Older Bolder Mark

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Monday: Grilled Sweet Onion Salsa

September 30, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

We’re always on the lookout for fresh, interesting, and what some might call unusual salsas; they can dress up any meal and bring multiple layers of flavor to the table.

I’ve been playing around with a few very nice flavored vinegars lately and a friend happened to mention a recipe similar to this Grilled Sweet Onion Salsa served by one of his favorite steak houses back in Georgia.

Being from Georgia, they of course use Vidalia onions, but any sweet onion works here. I happened to find a very nice citrus infused champagne vinegar at my favorite grocery store a few weeks back (incredible in a new vinaigrette we’re working on) that ended up playing very very well here with the sweet onions, thyme, and coriander flavors.

And by the way, this is out of this world with fresh thyme, but dried thyme works in a pinch. You’ll note in the images above I used dried when making this batch (my fresh thyme had gone into another braise recipe the day before, dammit).

2 sweet onions (see this), sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices
4 tbsp avocado or good olive oil
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup champagne vinegar
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves (1 tbsp dried, see note)

Optional
1-2 tsp honey or maple syrup
1 roasted serrano pepper, stemmed, seeded, peeled, then minced

Slice your onion of choice, lay the slices out on a sheet pan and brush with oil, then coat generously with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Fire the grill or using a grill pan, grill the onions for a minute or two on each side, enough to begin to char a bit, but not cooking all the way through. Grill the pepper at the same time if using. Return to your sheet pan, sprinkle with the fresh thyme leaves and cool.

While the onions are cooling, combine the vinegar, water, fresh ground pepper, coriander, and sweetener if using in a small sauce pan; bring to a quick boil, simmer for 60-90 seconds, then set aside to cool in a medium bowl.

When the onions have cooled, rough chop into medium or small dice, then toss in the vinegar mixture (the pepper too if you’re using). Adjust for salt and go to it.

Cheers.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Recipes and More 28 September 2019

September 28, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

Top of the fold / the read of the week: Digging deeper on ketogenic diets and skeletal muscle hypertrophy.

Speaking of muscle mass, metformin blunts muscle hypertrophy in response to training?

Very well done look at hyperinsulinemia and related metabolic consequences.

Another brutal takedown of the documentary Game Changers.

A lay look at the “secrets of long-lived Greeks”.

An oft-overlooked ab workout that’s often incredibly helpful in back pain – the Dead Bug.

How’s that working out for you, Cam? Vegan diets in the NFL…

Bootleg vapes tainted with hydrogen cyanide. More biting analysis from Karl Denninger.

Video: A nutritional ketosis guru takes on the relationship between gout and metabolic syndrome.

Food, Glorious Food

A nifty foodie perspective: In Praise of Bones and Fat.

Tuck this one away for future reference: Extremists lawmakers are floating the idea of making the consumption of meat a criminal act.

Instant-Pot Korean Beer Braised Brisket
Radish, Tomato, and Cucumber Cottage Cheese Salad
Simple Cilantro Chutney

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Instant-Pot Korean Beer Braised Brisket

September 27, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

Those that follow my recipes here on the Older Bolder Life consistently have seen that we’ve been leaning often of late to some of the flavors of classic Korean cuisine.

My wife and I have truly been enjoying the spicy tang of gochujang in particular lately, and Korean dried chile flakes – gochugaru – are nothing like what most of us in the States have grown up using for dried chile flakes.

One other confession might be appropriate here; we’ve been very slow to come around to the Instant-Pot craze. The primary advantage of the Instant-Pot is time; that time savings is accomplished by pressure cooking foods more or less like your mom and grandmother did. Granted the Instant-Pot is packaged up nicely with a lot of electronic bells and whistles; I’d just never purchased one as I preferred to braise and slow cook using classic, if also time-intensive, methods.

Back a few weeks ago my elderly mother gave us an Instant-Pot she’d purchased on the advice of another family member; it was one of the larger units and was in fact too heavy at 18 pounds for her to even pick up.

