Perfect Barbecue Dipping Sauce (sugar free)

May 25, 2013 at 5:51 PM (Grilling, Homemade Condiments, Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies, Whats for Dinner?)
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Perhaps you have figured this out by now, but we love a big hunk of roasted meat around here. So we get pretty excited when barbeques season finally arrives. Here in Michigan, it lasts for about 5 minutes, so we take full advantage. I came up with this dipping sauce a few years ago and we fell madly in love. The charred vegetables give it a smoky flavor that is so addictive! This sauce is great on any kind of meat or fish. I particularly love it on kabobs. Mmmmm kabobs….

kabob

Sugar Free Roasted Dipping Sauce

3/4 lb cherry tomatoes

8 cloves garlic

6 chile peppers, stemmed ( we like Serrano or jalapeno)

2 shallots, halved

1/2 red pepper, seeded

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1/4 tsp kosher or sea salt

  • Place vegetables (tomato, garlic, chiles, shallots and peppers) on hot barbecue grill (or broiler) for 8 -10 minutes until blackened and charred.
  • Place garlic, chiles, shallots and peppers in food processor.
  • Pulse until chunky
  • Add tomatoes, pulse until incorporated, but not pureed
  • Stir in cilantro, fish sauce and salt.

Serve warm or cold alongside your favorite barbecued meat. This is a very versatile sauce. We have used it with grilled steak, pork loin, kabobs, shrimp, bass, trout, and chicken. It is also great served with any Mexican dish!

Let me know what you think!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

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Worlds Best barbeque Sauce (sugar free)

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Coffee Spice Rub

Homemade Cocktail Sauce (and how to prepare horseradish)

Homemade Worcestershire Sauce

Homemade Probiotic Teriyaki Sauce

Lake Trout with Morels

homemade Seasoning Salt

Ginger Beer: A Probiotic Summer Drink

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2 Comments

My Favorite Pizza Sauce

April 22, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Canning, Fast, Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies, Simple)
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I make homemade deep dish pizza once in a while, and it is always a big hit. This pizza sauce is our favorite. You can use home-canned, plain, unflavored tomato sauce or whatever organic tomato sauce you can find at the store. I think this fall I am going to try my hand at fire-roasted tomato sauce during canning season. I think it adds amazing flavor.

Fast Easy Pizza Sauce

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine and let sit for at least 1 hour.

5 Comments

Homemade Probiotic Teriyaki Sauce

April 18, 2012 at 1:33 AM (Homemade Condiments, Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies, Simple)
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I love marinating fish in teriyaki sauce. It adds such a unique flavor. If you have checked out the stuff in the store, these are the type of ingredients you’re likely to find:

  • Soy sauce (made with GMO soy beans)
  • High Fructose Corn Syrup (made with GMO corn)
  • Vinegar (made with GMO corn)
  • salt
  • spices (code word for MSG, see the whole MSG story here)
  • onion powder
  • succinic acid (a fermented sugar acid used as a sweetener)
  • garlic powder
  • sodium benzoate (an additive that is a known carcinogen and linked to hyperactive disorders in children)

First of all that is way too many GMO ingredients for me thank you very much! Plus I like the challenge of making something myself.  Start with buying a high-quality unpasteurized soy sauce. I really love Ohsawa Organic Nama Shoyu Unpasteruized Soy Sauce (wow that was a mouthful). They naturally ferment their soy sauce in cedar kegs for four years! It is delicious! You can find it at Whole Foods, or online at Amazon.com. It contains all of the natural enzymes and beneficial bacteria that you would expect from a traditionally produced,  raw food.

Homemade Probiotic Teriyaki Sauce

2 tsp ginger, minced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp raw honey

2 Tbsp whey (learn how to make yogurt & whey here)

1 cup Ohsawa Organic Soy Sauce

Mix all ingredients together in a jar. Cover loosely with a cloth and let sit out at room temperature for 24 hours. This will keep for 2 months in the refrigerator.

It makes an excellent marinate for sea food and chicken. I will post a delicious Oriental Tuna Steak recipe tomorrow. Enjoy!

18 Comments

Real Food Nacho Cheese Sauce

February 25, 2012 at 6:54 AM (Homemade Condiments, Real Food Snacks, Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies, Simple, Whats for Dinner?)
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I love nachos! It am a bit of a cheese addict I must admit. But us real foodies love to read our labels don’t we? That means no more cheese sauce out of a can 🙂

Real Food Nacho Cheese Sauce

1/2 cup yogurt cheese

1 cup raw cheddar cheese, cubed

1 1/2  cups raw whole milk

splash of hot sauce

1 jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped

half of a small red bell pepper, diced

1/4 raw whole milk

2 Tbsp flour

In saucepan melt cheddar and yogurt cheese. Add hot sauce, peppers and half of the milk (3/4 cup) Stir until incorporated well. Add remaining milk and stir.

Mix 1/4 cup of milk and flour, whisk to remove lumps. Add this to your cheese mixture and boil gently until thick.

Now if you really want to impress someone you can make your own tortilla chips in a hurry. I take the leftover homemade tortillas that are a little on the stale side and cut them into triangles. Fry them in a cast iron skillet in really hot oil. It doesn’t take long, maybe 2-3 minutes. I use beef tallow and they are so delicious. I love me some beef fat! 🙂

This recipe freezes and reheats very well. If you want to make a large batch, go ahead! Stores in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer for 3-6 months.

