La Nomada Primal

Helado de banana y guayaba

2012-10-16T18:02:00.001-07:00

Voy a tener que cambiar el nombre de este blog rápidamente. Debo confesar que desde que nos casamos y nos mudamos a la Florida ya no cocinábamos como cocinábamos antes, acá la carne es re cara y re wakala.

Comencemos con lo que comí hoy. Como estoy en esos famosos días del mes, me doy el lujo de comer lo que quiero. Compartí un un chiquitito con Franki, por suerte no es muy fanático de las cosas dulces y se satisfizo con un bol de espagueti. Como fuimos a comprar jugos me pude hacer un licuado de bananas helada que tenía en el congelador.

Esto que ven arriba es sólo un resumen, como nada fresco puedo conseguir fácilmente acá me tengo que abstener a las versiones congeladas y empaquetadas.

Tenía ya congelados los trocitos de banana porque me gusta hacer también helado de vez en cuando, queda rico con un poco de canela y amaretto.

Muy sencillo, con sólo un pocos de preparación y sólo do ingredientes súper baratos podes hacer un postre o tomar un helado cuando te den las ganas.

Ensalada Olivia y Popeye

2012-07-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

En realidad, garbanzos arent't really "primal" (creo), pero ni ahí estoy porque me encantan lo garbanzos!

Ingredientes:

2 - 3 tazas de alguna verdura bien verde picada/cortada por persona, se sabor fuerte como: espinaca, acelga, rappini.
1 lata de garbanzos
medio locote picado por persona.
chorro de AOEV

Preparación:

En una sarten puse a saltear el locote picado. Revolví hasta que me gusto maso-menos su punto de cocción. Estaba cocinando a medio-alto. Mi hubby tenia hambre!
Le agregue la hoja cortada a la sarten, revolví un poco y le puse la tapa para que se cocine también con el vapor. Cuando veas que mas o menos las hojas cambiaron a un color mas oscuro ya esta.
Transferi el shamburreado a un pyrex de vidrio para que se enfríe un poco.
Mientras tanto abri la lata de garbanzos y le tire encima.
Fi-nisht. Bueno casi, ahora le condimentas con lo que quieras, yo prefiero condimentar en el plato.

Y eso, me anime a experimentar con lo que tenia en la despensa. Algo re fácil y rápido. Acuérdense de siempre tener una lata de garbanzos o tu poroto preferido. Como proteínas, son un buen complemento para ensaladas.

Paleo Pizza

2012-07-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

El hubby y yo empezamos con toda esta onda del paleo porque estábamos medio gordito, y como estábamos en Argentina, otra escusa mas para comer mas carne y menos fideo. Lo mas difícil era dejar de comer esas pizzas, pero por suerte estos son un buen sustituto.

Ingredientes y Preparación

rodajas de berenjena: no suelo usarlas frescas porque suelen ser amargas, entonces para estas pizzitas hece lo siguiente:

pele y corte en rodajas de 1/2 cm maximo.
Las sale y puse a temperatura ambiente over-night.
al dia siguiente las pinte con AAEV y cocine a la parilla. Estaban medio secas entonces las guarde en la heladera y se ven como la imagen arriba.

morrones asadas: podes usar enlatadas, pero a mi me gustan tanto que suempre tengo 2 - 3 morrones asados y pelados en la heladera para usar como guarniciones.

Para estas 6 pizzitas solo use un morron. Corte en tiritas largas y las distribui encima de cada una de las bases de berenjena.

Queso: Tradicionalmente lleva queso muzzarella, toos lo saben. Pero use asiago. Es un queso fuerte, no se derrite tanto como la mozza, y podia competir con el sabor de la berenjena. Aunque le sacamos todo lo amargo, la sal resalta su sabor.

