Lamb Stew

Found a great deal on a lamb chuck roast and was in a stew mood.   So this recipe was created

Ingredients:

• 1 White Onion, roughly chopped.
• 3 1/2 pounds of lamb chuck roast (roughly chopped and deboned and fat removed)
• Smokey BBQ Blend (http://drummingupabettermeal.blogspot.com/2015/07/bbq-spice-blends-i-love.html)
• 1 dried Limon Chili
• 1 dried Guajillo Chili
• 1 dried panca seco chili
• 1 dried cascabel chili
• 6 cups water
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 6 tablespoons Black Strap Molasses

Instructions:

• Start with the bones and fat from the lamb chuck roast and add 3-4 cups water enough to cover and a splash of apple cider vinegar.  low boil for 30 minutes to make a quick bone broth.  Once done remove bones and fat.
• In another pot add the dried chilis and 3-4 cups water and low boil for 60 minutes.  
• Immersion blend the chili
• Add the Molasses and quick immersion blend and let sit for 30 minutes
• Combine the bone broth and the chili sauce.
• In a pan bring the coconut oil to het and once ready to start frying add the chopped lamb. 
• Brown lamb for 5 minutes until a good sear on all sides.
• Add in the sauce and the rough chopped onions. 
• Mix well
• Reduce heat to just above a simmer and cover for 1 hour.
• Enjoy and Serve over Baked Potato or Rice.

Chicken in cashew sauce over noodle

Instead of using a peanut sauce which is more traditional I had to modify these recipes due to my wife's allergies to peanuts.   So I use Cashew as an alternative and thankfully she's not allergic.   Also I had leftover roasted chicken that needed to be used up.  Note that this recipe can be made with any leftover white meat or bird.

Ingredients:

• 1 small chicken breast (roughly 1/2 cup)
• 2 tablespoons cashew butter
• 1 cup cashew milk
• My Sazon Blend http://drummingupabettermeal.blogspot.com/2015/08/sazon-blend-i-like.html)
• Korean Chili threads
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

Instructions:

• Warm up the coconut oil until the oil is hot enough to 'fry' the chicken when added.  Add the chicken and liberally sprinkle with the sazon
• Start browning the chicken.
• Mix the cashew butter and milk to create a viscous liquid
• Add in the chili threads and the cashew milk and butter mix
• Cook at a low simmer for roughly 10 minutes until the liquid thickens.
• Serve over Kelp noodles (my favorite noodles) and Enjoy.

Chicken Gizzard and Heart stew

My wife absolutely loves this stew.   She makes it often for herself so decided to add it to my list of recipes.   Due to the inclusion of tomatoes this is a recipe I myself can't eat, but I do make a similar stew without tomatoes (http://drummingupabettermeal.blogspot.com/2015/07/simple-rustic-chicken-heart-stew.html)

Ingredients:

• 3 lb's of chicken hearts and gizzards (cleaned and rough chopped)
• 4 Russet Potatoes
• 1 tomatoes diced
• 1/2 diced yellow onion
• Peruvian chili lime spice blend  (Alternately Mirasol paste or even rocotto is an option here)
• Oregano
• 2 cups chicken or turkey stock

Instructions:

• Heat up two tablespoons of Coconut oil and add in the onions.  Cook the onions until translucent.
• Add the tomato and the chili spice and warm up the tomatoes
• Add the organ meat and cook for 5 minutes browning the meat.
• Add in the stock and the potatoes and oregano 
• cook at low boil roughly 30 minutes.
• Serve and Enjoy.

Simple Turkey soup

The farmer I buy the majority of my meat from had a special going on Turkey thighs, which are larger then chicken thighs. Since it was raining all weekend here I decided a good soup was what the day called for.

Ingredients:

• 2 Turkey thighs
• 3 stalks of celery
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 cups concentrated turkey stock from last years Thanksgiving turkey.
• 4 russet potatoes rough chopped

Instructions:

• Place the turkey thighs in about 6 cups of water and low boil for 1 hour
• Add the celery, carrot, onion, and the previously made stock and low boil for another hour
• Fish out celery, carrot, onion, and turkey thighs.
• Place the rough chopped potatoes in the stock and low boil for 20-30 minutes until potatoes fall apart to touch.   Sample stock and salt to taste if needed.
• While the potatoes are cooking, mince the turkey thighs by removing the skin and pulling apart the meat into thin strips for the soup.  Ensure skin and bones are not in the meat.
• Once potatoes are done cooking add the meat back in.
• Serve and Enjoy.

Simple chicken noodle soup

Had a carcass leftover from a rooster I made this past weekend, so that and some chicken thighs from a local farmer are the basis for this soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 carcass bones
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• Handful of 4 corner peppercorns
• 1 large carrot
• 3 stalks celery
• Celery salt to taste
• 1 serving gluten free noodles of choice

Instructions:

• Combine all ingredients in all ingredients except noodles and low boil 2 hours
• Remove meat, peppercorns, carrots, celery from stock and bring to roiling boil
• Verify taste of stock and adjust as needed with salt or other herbs
• Add noodles cook for desired time to bring to aldente.  
• While noodles are cooking strip meat from bones and mince and when noodles cooked add meat back in.
• Serve and enjoy

Turkey olive burgers

I love turkey burgers, but by the nature of turkey mostly come out dry and tasteless unless you work with the flavorings a bit.   This is especially true while making the recipe GF.   The canned sliced olives and a touch of the sauce they were canned/pickled in adds some moisture as well as some flavors that compliment the turkey meat.
 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• Cambridshire seasoning salt 
• 1 egg
• GF breadcrumbs to consistency
• 1 small can of sliced black or green olives

Instructions:

