I absolutely adore figs, and when one of our friends at our CrossFit box gave us a quart size bag filled with freshly picked Black Mission figs from his tree, I am almost fell over with excitement. I know that sounds ridiculous, but they’re hard to find around these parts. I plopped the few that I didn’t immediately consume into the braise for a refreshing sweetness.

Also let me say, that I have an aversion to the slow cooker/crock pot. I know it sounds snooty and silly, but I just feel like it doesn’t develop the same flavors as braising something in the oven. Our brand new, beautiful and expensive range was shipped defective and regardless of whether or not I turn the heat to 250ºF or 450ºF, the oven thinks it needs to heat to 500ºF. So that’s not so awesome for this recipe, or any kind of baking. The serviceman is taking his sweet time getting out here to fix it. In hindsight, it’s kind of a good thing though, as it has forced me to use methods I otherwise wouldn’t, and now, after tasting these crock pot/slow cooker ribs, I have new found respect for the magic meat machine.

Ingredients

• f.o.c. (fat of choice)
• ~2 ½ lbs beef short ribs*
• 1 yellow onion, roughly sliced
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly minced
• 1/4 c red wine
• 1 ½ c beef stock
• 1 ½ c water
• 1 pint fresh black mission figs**, stems removed & chopped
• fresh rosemary, chopped
• s & p
• lemon zest
• smashed plantains

Method

Salt and pepper the short ribs. Heat a saute pan up over medium-high heat and melt a few tablespoons of your f.o.c., tallow would be great here. Sear your short ribs until they’ve developed a nice, brown crust. Place the short ribs in your slow cooker.

Turn down the heat on your saute pan to medium, and add the onion, garlic and carrot. Saute a bit and add the red wine. You’re not trying to cook the vegetables through, we’ll kill them in the crock pot, we’re trying to evaporate most of the wine from the pan. Stir around the vegetables every so often, until most of the wine is gone. We’re just trying to give a touch of flavor to the vegetables, not make everything taste boozy.  Place the vegetables in the slow cooker.

Pour the water and beef stock in the crock pot. Set it on high and let it go until the short ribs fall apart when you pick them up. This will take about 4 hours.

Once the short ribs are done, remove them and let them cool off. When they’re cool enough to handle, pull the meat off, just like if you were pulling a pork butt for BBQ. You should be able to use your hands. If you can’t, they’re not done cooking and need more time in the slow cooker. Add the meat back to the saute pan we used 4 hours ago. Yes, this is what I did and no, I did not wash it in between that time. Gross? Nah, I’m adding ‘flavor’.

Take a fine mesh strainer (If you do not own one, you must go buy one. I am not a clutter or gadget girl, so believe me when I tell you this is a necessary kitchen tool.) and hold or place it over the saute pan. Pour the vegetable, stock liquid through the strainer and into the saute pan. You can discard the vegetables.

Turn the saute pan on to medium-high heat. Add the figs. Let everything simmer away until the liquid has reduced by about half. Right before serving, garnish the top with some freshness: lemon zest and fresh chopped rosemary. Serve with smashed plantains.

*If the short ribs are long, like in the link above, cut them in between the bones, so they’ll cook faster

**If you can only find dried figs, use about 1/2 a cup.

Here’s one for you hunters out there. A friend of ours gave us the venison…and after trying this, we may have to get more into hunting, or finding good hunters with extra to share. Haven’t been much since we were kids. If you don’t have/ don’t like venison…this would still be spot on with beef and lamb.

In case you haven’t seen the Facebook post, we’re almost out of shirts…so we’ve reduced the price one final time to get ‘em out the door!

Ingredients

• 1 lb venison loin steak
• 1 T fresh chopped rosemary (reserve stalks)
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic, diced fine
• 1 t garlic powder
• 3 T balsamic vinegar
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 t salt

Horsy Dip

• Avocado mayo recipe
• 3 T horseradish, not the kind w/ mayo added to it, the just the plain kind, should say: ‘prepared’, usually found with the refrigerated pickles

Method

To make the dipping sauce, follow the mayo recipe and then simply add the horseradish to the food processor at the end and combine.

