“I cook with wine, sometimes, I even add it to the food I cook” – Julia Child

Hello all!!!

Yeah! I’m still here, and this is my 50th post!!! So much has happen since I started writing this blog, I’ve got a bit lost myself a few time…

When I started this blog, I was really into all kinds of food, but mostly the sweets… then I took a break because of lack of time, made a come back, and took a break because of a change of diet… You might have notice that since the beginning of this year, it has been trending healthier around here… Well, yes, for the benefit of my health (and I reassure you, no big drama health wise, just some re-adjustment to do) I started to see a Naturopathic doctor. That’s the way I’ve been wanted to go for a while, taking care of myself, and my family the simplest and most natural way possible. As my doctor recommended, at least for while, to try to stay away from dairy, grains and sugar, it quickly became evident that a Paleo diet was the way to go. Remember a few posts ago, I was kind of making fun of the Paleo directives in Sugar Free, Butter Free Peanut Butter Muffins. Am I Paleo yet?. Well since, I have research it, and it started to make really a lot of sense, at least for me, to go that route. But of course, I love food, so I will not follow it 100%, unless, really, my health depends on it, and also I have limitation when it comes to make a family dinner that everyone will eat and the cost of eating grass fed meat, and organics, is just not in our budget. But I have learned to make better choices with what I can find around me and it’s working pretty good!

Anyhow, if you are interested in reading more about Paleo, I really recommend scrolling through this web-site, it explains all the guideline and the why of which food is good or bad: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-101/. Also, it is important to know that it is not a diet to loose weight, but rather to go healthy, which this post explains well: http://stuffyoushould.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/you-should-stop-dieting/. What I like about this way of eating is that it en-lights you on facts that fat and meats are not bad for you if you choose them wisely, but the most important thing is to stay away from processed food, which I can totally deal with!!!

So, Boeuf Bourguignon, is it Paleo? Hey why not, it’s all natural ingredients, and most Paleo dieters will drink wine if they have to choose an alcohol, as it’s not made from grains…

Never made BB? Of course you could go with the Julia Child version, but it is a bit complicated and long for a 1st timer; http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe/julia-childs-beef-bourguignon-8222804. Mine is the same ingredients pretty much, but just easier, which is very much like this recipe found on Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Boeuf-Bourguignon-104754.

Because i’m a bit lazy lately about writing, I copied this last recipe for the post, and changed the ingredients to what I have used and a few instructions. But the technique is all the same, and OMG the results!!!

It is a super classic homey comfy stew that everyone loves! Best served on fresh pasta, or with a side of mash potaoes. For Paleo, you could do a celery root mash, or a side of roasted veggies, like those amazing Brussels Spouts I made last time! recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-brussels-sprouts-recipe2/index.html, I just added a bit of mash garlic to it

• 1/4 pound thick-sliced bacon
• 3 pounds boneless beef chuck
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (omit for Paleo or gluten free, or sprinkle a bit of arrowroot starch)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or more OO for dairy free version)
• 4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 (4-inch) piece of celery
• 4 fresh parsley stems (no leaves)
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 bay leaves (not California)
• 2 cloves
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine (preferably Burgundy or Côtes du Rhône)
• 1 pound small (1 1/2-inch) boiling onions or pearl onions (optional)
• 1 pound mushrooms, quartered if large

Cook bacon in large heavy pot that can contain the whole stew, then scoop the bacon out onto a paper towel, leaving the fat in the pan.

Pat beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Divide flour and beef between 2 (1-quart) sealable plastic bags, seal, then shake to coat meat.

Add 1‚ tablespoons oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter into the pot with bacon fat, over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown beef well on all sides in 2 or 3 batches, without crowding, adding remaining ‚ tablespoon oil as needed. Transfer to a bowl.

Pour off any excess oil from pot, then add wine to pot. Deglaze by boiling over high heat 1 minute, stirring and scraping up brown bits, then pour over beef.

Tie celery, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and cloves together with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni (tuck cloves into celery so they don’t fall out).