After combing around for a tasty recipe to run a test cook or two with, I came across something fairly close to this Instant-Pot Korean Beer Braised Brisket, which is amazingly close to my favorite braised brisket recipe from childhood with the added boost of gochujang, gochugaru, and a host of Korean-inspired spices.

After cooking through this one several times, I’m not a huge fan of sautéing in the Instant-Pot; at least by my hand it was difficult to get a truly good sear on the brisket before the longer cook – I’ll still sear on the stove in a hot skillet.

That said, when cooked and chilled overnight and reheated the next day, this brisket slices like a dream, is packed with amazing Korean-inspired flavors, and is stunningly good doused in the pan juices (reduce the sauce down by about half) with a flavorful cauliflower rice dish alongside.

And I have to admit, with just a 90-minute cook under pressure, and a prep and set up that is easy peasy, this recipe is a keeper.

4 to 5 pound beef brisket, cut into 4 or 5 pieces
1 1/2 tbsp dried red chile flakes, gochugaru is best
1 1/2 tbsp good sweet paprika
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

2-3 tbsp avocado, olive, or coconut oil
1 large onion, small dice
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/3 cup gochujang (Sriracha in a pinch)
2 tbsp ketchup (use this one)
2 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
2 tsp good fish sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 cup lager style beer

Optional
1-2 tbsp honey or dark brown sugar

Cut the brisket to size and rub with the Chile flakes, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours (shoot for 12 hours plus).

Either using a large skillet or the Instant-Pot sauté function, heat a tbsp of oil over medium heat and brown the brisket pieces on all sides (add more oil as needed); then set meat aside. Add another tbsp of oil, then sauté the onion until beginning to soften and caramelize around the edges, then add the garlic and ginger and sauté for another 90 seconds.

Now stir in the gochujang, ketchup, tamari or aminos, fish sauce, sesame oil, and beer (and return to the Instant-Pot if using a skillet). Add the beef, seal, and cook on high for 90 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes, then release remaining pressure manually.

Transfer the brisket to a platter and cover; now simmer the sauce for 15 to 20 minutes until reduced by at least half. Skim the fat and serve alongside the tasty brisket (sliced or pulled).

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Bookshelf: A Classic Pair of Santa Fe Cookbooks

September 26, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

We love to cook around our camp, more specifically we love to cook tasty, interesting, flavorful, and healthy foods.

Two of the most-used cookbooks we’ve collected over the years have been these two from author Joan Stromquist, who collected recipes from the talented chefs in and around Santa Fe and collated them into these two simple, paperback cookbooks. They were published in the early 1990’s, and you’ll not find new copies out there, but if you’re a fan of southwestern and in particular the very unique flavors of New Mexico, you’ll find these fascinating and indispensable.

Of course you’ll need to do a bit of tweaking for many if not most of the recipes to bring them into alignment with ancestral food and nutrition principles, though that’s typically a piece of cake to accomplish. Both are worth it simply for the soup and salsa recipes alone…

Prowl through your favorite used-book purveyor to find these, there are still a number of copies floating around out there in good shape.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Wednesday: Radish, Tomato, and Cucumber Cottage Cheese Salad

September 25, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

Despite astrological fall having arrived early the morning of the 23rd, it’s been hot as blazes around our neighborhood for yet another week. It’s been in the mid to high 70s at sunrise during my first workout at the park and pushing the high 90s (or hotter, dammit) every afternoon.

The roasting temperatures have us still reaching almost every day for our favorite salad recipes, and at the risk of engendering a few snickers and scoffs, I’ve even been pulling this Radish, Tomato, and Cucumber Cottage Cheese Salad out of the files lately, given how good the late summer tomatoes and pickling cucumbers are especially. (Snicker away, but good cottage cheese with a grind of fresh pepper, a healthy pinch of good salt, and a splash of a very good olive oil is mighty fine snack any time…).

