Ian Knauer’s Radishes with Bacon Butter (forgive the crappy photo) My ears always perk up when I come across someone else with a surname starting with “Kn-.” It’s fairly common in the part of Pennsylvania where I am from, but pretty rare around here. Turns out young Ian is also a Pennsylvanian-turned-Brooklynite, so when his first cookbook, The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food, started to get so much press, I felt duty-bound to check it out. He was practically family. The book’s recipes, approach and narrative voice all struck a chord with me. Even though I’d never heard of him, it was clear he had chops and cred; Ian had worked his way up at Gourmet magazine, starting in the test kitchen and impressing a very serious lineup of professional foodies. All that was awesome, but while perusing his just-released book,  I turned the page to see that my personal favorite meatloaf recipe, which I’d gotten off Epicurious.com (repository of most of the Gourmet magazine recipe trove), had been originally written, years ago, by none other than Ian. This recipe contains an amazing secret puree that is worked in with the ground meat - a mash-up of bacon and prunes. I KNOW! Sounds weird! Tastes like heaven! (I leave the bread crumbs out.) After I saw that, I closed the book and took it to the cash register. What to make first? Something crunchy and seasonal, I thought. Early spring vegetables were just in, always an exciting time for an enthusiastic cook.  I was never a radish girl, until I finally tasted fresh, local French breakfast radishes, and realized radishes aren’t always bitter and angry-tasting. Apparently the French eat them with butter, and that is obvious proof of their impeachable good taste. Ian did it one better by whipping butter with minced cooked bacon, shallots, lemon and a bit of caraway. Preparing the bacon butter for a party, I found myself licking it off the beater of my KitchenAid. I bet you will, too. Ingredients 1/4 lb. bacon1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened1 teaspoon lemon juice2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley1 small shallot, finely chopped4 bunches radishes (about 2 lb.), trimmed, leaving 1” of stem Kosher salt and black pepper Directions Pulse raw bacon in a food processor until it is finely chopped, or finely chop by hand. Cook bacon in a 10” cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it is browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in caraway seeds and cook, stirring, until caraway is fragrant. This will take another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and let cool to room temperature.Using an electric mixer , beat bacon, caraway, and any fat from the skillet with butter, lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until bacon butter is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Fold in parsley and shallot, then season to taste with salt and pepper.Serve radishes with bacon butter. 

Ian Knauer’s Radishes with Bacon Butter (forgive the crappy photo)

My ears always perk up when I come across someone else with a surname starting with “Kn-.” It’s fairly common in the part of Pennsylvania where I am from, but pretty rare around here.

Turns out young Ian is also a Pennsylvanian-turned-Brooklynite, so when his first cookbook, The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food, started to get so much press, I felt duty-bound to check it out. He was practically family.

The book’s recipes, approach and narrative voice all struck a chord with me. Even though I’d never heard of him, it was clear he had chops and cred; Ian had worked his way up at Gourmet magazine, starting in the test kitchen and impressing a very serious lineup of professional foodies. All that was awesome, but while perusing his just-released book,  I turned the page to see that my personal favorite meatloaf recipe, which I’d gotten off Epicurious.com (repository of most of the Gourmet magazine recipe trove), had been originally written, years ago, by none other than Ian.

This recipe contains an amazing secret puree that is worked in with the ground meat - a mash-up of bacon and prunes. I KNOW! Sounds weird! Tastes like heaven! (I leave the bread crumbs out.)

After I saw that, I closed the book and took it to the cash register.

What to make first? Something crunchy and seasonal, I thought. Early spring vegetables were just in, always an exciting time for an enthusiastic cook.  I was never a radish girl, until I finally tasted fresh, local French breakfast radishes, and realized radishes aren’t always bitter and angry-tasting. Apparently the French eat them with butter, and that is obvious proof of their impeachable good taste.

Ian did it one better by whipping butter with minced cooked bacon, shallots, lemon and a bit of caraway.

Preparing the bacon butter for a party, I found myself licking it off the beater of my KitchenAid. I bet you will, too.

Ingredients

1/4 lb. bacon
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 small shallot, finely chopped
4 bunches radishes (about 2 lb.), trimmed, leaving 1” of stem 
Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

Pulse raw bacon in a food processor until it is finely chopped, or finely chop by hand. Cook bacon in a 10” cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it is browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in caraway seeds and cook, stirring, until caraway is fragrant. This will take another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Using an electric mixer , beat bacon, caraway, and any fat from the skillet with butter, lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until bacon butter is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Fold in parsley and shallot, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve radishes with bacon butter.

 

This week’s menu, or, Totally not ready for insta-summer

Thank god for this reprieve from 75-degree weather. It may be unpopular to admit, but skipping an entire season is not my idea of a good time. It throws a lot of things out of wack; trees, spring cleaning, good sleeping temps, children’s bedtimes, everyone’s allergies, and small details like THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM.

I’m not quite ready to put away my crock pot, lovely rich soups, or that pumpkin chili recipe that will. not. die. I’m still hungry for that stuff. Luckily, the weather is cooperating so far this week. Since Sunday and Monday are my big cooking days, I thought I’d share my menu for this week.

1. New England Clam Chowder in the slow cooker 

via A Year of Slow Cooking

I knew I had to make this the minute I saw the recipe. I stalk this site quite a bit; the author doesn’t make a big deal of it, but she has a daughter with celiac so the recipes are by default gluten-free. I plan to substitute sweet potatoes for the white ones, and use the homemade stock I have in the freezer. Should be good for four meals.

