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TPV Episode 24 Show Notes: Advice From a Single Lady

February 1, 2013 in Show Notes

Our twenty-fourth show!
Ep. 24: Advice From a Single Lady

In this episode, Stacy and Sarah are joined by the much requested Juli from PaleOMG! She’s the proprietor of an excellent and entertaining blog and she’s an authority on how to make paleo work when you are living by yourself as a single girl. Have questions on cooking and living by yourself? She’s the authority!

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The Paleo View (TPV), Episode 24: Advice From a Single Lady

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Beef Tongue with Rosemary Mustard Reduction

November 5, 2012 in Organ Meat

If you haven’t tried beef tongue, you are missing out.  It is the most tender and delicious meat and can be prepared in a variety of ways (tongue tacos being especially popular).  Although it is a muscle, it is more nutrient dense than other muscles, and like the heart, is really considered an organ meat.  It’s also typically quite inexpensive.  I buy 2.5-3lb grass-fed beef tongues for $6 each from my local farmer.  You can also buy them from US Wellness Meats (although, they are considerably more expensive).

 It can be a little strange cooking something that looks so much like exactly what it is (and I think we’re all a little used to being very dissociated from the animal our meat comes from).  But, if you can come to terms with handling a giant tongue, then this recipe is absolutely exquisite.  (Note:  the whole tongue appearance thing doesn’t bother me at all.  But if it does bother you, you could slice the tongue very thin, cube it, or even shred it before eating.)

 Tongue is delicious but this sauce is crazy awesome.  My only big mistake the first night we had this meal was that I didn’t make a side dish that could absorb all that extra sauce.  I highly recommend serving with something like mashed cauliflower or cauliflower rice or even paleo biscuits just to mop up all that tasty goodness.

 Variation:  If you’re lucky enough to get lamb tongue, you can use several in place of the cow tongue.  They only needs to be boiled for about 1 hour 15 minutes

 

Ingredients (Beef Tongue):

  • 2.5-3 lbs beef tongue
  • 1 large sprig fresh rosemary (about 1½  Tbsp dried rosemary)
  • 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme (about 2 tsp dried thyme)
  • 8 whole garlic cloves
  • 2 carrots, roughly chopped
  • 3 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium onion, quartered
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Water to cover, about 6 cups

Ingredients (Rosemary Mustard Reduction):

  • Cooking liquid from beef tongue
  • 2 Tbsp brown or Dijon-style mustard (something grainy is especially good)
  • 2 tsp lemon juice (wine could be substituted)
  • 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter

  1. Place the whole beef tongue in a large stock pot.  Place vegetables and herbs around the tongue (ideally, it should be a pretty tight fit in your pot).  You don’t even need to bother peeling the garlic or onions here.  They are just in the pot to give flavor to the broth.  Pour water over the top, just enough to cover the tongue.
  2. Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer uncovered for 3-3½ hours.  Check the level of the water every half hour or so and top up as required.
  3. Remove the tongue from the pot and let cool.  Pour the broth through a fine mesh sieve (or a few layers of cheesecloth) into a smaller pot and discard all of the vegetables and any other bits.
  4. Bring broth to a boil and maintain a rolling boil until it has reduced to 1½ cups or less (about 10-15 minutes, depending on how much liquid you started with).
  5. Add rosemary to broth and boil another 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add butter, mustard and lemon juice.  Wisk to combine.
  6. Meanwhile, as soon as beef tongue is cool enough to touch, peel off the white leathery skin on the outside (you might need a knife to get it started, but then it should come off very easily) and discard.  Slice as you like it (if your reduction is still going to be a few minutes, cover with tin foil to keep warm).
  7. Pour rosemary mustard reduction over the tongue and serve!

 

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Moroccan-Inspired Lamb (Heart) Stew

October 1, 2012 in Organ Meat, Soups and Stews

The recipe for this stew came out of my desire to create something really yummy out of a half dozen lamb hears that my local grass-fed beef and lamb farmer gave me.  However, you could just as easily follow the exact same recipe with lamb stew meat if either lamb heart meat is hard for you to find or intimidating.

Part of the unique Moroccan flavor of this stew comes from the use of red palm oil.  I buy ethical red/virgin palm oil from Tropical Traditions.  It’s crazy high in vitamin E and other antioxidants and has an amazing flavor that works so well with warm spices.  If you can’t find red palm oil, you could substitute extra virgin coconut oil or tallow instead.

This recipe is nightshade-free but does contain seed-based spices for those on the autoimmune protocol.

US Wellness Meats sells grass-fed lamb heart.  You’ll need about 6 hearts for this recipe.  If you want to use stew meat, you could buy chops or leg and cut into chunks yourself.  US Wellness Meats sells kabob pieces which would work very well.  GrassFed Traditions sells actual lamb stew meat, already butchered.

