Tis the season for pumpkin!

So no processed sugars? That must suck? Not really. There are wonderful natural sweeteners that can be used in the Paleo diet ( I really hate to call it a diet so we will refer to it as a lifestyle from now on). If you must make it sweet, some choices are:

Raw organic honey
Organic agave nectar
Stevia
Unsweetened applesauce

I start craving pumpkin everything every late September. I had pumpkin muffins on the brain and decided to try a paleo dessert. One which was more like nutritious fuel, than a true dessert. These muffins are yummy and are perfect post work out.

Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup roasted pumpkin ( if you need to use canned, get organic, plain pumpkin)
1/4 cup raw honey
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1tbspn almond butter
2 eggs
1cup almond flour
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/4 tspn cloves
1/4 tspn ground ginger
1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Mix well in a stand mixer. Then fill a pre- greased (coconut oil) muffin pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min.

Enjoy!

Of course I miss pasta, But this is so worth it!

As Joe mentioned, I am little over a week into the Lurong Living Paleo challenge. I've eliminated all processed sugar, grains and dairy. The focus has been on lean meats, veggies and nuts. All food is preferably organic, hormone free and meat sources should be free range and grass fed. Fats are an essential part of this diet, and specific types of saturated fats are encouraged. Recent research has shown that some types of saturated fats are beneficial in many ways without raising the risk of heart disease, coconut oil is one of these claimed fats. I use it sparingly until there is more definitive research on this. I still hold to my olive oil for most things. Cooking dinner has not been too challenging. I realize that I cooked this way pretty often before the challenge. I've come up with some tasty and interesting recipes that have been a hit in our house. I plan to share some of those here over the next 8 weeks. So no gourmet postings for a while, although I'm sure that with a little creativity, amazing guiltless dishes can be made. I started with simple soup recipes. This one for Cacuzza and bison soup is very simple. Getting the Cacuzza is the hard part. in Brooklyn, this gourd ( it's not really a squash) is abundant during the summer. Not only does every old Italian man grow it in his backyard, but the markets have them all summer long. My mother cooked with it all the time and made a stew out of it, with little meatballs. This recipe is a paleo spin on her dish.

1 Cacuzza diced
1lb ground bison
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 egg
1/4 cup almond flour
1 onion
3 cloves garlic ( crushed)
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 tspn ground cumin
4 cups home made chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat oil in a pot, add chopped onion, salt, pepper and cumin. Cook until translucent. Add Cacuzza squash, cauliflower and sautéed for 7 min. Add garlic, bay leaves and chicken stock. Stir well and bring to a boil.

In the meanwhile, mix bison, almond flour, salt, pepper and 1beaten egg in a bowl. Mix well and form into little meatballs. They should be firm.

Add meatballs one at time and carefully to the low boiling soup. Add fresh thyme and parsley. Allow to cook for about one hour on simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I should mention that aside from sleeping better, having more energy and losing 5 lbs the first week of this challenge, I have seen some improvement in overall Crossfit performance and stamina. Joe who is also doing the challenge because he eats my cooking, has lost several lbs this week as well. Because everything is made from scratch, it does require a time commitment and some ingenuity. Making a few meals ahead of time really makes it easier. Can't wait to see the results at 8 weeks!

Paleo-huh?

Just a short update here. Apparently I am on a "paleo" diet now. Jeanine is an avid Crossfitter and they have challenged themselves to maintain this diet for 2 months. As I understand this diet it doesn't allow processed sugars or grains. I don't know why they call it paleo, although I think it's because you can only eat what the dinosaurs ate!

I'm not a nutritionist, but I am told that this diet works by creating a low glycemic index. Your body is forced into a fat burning mode.

This sounds restrictive, but Jeanine had found great ways of cooking paleo. I really hesitate to call it a diet. Keep following for some great recipes and hopefully great results!

Mahi Mahi!

So I made some fish for dinner to go with that black bean/mango salad. I then thought it needed something else, something starchy. I'm trying to stay away from carbs, so I only had a taste, but let my fiance have the real deal. I made a potato cake to act as a pedestal for my fish. I also wanted to give the dish some height and I thought this would accomplish that and soak up the yummy juice from the salsa as well.

And here you have it! You can hardly see the potato due to my bad plating, but it's there sitting under the lovely pan seared Mahi. Here is what I did:

Cumin potato cake

A few peeled potatoes, depending on how many cakes you want to make
1 tbsp cumin
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper

I used a cheese grater to hash out the peeled potatoes. Then I added the spices, yolk and flour and mixed it by hand in a bowl. It became slightly sticky and I then created little rounded mounds with my hands that I then pan fried in canola oil until golden and crispy. I set these aside on power towel to drain.

Now for the fish:

Pan Seared Mahi Mahi

4 beautiful fillets
salt and pepper

With the skin on I pan seared them in hot oil, skin side down. The oil has to be very hot for fish or else it will stick to the pan. After a minute or so, if untouched, the skin will release itself from the pan and you will have a fillet you can work with. I let the sides get crispy, golden. Cook on each side about 7 min depending on how thick your pieces are. Mine were fairly thick. 

Putting it all together

I sat my fish on my potato cake and topped the whole thing with the black bean/mango/corn salsa. The flavors were so great together. Try it and let me know how you like it!!! If you like spicy, just add jalapeno pepper to your salsa for a kick!

Everyday healthy salads!

