Pan Seared Rib-eye

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe.html

I used lard for this recipe, and it still smoked a TON, especially in the initial sear. Will not make it again this way. On the other hand, the meat turned out very well.

Deviled Eggs II

Semi based on http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/04/17/recipe-deviled-eggs-without-mayo/

I made this recipe but decided the yolk mixture was not creamy enough, so I added some miracle whip. It was kindof like a small spoon of sour cream, small spoon of miracle whip, a splash of white wine vinegar, a couple drops of honey,  mustard and salt as written, omit olive oil.

They were still good, with less mayo than I would have used otherwise. Hopefully will figure out a recipe we like that has no mayo at all.

Southern Style Kale

http://www.southbeachprimal.com/southern-style-kale/

Southern Style Kale

This was really great. I used a bit too much bacon. 4 slices of thin cut would have been enough, but I probably used 6 or 7. I only added 1/2 tsp of salt too, and I am really glad because it was very salty already. The rest I made as is, with 1 bunch of kale. It was so good! It didn't have a strong bitter taste cooked this way. I will make it again the next time I get kale.

Unstuffed Cabbage

This recipe is reminiscent of golompke, but turned out better. It is from the 15 minute meal low-carb cookbook by Dana Carpenter. David liked this a lot. The recipe author says she altered a recipe from the I Hate to Cook Cookbook. The original is called "The Colonel's Lady's Ham" and is shown here.

The leftovers were great in a GF tortilla.

Roasted small potatoes

Preheat oven to 350. Cut small potatoes in half. Put coconut oil onto heavy baking sheet. I like to put the baking sheet in the oven for a minute to melt the oil. Remove from oven and put potatoes onto sheet along with salt, pepper, and seasoning. I used some "herbs de province" which I don't think contributed much to the flavor (maybe do more next time?) I made sure oil was on the skin side of the potato, then put the halves down. I baked ~30 minutes.
David really liked them.

Acorn Squash with Beef Saute

http://chefinyou.com/2009/09/how-to-cook-acorn-squash/
Halve acorn squash, dig out seeds, and bake open face down at 425. 30 minutes ish is probably enough. I would do 1 squash per adult.

Then saute onions, leek, green pepper (or whatever, really) and seasonings until mostly soft. Add a pound of ground beef, brown that. Serve inside baked squash.

I have used garam masala + nutmeg in this.

Note: We really enjoyed the filling from this recipe. David preferred the savory spice blend in it to garam masala/nutmeg.
http://stupideasypaleo.com/2015/10/17/stuffed-acorn-squash-recipe/

Rice and Coconut Pancakes

https://web.archive.org/web/20140718235935/http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php?recipe=1196
Rice and Coconut Pancakes

This was good. The recipe makes enough that it does not need to be doubled, at least for our family of four. These are lighter than the banana oat ones I have made a lot. David says he likes this recipe a bit more. I think this will be my new go-to pancake recipe for a while.

4/22/2015 note: I made this with soy milk (soured with 1 T lemon juice), brown rice flour, and added blueberries. David didn't like the flavor as much. I think that is most likely due to the brown rice flour, since it is a strong flavor, but the soy milk I used also had a strong soy flavor so I'm not totally sure.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES WITH COCONUT FLOUR

• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1-1/2 cups Buttermilk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 2 Tbsp Potato Starch
• 1/3 cup Organic Coconut Flour
• 1 cup White Rice Flour

Directions

Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add oil, eggs and buttermilk, blending with a whip until just blended. Texture will be a little thicker than regular pancake batter, but cooks up fluffy. Pour batter onto medium hot griddle sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until underside is nicely brown, flip and brown other side. Makes 8 pancakes. 

Rendering Suet to Tallow

I had some free beef suet and so decided to render into tallow to make soap. It took me 2 days to do it because I had the heat too low. I did 3 big chunks of been suet, I didn't weight it ahead of time. I used a stick blender toward the end to help break up bits. I should have cut pieces up as fine as possible to speed things up too. Also, use a candy thermometer if you are worried about temp. I did a second rendering to make sure the water was out and I followed the therm directions on this link, removing it from low heat (2-3 on my burner) when it was around 230F.

http://paleofood.com/recipes/fats-suetstepbystep.htm

I tried it in the crockpot on low (my instant pot) but it did not work. It spent 9 hours in the pot and barely melted at all. I needed to use higher heat, so I transferred to a stainless steel pot on the stove and added 1/4 c water. The suet I used was pretty clean to begin with.

There are tutorials out there for using lots of water to get fat out of meaty fat chunks, then you let it sit in the fridge overnight and lift the fat off the top. I think whatever method you use, doing a 2nd rendering is useful to try and get out the last of the water so it is pure fat. From what I've read, it will have a longer shelf life that way. I think this is especially important if you plan to cook with it and store at room temperature. For soapmaking, I am not sure how essential the 2nd rendering is.

For my first rendering, I used a cheesecloth to strain. I wasn't sure how to clean it, so I tried boiling the cloth and then dumping the hot water out onto the grass. Worked fine and saved my washing machine from greasy buildup.

Roasted Delicata Squash

Delicata is my favorite squash in the whole world. Probably because it is so sweet. I followed this recipe (skin on--it really does taste so yummy when left on!)
http://summertomato.com/better-than-butternut-roasted-delicata-squash-recipe/

I only had 1 squash, and I wish there had been more.  I used coconut oil instead of olive oil.

Fried Salmon - best method of cooking fish ever!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pan-fried-salmon-recipe2.html

I cooked 1/2 lb salmon in my le creuset skillet. It was hot, on medium heat. Turned out fantastic, was important to have the skin on. The skin was crispy and delicious.

Note: this did not work well the second time, I used 3 pieces of fish and having a more crowded pan made it harder to handle. The fish got stuck to the pan on both sides. I'm not sure what the issue was.

Boy Choy Beef Scramble

This recipe http://pickyeaterblog.com/indian-spiced-bok-choy/

I made the recipe linked above, but with 1 whole red onion and 1 head of bok choy. It is the first time I've enjoyed bok choy in a recipe. I used cumin seed, ground mustard, and ground tumeric, plus some garam masala that I have. It was very good! I added a pound of ground beef and we ate it over rice. Will make this again when I have bok choy to use up.

Under the Weather Soup

http://autoimmune-paleo.com/healing-green-soup/

I halved the recipe and added bacon and green onion as toppings in addition to the avocado. I think the bacon was 100% essential. Otherwise it was too difficult to eat. My soup turned out much greener than the picture. I think it should call for "large" sweet potatoes and a small bunch of kale. I used curly kale. I might try it with another kind if I make again. Also, I halved the recipe so it would make only 2 quarts. Also, it could have used an extra bullion cube since my broth was a bit weak.

Breakfast Quesadillas

Based on this recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/04/breakfast-quesadillas/

I used Udi's gluten free large tortillas to make mine, and regular flour tortillas to make the others. I cooked bacon, sauteed onion and red pepper in the leftover bits after pouring out most of the grease. Added scrambled eggs, grated cheddar, folded over into a semi-circle and cooked on both sides. Mine was soft and hard to flip, but was really good. I also added some kimchi after mine was cooked inside the tortilla and it was fantastic.  It's the first thing I've tried the homemade kimchi I made a couple weeks ago with.