Posts from — January 2010

I wanted to introduce my new favorite blog to all  18 readers of Barbells and Bacon.

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Panu is the blog of Dr. Kurt Harris. I like his well researched, straightforward approach to Paleo eating. I also think he has one of the best “Intro” posts to Paleo eating around. If I wasn’t regularly active, I would eat exactly like Dr. Harris prescribes below.

Here are a few of my favorite Dr. Harris quotes:

“Manufacturing simulacra of grandma’s comfort food in your kitchen is either:

1) Pointless work to make something awful tasting

2) A veiled excuse to make a sugar vehicle”

“Fruits are just candy bars on trees”

“Zero Carb is the “Hezbollah of the low carb movement’

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Here are the first five of Dr. Harris’ 12 steps to Paleolithic eating. I like this list because of its’ order. Go read the whole list here:

1 Eliminate sugar (including fruit juices and sports drinks) and all flour

2 Start eating proper fats – animal fats and monounsaturated fats like olive oil – substituting fat calories for carb calories. Drink whole milk or half and half instead of skim.

3 Eliminate grains

4 Eliminate grain and seed derived oils (cooking oils) Cook with butter, animal fats, coconut oil, or olive oil.

5 Get daily midday sun or take 1-2000 iu vit D daily

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By Stephen Unterberg

I recently went with my roommate to Ingram Texas, an hour West of San Antonio to visit the Broken Arrow Ranch office. My brother told me about this ranch and it immediately caught my interest since they specialize in wild game including elk, wild boar, antelope, and venison. It was a lot of fun touring the process facilities and checking out the massive freezers storing all of the different meats raised out at the ranch. The company has been running for 26 or so years and makes shipments all across the country for their game meats.

http://www.brokenarrowranch.com/

So, as customary, I spent a bunch of money buying random cuts of meat I thought sounded interesting. I kept most of it back in San Antonio, but managed to bring with me back to Dallas a few packages to cook with. I’ll be posting some recipes that used these different meats. My purchases included venison smoked sausage, venison heart, venison liver, wild boar ribs and belly, wild boar stew meat, wild boar shoulder, wild boar Italian sausage, elk chili meat, elk burgers, elk osso buco, Texas antelope Noisettes, and a few other items I’m forgetting. Paleo has definitely brought a much greater appreciation of advocating sustainable farming and animal rearing and this has allowed me to explore some interesting venues as well as further developing my palate. Apparently there are some pretty good grass-fed and wild game recipe books out on the market, if interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Grassfed-Gourmet-Cookbook-Healthy-Cooking/dp/0967367026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261974560&sr=8-1

If interested in Texas cuisine and wild game recipes, check out -

http://www.amazon.com/Grazing-Across-Texas-Ranch-Cooking/dp/1892505061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261974674&sr=1-1

I personally haven’t read either of these two books, but plan on ordering them soon to try out. So maybe I’ll give my own book report on the above two.

I also highly recommend doing some research and finding a few farms that can deliver some quality grass fed or pastured meats to your door. I recently came upon another website that received some rave reviews from local bloggers that can deliver meats nationally; however, I don’t know what the shipping cost is. Around the Dallas area, they only charge $5 for shipping and sell pastured beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and raw cheeses. I’ll be making an order very soon for my parents to have their freezers stocked up with proper meats.

http://burgundypasturebeef.com/public_home.php

I also just finished reading Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival as well as Good Calories, Bad Calories. Both were very interesting reads; and I can’t recommend Gaury Taube’s book enough. It is seriously one of the most important books that everyone should read. It’s incredibly intriguing and does a better job than any in explaining our current nutritional wisdom. Seriously, READ IT!!

