Lemon Kefir Cheesecake

Kefir is a relay race. Over several periods in my life I would get the urge to make it myself, so I would get a small amount of Kefir grains. But because it’s alive, it grows over time, and after a few weeks you find yourself buying milk by the gallon, and at that point really getting sick of it. When that happens I usually try to give the grains away instead of throwing them, just to keep the organism circling around until next time I get the urge.

This recipe is a good way to use a lot of Kefir. Once you have half a gallon, you can strain it in a cheese cloth to make about a quart of Kefir cheese. The original recipe called for 750ml of 5% fat fage + 300ml of yogurt, but I find Kefir cheese to be a very good substitute.

Source: hamaroch.com 

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Yields: one 10” round cake

Ingredients

Crust

• 200g finely ground graham crackers
• 1 cup melted butter

Filling

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 quart kefir cheese 
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 3 large eggs

Glaze

•  450 ml sour cream
•  2 tablespoons of sugar
•  3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
•  100 grams of white chocolate

Instructions 

Crust 

1. To grind the graham crackers I use a ziplock bag and a rolling pin
2. Transfer to a bowl and pour the melted butter
3. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and pack the mixture tightly
4. Refrigerate while working on the filling

Filling

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Mix the dry ingredient with a fork 
3. Add the rest, and mix with a whisk so that there are no lumps
4. Pour over crust
5. Bake for about 40 minutes.  The cake should be light and not golden, stable and slightly vibrating but not liquid
6. When ready, remove from the oven, spread the icing on the cake and return to the oven to continue baking

Icing

1. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or on a ben marie for a smooth, lump-free mixture
2. Mix the other ingredients separately
3. transfer 2 tablespoons of the sour cream mix to the white chocolate, stir and then transfer the chocolate back to the bowl with the cream
4. Mix to a uniform mixture and spread on the cake once it is ready
5. Continue baking for 5 additional minutes 
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate for at least five hours

Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bo Kho)

If you haven't figured it out yet, a lot of the recipes in this blog are not original. I just post them to keep my own copy, in case the websites where I found them go down. This one was originally called "Spicy Vietnamese Beef Stew", although I personally found it to be very mild, which is not surprising because there were no spicy ingredient. Fine by me, it's still delicious! Original Bo Kho has noodles in it. To keep with the paleo theme, my favorite substitute is enoki mushrooms.

Sources: nom nom paleo (stew) +  my organic life ("noodles")
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 4-5 hours
Yields: 6-8 portions

Ingredients:

• 2½ lbs. beef stew meat, cubed
• 1 large stalk lemongrass, cut into 3-inch lengths, and bruised with a heavy object
• 3 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1½ tsp. Madras curry powder
• 2½ tbsp. minced ginger
• 2 tbsp. applesauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tbsp. ghee
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups canned diced tomatoes, pressed by hand trough a tomato sieve
• 2 whole star anise
• 3 cups water
• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

"noodles" - optional:

• 4 packs of Enoki mushrooms, remove the roots, wash, drain and somewhat separate
• 1 tbsp. ghee
• Sesame oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, prepare a marinade from the fish sauce, curry powder, ginger, applesauce, lemongrass and bay leaf.
2. Marinade the beef for 30 minutes or more.
3. In a dutch oven or a skillet, melt the ghee and brown the beef. Set aside and keep the lemongrass and bay leaf.
4. If you're using a dutch oven, preheat oven to 300°F. Otherwise you can use a slow cooker.
5. Fry the onions in the skillet/dutch oven until soft.
6. Add the tomatoes, bring to boil, then simmer for about 12 min until a paste is formed.
7. Add some salt to taste, then also the browned beef, lemongrass, bay leaf, and star anise.
8. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the water and carrots, and bring to boil.
9. If you're using a dutch oven, then transfer it to the over and bake for 2½ hours. If using a slow cooker then transfer to it and cook on high for 3-4 hours or until meat is really tender.
10. For noodles: when stew is almost ready, heat up the ghee in a skillet and add the mushrooms. There will be liquid coming out.
11. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and sesame oil, then turn the heat up to high and stir well for about 2 minutes, until the liquid thickens.
12. Put "noodles" in the serving bowls, then pour the stew over them and serve.

Slow Cooked Rabbit in White Wine and Garlic

When I asked the vendor at the farmer's market how to prepare the rabbit, he recommended to cook it with white wine in a slow cooker. I was searching around the Internet for inspirations and came across this recipe, which is super simple and came out great. One thing I did find out is that rabbit is mostly very lean meat, and even in a slow cooker it can be a bit dry. This was easily solved by making a reduction sauce from the leftover broth and drowning the meat in it. So good...

