flour

2 T. butter or ghee, softened

1 whole egg

1 T. coconut cream or coconut milk

DIRECTIONS:  Pour chicken stock into 4 qt. saucepan.  Add diced carrot and radish.  Bring to boil and simmer until almost tender.  Add bell pepper and cook until it is just softened a bit.  Turn off fire and add chopped green beans.  Stir in coconut cream and mayo.  Dust the glucomannan powder (or whatever thickener you prefer) evenly over the broth and stir quickly to disperse into the sauce.  Sauce should begin to thicken right up.  Add black pepper and stir to blend all ingredients.  Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8×11 baking dish with a bit of olive oil and pour chicken filling into the dish.  Set aside while you make the topping.

In a small bowl, measure the almond flour.  With a fork, beat in the soft butter, then the egg and finally the coconut cream or coconut milk.    It will form a medium thick dough.  With the fork and a spoon, drop small dots of the dough evenly all over the top of the chicken filling.  Pop into the preheated 350º oven for about 40 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned on top.  This is nice served with a green salad.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 5 nice 1¼ cup servings, each containing:

426 calories

33 g fat

12.5 g  carbs, 5.56 g  fiber, 6.94 g  NET CARBS

24.3 g   protein

382 mg sodium (less if there is no salt in your broth)

475 mg potassium

58% RDA Vitamin A, 33% B6, 31% B12, 45% C, 15% E, 16% copper, 37% iron, 11% magnesium, 13% manganese, 48% niacin, 34% phosphorous, 30% riboflavin, 48% selenium, 17% zinc

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Grilled Ostrich Chopped Steak

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The last time I ate ostrich, which was many years ago, I had a steak that I found very dry and quite tough.  Either we cooked it too long or too hard.  This time I decided to go for ground ostrich.  I added some seasonings and bacon fat and hubby grilled it BEAUTIFULLY!  Taste was just stellar!  Best grilled chopped steak we’ve had in a LONG time.  Though ostrich is quite pricey, you can sometimes get it on sale if you shop around.  I can get it for $9-10 per pound at my local Natural Grocers.  It’s about 98% lean, so there’s no waste or shrinkage during cooking really.  In fact, it’s so lean, you need to ADD fat to the mix so it will cook up better.  I have also seen ostrich at Whole Foods.  You can also obtain it on-line, I’m sure.  This dish is suitable for any phase of Atkins and for Paleo-Primal followers as well.  Just take a close look at the nutritional stats below!!!  Impressive, non?   I know I sure plan to now increase my intake of ostrich, for more reasons than GREAT TASTE!  This recipe would also be good made with ground elk, bison, venison or any game meat.  This is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Primal-Paleo as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground ostrich meat

2 T. bacon grease (or other fat/lard of your choosing)

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary

Dash each ground thyme, onion powder and black pepper

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:  Crumble up the ostrich meat into a glass bowl.  Add all ingredients and work it together with a fork or with your hands like you would for a meatloaf until all is well blended.  Cover and refrigerate to allow the flavors to mingle for 1-2 hours before you plan to cook.  When ready, form into two thick “steaks” pressing them firmly so they won’t fall apart on the grill.   Prepare a hot steak/burger bed of coals and grill the ostrich “steaks” until just medium-med rare.  Place “steaks” over coals and grill.  Do not attempt to jiggle/shift them around lest these babies fall apart on you.  When one side is nicely grilled, gently flip them over and finish cooking. I warn you if you cook them well done, they are definitely going to be dryer and you’ll end up being disappointed you wasted your money.  Ours were medium (just pink inside) and they were NOT dry at all.   We served ours with a piece of grilled bacon and grilled tomato and a spinach salad.  But these would also be good with seasoned, oiled, grilled onion slices, yellow or zucchini squash or eggplant slices as well.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes two 8-oz steaks, each containing:

517 calories

34.2 g  fat

1.2 g  carbs, .2 g  fiber, 1.0 g  NET CARBS

47.5 g  protein

695 mg potassium

275 mg sodium

74% B6, 437% B12, 33% copper, 84% iron, 74% niacin, 68% phosphorous, 56% riboflavin, 141% selenium, 39% thiamin, 102% zinc

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Marinated Wild Duck

My Dad was quite the hunter when he was living and was quite the cook, too.  This recipe evolved over several duck hunting trips, but this final version is still my favorite way to prepare duck. My husband, on the other hand, is NOT a hunter, so I usually have to substitute domestic duck when I get a craving for this Induction friendly recipe.  But this is just as good done with domestic duck as it is done with wild duck.

INGREDIENTS:

2 wild ducks, defeathered, cleaned and butterflied (cut up back and flattened)

12 oz. white wine

¼ c. chopped parsley

1 stalk chopped celery

1 clove garlic

2-3 whole cloves (or 1/8 tsp. ground cloves)

1/3 tsp. thyme

6-10 black peppercorns

2 whole bay leaves

1 T. Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:

After plucking and gutting the ducks, cut up the back, flatten with a hammer or cleaver (butterfly them).  Place in glass or plastic marinating pan.  Mix all marinate ingredients above (except bay leaf) in either a food processor or blender and pulse until all fairly fine.  Pour marinate over duck and add bay leaves to the pan.  Marinate for 6-12 hours, drizzling marinate over ducks or turning them occasionally.

Light charcoal fire.  When coals are hot, place ducks on grill back behind the coals so they get INDIRECT heat.  Place a foil “pan” under duck to catch the fat that drips out as it cooks.  This is essential if using domestic duck which is VERY fatty!  Adjust vents on your grill so you can close grill and smoke/slow cook the birds for 1-1½ hours.  Time will vary depending on the size of the ducks.   Check for doneness where leg joins body like you would a turkey.  Be sure there is no pink/blood.  If there is, cook longer.

If you are at the grain rung of OWL or beyond, this is excellent with wild rice dressing.  Wild rice is the lowest carb rice out there 109 NC per cup raw compared to 136 NC for a cup of raw brown rice.  I’ll try to find and post my Sherry Pecan Wild Rice dressing recipe if I can run it down.  Haven’t made it in eons but it’s really good with any fowl or game.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each containing:

675.3 calories

44.5 g   fat

4.0 g  carbs

1.7 g fiber

47.4 g  protein

2.3 NET CARBS

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