Ademas de queso, para agregar un poco mas de sabor le agregue tocino ku'i. Aca se compra hecho en un frasquito, pero es tan sencilla de hacer: cocinar tocino en una sarten, dejar secar sobre una servilleta y guardar en un tuper. Es un buen condimento para ensaladas también.

tocino ku'i + queso asiago

Ralle el queso dentro de un bol, mas o menos una taza y media y le tire el tocino ku'i encima. Mezclas bien, e agregas un chorrito de AAEV y le colocas 1.5 cucharadas a cada pizza. Ponele un poco de presión a cada uno para darle mas cuerpo a las pizzitas, así no se deshace todo cuando agarras para comer.

Peceto Lento

2012-07-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

Estabamos anciosos de comer el peceto que trajimos del Bodegon!

Ingredientes:

Un peceto (por las dudas) .... este que vemos aca lo trajimos del Bodego
media taza de aceite de oliva
una taza y media de caldo
pimienta negra
sal a gusto

Nosotros comptramos un "crock pot" . Es como una freidora, pero en vez de poner aceute tenes un recipiente de ceramica que se calienta. Se enchufa y lo bueno es que poes prender, y dejar prendo. La tapa tiene una goma que sella el calor entonces cualquier carne dura sale blandita y mojadita.

Básicamente hice dos cosas: primero mezcle todos los caldos y condimentos dentro del recipiente de ceramica, y despues meti el peceto. Le puse la tapa, y le baje la temperatura a lento durante 6 - 8 horas. Mire la hora eran las 2 de la tarde.

Alrededor de las 9 revisamos la carne: blandisima. Se podía cortar con una cuchara. Su textura era algo seca, algo característica con el peceto pero le servimos en el jugo.

Somos re-gordos entonces esto nos duro 3 dias. Puse el caldito dentro de una cacerolita y a medida que andaba por la cocina le ponia al fuego un ratito a reducir.

Probe poberle tambien un poco de peceto ku'i.

Le dio como una texturita, pero solo un poco mas de cuerpo. Sirvio igual, entonces corte el peceto (asi como hacen el los 15s y casamientos) y encima le derrame el caldo.

chicken heart estofadito express

2012-07-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

Como acabamos de venir del Bodegon, maciaaado ya queria cocinar mis corazoncitos. A mi me gustan mas a la parille, asi quemadito por afuera y jugoso por dentro. Pero a falta de palitos de brochettes, picamos unas verduritas y en menos de media hora ya teniamos el el almuerzo.

Lo que tenia en la heladera:

un locote mediano rojo
media cebolla
lo que sobraba de rapinni
media bandeja de corazoncitos
pimienta negra
ajo en polvo
perejil
chorro de AOliva

Ademas de esto también compramos un poco de mandioca congelada. No se si a che mena le gusta, le parecía a papa me dijo. Como estamos tratando de bajar la pancita, me parece que vamos a limitar su consumo (por ahora!).

hmmmandioca! (no tan linda pero ya entra)

Picamos las verduras y le metimos a la sarten.

No siempre tienen perejil fresco en el súper y nos colgamos para ir al merado. Tenemos perejil seco entonces eso nomas le espolvoreamos encima de las verduras.

Después empece a preparar los corazoncitos. Puse la mitad del paquete para adobar un poquito, no le agregue nada a las verduras entonces lo agregue a la carne.

Le puse un poco de pimienta negra y polvo de ajo.

Creo que al pedo hice este paso, estaba medio emocionada que *por fin* encontramos un super latino. Pegaría poner así adobadito a la parrilla así como hicimos con mis primos hace unos anos.

En fin, después le tire encima de las verduras... *shtssssssss*

Creo que fue la primera vez que a mi hubby le hice probar corazoncitos, no pense que le iba a gustar pero se comio como unis 20.

Y una ultima foto food-porn para los que nunca probaron y se preguntan como se ve un corazoncito de pollo cortado transversalmente:

asi!

Cazuellitas de Calabaza

2012-06-18T17:32:00.000-07:00

Cuando nos mudamos recién a Nokomis lo primero que plante fue una calabaza. Este plato prepare con esa misma calabaza.

