Archive for the ‘Carnivore!’ Category

CAJUN CHICKEN BREASTS

Posted: February 25, 2015 in Carnivore!, chicken, Food, frying, Recipes, spicy
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I learned most of my Cajun dishes from the cookbooks of one of the masters: chef Paul Prudhomme. Sometimes, I’d use some of his great seasoning ideas in my own dishes. This was one of them. I would cook huge batches of these chicken breasts for my Mardi Gras parties and there would never be any leftovers! Don’t wait for Fat Tuesday to come around again to make these yourself.

Double-dipping in the seasoning mix is a messy step, but it makes them extra crunchy and flavorful.

Single-dipped breasts are at the top. The extra crunchy double-dipped are at the bottom.

Single-dipped breasts are at the top. The extra crunchy double-dipped are at the bottom.

 

 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon granulated onion

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon gumbo file (file powder), optional

 

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenders or breasts

3 eggs

oil for frying (I like using avocado oil and some pork fat for flavor)

 

Cut the chicken breasts into manageable pieces. If they’re thick, slice them horizontally to make two thinner breasts. A thick piece of chicken won’t cook all the way through.

Combine the flour, salt, paprika, onion, garlic, basil, white pepper, cayenne, black pepper, thyme and gumbo file in a bowl. Mix well.

In another bowl, crack and scramble the eggs.

Single dip: Dip the chicken in the egg and then the flour mixture. Shake off an excess and place in a pan with oil that has been heated to 350 degrees on a thermometer.  Fry until it’s cooked all the way through. Drain on paper towels.

Double-dip: Dip the chicken pieces in the egg, then the seasoning mix, then the egg, then back in the seasoning mix and place directly in a pan with oil heated to 350 degrees on a thermometer. Fry the chicken until it’s cooked all the way through and golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

 

If you need to feed a crowd, just double or triple the recipe. I used to make a 10x batch for my Mardi Gras parties!

This recipe is gluten-free if you substitute GF flour for the all-purpose flour.

 

ROASTED PORK LOIN WITH CITRUS PASTE

Posted: February 9, 2015 in Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
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The “paste” used in this dish is really more like a citrusy pesto that you smear all over the meat before cooking, preferably the day before. The citrus flavors work really well with the pork, and the initial high-heat cooking really gets the fat crispy and delicious.

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Ingredients:

1 pork loin, about 8 lbs. (I use Berkshire pork)

 

zest of 2 oranges

zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

3 cloves garlic, through a press

1/4 cup olive oil

 

In a food processor bowl, combine the orange and lemon zest, the rosemary, sage, salt and pepper, and garlic. Pulse the processor just to mix, then turn it on and add the olive oil slowly, in a stream, until you get what resembles an oily pesto.

Score the fatty side of the pork loin with a knife in a diamond pattern. Rub the paste on all sides of the pork, but especially into the cracks of the fatty side.

Lay the loin down on a rack, raised off a sheet pan, fatty side up. Place it in the fridge, unwrapped, overnight.

The next day, about an hour before cooking, remove the loin from the fridge and let it come back to room temperature.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Bake the pork loin at 450 for 20 minutes, then cut the heat to 350 and cook until the pork reaches a temperature of 140 degrees (light pink). Let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.

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There are few carbs in this preparation, because I use just the zest of the citrus and not the juice.

GMO’s, SIMPLIFIED

Posted: February 2, 2015 in beef, Carnivore!, chicken, Food, pork
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I think many of those that don’t think GMO’s are a bad deal probably don’t really understand the situation.

My friends at FireFly Farms in Stonington, Connecticut (www.fireflyfarmsllc.com), understand GMO’s better than most. They raise heritage breeds of pork, pastured chickens, and rare cattle. They are family owned and certified humane. You should follow them on Facebook.

Max Mule, by Kelly Milukas

Max Mule, by Kelly Milukas

This was a recent post on FireFly owner Van Brown’s Facebook page. I’m reprinting with his permission. It’s simple and to the point.

Hi everyone.

I have been thinking about the debate on GMO’s and labeling.

A lot.

Let’s imagine a world where there are two types of pudding cups.

The Blue Pudding Cup definitely will not hurt your kid.

The corporation that makes The Red Pudding Cup states that all the negative tests about The Red Pudding Cup are wrong and they have made lots of tests themselves showing that The Red Pudding cup is okay.