This is one you can have on the table in about 30 minutes, and that includes some resting time for the sliced vegetables, and we’ve really come to appreciate the burst of acidity and the layers of flavor the vinegar brings mixed into the cottage cheese with the radishes and into the very simple vinaigrette dressing for the vegetable topping or “salad”.

Have some small-ish zucchini or yellow squash you want to throw in? By all means do it. Sub in any vinegar you wish, and my lovely wife even likes this with a handful of chopped green salad olives and julienned salami mixed in as well.

1 pound mixed small tomatoes, halved or quartered
3-4 small Kirby cucumbers, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds
4-5 green or spring onions, trimmed, whites and green separated, sliced thinly
1 and 1/2 + 1 tsp good kosher salt
1 medium bunch radishes (any kind), halved, thinly sliced or julienned

16-ounce container of full fat cottage cheese (at least 4% milk fat)
3-4 tbsp white wine, champagne, or rice vinegar, divided
2-3 tbsp good EVOO or avocado oil

Optional
2-4 tbsp chopped salad olives (or olive of choice)
1-2 ounces of thinly sliced salami

Combine the prepped tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, and sliced onion whites in a small bowl; sprinkle with 1 and 1/2 tsp of the salt, a few grinds of fresh pepper, and throw in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.

Prep the radishes, then stir into the cottage cheese along with 1-2 tbsp of the vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill if not using immediately.

When ready to serve, drain any accumulated liquid from the salted vegetable mixture, and stir in 2 tbsp of oil and 2 additional tbsp of your vinegar of choice. Stir in the olives and chopped salami if using.

Spread the cottage cheese over a large platter or individual servings over plates, then spoon the vegetable mixture over in a thin layer, drizzle with more really good EVOO if you wish, and garnish with the sliced onion greens.

Enjoy.

So When Is It Too Late for Something New?

September 24, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

This past week I’ve had the same discussion with several family members and friends prompted by a little adventure I’ve been involved with for almost a month now.

That discussion has focused on a simple question – when is it too late in life to invest a meaningful allotment of time and effort to learn something new?

The Quick Backstory with a Cajun Twist

I’ve made it no secret here on the Older Bolder Life that I love to create and cook good food; our entire family appreciates good food, possesses above average skills in the kitchen, and enjoy tastes that range pretty far off the beaten path of the typical American palate.

At various times during my medical career, most often at the urging of friends or family, we came close to venturing down the rabbit hole of opening a food pop-up or even a restaurant, though never really dug into the details.

My son and I even ran a catering operation out of our home at one point, at the same time we ran a large equestrian event center and boarding/training facility, cooking for large groups and serving good (most often simple) food in a ranch or even a rodeo type setting. (Our daughter-in-law is particularly supportive of the two of us teaming up for a food related venture at some point in the future.)

Several months ago I got wind of a new eatery opening in our little town north of the DFW metro; it’s being chartered by one of if not the most creative and innovative restaurant group in the region (which is actually saying something these days), and they’ve found a gifted, formally trained, Louisiana-born and raised chef to lead the team.

So About that Learn Something New Angle…

Taking the opportunity to nose around the new project a bit, I decided to take a bit of a gamble and join the growing team in the kitchen, to work all phases of the kitchen, and even taking a deep immersion on front end management as well. Timing was perfect as I’m more or less between a couple of bigger projects in my other work, and the restaurant is quite literally a a few blocks from our home out here in the sticks.

It can be a bit unsettling to step into a new world where everything is new and different than what you’re used to, but that adventure can also be incredibly stimulating and inspiring.

I’m a bit of an oddity of course given my background and work history, though I have to admit I’ve had more fun over the past month that I’ve had in a long time. There’s an amazing amount of new information to learn, and there have been more ‘aha moments’ that I can recount after peeking behind the curtain at larger scale food preparation and management.

When Is It Too Late in Life to Learn Something New?