2. Braised lamb ribs with apricots and onions 

via Serious Eats

I don’t think this requires further justification.

This will be good for two post-training meals, plus an installment in a bribery operation I have going. Good ribs can get people to do many things. 

3. Pumpkin chili

I froze half of it, but only by separating it into teeny-tiny tupperware containers that I could wedge into miniscule open spots in my overflowing freezer.

Four lunches.

4. Boneless sirloin

I’ll sear this in my cast iron pan per my usual method. One post training meal, one lunch (sliced cold over romaine lettuce.)

5. Odds and Ends

  • One pound roasted brussels sprouts
  • Romaine lettuce + Spanish canned tuna + pitted Kalamata olives- lazy dinner
  • Half a dozen navel oranges
  • A pound of Herondale Farm bacon for breakfasts, along with a dozen eggs
  • 3-4 jumbo imported out-of-season utterly irresponsible sweet red and yellow peppers, my most guilty crunchy obsession. I slice them and eat them raw.

6. One confession

Despite having enough food in my apartment to feed a family of four through a nuclear accident and/or zombie apocalypse, I placed the biggest sushi order of my career as a gourmand last night and ate it luxuriantly-slash-defiantly during the season premier of Mad Men. I’ve kind of lost my taste for soy sauce since I went Paleo, apparently, but the pickled ginger tasted like candy.

Charlotte K’s Chinese Five-Spice Short Rib Variation

There I was, thinking I’d solved ALL the problems by finally figuring out how to cook pork spare ribs in the crock pot.

A bunch of people tried that recipe successfully; most of them, like myself, had to acquire Chinese five-spice powder for the first time in order to make it.

Charlotte, however, has had Really Bad Luck with the crock pot.  I won’t share her stories because, frankly, they were harrowing. I don’t want to risk infecting anyone with the Sorrow of the Slow Cooker chez Charlotte.

But there she was, in possession of NINE POUNDS of beef short ribs (Linus is HUNGRY, y’all) and she wondered aloud to me: Could she substitute them for the pork spare ribs in the recipe I’d published?

I dunno, man. Spare ribs are kinda…spare. Short ribs, on the other hand, are meaty and succulent.  Plus, the aforementioned crockpot quackery.

It seemed risky.

Charlotte is resourceful, however, and she remembered a short rib recipe with the same five-spice powder, and decided to make it happen. The recipe was slow-cooker; Charlotte said “Oh hell no” and put them in the oven instead.

Result: Delicious.

williams sonoma ribs

via Williams Sonoma

Here’s the recipe sized for a regular family, with Charlotte’s notes and substitutions; if you are cooking for Linus, by all means, double it. If you want to read the original, written for the crock pot, follow the link.

Asian Braised Short Ribs, adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbs. whole Chinese five spice (or pre-ground)
  • 4 lb. bone-in beef short ribs
  • 2 to 3 Tbs. olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, cut into 1⁄4-inch slices
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1⁄3 cup plum wine (Charlotte subbed plum vinegar; in a pinch, use red wine)
  • 1⁄3 cup soy sauce (Charlotte used tamari, which is easily acquired wheat-free)
  • 1⁄3 cup rice vinegar
  • 1⁄4 cup sesame oil
  • 1 Tbs. chili garlic paste (Charlotte says she planned to sub sriracha but ultimately left it out)
  • 2 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
  • Zest of 1 orange, peeled with vegetable peeler
      into 1⁄2-inch strips, plus juice of 1 orange
  • 1⁄4 cup sugar dissolved in 3⁄4 cup boiling water use plain water or more wine

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375.

Using a spice grinder, grind the Chinese five spice. (If you have preground, measure it out.) Season the short ribs with the five spice and shake off the excess. 

In a heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes total, adding more oil to the pan if needed. Transfer to a slow cooker. 

Add more oil to the pan if needed. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the wine is reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker  large Dutch oven along with the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, chili paste, ginger, orange zest, orange juice and sugar mixture. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours and place in a 375-degree oven for 3-3.5 hours. They are done when the meat is completely tender and falling of the bone; if you can pick up a hunk of meat without it falling off the fork or spoon, it’s not done.

Keep an eye on the liquid in the (covered) Dutch oven. Add more if it cooks down; you want the ribs mostly covered with liquid.

Spoon the fat off the sauce. Transfer the ribs and sauce to a serving bowl and serve with steamed rice Napa cabbage.

Note from me: these dishes are always better the second day. If you refrigerate this, a layer of fat will harden at the top of the dish. The next day, you can easily break it off and discard it, then reheat on stovetop, microwave, or oven.