You know The Blue Pudding Cup is safe. There are tests both ways, remembering that many of the tests were funded by The Red Pudding Cup Corporation, so the best you can know is The Red Pudding Cup pudding will probably not hurt your kid. At least according to The Red Pudding Cup Corporation.

You know one pudding cup is okay for your children. You have to have a question about the other pudding cup.

Which pudding cup would you buy to feed to your child?

One last thought?

Would it be okay for The Red Pudding cup to put their pudding into a Blue Pudding Cup so no one would know which type of pudding they are feeding their children… your children?
Van

CHINESE STYLE HONEY RIBS FOR THE BIG GAME

Posted: January 31, 2015 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
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I was going to post my “deflated meatballs” recipe, but I decided to go with a classic for the big game! No need to freeze my butt off outdoors for these amazing ribs. I can stay in the kitchen. As the glaze cooks down, it gets sticky, gooey and delicious.
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For the marinade:
 ¾ cup soy sauce
 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
Other ingredients:
5 lbs pork ribs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
Mix the soy sauce and the hoisin in a bowl, and set aside. These are the marinade ingredients.
If the ribs are large, cut them into individual pieces. If smaller, cluster 2 or 3 ribs together. Place in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
Place the ribs on a sheet pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil or with a rack and coat with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the ribs in sheet pan for 30 minutes.
While the ribs are baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
When the ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until the rib meat is tender.
Turn the heat on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Reduce the heat as the sauce thickens to avoid the sugars in honey from burning. When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they’re ready!

 

CITRUS-RUBBED RIBS

Posted: January 22, 2015 in Carnivore!, Food, grilling, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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On my low-carb/no carb diet, I can enjoy pork, chicken, beef…any carnivorous delight I choose. What makes them bad for me is the rub and sauce that I put on them, which usually has a good amount of sugar. So I came up this alternate pork rib dry rub recipe.

I used the juice of two oranges in this recipe, but it’s mainly in the marinade which is later poured off. With 5 pounds of ribs, I think the carb intake is minimal. Using the orange zest adds extra citrus flavor.

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Zest and juice of 2 oranges

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons seasoned salt

2 tablespoons good quality (not the expensive stuff) balsamic vinegar

5 lbs. Berkshire pork ribs (I like the St Louis style)

 

In one bowl, combine the zest of 2 oranges, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 3 tablespoons of seasoned salt. Combine so that the zest dries out. Set aside.

Cut the ribs into smaller pieces. I like making double-rib cuts and not single. Place all the ribs in a large Ziploc bag.

In another bowl, combine the juice of the 2 oranges (about 1 cup) and 2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar. Mix the two well then pour into the Ziploc bag with the ribs to marinate for at least a couple of hours at room temperature, or in the fridge overnight.

Pre-heat the oven to 450°.

Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil with extra over the sides. Remove the marinated ribs from the bag and lay them down on the foil, trying to keep them in one layer.

Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with the orange zest, salt and pepper seasoning. Rub it into the ribs well. Fold the foil over, wrapping the ribs tightly.

Placed the sheet pan with the ribs in the oven and cook at 450° for 30 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 325.

Cook for 2 hours more, then open up the foil and cook another hour.

 

Of course, if you’re not on a low carb diet, feel free to slather these bad boys with your favorite sauce. My grapefruit barbecue sauce would work well with these: http://wp.me/p1c1Nl-qX

BURGER HACK

Posted: January 20, 2015 in barbecue, beef, Carnivore!, Food
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I’ve bought many burger presses in my day, and I’ve found that the meat gets stuck inside them after pressing, making removal somewhat difficult. Some presses have so many parts to them, they get lost in my cabinet or jam up the dishwasher. Frankly, every one that I’ve bought over the years was a waste of money.

Chances are, somewhere in your storage area, you’ve got a wide mouth Mason jar with a metal top, composed of a flat lid and the band that goes around it and screws onto the jar top. As long as they’re not rusty, you can use them to make perfect quarter-pound burgers. If they are rusty, you can buy a half-dozen lids and bands for just a few bucks in any supermarket.

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I get my burger meat in 1-lb. packs. If they’re frozen, I let them thaw wrapped. Then I cut the meat into quarters, simply eyeballing it. Each quarter-pound of meat fits quite nicely into the Mason jar top. I flip the top over and press down to compact it, then push the flat lid through the band, and out pops a perfect quarter-pound burger.

