Category Archives: Recipes

Cattle, Frugal Choices, Recipes

Beef Short Ribs and Yellow Fat

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Health Benefits of Grassfed Food stuffs

Buggers, my photo doesn’t properly show just how yellow the fat is from these super tender grass finished beef short ribs.  I buy grassfed butter from our friends, but it’s extremely expensive, so when i can, i use our home grown beef fat for cooking and flavouring.

Our cattle are fully finished on pasture only – no grain ever – which allows the fat to be high in vitamin E and betacarotenes, thus giving its yellow colour.

Absolutely tasty.  The broth will be frozen up for soup making.

Keep hydrated out there!

tauna

 

FAMILY, Recipes

Israeli Salad

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As soon in the spring that i can source good veggies, i start making my Israeli Salad.  I eat a whole batch nearly everyday that i can through the growing season until the veggies get yucky again.

My recipe is simple:

1 green pepper chopped
1 tomato chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cucumber chopped
2 tablespoons dried cilantro or parsley (double that if using fresh)
1 teaspoon Real salt (double this if you are sweating a lot and need salt)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir it all up.  As with most veggies and fruits – room temperature is best for lovely flavours.

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FAITH, Recipes

Pesach Sameach!

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I don’t speak Hebrew, but ‘Happy Passover’ simply hasn’t the same ring to it.  We are commanded this week of Feast of Unleavened Bread to eliminate leaven (not necessarily yeast) from our lives.   I’m not a fan of Matzoh or other flat wheat breads, so here’s what i’ve made.  For those of you who are experts on this, PLEASE let me know if this does not meet biblical standards of unleavened bread.

Focaccia Bread

1 cup almonds (ground)

1 cup shredded mozzarella (or whatever cheese you prefer, i used provolone this time)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (ground)

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (ground)

1/2 cup sesame seeds (ground)

1/4 cup flax seeds (ground)

1/4 cup coconut flour

2 tablespoons onion flakes (ground)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup black olives (finely chopped)

2 large eggs

1/4 cup olive oil

Using my Magic Bullet, i ground all the seeds and nuts separately for best results into a coarse grind, feel free to grind them finely, it’s up to you.  Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl with a fork, holding out about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.

Press mixture onto a buttered 9 x 15 stone pan (use whatever you have), then bake in a 375ºF oven for 12 minutes. 17757155_10208645975569212_7534789530260493445_n.jpg

Take out of the oven and cut into squares (i use a pizza cutter), brush with remaining olive oil, and sprinkle with salt flakes (optional, but not too much).  Bake for another 8 minutes.  Take out of the oven immediately and let cool a bit before trying to remove the squares.  Use a spatula to remove them.

Focaccia Bread

Absolutely delicious in my opinion!

Praise Yah!

tauna

Keeping Yah’s Feasts (and other Mo’edim) is not just a Jewish celebration; it is for ALL His set apart people!  What an honour we are given to give glory to Him in His way.

FAMILY, Recipes

Quiche

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Encouraged by the wonderful recipe, Broccoli Mushroom Cheddar Quiche published by Cooking With A Wallflower last month, i pulled together what ingredients I had and then tweaked it a bit to meet our tastes, discovering along the way that despite adoring black olives, i did not like them in  my recipe!  Unfortunately, I did not have mushrooms and i think that those will be much preferred.  BUT, here’s my recipe for today – easily tweakable for your own tastes.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Crust:

  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • 2 cups almond flour (i grind almonds)
  • 1/2 cup sesame flour (i grind sesame seeds)
  • 1 cup shredded provolone
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Real or kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground oregano
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup melted beef fat (grassfed beef bones) (olive oil or melted butter will work)

Mix it all together with a fork and press mixture into a buttered 9-inch pie dish.  Cook in a 350°F oven for 12 minutes.

Pie filling Yummies

  • 1 cup cooked and crumbled home made beef sausage
  • 2 cups broccoli florets (rinsed and patted dry)
  • 2 or 3 dientes garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 cup sliced black olives
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup real milk
  • 1 cup monterey jack cheese
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Crumble and cook your homemade beef sausage in a saucepan with a lid.  Once it’s done, remove with a slotted spoon leaving the drippings in the pan and add slice garlic.  Saute those for a couple minutes, then add sliced olives and broccoli florets.  Cover and let simmer just to steam the broccoli a bit.  Don’t cook it until it gets soggy.

Mix the sausage back into the broccoli, etc.  Pour off any excess moisture, but i didn’t have any.  Dump the lot into your cooked pie shell.  Spread the 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese kind of over the top and mix in a bit maybe.  Then whisk together the milk and eggs.  Pour that over all the mixture, then top with the 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese.

Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes.  I stuck a toothpick in the middle right at 45 minutes and it was spot on perfect done.  Let it stand maybe 15 minutes before slicing into 6-8 pieces.  Serve warm.

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Now, here’s an important note about the crust.  Unless you want an extra thick crust, you’ll find that you have about 1/3 of it left over.  Not wanting any to waste, i went ahead and buttered the end of this stone baking pan and spread it out and cooked it along with the quiche, but it’s only going to need cooking about 20 minutes!  This makes really tasty crackers.  IMG_2022

Enjoy!

tauna

Liquid and Soft Diet Recipes, Recipes

Both my guys are sick!

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Well, buggers, both my husband and son are sick with the croupy head and coughing junk.  Dallas has had it for nearly 10 days, my husband got hit yesterday, but woke up with it already down in his lungs – he sounds bad.  If he feels bad in the morning, he’s gonna go ahead and make a doctor appointment.

