Boston Butt in the Crock with Lazy Sauce

As I embark on the Whole 30, 6 week challenge, I am only going to post deliciously simple, Whole 30 approved recipes, so you will have to wait a little while for some more treat recipes.

This week's recipe is a slow cooker Boston Butt and broth sauce. As you know by now I love throwing a roast in the crock pot on Sundays and having dinner made for most of the week. This recipe is no different but I've added a way to use that delicious cooking liquid. I also love using up all the left over vegetables in my refrigerator before they go bad. That method of throwing whatever you have around is what inspired me to name this broth turned sauce, Lazy Sauce.

Boston Butt in the Crock with Lazy Sauce:

Ingredients:
3.5 lb Boston Butt- preferably organic, pastured
1 1/2 cups Homemade broth or box broth will work fine (beef, chicken or vegetable)
1 large onion- rough chop
4 carrots- peeled and rough chop; Don't forget to throw in the carrot tops too, they add flavor and nutrients
3 garlic cloves- peeled
4 stalks Celery- rough chop; You can add the leaves also, another flavorful part that usually thrown away
1/2 tbs. onion powder
1/2 tbs. garlic powder
1 tbs. Oregano
1 tbs. Thyme
1 tbs. Parsley
Season with 1/2 tbs. salt and pepper

**TIP: Use whatever herbs you have, so don't worry if you don't have all of these. Also the measurements will be slightly less for a smaller Butt.

Preparation:

Put all ingredients into Crock Pot and let cook on low for 10 hrs or on high for 4-5 hrs.
Meat should practically fall apart.
Remove meat from Crock Pot and remove any bones, or sticks from carrot greens, from the liquid.
Store meat in air tight container until ready to serve.

Lazy Sauce:

Preparation:

Once meat, bones and sticks from carrot greens are removed, pour liquid and vegetables into blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Heat liquid in a pot on the stove on med-low heat until sauce starts to thicken.

Serve over meat with favorite vegetable side and ENJOY!!

So easy and so delicious!


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Weekend Update!

Hi Everyone,

First I want to apologize for missing last week. I have some exciting stuff going on and unless I prepare better for my weekly post I might miss one now and then, but trust me, it will be worth it! I can't wait to share with all of you what I've been up to in a few months!

Ok! That's out of the way. On to my weekend update!

Friday night kicked off the weekend with an awesome dinner at Holeman and Finch. This restaurant is located in Buckhead and specializes in the 'other' parts of the animal and is also known for their burgers. They only make 24 burgers a night, you have to put your name on a list and hope that you've gotten there in time. They don't serve the burgers until 10:00 PM so you have plenty of time to try some of the other interesting items on the menu as well as some of the creative, 'old school'  cocktails. I highly suggest this place to anyone interested in trying new things and have a love for some aged, cured, fermented meat.

I met my good friend Julie there at 8:00 PM and the place was packed, we both started off with a vodka soda (I know, how boring! I didn't even know what the other stuff on their cocktail menu was and we were trying to keep it Paleo) We asked for Ciroc or Tito's vodka, which they didn't have either, the bartender suggested a similar vodka, Cathead, an organic corn-based vodka from Mississippi. We got our name on the burger list and claimed the last burger, phew. We were seated just after 9:00 PM and started the journey through the menu. Knowing we had a burger coming and that we wanted to try something 'weird' we narrowed the list down to the Bone Marrow, Sweetbreads or Liver Paté. I know some of you are gagging right now but we were stoked. Unfortunately the Bone Marrow and Liver Paté were made with some gluten ingredients. We were about to order the Sweetbreads when our lovely waitress suggested the Trotter Pierre Koffman, which is basically a pig leg stuffed with sweetbreads and I think there was some liver paté in there too. (Julie, correct me if I'm wrong.) While it was literally a pig leg on a plate, hoof and all, it was absolutely delicious. SO AMAZING!! Then came The Burger. We shared ours and got it without cheese and took the bun off. The meat was seasoned really well and had a nice cook to it. The pickles were homemade and the onions were sautéed but still crunchy. Overall I would give it a B+; not the outstanding burger I was looking for but still really good. Lastly, we decided to try to Bacon Fat Caramel. It came with apples for dipping and was really good, it had a touch more saltiness that normal caramel which I'm guessing is from the bacon fat.

Not my best photography here :) I almost forgot to take a picture like I did the rest of the meal!

Final Review of Holeman and Finch: Would I go back?
Yes, but I would skip the burger and try some of the awesome meats they had hanging in a glass case. I might try one of the other plates and I would definitely have the Trotter again!

Not the Trotter but another animal leg just hanging out in the kitchen

Glass case of hanging meats, damn that glare. I need to work on my picture taking!

