Delcious Dinner Date: Spicy Kale Stew Inspired by RadishSF

It ended up being another slower week at A Crafty Gourmet headquarters. With the holidays and the terrible tragedy in Connecticut, it's been hard to concentrate on cooking and recipe development.

Last night, the hubby and I went to a small local restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District called Radish. Radish a cute place with a eclectic American menu with Southern roots. I was impressed that their flat bread was gluten-free and their sandwiches can be served on gluten-free bread. I'm excited about how many places are now offering gluten-free options, but I'm a bit concerned that gluten-free is becoming as processed as wheat is. I hope all these options aren't going to make more people grain sensitive.

The hubby and I both had a simple yet delicious kale stew that I just had to recreate at home for tonight's dinner. I usually don't eat a lot of nightshades, but since I've been feeling significantly better the last couple of months, I've been testing my body to see what if reacts to and what it doesn't react too. I'm happy to report that I've been okay with most nightshades, though I've had some difficulty digesting peppers. This stew is a in a tomato base. If you are allergic to tomatoes then you can try using more stock and the juice of 1 lemon, but I can't guarantee it will taste as good.

Hanukkah Recipe: Brisket & Tzimmes

Hanukkah is coming up and no Jewish holiday meal is complete without a brisket! Brisket is the most popular cut of meat cooked by Ashkenazim (Jews of Eastern Europe). According to an article in the JWeekly, "Brisket is a beef cut taken from the breast section beneath the first five ribs, behind the foreshank. It is an inexpensive boneless cut that requires long, slow cooking to break down the collagen in the connective muscle tissues and achieve tenderness. Poor Eastern European Jews favored this cut because it was low in cost and high in taste and volume." 

Get Your B12: Spiced Braised Beef Cheeks With Kalamata Olives

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of Vitamin B12 in your diet. Today, I would like to share a unique recipe with you that is a great way to make sure you are getting food based Vitamin B12. It's another one pot meal that will last you several days and allow you to "cook once, eat twice."

Beef is one of the best sources of Vitamin B12, with one 3oz serving providing 60-80% of your daily recommended value (depending on the cut). This recipe calls for beef cheeks, though you could probably use any stew cut.

Spiced Braised Beef Cheeks With Kalamata Olives
Ingredients:
2 lbs of Beef Cheeks
5 carrots
2 celery stalks
3 Cippolini onions
2 tbsp red palm oil
1 large sprig of thyme
5 green peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp of Trader Joe's South African Seasoning Grinder
1/4 piece of star anise
1 tsp The Spice House Choucroute Garni Spice Blend
2 large bay leaves
1 tbsp Celtic Salt
4 cups of Bone Broth
2 cups water
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1/4 cup olive juice

Proces:
1. In a dutch oven, heat red palm oil and add quartered onion

 2. In pestle, using a mortar crush all spices and salt. Add to pot.

3. Saute for 10 minutes


4. Add Beef Cheeks

5. Let Beef Cheeks brown

 6. Chop carrots and celery and add to pot

7. Add broth and water, bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes

8. Add olives and olive juice
 

9. Cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours


10. Enjoy with Spaghetti Squash!

Shared on: Melt in Your Mouth Mondays, Scratch Cookin' Tuesday

Favorite Stews Edition: Beef Heart Bourguignon

Over the course of the last few weeks, I've had the pleasure of sharing some of my learnings from the Institute for Integral Nutrition with a few of my friends looking to get healthy. One common theme is the struggle to know what to eat. Everyone echos the same sentiment: I grew up eating Lucky Charms and Low Fat Milk for breakfast and now I have no idea what I should be eating! Similarly, dinner has often been takeout of either Chinese food or pizza as parents (mostly moms) struggled to balance work and cooking for the family. I grew up in such a household myself. We often had Chinese take out growing up in Brooklyn. When we moved to San Francisco, my mother fell in love with the San Francisco cuisine and would often bring home Banh Mi sandwiches and Chinese Buns for dinner. But after a while, she learned how to make her own Chow Fun and Lo Mein and soon we were enjoying homemade Chinese take out, which my mom would make to last us a week.

The idea of cooking for the family or preparing a meal for yourself for the week is much more daunting than the task itself. If you have the right tools, you can prepare a meal in 15minutes in the morning, set it to cook on low for several hours, and by lunchtime or dinnertime have a delicious meal available to enjoy. The key is to find several recipes that are manageable and fun. I am a big fan of stews and one-pot meals. I truly feel that it's an easy way to ensure you cook once and eat several times. One of my favorite stews is Beef Bourguignon, but unfortunately it usually calls for milk, flour or tomatoes. So, I've developed a recipe that uses none of those ingredients and, to make it fun, I'm using beef hearts instead of stew meat. You can easily substitute beef stew meat instead.

Beef Heart Bourguignon
Ingredients
1.5-2lb Beef Heart (or stew meat)
5 small onions 
3 large carrots
1 medium sized celery root
1.5 cups sprouted lentils
4 bay leaves
4 springs of thyme
1 tbsp Himalayan Salt
1 bottle of dry wine (I use the $1.99 Cabernet Savingnon from Whole Foods)
1 tbsp ghee/coconut oil/olive oil

Process:
1.Cube beef heart and clean outer skin of onions

2. Heat ghee/oil in dutch oven or large enameled pot

3. Chop carrots and cube celery root

4. Add whole onions into pan and let brown

5. Add heart, salt, bay leaves, thyme and saute for 10 minutes

6. Add carrots and celery root

7. Add wine

8. Bring to boil, let boil for 20 mins and lentils

9. Turn down heat to low and simmer for 3-4 hours

10. Serve & Enjoy!