Each Tuesday, fellow blogger Wardee (aka the Dairy Diva) encourages us to take a look back at what we’ve had going on, twisting, in our kitchens over the previous week.  While I’ve been too busy to post a lot lately, I certainly haven’t stopped eating  🙂

1) Roasted Broccoli Risotto with homemade vegetable stock, asiago, safflower stamens and toasted pine nuts.  A Meatless Monday dish.

2) Criques au Caviar, light potato pancakes with spring onions, homemade crème fraîche and domestic caviar..

3) Tulsi Chai, ripped from the pages of The Herb Companion, a soothing and healing decoction of holy basil, green tea, fresh ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg with fresh milk and a touch of raw honey..

4) Adobo-fried Pork with salsa fresca and chunky guacamole.  Three cheers for an extended growing season!

5) Green Chili Stew with Fried Black Beans and Roasted Chicken, Hatch chilies and roasted tomatillos simmered in chicken stock thickened with fresh corn flour and served with cumin-fried black beans and garlic-roasted chicken..

6) Korean-style BBQ Short Ribs marinated in soy, sesame, fresh ginger and scallions, served taco-style in a butter lettuce cup with black bean garlic paste, fermented kimchi and Sriracha sauce.

So, there you have it.  What say we head over to the home of the Twister and see what wonders await..

Real-food blogger Wardeh is hosting her weekly Tuesday Twister Blog Carnival, the purpose of which is to share through words and pictures what we’ve had going on in our kitchens this past week..

1) Smoked Duck Tostadas Thinly-sliced apple wood-smoked duck breast, toasted guajillo salsa, crèma Mexicana, pickled red onions & jalapeños, field greens with cilantro, fresh avocado, fried black beans and pumpkin-balsamic vinaigrette.

2) BBQ Pork Cheeks with Charro Beans and Vegetable Escabèche Heritage pork cheeks are slow-roasted with tomatoes, onions, peaches and chipotle and served with long-simmered charro beans and vegetable escabèche..

3) Chopped Beefsteak with Mushroom Gravy 70’s-style chopped beefsteak with mushroom gravy, real mashed potatoes and blue lake green beans.

4) Red Lentil Dahl with Spinach and Curried Yogurt Made with spices of Ayurvedic importance, this is a powerfully healthy and healing dish..

5) Thought you might like to see this almost foot-long sweet potato that showed up in my bushel today.  Big enough to feed a small army!

6) This is fresh pork belly that was braised for 1/2 day in stock, aromatic herbs and vegetables, bay, salt, orange and cinnamon.  After it chills overnight in the braising liquid it will be ready for any number of different recipes.

It was a pretty OK week but oh, man, that beefsteak sure tasted like home.
I’m off to Twisterville to get some ideas for next week. See ya!

Each Tuesday, fellow blogger Wardeh encourages us to share a bit about what sort of GNOWFGLINS have been twisting in our kitchens during the past week.  What are GNOWFGLINS you ask?  They are God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season.  You know, real food!

1) Wild Halibut en Persillade Thick-cut wild Alaskan halibut with a light coating of homemade coarse mustard and a persillade of chopped parsley and bread crumbs..

2) Wild Blueberry Biscuits with Maple Sugar and Rosemary A little savory and not too sweet. Good any time of day..

3) Pan-Roasted Moulard with Blackberry/Cranberry Chutney Succulent, aged Moulard duck breast with thyme, bay and a hint of freshly-grated nutmeg is pan-seared, then quickly roasted to a perfect medium-rare.  Served with Armagnac-flamed pan juices, asparagus with garlic and parsley root, and gingered wild blackberry and cranberry chutney..

4) Lobster Bisque Maine lobster, cream, dry sherry, aromatic herbs and vegetables and shaved black truffles.  A classic..

5) Fig Jam with Vanilla and Brandy Turkish figs, brandy, vanilla bean, fresh lemon and wildflower honey..

6) Curried Two-Pea Soup with Toasted Garlic and Crème Fraîche Split green and yellow peas are simmered in vegetable stock with Madras curry and fried onions, then topped with crunchy toasted garlic, Maldon sea salt flakes and a dollop of crème fraîche..

