Homemade Beef jerky, or, The beauty of a dehydrator

A dehydrator is one of the handiest tools I ever spent $60 on. Jerky is really the main thing that I use it for, but I put plenty of fruit (pineapple especially) in it, let it dry, then mix with some nuts and seeds for a good little trail mix.
   Any of these snacks are great for just keeping around when needing something to take on the go.

Jerky is pretty simple to make, I prefer beef, so that's what is in the photos. Flank steak is a good, lean meat works really well. For a nice, softer jerky, cut slices against the grain, so that it will pull apart more easily later. If you are a real jerky afficionado, you know that jerky is supposed to be chewy, so cut the flank steak along the grain.

As for spices, use whatever you've got that you think will go well together. This is a little photo of spices that i use, some smoked paprika, cayenne, coriander, cumin, garam masala, tumeric (though just a pinch...turmeric will add bitterness if too much is used!), add a bit of balsamic vinegar....mix all the spices with about a cup of water, then add the beef strips, marinate for a couple of hours at least, or else overnight.
The strips should need anywhere between 2.5 and 5 hours in the defydrator, depending on how thickly you decide you want to slice the beef, and your own preference on moisture left in the meat.
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I like my jerky soft, thick and still slightly moist, so i cut about 1 inch thick slices against the grain, and dehydrate for about 3.5 hours.

More to come about other dried foods in the dehydrator....

Rapini (what??)

One of my favourite vegetable groups are greens like Swiss char, collard greens, and of course, rapini. Rapini belongs to the broccoli family, and is a great source of vitamins, potassium, iron and calcium.

the Portuguese use this vegetable in traditional dishes like grilled salted cod on sauteed rapini, so I use this basis to make one of my favourite dinner meals:

Seared fresh Atlantic Cod on steamed Rapini

1 fillet of fresh Atlantic Cod.
Salt & Pepper

Pat both sides of the fish with a paper towel (this will help it not stick in the frying pan). season with salt & pepper, sear on medium-high heat in canola oil, covered, for about 4-6 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the cut.

Rapini:
Cut off the thick stems from the greens, throw them in the steamer for about 4 minutes, then add the leaves of the rapini, and steam for another 5 minutes.

While that's steaming, heat up some olive oil to medium heat, sauteed some garlic & onion for about 2 minutes.

Remove everything from the steamer, toss into frying pan with olive oil, garlic & onion, and add whatever spices you like.
I like to use chili powder, ground cumin, coriander, garam masala at the end.
At the end, toss in some diced tomato if you like.

Sautee for about 4-6 minutes on medium heat, uncovered, to allow all the flavours to come together. At this point, you could even toss in a splash of white wine to enhance flavour.

Serve the fish on top of the Rapini.

Potato pancakes go paleo!

Nothing like good ol' tradition German Potato pancakes, minus the potato...
Rutabaga, which I grew up referring to as Turnip (although turnip are actually white, rutabaga are yellow), make a delicious side to any meal, whether chopped and roasted in olive oil (delicious once they're a little burnt), or done this way:

Grate 1 whole Rutabaga
add 1- 2 eggs
salt & pepper
fresh grated nutmeg
1/3 cup ground almonds


onion and garlic can also be added to the recipe, but the rutabaga has so much flavour on its own, it's not a must.

mix all together, pan fry in coconut oil or canola oil for about 3 minutes on each side on medium-high heat.


These are great for breakfast, or a great accompaniment to a nice steak. I had one for breakfast with a leftover beef patty from our Superbowl BBQ, and a fried egg.

Enjoy.

Post-workout protein bar

So, since I still don't have a camera to film these recipes, I figured I'll just start by writing down the recipe. This one was an experiment I tried yesterday, just throwing some stuff together, and amazingly enough, it came out great. So try this one at home, it's pretty easy, and can be adapted to whatever you might have in the fridge.

Sweet Potato Protein Bar

2 sweet potatoes, slice and boil until soft, then mash and blend with:

1 banana

½ can of coconut milk

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 pinches salt

¼ cup ground almonds

4 tbsp ground flax seed

1-2 scoops protein powder (either dried egg white powder, or a natural pure whey protein isolate with no flavouring or sweeteners)

1 Grated carrot (i didn't actually use this in my version, because I didn't have any, but would have liked to try it in there)

In a separate bowl, fluff 3 egg whites with electric mixer, until they are firm to the point of forming peaks. Mix this in with the sweet potato mixture. 

Dried fruit (I used dried blueberries, but raisins or craisins will do the trick...this is optional, of course)

Pour into cake pan (greased with coconut or canola oil), bake at 375 for 30 minutes. It is good warm out of the oven, but if left in the fridge to cool, it will get firm, and hold a good consistency for a bar that you can take with you to the gym and enjoy right after yelling "time!"