Older Bolder Life

Stronger | Leaner | Sharper | Longer - From Older Bolder Fitness

primal

The Older Bolder Life Vegetable Monday: Curry Dressed Carrot and Beet Salad

By

Here’s a somewhat unusual salad we’ve recently been playing around with as part of our all things curry run we’ve been enjoying the past few weeks – a Curry Dressed Carrot and Beet Salad. It’s one you can put together any time of year given the availability of the root vegetables, and would certainly fit very well on a well-rounded holiday table these next few months.

While I happen to love beets in just about any form, my lovely wife is a bit more skeptical, and she originally thought this dish might be too ‘beet-forward’; no problem – slicing the beets very thinly (mandoline ideally or by a careful hand) and salting them for a short time softens them yet keeps the beets delightfully crunchy.

We thought the real star of this salad was the curry vinaigrette; it’s ridiculously easy to put together, very well balanced (not bitter at all with the amount of curry), and delicious. We’ll be pouring this dressing over salads and other roasted vegetables all winter…

1/2 cup avocado or good olive oil
1 tbsp good fresh curry powder (see note above)

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1 tbsp good Dijon mustard

3 -4 small to medium beets, peeled, thinly sliced on mandoline
3-4 medium carrots, peeled, shaved into ribbons with a veg peeler or a spiralizer
Lemon juice to taste
Good salt to taste

Optional
1/3 to 1/2 cup toasted pistachios

Over medium heat in a small saucepan, bring the curry powder and you oil of choice to a simmer, then remove from heat and cool.

While the oil is cooling, we like to go ahead and prep the beets, place them in a medium bowl, sprinkle with generous pinch of salt and let them rest for 10-15 minutes (they soften slightly). When the time has passed, come back and prep the carrots and add to the bowl.

To make the dressing, combine the ACV, the prepped garlic, and the Dijon in your trusty blender, then stream in the curry oil (with the motor running of course) to make a smooth, thick emulsion. Taste for salt and adjust, then pour over the vegetables, tossing gently.

Season with a spritz of lemon juice, taste and adjust for lemon and salt one final time, and top with the toasted pistachios if using.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Coconut Yogurt Chicken Stew

By

After a number of particularly hot weeks during the first half of what most of the country calls the “fall season”, cooler weather, complete with fog, rain, and some blustery winds, has finally arrived in our neck of the woods.

We have a number of soups and stews that we’ve always enjoyed in our late fall – early winter rotation, though lately we’ve been leaning toward Indonesian and Indian flavors and recipes, often using coconut milk and a number of warming spices like curry, cumin, and cloves.

This Coconut Yogurt Chicken Stew is a prime example; it’s modeled after a Somali recipe recently reviewed on Bon Appetite and suggested by our friend Chef Libby down in Austin. After tinkering with it a bit, we upped the heat with more peppers, adjusted the spices to a bolder profile, and subbed in healthier sweet potato (purple sweet potatoes winning the prize here).

The original recipe called for chicken thighs, which are unquestionably delicious, but we think it’s even better with shrimp or an assortment of meaty mushrooms.

This is one of those recipes that looks complicated but really isn’t; you’ll be much more efficient if you mise en place your ingredients as you cook through. And, by the way, this recipe is probably even better after sitting for a day or two, so cook the full recipe as shown and enjoy it again a few days down the road.

And finally, a note for the keto police – yep, that’s steamed rice in the images above. Both my wife and I have increased our daily activity volumes fairly dramatically over the past several months, and have added a bit more carb occasionally – like the scoop of steamed riced in the images here.

3 medium tomatoes, cored, rough chop
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, rough chop
2-3 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, rough chop
1 large serrano pepper, stemmed, seeded, rough chop

1/2 cup EVOO or avocado oil
2 large onions, large dice
2-3 large garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
1.5 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled, finely chopped (might want more)
1 and 1/2 tbsp good, fresh curry powder (see note above)
1 and 1/2 tbsp fresh ground cumin
1 and 1/2 tsp fresh ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Kosher salt, see below

1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
2 tbsp organic tomato paste
1 large sweet potato, scrubbed, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 large carrot, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, breasts, mushrooms, or shrimp, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (14-ounces) full fat coconut milk
1 cup cilantro, rough chop, including small tender stems

To serve
Additional chopped cilantro
Cauliflower rice (or steamed rice)
Fresh spinach

To get started, mise en place at least the first 14 ingredients (down through the spice list). Now blend together the chopped tomatoes, red bell, and the two spicy peppers; we like to leave a bit of texture here; set aside.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or pot, then sauté the onion and garlic until they begin to soften, note you’re really not trying to add any color to the mixture at this point. Now quickly stir in the ginger, curry powder, turmeric, cardamom, cloves, and a generous pinch or two of salt; stir until well combined and fragrant (wow, this smells so good) for another couple of minutes.