7) Poached Pear with Dark Chocolate, Creme Anglaise and Balsamic Port Reduction Organic Starkrimson pear poached in Tawny port wine, vanilla and peppercorns and served with dark chocolate, crème anglaise and a balsamic port reduction..

8) Conchiglie con Salsiccia di Pollo Coarsely-ground pastured chicken, spinach, sweet onions, garlic and yellow tomatoes tossed with conchiglie pasta, cream, saffron, Grana Padano and fresh herbs..

So, that’s what my week looked like.  Let’s head over to Wardeh’s house to see what wonders await..

Each week, fellow real food-blogger Wardeh encourages us to take look back and share a little about what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the last week.  Pastured beef and lamb prevailed for 4 days here, along with a savory vegetarian meal and couple of not-too-sweet treats..

1) Stash Cookies Cultured butter, papelón, piloncillo oscuro, raw cacao beans and wild cinnamon.  Oh, my.

2) Mesquite Grilled Beef Heart Burrito Grass-fed beef heart is marinated  and grilled over a mesquite fire before being simmered with tomatoes, garlic and smoky chipotles en adobo.  I missed an opportunity to do something interesting with all the blood, but a couple of real-food bloggers come to the rescue on that score.

3) Ancho-Grilled Sirloin with Avocado and Papaya Pesto Grass-fed sirloin is dry-rubbed with freshly-ground ancho chiles, roasted paprika, cumin, smoked pepper and sea salt and then pan-grilled and served with a raw avocado oil-based pesto containing cilantro, garlic, bits of dried papaya, macadamia nuts and chipotle powder.

4) Rosemary and Garlic Roast Leg of Lamb with Minted English Peas Local pastured leg of lamb is coated with fresh rosemary, garlic, coarse salt and cracked pepper then slow-roasted and served au jus with fresh peas, spearmint and fried shallots.  The leftovers went became Lamb Vindaloo two days later..

5) Cultured Ginger Peach Smoothie Home-cultured milk, fresh ginger, peaches, lemon and raw wildflower honey make a powerfully pro-biotic, anti-inflammatory and warming beverage.

6) Savory Bread and Cheese Pudding Sprouted wheat and wild yeast sourdough bread, pastured eggs, fresh milk, spinach, onions, garlic, sweet peppers and aged cheeses..

Stash Cookies with papelón, piloncillo oscuro, raw cacao beans and wild cinnamon

I’m off to gnowfglins.com to see what else has been twisting these last few days before Thanksgiving..

Isn’t it interesting how the natural color of foods tend to follow the seasons?

Each week, fellow real food-blogger Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS encourages us to take look back and share a little about what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the last week.  Here’s what the 2nd week of November looked like around here..

1) Chili con Calabaza Asada (Roasted Pumpkin Chili) Oven-roasted pumpkin, fried pork belly, fresh & dried chiles, onions, toasted corn, cumin and oregano.  I can (and do) make chili out of just about anything..

2) Chicken Neeka Paprika-roasted chicken with Spanish onion, Roma tomatoes, sweet peppers, lemon, garlic and fresh herbs, served with pecorino-safflower orzo..

3) Lemon Snaps I wanted to see if I could make old fashioned lemon snaps from scratch, using only healthy, unprocessed ingredients.  I got the taste and the healthy part down, but didn’t get the texture right this time..

4) Sprouted Brown Rice Curry A thick, rich soup of sprouted brown rice, corn, curry, red chiles and coconut cream, topped with toasted cashews. When I’m not making chili, I can generally be found making curry  🙂

5) Potatoes Gratiné A slightly different take on a classic dish, these Potatoes Gratiné forgo the usual cheese and cream in favour of bacon, onions and fresh tri-color sage.  This one’s a keeper!

Hot Peppers for Chili con Calabaza Asada

What say we head on over to gnowfglins.com to get some ideas for next week!

Each week, fellow real food-blogger Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS encourages us to take look back and share a little about what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the last week.  Here’s what it looked like around here..

