the daily paleo

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.

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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 :)

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

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

Welcome to the February edition of “WHAT THE HECK should I do with the cuts in my Herondale Farm meat share?”

Not that y’all need that much help. It’s obvious from your emails and texts that you’ve become masters of everything meatshare. It’s surprising any of us worked out at all this past month, what with all the pan saucing, slow braising, and crockpot-PWN’ing going on.

That said, there may be a few of you peering into that hefty bag of meat and thinking, “How do I work this?”

Friends, I have some answers.

Ground beef

It tickled my entire funny bone to read so many reports of success with the Paleo pumpkin chili recipe I posted in January. At one point it seemed like the entire gym was eating it. I was especially proud of the self-professed “non-cooks” who whipped out the dish like so many born-again Iron Chefs.

I don’t flatter myself that I have another hail Mary recipe like that one up my sleeve. I don’t.

I’ll just tell you the truth. The second-most frequent thing I do with delicious grass-fed ground beef is make picadillo.

Picadillo is like Spanish Sloppy Joe. It’s el sandwich descuidado de Jose. Except… it’s not a sandwich.

Luckily for us, picadillo is never served on a bun, and it’s about ten times more delicious than Sloppy Joe. This is the version I always make. It’s quick to throw together, great the day you make it and better every day thereafter, and has a killer leftover application: as a filling for an omelet.

If you make it, promise me you’ll try that.

Suggested accompaniments:

• on a plate, like a boss (as above)
• on top of crisp romaine or iceberg lettuce
• with fried unripe plantains (tostones) 
• with the most delicious food on the planet, maduros (cooked, por supuesto, in lard)

Savory beef and squash pie - Full disclosure: I haven’t made this. I feel pretty sure that I’d freaking love it, though. Speaking of squash, Reader S - I haven’t forgotten my promise to you.

Ham steak

I don’t know what you guys found in your bags, but my ham steak was the size of a small middle-European fiefdom. Ham: it’s what’s for dinner,  ALL WEEK.

Unfortunately, most recipes for this cut - including the one my mother made my entire childhood - involve glazing it in something sugary. That is no bueno.

In terms of method:  if you can manage it, grill your ham steak. I have an indoor grill I really like; it was under $50. 

Second choice: broil. But keep an eye on it, as it will burn quickly.

Here are my recipe picks.

1. Spiced ham steak - just leave out the tiny dab of brown sugar in the marinade; the pineapple juice will make it sweet enough.

2. Nigella Lawson’s ham steaks with parsley - does contain a bit of honey, but I will forgive this error in judgement, for she is Nigella. Even though she is British, a fatal and irreversible flaw, I love her. And I think many of you are willing to cook with a touch of honey, so have at it.

Leftover ham steak - dice it fine and include it in any frittata, or toss it into scrambled eggs.

Pork spare ribs

Whose working class dad did not go a little bit insane for pork spare ribs in the lean days of the 70s?  Mine sure did. I think a lot of catsup was involved, however.

My package of ribs was pretty small, so I’ll either supplement with additional butcher-bought ribs, or wait to see if we get more in subsequent months. In the meantime, I’ve got my eye on these:

1. Thai-marinated pork spare ribs. There are few spare rib recipes on Epicurious, but the ersatz Thai version there was a flop in my test run. I crave Thai food when I’m riding the Paleo horse, however, so I’ll try these next.

2. Here’s a braised option - not particularly pretty, but I bet they’re good.

Lamb riblets

1. Use your package of riblets to make the sauce for this surefire winner - herbed lamb chops with pinot noir sauce. Yum. Off the record, I think you are crazy if you don’t make this. I’ll leave out the 2 tsp of flour at the end of the sauce, and just thicken with butter and a little extra time to reduce.

2. If you want to make a more exotic dish, try this one, spiced lamb riblets,  which I found on a lamb farmer’s husband’s website. He says the farm couldn’t sell any riblets until they found a delicious enough recipe to provoke people to buy them. It requires harissa, which most people either love or hate.

As a side note, a little trolling on the web reveals that CSA members all over the country agonize over what to do with lamb riblets. A good problem to have, ultimately; it means there’s a growing number of people embracing the whole-animal philosophy.

