Older Bolder Life

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Recipe: Proteins

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 5 April: Thai-Inspired Pork Burgers

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I’ve been working with a couple of clients this past week on incorporating more flavor into their weekly menu rotation; there’s a host of good reasons to do so, including keeping things interesting enough to stay engaged with a healthier eating plan, but my principle argument is the food we eat should always taste great.

I’m particularly interested in home-cooked food that’s reasonably simple to prepare; most people don’t have half a day (or more) to work on preparing elaborate, Instagram worthy meals every day.

Here’s a recipe – Thai-Inspired Pork Burgers – that we’ve welcomed back into our rotation now that Spring has sprung (at least in our neighborhood); I shared this one with the clients mentioned above as an example of a meal prep that’s brings a load of flavor to the table, is a simple and quick, and frankly very economical to boot.

Three quick notes: one, for the lemongrass, if using fresh lemongrass stalks, you’ll need 2 or 3 prepped via the usual technique. A very viable and much quicker option is to use 2-3 tbsp of lemongrass puree (usually available refrigerated in the produce section). I know it’s a cheat, but a great option for the busy home cook. Two, I’ve been cooking these using a two-hour sous vide bath (130-134) followed by a quick sear finish producing incredibly moist burgers with a great crust, though they’re of course equally tasty grilled or sautéed on the stove.

And third, my chef friend in Austin (hey Chef Libby!) recently reminded me that classic Thai cooking often calls for sugar or another sweetener in recipes; given the natural sweetness of pork, she and I think this recipe is wonderful without any additional sweetener, but it’s listed below as an option.

And finally, stir together your favorite dipping sauce for these, though my personal favorite is avocado oil mayo with a big dollop of sriracha.

2 lb ground pork
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, greens only (roughly 8 onions)
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
Lemongrass, see note above
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 and 1/2 tsp good salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Optional
1-2 tsp sugar of choice
1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

15-18 large lettuce leaves
1/2 cup or more of chopped cilantro, Thai basil, or mint in a pinch
Dipping sauce of choice

Prep the green onions, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass, then mix into the ground pork either using a stand mixer or your hands, adding the fish sauce, salt, and pepper as it comes together (along with the optional sugar and pepper flakes). Don’t over-mix.

Gently form into patties (we do 6 patties of 5-6 ounces) and chill for 30-60 minutes until they firm up.

These can be grilled over fire, sautéed in your favorite cast iron, or (our favorite for their texture and finish) cooked using sous vide (2 hours at 130-134 degrees) with a quick sear finish.

Wrap in two or three lettuce leaves and serve with the dipping sauce of your choice, though they’re great with avocado oil mayo and sriracha too.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Coconut Braised Chuck Roast with Gremolata

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Several months ago I posted this wonderful Thai-Inspired, Coconut Braised Short Rib recipe (with gremolata!); we’ve enjoyed it several times since, and swear it tastes better every time around.

That recipe was one that a friend down in Austin (Chef Libby) had adapted from Bon Appetit, upping the spices quite a bit, and adding some Texas-inspired spice via jalapenos to gremolata.

I thought all along this recipe would be readily adaptable to other braising meats, and recently did a few runs with nice, grass-fed chuck roasts. While we love a great short rib prep around our camp, my wife and I both agreed this chuck roast version is probably even better. The aromas of this roast will drive everyone in the house crazy as it’s slowing cooking down in the oven – the coconut, lemongrass, and ginger are delightful.

And a tip from Libby via the short rib version –

Libby also had shared a tip last year about using lemongrass; if you’re not feeling up to actually prepping lemongrass stalks, you can certainly using some of the pre-prepared lemongrass purees that are available in produce sections around the country. (We’re big lemongrass fans, so I actually used both…)

This isn’t a quick cook, but worth the investment of time, and the prep is uber-simple. A great weekend project, and I’d cook two to enjoy all week…

4-5 lb grass fed chuck roast
Good salt

3 lemongrass stalks (see note above)
2 medium shallots, trimmed and chopped
5 large garlic cloves
3 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, chopped
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled, finely chopped
1 tbsp + 1 tsp good curry powder
1 can (14-ounces) full fat, unsweetened coconut milk or cream
Optional: 1 tbsp fish sauce

For the gremolata
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
1 jalapeno or fresno chile, stemmed, seeded, sliced into half rings
2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lime juice (one average lime)
Salt to taste

Preheat your trusty oven to 250.

