Actually cooking organ meats week after week
When I learned that traditional cultures included some of their animal foods raw, it made sense to me. But it still seemed very foreign. I grew up in a home with well-done steaks and London Broil cooked all the way through. Yet, after I leaned into this idea, I realized that cultures the world over still enjoy raw meats and it wasn’t as odd as it originally seemed. One of the easiest appetizers to adopt in our home was Steak Tartare. …
I was craving the savory flavors of puttanesca… but what to do on a Monday night? Add liver! Any night is a good night for liver, but I find that if I always start the week off well, everything is easier. I created a weekly meal schedule for our family many years ago… to be sure we would have a steady relationship with the most nutrient-dense foods. Chicken Liver Puttanesca was a great Monday night meal and is sure to have a repeat appearance in our home….
This week I finished Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat – about the origins and history behind the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Disclaimer: I’ve spent the last year in a collaborative effort to bring back a scratch-cooking kitchen at our school. Meanwhile, learning this history seared my own heart a bit. After seeing the painful evidence that we’d been through all this before (ie. school lunches as a remedy to widespread nutrient deficiencies), I was a bit raw inside. Yet for Seared Beef Heart, leaving it largely raw in the middle is also the secret to its tenderness….
An idea like Raw Meatballs hardly deserves a recipe of its own. Yet, after May shared it with me, I thought it was so easy and sweet, I adopted it. And after I shared it with Claudia, she was eager to do the same. So why not share with you too? May’s gift to all of us! (Thank you, May!)
When I started this blog, I felt passionate about including raw meats. Like offal, they are underappreciated in our culture, yet nutrient-dense in special ways. Yet when I set up the menus for this site, I didn’t include them. I was uncertain about continuing to post them since I hardly make time for all the organ meat recipes….
Beef Heart Tartare! I’ve been meaning to make this for a long time… probably since last Valentine’s Day!
Speaking of which, I hope you have a wonderful day of L-O-V-E! Find it in yourself to do something silly and love-y dove-y for yourself and your people.
Here’s how it looks in our home: making heart-shaped cards for friends and each other. Actually wearing that pink felted heart-shaped necklace. Giving a giant ‘Love you to the Moon (and back)’ balloon with a smiling heart cuddling the moon to our favorite friend. Serving nutrient-dense organ meats to myself and my peeps, as usual. And… slowing down.
Yep, eating heart is one way of nourishing your heart. But another is listening to and following your heart….
Mexican-Styled Ceviche
Ceviche is another easy, delicious, and familiar ‘raw meat’ appetizer. Make a simple marinade, then use tomato juice, coconut milk or fresh fruit to make a final dish.
You could argue that the meat is ‘cooked’ by the acid in the lime (or lemon) juice marinade. It’s certainly ‘predigested,’ improving absorption of available nutrients. However, in it’s unheated form, beneficial enzymes remain in tact, along with heat-sensitive B and C vitamins.
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After last’s weeks post about loving yourself, this week I’ve been thinking about loving the environment, and by extension, my grass-fed farmers. Grass-fed farmers are today’s environmentalists, providing healthful and sustainable meats while restoring the soil and the ecosystem. If you want to eat your meat raw, as you occasionally should, grassfed is really the only feasible way. And Weeknight Carpaccio is the easiest way.
In 2001, Fast Food Nation was published and it came into my hands. I devoured this book, and it shook me.
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With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, show some love for yourself and your besties with hearts and hearts! Grilled chicken hearts and artichoke hearts are a perfect appetizer or main course. Of course, we can’t give what we don’t have. So first, take a moment to feel the love. An easy way to start is to acknowledge and appreciate your own magnificence – all 37 trillion cells, in perfect concert….
Eggnog, previously known as milk punch or egg milk punch, is a great beverage any time of year. And a delicious vehicle for consuming raw eggs (and milk). Culturally though, it still has a holiday feel.
My 1940’s copy of 300 Ways to Serve Eggs and 1945 Bartender’s Friend have nearly identical recipes. Though 300 Ways with Eggs has a dozen or more variations. These include mixing up the alcohols or substituting some or all of the milk/cream with juices, coffee, or cider. As opposed to single servings, Bartender’s Friend offers a quart-sized base recipe….
On Thursday nights we eat raw meat at home. “Hmm,” you might be thinking. It might sound exotic, or a bit scary, but it’s really no big thing. Steak tartar, carpaccio, a lot of ceviche in the summer. A pretty (ok, very) rare steak. “Oh right…” Maybe it’s not something you would usually eat, but not so strange. As it turns out, the kids are like little wild animals around this stuff. If you don’t move quick, you won’t get any. I think there is something to be said for that.
I never realized that Vietnamese beef pho was in this category, but it was a happy discovery.
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