Super Bowl Sunday found me exactly where I thought I’d be–near the buffet and in an arms distance from the skull shaped beer bong. I knew New Orleans was going to pull it off just as I knew there’d be good eating to be had. The fete at Van & Kelly’s, the King and Queen of Southern food and the best hosts ever (remember the homemade pizza party?), as usual, did not disappoint. Both teams were superbly represented: Abita beer on tap, popcorn flown in from Indiana, seafood gumbo, red beans and rice (made with beans flown in from Indy), homemade biscuits and homemade French bread not to mention the two stars of the show–the Indianapolis Pork Cutlet Biscuit Sandwich and the Naw’lins Braised Beef n’ Gravy Debris Po’boy. Which do you think won?

Notice our homemade hot sauce made it into the mix!

What’s football and beer without steak? I’ll tell you what it is, it’s about as useful as a pair of sunglasses are on a guy with one ear. As healthy as I am I do love me a good steak and if ever there was a day I’m going off the deep end food wise, it’s definitely on Super Bowl Sunday. Flank steak is one of my favorites, especially on the grill. Add this marinade to the mix and it’s the business! Superb by itself, in tacos or even great on salads if you want to keep it super clean and tasty. (Not bagged salads though am I right?)

(Adapted from Eating Well Magazine.)

RECIPE:
Serves 4-6

2 lbs grass fed/organic flank steak

Marinade:
1 x 15 oz can chopped tomatoes (fresh would be better though you might want to wait until they’re in season)
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp chili flakes
1 shallot – peeled, roughly chopped
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves – peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Place all the marinade ingredients in a blender and blitz for 30 seconds. Place the steak in a casserole dish and cover with marinade. Turn meat over to make sure all sides are coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Marinate for between 4 and 24 hours.

TIP: Remove from fridge 1 hour before grilling to let return to room temperature. The reason being is that if you grill cold meat straight from the fridge by the time the heat penetrates the center of the steak the outside will be dry and over-cooked.

Preheat large skillet or outdoor bbq on high heat. Season marinated flank with S&P on both sides and sear on grill for 6-7 minutes on both sides for medium rare.

Very important: Let meat rest for 10 minutes on a tray after cooking. This is really the key to having juicy succulent meat. By doing this it gives the meat time to let all the juices redistribute back into the meat and not all over your cutting board.

Marinate. Grill. Eat. Drink. Couldn’t be easier!

Super Bowl Sunday….Done!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

In lieu of this weekend’s festivities I thought this warning would be apropos, just in case you had planned on making a nice big healthy salad for the buffet. If you’re buying bagged salads and prepacked lettuces, LISTEN UP: you might be getting more than you bargained for. A new investigation came out yesterday conducted by Consumer Reports Magazine, in which random prepackaged lettuces, all within their use-by date including those labeled “washed” and “triple washed,” were tested for cleanliness.

Though neither E. coli nor salmonella were found, “bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination” were, at an alarming rate of 39% of the those tested. How can this happen? There are federal limits on the amount of  “indicator” bacteria that can be legally found in water, milk, raw meats, and processed foods, sadly there is no such standard for produce.

“Results varied widely among samples. Whether the greens came in a clamshell or bag, included were “baby” greens and organic, it made no difference.” (In this case, there went that theory about organic being better.)

I couldn’t have said it better than this, quoted from TreeHugger.com:

“To clarify, just because a sample contains coliform bacteria, this does not mean there is literally feces in your salad–nor does it mean that this bacteria necessarily grew in crap. But high levels of such indicator bacterias like coliforms and enterococcus mean that there’s a higher chance there was some fecal contamination or poor sanitation practices.”

Though you may not get sick from said contamination, I’d say it’s time to think twice about buying those convenient bagged lettuces.

The best thing you can do in my opinion? Buy heads of lettuce, preferably locally farmed and organic and wash them well OR better yet, grow your own lettuce. It really couldn’t be easier — if I can manage it you certainly can! But if you just can’t stay away from the bagged salads, Consumer Reports suggests buying packages as far from their use-by date as you can find and be sure to wash the greens yourself even if the bag says “prewashed” or “triple-washed.” Rinsing won’t remove all bacteria but may remove residual soil. Good luck with that.