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in the same pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté chopped onions, garlic, and carrots, then stirring, until onions are pale golden, about 5 minutes. Add remaining wine, stock, meat with juices, and bouquet garni and simmer gently, partially covered, until meat is tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. This can be done in a slow cooker, of dutch oven. Check the meat once in while to make sure it’s tender.

Optional: While meat simmers, blanch boiling onions in boiling salted water 1 minute and drain in a colander. Rinse under cold running water, then peel. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saute
 boiling onions, stirring occasionally, until browned in patches. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 cups water (1 1/2 cups if using pearl onions), then simmer, partially covered, until onions are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat remaining tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saute
 mushrooms, stirring, until golden brown and any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir onions and mushrooms into stew and cook 10 minutes. Remove bouquet garni and skim any fat from surface of stew. Season with salt and pepper.

If the sauce is too thin, strained everything out, and place the sauce back on medium high heat and let it reduce to desired consistency (you can add more flour or starch for thickening). Not too much! you want to make sure you have enough sauce remaining!

Cooks’ note:·Boeuf bourguignon may be made 1 day ahead. Cool, uncovered, then chill, covered (it tastes even better made ahead because it gives the flavors time to develop). If making ahead, it’s easier to remove fat from surface after chilling.

Bon appetit!!!!

XOXO - Tartine

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Veal & Carrots Tagine.

Tailgate Chili Con Carne, THE must for your Super Bowl Party!!!

Ham and Cheese Soufflé, with foolproof tips!

Who doesn’t love a good banana bread? Yes indeed, this classic of american cuisine has it’s own celebrated day, today!!! I tried to research some fact about were and when it comes from, but that wasn’t really interesting… I just give you a short paragraph from Wiki:

Banana bread first became a standard feature of American cookbooks with the popularization of baking soda and baking powder in the 1930s, appeared in Pillsbury‘s 1933 Balanced Recipes cookbook,^[2] and later gained more acceptance with the release of the original Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book in 1950.^[3]

Look at the goodness inside!

This is the perfect way to use up those brown bananas, and as a matter of fact, I did have 4 of those darken fruits on my counter, not even planning on making banana bread this week-end! Some other great ideas of  what to do with ripped bananas is a super easy food processor ice cream! Yes indeed, you can find how to in this post:

Peanut Butter & Jam Popsicles: a treat that’s good for you… and the kids

Anyway, back to the banana bread. You have seen on this blog, different variations of banana bread, in muffin forms, with healthy alternative, and let me tell you those are really good!!! the posts are:

Sugar Free, Butter Free Peanut Butter Muffins. Am I Paleo yet?

Banana Bread Muffins: low fat, low sugar, no guilt!!!

But, to celebrate the special day, I decided to go with a more authentic recipe this time, that doesn’t care about healthiness and nutrition, just goodness!!! Also, I think my husband is getting tired of my try out at “healthy” baking… Although they are really good, he always has some comments about the stevia aftertaste, or just plainly: “it’s good, but it’s just not the same…” Yeah, I am one of those to never do the same, I always, I mean, always, have to change something in a recipe… Look, again, Id did some changes! My choice of using coconut oil, is because I prefer using oil rather than butter in banana cakes, I think it makes them fluffier  and coconut oil adds a subtle nutty taste to the cake. Same with the brown sugar, it’s just a taste thing, rather that using plain white sugar, brown sugar adds a little more carameley taste to it! Whole wheat flour I think goes great with the heartiness of the cake. I don’t use whole wheat usually in cakes, but I think it goes particularly well with banana and carrot cakes in general.

So there it is, I picked one of the most rated recipe of banana bread from the internet, int his case, from the Food Network web site: Flour’s Famous Banana Bread. If you look at the rating and number of reviews, you want to make this, like right now!!! Seems pretty fool proof! With the few modification from above, and voila!!!