En los Estados Unidos es tradicional una variante con leche en polvo. Estas cazuelitas no tienen leche en polvo ni manteca dentro de la masa (solo para evitar que se pegue).

Ingredientes

1 tza de uvas pasas
5 yemas de huevos
2 - 3 cdas de miel de abeja o de cana (hmm..a gusto mba'e pero no + de 1 tza!)
1/4 tza de dátiles cortados (opcional)
2 cdas de azúcar negra (opcional)
2 cdas de canela
1 cdta esencia natural de vainilla
1 cdta esencia natural de almendra o amaretto

Preparación

Hacer pure de zapallo. Cortar el zapallo en dos. Poner boca arriba en un recipiente y meter al horno por unos 30 minutos a unos 400*C hasta que se ablande. A veces la carne expuesta se quiere endurecer un poco, en este caso saca del horno y clavale. Unas 10 - 15 puñaladas y otros 10 minutitos de vuelta al horno ha de ser suficiente.

Mientras tanto, batí las yemas por un minuto por ahi, no mas. No querés que se convierta en mayonesa. Agregar la miel, canela, vainilla y el amaretto (o esencia de almenda). Bata suavemente la masa para que se integre todo bien.

Una vez fuera del horno dejar enfriar a temperatura ambiente. Para sacar la pulpa, la manera mas fácil (para mi) es raspando con una cuchara. Poner todo e pure dentro de un recipiente con espacio para un agregar la otra mitad de los ingredientes.

Deja el horno prendido, pero baja la temperatura a 375*C

Al recipiente del puré agregale las pasas y los dátiles primero. Luego, con una espátula y movimientos envolventes (osea suavecito). Agregar la preparación de yema de huevos e integrar todos los ingredientes con movimiento envolvente.

Esto ya esta. Ahora solo falta preparar los moldes. Untar manteca dentro de las cazuelas y repartir equitativamente la preparación en cada una.

Meter al horno por 35 minutos. Comer caliente! Si te gusta el helado queda riquisimo un pedazo de cazuela caliente con helado de vainilla o de almendras.

Experimenting with Tapioca Crust Tarts

2011-07-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

Mom decided to finally give in to my brother's constant requests of a decent grill-house so she had one built in one of the corners of the house. Freshly finished it was time to test it out. I go up early that morning and set off to the store to get meat. Asado was for lunch!

In Paraguay, mandioca is a comon side to any meal. In Argentina, bread and chimichurri help tame the asador's hunger while cooking at the grill, in Paraguay mandioca typically fulfills this function.

It's very hard for us to eat all that food so there's always left overs. Whatever meat is left is quickly consumed during the afternoon's refrigerator raids and all that's left the next day are usually a few pieces of cooked mandioca.

So I decided that I wanted to play with the food processor and see what kind of texture I would get if I shredded the harder roots. I wanted to try to make a dough out of tapioca. In the Paraguayan winter, empanadas made out of tapioca crusts and deep fried in pig fat or trans-fatty oils are very popular. And cheap in most places. The price of one of these empanadas are slightly higher than traditional wheat empanadas costing $0.50 to $1.50 US dollar each

These are called Pastel Mandi'o or empanadas de mandioca. Usually they're in "empanada" form but at home they are made in a larger tart form, equally delicious.

Mandihot esuculenta needs to be boiled thoroughly to remove the cianotoxins it contains. Never eat it raw, 300gs is enough to kill you. Most of the toxins are found in the skin, so if you peel them and them cook them in a pressure cooker and you'll be able to get rid of them. No traces found after cooking like this. They can be fermented too, but this is a practice more common in African countries.

So the food processor was plugged in and the process began. I found that it was a little heavy for my cheap Korean food processor. Mother said that a meat grinder is much more efficient and that that was what was usually used to mash tapioca roots

I later had to borrow one but still have to try it out. I managed to shred up most of the mandioca without doing to much harm to the food processor. It turned out to do the job nicely and result in a shredded cocunut like consistency.

