Feasting on Mammoth. Homemade Mayo.

Feasting on Mammoth

The Fit Hunt. The Skilled Cook. Eat Your Share.

By Stephen Unterberg

So during exam period, my time is limited for cooking. This means I don’t spend too much time experimenting with new techniques or flavors. However, and as Jon’s previous post notes, there’s really no excuse for lack of time to prepare some healthy, paleo-friendly meals.

This  brisket recipe along with a braised short rib dish  are perfect dishes to make if you’ve got a lot of work to do around the house. Once you’ve nailed the technique and types of ingredients you want to use, the actual prep and cooking time is relatively short and the results three hours later can’t be beat. That’s the best part about braising anything – you’re taking cheap cuts of meat (yet still completely healthy since it’s grass-fed) and turning a tough slab of beef, lamb, wild boar, etc into a dish more flavorful, juicy, and satisfying than any other type of expensive cut such as a fillet (granted the texture is different).

So if you’re going to be stuck at home for various reasons, or don’t have any problem leaving the oven on while you spend a few hours out doing errands (or crossfitting), just plan ahead, throw the pan in the oven, and it’ll be ready when you come back. You could also save some anxiety by using a crock-pot. I personally haven’t experimented with one, but I know some people live by them.

While eating Paleo, I’ve acquired a short list of “God’s gifts to man” including sweet potatoes/butternut squash, coconut milk, pork, and Costco. (Editor’s note: Jon insists that Salma Hayek is added to this list) I’ve added an additional item recently – homemade mayo. Throw out the store bought crap filled with soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup and make your own immediately – it’s ridiculous how easy it is to make and the flavor is incomparable.

Simply throw in a blender one egg yolk (save the white for another meal), a pinch of salt, dash of hot sauce, a dollop of Dijon mustard, and squeeze of lemon before giving it a whirl. While the blender is on, drizzle in some extra virgin olive oil until smooth and thick. Seriously that’s it! Think about it, egg yolk from a pastured or omega 3 egg and olive oil – those are you’re fats and are infinitely healthier than soybean oil plus the other random ingredients thrown in your average mayo. The beauty of mayo is the hundreds of ways you can put it to good use. Make a large batch of the plain stuff and then separate different portions out to add other ingredients to for completely different flavor profiles. Add some of the mayo back in the blender with chipotles or roasted garlic, balsamic vinegar or fresh herbs, the variations are limitless and you can put it on any meat, fish, or vegetable you can think of. I am personally obsessed with the chipotle mayo, it goes well with everything (my roommate and I actually added this, along with an avocado mousse to our grass-fed beef shoulder and goat meat chili at our school’s chili cook off – huge success!).

p.s. I’ll write a future post listing all the different items I think are great purchases to make at Costco (one of God’s gifts to man) for your Paleo cooking needs.