Trim the uppermost three quarters of the lemongrass stalks off and lay in the bottom on your dutch oven or large cast iron skillet (if using the prepared lemongrass puree, skip this step of course). Salt the chuck roast generously and lay atop the lemongrass.

Blend together the coconut milk, shallots, garlic, jalapenos, ginger, curry, the lemongrass (at least 1 tbsp of the puree if using, grate the bottom quarters of the stalks in otherwise), and the optional fish sauce, puree until smooth. Pour over the chuck roast, and slide into the oven.

Roast at 250 for 3.5 hours; you’re looking for the meat to begin to tenderize, and the liquids to reduce by roughly half. (It will look broken and oily, don’t worry about that). At 2 hours, turn the roast and throw it back into the oven for another 2 hours (maybe even three) until the meat is fall apart tender.

During the last hour, toast the coconut until golden (10-15 minutes), set aside to cool. When cool, combine with the cilantro and sliced pepper; add the fresh lime juice and salt just before serving.

When the roast is done, slice to your tastes and serve hot with the gremolata spooned over the top.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Southern Sausage and Cheese Balls

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Growing up in the South, just about every holiday spent with extended family, or party with friends, included at least plate or platter of some version of these classic sausage cheese balls.

One of my grandmother’s (the scratch baker grandmother) recipe was something along the lines of classic Southern chef Vivian Howard’s; my other grandmother used the (gasp, cough, wheeze) Bisquick-based recipe still floating around out there today.

It didn’t matter, as kids we still stuffed our pockets with these little bite-sized delights and fought over the last two on the plate.

After moving to a primal | paleo food plan years ago, to be honest I’d never even thought about a gluten free, primally-oriented version of these until a friend recently asked me if I’d ever run across one as she was planning a party menu.

There are several good ones floating around, and this one isn’t all that different from many you’ll see, save for kicking the spices up quite a bit, and adding additional flavor with alliums and peppers. I’ve added a shallot (or green onions), finely diced, to sauté with the sausage, my grandmother’s dry mustard, cayenne, and red pepper flakes (or minced serranos), and even use Monterrey jack cheese occasionally to mix things up. (In the pic above, we used cheddar on the left and MJ on the right.)

Upping the coconut flour to 1/2 cup (a generous 1/2 cup) makes these a little more bready, though my wife prefers ‘em with less coconut flour. Another tip – portioning out with a cookie scoop (I used a No. 60, about a tbsp; made 7 rows of 5 balls, which just fit on a standard 1/2-sheet) make the prep easier and faster.

These are great for a quick snack and my lovely wife has been grabbing handful for a work lunch on the run.

1 pound spicy ground sausage
1 medium shallot, diced fine OR
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced

4 eggs
4 and 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp sour cream or softened cream cheese
1/3 to 1/2 cup coconut flour (generous measure, see note above)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp good salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne

2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese

Optional
Toasted red pepper flakes
1-2 minced serrano or jalapeno peppers

Sauté the sausage for several minutes, breaking it up into small pieces. As it’s beginning to brown, throw in the shallot or green onions. Brown the sausage well, and drain in a paper towel-lined bowl.

While the sausage is browning, melt the butter and set aside. Grate the cheese and line a baking sheet with parchment. Preheat the oven to 375.

Now combine the eggs, butter, sour cream/cream cheese, mustard, garlic powder, salt, baking powder, cayenne, and red pepper flakes or minced peppers; whisk to combine well. Now whisk in the coconut flour until well combined.