I didn't follow any recipes, I just added the three eggs I had in the refrigerator. I wanted to taste the mandioca so I didn't add any salt or fat either.

It turned out very nice, very easy to mold. For some reason I decided to let it sit before I spread it on the mold. Traditionally, anything eaten with tapioca in Paraguay had to have been bleeding at one point. I decided to steer away from tradition and make a vegetarian version. Cabbage, an eggplant, 2 carrots an onion and some celery was used for the filling.

Oh, and a little but of the local variety of squash as well. The carrots and squash was hand shredded and the eggplant was peeled and cut in quarter slices. I also chopped the onions and cabbage semi-coarsely. I didn't want it all to turn to mush when I cooked it. about a tablespoonful nutmeg was added and a tspof salt to get the juices flowing.

I took out a round pyrex my mother usually uses for tarts and started to line the bottom with the dough. I couldn't roll it out that easily because I didn't add any oil to it. So, what I did was take out chunks and squish them against the bottom and sides with the palm of my hand.

After covering the whole mold I had a little bit of dough left over. I took out a smaller mold and it was just enough to make another pie (or tart, what's the difference?) that I ended up stuffing with fresh ground beef mixed with red and black pepper and salt. I topped the little tart with two pieces of creamy cheese my mother smuggled in from Argentina

Here's what they both looked like brfore going into the over for about an hour at 350*C

meat filled tart

veggie filled

The veggie one came out great. The texture of the dough was perfect but I need to add salt and fat next time. I could taste the mandioca's flavor but it would be much better accentuated with as bit of salt. I guess if you want a thinner crust it comes out crispy enough. I have to try making a pizza crust next time too.

Also, my mother requested that I add cheese to the veggie one too. So I stuffed pieces of creamy cheese (the same kind I put on the meat tart) around half of the tart. In the following picture you can see how this cheese half turned out.

The other half turned out pretty well also.

This last picture is a close up of the meat tart. I had put fresh ground un-cooked meat. Like any burger the meat kinda shrank. So there were spaces between the cooked meat and the sides of the crust. Still completely edible, of course. Just a little juicy on the sides because the dough wasn't absorbent enough.

Olive Stuffing Party: DIY olives

2011-03-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

One rainy afternoon strolling up and down the corridors of the Central Market, Frankie and I were in search for something to do. We don't have any board games, television, and barely have internet. The only thing we could think of to do that rainy day was to eat.

spicy!

So as we window shopped the fresh ingredients we looked upon a massive display of olives. Olives in every single presentation you can imagine of many different varieties. And there they were; the empty olives. I though to myself: why had these delicious little gems been neglected? why hadn't they been stuffed? No love from the red peppers? why were they almost hidden from view?

There they were, just begging me to take them home, take care of them and eat them. And so I did.

As I gently tucked them into my shopping bag I thought "Poor olives, not stuffed must so be hard. Everyone needs a little stuffing". I stopped by one of the shops that sells spices and just picked up a few other ingredients I though the olives would like to meet: basil, mint, blue cheese and of course hot peppers.

step 1: Chop up the stuff

After taking everything home, just chop everything up small enough to fit inside the olives you purchased.

chop chop!

step 2: Organization is key

I like to keep everything in separate bowls. This makes it easy for you and your guests (if you have a party!) to select what they want to stuff in their olives.

My camera was stolen a few days ago so unfortunately, these are all I have.

step 3: Stuff

Use a toothpick, a brochette stick or any other utensil tiny enough to help you push the stuffing in. Keep in mind that the hole is much smaller then the cavity itself so you can stuff it quite a but. Our fingers are usually too thick but if you have child labor, their tiny baby fingers will work perfect. Keep them away from the spicy stuff!

After you've stuffed all your olives with your favorite goodies, you have 2 options.

a. Eat them all
b. store them in jars

If you decide on the latter here's a pretty tip: Use the layout below as a guide to place your olives in each jar. This particular jar is a regular 500ml jar so it's not very big.