I also love to cut my banana bread in thin slices, toast it and eat it for breakfast with peanut butter and maple syrup… Like we did this morning!!! Oh my, amazing!!! Tonight  we have company, and I am planning on serving it with homemade coconut ice cream, that should be pretty outstanding too… I let you know soon! And this time, hubby was definitely in banana cake haven! He barely waited for the cake to cool and almost ruined it by trying to cut  it while warm! I have to admit, it was delicious right out the over, but easier to slice once completely cool!

What is your favorite recipe? How do you eat it?

Ingredients (changed from original recipe)
1  cups all-purpose flour

2/3 whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 dark brown sugar

2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
4 bananas, very ripe, mashed
2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper, or butter and flour.

Sift together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugars and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Attacked right out of the oven!

Enjoy, and happy banana cake day!

XOXO

Tartine

You may also like:

Banana Bread Muffins: low fat, low sugar, no guilt!!!

Sugar Free, Butter Free Peanut Butter Muffins. Am I Paleo yet?

Peanut Butter & Jam Popsicles: a treat that’s good for you… and the kids

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Ham and Cheese Soufflé

Cheese souffle has been an all time favorite of ours when we were kids. My grand mother and my mum used to make it on a regular basis. Yep, even on school nights! It’s really not that hard, like most people think. I think a lot of homey cooks are worried about the flop effect, the nightmare on the table, when the beautiful puff is just deflating in front of your hungry guests… I understand..

That’s why I have including a bunch of tips below the recipe, and you’ll tell me, if , after following all that, it didn’t work, but honestly, I believe in you, it will be amazing

Also, if you can, make sure to choose a good quality cheese, rich in flavor, a raw milk hard cheese like Comté or Gruyère are the best. if you don’t have those, use some fresh Parmesan. But please don’t use any of that factory shredded mozza or swiss package cheese, too bland!!!

And when you make souffle, you are allowed to be rude to your guests; do whatever it takes to have them sitting at the table before it comes out of the oven, even with all the tips in the world, the souffle will eventually deflate! Serve it before it happens!

Ingredients (4 people):

200 g ham, cut into small pieces
4 eggs
100 g Comté or Gruyère cheese

20g butter for the mold

For the béchamel
40 cl of milk
40 g flour
40 g butter
salt & pepper

a pinch of ground nutmeg

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Before cooking…

… and after!

Tips to make your souffle successful:

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Happy Mardi-Gras (Fat Tuesday) everyone!!!

I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I did live in New Orleans, AKA “The Big Easy”, for about 18 months, and that’s where I met my husband! It was also right around the time of 9/11 and followed by a SuperBowl! Needless to say, we went to some real ups and downs during that time. Thankfully we had left before Katrina, but I remember sobbing uncontrollably when watching the news during that time…

Mardi Gras is such a huge deal for New Orleans, and after Katrina, for many years, everyone would say that it just wasn’t the same. But nowadays, for what I can gather  the party is fully back on and the decadence is back in the street full force! When I say decadence, I mean it! It was borderline intimidating sometime to be out there!!! But so much fun! A life experience for sure!

But do you know why Mardi-Gras is celebrated? A little bit of history for you:

Mardi-Gras (literally “Fat Tuesday”) is originally a catholic event which marks the end of the “week of the seven fat days” which were known as “jours charnels” (meaning carnival) in the old days. Before Ash Wednesday, the start of the fasting period of Lent, people celebrated in many diverse ways as it was their last chance until Easter to eat meat.

The word “carnival” derives from the Latin “carnelevare” meaning “to take out the meat”. Indeed, meat was banished from the table during the whole period of Lent, as was sugar, ingredients containing fat, eggs and dairy products. If in Europe, the religious observance of Lent is followed by a rather small group of people, the celebrations around Mardi-Gras are still an opportunity  taken by many to enjoy outdoor feasts, masquerade processions, masked balls, parades, pageants, jugglers, magicians and stilt walkers. This is what French people call “le Carnaval”.

Alongside crêpes, two other closely related treats are prepared on Mardi-Gras: waffles andbeignets.