Once I’ve got all my burgers made, I place them on a small sheet pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil and keep them in the fridge until I’m ready to cook.

The lid and band go in the dishwasher, and can be used over and over.

 

MARINATED BEEF TIPS WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS

Posted: January 15, 2015 in beef, Carnivore!, Food, Italian, marinade, Recipes
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An easy way to marinate beef is to simply throw the meat in a bag and dump some Italian dressing into it. As simple as that sounds, it flavors the meat really nicely. But I’ve got a problem with anything that comes from a jar and was made in a factory, especially when it’s so easy to make my own Italian seasoning.
I recently bought some sirloin beef tips and after trimming the fat and silver skin (they always leave it on the meat), I cut it up into 1 inch cubes. I put the pieces in a glass container–a plastic bag would be fine–and then made my marinade.

Ingredients:

For the marinade:
1/4 cup decent quality balsamic vinegar–not the expensive stuff
1/4 cup avocado oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

 

2 lbs. sirloin beef tips, trimmed and cut into 1″ cubes

avocado oil

3 onions, sliced into rings

2 sweet bell peppers, sliced into thin strips

splash of white wine

Combine the marinade ingredients and pour them into the bag or container with the meat. Mix it around so that every bit of the meat gets coated with the marinade. Seal the container and place in the fridge overnight.
Next day, remove it from the fridge and let it come to room temperature before cooking.

Marinated beef, ready to cook.

Marinated beef, ready to cook.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet until hot. You may not need to add oil, since the meat has marinated in it. Using tongs to shake off any marinade, place the beef tips in the skillet, and brown on all sides, constantly flipping them. Cook the meat until it is done: medium to medium rare. (Of course, a hardwood fire is great for cooking these, too. It’s just a question of wanting to freeze your butt off outside or not.)
Remove the meat from the pan and place in a bowl to the side. In the hot pan, toss in the sliced onions and peppers. Cook until the onions and peppers are caramelized, and splash a little white wine to de-glaze the pan if you like. (The alcohol cooks off.) If there’s any left over marinade in the bag or container, you can pour it into the pan at this time.

Return the beef to the pan being sure to include all the juices that may have settled into the bottom of the bowl. Mix through until thoroughly heated and serve immediately.

I made a lot more...forgot to take the pic before devouring!

I made a lot more…forgot to take the pic before devouring!

This recipe is gluten-free. If you’re on a low-carb diet, you may want to skip the onions and peppers, since they’ve got natural sugars. The amount of sugar in the balsamic is minimal, when you spread it out over 2 lbs. of meat.

TIME FOR A DAMN DIET

Posted: January 13, 2015 in Carnivore!, Food, Recipes
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Actually, not just a diet, but a lifestyle change. A recalibration of things, my food and liquid intake a significant part of that.

It’s clear I love food. This is mainly a food blog, after all. I don’t eat a lot of bad snacks. Rarely do I eat chips, cookies, candy, cake, ice cream, etc.– but I do take in calories from a variety of places that should be drastically reduced, like bread, pizza and pasta…and, of course, alcohol.

The Paleo diet is all the rage right now, and although the idea of eating simpler foods is a good one, I don’t need to be a damn caveman to do it, and some of the strict rules in that diet are really somewhat random.

Back when my wife and I got engaged, we went on the Atkins diet, and it really worked. I got to a long-time low of 217 lbs. (I’m back up to 235 now), despite the fact that I was eating a ton of meat, bacon and cheese, all slathered in mayo. But, of course, my cholesterol and blood pressure went through the roof. It was only 12 years ago, but back then I couldn’t find pastured chicken, heritage Berkshire pork, or grass-fed beef. So the fats I was consuming were all bad. Today, the most of my meat intake falls in one of those three categories, and all of my seafood is wild-caught from American waters. Great proteins with healthy fats.

So what do I cut out? I remember Oprah went on a “no white food” diet a bunch of years ago, way before people knew what Atkins was. It made a lot of sense then, and it makes sense now: no flour, white rice, sugar, or potatoes (and limited salt.) I’m going a step further and eliminating all high-carb foods, including certain fruits and veggies. And, at least for a month, I’m giving up the alcohol, which honestly is the hardest thing about this diet.

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I have an alcoholic beverage every day. At least one. Without fail. Weekdays, it’s usually a few glasses of wine. Weekends, I go for the cocktails. They all have hundreds of useless calories. An ounce of any 80-proof liquor has 64 calories. I use a 5-ounce martini glass. That’s 320 calories per martini, without the olives. I’ve been known to put 3 of those bad boys away in one sitting. We’re talking almost 1000 calories! And that’s before we bring up the topic of liver damage.

