Mayan Banana Bread
(you might also like this recipe for Maya Nut Cake)
With sprouted spelt flour, roasted Maya nut, mashed bananas, fresh milk, pastured butter and eggs, this moist, delicious bread looks, smells and tastes like chocolate and coffee although it contains neither.
Extremely high in Fiber, Calcium, Potassium, Folate, Iron, Zinc, Protein and Vitamins A, E, C and B, it is also high-fiber, low-gluten and easy to digest.
Try it with a little sweet, cultured butter, raw honey or Crème fraîche..
Mayan Banana Bread
For one loaf
6 oz. (by weight) sprouted spelt flour
2 oz. (by weight) organic, roasted Maya nut powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 oz. rapadura or other non-refined sweetener
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 oz. fresh whole milk
2 medium bananas, mashed
2 large pastured eggs
4 oz. pastured butter, melted
Combine the wet ingredients (whisked) and the dry ingredients separately, then fold the two together until just combined.
Pour batter into a buttered loaf pan, sprinkle with crushed Maya nuts (raw, soaked and dried) and bake on the middle rack of a 350 degree oven until a thin knife blade inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes.
Allow to cool on a rack at least 25 minutes before slicing.
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- Mayan Banana Bread
Learn more about the benefits of Maya nut
Chicken a la King
Tender pieces of pastured chicken simmered in bone broth with fresh cream, sherry, nutmeg, peas and mushrooms. Invented in the late 1800′s, this retro dish is every bit as good now as it was then..
Chicken à la King
To make roux, melt 4 oz. pastured butter over medium-low heat until it just begins to sizzle. Add 5 oz. by weight sprouted wheat or spelt flour and whisk to combine. Stirring continuously, continue to cook until it smells like baked bread, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
To make topping, toast a piece of sprouted wheat or spelt bread in the toaster, then tear it up into small pieces and sauté in butter and parsley until golden brown.
Gently simmer chunks of pastured chicken (I’m using thighs, skin removed) in chicken stock with a little sherry and fresh thyme until just done.
Lightly sauté halved pearl onions, wild mushrooms and a bit of red bell pepper, then stir into the chicken.
Add fresh cream, green peas and freshly-grated nutmeg and simmer 5 minutes.
Whisk roux into the chicken and simmer, stirring continuously until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
Season to taste with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper.
To serve, simply spoon chicken mixture into a deep dish and top with toasted bread crumbs.
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- Chicken à la King
Deep Chili
Nobody knows for sure exactly when and where chili con carne was first made, but we can generally agree that the original recipes read something like this..
“Cut up as much meat as you think you will need (any kind will do, but beef is probably best) in pieces about the size of a pecan. Put it in a pot, along with some suet (enough so as the meat won’t stick to the sides of the pot), and cook it with about the same amount of wild onions, garlic, oregano, and chiles as you have got meat. Put in some salt. Stir it from time to time and cook it until the meat is as tender as you think it’s going to get.” –Texas, early 1800s
With deep, dark beef and chile flavors, this is an intensely flavored dish.
Deep Chili
Smoke onions, garlic, jalapeños and a plum tomato over mesquite for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, roast a variety of chiles such as Guajillo, ancho, arbol and New Mexico in a slow oven for an hour.
Pull the stems from the peppers and shake out the seeds. Transfer to a food processor and chop into a fine powder. Add the roasted onion, garlic, jalapeños and a tablespoon of cider vinegar and blend into a paste.
Brown a couple of pieces of pork belly in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add small chunks of grass-fed beef chuck or bison and sear until seriously browned.
Add 1/2 cup of the chili paste and just enough water to cover the meat.
Add toasted cumin seed, Mexican oregano, a little sea salt, a few shards of true cinnamon and 3-4 whole cloves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours, adding the chopped, smoked tomato during the last half hour.
Add 1 ounce of Mexican chocolate and stir until melted. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.
Serve with beans, cornbread or tortillas on the side if you like.
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- Deep Chili
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops with Mint Peas and Wild Rice
Local, pastured lamb loin chops with rosemary garlic demi-glace, fresh peas with fried shallots and mint, and mushroom wild rice.
C’est si bon!
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops with Mint Peas and Wild Rice
lamb loin chops from premiumlamb.com via greenling.com
Marinate lamb chops in olive oil, chopped garlic, fresh rosemary, freshly-ground pepper and a three-fingered pinch of coarse sea salt for 4 or more hours (refrigerated). Allow to come up to room temperature before cooking.
Rinse and prepare true wild rice according to package directions, about 1 hour. Add sautéed wild mushrooms, a teaspoon of pastured butter and salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.