This stew is perfect served over a bed of cauliflower rice/couscous (so perfect, I’m including directions to make it!).  And even though it isn’t depicted in the photo, it is delightful with chopped fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.  Serves 5-6.

 

Ingredients (Cauliflower Couscous):

  1. Pulse cauliflower florets and stems in a Food Processor until it resembles small rice grains or large couscous grains (depending on your food processor, you might want to do this in batches).  Note that this does not work very well with frozen cauliflower.
  2. Heat coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add cauliflower.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is cooked al dente, about 6-7 minutes.

Ingredients (Lamb Stew):

  1. Cut lamb hearts into 1-2” cubes (up to you how big or small).  The only trimming you need to do with these hearts is to remove any large vessels (and even those will be tender enough to eat at the end). Place in a bowl or re-sealable plastic bag.
  2. Grind fennel seed (and any other whole spices you might be using) in a spice grinder or Magic Bullet (you could also grind with a mortar and pestle).  Combine with cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric garlic, red palm oil and lemon juice.  Wisk to combine.
  3. Pour palm oil mixture over lamb and stir to coat.  Cover/close bag and marinate in the refrigerator 4-6 hours or overnight (up to 24 hours).
  4. Slice onions in half and then into ½” semicircles.  Slice olives if not already sliced.  Finely chop apricots.  Wash sweet potatoes (peel if desired) and slice into 1” pieces.
  5. Preheat oven to 300F.
  6. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat.  Brown lamb pieces in batches (I did 3 batches).  There should be enough oil on the lamb to brown without sticking, but if your pieces start to stick add an extra 1-2 Tbsp of palm oil (or marinade).  It should only take 3-4 minutes to brown each batch.  Remove lamb to a bowl.
  7. Add onion to the pot and cook until soft and caramelized, about 10 minutes (if you do not have enough fat in the pot left from browning the lamb, you may wish to add 1-2 Tbsp of palm oil).
  8. Place all the lamb and any leftover marinade back in the pot.  Add sweet potato, olives, apricots, broth, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, salt and pepper (if your broth is very well seasoned, you might not need any salt).
  9. Cook uncovered in the oven for 2 hours.  Enjoy!

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Cinnamon-Braised Beef Cheek

September 12, 2012 in Main Dishes, Organ Meat, Soups and Stews

When my local farmer offered me 25 pounds of grass-fed beef cheek for a mere $2/lb, how could I refuse!  It didn’t matter that I had never cooked beef cheek before!  A quick scour for recipes on the internet revealed that the only way to cook beef cheek is to braise it.  But what you add for flavor is completely up to you!  I also happened to have some gorgeous fresh organic butternut squash from the Farmer’s Market.  These two ingredients inspired this delicious, comfort food.  Yes, beef cheek equals comfort food.

Never had beef cheek?  After braising, it really is so tender you can cut it with a spoon.  It is a muscle, so the flavor is very familiar (not organy), but it also has a lot of connective tissue which becomes soft and gelatinous after braising.  The braising liquid becomes ridiculously rich and flavorful.  The butternut squash in this dish is optional, but the flavors work very well together.  It makes the meal feel very much like a stew.  If you prefer, after braising, you could remove the meat and puree the squash in the broth for a thick gravy (making this dish more like a pot roast).  I also think this would be delightful served on a bed of spaghetti squash, in which case you might want to leave the butternut squash out of the recipe (of course, who says you can’t have two kinds of winter squash with supper?!).  This recipe serves 7-8.

Can’t find a good source of beef cheek?  This recipe would work with any stewing beef or pot roast.

Ingredients:

  1. I preferred to leave my beef cheeks whole (the pieces were varying sizes).  If you like, you could chop into 2” cubes.  Slice onions into ¼” thick half-moons.  Peel, seed and cube butternut squash into 1-2” cubes.
  2. Preheat oven to 300F.
  3. Heat 2Tbsp tallow in a medium stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add beef cheeks in batches to brown on all sides (mine took three batches).  Remove beef cheeks from the pot and set aside.
  4. Add onion to stock pot (you may need to add an extra Tbsp of tallow here) and brown until slightly caramelized, 7-8 minutes.
  5. Return cheek to pot, arranging tightly together over the bottom of the pot (it’s okay if you have 2-3 layers).  Add broth, cinnamon sticks and salt. Add butternut squash on top of the beef. (The broth should just barely cover the beef.  It’s okay if not all the squash is covered, but make sure the cinnamon sticks are submerged).
  6. Cover and bring to a simmer on the stove top over high heat (shouldn’t take long), then place in the oven.
  7. Cook for 3 hours.  Enjoy!

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