The story about the Mardi Gras King’s Cake is actually the same as of Epiphany French King Cake, but celebrated on different dates! If you want the full story, you can visit this page. But just like it, we hide something in the cake, here it is usually a little plastic baby, and the one who finds it, has to bake or buy the next King Cake. The tradition runs from the beginning of the year all the way until Mardi Gras Day.

The cake is a brioche type of dough, rolled with a sweet mixture of sugar cinnamon and nuts. It is baked and covered in icing and colored sugar, the colors you find EVERYWHERE in New Orleans at this time of the year: Purple (representing Justice), Green (representing Faith) and Gold (representing Power).

I actually haven’t made one this year. I spent the whole day in bed yesterday with a stomach bug, and surely do not feel like baking a cake right now, what a shame right? But I did it last year for the 1st time, and it was really easy and delicious!

I have followed this recipe, which is really close to the ones I used to have in NO, I wouldn’t change a thing but omitted the raisins because hubby doesn’t like them!

Here are some cheerful memories of the 2 Mardi Gras we spent together, me and hubby, in New Orleans, in 2002 and 2003. Man, that doesn’t make me feel young!!! LOL!

Enjoy Fat Tuesday and do something decadent today

“Laissez les bon temps rouler” (let the good times roll)!!!

XOXO

Tartine

You may also like:

La Chandeleur – French Crepes Day

Epiphany French King’s Cake

Easy & Fast One Bowl Waffles! 

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So yesterday February 5th, was World Nutella Day! Yep, it’s an official food holiday!!! They even have a dedicated web-site, specially for that day: http://www.nutelladay.com. On which I had the pleasure to see that my recipe from last year, the Nutella Brownie Ice Cream, was featured! Among hundred of other recipes, but still, what an honor! It was an amazing recipe, honestly, this ice cream was amazingly decadent!!! Have a look below!

Nutella Brownie Ice Cream, Spontenious Decadence

Before the celebration begins, here are a few facts and history about this delicious paste:

Nutella, manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, was introduced on the market in 1963. The recipe was developed from an earlier Ferrero spread released in 1944.

A few fun facts about Nutella:

— Nutella’s 40th anniversary celebration is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest breakfast, having hosted 27,854 people at the AufShalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on May 29, 2005.

— The amount of Nutella produced worldwide in one day is equivalent to nearly three times the weight of the Statue of Liberty.

— More than 70 million hazelnuts are used worldwide each day in the production of Nutella.

— The number of jars sold annually, if lined up, would wrap around the moon four times.

— The amount of Nutella produced in a day could provide every person in San Diego with one jar.

- In France, senator Yves Daudigny proposed a tax increase on palm oil from €100 to €400 per metric tonne. At 20%, palm oil is one of Nutella’s main ingredients and the tax was dubbed “the Nutella tax” in the media. (that’s nuts, right??? Those crazy French and their taxes…)

For more fun facts, check out Nutella’s website, Nutellausa.com.

Now, about the recipe…

I have been thinking about what recipe to do to celebrate that special day, for a long time… But then I ran really short on time, and when I finally had a chance to sit down and decide on something, it was 9:30pm on Monday night! Thankfully, I found a very easy Panna Cotta recipe, made with 3 ingredients and requiring only 10 min of prep!! perfect! I changed it just slightly of course, so I wrote the different options you can go with. It came out amazing!!! It is very rich, but really good! Next time, I might try half milk half cream, or light coconut milk, or, instead of dividing in 4 serving, I think I’ll do 6… Also, gelatin sheets are hard to find here (bought mine in France), but you can substitute with powder gelatin or agar-agar. Anyway, for the short prep time and ingredient list, it’s definitely a keeper!!!

Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk or 400ml whipping cream (or milk-cream combo)
160 gr Nutella
2 gelatin sheets (or 2 gr agar-agar or Knox like gelatin)
1 tbsp vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract

If using gelatin sheets, soak them in a bowl of cold water.

Warm up milk and Nutella together with the vanilla in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir until combine, for about 5 min. Take the pan off the heat. Add the gelatin, and whisk well to blend.