Lightly steam fresh peas until about 2/3 done, then transfer to a skillet with pastured butter and chopped shallots. Fry until browned, then season with chopped fresh mint, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.
Quickly sear lamb chops in a very hot skillet with butter and a little of the marinade until well browned but still rare. Transfer to a side plate.
De-glaze the pan with burgundy then scrape up all the brown bits with the side of a wooden spoon. Add a little brown stock, reduce and finish with demi-glace and fresh rosemary.
Set the rare lamb chops in the pan with the demi-glace until warmed through, about 2-3 minutes.
To serve, heap wild rice in the center of a dinner plate and arrange lamb chops around the perimeter. Spoon demi-glace over the top, then spoon peas in between the chops and garnish with additional mint and parsley.
This post is part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays
Pan-Fried Salmon Cakes, Sauce Remoulade
Made from homemade mayonnaise, fresh herbs, capers and cornichons, sauce rémoulade is a perfect contrast for spicy, pan-fried salmon cakes..
Pan-Fried Salmon Cakes with Sauce Rémoulade
Makes 4 large Salmon Cakes
2 cans wild Alaskan Salmon, drained
2 tablespoons red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons celery, diced
2 tablespoons scallions, sliced
2 tablespoons red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 large pastured eggs
2 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon smoked black pepper, more-or-less
1/2 tablespoon half sharp paprika or cayenne, more-or-less
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
2 pieces stale sprouted wheat bread, toasted and torn into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter
Warm diced red bell pepper, celery and red onions in a little butter over medium-low until softened, about 3 minutes. Refrigerate.
Lightly toss together salmon, scallions, parsley, eggs, mayonnaise, lemon juice and seasonings. Fold in cooled vegetables and refrigerate 1 hour.
Fold enough toasted bread pieces into the salmon mixture so that you can form patties that are cohesive and moist, but not wet.
Fry salmon cakes in ghee over medium-high heat until browned on 1 side, then flip over and cook 1 minute longer.
Place the pan in a 400 degree until the cakes are sizzling, about 5-7 minutes.
Allow to cakes to rest in the pan for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a serving plate.
Dress each cake with a tablespoon or more of cold rémoulade and optionally garnish with a bit of caviar.
For the Rémoulade
1 cup homemade mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon fresh chives
1/2 tablespoon fresh tarragon
1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley
1/2 tablespoon fresh chervil
1 tablespoon capers, coarsely chopped
2 cornichons, finely diced
1 small anchovy fillet, minced
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Wrap tightly and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.
This post is part of the Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet
There’s Nothing “Smart” About Froot Loops
Learn more at The Nourished Kitchen
Dear Doctors Kennedy, Kahn, Hager, and Bier,
I am writing to express my outrage that you are supporting the “Smart Choices” program. Any certification program that calls Froot Loops a “Smart Choice” doesn’t deserve your support. Our children are already eating too much sugar and suggesting that parents should consider Fruit Loops and other unhealthy foods packed with sugar a good choice is irresponsible given the dangerous and costly rise in childhood obesity we currently face.
Fruit Loops is 41% sugar.
You should know better, as doctors and as public health leaders, than to promote eating sugary cereals for breakfast. I am appalled that any university or nonprofit organization that supports healthy eating would want to be associated with an industry-backed promotional gimmick suggesting that Fruit Loops and other clearly unhealthy foods are a good choice for children.
This is, simply put, unacceptable. I urge you to resign from the board of the Smart Choices program. Until you do, you not only cast doubt upon your own objectivity, but also on the credibility of Tufts University, the Baylor College of Medicine, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Diabetes Association. I highly doubt that any of these institutions want to be associated with the idea that Froot Loops, or any of the other unhealthy foods manufactured by the program’s sponsors are “Smart Choices.”
Prefer an ACTUAL Smart Choice? Try Kelly’s Breakfast Oatmeal..
The night before, mix these ingredients together in a small saucepan (takes about 2 minutes):
1/2-1 t. sea salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. real maple syrup (we get ours at our farm, ask at your local health food store)
2 c. organic oats (not the quick-cooking kind)
2 c. warm water (filtered is best) (***Only 1 c. if you’re just adding hot water in the morning – see below.)
4 T. organic whole-milk yogurt (even better: homemade yogurt from raw milk), OR you could also use whey, kefir or buttermilk – using ONE of any of these is the key to breaking down the phytic acid. (Those with severe milk allergies can substitute lemon juice or vinegar.)
Cover and leave it on the counter-top overnight.
In the morning, turn on your stove and heat the oatmeal to the desired temperature, and that’s it!
Go get some more REAL breakfast ideas!
