My favorite Spring holiday: the opening of Smorgasburg.
April 5, 2015
My favorite Spring holiday: the opening of Smorgasburg.
April 4, 2015
Near Grand Central
A Mostly Paleo Riff On “La Mitraillette” – Sausage with Potato, Pickled Fennel and Spicy Mayo
Instagram. Giving me ideas again. This recipe was inspired by the insanity above created by Josh Scherer, the evil genius behind @CulinaryBroDown. The colors. So bright. Burning into my retinas. I had to try and make it myself!
According to Wikipedia, Mitraillette (literally “submachine gun”) is a Belgian dish available in little shops consisting of a substantial bun (demi-baguette – which is roughly the size of a sub bun), some form of fried meat (sausage, burger, steak, etc.), fries, some sort of sauce (like mayo, ketchup, etc.), and often some sort of veggie (carrot, lettuce, tomato, etc.).
My version swaps diced sweet potatoes for the fries, and drops the bun. While it’s not quite “drunk food”, it is definitely delicious.
Gluten-free, paleo
A Mostly Paleo Riff On “La Mitraillette” – Sausage with Potato, Pickled Fennel and Spicy Mayo
For the pickled fennel
1/2 bulb fennel (about 1 cup when sliced)
1/2 roasted beet (about 1/4 cup when sliced)
1/2 c. rice vinegar
1/2 c. water
2 big pinches Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. pickling spice
To assemble
1-2 of your favorite sausages (I used hot Italian from my butcher)
1 Tbsp. aioli
1 tsp. sriracha
1 Tbsp. grainy mustard (my favorite is Maille)
1 small sweet potato
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1.5 tsp. granulated garlic
1.5 tsp. onion powder
Kosher salt & pepper
First, make your pickled fennel. You’ll want to start this a day ahead (or at least 8 hours – I made mine before work).
Slice your beets and fennel wafer thin (I used a mandolin) and add to a large jar (or bowl). Cover with the rice vinegar and water (make sure to cover) and add the salt, sugar and spice. Lid and give a good shake. Ideally, you’ll be able to shake a couple times throughout the day.
When your fennel has pickled at least 8 hours and you are ready to serve, start by making the fried sweet potatoes.
Peel and dice your potato (I used 1 small potato – 1/2 a cup diced – for one person).
Add to a skillet over medium high heat with the coconut oil.
Sauté a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add a big pinch kosher salt, a few grinds black pepper, the onion powder and the granulated garlic.
Continue to sauté, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until the potatoes are browned and cooked through, 5 minutes or so. If your potatoes seem to be getting overly brown without looking like they’re cooking through, knock the heat back to medium.
In a separate skillet over medium – medium high heat, brown your sausages (making sure to slash first so they don’t explode under pressure) and cook through.
While the potatoes and sausages are working, assemble your spicy mayo by stirring the mayo & sriracha together.
To serve, lay out a nice bed of potatoes, top with sliced sausages and some of the drained pickled fennel. If you’re feeling frisky, drizzle with the spicy mayo and mustard; if not, place alongside the potatoes for dipping.
Serves 1 as written, easily scaled up to feed more (the fennel quantity listed can feed 2-4).
April 3, 2015
yay! Unexpected dinner fraaands!
April 2, 2015
Intently on the lookout for another flying bag.
April 1, 2015
I think wrapping presents is my favorite part of gift giving.
March 31, 2015
We now have two elevators.