Saturday: Against All Grain Book Signing with Danielle Walker

Saturday at Cook's Warehouse in Midtown, Danielle Walker was doing a cooking demo, Q&A session and a book signing of her new cookbook, Against All Grain. Not only was the cooking demo and Q&A session really informative and fun but Danielle is such a delight and her story is inspirational. I highly suggest EVERYONE check out her blog, againstallgrain.com

Her cookbook has a ton of recipes in it and lots of grain-free foods we all miss and loved in our former non-paleo days, like Sandwich bread, WHAT!! Pound cake and some awesome grain-free chocolate chip cookies that she made for us and I got to try and let me tell you, you could not tell that there was no flour or sugar. I asked Danielle a couple questions that I thought I would share with you:

1. What are your 3 kitchen must-haves? Kitchen-ware and Foods

1. Spiral slicer- use this to make anything into a noodle shape like squash and zucchini 
2. BlendTec- a really good quality blender makes prepping a breeze 
3. Knives- at least 1 sharp knife makes a world of difference when chopping veggies and meat.

You can find these kitchen must-haves and more on Danielle's blog on her shop page.

Food-

1. Farmhouse Cultures Sauerkraut- a good quality fermented sauerkraut can be a great go to healthy food. 
2. Deli meat- good quality deli meat with no additives or preservatives, it's best to look for some organic deli meat sliced from the deli counter. (I use Applegate Organics Roast Beef) and Avocado. 
3. Coconut and Almond Flour- Wellbee Almond flour has a nice texture and is blanched so it looks more like flour.  You can find this on Amazon.com 

1. What do you suggest for people who have an egg intolerance but still want to make some of your recipes that calls for an egg binder?

1. You can make a flax seed slurry as a substitute for eggs. Ratio being 1:3- 1 TBL Flax seed to 3 TBL water. 

3. What's the best way to store goods made with coconut flour?

1. Coconut Flour baked goods are best kept in the refrigerator. 

After the Q&A session, I got my very own copy of Against All Grain signed by the author herself!

Such a sweet and amazing woman and I feel so lucky I got to meet her and her her story in person. Its amazing how resilient the human body is and how powerful good, clean foods are! 

Clean food can change your health and the health of the world!

Stay tuned for next week's recipe as I start a 6 week Whole 30 Paleo challenge. All the recipes I will be posting for the next 6 weeks will be Whole 30 approved. 

**Don't for get to subscribe to the blog and leave some feedback! And buy this cookbook, you won't regret it!

Marinated Flank Steak and Chicken with Chimichurri Sauce

Hello again!
Today I am sharing a couple marinades I made up on the spot for a dinner I put together for a few friends. I knew I would be making the chimichurri sauce since this is a heavy garlic sauce and we are all garlic lovers! So I wanted to make a marinade that would help enhance the flavors without covering up the deliciousness of the quality steak and chicken. My first thought was they would be very basic and very similar. I knew I wanted a liquid component, a tenderizing component, a little acid and some similar flavors found in the sauce. Its amazing how simple marinades are to make and it really help the texture and flavor of the meat and chicken. Of course you don't have to marinate the meat at all, the sauce is very flavorful but I wanted to be fancy!

Steak w/ Chimichurri accompanied with some roasted brussels sprouts and asparagus and a organic basmati rice with sauteed veggies.

Steak Marinade:

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Flank Steak
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1/4 cup white vinegar- tenderizer component
1/4 cup olive oil- any kind, I used a herb infused one just cause I had it
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon onion powder
1tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

Cut your flank steak into manageable portions if you need to. Place in a large freezer bag, our in all marinade ingredients. Seal bag and shake it up to coat the steak. Put in the refrigerator for an hour to overnight, the longer the better.  To cook, heat a sauce pan on high heat, melt a tablespoon of fat (duck, bacon, ghee, butter) take steak out of marinade and brown both sides, 1 min each side, discard marinade. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place browned meat on cookie sheet and bake for 15 mins.

Chicken Marinade: Looks a lot like the steak marinade

Ingredients:
2 lbs. chicken breasts and thighs
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar- tenderizer component
1/4 cup Olive Oil- any kind, I used herb infused
Juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Place chicken and all marinade ingredients into a larger freezer bag. Seal bag and shake up to coat. Put in refrigerator for an hour to overnight, the longer the better. To cook, heat a sauce pan on high heat, melt a tablespoon of fat (duck, bacon, ghee, butter) take chicken out of marinade and brown both sides,
about 2 mins each side, discard marinade. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place browned chicken on cookie sheet and bake for 15 mins.

Chimichurri Sauce- super awesome easy sauce!

Ingredients:
5 garlic cloves
1 bunch parsley (about 1 cup)
1 bunch cilantro (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste.

**If you want your sauce thicker use less olive oil and vinegar, just be sure to use the same amount of each, try 1/2 cup of each and add a little more till you get the desired consistency.**

In a food processor or blender, combine garlic and oregano and a little olive oil and pulse on low, just to initially chop up garlic.

Add the remainder ingredients and pulse on low until smooth sauce it formed. Spoon on top of chicken and/or steak and ENJOY!!!

I hope you all are enjoying these recipes, if you are feel free to leave me some feedback!!

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