Older Bolder Life

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The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Cumin Coriander Tri-Tip Steak

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Several weeks ago I posted a nifty recipe for our spin on a Santa Maria Tri-Tip, and wrote a bit about what makes the tri-tip cut so interesting…

Recently we’ve been playing around with tri-tip, a somewhat unique cut of meat that is kinda’ve of a cross between a largish steak and a smallish roast; my butcher buddies argue that it’s really a roast cut from the lower part of the sirloin, so it shares some of the (lesser marbled and chewier) characteristics of sirloin steaks.

Most tri-tips you’ll run across today have their generous fat caps and silver skin already trimmed for you, weighing in somewhere in the 2-3 pound range most often; untrimmed they can run close to 5 pounds.

Steve Raichlen in his ginormous book BBQ USA has a nifty, and fairly detailed explanation of the tri-tip’s apparently indisputable ties to Santa Maria, California; if you’re into food history it’s a great read with Raichlen’s typical dry humor woven in nicely.

Raichlen’s story telling can be compelling reading, and the piece referenced above from his tome BBQ USA covering the regional history of the Santa Maria tri-tip is very good, and offers some great tips on cooking this somewhat unconventional cut of meat.

We’re all in for spicy marinades and slathers around our camp, and have been tweaking this one around the edges for a while now since coming across its predecessor in Bon Appetit some time back.

The peppercorns play very well with the cumin and coriander seed, and the oyster and fish sauces serve as a flavorful binder for the spices without overwhelming the core flavors at all. Note that this one needs time in the fridge once rubbed/slathered, at least 4 hours and overnight is better.

Tri-tip is a damned easy cook once you’re ready to roll, and I must say we’ve really been enjoying tri-tip of late smoke/grilled on a pellet rig at 250 to target temps and rested for 15 minutes before slicing…

2 tbsp sichuan peppercorns
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/4 cup avocado or olive oil
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 pound tri-tip

Toast the peppercorns and seeds until fragrant and slightly darkened, cool and grind. Combine spices with the oil, oyster sauce, and fish sauce, pour into a large resealable bag, add the meat, turning to coat, and throw in the fridge overnight (at least 4 hours).

When ready to cook, let tri-tip rest at room temp for an hour.

Grill over medium-high (indirect) heat to an internal temp of 128 to 132 for medium rare; rest for 15 minutes before cutting. Alternatively smoke-grill on pellet grill at 250 to internal temps above (about 75 minutes typically for us).

Slice across the grain (don’t forget the grain runs on different angles in each “wing” of the tri-tip) and serve with your favorite sauce. I’ll post our version of the tiger bite sauce mentioned above (and seen in several images) next week.

Hot damn, this one’s really good.

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Podcasts, Recipes, and More 22 July 2020

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An Eclectic Collection of Health, Fitness, and Wellness Reads from the Week

Great read on MovNat from a SEAL commander: brilliant, practical, not flashy.

An inspiring home HIIT workout against the clock.

A thoughtful read on pain, and how we’ve probably been thinking about it “all wrong”. I’ve been saying this for years as a major part of my practice involved the management of long-term musculoskeletal pain problems…

Seniors maintain more strength and functional capacity with animal proteins vs. plant proteins.

Vitamin D and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. (Free Medscape account required)

MgS04 rich mineral waters help functional constipation. Those of us old enough to remember Milk of Magnesia commercials probably aren’t surprised by this one.

Sugar isn’t the only thing rotting kids’ (our) teeth.

Interesting non-medical take on COVID-19 herd immunity and risk.

A fascinating apology from a climate alarmist.

Podcast of the Week: Back to the Carnivore World

Brett Lloyd, another carnivore success and health story.

Food, Glorious Food

To devein shrimp, or not?

Smaller farms bring more environmental biodiversity.

A somewhat theoretical and interesting article on the changing role of livestock in agriculture.

Food on the road in Montana.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Recipes, and More 8 July 2020

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Fitness and Healthy Lifestyle Roundup for the Week

Interesting read on escaping the NFL’s 5,000 calorie lunch routine.

How to train for your fastest mile.

If you’re resistance training, 1.6 gm/Kg of protein might reshape your protein intake goals.

Kids who roughhouse with their fathers have better emotional control.

The health miracle in Ft. Worth.

US population growth has been driven primarily by minorities.

A Couple of Interesting Reads on Lipids and Health

Ironically, and interestingly, this study shows that low LDL is not associated with lower CV mortality, but it is associated with higher all cause mortality.

PCSK9 inhibitors appear to be bad news: The opinion. The study it’s based on.

The Obligatory COVID-19 Coverage: Stuff You Might Not Have Seen

There’s more and more discussion about pre-existing T-cell immunity, this for example. Wonder why this isn’t getting more coverage?…

COVID-19 was in Brazil in November. I’ve just chatted with a researcher this week who is soon to publish data about a North Texas outbreak in November (perhaps even late October) as well.

Nudists in the era of COVID.