• Mix all ingredients well.  Mixture should stick together when lifted. 
• Put in frig for 30 min give time to make proper consistency. 
• With 1 tablespoon coconut oil, cook 4-5 minutes per side in pan
• Serve and enjoy

Slow Cooker Osso Bucco

Ok I admit I'm on a bit of a slow cooker kick this weekend, but with the meats I have chosen from the local farmer from the rooster recipe I posted earlier to this osso bucco cut of meat; I wanted to be able to let the meat work it's way to completion over a long period of time.   The farmer I buy meat from had some great items they usually don't have lie that rooster and now this cut of meat so I had to go for it.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Osso Bucco cut of meat 
• Greek Seasoning
• 3 large carrots rough chopped
• 4 pieces of celery rough chopped
• 2 tablespoons garlic paste
• 1 yellow onion rough chopped
• 2 cups water

Instructions:

• Toss in the veggies and the water into the slow cooker and form a nice bed for the meat to rest on
• Sprinkle the meat well with the Greek seasoning and place either on top of the bed of veggies or if your slow cooker came with a rack that keeps the meat out of the liquid use that.
• Cook on low for 6 hours in the slow cooker
• Remove the rack and place the meat directly in the liquid making sure it is as covered as possible.
• Cook for an hour on high in the slow cooker
• Turn over the meat and cook for another hour on high.
• Let the meat sit on a plate for 5-10 minutes while you work on the Gravy below
• Reserve the veggies and the sauce that formed at the bottom of the slow cooker

Instructions for a quick Gravy:

• Take the reserved veggies and sauce place in a pot and immersion blend the mixture and cook on high
• Take a good steel pan (for heat distribution) and 1-2 tablespoons butter and melt the butter and add 1 teaspoon of coconut flour and brown quickly.  
• Pour the blended sauce into this steel pan and cook on high until the gravy becomes nice and thick.  Drips slowly off of a spoon.
• Stand up the osso bucco on plate if you want this to look sort of like what they do in restaurants.
• Pour a good couple tablespoons of the gravy over the meat.  Be as generous as you feel like and reserve remaining gravy for a future meal

Suggested Sides:

• Ok there is no question here in my mind.  Mashed potatoes, and if you want to be fancy put the mashed potatoes on plate first, put meat on top and then pour the gravy all over.
• For the veggie:  Green beans, corn, peas and carrots, and brussel sprouts all would do well with this meal.

Slow Cooker Stewing Hen or Rooster

I personally prefer the flavor to the Stewing Hens or Roosters.  For many people this is a tougher cut of meat but if you know what you are doing with this bird the flavor is phenomenal.  Also these birds are much harder to find in an average grocery store and may require you to look at local farmers markets and get to know the farmers that sell eggs and chickens.   A stewing Hen is a hen that essentially has been around laying eggs for several years and has reached the end of the laying cycle.

Typically these birds are much leaner as well and their body will not be as rounded making a stew much better way to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 1 Rooster or Stewing Hen (I had a 4lb bird for this recipe)
• 1 cup water
• Sazon (http://drummingupabettermeal.blogspot.com/2015/08/sazon-blend-i-like.html)

Instructions:

• Place 1-2 cups water in slow cooker.
• Remove the chickens legs at the body joint to get a leg+thigh combo, and then remove the wings again at the body joint.
• Sprinkle well with Sazon and place these pieces outer skin down in the slow cooker.
• If you were lucky enough to get the neck with your bird sprinkle well with sazon and add to bottom of slow cooker with the legs and wings.
• Take the remainder of the bird, sprinkle well with sazon inside and out and place on top of the above ingredients.
• Cook at low on the slow cooker for 6 hours.   By hour 4/5 depending on your slow cooker the meat will start falling off the bone, I prefer mine just a little more rendered. 
• Serve and Enjoy
• This should feed 5 portions of meat.  You will need sides.
• Save the liquid as a base to make a chicken broth soup later, This should be very concentrated chicken broth capable of serving a soup for 5.

Alternate ingredients:

• Typically I love to add Celery, Carrots, and Onions to the broth.  I did not have any in the house when I made this one so went without.

Recommended Sides:

• Rice if you are not grain free.  If you make rice try and get a couple tablespoons of the chicken broth per cup water for a flavored rice.
• Potatoes or sweet potatoes.  I typically prefer a quick stove fry, but mashed and oven roasted work as well
• Any Vegetable.  I typically stick with an oldie but goody like peas and carrots, but there is no limit here. 

My Wife's favorite pasta sauce

Though I personally can no longer eat tomatoes, I do get requests (like this) occasionally for items I can no longer eat.  As part of the nightshade a family they cause considerable inflammation for me if I eat more than a slice a month.  My wife still loves the red sauces I made before I cut them out of my diet.  So for her I'm bringing this recipe back.   She loves a good solid red sauce, and honestly so did I before I realized the negative impact it had on my body.

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes
• 3 Large Beefsteak tomatoes
• 15 cherry tomatoes that were too soft for salads.
• 2 teaspoons Garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons Cilantro garlic scape paste
• Handful of Italian herbs to taste
• Pinch of dried rosemary leaves
• 2 teaspoons of roasted onion
• Salt and pepper to taste (light handful)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric

Instructions:

• Combine all ingredients and boil for 15 minutes.  
• Use immersion blender to make a smooth red sauce
• Cook at low for 30 minutes to thicken.  Try flavor 5-10 minutes before complete and if too acidic for your taste add teaspoon sugar at a time to reduce acidity to taste.   

Alternates:

• Beefsteak tomatoes make the best sauce in my opinion but Roma were a close second for me and I know some Italians prefer the Roma.
• Leftover salsa can be used, but will change flavor profile.  
• If processed sugars a problem add honey or blackstrap molasses to reduce the acidity without adding processed sugars.  This is what I do for similar sauces I make for myself