1) Roast Squash Coloradito Roasted sweet dumpling squash stuffed with poblano peppers, Spanish onions, smoked bacon and toasted corn, served over a spicy mole Coloradito.  Seasonal, organic, local and darn tasty.

2) Lamb Keftedes A delicious traditional Greek offering of local, pastured lamb, toasted spices and fresh herbs, garlic, lemon and extra-virgin olive oil.  Frugal and dead simple to make.

3) Penang Goat Curry Pastured goat seared, then slowly simmered in coconut red curry with fried tomatoes, onions and Thai dragon peppers, with fresh ginger, garlic and Kaffir lime leaves. Easy to see why 70% of the world’s population eats goat meat!

4) Duck Fat-Fried Sweet Potato Chips Mandoline-cut sweet potatoes fried in rendered duck fat then sprinkled with coarse salt and freshly-ground pepper.  A weekend indulgence.

5) Thai Red Pumpkin and Carrot Curry A vegetarian dish of roasted pumpkin, carrots, onions, red bell pepper, chiles, ginger, garlic, coconut milk and basil.  Mm, mm mm.

Frying peppers, onions, bacon and corn for stuffed squash Coloradito

This post is a grateful part of the Tuesday Twister blog carnival at gnowfglins.com!

Each Tuesday, real-food blogger Wardeh at gnowfglins.com asks us to share a bit about what’s been twisting in our kitchens during the past week.  This is a great way for me to be able to how well I’ve been doing (or not) with my goal of eating a healthy diet consisting of primarily seasonal, local and sustainable food..

1) Blackberry Mascarpone Pancakes Marion blackberries, fresh mascarpone, soaked and sprouted flours, vanilla bean paste, pastured butter and eggs and a dollop of maple butter.  If you’re inclined to indulge a little now and then..

2) Rustic Roast Chicken with Sweet Peppers and Sausage Pastured chicken, sweet peppers, sausage, fresh herbs and garlicky croûtons. One of my personal favorites, this one’s in permanent rotation.

3) Lechón Asado Mojo-marinated, slow-roasted pork shoulder with sour orange juice, cumin, oregano and fresh peppers, served with black beans and saffron rice.  Cuban comfort food!

4) Tacos de Tinga Poblana Smoky pulled pork, pickled red onions, avocado and crumbled goat cheese on roasted jalapeño tortillas, made from leftover Lechón Asado.  I used all the leftovers!  Yay!

5) Cauliflower Gobi, Scallion and Black Lemon Pancakes Cauliflower florets in a tomato curry with onions, ginger and whole spices, served with savory garbanzo flour pancakes with scallions and black lemon (limes, actually, but they’re marketed as lemons for some reason).

6) Pickled Red Cabbage.  Love this stuff, especially with roasted meats!

Pickled Red Cabbage

Another week fairly well met, my fine fellow food folks!  Say, I wonder if anyone’s making desert over at the Tuesday Twister..

Another Tuesday, another look back at what’s been twisting in the kitchen lately.  My gosh, where does the time go?

1) Black Bean Tamales Fresh corn masa spread on soaked husks and filled with cumin-fried black beans.  Served with fire-roasted tomato salsa and chile con queso..

2) Traditional Maryland Fried Chicken There’s a reason why this dish is still on the menu 130 years later!

3) Elderberry Syrup If the drug companies could patent nature, you can be sure they would be selling us barrels-full of elderberry syrup right now..

4) Kentucky Bourbon-Glazed Chicken Most popular post of the past week.  Must be the booze.

5) Lemon Poppyseed Cookies A personal favorite.  I brought these to work so as not to eat them all myself  🙂

6) Beef Heart Chili I’ve been wanting to do something with beef heart and tallow for a long time.  For me, the result was near-revelatory!

A week full of blessings.  I’m particularly grateful to some very generous friends, and very pleased to post in support of The Tuesday Twister.  Please join me as I head off to GNOWFGLINS to see what real life, real food inspiration awaits!

ps don’t forget to toss a recipe in the hat for a chance to win a great new cookbook from Thomas Keller!

Each Tuesday, Wardeh at gnowfglins.com encourages us to share what’s been twisting in our kitchens over the past week.