March 30, 2015
Nature under glass
March 29, 2015
Gowanus
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of March 23 – 27
This Week’s Menu
Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers from last week
Dinner: Thai basil beef with cauliflower rice
Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers from last night
Dinner: A riff on Belgian drunk food involving Italian sausage, beet pickled fennel, sweet potato hash, and sriracha mayo (recipe coming soon)
Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Delivery due to poor planning – I ordered a grilled split chicken large enough for 4 lunches and a side of sweet potato fries
Dinner: Avocado Chicken Burgers with sautéed broccoli and onions
Thursday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Grilled chicken
Dinner: Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be a green bean/chicken/bacon/avocado bowl, but the hubbs felt duped last night when I said ‘burgers’ and they weren’t of the beef variety. Luckily, I keep ground beef on hand for just such an occasion. Beef burgers it was – with sunchokes
Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothies
Lunch: Grilled chicken
Dinner: Out
Saturday
Breakfast: Grabbed a bar out
Lunch:
Dinner: Game night party – beer-braised brisket with paleo crepes & buns for those eating bread, plus lemon curd with paleo lemon poppyseed bread for dessert
Sunday
Breakfast: Out
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Delivery
This Week’s Grocery List
Hot Italian sausage, 1 lb. ($5.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Carrots, 1 lb. ($1.29 @ Amazon Fresh)
Kerrygold unsalted butter, 8 oz. ($4.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Green beans, 1 lb. ($1.69 @ Amazon Fresh)
Scallions ($0.92 @ Amazon Fresh)
Just BARE no antibiotics boneless skinless chicken thighs, 20 oz. ($5.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Meal Mart Kosher Brisket, 1.5 lbs. x2 ($44.98 @ Amazon Fresh)
Fennel ($1.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Pasture raised eggs, 12 ($4.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Broccoli, 1 bunch ($2.50 @ Amazon Fresh)
Applegate Naturals bacon, 8 oz. ($4.59 @ Amazon Fresh)
Organic air chilled ground chicken, 1 lb. ($7.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Grass fed ground beef, 1 lb. ($9.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
1 head cauliflower ($2.34 @ Amazon Fresh)
1 yellow onion ($1.18 @ Amazon Fresh)
Poland Spring sparkling water, 6-pack of 16.9 ounce bottles ($2.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Gotham Greens basil, 1 ounce ($4.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Reynolds aluminum foil, 75 sq. ft. ($2.99 @ Amazon Fresh)
Sunchokes ($9.34 @ Whole Foods)
Mixed Nuts ($7.99 @ Whole Foods)
Pistachios ($8.99 @ Whole Foods)
Smoothie Supplies
4 Apples ($3.16 @ Amazon Fresh)
3 lbs. mixed lemons and limes ($7.04 @ Amazon Fresh)
4 Avocados ($4.49 @ Amazon Fresh)
Bagged kale, 1 lb. ($2.99 @ Whole Foods)
Bagged spinach ($2.99 @ Whole Foods)
Totals
Amazon Fresh: $130.12
Whole Foods: $32.30
Budget Breakout
This week, I spent $162.42; $62.42 over budget. Aaaaaaand there goes my surplus for the month. This week, I needed extra supplies for a party I’m hosting on Saturday, so things got a little expensive. And we needed snacks. Plus I impulse bought $10 worth of sunchokes because I thought I needed another side.
Leftovers From This Week
At the end of the week, I have carrots, some rapidly aging celery, a few sweet potatoes, Italian sausage, chicken and ground beef left over. I need to incorporate these items into my menu for next week.
—
Think eating healthfully is too expensive for you? Think again. According to the USDA, to ensure a nutritious diet as of December 2014, a family of two aged 19-59 years should spend between $388.90 and $776.10 on food per month, or $89.80 – $179.30 per week. Source
For my family of two adults, I spend roughly $400 a month on groceries or $100 a week – and we eat well. Not caviar and lobster well, but I do manage to serve a predominately paleo diet with little to no processed foods, and I get to throw in a few luxuries here and there (like expensive snacks for the hubbs and the occasional ridiculously expensive bag of coffee). We even manage to buy “good” meat (grass fed beef and free-range chicken) most of the time – and I make this budget work even on the weeks we pay for convenience by getting delivery groceries. I make: 10 breakfasts, 5 lunches, and 10 dinners a week – plus enough snacks to satisfy and fuel two active adults.
I’m hoping that this series will help shed a little light on the day-to-day things a “paleo” person really eats — and how that way of eating can work on a budget. I want to nudge anyone sitting on the fence right over the edge by showing that it *can* be done and that you don’t just eat meat, meat, meat and more meat.
Gastography 