Thai Marinated Pork Spare Ribs with Dipping Sauce I know other Crossfit gyms have Paleo pot lucks, but I doubt many of them roll out the kind of spreads we do. Here at ground zero of the Brooklyn artisanal food movement, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a food blogger, a small-batch beer brewer, or a food stylist moonlighting as an apprentice butcher.  Even the fist-pumping meatheads at my gym are obsessed with food. Instead of GTL, they’ll blabber about grass-fed and sustainable. Along with their bench PR’s. Yo, pass the pâté, son! Yes, these are my people.  Anyway, we’ve all been cooking our faces off for the two-month Paleo challenge. Every pot luck we have ups the ante a little further, and tonight was no different. Table after table of deliciousness. In thinking about what I wanted to make for the March pot luck, I reflected on what’s been going on in my kitchen since the new year. Basically, for two months I’ve done nothing except low-and-slow-cook practically every cut of every ruminant animal known to man, most of them in a bottle of red wine. As the weather has changed, I’ve started longing for something more vegetal. This Thai-inflected dish really appealed to me, and I’m very glad I decided, at the last moment this afternoon, to whip up a second batch to bring to the party. The ribs and marinade are Paleo; the dipping sauce is decidedly not (it contains both soy sauce and brown sugar.) The ribs are delicious without it, but if you decide not to make it, consider spritzing the finished ribs with lime juice before serving them, either after resting or at room temperature. They are great both ways. I made the ribs exactly according to the recipe below, which I found on Jogo Crossfit’s site; the only change I made was marinating a batch overnight, much longer than the recipe states. No harm done. Thai Marinated Pork Spare Ribs Ingredients: 1 cup sliced onions 1 bunch of scallions, coarsely chopped One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced 8 large cloves garlic, peeled 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro including thin stems 6 tablespoons coconut aminos 2 tablespoons Vietnamese fish sauce 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon fresh coarsely ground black pepper 4 pounds pork spare ribs, cut by your butcher across the bone into 2- to 3-inch “racks,” each rack cut between the bones into individual 2- to 3-inch-long riblets Directions: Put the onions, scallions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, coconut aminos, fish sauce, salt, & pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Process to a loose, finely chopped paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Place pork ribs in a large bowl. Thoroughly coat the ribs with the marinade, massaging the paste into the flesh for a minute or so. Cover and marinate at room temperature for 2 hours or up to 5 hours in the refrigerator, tossing the ribs once or twice during this time.       3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the ribs out, bone-side down, on two large,    parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until ribs are deeply colored and very tender but not yet falling from the bone, about 1 ½ hours, occasionally rotating the pans to encourage even cooking.  As the ribs finish cooking, whip up the dipping sauce. Dipping Sauce 1 TBS fish sauce2 TBS fresh lime juice1 TBS light soy sauce1 tsp chili flakes1 TBS brown sugar1 TBS chopped cilantro Combine all ingredients in a bowl and taste. I found a few TBS of water necessary to dilute this for my taste.  Serve the sauce alongside the ribs in a bowl. Alternatively, skip ahead to dessert.

Thai Marinated Pork Spare Ribs with Dipping Sauce

I know other Crossfit gyms have Paleo pot lucks, but I doubt many of them roll out the kind of spreads we do. Here at ground zero of the Brooklyn artisanal food movement, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a food blogger, a small-batch beer brewer, or a food stylist moonlighting as an apprentice butcher. 

IMG_2831

Even the fist-pumping meatheads at my gym are obsessed with food. Instead of GTL, they’ll blabber about grass-fed and sustainable. Along with their bench PR’s.

IMG_2850

Yo, pass the pâté, son!

Yes, these are my people. 

Anyway, we’ve all been cooking our faces off for the two-month Paleo challenge. Every pot luck we have ups the ante a little further, and tonight was no different. Table after table of deliciousness.

In thinking about what I wanted to make for the March pot luck, I reflected on what’s been going on in my kitchen since the new year. Basically, for two months I’ve done nothing except low-and-slow-cook practically every cut of every ruminant animal known to man, most of them in a bottle of red wine. As the weather has changed, I’ve started longing for something more vegetal. This Thai-inflected dish really appealed to me, and I’m very glad I decided, at the last moment this afternoon, to whip up a second batch to bring to the party.

The ribs and marinade are Paleo; the dipping sauce is decidedly not (it contains both soy sauce and brown sugar.) The ribs are delicious without it, but if you decide not to make it, consider spritzing the finished ribs with lime juice before serving them, either after resting or at room temperature. They are great both ways.

I made the ribs exactly according to the recipe below, which I found on Jogo Crossfit’s site; the only change I made was marinating a batch overnight, much longer than the recipe states. No harm done.

Thai Marinated Pork Spare Ribs

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sliced onions
  • 1 bunch of scallions, coarsely chopped
  • One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
  • 8 large cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro including thin stems
  • 6 tablespoons coconut aminos
  • 2 tablespoons Vietnamese fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh coarsely ground black pepper
  • 4 pounds pork spare ribs, cut by your butcher across the bone into 2- to 3-inch “racks,” each rack cut between the bones into individual 2- to 3-inch-long riblets

Directions:

  1. Put the onions, scallions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, coconut aminos, fish sauce, salt, & pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Process to a loose, finely chopped paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
  2. Place pork ribs in a large bowl. Thoroughly coat the ribs with the marinade, massaging the paste into the flesh for a minute or so. Cover and marinate at room temperature for 2 hours or up to 5 hours in the refrigerator, tossing the ribs once or twice during this time.

IMG_1103

      3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the ribs out, bone-side down, on two large,    parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until ribs are deeply colored and very tender but not yet falling from the bone, about 1 ½ hours, occasionally rotating the pans to encourage even cooking. 

As the ribs finish cooking, whip up the dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce

1 TBS fish sauce
2 TBS fresh lime juice
1 TBS light soy sauce
1 tsp chili flakes
1 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS chopped cilantro

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and taste. I found a few TBS of water necessary to dilute this for my taste. 