Wisk together rosemary, garlic, vinegar, EVOO and salt in a bowl. Cut your venison into 1” cubes and toss into the bowl. Stir to coat. Let this “hang out” for an hour or so if you’ve got the time, but we didn’t and it was still delicious. Thread your venison onto your rosemary skewers. You’ll require about 6, 8” skewers to fit all of your meat. If you don’t have/ don’t want to use the rosemary then just opt for bamboo or metal kebab skewers. We actually tried this on bamboo as well, and while it may not look as purdy, it tastes just as good. For the grilling, we used a hot grill pan on the range top. If cooking outside, try to get the grill very hot and then turn off direct burners where you place the venison. Cook 3-5 minutes on each side. It won’t take long since you’ve cut into smaller pieces.

I hope I didn’t get anyones hopes up. This recipe is not “30 Minutes Meals: Thanksgiving”. It’s just another lazy recipe, similar to this one. All the flavors just reminded us of Thanksgiving, but without the dry turkey. The cranberries are tart as heck, but the squash is sweet and the sausage is herby and salty. It’s a combo that can do no wrong.

Ingredients

• 1 lb sausage, casing removed and crumbled (preferably Breakfast, but Italian would work nice too)
• 1 medium butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled & chopped medium
• 1/3 c fresh cranberries
• 1/4 c almond flour or crushed pork rinds
• 2 T F.O.C., melted (sausage renderings, bacon fat, olive oil, butter)
• 2 T rosemary
• 2 T sage

Method

Heat your oven to 400ºF.

In a large saute pan, brown the sausage.

In a large oven-proof dish, add the browned sausage, squash and cranberries. In a small bowl mix together  the herbs, almond flour and fat. Sprinkle on top of the squash/sausage mixture.

Place tin foil over the top and roast until the cranberries have burst and the squash is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Remove the foil from the dish and broil the top if you’d like it a bit crunchy.

If you’ve had a million roast turkeys, you’ll probably have a bazillion more…

Ever heard of turducken? It’s a creole/cajun dish where an entire, de-boned chicken is stuffed into a de-boned duck which is then stuffed inside of a de-boned turkey. Of course, the duck is stuffed with stuffing too. We’ve never made nor tried turducken, but wanted to riff it somehow–easier & cheaper, but just as flavorful. So we opted for meatloaf (meatballs would work too!). It’s a super simple throw together that requires very little ‘nurturing’ to make and tastes like turkey and stuffing all wrapped together in one bite. The compote is literally the cherry on top. Not as puckery as a cranberry relish–this compote is aromatic with a hint of sweet tartness.

Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients

For Meatloaf

• 1 lb. ground duck*
• 1 lb. ground chicken
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 T fresh(!) sage, finely chopped
• 2 T rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 T thyme, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 t red pepper flakes
• s&p

For Cherry Compote

• 12 oz. frozen cherries
• juice & zest of 1 orange
• 1/2 c red wine vinegar
• 3/4 c stock
• 1 T rosemary, finely chopped
• s&p

Method

Preheat your oven to 400F.

In a medium saute pan, saute the onion in a few tablespoons of fat, until tender. Place a lid on top and the steam will cook the onions much faster, also making them more of a creamy texture which lends itself well to this recipe. Let them cool.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all meats, onion, herbs, lemon and pepper and salt. Pour the mixture into a large oven-safe baking dish and shape into a loaf, or just press it into the pan. (I actually tried to roll this bad boy into a ‘jelly roll’ of sorts, but that was a complete waste of time.) The shallower the ‘loaf’, the faster it’ll cook. Bake for 45 minutes, then turn the oven to broil and let the top get brown, about another 5-7 minutes.

For the Cherry Compote

Toss all the ingredients into a medium sized sauce pot (same one you used for the onions) and place over medium high heat. Let the compote reduce, reduce, reduce into a nice sauce consistency…whatever you like best. This will anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the depth of your pan. Use a fork to smash the cherries into pieces.

*I have never seen ground duck for sale. I bought 2 duck breasts (skin on!) and put them through the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen-Aid mixer. Easy breezy. Duck is not cheap–around $10-11/lb. But being a holiday meal, I would absolutely recommend the splurge.