So the diet begins. For one month, I’ll go balls-to-the-wall and be really strict. By mid-February, I will allow myself to enjoy a cocktail now and then. But a low-carb diet will stay in place until I get back to at least “wedding weight.”

If you see what look like tears on my blog, you’ll know I’m having a moment of weakness.

I wisely chose to start this diet after going back to my hometown of New York City for a long weekend. I’ve had the best pizza, the best bagels, some fine carb-filled meals, and fantastic cocktails.

But now…it’s time to get down to business!

 

THAI GRILLED STEAK

Posted: January 6, 2015 in barbecue, beef, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, grilling, Recipes, Uncategorized
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The original recipe called for skirt steak, but I didn’t have any in my freezer. I did have a fat ribeye, though, so once I thawed it, I sliced it lengthwise to get two large, thin steaks which would easily suck up the marinade I was going to make. And the ribeye was nicely marbled, so it stayed juicy and tender.

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For the marinade:

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons each finely chopped ginger, garlic, cilantro and unsalted dry roasted peanuts

2 scallions, minced

1 tablespoon each of light brown sugar, lime juice and chile oil

 

2 lbs. beef ribeye
1/4 cup chicken stock

 
In a bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cilantro, peanuts, scallions, sugar, lime juice and chile oil. Transfer half to a shallow dish.
Add the steak to the dish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Refrigerate the remaining marinade.
The next day, light a grill. While it’s warming up, add the chicken stock to the reserved marinade. This will be the dipping sauce for the beef. (I like it at room temp.)
Bring the steak to room temp, season with salt and pepper, and grill over high heat until medium-rare, 5 minutes. Too cold to light a grill? Heat a cast iron pan, add a few drops of avocado oil, and sear the beef on both sides before placing it in a pre-heated 375-degree oven to finish cooking.

 

VENISON STEW WITH PUFF PASTRY

Posted: December 10, 2014 in beef, Carnivore!, Food, Recipes
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A couple of years ago, when I received a shipment of venison from my father-in-law, an avid hunter that lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I knew that although I could certainly use beef for this dish, it would be absolutely stellar with venison. And I knew that I couldn’t miss with a local brew from my buddy Sean Larkin of Revival Brewing Company (www.revivalbrewing.com) with his Double Black IPA…

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Ingredients:

Olive oil
3 red onions, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
10 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped
3 lbs venison, cut into 3/4″ cubes
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
2 bottles (24 oz) Revival Brewing Company Double Black IPA, with a swig for the cook
3 tablespoons flour
12 oz freshly grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 pounds store-bought puff pastry (all butter is best)
1 large egg, beaten

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Pre-heat the oven to 375.
In a large oven-proof pan, heat a few tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes. Turn the heat up and add the garlic, butter, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Stir well, then add venison, rosemary, a pinch of salt and about a teaspoon of pepper.
Fry on high for about 4 minutes, then add the beer, making sure you take a swig for luck! Stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid or foil, and place in the preheated oven for about 1 1/2 hours.
Remove after 1 1/2 hours and stir. Put it back in the oven and cook another hour, until the meat is cooked and the stew is rich, dark and thick. If it’s still liquidy, place the pan on the stove top and reduce until the sauce thickens. (You don’t want a soupy stew or you’ll get soggy puff pastry later.) Remove the pan from the heat and stir in half the cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to cool.

Depending on whether your puff pastry comes in sheets or a block, you’ll need to use a rolling-pin to get it into sheets about 1/8″ thick. Butter a good-sized pie dish or an oven-proof terrine. Line the dish with the sheets of pastry, letting the pastry hang over the sides. Pour in the stew, even it out with a spatula, and add the rest of the grated cheese on top.
Use another 1/8″ thick sheet of pastry (or a couple if they’re not wide enough) to cover the top of the pie dish. Lightly crisscross the top with a knife, then fold over the overhanging pieces of pastry over the lid, making it look nice and rustic. Don’t cut or throw any of the pastry away! Use as much as you can, since everyone will want some.
Brush the top with the beaten egg and then bake the pie on the bottom of the oven for about 45 minutes, until the pastry has cooked, and it’s beautifully puffed and golden. Serve with a side of peas (and beer!)

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