Serve the sauce alongside the ribs in a bowl.

Alternatively, skip ahead to dessert.

IMG_2861

March: in like a lion, out like a lamb. Really? We’ve had no winter to speak of. Isn’t it more like, in like a kitty cat, out like a hamster? In like a pet goldfish? Out like a big, soft, adoring Rottie mix who looks at you with deep brown eyes and centuries of empathy and obedience? Yes, this March is just like that. Welcome to the March edition of Help a Sister Out with Some Recipes Associated with the CFSBK-Herondale Farm Meat CSA. Here are my picks for what was in our bags this month. London Broil London Broil is a preparation method, not a cut; it is broiled/grilled marinated flank steak. Our “London Broil” is likely top round steak, but I won’t put any money on it either way until I defrost it and see what’s what. Regardless, I know what I’m going to do with it.  Marinate. High heat. Be sure to cut it against the grain when I serve it. To myself. 1. Got a grill, indoor or outdoor? Make Filipino-style London broil. 2. Crockpotting? Make Everyday Paleo’s spinach-stuffed London broil  (requires butterflying the meat, which is easy - just ask me.) 3. Broiling it, like Mom used to do? Make marinated London broil, just leave out the soy sauce (or sub coconut aminos, like I do.)  Stew Meat I just finished a huge pot of beef stew that I could not get enough of.  This recipe is potato-free but doesn’t suffer for it, and incorporates vegetables only at the very end, which keeps them crisp and in delicious contrast to the rich meat. 1. Hearty beef stew with green peas and carrots Seriously, kids, I love this one. I just left the 3 TBS of flour out. It has 146 reviews and over a 90% “would make again” rating on Epicurious. That’s the shit right there. 2. Herbed beef stew with sugar snap peas This one is next on my list. Sugar snap peas are about to be in season. 3. Ranchero beef stew I totally lied about the snap peas being next. Forget them. This one is next. Olives, chiles, tomatoes. My heart. Ground beef We’ve never talked about this. Pumpkin chili. My favorite meat loaf. Picadillo. White trash tacos. You need more ideas? Talk to Mel over at The Clothes Make the Girl. She’s got a bunch of ground beef recipes, and a bitch knows her way around a spice cupboard. It’s getting warmer, so I’m always looking for quick-sautee type dishes. Try this Asian ground beef, mushroom, and broccoli slaw lettuce cup recipe from Nom Nom Paleo. Another extremely dependable source for good grub. Steaks Here’s what to do. Pork chops Again. Beef shanks Stop making sense. Italian sausages This is what Herondale Farm itself recommends; go to the recipe page and select Italian sausages to view the recipe. Boneless pork roast Well, this happened. Or you could make pernil, which you definitely will want to do if you’ve ever eaten it. You can’t make it as well as any actual Latin person, but as a confirmed Gringarican I can tell you that you’re likely to be thrilled with any approximation you churn out. —————————————— Ta-da! That about does it for this month’s edition. Let me know if there are any cuts we missed, recipes you want to discuss, or delicious variations you want to share. See you at the Paleo Pot Luck!

March: in like a lion, out like a lamb.

Really? We’ve had no winter to speak of. Isn’t it more like, in like a kitty cat, out like a hamster? In like a pet goldfish? Out like a big, soft, adoring Rottie mix who looks at you with deep brown eyes and centuries of empathy and obedience?

rottie pup

Yes, this March is just like that.

Welcome to the March edition of Help a Sister Out with Some Recipes Associated with the CFSBK-Herondale Farm Meat CSA.

Here are my picks for what was in our bags this month.

London Broil

London Broil is a preparation method, not a cut; it is broiled/grilled marinated flank steak.

Our “London Broil” is likely top round steak, but I won’t put any money on it either way until I defrost it and see what’s what. Regardless, I know what I’m going to do with it.  Marinate. High heat. Be sure to cut it against the grain when I serve it. To myself.

1. Got a grill, indoor or outdoor? Make Filipino-style London broil.

2. Crockpotting? Make Everyday Paleo’s spinach-stuffed London broil  (requires butterflying the meat, which is easy - just ask me.)

3. Broiling it, like Mom used to do? Make marinated London broil, just leave out the soy sauce (or sub coconut aminos, like I do.) 

Stew Meat

I just finished a huge pot of beef stew that I could not get enough of.  This recipe is potato-free but doesn’t suffer for it, and incorporates vegetables only at the very end, which keeps them crisp and in delicious contrast to the rich meat.

1. Hearty beef stew with green peas and carrots

Seriously, kids, I love this one. I just left the 3 TBS of flour out. It has 146 reviews and over a 90% “would make again” rating on Epicurious. That’s the shit right there.

2. Herbed beef stew with sugar snap peas

This one is next on my list. Sugar snap peas are about to be in season.

3. Ranchero beef stew

I totally lied about the snap peas being next. Forget them. This one is next. Olives, chiles, tomatoes. My heart.

Ground beef

We’ve never talked about this. Pumpkin chili. My favorite meat loaf. Picadillo. White trash tacos.

You need more ideas? Talk to Mel over at The Clothes Make the Girl. She’s got a bunch of ground beef recipes, and a bitch knows her way around a spice cupboard.

It’s getting warmer, so I’m always looking for quick-sautee type dishes. Try this Asian ground beef, mushroom, and broccoli slaw lettuce cup recipe from Nom Nom Paleo. Another extremely dependable source for good grub.