Stir in the sausage-onion mixture and the cheese until evenly distributed, then form into balls roughly 1-inch in diameter (I used a cookie scoop) and place on the lined baking sheet. Place fairly closely on the sheet in 7 rows of 5 and it’ll just fit a standard 1/2-sheet.

Bake for 16-18 minutes until slightly browned; cool and store in the fridge (should be good for a week or so, though they won’t last that long).

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Southwestern Hot Chicken Salad

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This Southwestern Hot Chicken Salad (great with turkey too) is based on one one that’s been part of our family food lexicon for years now; this version amps up the spice and flavor a bit with the addition of Mediterraneo Dulce and poblano peppers and (usually) 4 to 8 ounces of roasted, diced green chiles too. Packed with lots of crunchy vegetable goodness, we stir this one up now without digging the recipe out, typically throwing in whatever we have on hand.

The original recipe we were given for this dish was topped with cheese (by all means don’t add it if you’re not doing dairy – we’re happy and healthy Primal enthusiasts, so include it) and then crushed potato chips. As we’ve revamped all of the family favorite recipes to be healthier over the years, topping this dish with sliced almonds is far better than the potato-chip crowned version.

This is comfort food supreme, and not at all a complicated dish to stir together and slide into the oven on short notice. It reheats very well by the way, we never finish an entire recipe ourselves, and find it reheats best in the oven (350, 25-30 minutes) versus the microwave.

3 cups (+) cooked chicken, white and dark meat, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium Mediterraneo Dulce peppers, stemmed, seeded chopped
2 medium poblano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 medium bunch celery including leaves, trimmed, sliced on the diagonal
1 small sweet onion or 2 shallots, trimmed and chopped small
1/2 cup diced pimento
1/2 cup sliced green olives (or more)
1 cup avocado or olive oil mayo
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cups medium Cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
1 cup sliced almonds (or more)
1-2 tbsp. paprika

Optional
Sliced water chestnuts
1 cup frozen peas
4-8 ounce can roasted, diced green chiles

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut up the chicken and place in a large bowl. Add chopped peppers, celery, onion (or shallots), diced pimento, green olives, and if using – the water chestnuts, frozen peas, and green chiles. Now stir in the lemon juice and mayo, then season to taste with good salt and pepper.

Spoon into a 13 x 9 baking dish, sprinkle with the grated cheese then the sliced almonds. Top it all off with a healthy shake of a good paprika.

Now into the oven for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is gooey and melted, the almonds are toasty, and it’s bubbling around the edges.

Serve hot with a generous splash of your favorite hot sauce; reheat on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet for 20-25 minutes if there’s any left over.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Friday Feast 1 March: Coconut Curry Braised Chicken Legs

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With much of the country is still hip deep in winter today, let’s talk about a warm, rich, tasty, and easy dinner to get on the table tonight – Coconut Curry Braised Chicken Legs.

Braised foods score big points on so many fronts. Braising allows one to take a humble cut of meat, one packed with tooth and connective tissue, and with the magical application of gentle heat, time, and liquid to convey both heat and flavor, turn that protein into a tender, moist, deeply flavored delight.

Probably my most remembered home dish from childhood was a beer-braised brisket; we have several great brisket recipes, but that’s the one we keep going back to. And how about those Thai-inspired Slow Roasted Short Ribs from a few weeks back? By the way, I just did a chuck roast using that recipe, and it was astoundingly good (post in the queue already).

My professional photographer daughter has been braising chicken legs in coconut milk and curry for years, and we’ve lately been using this amped up Coconut Curry Braised Chicken Leg recipe as later winter battles early spring here in North Texas.

We like spicy, full-flavored food, of course you can ramp up or tone down the spices in this recipe, but remember the chicken legs are a mildly-flavored blank slate here. This recipe yields big results for about 10 minutes prep time before it slides into the oven…

1 can full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
2-4 tbsp prepared Thai curry paste
1-3 lemongrass stalks, outer layer peeled, crushed (see note above)
2-3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled, coarsely grated
4-6 garlic cloves, crushed
4 chicken legs (thigh+drumstick)
Good salt to taste

Optional
1-2 chopped serrano or jalapeno peppers
1-2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar

To serve
Chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
Lime wedges and/or zest
Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes
Cauliflower rice

Prep the chicken, lightly season with salt and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400.

