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Grain-Free Meatballs

meatballs ready to eat

Lately, I’ve gone to a number of meetups with the Traditional Community Kitchen. This is an official Meetup group based in NYC, and one that I help organize (I’m a Co-Organizer and to some extent the Social Media Manager). It’s been one of the most fun social groups I’ve been a part of in NYC, and I’ve met some delightful people there that have become friends. Everyone is really friendly and eager to both teach what they know and learn from each other.

If you are in the NYC area, and interested in cooking together – whether your orientation is WAPF, paleo/primal, grain- or gluten-free, vegetarian, or simply an overall curious person looking for more inspiration to eat whole, real food – I highly recommend joining this group and coming to one of our meetups!

So, one of the most recent meetups was actually a repeat event – making a big pot of meatballs. This recipe was originally developed by Hannah Springer here in NYC, and she shared it with one of our meetup members, who passed it on to the rest of us. We’ve all really enjoyed the resulting delicious savory meatballs (which I like to make on the smaller side), enough so to make them together again.

They are different from any other recipe I’ve seen for meatballs, in that they are free of grains. Essentially, they are all meat, with the addition of egg, cream, and a few other things. I’m not personally avoiding grains, but for those omnivores that are, this is a great recipe

I remember the first event – which took place at my home – to be really fun. This second event was a lot of fun, too, and held at another member’s home.  The four of us chopped onions and I was glad to talk about my favorite way of chopping onions, which I’m happy to say sped up the chopping process – chopping onions can be a painful experience, so getting through them as fast as possible is a real benefit.

We then mixed those onions with spices and some pastured lard, and fried ’em up. You can only imagine how wonderful the house started to smell while this was going on.

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Pastured Pulled Pork

Recently, I had the opportunity learn a bit about butchering a pig – how to take it apart and turn it into the various cuts you see in the market (or at the farmer’s market). A friend who has excellent knife skills and some butchering experience led the workshop, and was really great about explaining what the different cuts were.

We lucked out and had half a local pastured pig for the workshop, and I was also fortunate to be able to take home a piece of the shoulder cut, a boneless blade roast. This roast had quite the fat layer on it.

pork blade roast

Make that a delicious fat layer. Over the many hours it cooked, the fat basted the meat – and some dripped into the pan, leaving me some wonderful lard for future cooking.  Then there was the disintegration of any connective tissue during the long roasting process, making for meat that really just fell apart. It was a truly tasty transformation.

But first, I created a marinade for the meat.

pork marinade

In it was garlic, oregano, salt, ground grains of paradise, citrus juice, apple cider vinegar, and a little bit of bacon fat (for viscosity). I used grains of paradise – a species in the ginger family with a peppery flavor – because I ran out of regular black pepper.

After I created the marinade, I put it on the meat and let it sit for an hour in a glass pan, covered in plastic wrap, in the fridge, and then 30 minutes on the counter, warming up a bit.

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Swapping Russian Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

Blogger Cookie Swap 2011 CollageThis year I did something a little unusual for me – I participated in a cookie swap… The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, to be exact. This was the inaugural swap. I traded cookies with some bloggers I didn’t know – there was a little mystery to it, but I enjoyed that aspect of it. Not to mention the promise of cookies. My verdict – super fun!

I came across this cookie swap via a link on Facebook – the swap is run by Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen. So, I went to their site, filled out the form and expressed one preference – that the cookies be made with natural sweeteners. I was fortunate to be paired up with people that were open to this preference, and I got two out of three dozen cookies that worked with that preference. They both used coconut sugar, which is very cool.

The first cookies I received were from Anna. She made these absolutely delicious chocolate mint shortbread cookies in fun shapes – fluted circles and stars. They were made with coconut sugar and were decorated with a high cacao content chocolate, too. I loved how they were packaged in a pretty Christmas tin, complete with a beautiful handmade card. Chocolate and mint is one of my very favorite combinations, so this was a serious treat.

Then Kiri’s cookies arrived – cinnamon spiced butterscotch chip pecan cookies. These were made with coconut palm sugar and stevia and were very tasty. I loved them with a cup of chai tea – a perfect combination. I also have a long standing love of butterscotch chips – not the most nutrient dense of foods, but they hold special memories for them, so I smile whenever I eat something that contains them.

Finally, Suzanne’s cookies arrived – cocoa fudge cookies. While they weren’t made with natural sugars, they were made with quality ingredients and a surprise – thick greek yogurt in place of the egg. While you know I do not shy away from eggs, I loved the moistness the yogurt provided in these cookies. They were very rich and chocolaty tasting. My boyfriend loved them, too. They were perfect with a glass of raw milk.

