…but with some help, it isn’t too hard. That’s where Mark Bittman comes in. His cookbook How to Cook Everything is an invaluable tool at taking complex cooking concepts and boiling them down¹ into simple recipes. I can’t speak highly enough of this cookbook (and the iOS app version of it).

Last night’s dinner consisted of two simple recipes: Pan-broiled steak and Braised Leeks with Tomatoes au Gratin. Ingredients were few, making grocery shopping a breeze: Locally grown leeks and tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and a nice cut of beef steak. Total prep time was about forty minutes, much of it unattended.

Leeks tend to have a great deal of dirt trapped inside their tightly wrapped leaves, which can pose a bit of a challenge. Bittman explains how to wash them: You remove the dark green tops, cut off the root, and then split the leek down the middle and fan the leaves out. I like to agitate the leaves in a bowl of water—nothing spoils a dish quite like the unexpected crunch of dirt left over.

Chopping all of the vegetables ahead of time streamlines the cooking process. The leeks are sauteed in oil until browned, and then braised with the chopped tomatoes until tender. While this is cooking, I grated the Parmesan cheese and heated the oven for the steaks.

The leek dish is finished by sprinkling liberally with cheese, then broiling until the cheese has browned. The result is an amazing amount of fresh flavor. Leeks are not used often, and I find the Allium flavor to be very refreshing and different. I broiled the steak in a cast iron skillet to an internal temperature of 160ºF—medium, which was more done than I was aiming for.

I enjoyed this dinner with a crisp tasting mineral water. Very, very delicious.

1. pardon the pun. [↩]

How To Cook Beef Stroganoff and Fight Off A Ninja from Ronen on Vimeo.

Brilliant, and looks like a delicious meal.

Natural, organic healing foods.

I was laid up sick all day today with a URI (upper respiratory infection). Not fun. I had some food on hand, however, so I tried my hand at a batch of healing tea using herbal remedies.

Healing Antiviral Tea

• 1 medium (or 2 small) lemons, chopped.(Lemon is high in zinc and Vitamin C, and promotes immune response and reduces inflammation.)
• 4 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger root. (A potent antiviral)
• 1 cinnamon stick. (Cinnamon promotes circulation and has mild antiviral effects.)
• 2 Tbsp. honey. (Soothes the throat and heals. Its very important to get minimally processed, all natural honey.)

Ingredients prepped for infusion.

Try for organic as much as possible. You’re putting this stuff in your body.

I prepped all of the ingredients, then mixed with 2.5 quarts of water in a 3 quart saucepan. Bring it to a rolling boil, then boil it covered for thirty minutes. Pour the mixture through a strainer and enjoy the resulting brew.

A potent, warming, soothing liquid to stave off colds.

For the past several weeks I’ve been following the Four-Hour Body diet, aiming to eat near-Paleo¹ six days a week. I’m loving the results—both on the scale and also in terms of general feeling of well-being.

This diet has not kept me from cooking and exploring new flavors and recipe. A few nights ago, I whipped up an amazing meal: Spicy Braised Beef with Lime (from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything cookbook) served over a slightly modified Cauliflower Fried “Rice” (from everydaypaleo.com).

Spicy Braised Beef with Lime, on Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

This meal is both extremely delicious and very healthy. And pretty easy to prepare. Full instructions & nutrition info after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. I do eat legumes, though, so its not strict paleo [↩]

Super easy, super simple, and really good. Check it out:

(Video from the New York Times “The Minimalist” column by Mark Bittman—read associated article here.)

Here is the recipe, quite simply:

Saute a medium onion in butter, seasoned with salt and pepper. Add a head or two of lettuce, and cook until wilted. Then add two cups of good stock (homemade is the best), and simmer another 5-10 minutes, until it reduces further.

Mark Bittman recommends pureeing this with ice water in a blender; I used an immersion blender with some ice water. Fold in some heavy cream, and chill for an hour before eating (or, as I did, warm some back up and eat it hot).

Simple, frugal, made with real food, and delicious. Can’t beat that.

Basic ingredients combined with basic cooking methods result in an amazing entree in this simple recipe.

I work in a job with 24-hour long shifts and at a station with no restaurants or food in the area—and a fully equipped kitchen. I typically cook my own meals at work rather than bringing leftovers from home. This morning, I knew I had most of a leek, a boneless, skinless chicken breast, some butter, and some garlic. I picked up a couple vine-ripened tomatoes at the store on the way in, and put them together in a simple yet delectable dish. Here’s the recipe, scaled to serve 4:

Ingredients:

• 3 leeks¹
• 6 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, minced²
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 Tbsp. butter
• Salt & pepper³

Kitchen Equipment:

• One largish skillet/pan with a tight-fitting lid.
• A spatula.
• That’s pretty much it.

Preparation after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Look for a firm, bright vegetable with the white part extending as far up as possible [↩]
2. I like my garlic flavor strong. You may decide to use less. [↩]
3. Let me put a plug in here for Penzey’s Tellicherry peppercorn blend. Fresh ground, you can’t beat it. [↩]

On the menu tonight was ribeye steak with rosemary butter. Pretty simple & straightforward. Of more interest is the improvised side dish, made entirely with local, organic ingredients from a farm-share coop.

I started by dicing a shallot and sautéing it over medium heat in olive oil until it started to brown.

To the shallot I added these greens, which I had washed, dried, trimmed, and chopped. I’m unsure the actual kind of greens here but they were bitter—harsher, in fact, than spinach. I figured cooking might help, and indeed it did, revealing a much more delicate flavor in the greens. I stirred the greens into the oil and shallot well, trying to coat the greens with the oil.

After 7 or so minutes of cooking, I added a chopped tomato and some minced garlic. Somewhere around 4 minutes later, I considered it done, checked the taste and added some powdered garlic and salt. It still tasted flat, so I drizzled it with fresh lemon juice and considered it done.