The idea is to place the exposed filling side to the glass of the jar so it can be seen. Alternate colored fillings to create pretty patterns.

Louisianna Ribs

2011-02-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

Frankie has a reputation for his pork ribs. Having lived in Memphis, Tennessee for the greater part of his life he had more than enough time to pick up the technique.

Here in Mendoza we have the privilege to get only the fines ingredients for the quarter (or less) of the price you may get them in other places- including Argentina (i.e. Buenos Aires)

So on Monday morning we got up early and got this from the corner butcher.

Yes! What you see here is 3.9 kilos of pork ribs and only paid about 100 pesos for it- about $25 US at the current exchange rate

In this post I'll detail all the steps that we took to prepare, marinate and finally cook this excellent piece of meat

step 1: Wash it.

For no real other reason that to make sure there is no dirt or particles of dust that might get in the way of our eating. Pork has to be cooked thoroughly so the chance of anything surviving after cooking (or 24 hours of marinating in vinegar and then 3-4 hours of baking in this case) is very slim.

step 3: Go crazy making holes in the meat.

That's right. But do it with respect.

step 4: Put the ribs in a big container.

We used a pot for lack of a better one. It is very important for the container to be big enough that you can fit the entire piece in without any of it sticking out. If you have Tupperware with lids that ill fit this purpose, better, this way avoiding spillage.

step 5: Add vinegar

Add the contents of one entire container of white vinegar. Use white or alcohol vinegar because the other types leave a little flavor and all we want is the acidity to tenderize the meat not change the flavor. Lemon juice will do the same trick, but then you have a lemony flavor to the meat. It's up to you.

step 6: Marinate

Put the container in the refrigerator and let it sit overnight. You can rebel and let it sit for more than that, the longer the meat stays in the vinegar the faster the meat will just fall off the bone when you cook it. This is a very good thing so don't be afraid to leave it in there for a couple of days.

If a little bit of the meat sticks out make sure that you turn it over at least one. I would say at about hour #12.

The next day....

After about 24 hours of the meat sitting in the vinegar you will notice that the meat has changed a bit in color. It almost looks like it's been de-colored, but don;y worry. This happens when you put meat in an acid medium. Just like fish in lemon juice (ceviche)

step 7: Oven time.

Place the meat in an oven proof container and roast in the oven for 2 - 3 hours. If the piece of meat is huge you may want to lave it in there for 30 more minutes. The vinegar has already softened the meat up so it only takes that long to have the meat-falling-off-bone effect.

tip: cover the meat with foil so it doesn't dry out. Whenever you are going to roast meat in the onen for more than 1.5 hours its a good idea to do this because the juices will dry up and your meat and vegetables may stick to the pyrex.

Finished!

after 2-3 hours remove from oven

close up

if the meats falling off the bone it's ready!

Matambre Italiano

2011-02-26T14:12:00.000-08:00

An excellent example of a paleo dish that has existed through the ages: Matambre is a beef dish from Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Originally Italian style, it is basically a rolled flank steak delicatessen meat. When sliced, the different vegetables make a colorful display.

It is also known as a very "fatty" meat and is usually eaten with vegetables. Usually stuffed with vegetables, eggs and herbs that is then boiled or oven-roasted.

It's name, a portmanteau of "mata" and "hambre" can be translated into English as "hunger killer", as it is often served sliced as an appetizer.

Here's how we prepared it.

step1: get the meat.

This requires you to get up early and get to the butchers as soon as they open for the best piece of beef flank. We even went hat extra step and went the day before to let them know what we wanted and that we wanted it super fresh.

You could also ask Lady Gaga where she get's her dress material

You can't get it by the kilo. You have to buy a whole piece. The really good ones weigh between 1,6 kl. to 2 kilos. You can identify them through the store glass it looks like a meat roll.

step 2: While you're out and about might as well get some fresh vegetables and spices.

Get your favorite vegetables. Red peppers, spinach, chard, carrots, whatever. We went for spinach carrots, onions and of course spicy peppers.

Remember, these are supposed to be rolled inside the meat, so try to avoid round things like radishes, beets, etc.

Use your favorite meat spices. Paprika and basil work great. We also used garlic powder but it's getter to use fresh garlic (fresh garlic gives Frankie gas and we can't have that)

step 3: Boil 2 eggs

These are a necessary ingredient in every matambre. Do NOT forget these precious babies.

step 3: Roll 'er up!

Spice the flank up. Then add the vegetables in layers. then put the 2 hard boiled eggs in the middle. Roll it up and use string to tie this baby up.

If you want to put it on the grill instead of in a pot or the oven instead of string just roll it up in foil.

grill = foil

pot = string

step 4: Put the rolled matambre in a pot and drown in wine.

We pot the roll in a pot in wine and covered it. Every 30 minutes or so check on it and use a funnel to make sure the wine is as abundant on the inside as it is on the outside.

Pickled Purple Eggplant

2011-02-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

Eggplant is not one of my favorite vegetables. It's bitter, has a weird shape, it's dark and it takes me back to my childhood television trauma of Mr. Roger's Purple People Eaters . One day Frankie came home with a giant bag and said that he was going to make pickled eggplant.

close up of the picked eggplant- see peppers!

We had 6 medium sized eggplants in a bag. After rinsing them off Frankie peeled each and every one of them. Eggplants are bitter and to make them taste awesome they need to be treated with care.

1- Peel Eggplants

peeling. Yes, I know he's half naked. I made him put his shorts on.

all peeled!

step 2: Cut eggplants into strips

So after all that nasty purple people eater's peels are removed the next step is to slice them into layers and then each layer gets sliced into strings of eggplant. After completing this tedious task you should have a bunch of eggplant strips. Don't worry if they get a little brown on the outside, its just because they are being handled and are in contact with air.

step 3: Put strips in tray and salt them. Let them sit in the refrigerator overnight

Take all the strips and place them on a tray (or trays) and SALT THEM. Ideally there should be only one layer of eggplant strips on each tray but if you have too many you can just put layer over layer of strips as long as you salt each layer. Don;y worry about over salting because this is just a necessary step to get rid of most of the bitter eggplant nastyness.

I keep all the food trays that I get from the store so I used these to put the strips on. What the salt will do is extract all the liquids from the eggplant and this will collect at the bottom of the tray. It is a good idea to put he tray on and angle like so.

If you take a close look at the picture right above you can see that the water has already stared to gather at the bottom of the trays. This went in the refrigerator overnight to make sure that all the bitterness was gone.

step 4. Strain strips of any liquids.

The next day take the trays out of the refrigerator ans simply strain the water out of them, pretty much the same way you would a pot of spaguetti.

strain #1. Get rid of the bitterness

step 5. Put strips in boiling water for 5 - 8 minutes

Now the strips will be salty and not as bitter as the day before but they won't be tender. What you need to do is put a pot of water on the stove and heat it to boiling point. Give the strips one last squeeze to make sure all the bitterness is gone and them put them in the pot.

Don't forget they're in there! If you overcook them they'll just turn into mush and you don't want that. 5 - 8 minutes should be enough depending on the thickness of the strips.

cooking strips to make tender

step 6- Strain. Again. (last time this time promise)

strain #2. steamy..

At this point the strips should be tender enough that they don't need to be chewed but strong enough to be picked up with a fork. If it's been turned into mush save them to make babakanush.

step 7: Add Seasonings

Now it's time for the seasonings.

spicy!

I like them spicy and a little bit of chopped spicy peppers give them that extra kick as make them a little more colorful

In addition to these wonderful peppers add the following:

ground pepper
vinegar (enough to soak them in)
garlic powder or fresh garlic (if the latter make sure they are chopped finely)
parsley
olive oil

basic seasonings

I don't have an exact measurement as to how much I want of each one of these seasoning. Just as more of the ones you like and if it tasted to your liking and looks pretty then it's done :)