Superbowl Sunday is this weekend. Who’s playin’ again? Oh ya Norlins & da Colts. I have to tell you I couldn’t give a monkeys who wins but I just like the competitiveness of it and of course the mucho beers & grub, which I’ll partake in no doubt. I am a guest of this country so it would be rude not to join in.

With the weekend that’s in it I wanted to give you guys a good easy recipe with a bit of a twist on regular meatballs, which actually doubles as two separate dishes. You can do these ahead especially the meatballs and just let them simmer on the stove. With the sliders you could sear them ahead o’ time and just pop them in the oven for a few minutes when the boys (& girls) come over. Easy!

RECIPE:
Serves 4-6

2 lbs minced lamb
1 cup shallots – fine dice
1/4 cup fresh marjoram & oregano mixed – chopped
1/2 red bell pepper – fine dice
1 tsp chili flakes
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat saute pan on medium heat for 1 minute. Add olive oil along with diced shallots, red pepper and chili flakes. Stir to coat and turn heat to low. You want to sweat the veggies without getting them brown. Stir occasionally for 5-6 minutes. Once softened remove to a plate to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, as onion mixture is cooling, place the lamb in a large mixing bowl along with cheese, Worcestershire, herbs and S&P. Once veggies are cooled add to lamb. With clean hands get in there and mix thoroughly.

To Test: Preheat same saute you used already to saute the shallots. Drizzle a little olive oil in there and roll 1 meatball. Flatten down to slider size (1/4″ thick). Cook in the pan for a few minutes each side ’til cook through. Taste  and adjust seasoning to your taste if needed………..but I think you’ll be good.

Divide the meat mixture in half. One for meatballs the other for mini sliders.

MEATBALLS:
Roll the meatballs to golf ball size and lay on a foiled tray. Again use the same saute pan as above. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil and once all the meatballs are rolled out add to your tomato sauce of choice on the stove. Simmer for 1  hour partially covered. Once ready serve as is or with your favourite pasta and a good ol’ glass of red wine.

Make sure you take a gander at my mini meatball in pita pockets recipe from last year. These look (and taste) fantastic.

SLIDERS:
Roll each slider slightly bigger than the meatballs and flatten slightly to about 1/4 ” thickness. Preheat your grill pan for 1 minute on medium heat. Once ready to cook sear each slider for 3-4 minutes each side for medium rare or longer for more well cooked. Serve with the usual condiments, mustard, homemade ketchup and caramelized onions.

Who’s the real winner?

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Say it with me, “Are you ready for some football?!” Across the pond this takes on a whole other meaning but over here it’s THE biggest sports day. This Sunday even I, as someone who doesn’t even know who’s playing in the Superbowl, will be partaking in the ritual of Super Bowl; Watching, betting, cheering, drinking and eating (healthy food of course!) Don’t believe that you can eat healthy even on Super Bowl Sunday? To prove it, here are some ideas from the last couple of years to help you create a tasty and healthy buffet:

Super Bowl Mo’Rockin’ Meatball Pitas

Lavash Pizza, Homemade Pita Chips & Hummus, Apple Jicama Slaw

Healthy Potato Salad

Turkey & Portobello Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

Tandoori Chicken Skewers, Asparagus Skewered Shrimp & Mini Beef Sliders

And that’s not all! This week I’m making a pork & poblano stew, tomato marinated flank steak, lamb sliders & Mediterranean meatballs so be sure to check back for these recipes!

Oh yeah, this is why I like American football!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

You may have noticed all the different winter squash at the markets–acorn, butternut, spaghetti, kabocha, just to name a few. I absolutely love butternut squash, which is what I tend to use most often. I suppose we all tend to stick with what we know and like but lately I’ve had quite a few inquiries for what to do with a spaghetti squash, which is great because I really dig this squash too. Actually I’m really into pasta (gluten free) but I’m off heavy carbs in the evening so this squash, believe it or not, makes a brilliant substitute for pasta! Thought all you who are sticking to any sort of get-in-shape resolutions would love this idea, too.

RECIPE:
Serves 2 with leftovers

1 medium spaghetti squash (preferably organic)
1 lb medium wild, locally caught shrimp (21-30’s) P&D’s (peeled & de-veined)
1 cup pasta tomato sauce (whatever you fancy)
1 tbsp capers
1/2 lemon- zested
chili flakes (as much as you can handle)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

When choosing a spaghetti squash look for the yellow-est ones as those will be the ripest and best to eat. I also prefer the larger ones as they make better “noodles”. When it comes to choosing a jarred pasta sauce, be sure to read the labels for added sugars, which is crap. I’m really fond of The Silver Palate’s Fra Diavolo sauce. This all natural, gluten free sauce has great flavour and a nice spicy kick. “Fra Diavolo” generally describes spicy tomato-based sauces used for pasta or seafood.