Pour in little cups and let cool at room temperature for an hour. Cover with plastic film, and refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 hours. That’s it!

Enjoy!

Now, what is your favorite way to savor Nutella? I love it, just with a spoon… 2nd best choice, on a toasted piece of brioche… huuummm…

Doesn’t it make you sad that there is always a little bit of left over Nutella in that empty jar, that you just can’t scrap off? Next time, pour some warm milk in your jar, close the lid, shake; there, you have a Nutella Latte No wasting here!!!

XOXO

Tartine

Some inspiring collections of Nutella recipes:

http://www.nutelladay.com/nutella-recipes/

http://littleinspiration.com/2012/09/20-nutella-recipes.html

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipe/nutella-recipes-keyword.html

I bet you will also like:

Nutella Brownie Ice Cream, Spontenious Decadence

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Chocolate Chip Cookies; simply the best of a classic…

Recipe shared on:

The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Tessa the Domestic Diva

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There are all kinds of French proverbs and sayings for Chandeleur; here are just a few. Note the similarities to the Groundhog Day predictions made in the US and Canada:

À la Chandeleur, l’hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur
On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens

À la Chandeleur, le jour croît de deux heures
On Candlemas, the day grows by two hours

Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte
Candlemas covered (in snow), forty days lost

Rosée à la Chandeleur, hiver à sa dernière heure
Dew on Candlemas, winter at its final hour

But for the French, the best part of Candlemas is obviously the crepes!!! In France  we have different recipes whether you want to to enjoy them with a sweet or savory filling. Today we have done sweet crepes, and I’ll share with you my favorite recipe, it’s a rule of 3; infallible, easy to remember and delicious! We haven’t done savory crepes in a while, but you’ll find the recipe below. Savory crepes are made with buckwheat flour, and usually filled with whatever you like, folded and served with a green lettuce salad and apple cider (the kind with alcohol in it…). My favorites savory, are filled with an egg, ham, mushrooms and cheese! For the sweet, although I love Nutella filled crepes, my favorite has to be with fresh lemon juice and sugar .

What is your favorite filling??? I would love to know!

Sweet crepes recipe: The rule of 3!

300g all purpose flour

3 eggs

3/4 liter of milk

3 Tbsp butter, melted (or oil)

Vanilla extract (optional)

Beat the eggs until well combine with the vanilla. Add the melted butter and milk, combine. Then add slowly the flour and mix. To make sure there are no lumps, I finish it with a hand mixer.

Heat a large pan on medium low. Drop a teaspoon of oil or butter and swipe with a paper towel. You can then re-use the same paper towel in between each crepe to re-oil your pan (that’s unless your pan is really non-sticky).

Pour enough crepe batter in the center of your pan while moving it in slow circles to cover all the surface. When the down side of the crepe turns slightly golden, flip the crepe around and cook a minute more.

Cover it with your favorite topping, fold and enjoy!

To see a tutorial, click here.

Buckwheat savory crepes (crepes au sarrasin)

250 g buckwheat flour

2 eggs

1/4 liter of milk

1/4 liter water (or beer)

3 Tbsp butter, melted (or oil)

Proceed as above for the sweet crepe batter.

After flipping your crepe on the other side, add in the middle your toppings  so they have time to warm up. Once ready, fold the outer sides of the crepes towards the center and slide on a plate to serve.

BTW, it’s a beautiful day here in BC, and unfortunately I saw my shadow this morning… 6 more weeks of winter? Hope not…

Bonne chandeleur a tous!

Happy Groundhog day!

XOXO

Tartine

You may also like, in the breakfast collection:

Easy & Fast One Bowl Waffles! 

Lavender French Toasts. “Pain Perdu a la Lavande”

Banana Bread Muffins: low fat, low sugar, no guilt!!!

What best than a good heart warming Chili to serve at your Super Bowl party? It’s easy, yummy, can be prepared in advance and left in the pot all day long, and honestly, who doesn’t like Chili? Plus it’s gluten free, dairy free and you can easily make it vegetarian or vegan!

