Bam! Ranger shawl complete.
October 6, 2015
Bam! Ranger shawl complete.
October 5, 2015
This little freak is impatiently waiting for a second leaf of rosemary.
October 4, 2015
Close-up detail of my Manhattan map running shirt – plus belly full of ramen.
October 3, 2015
A stop for tea during today’s 7 hours to get 5 miles urban rucking/shopping adventure.
Half-Baked Chicken
Half a chicken. I had no idea this was a “thing” until I received one in my CSA share a couple of weeks ago. I saw it, had no idea what to do with it, and promptly shoved it to the back of the freezer until I ran out of meat – and it was between learning what to do with half a chicken and trying to phrase dinner excitingly enough that two tiny lamb kidneys sounded like a buffet.
I figured it was time to face the half chicken. If you, like me, have zero idea what to do with this bizarre bird configuration – you’re in the right place. Here, I have cobbled together instructions from a couple different sites into something that works well for a simple dinner.
Throw in a few chopped carrots (and those radishes that were hiding in the bottom of my crisper) and I had myself a full meal that was relatively hands-off. Perfect for the amount of effort I had to expend.
Gluten-free, paleo, Whole30
Half-Baked Chicken
Half a chicken
Fat of choice
Seasoning mix of choice
Kosher salt & black pepper
Root veggies – I used most of a bunch of carrots + a whole bunch of radishes
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Rub your fat of choice all over the chicken + on a large oven-proof skillet (big enough to hold the chicken + veggies). Season liberally with your favorite seasoning mix (I used a vaguely Asian mix I picked up in my butcher’s impulse spice section) and salt & pepper if necessary.
Place the chicken cut side/open cavity down. Bake 15 minutes, or until the skin starts to brown.
While the chicken is working, chop the veggies.
When the chicken is done, pull it, arrange the veggies around it, kick the heat down to 350, and put the chicken back in. Bake until the thigh registers 165 – 180 F, about 20 minutes per pound.
Let sit out of the pan 10 minutes to allow the juices to re-distribute. While the chicken is resting, make sure your veggies are cooked through and seasoned to your liking.
Serves 2 – 3 for dinner
October 2, 2015
Another uninspired pic day, but at least I’ve got a great tee.
October 1, 2015
Apparently, I didn’t take any good or exciting pictures yesterday. Here is a shot of the day’s things I’m letting go of as part of a minimalism game I’m playing.
September 30, 2015
The gathering storm makes for an unquiet yoga session.
September 29, 2015
Knocking out cross stitch projects like its my job.
What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Brooklyn Beet CSA Box 8
Whoo hoo! It’s CSA time again! Time to shrug off winter’s recipe rut and reign spring’s exuberance with bi-monthly boxes of vegetables (and hopefully meat).
This year’s CSA is from Brooklyn Beet CSA. Brooklyn Beet provides veggie shares from Angel Family Farm, a sustainable farm located in Orange County, NY that was created with the support of GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project; fruit shares from Hepworth Family Farm, a 250-acre NOFA-certified seventh-generation family farm in Milton, NY; baked goods from Wild Mountain Bread based in Brooklyn; and a wide variety of grass-fed beef, pasture raised pork, and other products (like other meats, cheeses, bread, flour, grains, lax-fermented vegetables, pastas and other pantry goods) from Lewis Waite Farm, which sources from over 35 local family farms.
I purchased a half share, and will be getting a box containing 6-8 vegetables (about 2 bags worth) every other week from June – October (11 shares), and plan on ordering a carnivore share box from Lewis Waite (4-6 lbs. of meat) for pickup each veggie week. I also purchased a “Challenger Share” for the season (6 deliveries total) containing odd bits like animal fats, organ meats, neck bones, shanks, and rendered lard to stretch my culinary skills. The price of my CSA averages out to $25.50 per share for veggies, plus an additional $45 per pickup week for meat/offal. This total will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.
You would think by now that I’d be used to flying blind when it comes to CSA season, since they rarely seem to post previews of upcoming shares, but I’m not. At least not going into this first week. Pickup this year is on Tuesday, so it looks like another summer of alltheveggies for half a week & utilizing the stragglers before they go bad on Mondays and Tuesdays. Such is the life of a CSA devotee. Boom and bust every week (or every other week, in my case).
Brooklyn Beets 2015 CSA Box 8
1 bunch kale
1 bunch espazote
1 bunch lemongrass
1 bunch radishes
4 ears corn
4 onions
17 serrano peppers
10 roma tomatoes
Lewis Waite Meat Share Box 7
1/2 chicken
0.96 lb. lamb blade steaks
1 lb. ground turkey
1 lb. ground pork
Lewis Waite Challenger Share 4
2 lamb shanks
How I Used My Share
I served the leftover smoked shoulder bacon from last box in a hash with eggs, sweet potatoes and serrano peppers.
I treated the pork to Thai-inspired flavors and made a hearty dinner bowl with lemongrass, corn and onion.
I broiled the lamb steaks and served alongside some non-CSA green beans.
I turned the ground turkey into a puttanesca-inspired meaty ragu, using eggplant and tomato in my dish as well.
I threw hand fulls of espazote into quite a few dishes.
I made another big bowl featuring the kale, plus some ground beef and non-CSA brussels sprouts.
I used 2 serranos in pretty much everything I made.
Most of the lemongrass dried up before I used it.
I lost quite a few tomatoes, as well.
Leftovers: Lamb kidneys, lamb riblets, lamb shanks, half a chicken, a few radishes, a few serrano peppers, and a few onions
My Favorite Dish From This Box
This week, my favorite has to be the smoked shoulder bacon and sweet potato hash I made. It was creamy, sweet, hearty, savory, and smoky – delicious.