Food, Glorious Food

Our family “original recipe” grilled chicken.

In praise of pandemic gardening.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, Recipes, and More 10 August 2019

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Fitness At Any Age: Thoughts From the Week

Much has been written of late covering quarterback Tom Brady’s 19th NFL season which officially started last week; while I’m not necessarily a fan of his TB12 methodology and program being a fit for most mere mortals over 40, Men’s Health recently published a nicely done interview piece on his pre-season training program.

4 laws of muscle; great reminder about the importance of protein (and protein signaling).

Nice piece from Sisson on microworkouts.

91-year old woman breaks age world record in 400 meters.

89-year old deadlifts 405 – twice!

An Eclectic Collection of Other Older Bolder Topics of Interest

5 ways to conquer an impossible task.

Elevated fasting glucose levels raise pancreatic cancer risk. (I lost a good friend years ago to pancreatic cancer – improvements in diagnosis and care have transpired since then, but dammit, what a bad actor that disease can be…)

People with T2DM lowered hepatic fat and improved glucose tolerance on a LCHP food plan in only 6 weeks.

Speaking of protein above, higher protein in seniors may help combat osteoporosis too.

Food, Glorious Food

From vegetarian to butcher.

Should you be thinking about sesame seeds as an allergen? The study…

Countries eating more butter are happier? (Beware the correlation v. causation issue)

Scapegoating red meat? (A chef friend who sent this over had some interesting commentary, more to come in a post…)

Our Recipes from the Week
Sweet Potato Hashbrown Cheeseburger Pie
Libby’s Verde Cashew Wonder Sauce
Easy Romesco Sauce

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Sambal Ginger Sriracha Grilled Chicken

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Now and again we stumble across a recipe that makes me wonder where has this delicious food been all our lives?

Today’s Sambal Ginger Sriracha Grilled Chicken is one of those recipes; working through some trials to dial this one in has led to my lovely wife consistently stealing all the leftovers for her work lunch, and her insisting this one drop immediately into the weekly rotation.

This recipe, intended I suppose originally for the grill, was crafted to use chicken thighs, given their deep, rich flavor and tendency to not dry out when properly handled quickly over the fire, though chicken breasts, reasonably thinly sliced in long strips and threaded on the skewers work well too – just don’t overcook and dry them out.

That said, rained out one evening I had a recipe version test planned, I seared the chicken up in a big carbon steel skillet and it was outrageously good, so there’s your backup plan if for some reason grilling is out.

Finally, with regard to something to sweeten the recipe, traditionally most would reach for brown sugar here. Count me among those who would rationally argue that a tablespoon or two (or even a little more) of brown sugar in a marinade, over the long run and done occasionally, isn’t something to lose sleep over (though no doubt there are those among the Paleo and Keto police who would disagree vehemently).

We have trialed this one with several different sugar / sweetener subs, and found them all off-putting compared to the recipe as written below using a bit of brown sugar. One of the great things about being a big kid and cooking your own food is that you get to make the call on your own ingredient list – modify to your heart’s content.

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp rice vinegar (best with unseasoned)
1/2 cup hot chile paste
1/3 cup Sriracha
1/4 to 1/2 cup sweetener of choice, see note above
2-3 tbsp finely sliced green onions, white and pale green parts
1 tbsp grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
2-3 tsp grated or finely chopped garlic

1 and 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (skinless, boneless) cut roughly into 2-inch pieces

Combine the marinade/sauce ingredients in a small bowl, whisk well to mix and dissolve whatever sweetener you’ve elected to use. Pour approximately 1/3 of the mixture into a large resealable bag, reserve the remainder in the fridge.

Now add the chicken to the bagged marinade, and squish it around to coat all the chicken. Seal the bag and let is rest in the fridge for at least an hour, up to overnight.

When ready to cook, fire the grill, and thread the chicken pieces onto your skewers of choice (don’t forget to soak the bamboo skewers for an hour beforehand if that’s your cup of tea). I like to use the double skewer technique to keep the pieces from spinning on the turns.

As the grill is heating, pour the reserved marinade/sauce into a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Bring it to a simmer and slowly reduce until thick enough to coat a spoon, then set aside.

Grill the chicken turning every two minutes or so and basting at each turn with the reduced sauce; these will need 8-10 minutes pending how hot your fire is.

Great hot or cold, and set the remaining sauce on the table for who want to drizzle a little more heat on…

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 26 April: Hanger Steak Bulgogi Bowl

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Count us among the millions around the world who are fans of a great Bulgogi – the spicy Korean dish which (I’m told) literally means “fire meat”. Bulgogi is typically a composed of thin slices of (traditionally) beef, marinated in a garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) mixture with a bit of grated pear for a hint of sweetness. It’s typically cooked quickly over an open flame on a grill or sautéed / stir fried in a skillet at home.