To Roast Squash:

Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds from the interior. Drizzle the flesh with olive oil and season with S&P. Lay each squash half flesh side down on a foiled oven tray and pop in the oven until a knife pierces the flesh easily. Smaller ones will take less time to cook than larger ones so check them about 45 mins to an hour in. My small ones took about an hour to roast and my large ones took about 1 1/2 hours. (We’re talking SQUASH people!)

Once ready, remove from oven, let cool enough to handle and using a fork gently scrape out the ’spaghetti’. Place on a plate until ready to use.

Place tomato sauce, capers and zest in a saute pan and gently simmer shrimp until pink and firm to touch about 10-12 minutes, approx. When ready to serve add spaghetti squash to sauce and toss to coat. Of course you can eliminate the shrimp and eat on its own OR you can add grilled chicken. Deliciousness either way!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Here we are at the end of the first month in this new year, which begs the big question, How’re you doing on your resolutions? Did you know the #1 new year resolution that people made was to eat healthier? I read that somewhere so don’t quote me on it but I’m not surprised. I think we all want to get healthier don’t we? One trick to get there is to know what you eat and that means reading labels. A pain in the ass maybe, but worth it in the end (especially for your ass!)

Here’s a really simple example of why reading labels are important.

Here we have two jams, one regular and one sugar free. Right off the bat which one do you think is the best choice?

Bet you chose the sugar free one, right? I think those advertisers do a great job convincing us anything with the word “Free” in it is the way to go. But here’s why this is bogus:

1. Colour
If it’s possible to look at the products, compare them with your eyes right off the bat. You can see the difference in the colour. The sugar free one is nearly neon in color! I don’t think that’s natural, is it?

2. Labels
Comparing the two labels on the front, the 365 brand (Whole Foods’ line) claims 100% natural, 100% fruit and the Smucker’s brand claims sugar free, sweetened with Splenda and has 80% fewer calories than regular preserves.

Comparing the back labels, well take a look for yourselves:

Though the 365 brand does has more calories, it seems to be more natural with only 3 ingredients, white grape juice concentrate, strawberries and fruit pectin, and it contains no preservatives, artificial colours or flavours. Smucker’s has a whopping twelve ingredients including preservatives and Red 40 (added for colour?), which is apparently not found in regular preserves according to the label. Hmmm….I’d gladly eat a few more cals for natural ingredients vs. all that fake stuff.

3. Taste
I guess you’ll just have to trust me on this one unless you want to do your own taste test but the sugar free tastes like it’s colour–bland with a bit of the sweetener’s aftertaste.

I’ve done this same label review for ice cream, too. Which one do you think hit the spot?

Right now I have gorgeous poblano peppers growing in my garden so I decided to play around with them since they’re a relatively new ingredient to me. You’ll be most familiar with these peppers in Mexican food so what I came up with here was channeled through my inner “Irecan.” That’s Irish-Mexican, sort of like Rick Bayless affectionately known as Richie MacBayless. Unlike some other chillies these do not require a fire extinguisher (thank f*%k for that!)

RECIPE:
Serves 4

4 lbs organic / grass fed beef ribs
6 shallots – peeled
5 cloves garlic – peeled
4 poblano peppers
1 cup red wine (whatever’s open will do)
2 whole carrots – washed & halved
1 x 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes (I prefer to use the Italian San Marzano’s, which are tad more expensive but the quality is better = tons of flavour)
6 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 bouquet garni – marjoram & oregano
10 black peppercorns

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Begin by searing the peppers directly on a gas flame, medium heat, of your stove. You want to char the skin not burn the flesh so as soon as one side of the skin is black and charred turn it until all sides are done. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. By doing this the steam created by the heat from the peppers will loosen the skins. After 30 minutes remove the skins from the peppers and clean out seeds. Slice the peppers into 1/4″ strips.

NOTE: Do Not rinse the charred peppers under the tap to remove the skins. This is a no no. All you’re doing is washing away all the lovely charred flavour.