Now stir in the tomato paste and then the yogurt; cover and simmer for 1o-12 minutes. Add the prepped sweet potato and carrot, cover again and simmer for another 16-18 minutes.

Finally stir in the coconut milk, chicken (or mushrooms or shrimp), and the roughly chopped cup of cilantro and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and sauce has reduced a bit.

We typically enjoy this one over riced cauliflower (or the occasional “real” rice) or a bed of fresh baby spinach, topped with more cilantro and a dash of the hot sauce of the week.

Enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Creamy Mushroom Sauté

By

A couple of weekends ago, a new friend who happens to be the executive chef of an up and coming restaurant group here in the DFW metro chatted me up about the simplicity of what is in reality a culinary masterpiece – fresh mushrooms sautéed until they’re crispy over fairly high heat in a carbon steel (or cast iron pan).

That conversation set me off hunting down some of the bounty of fresh mushrooms coming in this time of year, and fiddling around with several different approaches to the mushroom game.

My wife’s favorite has been simply mushrooms sautéed in avocado oil over high heat until they’ve developed a brown, crispy edge, then finished with a simple garlic-herb butter (use your imagination – and what’s on hand in terms of fresh herbs – to quickly pull one together to suit you).

One the other hand, my absolute favorite has been this Creamy Mushroom Sauté that Chef Libby in Austin sent me; she noted it was probably crafted initially to be served over pasta, and you can certainly venture down that pathway with your favorite gluten free or alternative grain pasta, though I think this one is damned tasty over cauliflower rice (I used this one for the images).

The lemon is essential, as is deglazing the pan with white wine or cognac, and using a good Parmesan really adds too.

See what fresh mushrooms you can dig up at your favorite higher end grocer and give this one a spin.

1 pound (or a little more) mixed fresh mushrooms, torn or cut into bite-size pieces
5 tbsp avocado oil or EVOO, divided
1 tbsp good salt (approximate)

2 shallots, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine (or cognac)
1 cup heavy cream
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp grass fed butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more at service
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

Heat 2 tbsp of your oil of choice in a skillet over medium-high heat; cook half the mushrooms in a single layer until the edges begin to crisp and brown – don’t move them for 3 minutes or so, then toss gently and brown all sides. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining mushrooms and 2 tbsp of oil, salting them lightly when removed from the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the final tbsp of oil to the pan, then sauté the shallots until they begin to soften. Add the minced garlic and cook another two minutes.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine or cognac, simmer to reduce by at least half. Add the cream, bring to a low boil, and simmer for a few minutes until it thickens slightly.

Now remove from the heat and immediately add the lemon juice and zest, butter, Parmesan, and plenty of pepper (to taste). Finally stir in the parsley and the crisped mushrooms and adjust for salt and pepper.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Monday: Quick Cucumber, Mint, and Onion Salad

By

Now and then we like to throw together a quick salad for dinner or lunch; mostly on those days when my task list is long and time is short, and we’re hungry for some tasty, crunchy greens with a bright, interesting dressing.

This Quick Cucumber, Mint, and Onion Salad is one that we’ve been reaching for over and over again lately as we amble through a warmer than average fall season here in North Texas. With decent knife skills this one literally requires five minutes or less of hands-on prep time, is bright and colorful, and the mint adds a nifty flavor profile that’s a little out of the ordinary.

You can use any onion you have on hand; the salad is prettier with a red onion thinly sliced in (the last time I made it my only red onion had gone off, so a sweet white onion went in the salad in the pictures). Don’t have any Persian cucumbers at your market today? English cucumbers work great as well, and are pretty much available year round.

And play around with the vinegar; the recipe calls for unseasoned rice vinegar, though we’ve made it with a champagne vinegar we happened to have on hand and it was delicious as well.

