This is now my second favorite cookbook (the first one will be yours when you write it)

Salmon with Onion,Tomato and Herbs

Salmon fillets or steaks, enough for one per person
sliced red onion
sliced tomato
minced garlic
olive oil
fresh or dried basil and thyme
salt and pepper
foil

Place a piece of fish inside a sheet of foil. Salt and pepper both sides, drizzle one side with olive oil, and sprinkle herbs and garlic over the fish generously. Layer the tomatoes and onions over the fish. Fold up the foil over the fish to make a packet, sealing the ends as well so the juices won’t escape. Repeat for each piece of fish. Grill over a medium hot fire for about 10 minutes on each side. (Maybe 15 on the veggie side.) Fish is done when it flakes away in the center and the veggies are soft and caramelized. We like to open our packets over brown rice. The juice from the fish, herbs and veggies is wonderful!

We call this Wedding Chicken. It was served at a wedding reception and my mom and I sat there the whole time trying to figure out what was in the recipe. This is what we came up with and we think it’s a winner!

Wedding Chicken

4 Chicken breasts cut into large (2 inch) pieces
flour for dredging
garlic salt ( or herbamare)
olive oil
2 leeks sliced
1 clove garlic minced
1 can of stewed tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
thyme
basil
marjoram
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 can artichoke hearts
parsley (1 tsp dried or 1 Tbsp fresh)

Add some garlic salt or herbamare to a cup of flour and dredge the chicken pieces in the flour. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil and brown the chicken in the oil. Remove the chicken and keep near by on a separate plate. Add the sliced leeks and garlic to the oil and saute for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes and cook a few more minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated. Add the chicken back in along with the wine, broth, mushroom and herbs. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and parsley and simmer a few more minutes uncovered until the sauce begins to thicken.

Shepherd’s Pie

2 lbs ground grassfed beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup (or more) of leftover gravy – beef, pork, chicken
1 TBSP worcestershire sauce
6 large white potatoes, peeled
butter, milk, white pepper

Place the beef, onions, and gravy in a pot. Cook on medium heat stirring often until the meat is beginning to cook. Add the worcestershire sauce and simmer on low , partly covered, for about 20 mins. until thoroughly cooked, if the mixture seems too dry add a little water. If it seems too moist, cook uncovered until it reduces. Pour into a 9 x 13″ glass casserole or equivalent dish.

Boil the peeled potatoes until soft. Mash with milk and butter, leaving them a bit dry. Add a dash or two of white pepper.

Top the meat with the mashed potatoes, sealing to the edge of the dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for ~ 40 mins. or until the top is slightly browned and the meat is bubbly.

Serve with a fresh green vegetable.

This is quick, easy, deliciously rich and nutritious. I love making very simple dishes with vegetables that allow them to shine and then accent with high quality fats. I make this with whatever hearty greens are in season: kales, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli raab, broccoli and so on.

INGREDIENTS

-Fresh, local greens: approximately 1 large bunch of kale, spinach or broccoli raab, 2 large bunches of spinach or 1 large head of broccoli.
-2 medium red onions
-1 tablespoon butter, preferably local and raw if you can get it, otherwise I like Organic Pastures Cultured Butter as an alternative
-3 large cloves garlic
-dash of cayenne pepper

-4 egg yolks from local, pasture-raised hens, separated out from whites which can be saved for another recipe
-4 teaspoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice (squeeze them into a bowl over a sieve to avoid seeds in the juice)
-7 oz butter, cut into approx ½ inch cubes, room temperature

-Sea salt to taste

“MIS EN PLACE”

-Prepare the Hollandaise ingredients and set them close to the stove top, with a small, thick-bottomed saucepan (with a lid) ready for use when needed.

-Wash greens of choice, cut as desired and set aside.

-Peel and chop garlic into rough pieces and set aside

-Prepare onions, cut into medium slices.

PREPARATION

In large saucepan with a lid, cook onions in 1 tablespoon butter over very low heat for 10-15 mins, allowing to soften and sweeten, stir occasionally.

While onions are cooking, make Hollandaise Sauce: whisk egg yolks and lemon juice together in small saucepan until fluffy. Place over the lowest heat possible on your stove, whisking gently. Add a couple cubes of butter and watch carefully for when those cubes start to disappear. When that moment comes, add a few more lumps, always whisking. If you can actually see them melting, as opposed to just sort of disappearing, lift pan off stove to stop getting too hot. You don’t want to cook the egg yolks. Continue with whisking, watching temperature, and adding butter cubes until all cubes are absorbed. Add salt to taste. Turn off the heat and cover.

Turn up heat on the onions to medium, now that they are soft and translucent. Add garlic and greens, stir around in butter and onion mixture for about one minute. Salt according to taste. Add cayenne pepper to taste. Add large dash of water, cover pan immediately and adjust heat so the liquid simmers nicely. Steam mixture as long as needed for greens to cook, shaking pan occasionally to keep things loose: about 3 minutes for spinach, 5-7 for chard, kales and broccoli raab, 10 for broccoli. Check on Hollandaise sauce while cooking greens and give it a whisk if it starts to harden on the top.

EATING

Spoon lots of Hollandaise sauce over each portion of greens and enjoy! This is a great accompaniment to simple grain dishes, or meat and fish.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 whole chicken – 3-4 pounds
button mushrooms
carrots
onion
celery
thyme
garlic
bay leaf
rice pasta (we use tinkyada, usually the schells or bowties)
Other seasonings as desired (dulse flakes, red pepper flakes, etc)

Poach chicken in stockpot about 3/4 full of water. Remove, let cool, shred the meat and reserve. Sometimes we save the carcass to make another batch of stock.

Boil noodles and reserve.

Saute onion, carrots and celery in some olive oil until softened. Add minced garlic, thyme and mushrooms and cook another few minutes until mushrooms are soft. Add to the chicken broth made by poaching the chicken. Add a bay leaf if you’d like.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for at least 20-30 min. Stir in reserved chicken and noodles. Add red pepper flakes or dulse flakes or any other seasonings as desired.

If you keep the noodles separate you can freeze the soup; if the noodles are left in they get mushy.

Prick and bake sweet potatoes in a 400 degree oven until soft (plunge in a fork to test). Let cool. Peel.

Chop some onion and put it in a glass measuring cup with some butter and a bit of curry powder (I use a bit of cumin, sweet curry from Penzey’s or any other garam masala mixture I have handy). Microwave until the butter has melted, the spices have roasted and the onions are soft – not long!

Put the onion/spice mixture in a big pot with the sweet potato, add water to cover, chicken bouillon cubes (1 for each cup of water used) and bring to a simmer. Use a masher, portable blender (the kind you put right in the pot) or cuisinart to blend. Add water and chicken bouillon cubes until you have a thick soup.

Add heavy cream or milk and pepper to taste. Heat and serve with fresh ground nutmeg (optional).

You can freeze this soup before you add the cream.

This week my combo was:

1 tbsp coconut oil
5 local, pastured eggs
1/4 cup or so of raw milk
1/2 a bunch of lacinato kale, chopped into 2 inch chunks or so
4 small portobella caps, sliced
1/2 to 1 cup of shredded cheddar (double points for raw)

Preheat oven to 375

Melt coconut oil over med-high heat. Add kale and mushrooms and sautee until soft.

Beat eggs with milk in bowl. Add in cheese, kale and mushrooms. Stir until combined. Pour into 9″ pie pan and bake for 30 min or until set. Slice into wedges and serve with salsa (fermented, if you can swing it).

This also would be good with cream cheese in place of the cheddar. I love cream cheese and eggs!