Stir the coconut milk, curry paste, and grated ginger together in a baking dish large enough to hold the 4 chicken legs. Add the lemongrass and garlic, then add the chicken legs and spoon the mixture over.

Bake for 60-75 minutes (depends on the size of the legs), basting with the cooking liquid/sauce every 15 minutes until the chicken is browned and cooked through (the joint will move fairly easily).

Plate, spoon some sauce over, and top with the cilantro, zest, and coconut flakes.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 22 February: Chicken Etouffee

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I’m not Cajun, though at times I wish I was. Cajun and Creole cooking, anchored in Louisiana, has long held a fascination for me ever since I was a kid, eating fresh seafood with my grandparents at their beach house on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Grandmother Mama (pronounced maw maw) wasn’t Cajun either, but she loved gumbo, etouffee, and fricassees, and still made the best I’ve ever tasted.

Though it’s clearly wide open for debate, and the pedantic foodies among us may certainly argue their position below, MaMa made her etouffee’s with a lighter, blonde roux, before smothering the shrimp, fish, or chicken to cook over time. Given her results loving produced over an ancient gas stove at “the Camp”, we’ve always been on the “etouffee has a roux base” side.

One other thought about cajun cooking and roux – we’re now in our fourth year of eating Primal/Paleo around our house, and for that entire time, I’ve struggled making a great roux with gluten free flour replacements. I know it can be done, and I’ve tried five or six options over the years, but especially when making a darker roux, the flavor just doesn’t come together for us unless using the otherwise verboten standard AP flour (which I frankly never use otherwise). (This is, at this particular point in time, our only deviation using one of the standard grain-based products we normally eschew. Life goes on, and so do our health gains; you make the call for your recipe. )

Finally, this is a simple recipe in practice, and can be spiced up a bit with extra seasoning or hot sauce, and when it’s really chilly out, my wife prefers it with a grass-fed beef or chicken andouille sausage throw in too. And it might even be better the next day…

2 tablespoons avocado oil or EVOO
2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 tbsp your favorite cajun seasoning OR
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour or gluten free flour replacement
1 large onion, medium dice
1 large green bell pepper, medium dice
1 large red bell pepper, medium dice
4 stalks celery, sliced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles
2-3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Louisiana hot sauce, your favorite to taste

Optional
Andouille sausage
1 bottle beer of choice
1-2 tbsp additional Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon molasses or maple syrup
Fresh parsley, minced or chiffonade when served
Thinly sliced green onions when served

Heat your oil of choice in your trusty Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the seasoned thighs for 3-4 minutes per side, remove to a plate when done.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, melt the butter, then stir in the flour/flour replacement and cook, stirring frequently, until a blonde roux forms. Be sure to scrape up the browned crusted bits and seasonings from the bottom of the DO.

Now stir in the onion, bell peppers, and celery, and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in the garlic and sausage (if using), cook for another two minutes.

Now stir in the beer, then the tomatoes, chicken stock, Worcestershire, bay leaves, hot sauce, and if using them, the additional Cajun seasoning and molasses or maple syrup. Now nestle the chicken thighs in, bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then simmer for an hour or so. Keep an eye on the liquid level and add a bit more stock if needed.

Finally, pull the chicken thighs, shred the meat, and return the meat to the pot. Adjust the seasonings to taste, and serve hot with the parsley and sliced green onions.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 25 January: Birthday Pot Stickers (Gyoza)

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We’re serving up something a little different for today’s Friday Feast – two links out for Pot Stickers (Gyoza) – and sharing a short story about one of our family’s birthday traditions.

Nearly thirty years ago, as I was finishing up my postdoc medical training, my lovely wife and I interviewed with a team in Albuquerque with our then newborn daughter in tow. The practice opportunity wasn’t a good fit, though we fell in love with the very unique tricultural amalgam that is Albuquerque.

Ironically from a food perspective, one evening our hosts took us to an astoundingly good Japanese restaurant (the name of which for the life of me I can’t recall), where we dined on the uber-specialty of the house – a collection of all the house specialties served on an imposing model ship (6 or 7 feel in length) carried into our dining area by four of the staff.

The ship was endowed with dozens and dozens little nooks and crannies filled with food treasures of all shapes and sizes, including a fascinating and tasty array of gyoza (potstickers). Immediately upon our return to SLC we began a quest to reproduce our favorite pot stickers using a recipe that was tasty, reliable, and efficiently reproducible (as best can be for pot stickers).

It took a few years, and lots of trial, error, and tasting trials, though we finally (in our pre-Primal/Paleo days) settled on this recipe (note the posting date in 2012), which at the insistence of the entire family became our go to birthday meal for most of the past two decades.

Over the past few years as our nutrition plan has become Primally-aligned, we’ve taken to forming the filling mixture (swapping the soy sauce out for tamari and dropping the corn starch) into oblong patties and sautéing, grilling, or roasting them, and wrapping in lettuce leaves (with a great dipping sauce or two of course), which in all honesty, we now find more tasty than the original.

For those who can’t imagine life without a pan-fried or steamed pot sticker or gyoza in a crispy wrapping, try this one (Paleo Potstickers from Nom Nom Paleo). They’re beautiful, though the dough from scratch endeavor is an impressive undertaking – I agree the tortilla press is an absolute game changer here. And I have to admit, Michelle’s wrap dough recipe is the best gluten free alternative we come across.

So today, in honor of our now young adult offspring’s birthday today – yep, they were born on the same day – it’s pot sticker day!

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 18 January 2019: Older Bolder Chorizo No. 1

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I know it might be considered to be out of fashion in some food circles, but we’ve been playing around with Southwestern and Tex-Mex inspired meatza preps lately.

We’ve dialed in our meatza / pizza sauce recipe (on the schedule to share in the next few weeks), and have been using both bulk pork sausage and seasoned ground beef as our meatza base. Last week I cobbled together a very good Tex-Mex meatza using this homemade Older Bolder Chorizo No. 1; it was amazing.

Having spent many a year growing up (and schooling) here in the Lone Star state, we’ve been fans of good chorizo around our camp for some time, having fiddled with chorizo recipes off and on now for well over a decade.

Sourcing good chorizo can be a challenge in that many if not most of the commercially prepared and marketed versions (of bulk chorizo, not the cured Spanish version) are incredibly greasy and contain parts of critters that you’d never ponder eating if you really knew they had been tossed in the grinder.

Speaking of grinder, hopefully you’re fresh grinding pasture-raised pork for your sausage at home; your homemade sausage game will never be the same with a grinder within easy reach.

And like most comfort foods prepared with care and attention, using the freshest ingredients, this version of chorizo is very likely nothing like you’ve tasted before and much more akin to the artisanal sausages (think Bruce Adell’s) you’ve thrown on the grill.  Even better, this one is child’s play simple, and you can tinker with spices to make you and your clan happy.

Finally, we’ve taken to adding in just a few whole cumin seeds too; they add some interesting texture much like fennel seeds in good handmade Italian sausage.

Best made a day in advance to fully develop the flavors, you can cook this crumbled, in patties, and even stuffed into casings for the grill. And oh yea, it’s a masterpiece meatza base…

2 lb fresh ground pork or turkey (mix of white and dark meat)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and small stems, chopped
2 serrano chile peppers, seeded and finely diced
1-2 tbsp red chile powder
1 tbsp sweet paprika (though smoked would work great here too)
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle chile powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
Scant 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

This is another one of those recipes that couldn’t be easier.

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl (using your hands if you’re of the mind to) until well combined. I like to let it rest in the fridge overnight before use, and I’d suggest taking a tablespoon or two of the mixture, cooking it, and adjusting spices to your taste.

Use and store as you would any fresh sausage.

Enjoy.