I'm embarking on a Paleo journey and I'm posting all of my thoughts and ideas to this blog. I'll have recipes, links, articles, and just general thoughts about the whole paleo lifestyle.
I'm clearing out the fridge. Inspired by Primal Chat's recent twitter questions asking for ideas on how to save money, I'm trying to not throw any food away. Everyone always says organic produce is too expensive or that Paleo foods are too expensive (check the links to see otherwise), but if you don't eat what you buy, you're literally throwing money away. Part of saving money is simply not wasting it.
That's where fridge clearing dishes come in. What do you do when all you have left is 1/4 head of cabbage, 3 eggs, an onion, and a couple strips of bacon? You make Okonomiyaki! This is one of those it looks weird, but I promise it tastes good dishes, so trust me on this one.
You're probably sick of hearing about it, but my fiance and I discovered a ton of really cool food while traveling around Asia and some of it fits perfectly into a Paleo way of eating. Okonomiyaki is one of those dishes. It's kind of like a veggie heavy omelet, but a little more savory.
Here is what you need: 1 small yellow onion ($0.25), 1/4 head of cabbage($0.50), 5 green onions ($0.50), 4-5 strips of bacon ($1.60)and 3 eggs ($1.00). That's $3.85 for 1 XL or 2 medium sized servings
Next, take your 1/4 head of cabbage and take out the core by slicing into the cabbage at an angle. Chop it up into strips and cut 3 of the green onions into small pieces.
In a mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs and add just a little water (like 1/2 a second under a faucet). Toss the cabbage, green onions, and eggs together, trying to get at least a little egg on every piece of cabbage.
By now, the bacon should be about half done. You don't want it to be all the way cooked yet because the pan is staying on the stove for quite a while longer. Add the cabbage mix on top of the bacon and onions. Don't mix it together, just let it sit on top. The egg will drip through and make a bacon-onion crust on the bottom.
It may take almost 8-10 minutes on each side, so be patient. The egg in the center should steam while the bottom crust is forming. When you're finished, garnish it with some green onions. I had some olive oil mayo and spicy Thai sauce (no sugar!) that I mixed together to make a tangy sauce for dipping. Traditional okonomiyaki is topped with bonito flakes. Bonito flakes are smoked fish shavings that smell like a barn and are really delicious. The coolest thing is that when they are over steam, the shavings move like they're alive. It's a really cool ingredient worth checking out if you have time and access to an Asian market. Ok, enough geeking out on food. Check out the video under this picture to see our last okonomiyaki in South Korea!
I've been excited about making this all week. Stick with me with the pictures, I didn't get everything photographed because I usually start off with a general idea about how to make a dish then make stuff up as I go.
Starting at the pepper grinder going clockwise: Pepper, 2 lbs of button mushrooms(4.00), olive oil (0.25), green olives (0.85), capers (0.10), anchovy paste (optional) (0.05), black olives (1.39), parsley (0.10), 5 garlic cloves (0.10), 85/15 grassfed beef (5.99), 1/4 lb of feta cheese (1.08), *not pictured 1/8 of a yellow onion (0.30), and red pepper flakes (0.02). That's a total of 14.23 for 4 servings @ $3.56 each.
Before starting, go ahead and get your oven preheated to 375. Start by removing the stems from the mushrooms. They should come out easily. Be careful to not break the mushroom caps as you'll want them to catch all the tasty beef juices later.
Put a little olive oil in your hand and dip each mushroom cap in your hand. This step may not be necessary, but it's something I decided to do. Like I said, I make this stuff up as I go. Next, lay out all your mushrooms on a cooking sheet with some parchment paper or foil underneath.
After that, I mixed my beef with 4 grated garlic cloves, 1/8 (1 slice) of an onion, a few shakes of red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Make sure you slice the onion up as fine as you can. If the chunks are too large, it will make the beef watery and it will fall apart. We want it to stay in one big clump on top of the mushrooms.
Portion out the meat and cover each mushroom. 1 lb of beef portioned into balls a little smaller than golf balls worked pretty well for me. When they're all covered, you can put them in the oven at 375 for about half an hour. Remember, your oven is different from mine, so check after 25 minutes and see if they look finished and adjust your time from there.
Now, for the tapenade. Tapenade is a kind of like an olive and caper relish. It's super easy to make. It's a chop 'n' mix topping. Mix 4 oz of drained black olives (I got mine prechopped), 4 oz of drained and chopped green olives (I used the black olive can to measure 4 oz), a small bunch of parsley, 20 capers, and a clove of grated garlic. You may want to add a little olive oil to help keep everything moist. I used about a tablespoon. If you want, you can add a couple drops of anchovy paste or an anchovy fillet. I know a lot of people hate anchovies, so I kept it optional. Also, if you have basil, you can add basil to tapenade as well. It depends on what herbs you like.
When the mushrooms are finished, they should be releasing some delicious beef juices onto the feta, softening the cheese up. Plate the mushrooms up with some tapenade and eat up!
Part of what I hope to do with this blog is give some real life applications of things that I've learned during my own personal primal journey. If you want to keep yourself motivated and excited about your next meal, I suggest you take advantage of leftovers.
If you made last night's recipe of Gorgonzola Burgers and Mashed Cauliflower, then you may have some leftovers. The best part about leftovers is that a lot of your prep for a new meal is already done. Here's what you need to get ready:
Clockwise from 9 o'clock: Sauteed portabella mushrooms (cooked in beef fat from the previous post), Olive oil *I called an audible and switched it up to coconut oil while cooking - I liked the flavor, but my fiance hated it, pepper, salt, green onions, eggs, and leftover mashed cauliflower
Roughly chop up the mushrooms. I like big chunks because they help give the omelette some much needed texture.
Beat the eggs and start those in a greased pan on low heat. Preheat your broiler at this time, you'll need it in a few minutes. Patience is the key with good eggs. You have to cook them over low heat to keep them from burning. This also keeps the fats and proteins from oxidizing - some science stuff for a later post. My fiance cooked the eggs and she has her own method, using a spatula to stir the eggs as they cook. I have my own method that I'll cover in the future.
Once the eggs are about 80% cooked and there is only a little liquid at the top, add the mushrooms, chives, and any other veggies you want to add. Finish the omelette off in your broiler
Finish the eggs off in your broiler until they are cooked through. I don't have any problems with runny or raw eggs, but I know most people don't care for them that way.
For the cauliflower pancakes, add one egg yolk to about a cup or so of the cauliflower mash from last night. Mix that up well as the yolk is what will hold the pancake together. If it feels too loose, add another yolk, but don't get too crazy. Mix that well and throw it into a skillet with some coconut oil or the oil of your choice. Be careful when flipping so that you don't let the delicate pancake fall apart. I like to use a ridiculously oversized spatula.
Alright, that's it. Plate it up and eat. I'll be honest, it's not the most exciting recipe, but sometimes it's nice to have some direction or new ideas. The pancakes will be brittle, but they're an interesting breakfast side to try.
