Horseradish Mashed Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2 cloves roasted elephant garlic (or 4-6 cloves normal sized garlic, roasted)
2 Tbsp grated fresh horseradish
4 Tbsp clarified butter or olive oil

Peel and grate horseradish. 

Steam cauliflower until it's soft and mashable. Place cauliflower in a bowl and add butter or olive oil and start mashing. Add the rest of the ingredients and keep mashing until everything is fully combined.

Pastelon (Plantain Lasagna)

This is a weekend recipe. It seriously took me 3 hours to make, I thought it would only take 2. Frying the plantains was the most time consuming because I used a deep fryer. If you're feeling ambitious, you might want to prepare it on the weekend and then stick it in the fridge to have during the week because it tastes awesome the next day (and it's easier to cut when it's cool).

Coconut oil
6 ripe plantains
2 lbs ground beef or pork
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
black pepper
red pepper (optional)
2 bell peppers (any color, I used red), chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 eggs

Cut plantains in half and then slice them lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. If deep frying, fry them in a single layer (or else they'll stick) until golden brown for about 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and set aside on paper towels. If pan frying, fry them in enough coconut oil to cover them and fry them until golden brown on each side. Set aside on paper towel.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large cast iron pan, brown meat. When meat starts to brown, add onions and peppers and saute until soft. Add seasoning and combine thoroughly.

Line a large baking dish with one layer of fried plantains. Add the meat, using a slotted spoon so the meat isn't too greasy. Press meat down so that it's level, then top with the rest of the plantains. Beat eggs, and pour over the top evenly. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Makes 6 servings.

Smoked Orange Chicken

1 1/2 lbs bone in, skin on chicken drumsticks or thighs
1 small - medium orange juiced and zested (I used a blood orange)
1 tsp Penzey's BBQ 3000
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder

Place chicken in a zip lock bag. Zest and juice orange into the bag. Add seasoning and marinate for 12-24 hours. Place chicken in smoker and reserve the marinade in a bowl for sopping. I used mesquite, but any kind of wood would work well with this. Smoke chicken at 150-180 degrees F for about 4 hours. Periodically, brush chicken with reserved marinade.

When ready to eat, grill or bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes
.

Green Curry Shrimp

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 lbs Shrimp
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 Tbsp Thai green curry paste

Heat oil in pan. Add onion. When onion is translucent, add shrimp. When shrimp starts to get pink and curly, then add ginger and garlic. after about 2 minutes, add coconut milk and curry paste. Cook for a couple more minutes and serve with cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles.

Spinach Omelet with Pesto

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup frozen spinach or 1/4 cup cooked/wilted
1/4 cup zucchini linguini
1 Tbsp Cilantro Pablano Pesto (or any pesto you've made recently)
Grilled onions
Roasted red peppers
Avocado slices
Hot sauce (I used Chipotle Tobasco, my FAVORITE.)
Chili Cilantro Aioli (optional, but recommended)


Heat spinach (thaw if it's frozen) and mix together with pesto and zucchini. Scramble eggs and cook in a pan (duh). Mix onions and peppers into the spinach-pesto mix. When eggs are almost cooked, put veggies in the middle and fold. When the eggs finish cooking and the veggies inside are warm enough (you might want to heat them before you put them in the omelet if they're not already hot) remove from pan an put on plate. Top with avocado and hot sauce.

Italian Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

For the sausage:

1 lb ground pork
1/2 Tbsp fennel seeds, toasted
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.

For the zucchini:

6-8 small zucchinis

Cut the tops off the zucchini, then cut them in half, lengthwise, and scoop out seeds. Stuff with sausage. Bake at 350 for 45 mins - 1 hour.

Boiled Bone Dog (or Cat) Treats

Halle

Step One: Make bone broth. I use the Balanced Bites recipe. It's simple and easy. Do not use onions to make your broth if you plan on feeding these treats to dogs. I'm not sure about cats, but I've heard that onions aren't good for dogs. The bones must be soft enough to grind, so if you're using bones from large animals (cows, bison, lamb, etc) make sure they have been boiled for a long time. You don't want to break your meat grinder!

Step Two: When you strain your bone broth, try to separate as much of the garlic from the bones as possible. You could omit the garlic to make this easier, but then your broth won't taste as good. The only vegetable I use to make broth is garlic. If you use carrots to make broth and they turn to mush and you can't separate them from the bones, it's ok. Garlic might not be good for dogs, but carrots are fine.

Step Three: Grind bones in a meat grinder. I use the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and it works fine. The bones are pretty mushy after boiling for 24 hours. Since I have a small dog, I use the coarse grind first and then run it through a second time with the fine grind. I've never tried a food processor for this.

Step Four: Line food dehydrator trays with parchment. Scoop pureed bone mush into desired size and shape. I like 1/8 cup for my 50 lbs pitbull and 60 lbs lab mix and 1 tsp - 1/2 a Tbsp for my 17 lbs pug. For fun, you can use cookie cutters to shape the treats. 

Step Five - Dry on 155 degrees for 12-24 hours depending on climate. I live in a vast desert wasteland so it doesn't take long for me.

Hazel and Jack

Step Six - make your pet happy.