Steaks

Here’s what to do.

Pork chops

Again.

Beef shanks

Stop making sense.

Italian sausages

This is what Herondale Farm itself recommends; go to the recipe page and select Italian sausages to view the recipe.

Boneless pork roast

Well, this happened.

Or you could make pernil, which you definitely will want to do if you’ve ever eaten it. You can’t make it as well as any actual Latin person, but as a confirmed Gringarican I can tell you that you’re likely to be thrilled with any approximation you churn out.

——————————————

Ta-da! That about does it for this month’s edition. Let me know if there are any cuts we missed, recipes you want to discuss, or delicious variations you want to share. See you at the Paleo Pot Luck!

i’m set for a meal or two :)

i’m set for a meal or two :)

Five-spice slow cooker pork spare ribs I probably had ten side conversations in the gym this month about spare ribs. People either had no experience cooking them, or couldn’t imagine that making them without sugar or honey could be good. I had my doubts as well. I was sure the recipe I was going to use would be a Thai-flavored one, but before I could get around to making it, Melissa Joulwan rolled out a Chinese five-spice slow cooker rib recipe that looked stupid easy.  This morning I pulled them out of the crock pot and almost died from delicious. Other than the meat, there are just SIX ingredients: Salt Pepper Garlic powder Chinese five-spice powder Rice wine vinegar Coconut aminos* *If you don’t have a bottle of coconut aminos, replace the tablespoon the recipe calls for with an extra tablespoon of rice wine vinegar, and keep it moving.  Here’s the recipe.  And now, back to my breakfast.

Five-spice slow cooker pork spare ribs

I probably had ten side conversations in the gym this month about spare ribs. People either had no experience cooking them, or couldn’t imagine that making them without sugar or honey could be good. I had my doubts as well.

I was sure the recipe I was going to use would be a Thai-flavored one, but before I could get around to making it, Melissa Joulwan rolled out a Chinese five-spice slow cooker rib recipe that looked stupid easy. 

This morning I pulled them out of the crock pot and almost died from delicious.

Other than the meat, there are just SIX ingredients:

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Chinese five-spice powder
  • Rice wine vinegar
  • Coconut aminos*

*If you don’t have a bottle of coconut aminos, replace the tablespoon the recipe calls for with an extra tablespoon of rice wine vinegar, and keep it moving. 

Here’s the recipe. 

And now, back to my breakfast.

My friend Susanna asked me to convince her to get a slow cooker. The photo is of a vintage crock pot. I actually own this model, inherited from my aunt. Some household items should always be vintage - cast iron pans, lamps, milk glass, and any furniture made of wood - but I was surprised to find that a 40-year-old crock pot holds its own against contemporary models. This old orange dinosaur cannot produce a bad meal. I also have a more modern stainless-steel version, with a dozen settings and fancy fixtures, but the two-temperature Rival is a proven workhorse. I’ve never made anything bad in it. The community at Crossfit South Brooklyn often holds pot lucks, and the winter editions typically produce a veritable Crock Pot Derby. I like the rowing machines lurking in the background, like small-appliance stalkers. On the other hand, slogging through slow cooker recipes online is something of a chore. There is so much garbage: ersatz pot roast made with a combination of condensed canned *and* dry soup mix, cocktail wieners with grape jelly and bottled barbecue sauce, and hundreds of gloppy crock pot dessert recipes. Don’t make any of those. Susanna, and any other of you who don’t own one: buy yourself a nice crock pot, even though you have a tiny kitchen and it will take up precious storage space.  Once you have it, run through the following recipes, a kind of Paleo Crock Pot 101. All these recipes use relatively inexpensive cuts of meat, which is exactly what belongs in a slow cooker. Moreover, the second and third days of eating crock pot recipes are, quite simply, revelatory. 1. Short ribs Short ribs are brilliant in the crock pot. If you have never made them, in fact if you don’t even know what they are - don’t worry. I didn’t either until about three years ago. I’d never even HEARD of them until then. I grew up on tunanoodacasserole and London broil, bitches. If you did too, don’t sweat it. Just go to the butcher, get some beef short ribs, and cook them in your crock pot. You will not regret it. 2. Brisket Another thing I’m not is Jewish. I never had brisket until I moved to New York in 1999 to cohabitate with my Jewish s.o. Unlike kugel, a food which does not, in my opinion, deserve a drachma of regard, brisket is both delicious and perfectly good for you. Since I didn’t grow up eating brisket in the American Jewish style, I’m not particularly attached to it as a preparation method. The link I provide is an excellent variation. An actual Jewish person wrote the recipe, if such things matter to you. 3. Beef Shanks in Red Wine I told you about this recipe in January. I made it myself and proclaim it one of the best slow cooker recipes I’ve ever made. 4. Lamb Shanks A no-brainer. A cheap cut that emerges absolutely delicious. I have to eat these in private. 5. Crock Pot Carnitas I’m repeating myself, but I like these.  6. Rob Israel’s award-winning Slow Cooker Pot Roast I missed the January 2012 CFSBK paleo pot luck because I was busy having a life-changing experience in my home town with a houseful of people I had been avoiding since 1987. I heard tell, however, that Rob’s pot roast took home a prize, and I wasn’t surprised; every good pot roast recipe I’ve made has come from him. Note from Rob: The key to this roast is the even blend of the wine, stock and tomato sauce. I’ve done braises that emphasize each one of these three components, but I discovered that the even mix is a beautiful, rich sauce… and the thyme and paprika are a perfect compliment.  Ingredients 3-4 pounds chuck roast, brisket or short ribs: all three taste great in this 1 cup chicken stock 1 cup red wine 1 cup tomato sauce- unflavored, plain tomato sauce 1 medium onion chopped  into medium chunks 3 large carrots chopped into medium chunks 6 medium sized celery stalks cut in half 1 TBSP Paprika  1 TBSP salt to taste (start with one and add more) plus kosher sprinkled on meat 1 TBSP white pepper (plus some sprinkled on meat when browning) 1 TBSP thyme 5-8 whole garlic cloves cut in half  Preparation Pour stock, tomato sauce and 1/2 of the wine  into crock pot. Set temp to high. Add salt, pepper, thyme and garlic.  Heat large skillet medium high, sprinkle some extra salt and pepper (not part the above measurements) on meat and sauté in skillet until all sides are browned.  Deglaze pan with left over wine and pour into crock pot.  Place meat in crock pot.  Place onions, carrots and celery in crock pot around the sides of the meat (in the broth not on top). You need enough liquid to cover the meat, so add equals parts stock, wine and tomato sauce if meat isn’t covered all the way up the sides. Cook on high for about 2-3 hours. You want to get the heat up and get it bubbling. Then turn down heat to low and cook for an additional 4-8 hours. If you need to leave it on all day and can’t change temperature just start it on low and leave it there. The high temp at the beginning just helps makes sure you will cook the meat thoroughly and the first two hours is just getting the liquid up to a cooking temp.  When meat is tender, it’s ready to eat. Cooking it longer is not a problem. Pull out celery stalks and disregard, they are for the ‘stock,’ not for eating. If you like eating celery (I don’t) you could alternatively chop the celery and leave it in for eating like the carrots and onions. I like serving this one over steamed spinach, kale or broccoli. Slow Cooker Recipe Wish List These are recipes I myself haven’t tried, but would like to. Perhaps you’ll beat me to it; if you do, drop me a line with your review! 1. Bigos - nostalgia for Poland, which is odd because I was a vegetarian when I lived there. 2. Everyday Paleo slow cooker recipes - chicken is dodgy in the crock, but Sarah generally knows what she’s talking about, so I’d make any of the recipes on her site. 3. Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore - yeah, I just ragged on crockpot chicken. Whatever, I’d make this. 4. OK one more: Slow cooker kimchi chicken