Since we are nearly out of beef in the freezer and completely out of bones, I stole the big bones that were intended for the dog that i had the butcher cut from our own grass finished cow to make broth! (thankfully, i was able to get a cow booked in to the butcher on the 6th of February).

The bones are kind of big, but thankfully, they still fit in the pot.  I pack the bones in the pot and fill to 2 inches to the top of the pot.  Bring to a boil, but watch it or it will boil over and make a mess, then turn it down and let slow boil for 3-4 hours.

With tongs, carefully lift out all the bones.  I then set the entire pot outside to cool so the saturated fat will float to the top and solidify.  Yes, a little fat is good, but these bones will make a lot of fat, it’s really overwhelming in our opinion.  Once solidified, i remove it from the top and put into a tub with lid for later use.

Warm the remaining liquid.  Now, you can just eat it this way for clear broth – maybe add some salt or pepper OR what i did tonight, was to the 1 gallon of broth is one large onion chopped and sauteed in some of the beef fat, 1/2 cup dried parsley, 1/4 cup dried sage, 2 tablespoons celery salt, and about 3 cups of sliced carrots.  Slow boil until carrots are softened to however you like them, maybe 20-30 minutes.  Ready to serve.

Keep well!

tauna

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King’s Processing does a fabulous job of getting all the bits of beef off the bones, so the meat yield is quite high. However, you can see there are some bits on this that may be available after it’s cooked.
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Yup, after cooking and the meat is softened, i was able to pick up about 1 cup of beef bits. Always let those bones cool off completely before handling; they are hot and hold heat for a very long time.
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Use a couple tablespoons or so of the hardened beef fat to saute chopped onions that will be added back to the broth once softened.
FAMILY, Recipes

Beef Jerky

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Lots of recipes, variations, etc, but here’s our favourite.

While still partially frozen, slice trimmed strip steak in 1/4 inch strips.  Put those trimmings in a small pot and later add enough water to cover, bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer for an hour or two.  After water has cooled, pinch off any meat bits and throw fat strips to the dog or cat if you don’t like them (the fat not the dog/cat). This is great beef broth for veggie soup base.

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Put lean strips into a larg bowl or heavy plastic bag that doesn’t leak when closed.  After the strips have fully thawed (may need to pour off more blood at this point), then prepare the seasonings and pour into meat.  Stir or massage  until strips are coated in the seasoning mix.  Cover bowl or bag and place in frig for 24 hours.  You may want to place the bag in a deep dish or something, just in case it leaks a bit.  Stir or massage meat strips a couple times during that 24 your period, just to mix it up a bit with the seasonings.  This recipe can accommodate 2-4 lbs of meat.

Seasoning Ingredients:

  1. 4 oz liquid smoke (i use Wright’s)
  2. 1/2 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
  3. 1 tsp Real or sea salt
  4. 3 tsp onion powder
  5. 1 tsp black pepper
  6. 1 tsp garlic powder
  7. 1 tsp cumin
  8. 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, i don’t use it – my husband is allergic – and it makes the mix pretty ‘hot’ (picante)

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After 24 or so hours marinating, preheat oven to 160°-175°F and place strips in a single layer on a cooke sheet that has a raised edge so the liquid seasonings don’t run off the pan.  I scrunch them in close together because i don’t want any more pans to wash than i have to.  Plus the meat will shrink considerably whilst drying.  However, today, i’m going to try lining them with parchment paper and see if that affects drying time.  Definitely should make cleanup a LOT easier.  Actually, i think i’ll try a side by side test of just placing parchment paper directly on oven rack and one on the tray.  Hmm – will let you know.  But for sure i’m not going to place the strips directly on the oven rack as many recipes will say to do – that’s far too big a mess to clean those racks!

Now the key is to dry them to the point your family likes.  The thicker slices take a little longer, thinner ones less.  Do you like jerky crispy?  then cook it a bit longer, chewy, a bit less.  So, just check it after a couple hours, then every hour or so.  One thing i’ve discovered is that the jerky will dry out a bit more after you removed from the oven, so allow for that before leaving it in the oven too long.  If the meat is completely dried, then you can likely store it at room temperature – no problem.  We typically like ours with a bit of moisture so it’s more chewy, this requires refrigeration.

I’ll update this blog entry with the results of my drying test

Shabbat Shalom!

tauna

Update – I decided to line my stone pans with aluminum foil.  No doubt this causes longer cooking time for the jerky (6-7 hours at 170°F).  But cleanup was so easy.

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4 lbs of sliced strip steak, marinated and ready to slow cook for jerky.
After about 7 hours at 170 degrees F
Using the tin foil underneath sure made clean up SO easy

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAMILY, Frugal Choices, Recipes

Hamburger Soup

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Sunny, but frosty out this morning and although we are expecting a high of 45F, warm soup will feel mighty good today.

Hamburger Soup

1 lbs grass-finished ground beef (browned)

1 cup sliced carrots

1/2 chopped onion

2 cups diced tomatoes

2 cups water or soup stock

1 cup diced celery

2 teaspoons salt (if desired)

1 teaspoon black pepper (if desired)

One pot directions:  brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon olive oil until no longer pink, add all the other ingredients and simmer.  The longer you simmer it, the more the flavours will meld and veggies soften.

Be creative in ingredients – celery substitute could be the leaves off the back of a head of cauliflower or chopped kohlrabi, leeks would work.  Instead of carrots, maybe turnips, swedes, or rutabaga.  I use my own frozen tomatoes from my garden and since i don’t really cook them down, there is plenty of water in with them, therefore i don’t add more water.  Recipes like this are perfect for emptying the frig or freezer.

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The leaves off the back of a head of cauliflower make a LOT of greens for soup!  Add vitamins A and C plus antioxidants to your meal, not the rubbish bin!