Myeolchi-bokkeum, with a twist

 This traditional Korean dish is made with dried anchovies. I put my take on this recipe by using insects!

1cup dried mealworms

1 tsp lard

1 tsp hot pepper paste, sriracha or sambal

1 tsp coconut aminos

1 tsp cane vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1tsp toasted sesame oil

salt to taste

Dry fry worms over medium high heat for 90secs and reserve. Combine the next 6 ingredients, cook till bubbling. Remove from heat. Add worms and sesame seed, mix thoughly. Drizzle sesame oil over the top and taste for salt. Serve over cauli-fried rice, steam rice or as a side dish

Sour Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies

A friend gave me a bag of Meyer lemons and have always wanted to try lemon curd so this was my chance to give it a try. The curd was easy, challenging part was the cookie! Majority of gluten free recipes are made with nut flours which I can not have. Decided to coconut butter batter.

Took The nourishing gourmet's recipe and made a couple of changes to suit my tastes. Reduced the honey to 1tbsp and increased the amount of zest and juice. Just typing this me salivate. 

3 eggs

1 tbsp honey

zest from 2 lemons

2/3c lemon juice

6 tbsp butter cut into 24 pieces

Whisk eggs, honey and zest till well combined in a sauce pan. Add remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly. When it comes to a boil remove from heat and pour into Mason type jar. Mixture will thicken as it cools. Makes 1.5-2cups. Let me tell this is more than tangy, it's down right sour! and the way I like it!!

1c coconut butter softened

1 egg

1tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325deg. Combine all ingredients, mix thoroughly. Using a tablespoon form balls then make your thumbprint on a parchment line pan. Bake for 10-12min or until golden. Let cool completely before removing from parchment. Once cool fill with curd.

Cabidela: Braised chicken with blood rice

When the wife's away I get to play...in the kitchen. She does not like the smell of some things I prepare. Going through the freezer and pulled out 2qts of pig blood. Now what to make...

Cabidela! A traditional Portuguese recipe using chicken blood and rice.

1c jasmine rice

1.25c water

1c blood

1-2tbsp vinegar

1tbsp lard

1 onion chopped

2cloves garlic chopped

2 chicken hind quarters

1c white wine

salt to taste

hot sauce to taste ( I used habanero)

Cilantro for garnish

Cook rice (add more water if you like softer rice) 15-20min. Turn off heat then add blood and vinegar. Mix and set aside.

Saute onions and garlic in lard till softened. Add chicken, brown well then pour in wine and hot sauce. Cover and simmer for 30min or until juices run clear. When chicken is done add rice/blood mixture, cook till heated through (5min). Taste for salt, add more hot sauce (I did) if needed.

Typically the the chicken is mixed into the blood and rice.

Mango Coconut Balls

In the mood for a little treat. Rummaging through the cabinets to see what I have and find shredded coconut and dried mango. Put the 2 ingredients in the food processor and pulse. The unsweetened mango is too dry for the mix to bind together.

Next attempt, soak mango for 15min in water to rehydrate. Pulse till mixed thoroughly, form into balls and let rest for an hour to firm up (if you can wait that long).

1cup unsweetened dehydrated mango

1cup shredded coconut

1/2cup water to rehydrate

Persimmon Coconut Cookies

In the mood for some cookies but wanted to get away from the typical seed and coconut flour based recipes. Can't do tree nuts due to allergies.

Out comes the coconut butter, 1 cup to be exact. Add to that 1/2c chopped dried persimmons, 1 egg, 1tbsp honey, 1tsp baking powder, 1/4tsp sea salt. 

Mix thoroughly

Compress into a ball and place silicone mat or parchment

Smash to 1/2in thickness

Bake at 350deg for 8min. Let cool completely before moving, crumbly while still warm but firms up nicely at room temperature

Flavor and texture is surprisingly like shortbread

Persimmon bread, grain fee, nut free, sweetener free

A friend gave me a grocery bag of hachiya persimmons and I have been experimenting. Have been wanting to try a grain/nut free bread but I can not eat almonds. I tried sunflower flour but the was hint of that flavor. This time I tried pumpkin seeds. Ran them through my Vitamix

With the persimmons I prefer crushing so there is some texture

Also mixing by hand 

1.5c persimmon pulp

3 eggs

1/4c lard melted

2c pumpkin seed flower

1tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp ground nutmeg

1/2tsp powdered ginger

1tsp baking powder

3/4tsp sea salt 

Mix wet ingredients and set aside, mix dry ingredients. The combine thoroughly using a spatula. Pour into your favorite bread pan.

After 65min in a 350deg oven the bread moist and delicious...especially with butter!

Chicken Heads and Feet

Tara Firma Farms has lessor wanted parts for a reasonable price. Heads, feet, gizzards and hearts for $3 a bag. Brought home a few of each to try them out. Extremities 1st and innards another time.

First up was bone broth. Tossed the frozen parts in a pot of water. 

Added an onion, a 1tbsp cider vinegar and a tablespoon of salt. Then simmered for 24hrs. Let cool and strained out the solids. Made a solid gelled broth.

Next day I made Sotanghan, a Filipino chicken sabaw (soup). A lime and ginger based broth with carrots, onions, your favorite dark green leafy veg and noodles, kelp used here.

Had a bag of feet and heads left and decided to give Zenbelly's Better than take-out stir fry sauce a try. Made the sauce the nigh before

You need to remove the nails, those babies are sharp

Then simmer for 90min or until tender. Next time I'll got longer, the knuckle cartilage was a but tough. Remove from broth and set a side to cool and dry for about 2hrs. Preheat oven to 450deg. Once dry slather each foot and head in lard and place on baking stone. Roast for about 20min and turn pieces over, continue cooking for another 20min.

        

In a wok heat sauce over high heat. Continue stirring until sauce is reduced and thick

Serve on bed of shredded cabbage. Sauce was great! but I did increase the  Red Boat to 2tbsp

See the brain? Tasted like fatty dark meat. Eyes were a bit chewy