My friend Susanna asked me to convince her to get a slow cooker.

The photo is of a vintage crock pot. I actually own this model, inherited from my aunt. Some household items should always be vintage - cast iron pans, lamps, milk glass, and any furniture made of wood - but I was surprised to find that a 40-year-old crock pot holds its own against contemporary models. This old orange dinosaur cannot produce a bad meal. I also have a more modern stainless-steel version, with a dozen settings and fancy fixtures, but the two-temperature Rival is a proven workhorse. I’ve never made anything bad in it.

The community at Crossfit South Brooklyn often holds pot lucks, and the winter editions typically produce a veritable Crock Pot Derby.

crocks

I like the rowing machines lurking in the background, like small-appliance stalkers.

On the other hand, slogging through slow cooker recipes online is something of a chore. There is so much garbage: ersatz pot roast made with a combination of condensed canned *and* dry soup mix, cocktail wieners with grape jelly and bottled barbecue sauce, and hundreds of gloppy crock pot dessert recipes.

Don’t make any of those.

Susanna, and any other of you who don’t own one: buy yourself a nice crock pot, even though you have a tiny kitchen and it will take up precious storage space. 

Once you have it, run through the following recipes, a kind of Paleo Crock Pot 101. All these recipes use relatively inexpensive cuts of meat, which is exactly what belongs in a slow cooker. Moreover, the second and third days of eating crock pot recipes are, quite simply, revelatory.

1. Short ribs

Short ribs are brilliant in the crock pot. If you have never made them, in fact if you don’t even know what they are - don’t worry. I didn’t either until about three years ago. I’d never even HEARD of them until then. I grew up on tunanoodacasserole and London broil, bitches. If you did too, don’t sweat it. Just go to the butcher, get some beef short ribs, and cook them in your crock pot. You will not regret it.

2. Brisket

Another thing I’m not is Jewish. I never had brisket until I moved to New York in 1999 to cohabitate with my Jewish s.o. Unlike kugel, a food which does not, in my opinion, deserve a drachma of regard, brisket is both delicious and perfectly good for you.

Since I didn’t grow up eating brisket in the American Jewish style, I’m not particularly attached to it as a preparation method. The link I provide is an excellent variation. An actual Jewish person wrote the recipe, if such things matter to you.

3. Beef Shanks in Red Wine

I told you about this recipe in January. I made it myself and proclaim it one of the best slow cooker recipes I’ve ever made.

4. Lamb Shanks

A no-brainer. A cheap cut that emerges absolutely delicious. I have to eat these in private.

5. Crock Pot Carnitas

I’m repeating myself, but I like these. 

6. Rob Israel’s award-winning Slow Cooker Pot Roast

I missed the January 2012 CFSBK paleo pot luck because I was busy having a life-changing experience in my home town with a houseful of people I had been avoiding since 1987. I heard tell, however, that Rob’s pot roast took home a prize, and I wasn’t surprised; every good pot roast recipe I’ve made has come from him.

