Curried Venison (or Beef) Stew

I was concocting dinner one night and stumbled upon this creation. It was so tasty, my family gobbled it up.

1 lb ground venison or beef
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 lb carrots, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 lb frozen peas
14 oz can whole tomatoes in juice, roughly chopped
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 Tbl Curry Powder
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp cumin
1 cup coconut milk
chopped green onions, raisins, chopped nuts for garnish

Saute onion and carrots in oil until onions become translucent. Add ground meat and stir to break up. Add cauliflower, peas, tomatoes + juice.

Cover and cook over medium heat until cauliflower is soft and beef is cooked through.

Add seasonings - and more, if needed - to taste. Just before serving, add coconut milk.

Serve with chopped green onions, raisins and chopped nuts.

Barely serves 4 - but over rice, it would probably serve 8.

Corn Bread

This turned out dense, moist, and delicious. My six nephews & nieces, two children, and everyone else who graced our Thanksgiving table kept asking for more. It requires 31 hours of prep time, so plan ahead. But the end result is more than worth it! Serve with grass-fed butter. No one will even think about honey or molasses.

31 Hours Before Baking

Soak for 7 hours
5 cups cornmeal in
2 1/2 cups lime water

24 Hours Before Baking

Soak the lime-soaked cornmeal in
2 cups whole milk yogurt OR
2 cups almond milk/coconut milk (for dairy-free)

When Ready To Bake

Combine
4 large, pastured eggs
3/4 cup melted grass-fed butter or coconut oil (for dairy-free)
1/2 cup raw honey
1 1/2 TB aluminum-free baking soda
2 1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Butter a 9x13 pan plus a 9x9 pan.
Blend soaked cornmeal and egg mixtures. just until combined.
Pour into prepared pans.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until center is just set and edges are slightly browning.

Spinach/Rice Souffle

Very nourishing, but not so frugal, this makes a tasty brunch entree. It also works fabulously as lunch. (Ben takes it to work and reheats two pieces in the toaster oven.) If you have a husband who doesn't think that real men don't eat quiche, you can also serve it for dinner.

Enjoy!

12 large eggs
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp rubbed sage
16 oz bag of frozen chopped spinach
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp ground mustard (optional)
4 grated carrots (optional)
4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled (optional)
3 cups cooked brown rice (made with 1/2 chicken stock + 1/2 water)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter a 9x13 glass baking dish.
Beat eggs, cottage cheese and seasonings together in mixer. Add remaining ingredients. Mix gently until all incorporated.
Pour into prepared dish.
Bake 45-60 minutes until bubbling minimizes and eggs are "set."
Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 16 pieces.

Coconut Flour Banana Bread

5 large Eggs
1/2 cup Butter
2 cups Banana, roughly mashed
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
2 Tbs Honey
1 Tbs Vanilla
3/4 cup Coconut Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup Blueberries, optional

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Preheat oven to 325 F.

Beat all ingredients (except flour, soda, vinegar and berries) on high for 2 minutes. Slowly add flour, vinegar and baking soda, just until moistened. Stir in berries by hand.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 70 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn onto cooling rack.
It makes delicious french toast.

Please consider taking action

Although I started this blog primarily as a place for me to post my own recipes for my own recollection, I feel this is worth noting.

On both The Nourishing Gourmet and The Nourished Kitchen, you will find information related to bills in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate that concern the freedom of consumers to purchase food from local sources. It appears there are attempts to quickly push through this legislation to avoid grassroots resistance.

Please leave a comment if you have more information or know how others can get involved. And please consider contacting your representatives even multiple times. Urge them to vote against these dangerous bills which will limit the freedoms of individual Americans and will quickly cripple small farmers who sell directly to consumers.

Sourdough Bread

This bread has evolved over the past year. We need to avoid wheat (but not gluten), so I've been using a gluten-free baking flour. But I'm posting here a version that uses wheat, since most people will find that to be the ideal bread flour.