Welcome to La Tornade de Mardi, the Tuesday Twister for October 13th!

1) Roasted Winter Squash Roasted winter squash with smoked bacon, poblano peppers, onions and toasted cumin seed.  These flavors were just meant to come together.

2) Avocado Black Bean Quesadillas Ridiculously inexpensive and outrageously good, I say.

3) Rib-eye Steak Far superior in taste, grass-fed beef is at its best when simply prepared using just a few ingredients.

4) Pindi Chana A traditional, healing curry of tomatoes, onions, chiles, cashews and spices fried in ghee with chickpeas, plump raisins, fresh pomegranate seeds and cilantro.  Even people who “don’t like Indian food” tend to love this dish.

5) Roasted Corn Chowder with Scallops and Bacon I got a shout out from the extraordinarily generous Top Chef Master Rick Bayless on this one.

6) Shirred Eggs with Grilled Ham, Peppers and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Shirred duck eggs with grilled smoked ham & peppers, roasted tomatillo salsa and fried tortillas.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.  Now let’s go see what our most talented neighbors have been up to!

Each Tuesday, Wardeh at gnowfglins.com encourages us to share what we’ve been up to in our kitchens over the past week.

While we’re still getting a fair amount of summer vegetables including the last of the heirloom tomatoes, its clear that fall isn’t far off;  the past week reflects that sometimes awkward transition..

1) Rosemary Chicken Liver Skewers Local, pastured chicken livers pan-fried on rosemary skewers with garlic smashed purple potatoes and mushroom & onion gravy.  I could eat this 3 times a week and be very happy.

2) Roasted Tomato and White Bean Soup with Tasso Ham Roasted San Marzano tomatoes, yellow onions, garlic and peppers with spicy Tasso ham, celery, fresh herbs and raw olive oil.  Winter yesterday, summer today 🙂

3) Pork Belly, Black Bean and Roasted Sweet Potato Tacos This was easily my favorite thing for the week.  The roasted sweet potatoes added an unexpected dimension to the beans and pork.  This one’s definitely going into the rotation.

4) Roasted Chicken Posole Soup Achiote roasted chicken, homemade chicken stock, posole corn, yellow onions, fresh chile peppers, smoked chile powder, lime and vermicelli.  Comfort food, Texican-style.

5) Chocolate Almond and Almond Shortbread Cookies Not that the chocolate cookies weren’t good, but the simple, unpretentious almond shortbread cookies were a standout.  I have a long way to go in mastering the art of sourdough bread-making, but these little diversions help build experience and confidence.

6) Classic Tuna Melt Pacific albacore, heirloom tomatoes, purple onions, celery, homemade mayonnaise and local pepper-jack cheese on toasted wild-yeast sourdough English muffins.  One of the easiest and best lunches of the season.

A rather eclectic week, I’d say.  I wonder what else has been twisting out there in twisterland?

Prepping Roasted Tomato and White Bean Soup with Tasso Ham

Each Tuesday, Wardeh at gnowfglins.com encourages us to share what we’ve been up to in our kitchens over the past week.

Gravitating towards a more primal diet, my focus this last week has primarily been on simple, fresh ingredients that are served raw and/or minimally-cooked.

Here are a few examples..

1) Loin of Rabbit with Pancetta, Porcini and Wild Onions De-glaze the pan with an ounce of Armagnac and stir up all the brown bits with the edge of a wooden spoon. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock and reduce slightly..

2) Bengal Lentils with Pea Shoots and Wild Pomegranate A traditional, healing dish of sprouted lentils in a spicy, savory tomato sauce with toasted whole spices, onions, peppers, pea shoots and wild pomegranate seeds..

3) Antidote Salad At home this evening, I knew I needed to make up for the nutritionally empty & otherwise damaging lunch, so I gathered up what I could from the garden, pantry and fridge and made this Antidote Dinner Salad..

4) Filet de Bœuf Béarnaise Pan-roasted grass-fed filet mignon, asparagus tips, shiitake mushrooms, heirloom tomato and sauce béarnaise..

5) Corn Spaghetti with Duck Egg Aioli Pungent Chesnok red garlic, duck eggs and 100% organic corn pasta..

