Taste and Create #4: One little Corner of the World.

I was paired with Katie of One Little Corner of the World. Katie has a very nice blog where she seems to focus on making awesome family meals for her kiddos. I have no kiddos, and I cook for myself... but luckily her blog is chock full of things I can use! Heck yes! I was debating on making wings because she has a "quest for the perfect wing" going. Actually, I am going to try her marinate and grill method this weekend! I ordered my organic chicken wings today! I have a mini-quest going on right now regarding primal cooking. I am trying to get into cheaper and more creative cuts/parts of meat. She has a tongue post that got me thinking "I should really try to make some tongue". I mean if her kids liked it, I should too right? I'm no stranger to strange foods (need I remind you about eating ants and guinea pigs?) but I think the tongue shall wait for another day.

What I decided on was the Montauk Seafood Salad she featured by Ina Garten. She made some tasty additions and changes that I followed and was very happy with! The seafood salad is simply cooked seafood (shrimp, mussels and scallops) in a sauce, zested up with some celery and parsley.

Here is the recipe, with my changes:

Montauk Seafood Salad

Ingredients

1 16-oz bag mixed seafood (from Trader Joes) featuring calamari, shrimp and scallops.
1 shallot, minced

2 T olive oil

2 T avocado oil
1/2 t thyme leaves
1 t minced garlic
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 T white wine vinegar

6 oz fresh mushrooms, quartered
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup medium-diced celery

handful chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Heat oils over medium heat and add shallot. Saute for about 2 min. Add garlic and thyme. Saute for 1 min.

2. Add lemon zest and juice, mustard and vinegar. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Add seafood mix and mushrooms, cover. Cook for about 3 mins. Stir and cook for about 3 more mins or until seafood is cooked through.

4. remove the seafood and mushrooms to a dish. Add celery and parsley.

5. The seafood and mushrooms will have released a bit of liquid. Turn heat up to med-high and reduce sauce for a few mins, until about half its original volume. This took about 5 mins for me b/c I used a good, heavy, wide pan.

6. Add sauce over salad, mix and eat!

The salad all finished. Yum yum. All mine.

Look at all that yummy seafood. Just look at it!
Wait... whats this? Mr. Octo-souvenir-magnet man is coming to claim vengeance for his cousins.. the squid who became the calamari. He really is just a power hungry little guy, he wasted to be king of the seafood trifecta. Made a crown out of his cousins. Hmpf. You win this time, sir.

The salad was so light and refreshing... I will definitely be making it again. I could simply add some more veggies and this would become the ultimate primal meal!

Thank you Katie!

Spring, she do officially be here. Kitchen cure time.

Some pretty Spring pictures to get us started.

Dianthus, one of my fave flowers.

My tootsies in the hammock.

Flowery tree.

My "cake" for my bday (24th). Nilla wafer/pudding/banana trifle thing. YUM.

Now onto the Kitchen Cure! This is a 6 week kitchen clean up! I dont know if I reall need it but I might pick up some good tips. Week 1 Assignment: Clean out fridge and pantry. Well... I already did this a couple weeks ago. Look how on top of things I am!

"Before" fridge. Notice all the cool stuff in there.

After

After

After in the freezer.

Pantry... believe me, this looks great.

Crock pot pulled pork, ya'll.

This is a simple and mostly primal non-recipe. It was super easy. Ready?

Crock Pot Pulled Pork
Ingredients
~3 lb pork roast (I get mine from a local farm- no grains in this hog! Organic too.)
1 bottle low carb BBQ sauce (only 3 g carbs per serving!)
Some stock (ham stock if you have it), I used chicken.
2 T Liquid smoke
2 Bay leaves
1 T Cumin
1 T Paprika
Salt

Directions
1. Put roast in crock pot. Add 1/3 cup BBQ sauce over roast. Add liquid smoke, bay, cumin, paprika and stock to cover roast halfway. Add salt if you like it. I added a little beer too, well... because I could! Play around with it!
2. Set on low for about 6-8 hours. Remove roast and let cool until comfortable to handle. Drain liquid from crock pot, reserving about 1/2 cup.
3. Cut into palm sized chunks, and commence pulling apart with your hands! FUN!
4. Put pork back into crock pot, set on high. Add reserved liquid and enough BBQ sauce to make yummy. I used about 3/4 cup. Add salt and pepper to taste. I added a little liquid smoke too, just to give it a little more smoky flavor. Let heat for about 20 minutes or until hot.
5. Done! Active cooking time: 20 mins!

Coleslaw
Ingredients
1 bag coleslaw mix
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup yogurt (I used homemade strained yogurt)
1 T vinegar
1 t lemon juice
salt and pepper

Mix. Eat.

Journey to the south, via paper map. Dont forget the tea, with stevia.

Looks so good!

The best chocolate chip cookies ever!

Cookies. With chocolate chips in them. Chewy ones. Moist ones. CHEWY ONES!!! I have never been a big fan of cookies myself, but I make a mean cookie (with chocolate chips in it) so why not? I only ate 2 of these... theeeeen I ate 2 more in doughs worth while I was making them. Doh! I eat around the chips. I don't much like chocolate, so the dough is in dangerous territory... while the little chippies can just stroll along without the fear of the Tara-monsters jaws. I have a purpose. You shall see. Lets just dive right in, shall we?

Simplicity itself.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Ingredients

2 1/4 c all purpose flour

1 t salt (i use a little extra b/c salt + choc = yum)

1/2 t baking soda (I use Aluminum free)

1 c butter, melted

3/4 c dark brown sugar

1/4 c white sugar

2 T corn syrup

1 egg

1 egg yolk

seeds from 1 vanilla bean, or 1 t extract

few drops almond extract

1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix melted butter, egg, egg yolk, corn syrup and sugars. Add vanilla and almond extract.

2. Add salt and soda. Add flour in ~1/2 cup increments until well combined.

3. Add chocolate chips.

4. Put dough in refrigerator for at least 2 hours until firm, or overnight.

5. When dough has firmed up, preheat oven to 325F.

6. Spoon dough out onto cookie sheet while dough is cold. You want about 2 tablespoon dollops, spread about 3 inches apart. You can round them out if you like, but I just chucked them onto the pan. I lined my cookie sheet with a silpat, but I would recommend using minimal grease or spray to reduce spreading.

7. Bake for 13-15 mins, or until they look aaaaaalmost done.

8. Let cool for 5 minutes on pan, then slide off onto cooling rack. Be careful with them!

9. Try at least one while still warm and melty.

10. Yum.

Pictures!

Ingredients.

Chocolate and vanilla. Homemade vanilla= 3 beans and some Ciroc vodka to cover. Wait 3 months. Enjoy.
Chippies.
Tower of cookies.
This is what a sunrise should look like.

Look at that. Just look at it!

These chippies survived the Tara-monster's jaws. The first time.

Oh sweet chewy delightfulness.

Cookies an (raw) milk.

There are no words. Well, "om nom nom" might sum it up quite nicely.

Tara-monster's jaws!!! Oh, did I mention I made these for my Orthodontist and his awesome crew? They rock. I'm getting the tooth jewelry off tomorrow so they deserve a treat for dealing with me. They shall get all the cookies I made (minus 2 I ate and 2 the roomie ate).

Go make these. Now! Let me know what you thing of them!

Have a wonderful week.

Spring Catch-up.

Well this blog entry seems to be all side dishes. AND all Primal-friendly! Just wanted to get some pics out there so I could clear some files. Nothing crazy today...

Veggie stir fry. Zucchini, oyster mushroom, cabbage, carrot, broccoli stem, snap pea, celery. Add a little garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Yum. Rabbit with tomato, onion, cream and parsley.
Zucchini and tomatoes with a little seasonings.

Asparagus and shallots with fennel pollen and a little lemon.

Sauteed veggies with lemongrass.

BLT salad with avocado. Dressing is yogurt, cream and some Mrs Dash table blend. It was quick.

I loooove me some bacon.