6-7 Persian cucumbers, sliced thin OR
2 English hothouse cucumbers, sliced thin
1/2 small to medium (red) onion, thinly sliced into strips
1 and 1/2 tsp good salt, more to taste
1/4 unseasoned rice vinegar, though see note above
1/2 to 1 bunch of fresh mint leaves, torn if very large
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional
1 tsp sugar of choice

Prep the cucumbers and onion, then combine gently in a mid-size bowl and toss gently with the salt. Let it rest for 20-30 minutes until the cucumbers begin to release some liquid; gently express as much liquid as you can from the cucumber and onion mixture, then transfer to a clean bowl.

Now toss the vegetables with the vinegar, pepper, and sugar if using, then the mint leaves; adjust for salt and pepper.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Sweet Potato and Chorizo Hash with Spicy Aioli

By

Last weekend our kids in Montana (Livingston and Missoula, though the Missoula-based daughter was working a gig in Australia at the time) saw the first genuine snow-storm of the season roll down from Canada.

Our son and his wife in Livingston, at least during the cooler months of fall and spring and during the heart of winter, often make a “throw everything in” hash for brunch on their carb-refeed weekend day.

It’s still much more like summer than fall here in North Texas, but I’ve broken out some of our favorite hash recipes lately too, including this new favorite Sweet Potato and Chorizo Hash with Aioli.

Our friend Chef Libby sent a Bon Appetite link for a recipe very similar to this one recently, along with a list of the modifications she’s made to align the recipe more to the Texas-biased catering clientele she serves down in Austin. Libby has an amazing palate, and is immersed in the eclectic, Tex-Mex fusion food world that’s been simmering in Austin for some time now.

Using the drained chorizo (or sausage) drippings to flavor up a quick aioli is sheer genius; she favors the immersion blender method for making up a quick aioli (as do we); she most often blends in some chopped cilantro (perhaps some lime juice as well) when making a big batch, and said this dish, topped with a poached egg or two, with an interesting yet simple salad on the side is one of the most popular requests in her entire fall menu lineup.

2 pounds sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch slices
Kosher salt

1/4 C + 1/2 C avocado oil (olive oil works well here, see note above)
1 pound fresh ground chorizo (or spicy Italian sausage)
1 medium onion (your choice, I like red here)
1 pepper of your choice (poblano, red bell, several jalapeños, etc), diced
1-3 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp cumin

For the aioli
1 large egg yolk
1 garlic clove, finely grated
2 tsp fresh lemon juice (ACV in a pinch)
Reserved chorizo oil mixture
Salt to taste
Optional: 1-3 tbsp chopped cilantro

To serve
3-4 green onions, sliced on a steep diagonal
More ancho chile powder to sprinkle
Your favorite table salsa or hot sauce
Consider topping with a poached egg or two as well

Prep and slice the sweet potatoes, then parboil for 10-12 minutes until relatively easily pierced with a fork, drain, set aside to cool. When cool, cut the slices in half or quarters pending size.

While the sweet potatoes are cooling, heat 1/4 cup of avocado oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat; now sauté the onion and pepper of choice for 3-4 minutes until they being to soften. Add the chorizo (or sausage), the ancho chile powder, and the cumin, then cook until browned and cooked through.

Now, for an unusual step – remove the skillet contents to a metal fine-mesh sieve set over a measuring cup; drain the chorizo thoroughly. You’re looking to harvest roughly a 1/4 cup of chorizo oil; when that much has collected, add another 1/2 cup to make 3/4 cup total.

Now it’s time to make the chorizo (or sausage) aioli. I’ll always use this technique to make aioli (or mayo); you can also do this by hand drizzling in the oil slowly. Otherwise, throw all the aioli ingredients into a tall, narrow container (yep, including the oil), and use your trusty immersion blender to stir up a smooth, beautiful chorizo aioli in seconds.

Now reheat the original skillet you used previously (add a tsp or two more oil if needed) and toss the chopped sweet potato pieces in, cooking with an occasional shake and turn until they’re beginning to crisp and brown.

Remove from the heat, quickly stir in the chorizo mixture and roughly half the aioli; mix well. Plate, top with the chopped green onions and what ever else you wish, drizzle with the remaining aioli and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Monday: Grilled Sweet Onion Salsa

By

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.

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

By

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 Life Salad Wednesday: Radish, Tomato, and Cucumber Cottage Cheese Salad

By

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.