1st a little bit of food fact about Chili Con Carne, did you know that this is a purely fabricated American dish? NONO, it’s not Mexican! Thank you Wikipedia…

In Spanish, the “chili” refers to a chile pepper and “carne” means meat.

The recipe used by American frontier settlers consisted of dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers and salt, which were pounded together, formed into bricks and left to dry, which could then be boiled in pots on the trail.

The San Antonio Chili Stand, in operation at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, helped people from other parts of the country taste and appreciate chili. San Antonio was a significant tourist destination and helped Texas-style chili con carne spread throughout the South and West. Chili con carne is the official dish of the U.S. state of Texas as designated by the House Concurrent Resolution Number 18 of the 65th Texas Legislature during its regular session in 1977.

I started with a recipe from the web a while ago, and slowly customized it. My favorite meat blend is beef and lamb! You can also substitute meat with roasted veggies (carrots, zucchini, eggplants…). Here is my ingredients list; you know what to do next…

You don’t? Well pretty much, just brown the meat in a large pot on medium high, remove the extra fat, add all the other ingredients in the order below, while keeping the pot on medium low (keep corn last) and simmer for at least 2 hours, low and covered. You can also put everything (after browning the meat) in a slow cooker on low for 4 to 6 hours. I like to prepare my Chili the day before, leave it the slow cooker turned off overnight, and next day, turn the slow cooker back on, on low setting while serving; double cooked is always best for dishes like meat stew and Chili, plus the slow cooker keeps it warm while serving! Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and bread slices!

If not hosting a big party, you can freeze in portions. It holds very well in the freezer for at least 3 months, and you’ll always have some on hand!

Ingredients: (serve 12).

• 3 pounds lean or xtra lean ground beef or a mix of meat (lamb, pork, sausage…)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil after removing meat fat (optional)
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 carrots grated or grounded (using a food processor)
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 4 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 4 tsp of Better Than Bouillon Organic Beef Base (or 4 cubes beef bouillon)
• 1 beer
• 1/4 cup chili powder (Mexican chili powder or mix blend for Chili)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup of frozen corn (add at the end of cooking)
• salt and pepper to taste at the end of cooking
• Updated on March 10th, 2013: try to add 3 tablespoon of dark unsweetened cocoa powder (the one you would use for baking) and a bit more maple syrup! Chocolate really takes the taste to the next level and marries very well with the spices. It doesn’t take anything out from the heat, but adds a smooth, slightly sweet finish, HUMMMMM….

Enjoy, and may the best  team win !!!!

XOXO

Tartine

You may also like for your party:

Slow cooker cilantro lime chicken

Quinoa Tabouleh

Tomato Mozzarella Pizza

Cheeseburger outside-in!!! With Boursin cheese, shiitake mushrooms, red peppers and bacon

Pecan Pie recipe with no syrup, no shortening

Nutella Brownie Ice Cream

Drunken Watermelon Slush

,

Hello all! Before we get started, let me tell you a bit about my recent search and interest; the Paleo diet. Wasat? Well, it’s definitely a bit confusing… Paleo comes from the work: Paleolithic, AKA; cavemen time, like million years ago. OK, so what’s the diet? Self hunted raw meat? HAHA, yeah, well no, that’s where it gets complicated… I put a few pieces of web definition together to resume it as best as possible, so here it goes:

Centered on commonly available modern foods, the “contemporary” Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils

Toxic foods include:

• Grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats, brown rice, …)
• Legumes (soy beans, peanuts, chickpeas, kidney beans, …)
• Vegetable seed oils (soybean oil, peanut oil, corn oil, canola oil, …)
• Added sugar (sodas, candies, cakes, fruit juices, …). Some sugar from natural sources like fruits is perfectly fine.
• Sources of dairy high in protein (casein) and sugar (lactose) and low in healthy butter-fat.