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Practically every recipe for beef stew calls for “stew beef.” I’ve seen it in the store. I’ve used it without much success in stew. But really, what the heck is it? After a bit of research, I found it’s typically chuck or round. Chuck is around the shoulder and round is around the rear of the cow. These cuts require lots of time in order to break down and become tender–and I have no problem with that. My issue comes from the fact that I’ve never had a beef stew where these meats actually tasted fall-apart tender and yummy. So what’s the solution? SHORT RIBS! Cheap and just as easy to use in stew as the above ‘unmentionables’. I am not a crock pot fan, so I used a heavy bottomed, enameled cast iron pot. Use whichever you find easier–but if you do use a crock pot, you will have to saute the meat and veggies in a separate pan and then add them to the crock pot.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. short ribs (boneless will work if that’s all you can find, but bones add nutrition & awesome flavor!)
• 3 T butter
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 oz. mushrooms, roughly chopped
• handful of sage, rosemary and thyme, chopped
• 1 qt. chicken stock
• 2 cups roasted marinara sauce (I keep some in the freezer at all times) or tomato sauce
• 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
• s&p

Method

Get your oven to 250ºF. In a heavy bottomed, oven safe pot, melt the butter on high heat. Sear your short ribs until you see a nice brown crust on them. Remove and put them on a plate to hang out. Add the celery, onion, carrots, garlic and mushrooms. Saute until they’ve softened. Add the tomato sauce, chicken stock, vinegar and herbs. Place the short ribs back into the pot. Press a sheet of parchment paper onto the surface of the stew and place into the oven. Cook for about 4 hours or until the short ribs pull apart easily with a fork.

Once the short ribs are tender, remove the pot from the oven CAREFULLY. Remove the short ribs and bones. Once the meat has cooled, use your fingers to pull apart the meat–believe me, it’s much, much easier than using a fork. Add the meat back to the pot and serve.

I roasted a spaghetti squash one night, with no actual plan to include it in a meal–I had just neglected it for a few weeks, and started to feel like I was going to waste it if I didn’t hurry up and do something with it. I pulled out the “threads” and WHAM! I had an epiphany of sorts. I thought the “threads” looked a bit like shredded potatoes. These hash browns don’t have the same texture as a traditional potato hash. The squash “threads” will caramelize and stay slightly crunchy, so you get a very similar effect. This isn’t really a quick meal, but it’s definitely a cheap one with lots of variation possibilities. I served this particular hash brown with an over easy fried egg.

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash

1 yellow onion, finely diced

2 T rosemary, finely chopped

Olive Oil

S&P

Method

Get your oven to 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with foil. Split the spaghetti squash in 1/2. Use a fork to remove all the seeds. Like I’ve said before, don’t be too anal about getting out all the gunk, you won’t even notice it once the squash has roasted. Lightly drizzle some olive oil inside the cavity of the squash and lay it face down onto the baking sheet. Roast for approx. 20 minutes, flip the squash over and roast for another 15 minutes. I decided to roast the squash at a ridiculously high temperature so it wouldn’t take as long and I wanted to see some caramelization on the squash. You’ll know it’s done when you take a fork to the squash and it “threads” very easily. Remove from the oven and let cool so you can handle it.

While the squash is roasting, heat some olive oil over medium heat and add the diced onion. You don’t want to hear a sizzle when you add the onion. Turn the heat down if this happens. We don’t want burned onions! Let the onions cook until they’re translucent and slightly golden. Add the rosemary and some S&P.

Once the squash is cooled. “Thread” it and add to a large bowl. Add the onions and mix around to roughly incorporate.

Turn the burner up to medium high heat and add more oil to your saute pan, if you need it. Take a spoon (or my favorite tool, your hands) and patty up some of the squash mixture. Saute it until it’s carmelized and golden brown, about 10 minutes on each side. Repeat until all the squash is gone.

Take away the cream, butter, sour cream and potatoes. There’s no longer a need for any of that stuff. Brown meat and saute some veggies until soft, caramelize cauliflower, mix it with egg and broil until bubbly, brown. Easy, only two pans to clean and it tastes good too, imagine that.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef, chicken, turkey, pork…almost any ground protein will work
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 3 T each FRESH rosemary, sage and thyme (herbs are the flavor maker and must NOT be omitted)
• 1/4 c + 1/4 c chicken stock
• 1/2 head cauliflower, finely chopped
• 2 T oil
• 1 egg
• S&P, Chili flakes

Method

Preheat your oven to 400ºF.