This recipe would also work great with a whole chicken.

Source: christinecooks
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 8-10 hours
Yields: depends on the size of the rabbit, 2-4 portions

Ingredients:

• 1 whole rabbit, skinned
• 12 cloves of garlic, whole
• 6 cippolini onions, peeled and whole
• 10-12 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 bays leaves, fresh if you have them
• 1 cup cooked bacon pieces
• 5-6 whole peppercorns
• sea salt pepper to taste
• 1 plus ½ cups dry white wine, divided
• 1 cup broth
• 3 tbsp. butter

Directions:

1. Place the onions, garlic and peppercorns in the bottom of a slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle with half the bacon and thyme sprigs.
3. In a skillet, sear the rabbit with the bacon fat on all sides.
4. Place the rabbit in the slow cooker on top of the onions.
5. Pour half the wine into the hot skillet and scrape the bottom, allowing it to reduce by half.
6. Pour this over the rabbit and sprinkle the remaining bacon and thyme.
7. Add the broth and rest of the wine into the slow cooker.
8. Cook on high for 4 hours, then on low for 4-6 hours.
9. It's okay to carefully turn the rabbit over once or twice.
10. When tender, remove thyme stems, and transfer rabbit to a large plate.
11. Strain the broth, and add the bacon, some garlic and onions to the plate.
12. In a sauce pan, reduce about 2 cups of the broth down to half a cup. It's ok to add some garlic - mash it up.
13. Add the butter, stir, and pour over rabbit.

Nut Butter Paleo Bread

Because sometimes you just gotta have bread. The original recipe is excellent. I'm just swapping some cashew for almonds to get a bit more protein vs carbs.

Source: elanaspantry.com
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yields: 1 small loaf

Ingredients:

• ½ cup almond butter
• ½ cup cashew butter
• 5 eggs
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp maple syrup or honey
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp celtic sea salt

Directions:

1. Mix the wet ingredients in a blender.
2. Pulse in the dry ones.
3. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes, then let cool

Cumin and Mint Marinade for Lamb

This is a recent discovery and a very rich marinade. I usually make this amount for 6-8 chops, which is about a pound.  After they're done marinading I either cook them on a BBQ or broil them on low for 10-15 minutes each side.

In this picture I use short loin chops, rather then the regular ones. Kinda like mini t-bones...

Source: myrecipes.com
Prep Time: 5 minutes, then 4 hours to marinade
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 6-8 lamb chops

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup chopped fresh mint, or substitute/mix with cilantro.
• 1 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp regular balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp honey or maple syrup
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground mustard, or substitute for dijon.
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 pound of lamb chops

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients in a small bowl
2. Cover the lamb and let sit in the fridge for 4 hours

Chopped Chicken Liver - Two Versions

Here are the two versions of chopped liver according to our family recipe. When I was young my dad used to ask me each time which version I wanted and I would pick. I have no idea why Americans hate chicken liver so much. It's delicious and very healthy!

Version 1: "Classic" Chopped Liver

Source: Family recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yields: About 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 yellow onions, chopped
• 4 tbsp. ghee or butter
• 2 lb. chicken livers
• 3 hard boiled eggs 
• ½ cup chicken stock (from powder is ok)
• 1 tbsp. brandy
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Directions:

1. Clean the livers from all the tendons. Cut them into 1" pieces or less.
2. Fry the onions and set aside, keep the butter in the pan.
3. Bring to very hot and fry the livers in the butter. Small pieces cook fast and you should be done in about 2 minutes. Careful not to dry it too much and remove once both sides turned mostly brown.
4. Process the livers, onions and eggs in a meat grinder with the finest screen.
5. Add the brandy, salt etc. and half the stock.
6. Mix into a uniform paste. Add the rest of the stock if too dry.
7. Cool in the fridge for 6 hours.

Garnish:

• Finely ground hard boiled egg white
• Cut onion into long strands, dip in milk, shake in a plastic bag with flour, deep fry until golden and dry with paper towel.

Version 2: "Rough" Chopped liver

Ingredients:

• Same as the "classic", but without the brandy and stock
• 2 scallions finely chopped
• Optional: 3 small radishes, diced

Directions:

1. Instead of processing with a meat grinder, finely chop all the ingredients with a knife.
2. Mix lightly in a bowl.

Low Glycemic Balsamic Vinaigrette

Just a simple and yummy dressing. Originally it was made with maple syrup instead of yacon.

Source: allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: -

Yields: 1¾ cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup olive oil
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar (aged is best)
• ¼ cup yacon syrup
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Put it all in a 1 quart mason jar and shake well.