Asian Meatloaf

Credit for this unconventional dish goes to Sam the Cooking Guy

When I first saw this recipe I chuckled, but as soon as I looked at the ingredients I was intrigued... Not one... not two... but three meats plus Asian flavors? I'm in!!! 

Ingredients:

• Neutral oil
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger - finely chopped
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp sriracha
• 3/4 tsp sesame oil
• 2/3 cup ground pork
• 2/3 cup ground beef
• 2/3 cup ground chicken
• 3/4 cup plain Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cilantro or parsley
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup diced green onions, plus extra for serving
• Roasted sesame seeds

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet and add the onion and celery - cook until just softening, about 3 minutes

Add the mushrooms and cook another 3 or so minutes, then add another couple teaspoons of oil and the garlic & ginger and when super fragrant (after about a minute) set aside and let cool

Make the sauce: combine hoisin, ketchup, sriracha and 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil - mix well and set aside

Combine ground pork, beef and chicken in a large bowl and add the breadcrumbs, egg, remaining sesame oil, soy, cooked vegetables, cilantro and green onions and a couple tablespoons of the hoisin sauce - mix well

Shape into an even meatloaf shape on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 45 minutes, brush with remaining hoisin mixture and return to oven and bake  another 15 minutes

Remove, let cool about 10 minutes and slice

Serve garnished with green onion and sesame seeds.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Beef, Broccoli & Barley (...or venison if you have it)

 

Comfort food for sure... Earthy flavors and textures that will delight!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef or venison - bite size cubes
• 1 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 1 large yellow onion - cut up
• 6 baby portobello mushrooms - sliced
• 2 cups broccoli florets cut into small florets
• salt to taste
• olive oil

Preparation:

Start off by thoroughly rinsing the barley and then cooking it according to package instructions - this usually takes about 45 minutes on a low boil. While the barley is cooking we'll get everything else ready. 

Cut up the meat into bite size pieces and toss with the Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Cut up the onion, mushrooms and broccoli florets and heat some olive oil in a non-stick Dutch oven. Have everything ready and start when the barley is just about done as the actual cook is a pretty quick process.

Sautee the onions first. As their edges just start to brown, add the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are tender (~1 min) add the broccoli and saute until cooked but still crunchy (~1 min). Scoop out mixture and set aside, covered.

Add a splash of oil to the Dutch oven and sear the meat with a high flame and a continuous toss. DO NOT OVERCOOK! Even though the pieces are bite size you want to shoot for a medium rare.

Finally add the onion, mushroom & broccoli mix and toss over low heat. 

Once blended add the cooked barley and carefully mix it all together. ENJOY!

Blessed be… and happy cooking!

Colcannon

WARNING:

TRADITIONAL WICCAN HOLIDAY MEAL THAT WILL SPIKE YOUR SUGAR.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Colcannon is a wonderfully earthy meal that is often served on Samhain, the Pagan holiday more widely known as All Hallow's Eve. It is a dish that celebrates the last of the harvest of fresh vegetables before winter sets in. My version includes the last of my stored venison to honor the Ancient Antlered One before this year's hunting season commences. 

I know you're looking at the list of ingredients wondering what potatoes are doing in a recipe for diabetics. Well... guess what? Some dishes are just tradition and should not be messed with. End of discussion. Portion control is key with this one.

Enjoy this amazing comfort food with or without the venison, or feel free to add your own choice of meat. Diced or shredded fresh ham is a wonderful alternative.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 - 2 lbs venison chop meat (turkey or chicken works, too)
• 3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
• Milk as needed
• Salt as needed
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 head of green cabbage, cored and shredded
• 5 tbsp butter
• Avocado oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 10oz pkg baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch scallions, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 handful fresh parsley, barely chopped
• 1-2 carrots, shaved into thin ribbons

 Preparation:

Fry the venison in a little avocado oil and set aside.

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender and

scoop out into a second bowl, reserving the water.

While the potatoes boil, sautee the onions, mushrooms,

scallions and parsley in a bit of avocado oil.

Add the meat to the saute and blend well.

Add cabbage to the reserved potato water and

simmer for 8-10 minutes until tender.

Drain cabbage in colander and return potatoes to the pot.

Mash the potatoes and add salt, pepper, butter and milk until creamy but not runny.

Then blend in the thoroughly drained cabbage.

Add the sauteed items, blend, and finally fold in the shaved carrots.

The carrots should go in just before serving so they retain a little crunch.

Serve with your favorite white wine...

I find a nice dry Pinot Grigio pairs very well here. Enjoy!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Quick & Easy Beef or Venison Chili

I found this recipe more than ten years ago on the back of a can of Progresso kidney beans. It looked so simple I just had to try it. It has since become my base for many fun chili dishes. Everyone should make chili their own... This recipe is a good jumpstart and you can add just about anything you like to suit your flavor pallet! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef or venison
• 2/3 cup chopped onions
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 19oz cans dark red kidney beans, undrained
• 1 28oz can whole tomatoes in puree, cut up
• Tomato paste (if needed)
• 3 - 4 ½ tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp or 2 cubes instant beef bouillon
• 1 tbsp dried parsley (or ¼ cup fresh copped)
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp salt
• Scallions for garnish

Preparation:

1: Brown chop meat with onions and garlic over medium heat until meat is fully cooked. Drain.