Pork chops

I already told you.

Boneless sirloin and T-bone steaks

Ditto.

Smoked ham hock

The hock is the joint where the pig’s foot attaches to the leg. In case you were wondering.

Anyway, the standard American use for this cut is as a flavor base in bean soups; since those are out in Paleoville, you’ll just have to settle for eating one of the most outrageously fantastic vegetable dishes known to humankind:

Collard greens with ham,  via The Homesick Texan

If you’re one of those wackaloons who likes greens but doesn’t like collards, there are a ton of recipes for making various hearty winter greens with ham hocks. Please to be Googling.

Bacon

I know you don’t need any bacon recipes from me. 

But here are some anyway. Because I care. 

And that, comrades, is all for the February meat share. Many thanks to the wonderful farmers at Herondale for this beautiful meat, to Margie at Crossfit South Brooklyn for arranging the CSA, and to all of you for your success stories and reader mail this past month. Please continue to send me your photos and tales of culinary glory.

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Photo Credits

Picadillo photo

Grill photo

Cute lambie lamb

braised red cabbage with bacon

i enjoyed a post-workout dinner with rob and bina tonight. rob was kind enough to serve his iteration of the roasted boneless pork shoulder with garlic herb rub, and i’ll go on record right here saying his was even better than mine, and even on the second day. 

to go with, bina mashed the sweetest, peachy-est tasting sweet potato ever grown on earth (Fresh Direct? who knew!) with some outrageous small-batch butter, and i tried desperately to do good on my cavalier claim from over a week ago that i could share some great cabbage recipes, no problemo. they surprised me with a head of red cabbage, so i made this, even though we didn’t have any caraway seeds. it was great anyway. 

i knew i was with My Tribe when i asked bina if she could sautee a bit of bacon for the cabbage, and she responded by swiftly plunking a half pound of The Good Stuff into a pan. 

Braised red cabbage with bacon, adapted from epicurious

Ingredients

• 6 slices good-quality bacon
• Small head red cabbage
• 3 TBS (or more) apple cider vinegar

Optional

• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• Chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Cook the bacon until just crisp in a large pan with sides (not in a skillet.) Remove the bacon to a plate. Turn off the heat, let the fat cool slightly, and pour off all but a few tablespoons.

2. Cut the cabbage head in half and then finely slice.

3. Turn the heat back on in the pan over medium flame, and cook the cabbage in the bacon fat for 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the bacon.

4. Whisk the sugar (if using) into the apple cider vinegar; add caraway seeds (if using.) (If all you have is vinegar, that’s fine - it’ll still be good.) Pour over cabbage and continue to cook until cabbage is wilted but still crisp-tender, about 5 more minutes.

5. Season generously with salt and pepper, and more apple cider vinegar, if desired.

6. Remove from heat. Just before serving, sprinkle with chopped bacon. Add parsley if you are using it.

photo credit: last call for corn

roasted boneless pork shoulder with garlic herb rub

the boneless pork shoulder in our January CSA delivery was just the sweetest little porcine nugget. i wanted to do something super simple so the meat would shine. this recipe is adapted from barbara kafka’s roasting. i was concerned with the high temperature it calls for, but the results were outstanding. 

there were duck-fat sauteed dandelion greens on the side.

making a roast a week is one of my standard wintertime paleo strategies. i’ll be making this one again before spring has sprung!

Ingredients

7 cloves garlic

1 TBS each dried thyme and oregano

2 TBS each kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3.5-4.5lb boneless pork shoulder, tied

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500.

2. Combine all ingredients except the pork in a food processor and pulse to create a smooth puree.

3. Dry the roast and rub the paste all over it. Place it in a small roasting pan, fat side up.

4. Roast for 20 minutes, uncovered, at 500.

5. Reduce the oven temperature to 450 and roast an additional 30 minutes. Spoon off some of the fat from the roasting pan and roast further until the roast registers 160, anywhere from 30-45 minutes more.

6. Remove from the oven and transfer to a platter; let rest 10 minutes. Snip off strings, slice and serve.

meat CSA recipe dilemma? i got you.

opening a surprise bag full of grass-fed meat is like christmas. christmas on january 4, to be exact.

in case you are at a loss for what to do with all that perfectly-omega-balanced goodness, here are my picks for the cuts we just got.**

beef cross-cut shanks

this cut has to be slowly braised, but it’ll be worth it.