We try to eat healthy every day. I have pretty much eliminated dairy and simple carbs from my diet because they just don't agree with me, and I don't really miss them. I cheat of course, especially when out for dinner or special occasions. It's not too hard since we are not really ones for sweets and cakes, but the dairy thing can be a challenge. I still eat cheese, but not often. Our meals are usually vegetable based, and then accompanied by some kind of meat, poultry or fish. I wanted to share some of my favorite lunch recipes. I make these for the kids to take to school as well.  They keep really well and don't get soggy.

Chickpea salad

There are many variations of this and you can get very creative with your additions, but this is a basic salad that you can dress up or down to your liking.

2 cans of Chickpeas ( Garbanzo beans)
1 small red onion diced
1 lime
2 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped ( can be substituted with parsley)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced English cucumber
2 tomatoes seeded and diced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 small red pepper diced ( optional)
1 jalepeno pepper diced ( optional)
salt and pepper to taste


Toss ingredients together in a bowl and let sit for 20 min covered in fridge before eating. That's all! So simple and refreshing and most of all, low calorie! This makes a great lunch or side dish.

Shepherd's Salad


1 English cucumber diced
3 tomatoes seeded and diced
3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Toss together and it's just amazing. This is delicious in a pita pocket or wrap. It also goes very well with lamb dishes. Every time I serve this people comment on how good it is and it's just so simple and perfect. This also stands up well for a few hours in a lunch box.


While we are on salads, I will post a photo and my recipe for a black bean, corn, mango salsa that I made to go over my grilled Mahi Mahi tonight. This is also a 10 minute recipe that is full of flavor and nutrition.

Black bean, corn, mango salsa

This can absolutely be eaten as a salad alone, but is so incredible over fish. Here is what it looks like in the bowl:

2 ripened mangos diced
1 can of black beans ( or if you have time, soak dried beans overnight)
1 small red onion finely diced
1 1/2 cups of fresh corn ( I cut mine off the cob)
3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
juice of 2 fresh limes
1 tbsp lime zest
1/2 tspn honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tspn balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all together and let the flavors blend for about 20 min covered in the refrigerator. This is just so delicious. Eat is as a side dish or spoon over your favorite seared or grilled fillet. Goes extremely well with Mahi. Enjoy!!

Recipes....

Well, my cooking experience has come from recipes. The only thing I learned to make from my parents was tomato sauce and breakfast. I do make a mean bacon and eggs. My fried eggs have hot bacon fat spooned over them before I flip them. It's a delicious ticket to the cath lab, I know, but I don't cook breakfast every day!

My father taught me how to make sauce, and I added a few things from another recipe I found in the Sopranos Family Cookbook. I enjoy making tomato sauce (we never called it "gravy" by the way) and I have enjoyed making pasta dishes. I started branching out after I saw Emeril cook Coq au Vin and Chicken Cacciatore on the Food Network.

I took my first cooking class in New Orleans at the New Orleans School of Cooking. This was a hands on course where we made authentic Cajun dishes. During our first class we made chicken and andouille gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp remoullade and bread pudding with a bourbon sauce. I went back twice more and learned how to make seafood gumbo, barbecue shrimp, grillades and grits and bananas foster. I have all of these recipes and continue to cook cajun food, including a real crawfish boil (in New England).

My next advance in cooking took place after discovering Julia Childs and Michael Schlow. Julia Childs is the renowned French Chef and was the first successful T.V. chef. Her dishes are classic French cuisine made approachable and intuitive. I highly recommend her book "The Way to Cook".

Michael Schlow is the executive chef of Boston's premier restaurant the Radius. It was at the Radius that I truly discovered food and learned about food and wine pairings. He also has a cookbook which explains how to make some great dishes in your own kitchen. It is an incredible accomplishment to reproduce some of the amazing dishes that we enjoy at the Radius.

Jeanine has taught me a lot about cooking. She is an intuitive cook. She doesn't use recipes. I still look at recipes, but I have started to take what I know from recipes and experiment without a net. It's great fun to create something that is a variation of a recipe or an improvement on one, or, in some cases, a major catastrophe.

We will present recipes in this blog, but hopefully some perspective. We are not chefs, but we love cooking at home. We use an old electric range and some budget pots and pans. We shop at Price Choppers, Stew Leonard's and (rarely) at Whole Foods. Hopefully you will see something you like and try it out. Let us know what happens!

-jd
 

Easy Leeky dinner!

Tonight Joe walked in the house before I had dinner done.  I was not expecting him so early.  This was a very easy and delicious pasta dish that I threw together in 20 minutes. This is my own recipe and I tweak it often, but this is it in it's most basic form.  It's summery and bright and perfect for a spring meal! I encourage you to try it.





- 3 Leeks
- 1 lemon plus zest
- 2 cloves garlic
- A few tablespoons of olive oil
- chopped walnuts
- fresh curly parsley
- fresh basil leaves
- fettucini
- shaved fresh parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
crushed red pepper optional

Boil your salted water and get the fettucini going while you prepare the rest!
Cut leek roots at white bottoms and cut dark green parts, leaving only a small amount of light green leek. Wash thoroughly.  Slice finely.  Heat a skillet with olive oil, add the leeks and cook until transluscent and soft.  Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes taking care not to let it brown. Add the cooked fettucini and toss.  Add fresh parsley and basil, juice of 1 lemon, zest of one lemon, and walnuts.  Continue to toss and add salt and pepper to your liking. Top with fresh parmesan.

Enjoy this delicious pasta dish!