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Turkey Chili

turkey chili

As I mentioned earlier, we chose to have our turkey this Thanksgiving in the form of turkey chili. We thought it would be a low-key way of incorporating the traditional bird into the meal, plus we are just big fans of chili. I’m happy to say that it worked out really well – delicious and virtually no stress in working with ground turkey, compared to a whole bird.

I actually made this with beef a while back, and I remember us liking it that way, too. So, if turkey isn’t your style, beef works well.

For a long time, now, I’ve been searching for a simple and tasty chili recipe, and I’m thrilled to have developed one that works well for our tastes. This isn’t a blow-your-head-off spicy chili, though you could probably add enough heat with chiles to make that happen if you’d like. It’s not a super thick chili (which has its appeal), and it’s not an overly soupy chili (a style of chili I find utterly unappealing) – for me, it’s just right.

My boyfriend loves it, and has been singing its praises on a daily basis since Thursday. I expect this will make its way into the monthly rotation, especially now that it’s getting cooler (though today it was 70 degrees in NYC!). I could also see doubling this recipe and freezing a bunch of it for quick meals after a long day.

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Thanksgiving 2011

thanksgiving dinner 2011

Thanksgiving 2011 was a modest time, but really nice. We made a (relatively) simple meal, complete with traditional and not-so-traditional dishes. Everything was delicious! Our menu was:

  • turkey chili
  • celery root and apple remoulade
  • roasted root vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, rutabagas, garlic)
  • roasted brussels sprouts
  • pumpkin pie with whipped cream (sweetened with maple syrup)

The turkey chili was made with organic, free-range turkey from our CSA  – I used a pound of ground turkey and a half pound of turkey sausage. I’ll share the recipe very soon – it was a huge hit here at home. The root vegetables all came from the CSA, too, including the celery root.

I was introduced to celery root remoulade about 8 years ago, when I tasted it at an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner. I remember not being able to get enough of it, it was so delicious! It’s basically raw celery root cut into matchsticks, and it is sauced with a mixture of sour cream, mustard, lemon, and vinegar. I think it’s wonderful and it does well with the addition of diced Empire apple.

I roast brussels sprouts in olive oil and salt. I roast the root vegetables in olive oil, thyme, and salt. Both pans cooked at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. Both dishes were delicious – I love how everything caramelizes and turns sweet and salty.

I forgot to cook the kale I had planned! D’oh. Tomorrow.

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Thanksgiving is Coming

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I like it better than Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day, Independence Day, and Halloween. For me, it’s the feel-good holiday of the year and is meaningful to both secular and religious people alike. Of course, it’s the time for gratitude and taking stock in what I’m grateful for, despite all the extreme ups and downs this past year has provided.

I also like it because it is a food-centric holiday, full of delicious dishes! Meat eaters and vegetarians alike can enjoy the food, and even vegans can have a satisfying meal. During my Berkeley years, I once participated in a “cruelty-free meal” one Thanksgiving, with a Tofurkey as the central protein. Of course, I don’t eat unfermented soy anymore, and can’t imagine eating a Tofurkey myself. These days I’d prefer to have the real deal anyway.

Over the years, roast turkey has been the main focus at big family meals. To be honest, I’ve never roasted a big bird myself; when I’m cooking the bird, I usually buy a chicken and roast that. It’s easier and it’s a more realistic amount of meat. This year, I am cooking turkey, but not by roasting it. We’ve chosen to make turkey chili! I think it will be a fun twist on the turkey as centerpiece of the meal.

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Hellgate CSA Weeks 22 and 23

csa collage week 22

It’s been a while since I posted about our CSA share, and I’ve missed that. We’re really into the fall vegetables and fruit these days – apples and pears especially, plus root vegetables. Week 22 brought us:

1 bunch of kale
1 bulb of celeriac
1 pound winter radishes
1 bunch kohlrabi (though I got two bunches – they weren’t so popular)
3 pounds carrots
1 head lettuce
2 pounds bosc pears
1 pound empire apples
1 pound mutsu apples

I made kale chips out of the kale, seasoned with rosemary herb salt made by my friends at Gardenfreude. The kohlrabi and some of the carrots went into the kimchi I fermented this past week. Loved the apples for snacking. I will make a celeriac remoulade later this week. I love, love, LOVE celeriac, especially in a remoulade. This celery root and apple salad is also delicious.

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