In a deep-sided, oven safe saute pan add the ground beef and saute on medium heat until browned. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and mushrooms and cook until softened. Add 1/4 c chicken stock and use a spatula to pick up any brown bits on the bottom  of the pan. Turn the heat off and toss in the chopped herbs along with some salt and pepper.

For the cauliflower, melt the oil over medium-high heat in another saute pan. Let the cauliflower caramelize (you want to see brown, don’t stop until that point!) use a spatula to turn it in the pan every once in awhile. Add some salt and chili flakes. Turn the heat off once the cauliflower is done.

In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together the egg and 1/4 c chicken stock. Add the mixture to the cauliflower and working quickly, use a spatula to make sure it’s well combined. Immediately add it to the top of the meat mixture and press into an even layer with your spatula.

Bake in the oven, on the middle rack, for 10 minutes, then turn the oven on broil and cook for another 10 minutes. Once the “pie” has come out of the oven, let it rest a few minutes before serving.

This dish was inspired by one of my all-time favorite dishes at a little hole in the wall in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s the potato gnocchi with goat cheese, balsamic cream sauce sauce at Five Loaves Cafe on Canon Street. I’m not usually one to order something I’ve had before, as I truly love to experiment and taste new flavor combos. Butttt–this dish is just so good to me, I order it over and over and over and over….Gotta say, this is a pretty darn good riff.

Ingredients

• 3 T bacon fat or butter, melted
• 3 lb. sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c raisins
• 3 oz. goat cheese
• 2 T rosemary, minced

Method

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Place the cubed sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Pour on your fat and toss around to coat the sweet potatoes very well. Place in the oven and let them get slightly crispy and cooked through–depending on how small you cube, should take about 30 minutes.

While the potatoes are roasting–put the vinegar and raisins in a saute pan and place on the stove over medium heat. Cook until the balsamic vinegar has reduced and plumped the raisins. Keep your eye on it, if you let it go too far, the vinegar will reduce to nothing and scorch your pan. This should take about 10 minutes.

When the sweet potatoes are out of the oven, place them in your serving dish, along with the raisins, any vinegar that’s left in the pan, crumbled goat cheese, rosemary and some salt. Toss around to coat.

This dish can be served at room temperature or hot. Hot is best. I had it in the fridge and then heated it in the microwave with no problems.

Boy do I ever get bored with trail mix. Yeah, it’s easy to throw together, but if I’m tired of it, I’m not going to eat it. That’s our entire philosophy behind this website anyway, Paleo chili, every night, is no way to sustain this way of eating. It just gets boring.

Hopefully, these nuts will reinvigorate your trail mix and inspire you to try new combos.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c raw, unsalted cashews*
• 2 T honey
• 2 T rosemary, chopped
• 3 T olive oil
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 t salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to coat. Pour it all out onto a baking sheet. Bake until the nuts have browned, about 12 minutes. Toss the nuts around about half way through the baking time.

*Buy raw nuts in the bulk foods section. If you can find cashew pieces you’ll save almost half the price of whole cashews!

This dish is a take on classic shirred eggs. In my eyes, this could be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s easy to assemble and easy to clean up. I’m writing this recipe for 5 individual portions, but it’s easy to modify for the number of mouths you’re feeding.

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Ingredients

• 2 c roasted marinara or your favorite sauce
• 5 eggs
• 5 slices of melting cheese (I used raw milk Colby)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 5 greased ramekins* on a baking sheet. Fill each ramekin with about 1/2 a cup of sauce. Crack 1 egg into each ramekin and top with a slice of cheese. We use raw cheese, you could also leave it out. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.

Traditional shirred eggs leaves the yolk runny. I like runny yolks a lot–but if you cook the yolk all the way through, it turns crumbly and tastes a lot like ricotta filling in lasagna.

BE CAREFUL when you take the baking sheet out. Don’t grab the ramekins with your bare hand–yes, I have done this before. Use an oven mitt to place ramekins on a dinner plate, that way you don’t have to hold the ramekin or wait for it to cool in order to eat.

*If you don’t have ramekins in your pantry, you could use a muffin tin–just reduce the cooking time. Ramekins can be found on the cheap at places like TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Target.

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