Note from Rob: The key to this roast is the even blend of the wine, stock and tomato sauce. I’ve done braises that emphasize each one of these three components, but I discovered that the even mix is a beautiful, rich sauce… and the thyme and paprika are a perfect compliment. 

Ingredients

3-4 pounds chuck roast, brisket or short ribs: all three taste great in this

1 cup chicken stock
1 cup red wine
1 cup tomato sauce- unflavored, plain tomato sauce
1 medium onion chopped  into medium chunks
3 large carrots chopped into medium chunks
6 medium sized celery stalks cut in half
1 TBSP Paprika 
1 TBSP salt to taste (start with one and add more) plus kosher sprinkled on meat
1 TBSP white pepper (plus some sprinkled on meat when browning)
1 TBSP thyme
5-8 whole garlic cloves cut in half 

Preparation

  • Pour stock, tomato sauce and 1/2 of the wine  into crock pot. Set temp to high. Add salt, pepper, thyme and garlic. 
  • Heat large skillet medium high, sprinkle some extra salt and pepper (not part the above measurements) on meat and sauté in skillet until all sides are browned. 
  • Deglaze pan with left over wine and pour into crock pot. 
  • Place meat in crock pot. 
  • Place onions, carrots and celery in crock pot around the sides of the meat (in the broth not on top). You need enough liquid to cover the meat, so add equals parts stock, wine and tomato sauce if meat isn’t covered all the way up the sides.
  • Cook on high for about 2-3 hours. You want to get the heat up and get it bubbling. Then turn down heat to low and cook for an additional 4-8 hours. If you need to leave it on all day and can’t change temperature just start it on low and leave it there. The high temp at the beginning just helps makes sure you will cook the meat thoroughly and the first two hours is just getting the liquid up to a cooking temp. 
  • When meat is tender, it’s ready to eat. Cooking it longer is not a problem. Pull out celery stalks and disregard, they are for the ‘stock,’ not for eating. If you like eating celery (I don’t) you could alternatively chop the celery and leave it in for eating like the carrots and onions.
  • I like serving this one over steamed spinach, kale or broccoli.

Slow Cooker Recipe Wish List

These are recipes I myself haven’t tried, but would like to. Perhaps you’ll beat me to it; if you do, drop me a line with your review!

1. Bigos - nostalgia for Poland, which is odd because I was a vegetarian when I lived there.

2. Everyday Paleo slow cooker recipes - chicken is dodgy in the crock, but Sarah generally knows what she’s talking about, so I’d make any of the recipes on her site.

3. Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore - yeah, I just ragged on crockpot chicken. Whatever, I’d make this.

4. OK one more: Slow cooker kimchi chicken

lamb sirloin roast: so easy, a dumbass can do it UPDATE: this post was updated to reflect and properly acknowledge the culinary contributions of mr. rob israel, without whom the lamb roast would still be lying on the counter, raw. he gets all the props for perfectly cooking this gorgeous hunk of flesh. ——————————————————————————————————————— suppose you have a freezer full of delicious meat. a freezer so full that when you open it, you have to shield your head from the avalanche of perfectly portioned chops, steaks and plump Italian sausages that comes cascading down. suppose it’s the night before the Superbowl and you forget to pull out ANY of the 5,398,397 cuts of meat in your freezer out to defrost. even though you know you have to cook dinner for friends. take yourself to the butcher the day of the big game and take your chances. if you’re lucky, you’ll come out with a lamb sirloin roast.  i did. i’d never made one before, but how hard could it be? plus, i had a secret meat weapon: rob israel. he can roast nearly anything to shimmering pink perfection. we rubbed our lamb with nearly the same garlicky herb rub as covered the roasted boneless pork shoulder i wrote about here last month: fresh chopped garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, olive oil, dried thyme and fresh minced rosemary. you don’t need measurements to do this - dump it all in a bowl, mix it up with your hands, then slather it on the meat. if it doesn’t cover it, make more. roast it uncovered at about 400 for about 20 minutes per (uncooked) pound - our roast was about three pounds - and then take it out and let it rest. untie that sucker. after it has rested for 10 minutes, slice it as thin as you can. try not to eat it off the cutting board. i made yogurt pomegranate sauce to go with it:  mix 1 small container full-fat Greek yogurt with half a cup of pomegranate seeds, two minced gloves of garlic, and a couple tablespoons of pomegranate molasses (if you don’t have any, reduce some pomegranate juice in a saucepan instead.) no recipes for leftovers forthcoming - there won’t be any, trust me.

lamb sirloin roast: so easy, a dumbass can do it

UPDATE: this post was updated to reflect and properly acknowledge the culinary contributions of mr. rob israel, without whom the lamb roast would still be lying on the counter, raw. he gets all the props for perfectly cooking this gorgeous hunk of flesh.