2: Stir in all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

3: Simmer over medium low heat for 15-20 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally.

4: Serve with barley cooked in beef stock and garnish  with scallions or any of the fun things you enjoy. Parsley, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, avocado… In other words, make this dish your own. 

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Bolognese and... NOT PASTA!!!

As you know, I'm working hard to eliminate all the simple carbs with a high glycemic index in order to best control my diabetes on a culinary level. I make a really good venison/beef bolognese (and now a chicken version, too) and found myself at a loss as to what to do so I could still enjoy my delicious sauce with pasta taken out of the equation. What I came up with is a dish that blew our minds the first time I made it. Carolyn and I sat here staring wide-eyed at each other wondering why we'd never thought of doing this before! LOL Set aside the notion that it's a very healthy dish... It's amazing in both flavor and presentation and is actually titled:

Venison Bolognese & Zucchini Ribbons

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1.25 lbs ground venison - lean beef or white meat chicken are good, too
• 1 28 oz can plum shaped tomatoes in puree
• olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, cut up
• 1/2 tsp salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste (I like about 6 twists on the grinder)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• dash of oregano
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 4 squash/zucchini, 2 yellow and 2 green, thin enough to fit the width of a peeler blade

Preparation:

This nearly from-scratch sauce is so simple that I'm always baffled by the plethora of jar sauces at the grocery store... (shudders at the thought).

Ok serious now.....

Start by frying up the chop meat in a large skillet with a bit of olive oil until fully cooked and a nice shade of brown. Set aside. 

Add a bit of olive oil to your sauce pot and saute the chopped garlic. As the garlic JUST gets brown add in the cut up onion and saute until slightly translucent and shiny.

Place canned tomatoes in a bowl and cut into quarters or bite-size pieces... Not too small as they will cook down some in the pot.

Add tomatoes and puree to sauce pot and stir. Add in salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and dried parsley. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Finally stir in the fried chop meat. The mixture will seem very meaty and not at all liquid.... that's intentional as our base for the sauce is very different from pasta.

Ok... time to make our pasta substitute... Wash the zucchini and yellow squash and get out a peeler. A regular one will work, but I find you get better control with one that has the blade perpendicular to the handle. This is mostly for presentation as the full width ribbons will have yellow and green edges, respectively. Peel off ribbons until halfway through the vegetable, turn over and peel rest from other side. I'm not much into waste, so I typically save the leftover centers to fry up with some eggs for breakfast next day.

Heat some olive in a very large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the ribbons. Sautee with pretty much a continuous toss because they cook very quickly and you want all to be cooked evenly. Sautee just enough so there's still a little crunch and the veggies kind of stand when piled. Overcook them and you end up with a pile of mush... not good. Salt the squash to taste as you saute... go easy, though, as the sauce will bring plenty of life to the veggies. 

Plate the squash with tongs, transferring as little liquid as possible. Top with sauce and enjoy! :-)

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Sunny's Pot Roast

My dear friend Sunny was a total foodie. We could talk about food for hours and shared many recipes, processes and kitchen hacks. She taught me all about "free scallions" and introduced me to up-to-your-elbows-in-butter Dungeness Crab feasts on newspaper covered tables at crab shacks in Florida. Unfortunately my dear friend is no longer with us, but she did leave me with the recipe for her coveted slow cooker pot roast. Sunny, like me, never shied from sharing as she was one of the most giving people I was ever honored to know. To that end, here is my friend Sunny and her delectable pot roast... pretty much the way she gave it to me. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 pound beef roast, the cheaper the better
• 6 peeled carrots in chunks
• 4 peeled onions, cut up
• 4 unpeeled potatoes, cut bite sized
• 2 ribs of celery sliced bite size
• 1/2 pound of button or baby portobellos, scrubbed and whole
• Fresh garlic
• Roasted garlic
• 1 can of beef broth
• 2 cans of reduced fat condensed cream of mushroom soup
• About 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1-2 cups Cabernet or other red wine
• 1/2 envelope onion soup mix
• Adobo seasoning (regular)
• Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Preparation:

We're going to start this around 10:00 AM and you’ll need at least a 6 quart slow cooker minimum J Drizzle some olive oil into a hot heavy sauté pan. Place your roast in the oil, sprinkle it with Adobo and brown the meat on all sides. Once that's done, remove the roast and place it in a slow cooker that's been coated with cooking spray.

Add the butter to the pan, then the onions and some roasted garlic. If you aren't keeping roasted garlic in the house, you're missing out. Sauté until the onions are just a little tender, and then pour them over the roast in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan by pouring Marsala wine into it and scraping the bits off the bottom. Add this to the slow cooker as well. Add the carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, the celery and the tablespoon of fresh garlic, the onion soup mix, the beef broth and Cabernet to taste ...then cover and set on high.

After 6 hrs add the mushroom soup, give the whole mess a good stir, set to low and go turn on a movie. It needs about two hours more to blend the flavors. If you don’t have room for the two cans, scoop out some of the gravy into a saucepan and add a dash of the mushroom soup. You’ll add this back to your main gravy after the meat is removed from the slow cooker.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!