You can use whatever protein suits you to craft your bulgogi; the pictures here feature one of our favorite cuts, a thick-cut hanger steak. By the way, it’s a cinch to carve perfectly thin slices from any protein if you’ll throw it in the freezer for 3o to 40 minutes before slicing. You want it to just begin to freeze and tighten up; too long and it’ll be rock solid.

There are of course a few adjustments to be made to make this dish primal and paleo compliant, the principal one being using tamari or coconut aminos to replace soy sauce, and while most wouldn’t squawk too loudly about a tablespoon of brown sugar in a marinade, we think this is best with a bit of maple syrup or honey (it doesn’t take much given the grated pear); it’s very well flavored without any additional sweetener in fact.

When making this a few days back I didn’t have time to prepare one of our favorite salads or slaws (like this Asian Inspired Cantaloupe Salad, Thai-Inspired Celery Salad, Quick Chinese Cucumber Salad for example), even a simple spring greens salad looks, and tastes, great in the bowl.

And finally, when putting this together in a bowl, we can’t imagine serving it without a recipe of the Asian Fried Cauliflower Rice I posted last week (perhaps without the bacon for this recipe).

Give this one a spin, you come back to it again and again…

For the Simple Bulgogi
1/2 small pear, grated
3-4 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 and 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger (peeled)
1 -2 tbsp gochugaru or 2-3 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 to 1 tbsp maple syrup, honey, or sweetener of choice, optional
Thinly sliced green onions for serving

2 lb protein of choice (boneless short rib, hanger steak, flank, boneless chicken, pork loin)

Avocado, coconut, or olive oil

Good salt

1 recipe Asian Fried Cauliflower Rice

A simple salad or slaw; we like this one with one of these…
Asian Inspired Cantaloupe Salad
Thai-Inspired Celery Salad
Quick Chinese Cucumber Salad

Place your protein of choice in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to slicing; after the time has passed, using a very sharp meat knife, slice the meat into very thin strips.

While the meat is cooling, combine the grated pear, tamari, garlic, ginger, gochugaru, maple syrup, and sesame oil in a medium bowl and whisk to combine, then pour into a large resealable bag.

Place the sliced meat in the bag with the marinade, squish it around to ensure all the meat is coated, and let sit for 30-45 minutes at room temperature, or chill no longer than 12 hours.

When ready to cook, heat roughly a tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; while the oil is heating, drain the meat. Place half the meat in a single layer in the hot skillet and cook without moving it for 1-2 minutes, until a nice sear develops. Now toss for another 1-2 minutes until cooked through and crispy around the edges. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining meat.

Now building your bowl, with roughly 1/3 bulgogi, 1/3 Asian Fried Cauliflower Rice, and 1/3 the salad or slaw of choice. Artfully sprinkle sliced green onions over the bulgogi and cauliflower rice, spice it up with a little sriracha, and go to it.
Enjoy.

Picking the Low Hanging Fruit: Put Protein In Its Place

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Continuing our look at picking the low hanging fruit (the simpler, foundational principles) along your health and wellness journey, let’s tackle one – consuming the optimal amount of good protein – that’s fairly straight forward, yet often overlooked when moving away from the standard American diet (SAD) to a more intentional, and healthy, food plan.

So Just How Much Protein Do I Really Need?

For most of us, those of us living fairly normal lives and not training to become championship level body builders or Olympians, and not dealing with some major medical condition, there are several useful rule of thumb methods to ballpark your protein needs.

Please note that I abhor “one size fits all” nutrition plans; the type and amount of food you consume every day should be carefully customized to fit your very own physiology, metabolism, and activity demands, and will of course change over time throughout your life. Run from anyone who tells you they have a magic plan handed down from on high that you must follow.

That said, I most often suggest that people who are reasonably active start with the simple guideline of aiming to consume 0.6 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass per day, and adjust from there.

There’s a bit more detail about typical adjustments made to protein intake in this post from a few months back, and critically you’ll probably end up doing some experimentation to see what works best for you.

Protein Quality Matters

Sourcing great proteins for your food plan doesn’t need to be overly complicated, and like most things we eat, for most of us there are a variety of options and choices available.

Several months ago I spent a fair amount of time detailing some general principles in sourcing proteins, looking at game, beef, pork, and lamb here, seafood here, and fowl here.

I encourage folks to make the absolute best selections of your protein choices within budgetary and availability constraints, though it’s possible now to have just about any variety of amazing proteins shipped to your front door with a few clicks or a quick call.

The Thinking About Protein is Evolving, Particularly in the Longevity Arena

As you’re working through your protein plan, I’d encourage you at some point to read some of what Dr. Gundry has written about protein (The Plant Paradox; his new book The Longevity Paradox is just out, though I’ve not picked up a copy as of this morning!).

Guidry (among many) opines that most of us eat far more protein than we need, and probably more than is optimal for our metabolism.

We’ll come back and visit this issue in more detail in another post, my intent is to stir your curiosity a bit and have you keep an eye out for changes in how the best minds are conceptualizing our optimal relationship with proteins.

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!