Next seasoning & searing the ribs either in a hot pan with olive oil or, as I did, on the grill. Sear to a nice golden brown colour.

Place ribs in a large oven proof casserole dish when seared and let be until needed. Meanwhile saute the shallots & garlic in a medium hot saute pan in 2 tbsp olive oil. Saute for 4 minutes or until onions begin to brown. Add sliced poblanos and saute for another minute. Add wine and simmer for 2 minutes.

Next add tomatoes, carrots, peppercorns & herbs. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add sauce to ribs and enough broth to cover. Cover dish with foil and pop in oven for up to 3 hours or until ribs are fork tender and falling off the bone. Not only are the ribs fantastic but those San Marzano tomatoes will knock your socks off!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

I see a lot of crazy & strange food while surfing the web but these were too brilliant to keep to myself.

I imagine these would make good camping or picnic foods don’t you tink? Here’s how my menu would look (it’s pretty romantic if I do say so myself).

Let’s start with some traditional brown bread

(my granny is turning in her grave right now)

then work our way into a delicious protein-rich appetizer (love the curry flavour!)

Or maybe a little roadkill will get us going.

Next I think I’d fire up the grill to bbq some delicious chicken

or NOT.

Me tinks a burger sounds better.

Burger in a can…I’m going to have to disguise this as best I can and everyone says bacon makes everything better, so…

Of course we’ll need some crisps to go with our burger — I found a lovely array of chips to choose from.

(Actually I think I’ve tried the prawn cocktail crisps and either they were tasty…or I was drunk.)

The flavours below were in a contest to determine which one would be the next introduced to the Walkers line of crisps.
Too bad we didn’t get to taste them here in the States–I’ve always wondered what squirrel tasted like. Would’ve made a great addition to our picnic.

(The Builders Breakfast won the contest. I guess building a tasty gut is all the rage!)

Now if burgers in a can with strange bacon-like stuff on top with a side of crisps isn’t your thing, I’ve got a backup:
HAGGIS. Even Vegetarian Haggis for all of you veg-heads. (Bet you think I’m making this stuff up, don’t you?)

(In case you didn’t know, Haggis is a dish containing sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal’s stomach for approximately three hours. It somewhat resembles stuffed intestines (pig intestines otherwise known as chitterlings), sausages and savoury puddings of which it is among the largest types.) Wonder what the Vegetarian version is made with….

We need something refreshing to drink don’t we?

Here’s a great snack idea for later when we’ve got the munchies

Now all we need is dessert!

Is that dessert or lunch meat? I can’t tell but I found it at Tesco’s.

This is more like it for dessert

True Spotted Dick isn’t abnormal for those across the pond, but it’s a little off-putting coming a can don’t you agree?

So who’s ready to go camping with me?

DISCLAIMER: I did not make this stuff up, all of it really exists though I’m not sure who’s eating it! If it’s you, do share (not the food, just what it tastes like).

I don’t think anyone is exempt from the winter weather that’s hitting us all at the moment. Between the snow, the cold and the days upon days of rain we’re having here in LA at the minute, I thought a quick n easy soup would hit the spot. I made chicken for dinner last night and had some left over so I thought the obvious choice was to bust out a soup for lunch today and hey presto here it is. If you don’t have any leftover chicken like I did, buy a roast chicken and just use that. You’ll get a great flavour as well as having the carcass to make your stock. Perfecto! This is one of the simplest ways to make a soup as you basically just put everything in the same pot and simmer it.

Did I mention it’s flu season? A bit of homemade chicken soup and vitamin C are sure to help!

RECIPE:
Serves 4

1 organic roast chicken or 4 cups leftover chicken – shredded
6 oz shredded carrot (about 2 carrots)
1 cup celery – thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
2 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup thin egg noodles (like spaghetti cut into 2″ pieces. I bought a packet in the supermarket)
S&P
freshly chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:
Add the broth to a soup pot and place on a medium-flamed burner. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Add shredded chicken, bay leaves, carrot and celery and cook for 20 minutes, partially covered.
NOTE: This can all be done ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to eat. When you are ready bring the soup to a boil and add noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add noodles and stir soup. The noodles are small and thin like spaghetti so they’ll cook in about 10 minutes. Once noodles are done taste and season with S&P. Remove bay leaves, top with parsley and freshly ground and serve. Easy!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible