Tales of Deliciousness

[fat_wilhelm]

I'm no ratman, but I do love to cook and I've been told that I'm halfway decent for someone who is self-trained. Since I work full time and do most of the meal prep for my family, I'm usually scrambling to come up with something healthy, delicious, fairly quick and relatively easy when I get home from work.

I try to eat primal (80/20) and I know a lot of people here eat primal, as well, so I'm starting a log to share some of the better ideas I come up with. I hardly ever use recipes, so this may be interesting for those of you who like to whip stuff up with what you have on hand. I'll just describe the basics since there are no measurements involved.

I did this one a few months ago, but I happened to take a photo, so I'll use it to kick things off.


Grilled Grass Fed Filet with Wild Blueberry Reduction, Sauteed Green Beans with Crispy Garlic and Lemon

Puree a couple cups of wild blueberries in a blender. I use the frozen bagged berries from Trader Joe's. Once pureed, push the liquid through a strainer and into a sauce pan, leaving the bits of skin behind.

Add some red wine (1/2 cup?), 2-3 Tbsp of balsamic and a Tbsp or two of ruby port (if you have it) to the sauce pan. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cooking until the sauce is reduced by 1/2-2/3 and is a thick, syrupy consistency. Make sure to stir the sauce frequently as it reduces to keep it from burning.

Spoon reduction over perfectly grilled, medium rare grass fed filets.

The green bean side is just some chopped garlic quick fried in olive oil until golden, beans added, then lemon squeezed over the entire pan. I always have a big jar of pre-chopped garlic on hand, as well as those lemon and lime shaped plastic bottles of pure juice. Fresh fruit is obviously preferable, but the squeeze bottles are convenient.

 

[AngryA]

First

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Tonight's dinner...

Thai Grass Fed Ground Beef with Cabbage, Onions and Carrots

Heat a couple Tbsp of sesame oil in wok. Add beef and cook until browned. Add julienned carrots, then sliced cabbage (about 1/2 head), and sliced onion. Cook until veggies start to become tender. Add a few shakes of soy, a couple spoonfuls of natural peanut butter and a drizzle of honey if you want to sweeten it up.

 

[Ziltoid]

Good stuff Fatty. This is going to be a good log.

 

[daemonarch]

yes, more recipes...

*subscribes*

 

[Oblivian]

This log is going to be excellent!

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Tonight...

Pan Seared Cumin Rubbed Pork Chops with Dried Apricot Chutney, Curried Zucchini

Rub pork chops with salt, pepper and cumin and set aside.

For chutney, heat skillet with coconut oil and add about 1/2 diced red onion and a couple diced chilis (I used serranos since I had them in my garden). Cook until onions are slightly glossy, then add a good handful of diced dried apricots. Cook a couple minutes more, add about 1/2 cup of white wine, a couple turns of white balsamic and a drizzle of honey to the pan. Continue to simmer until just about all the liquid is gone.

Meanwhile, heat a cast iron skillet w/ coconut oil for the pork and another dry skillet for the zucchini. Cube the zucchini and coat with olive oil, curry powder, s&p in a bowl. Add the pork chops and zucchini to their respective skillets when the chutney is nearing the end. Sear pork, flip, sear, saute zucchini. Viola.

 

[MichaelDiamond]

Please keep this updated, I just made your thai beef recipe and am currently happily carrying a thai food baby. I did have to use butter rather than sesame oil and a scoop of my room mate's chunky jif rather than natural PB but not bad eats on a college budget.

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Please keep this updated, I just made your thai beef recipe and am currently happily carrying a thai food baby. I did have to use butter rather than sesame oil and a scoop of my room mate's chunky jif rather than natural PB but not bad eats on a college budget.

Cool stuff! I'll definitely update whenever I make something worth recording.

 

[thethirddiaz]

Where do you get coconut oil?

 

[Oblivian]

Please keep this updated, I just made your thai beef recipe and am currently happily carrying a thai food baby. I did have to use butter rather than sesame oil and a scoop of my room mate's chunky jif rather than natural PB but not bad eats on a college budget.

+1 on keeping this updated. This has inspired me to get back into cooking good dishes. I've been cooking on the run a lot, and everything has been formulated. I'm going to be bulking in a couple months which cuts out a lot of my conditioning (saves time), so I will be getting back into it. I'll probably do some of your dishes or variations of them.

 

[fat_wilhelm]

Where do you get coconut oil?

You should be able to get it at any health food store. I typically just throw it on to my Vitacost orders.

coconut oil - Vitacost

+1 on keeping this updated. This has inspired me to get back into cooking good dishes. I've been cooking on the run a lot, and everything has been formulated. I'm going to be bulking in a couple months which cuts out a lot of my conditioning (saves time), so I will be getting back into it. I'll probably do some of your dishes or variations of them.

I’m glad it’s provided some inspiration. Even with a busy schedule, most of what I’ll post here (or variations of) should be very possible. I try to stay under 30-45 minutes on most meals.

Also, for those of you who don’t think you can cook or who think you have to follow recipes ver batim in order to cook well, think again. With the exception of baking, cooking does not have to be carried out with exacting measurements and specific ingredient selection. MichaelDiamond used butter and crunchy Jif for the thai beef and I bet it tasted great. Hell, pad thai has chopped peanuts in it, so the idea of using crunchy peanut butter actually has a lot of merit. I may try that next time.

There’s a lot you can do with what you have, rather than going to the grocery store. Take the apricot chutney above for example. Raisins or apples or dried cherries would have also worked nicely with pork. Learning to match flavors is one of the most important skills you can pick up as someone who wants to cook well. Once you have an understanding of what tastes good together, cooking is a breeze.

I highly recommend the book, Culinary Artistry, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg and though I haven’t read/bought it yet, their newest book, The Flavor Bible, looks to be stellar. Culinary Artistry has a whole section on pairings which, alone, makes the book worthwhile and The Flavor Bible looks to take things several steps further. I don’t have much use for cook books that are loaded with recipes, as they’re not really teaching you how to cook. Rather, I like books that expound on techniques and cooking philosophies.

One last thing, if you learn to cook well, you can be the ugliest dude in the world, but it won’t matter. You can win over any woman with good culinary skill.

 

[10thpjj]

great log!

 

[bacon]

Culinary Artistry has a whole section on pairings which, alone, makes the book worthwhile.

Truth. I use that section of the book everytime I cook something new. Great book.

 

[bacon]

I want to be an extra in a movie but I want to be the guy they find in the trunk of a Buick strangled with a phone cord and beaten to a pulp with the reciever...or something equally awesome. Maybe floating face down in a river butt nekkid.

*calls Scorcese*

 

[fat_wilhelm]

There is definitely some resemblance.

Haha! Interestingly enough, I first became really interested in cooking in the summer of 1996 when I was interning in Long Beach and had no friends, so I'd spend my down time before bed watching the Food Network. My favorite show at the time was Grillin' and Chillin' with Bobby Flay and Jack McDavid and I became a big fan of Flay. I even made a point to eat at Mesa Grill when I went to NY in the late 90's. Now I think he's somewhat of an arrogant prick, though.

 

[Lusst]

There is definitely some resemblance.

WT...


WTF?

When did you work parking lots?

Sweet thread - going to try these recipes.

*subscribes*

 

[fat_wilhelm]

This one hardly qualifies as cooking (at least the way I do it), but it's healthy, quick and easy, so I think it's worth adding.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Cut up a mess o' chicken breast and fry in coconut oil, preferably in a wok. Add chopped onion (maybe 1 small or 1/2 large) and continue cooking until onion is glossy. Add a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2-3/4 cups water and about 1/4-1/3 cups tikka masala curry paste. Cook until water reduces and sauce begins to thicken. Add about 1/2 cup plain yogurt and simmer a couple minutes longer.

It's not much of a feat considering I use canned tomatoes and jarred curry paste, but it is delicious.

 

[Fozzy1]

damn, fatty can cook. good stuff.

~Foz

 

[10thpjj]

This one hardly qualifies as cooking (at least the way I do it), but it's healthy, quick and easy, so I think it's worth adding.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Cut up a mess o' chicken breast and fry in coconut oil, preferably in a wok. Add chopped onion (maybe 1 small or 1/2 large) and continue cooking until onion is glossy. Add a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2-3/4 cups water and about 1/4-1/3 cups tikka masala curry paste. Cook until water reduces and sauce begins to thicken. Add about 1/2 cup plain yogurt and simmer a couple minutes longer.

It's not much of a feat considering I use canned tomatoes and jarred curry paste, but it is delicious.

Damn that looks good, it's one of my favourite curries too! will certainly have to try this 1!