I’ll forever fall into the “it’s never too late camp” to learn new things; new learning is good for the human brain and psyche on a number of levels, as is rubbing shoulders with new people soon to be friends along the way. The restaurant labor pool tends (of course) to skew younger; I’ve been amazed at how curious and welcoming they’ve been to someone with a few more ‘rings on the tree’.

We’ll talk a little more about this adventure in two to three months…

The Older Bolder Life Sauce Monday: Simple Cilantro Chutney

September 23, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

This past week I was chatting up a new chef friend about the melting pot of different cuisines we’re seeing these days in some of the larger Texas metroplexes.

Here in the DFW area, long a classic steak, barbecue, and Tex-Mex bastion, there’s been an explosion of eateries featuring a host of different cuisines – Indian, Pakistani, Thai, Korean, African, Cuban, Laotian, Argentine, Vietnamese, African to name a few – the list could go on and on.

My new friend happens to be a native American citizen, born to Indian physician parents who immigrated to Dallas (Plano) nearly 40 years ago; she insists she was groomed from an early age to go into medicine, but fell in love with food and cooking early on and never looked back.

It’s a long story as to how we started talking about different sauces; I think we were actually talking about spicy green table sauces, like the jalapeño-based hot sauces from Mexico and the Caribbean, chimichurri and aji sauces from South America, and eventually this Simple Cilantro Chutney her mother used to make routinely at home.

I get it that folks are either fans of cilantro or they despise it; we’re in the cilantro is awesome camp, and have used this quick and easy recipe a couple of times already this week. This rule of thumb recipe can work for just about any green herb you want to throw in the blender (parsley and basil are on my list this next week) if you’re not big on cilantro.

The formula is an easy one – a big handful of herb, one or two serranos for heat, a burst of fresh lime juice for acidity (vinegars would play as well), and a bit of salt for balance. My new friend insists her mother always added a pinch of sugar to preserve the bright green colors (not sure about the chemistry but it does seem to help, as of course does the acid).

What’s fun about this one is throwing in what ever else suits you at the moment, like the cashews or pepitas, a bit of ginger, and more spice. Play with this one a few times and dial it in the way your family likes it…

1 medium to large bunch of cilantro, largest woody stems trimmed
1-2 serranos or other green chiles
Juice of one large lime, more if needed
1-2 tsp good salt (to taste)

Optional
Pinch of brown sugar
2-3 tbsp of roasted cashews, peanuts, pepitas
2-3 tbsp toasted coconut flakes
Ginger to taste
Toasted spices: mustard seeds, coriander, cumin, fennel, etc

Add the herbs, peppers, lime juice, salt, and optional ingredients to your trusty blender and go to it; the sauce is more interesting if you leave a bit of texture, though you can certainly puree it until very smooth as well. Add a little more lime juice if you need to thin it, adjust for salt, go to it.

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Recipes, and More 21 September 2019

September 21, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

The panacea of human aging: impacts of calorie restriction and exercise – a very interesting perspective with some profound implications that should be easily attainable for the masses.

An MCT-based (20 g of MCTs) ketogenic “formula” improved cognition in a small group of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s memory loss improved with TEMT – transcranial electromagnetic treatment.

Commentary on the importance of birth year for the incidence of dementia.

In Britain, people over 55 are far happier than those under 35.

Sure seems to be a flurry of commentary defending statins of late – here’s one noting that despite statin-related myalgia, statin users didn’t have significant impacts in aerobic capacity or maximal fat oxidation. I will still venture the myalgia impacted group was less active overall due to their pain levels…

A peek behind the medical policy and funding curtain: nearly 2/3’s of the costs of managing cervical radiculopathy prior to surgery are related to diagnostic testing. Impressive, and a perfect example of how pricing/costs of medical intervention in America simply isn’t sustainable…

A layman’s look at why more men under 40 are having MIs.

A stunning contrast in American death rates, even if there’s some educated guesswork involved.

If you’re overweight, it’s more likely your dog will be too.

There’s been a bit of a flurry over discovery of this Hungarian hominid pelvis – here’s an example from American news.