1. week night: slow-cooker beef shanks in red wine
2. feast night: dominican sancocho
3. cold-weather bonus dish: beef, vegetable and wild mushroom soup

flatiron + porterhouse steaks

 you don’t need a recipe, just do this a few dozen times and you’ll have it down.

if you’re a rock star, cut the meat out of its packaging the day before, dry it, put it on a plate, and let it hang out uncovered in the fridge. optional. not everyone is a rock star, obv.

1. before preparing: bring meat to room temperature. dry it and season it liberally with salt and pepper.
2. get your sturdiest pan really fucking hot. cast iron, ideally.
3. put the seasoned side down on the pan. season the naked side.
4. wait til it releases enough to flip it. 
5. flip.
6. wait til that side releases.
7. remove the steak to a plate, cover/tent it loosely, wait five minutes.
8. rockstar step #2: make a pan sauce. skip it if you don’t know how.
9. in five minutes, eat a med-rare steak.

ground beef

do you need to stress out about how to prepare GRASS FED ground beef in some special way? no. you shouldn’t be cooking the shit out of regular ground beef, so don’t do that with this ground beef either. that’s it.

also, no stuffed pepper recipes. just, no.

1. week night: pumpkin chili (one of the rare recipes from a paleo recipe site that i love and promote)
2. feast night: bacon-filled meatloaf. this recipe contains some bread crumbs which i always leave out. do NOT leave out the bacon or the mystery dried fruit - it’s incredible. 
3. bonus feast night: wrap the bacon-filled meatloaf in bacon. i did.

ground lamb

a great, underrated and incredibly delicious meat.

1. week night: lamb kofte with optional yogurt sauce. these are honestly delicious - i would never dilute them with pita, one of the most insipid and useless commercial bread products ever invented. 
2. feast night: lamb and vegetable lasagna (contains no noodles.)

center-cut pork chops

chops are one of my weeknight standbys.

everybody knows pork has been irrevocably ruined by the low-fat juggernaut and agribusiness (our wonderful farmers excepted); the technique below offers you the best chance at moist chops given the realities of the meat in your hands.

1. week night: sauteed pork chops from bruce aidells/denis kelly’s the complete meat cookbook.
2. learn to make a quick pan sauce from that recipe. really. it’s a technique you will use thousands of times in your life, and takes mere minutes.

boneless pork shoulder

y’all can already make a killer roast pork/pulled pork recipe, right? no? oh ok.

1. week night: slow-cooker carnitas. i like to eat taco-type meat in crisp, tasteless leaves of iceberg lettuce. i do, actually. i’m not being sarcastic. taco meat is too delicious to not eat just because tortillas are not on the agenda. also, this recipe is not for the mexicophiles among us; however, not every taco can taste like it was wrung from the loins of actual mexicans in a dark corner of sunset park. some tacos need to come out of the crock pot with fewer than four total ingredients.
2. friday night: chile-braised pork shoulder tacos. just leave out the beer; substitute water or weak chicken broth.
3. feast night: porchetta-style roast pork. reduce the cooking time to account for our smaller cut. get a meat thermometer if you don’t have one.

hot italian sausages

the best use for these suckers, in my opinion, is in a big fat frittata. the recipe calls for “mild” sausage, but i always use hot. yes, there is cheese.

1. frittata with sausage, chard and feta

that’s it! happy cooking! hit me in the comments if you want to talk about any of these recipes.

**these recipes have been curated carefully. they were vetted for paleo suitability, obviously, plus for seasonality and likelihood of success. *your* success. i’ve either cooked them myself, or firmly believe anyone short of a total idiot could make them with a reasonable chance of producing highly edible food.  just a note, don’t start substituting things if you’re making a recipe for the first time. that’s just asking for trouble. unless we’re talking about canola and other vegetable oils, which should always be ruthlessly replaced with a better fat (olive oil, clarified butter, animal fat, depending on the situation. if you need help, for god’s sake ask.)

grass-fed CSA bounty and blog comments enabled… post away!