———————————————————————————————————————

suppose you have a freezer full of delicious meat. a freezer so full that when you open it, you have to shield your head from the avalanche of perfectly portioned chops, steaks and plump Italian sausages that comes cascading down.

suppose it’s the night before the Superbowl and you forget to pull out ANY of the 5,398,397 cuts of meat in your freezer out to defrost. even though you know you have to cook dinner for friends.

take yourself to the butcher the day of the big game and take your chances. if you’re lucky, you’ll come out with a lamb sirloin roast.  i did.

i’d never made one before, but how hard could it be? plus, i had a secret meat weapon: rob israel. he can roast nearly anything to shimmering pink perfection.

lamb sirloin raw

we rubbed our lamb with nearly the same garlicky herb rub as covered the roasted boneless pork shoulder i wrote about here last month: fresh chopped garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, olive oil, dried thyme and fresh minced rosemary. you don’t need measurements to do this - dump it all in a bowl, mix it up with your hands, then slather it on the meat. if it doesn’t cover it, make more.

roast it uncovered at about 400 for about 20 minutes per (uncooked) pound - our roast was about three pounds - and then take it out and let it rest.

untie that sucker.

tie3

after it has rested for 10 minutes, slice it as thin as you can. try not to eat it off the cutting board.

i made yogurt pomegranate sauce to go with it: 

mix 1 small container full-fat Greek yogurt with half a cup of pomegranate seeds, two minced gloves of garlic, and a couple tablespoons of pomegranate molasses (if you don’t have any, reduce some pomegranate juice in a saucepan instead.)

no recipes for leftovers forthcoming - there won’t be any, trust me.

When it comes to Paleo baked treats, I admit it. I was a full-on hater. Texture, taste, mouthfeel - you name the criteria, these creations never measured up, it seemed to me.  I’d never made any, and my reaction to the many samples I’ve tried was overwhelming desire to spit that shit out. (Gym members whose treats I have tried:  of course I’m not talking about yours.) Sometimes I got viciously angry at these baked goods for pretending to be something they’re not. I lashed out.  But Rickke mentioned a muffin inspired by pineapple upside-down cake, and I got interested. Then he brought me one, and I changed my mind about Paleo baking. Dude claims not to be much of a baker, but he nailed these. I never improvise when baking, but he’s clearly got that talent in spades.  He also sent excellent instructions, complete with specific equipment notes. These have a lovely texture, are not too sweet, and smell terrific. Thanks for sharing your awesome creation, Rickke! Rickke’s Pineapple Right-Side-Up Banana Nut Muffins  Ingredients - 1 1/2 cups coconut flour  - 1 cup blanched almond flour - 1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt - 1 teaspoon baking soda - 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon - 2 cups full-fat coconut milk  - 1/2 cup honey, divided - 1 dozen eggs, beaten - 4 teaspoons vanilla extract - 1/4 cup coconut oil - 12 pineapple rings, about 1/2-inch thick (canned in water, not sugar - this will be 2 cans) - 3-4 extra ripe large bananas - 2 cups walnut pieces Equipment Large non-stick muffin pan Blender Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda and unrefined sea salt together.   Empty the water from 2 cans of pineapple rings (make sure it’s not pineapple rings in sugar) into a blender with 3-4 ripe bananas. Blend until smooth.  Beat in banana puree, walnut pieces, coconut milk, 1/4 cup honey, 12 beaten eggs and vanilla and continue to beat them together until no clumps remain. Melt coconut oil and remaining 1/4 cup of honey in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over moderately high heat whisking together.  Put 2 teaspoons of coconut oil / honey mixture along with 1 pineapple ring in the bottom of each muffin slot  Pour muffin batter over pineapple filling each muffin slot to the top Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy! Best eaten when warm! Yield: about 12 large muffins.

When it comes to Paleo baked treats, I admit it. I was a full-on hater.

Texture, taste, mouthfeel - you name the criteria, these creations never measured up, it seemed to me. 

I’d never made any, and my reaction to the many samples I’ve tried was overwhelming desire to spit that shit out. (Gym members whose treats I have tried:  of course I’m not talking about yours.) Sometimes I got viciously angry at these baked goods for pretending to be something they’re not. I lashed out. 

But Rickke mentioned a muffin inspired by pineapple upside-down cake, and I got interested. Then he brought me one, and I changed my mind about Paleo baking.

Dude claims not to be much of a baker, but he nailed these. I never improvise when baking, but he’s clearly got that talent in spades.  He also sent excellent instructions, complete with specific equipment notes.

These have a lovely texture, are not too sweet, and smell terrific. Thanks for sharing your awesome creation, Rickke!

Rickke’s Pineapple Right-Side-Up Banana Nut Muffins 

Ingredients

  • - 1 1/2 cups coconut flour 
  • - 1 cup blanched almond flour
  • - 1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
  • - 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • - 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • - 2 cups full-fat coconut milk 
  • - 1/2 cup honey, divided
  • - 1 dozen eggs, beaten
  • - 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • - 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • - 12 pineapple rings, about 1/2-inch thick (canned in water, not sugar - this will be 2 cans)
  • - 3-4 extra ripe large bananas
  • - 2 cups walnut pieces
Equipment

Blender

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Whisk coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda and unrefined sea salt together.  
  3. Empty the water from 2 cans of pineapple rings (make sure it’s not pineapple rings in sugar) into a blender with 3-4 ripe bananas. Blend until smooth. 
  4. Beat in banana puree, walnut pieces, coconut milk, 1/4 cup honey, 12 beaten eggs and vanilla and continue to beat them together until no clumps remain.
  5. Melt coconut oil and remaining 1/4 cup of honey in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over moderately high heat whisking together. 
  6. Put 2 teaspoons of coconut oil / honey mixture along with 1 pineapple ring in the bottom of each muffin slot 
  7. Pour muffin batter over pineapple filling each muffin slot to the top
  8. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. 
  9. Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy! Best eaten when warm!

Yield: about 12 large muffins.