Overall, a pretty satisfying, nourishing week.   Now let’s go see what wonders await at the home of the Tuesday Twister!

Each Tuesday, Wardeh at gnowfglins.com encourages us to share what we’ve been up to in our kitchens over the past week.

One practical benefit of the Tuesday Twister is the ability to see at-a-glance whether I’m hitting my diet/nutritional goals or not.  I can immediately see for instance, that I need to increase my intake of fermented/pro-biotic foods.

Here’s a look back..

1) Salmon Cakes with Sauce Rémoulade Made from homemade mayonnaise, fresh herbs, capers and cornichons, sauce rémoulade is a perfect contrast for spicy, pan-fried salmon cakes.  With lots of healthy Omega-3s, this one’s staying in rotation.

2) 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.  Bring on those fall flavors!

3) Deep Chili With pastured beef, chiles, onions, water & little else, this 1880’s style chile con carne really hit the spot.

4) Chicken à la King Another classic from the 1800’s, made with local organic ingredients.  I just had this again for lunch today.

5) Mayan Banana Bread With sprouted spelt, roasted Maya nut and mashed bananas, this nutrient-dense, low-gluten bread tastes of coffee and chocolate, but contains neither.  Highly recommended.

6) Pan-seared Lamb Chops with Garlic, Mint & Grape Tomatoes I hadn’t intended to turn this one into a blog post, but the flavors were so amazing that I wanted to document this one for later.

So, there you have it..  now let’s go see what everyone else has been up to!

Real-food blogger Wardeh is hosting her weekly Tuesday Twister Blog Carnival, the purpose of which is to share through words and pictures what we’ve had going on, twisting, in our own kitchens this past week.

Here is my recap for this week; can’t wait to see what everyone else has been up to!

I just realized that almost everything I’ve made lately is primarily red in color.  I wonder what’s up with that?

1) Heirloom Salsa. Roasted heirloom tomatoes, garlic, sweet onions and peppers, raw tomatoes, cilantro and lime. All lacto-fermented into a pro-biotic riot of flavor.

2) Pulled Pork Posole.  Pastured pork simmered overnight with chilies and tomatoes then flavored with slaked nixtamal.

3) Hard-Boiled Eggs Masala.  Pastured eggs smothered in butter-fried onions, tomatoes and whole spices.  Definitely the highlight of the week.

4) Cherry Mountain Bread Experiment.  Ranier cherries, kefir, melted butter, soaked flour, cacao nibs, baking powder.  Crust was a little weird.  Promising, but needs more work.

5) Quesadillas.  Oh, yeah.

6) Crawfish Étoufée.  I’m walkin’ to New Orleans..

Real-food blogger Wardeh is hosting a Tuesday Twister Blog Carnival, the purpose of which is to share through words and pictures what we’ve had going on, twisting, in our own kitchens this past week.

Here is my recap; can’t wait to see what everyone else has been up to!

1) Sprouts. Expensive to buy, ridiculously inexpensive and easy to do at home.  This has been working well, so I bought a couple of half gallon-sized sprouting jars with screen lids and loaded up on radish, mung bean, alfalfa and red clover sprouting seeds.

2) Local bounty. Check out the fresh bay leaves!

3) These titles have been in heavy rotation lately.  I gave away my TV 3 years ago, so now I have lots of time to read.

4) Working on a killer dry-rub for local, grass-fed steak.  This is espresso powder, raw cacao and powdered Worcestershire.  A little bitter this time, but promising.

5) Fried sauerkraut.  Like potato latkes, but made with homemade, salt-fermented sauerkraut.  Also very promising.

6) Cornbread.  Real, honest-to-God organic, non-GMO coarse yellow corn, fresh corn kernels, buttermilk and homegrown peppers.  I wish you could have been here to smell it when it came out of the oven.

7) Wild Blueberry Bannock. Soaked flour, kefir, water, baking powder and fresh blueberries. Big success.

8) Moroccan albacore-stuffed yellow tomatoes.  Another big success.

9) Black quinoa and roasted red pepper purée.  Really good.