* 4 cups Sourdough Starter
* 1 Tbls + 1 tsp Sea Salt
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup filtered water
* 3 Tbs Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
* 5 to 7 cups freshly ground Kamut, Spelt or Whole Wheat flour or a combination

Place starter, sea salt and water in the mixing bowl. Slowly advance speed to high. Beat for 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating for a full minute between each. Add oil one tablespoon at a time, again beating one minute between each addition. Reduce mixer speed to medium low and add flour 1/4 cup at a time, increasing mixer speed and beating on high for 15-20 seconds after each addition. It should take a full 5 minutes to add the flour until the dough begins to stiffen. At that point, change to the dough hook to add any remaining flour. When the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl, allow to knead for 8 minutes on medium low without adding any additional flour.

Grease a large glass bowl with butter or palm kernel oil. Using your still-buttery hands, remove the dough from the mixing bowl, rub one side lightly with butter/oil. Place dough, un-greased side down, in prepared bowl and cover with light towel. Allow to rise 4 to 12 hours in warm place in the kitchen.

After dough has doubled, grease two glass or stoneware bread pans. Lightly dust counter with flour. Empty dough from bowl and cut in half. Press into a rectangle the width of your bread pan. Gently roll up (away from yourself) to create a cylinder the width of the bread pan. Place loaves in pans. Place pans in cold oven on middle shelf and cover with light cloth. Place a heat-resistant empty glass container on the oven shelf beneath the loaf pans.

Boil water on the stove and pour into the empty glass container. Close oven door and allow loaves to rise undisturbed for 2 - 3 hours. When loaves have either doubled in size or filled the loaf pans and are beginning to rise over the lip, remove the container with water from the oven. Remove the cloth. Turn on oven to 350F. Turn on timer to 45 minutes.

Bread is done when the loaf is a light brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the side or bottom. Remove loaves from oven and bread pans to cool on baking racks. Cover loaves with light towel until cool.

Sourdough Starter

Last March, I got ambitious. I decided to try making my own sourdough starter. Part of the reason is because I'm cheap and didn't want to buy a starter that might flop (looking back, this doesn't really make sense when you see what is involved in making your own). Another reason was that I wanted to start right away and I didn't want to wait for a starter to come in the mail (again, this doesn't make sense since a starter would likely have arrived in the mail in less than a week). Finally, and probably most importantly, I wanted to know exactly what was in my bowl.

This recipe comes from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I've heard from several people who said they didn't care for it. Or maybe they tried making her sourdough bread recipe from another starter and weren't crazy about that. Either way, I understand that it may not work for everyone. But it has worked very well for baking bread so far. I have not used it for muffins or pancakes or other sweet-type baking, but I may get ambitious again soon and branch out!

To begin, you will need two large clean glass/ceramic mixing bowls, approx. 6-qt capacity.

Day 1:

Finely grind 2 cups of organic rye berries.

Add 2 cups of filtered water.

Mix well.

Cover with a doubled sheet of cheesecloth and secure to bowl with a rubber band.

Place in a warm, preferably sunny, place in your kitchen.

Day 2-7:

Finely grind 1 cup of organic rye berries.

Place in a new, clean bowl.

Add 1 cup filter water.

Mix well.

Transfer previous days' starter into the new bowl.

Cover with a doubled sheet of cheesecloth and secure to bowl with a rubber band.

Place in a warm, preferably sunny, place in your kitchen.

Day 8:

Before you feed your starter, remove 4 cups to make bread.

Grind 1 cup organic rye berries.

Place in new, clean bowl.

Add 1 cup filtered water.

Mix well.

Transfer previous days' starter into the new bowl.

Cover with a doubled sheet of cheesecloth and secure to bowl with a rubber band.

Place in a warm, preferably sunny, place in your kitchen.

Repeat for three days and bake more bread or share some starter with a friend.

Here are a couple of tips that might prove helpful:

* Although I have been using rye, I'm told you can also use whole wheat if you prefer.

* Additionally, I've been told that you can start by using rye and then begin adding whole wheat and that creates a nice sourdough as well. I don't have experience with either. But it may be worth a try, if you're up for the adventure!

* Starter can be refrigerated in a tightly closed jar for up to one week. When ready to use, remove from fridge, empty jar(s) into glass bowl and bring to room temperature. Feed with 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. Repeat for three days before using to bake bread.