 

 

 

4 Comments

Broccoli Cheese Soup

February 18, 2012 at 12:40 PM (Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies, Whats for Dinner?)
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Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups heavy cream or half & half

4 cup homemade chicken stock

1/2 lb fresh broccoli

1 cup carrots, julienned

8 oz sharp cheddar, grated

Sea salt & fresh pepper to taste

1/4 tsp nutmeg

In a large saucepan melt 1 tbsp butter and sauté the onion until clear. Set onion aside for now. In the same saucepan melt 1/4 cup butter, add flour. Whisk in the heavy cream. Stir until thick and bubbly. Slowly add chicken stock. Simmer 20 minutes. Add broccoli, carrots, and sautéed onions, cook on low until tender.

At this point you can either purée the soup in a blender and return it to the pot, or continue to the next step for chunky soup (which is how I like it).

Add grated cheese and nutmeg, stir until melted. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

4 Comments

Elderberry Syrup to Prevent the Flu

February 17, 2012 at 6:00 AM (Health, Herbal Medicine, How To, Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies)
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English: Elderberries Ripe elderberries growin...
Image via Wikipedia

Elderberries have been used for centuries to boost immunity because of their terrific antioxidant properties. Bioflavinoids in the berry actually destroy the ability of cold and flu viruses to infect a cell. Elderberries are also antibacterial and antifungal.

Elderberries contain organic pigments, tannin, amino acids, carotenoids, flavonoids, sugar, rutin, viburnic acid, vitamin A and B and a large amount of vitamin C. They are also mildly laxative, a diuretic, and diaphoretic. Flavonoids, including quercetin, are believed to account for the therapeutic actions of the elderberry flowers and berries. Flavonoids from Sambucus nigra seem to inhibit the infectiousness of H1N1 flu virions in vitro. A 1995 study found: “A complete cure was achieved within 2 to 3 days in nearly 90% of the SAM-treated group.

In addition to its antiviral properties elderberries activate the immune system by increasing inflammatory cytokine production, therefore being beneficial for various diseases.

Elderberry Syrup

1/4 cup dried elderberries (Sambucus Nigra)

5 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger

2 cups purified water

1/4 cup raw honey-add after cooled

Combine all ingredients except honey. Bring to a boil. Simmer 30 minutes until reduced. Allow to cool Strain out the liquid, using the back of a spoon to crush the berries against the colander to release as much juice as possible. Add honey and stir. refrigerate.

Take 1 Tbsp per hour during illness

Take 3 Tbsp per day to prevent illness

You can add any number of herbs to this syrup. I like to open an echinacea tea bag and throw that in once in a while. Also if you have access to fresh elderberries you would use 1 cup of fresh berries in this recipe.

I have purchased very good quality elderberries from Whole Foods Market and online from Wilderness Family Naturals. They are not expensive, and the benefits will far out weigh the cost. I haven’t had a cold, flu or infection of any sort for at least 4 years and to me that is priceless! I make a quart of this at a time and fill up an old wine bottle. I keep this bottle in the door of the fridge and take a swig right out of the bottle every morning before work. It’s great for washing down your cod liver oil!

I would love to grow elderberry bushes some day. Has anyone tried this? I will have to research their growing requirement to see if they will enjoy a Michigan winter!

5 Comments

Easy Overnight Chicken Stock

February 16, 2012 at 9:58 PM (How To, Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies)
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First of all, why make chicken stock homemade when you can just go buy it at the grocery store?

1. Cheaper! I use a lot of bone broth and this would be a very expensive ingredient to buy in bulk. Plus I am using the chicken carcass and feet and necks, and a whole bag of vegetable scraps that I would normally throw in the trash. I love the fact that I am using every last bit of that bird, and not wasting a thing.

2. Tastes Better. I can’t even describe to you the difference in the taste. Store bought stock contains lots of artificial flavors and colors as well as MSG and it still doesn’t taste a bit like the real thing. I would say that even if you don’t care about the health benefits, you will still continue to make this a priority after you taste it!

3. Health Benefits: Contains a large amount of gelatin, amino acids, calcium, magnesium, potassium and other minerals. Liver detoxifier and gut healer. Promotes beautiful skin, limber joints and strong cartilage. For a really in depth article on the many health benefits click here

Remember also that the amino acids in gelatin, like all amino acids, can only be properly utilized when the diet contains sufficient fat-soluble activators–vitamins A and D–found exclusively in animal fats. So don’t hesitate to put cream in your broth-based soups and sauces, and include other sources of vitamins A and D in your diet, such as butter, egg yolks and cod liver oil.

So now that we know why, lets get started.

Prep: I keep a gallon size bag in the freezer for chicken scraps and bones. I save chicken carcasses, necks, feet anything I can get my hands on. I am very blessed to have a farm co-op in the area and I have access to really healthy organic free range soy free chickens.  I have another gallon sized bag in the freezer for vegetable scraps. I put carrots, onion skins, celery, and garlic scraps in this bag. When the bags are full I dump all the contents into my crockpot and I’m ready.

Homemade Chicken Stock

1 crockpot full of chicken bones, feet, necks

2 cups veggie scraps (carrots, celery, onion, garlic)

Cover with cold  purified water

Add 2 Tbsp vinegar

Let this sit at room temp for 1-2 hours. The vinegar acidifies the water, which draws a lot more minerals out of those bones.

Turn your crockpot on low, and leave it alone for 24-48 hours.

Strain out the goo (great dog food) and store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks or in the freezer for 2-3 months.

Use it for soup, stew, cooking grains, or as a healthy hot tonic.

15 Comments