A focus should be placed on eating a variety of foods that are high in vitamins and minerals. These include:

• Organ meats (liver, kidney, bone marrow, heart, brain, …)
• Leafy green vegetables (spinach, kale, swiss chard, arugula, …)
• Meat from grass-fed ruminants (beef, bison, lamb, …)
• Mollusks and other seafood (oysters, mussels, wild salmon, sardines, …)
• Egg yolks;
• Bone broth;
• Fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, …);

Got it? Confusing a bit, no? 1st of all, why avoiding grains and legumes? Not sure… Why the meat as to be “grass feed ruminants”? Because it’s a caveman diet? OK, well did cavemen really cooked fermented food or delicious cake with coconut milk and baking soda??? That’s where I got lost…

Anyhow, the reason why I got interested in this diet, is that 1st of all, when you start to search for healthy recipes, like no sugar cake, or healthy snacks recipe, it seems like the Paleo tag is on everything healthy out there! I mean, where have I been lately? Where those Paleo modern cavemen cooks hided before? It seems like like it’s been the crave for a while, and I totally missed the boat!

Wait a second, I am not becoming Paleo, nonono, huhum, like mentioned before, no will power, therefore, no such restrictions for me! I love grains, legumes, dairy, non-grass-feed-ruminants meat! But I have to admit, I am following at least 5 Paleo bloggers now!

What really interest me is their approach of cooking with alternatives, like no refined sugar, and instead, for example using pureed dates, that’s a great idea! dates are so sweet and nutritious! Or replace butter with coconut oil. I am not sure how coconut oil is so good for you, seeing all the (good) cholesterol that it contains, but I love it! Been using it everywhere lately! Or alternative flours like nut flours; coconut, almond, mashed nuts… oh, and by the way, in Paleo world, peanut is not a nut, just so you know…. HUH? Oh well, it ends in “nut” still a nut to me!

Aren’t you learning a lot today??? Well I did over the past week, and decided to apply some out of this age cooking tips to my healthier baking!

SUCCESS! It was really, really good for a healthy muffin! Oh, I forgot the disclaimer: “healthy doesn’t always mean low calories”, there, that’s done. After all, there is peanut butter, coco oil, dates, whole flour; it is a hearty muffin, but the ingredients, are good for you little inside! I passed the kids AND the coworkers (who have access to fresh amazing pastries from our 4 stars kitchen) test! HOORAY!

Someone is going for more!!! WIN!

But it is NOT a Paleo recipe, just Paleo inspired. I got the base recipe from here, and changed it to the follow (you can go with the alternative options to fit what’s in your pantry, healthiness not guaranteed ):

Ingredients (about 10 muffins)

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour- (or do all white, all whole wheat… just have 1 cup of flour)
• 1/4 cup powdered Stevia (or 1/4 cup sugar or honey or maple syrup)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 dates (or 1/4 cup brown sugar)
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil (or 2 Tbsp butter or other oil)
• 1/2 cup milk (or nut milk)
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ripen banana
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp water
• Chocolate chips/chopped nuts (optionnal)

Directions

Preheat oven at 350.

In a big bowl, blend the 3 flours, Stevia, baking soda and salt. Set aside,

In a saucepan, warm up the coco oil, milk, PB and vanilla. If your dates are a bit hard, or your blender/food processor not too powerful, you might want to soak the dates in the warm milk for a bit…

In a food processor or blender, process the dates until forming a paste. Add a little bit of the warm milk mixture if too sticky. Add the sliced banana, egg, maple syrup and water and process. Them add the warm oil/milk/PB mixture and process more. Make sure the mixture is not hot before pouring, just warm enough so that it is of a liquid consistency.

Add gradually the wet mixture to the flour mixture and blend until smooth. Add the chocolate chips/nuts if wanted.

Pour in cupcake paper liner or lightly greased muffin pan, just 2/3 full. Cook for about 20 min.

Enjoy!

XOXO – Tartine

Some nice Paleo recipes web-site and blogs:

http://paleospirit.com/

http://livinghealthywithchocolate.com/

http://simplylivinghealthy.org/

http://everydaypaleo.com/

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Pecan Pie recipe with no syrup, no shortening: A southern style anniversary!

So today is peanut butter day!!! yep, that’s right! I discovered recently that there is a food “holiday” almost every day! Yesterday was pie, tomorrow is Irish Coffee (why didn’t it fall on a week-end…), and today is peanut butter!

I mean we could talk all day about or favorite things made with PB, or how we just like to eat it out the jar. But here a few things to know about PB:

- It was used hundreds years ago by the Aztec Native Americans

- On the healthy side, Peanut butter (and peanuts) provides protein, vitamins B₃ and E,magnesium, folate, dietary fiber, arginine,^[7] and high levels of the antioxidant p-coumaric acid.

- BUT, Some brands of peanut butter may contain a small amount of added partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are high in trans fatty acids that are thought to be a cause of atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and stroke. So go with Natural PB!!! I made the switch a year ago, and I love it!!!

Of course there are tons, I mean loads of baking recipes with PB, but it is also very tasty in savory dishes! In my recent search for new veggie recipes, I came across this one from Carrie On Vegan. Of course I didn’t follow it to the T, but just not even thinking about what I was doing, I ended up with a very tasty veggie stir fry! Even hubb and the kids devoured it!! WIN!

Everyone enjoys PB day!!!

There are no real measurement there, because I didn’t intended to make this recipe for the blog, and as any stir-fry, it’s open to your own creativity!

So in my stir fry, I had:

1/4 onion sliced

2 celery stalks

about 1 cup of shredded white cabbage

1 carrot, sliced

a few broccoli florets

3 big kale leaves, chopped

For the sauce:

1 tbsp natural PB

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

pepper

In a wok or large pan, star your stir fry: preheat with a tsp of oil, then add veggies in the order listed. Cover with a lid for a few minutes to steam the veggies.

In a bowl, add the ingredients for the sauce, put in the microwave for 30 sec to soften the PB and honey and stir. Add to the stir fry and blend well. Cook for another 2 min and serve! Add some Tabasco for an extra kick!

Could work very well with a beef or chicken stir fry, and served with plain rice.

Enjoy Your PB night!

That’s me enjoying my PB night…

XOXO

Tartine

Related post:

Peanut Butter & Jam Popsicles: a treat that’s good for you… and the kids

Tilapia en papillote

On my journey to keep up with the good resolutions, I figured I need to try to cook my usual fried tilapia a different way… sure, tilapia is great fried in oil and butter, mostly when the edges are getting all crispy, yum! But that’s loads of fat I don’t want right now. Then I remembered of this easy trick, I used to cook fish a long time ago; “en papillote”.

Papillote is a french word that means “wrapped in”, here, the fish is wrapped in foil. You can add a lot of things, along with the fish, to enhance the flavors. I personally love to wrap it with onions, tomatoes and parsley. The options are endless! Basically, because the fish is totally sealed in foil, it will cook by steam from its own juice that are trapped in the sealed foil. So you virtually need no fat at all to cook it, it just won’t stick, and will still be extra tender.

So possibilities are endless, but this is pretty much how I did the one above:

Ingredients (for one person)

1 tilapia fillet

1 fresh tomato, sliced

a few slices of onion, or chopped green onions

fresh parsley

Mrs Dash lemon pepper seasoning (love this, has no salt, no msg, very flavorful)

salt

pepper

1 tsp of olive oil (optional)

Lay a long piece of aluminium paper, big enough to wrap and seal your fish, on a baking tray. If using oil, spread it in the center of the foil. Lay the tilapia, sprinkle some lemon pepper seasoning on the fish. Then lay the onion, tomato and some chopped fresh parsley all around. Season everything with salt and pepper.

Wrap the foil to leave no possible hole. Bake in preheated oven at 400 F for 20 min (more if you cook several fillets together).

Let rest 5 min before opening the foil. Be very careful when opening! Hot escaping steam can burn real bad, trust me, I know…

Serve with rice (love dumping the juices from the fish on my rice), steamed potatoes or veggies.

Enjoy!

XOXO

Tartine

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