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261975140&sr=1-1

Next on my list…On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of of the Kitchen

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen/dp/0684800012/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261975427&sr=8-1

Reuters

Great post from Free Range International on this week’s Kabul bombings. Excerpted below:

“The attack on Kabul yesterday was yet another demonstration of how inept the Taliban are at the planning and execution of a simple raid.  The attack has been described in the press as “audacious” and “brazen” which is true.  All their attacks in downtown Kabul are conceptually bold military moves; but they accomplish nothing.  A better description of their performance would be incompetent. Seven heavily armed attackers – one in a bomb-rigged ambulance killed three policemen and two civilians, one of them a child.  That is of course good news for the home team, but from the military professionals’ point of view, a dismal performance by an assault team, which had gained complete surprise when they unmasked themselves in Pashtunistan Square.”

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“The Taliban have been fighting us for over eight years and yesterday’s raid was the best they could do, given their vast combat experience?  That raid was a fiasco, which indicates to me we have time… a lot of time to get this thing right.  All we need is the will.”

By Stephen Unterberg

Smoked Chicken with Chipotle Mayonnaise

1. Organic chicken legs and thighs
2. poultry seasoning
3. Lemon juice
4. chipotle sauce

I was really excited to try this recipe after I picked up one of Emeril’s endorsed products at Central Market. I can’t remember what it’s called, but it costs around $4 and it consists of an aluminum bag containing some type of flavored wood chips or other smoking agent. This meal was for my birthday with the family and as usual, I was in charge of the cooking. While I would have preferred an all grass fed brisket to slowly cook in the smoking bag for 5 hours, all grocery stores were sold out of grass fed meats, so I went with chicken thighs and legs for this attempt instead. The smoking bag was awesome! I knew the smoke flavor wasn’t going to be too intense since chicken only takes about 35 minutes to cook compared to a slowly braised piece of meat, but the end result was an extremely juicy chicken with a nice hint of smokiness to it, so I will definitely be using these bags again in the future. I highly recommend it for something a little new and different.

First, marinate the chicken on all sides with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, a bit of chipotle sauce, and lemon juice for 30 minutes at room temperature. Next place the chicken inside the smoking bag. I then decided to puncture a hole in the bag using a meat thermometer and then placed the probe into one of the pieces of chicken as a means of ensuring the perfect doneness. Just to make sure no flavor or juice escaped I placed a small piece of foil around the hole to seal it off. Finally roll the bag up tightly to keep all the flavor and smokiness trapped in the bag while cooking. Follow the instructions on the smoking bag, which includes keeping the grill on high heat for the first 15 minutes of cooking and then finishing off the chicken under a low flame for a slower cooking process. After reaching 155 degrees (5 degrees under the proper internal temperature for chicken) I removed the bag from the grill, placed it in a pan to capture the juice while opening the bag, turned the flame to high on the grill and placed the cooked pieces of chicken back over the high heat to crisp up the skin. This technique worked out perfectly, but the white meat was just a slight bit on the dry side from the extra cooking on the grill to crisp the skin. When I attempt this again, I’ll probably refrain from the extra cooking time to the white meat while sacrificing the crisper skin, to avoid any dryness. Or as another option, you could remove the chicken at about 150 degrees and then place the almost cooked chicken under the broiler to finish off and crisp the skin. This may be more desirable since you won’t have to worry about the skin sticking to anything. Serve chicken along with homemade chipotle mayonnaise – recipe below.

Chipotle Mayonnaise

1. 1 egg yolk
2. 1T Dijon mustard
3. squeeze of lemon juice
4. salt and pepper
5. 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
6. parsely
7. olive oil

Place all ingredients from 1-6 in a blender and pulse until incorporated. Slowly drizzle in olive oil until desired thickness is reached. Refrigerate the mayonnaise before serving to help in the solidifying process. Serve alongside the smoked chicken or any other dish for some added smokiness.

Note: The picture above is actually not from this recipe, but another dish I made for lunch on a previous day (I didn’t take pictures of the smoked chicken). The presentation was very similar and there’s a plain mayonnaise underneath the chicken instead of the chipotle version (everything is identical except for the addition of the chipotles). I just wanted to have an image up for this recipe. Enjoy!

Editors Note: I originally posted this a couple months ago. Now that I have a few more readers, I wanted to revisit this post. Have you changed anything since then? Or just more of the same?

How many different parts of your life does this apply to?

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Q: Should I be on 17 or 18 blocks when I start the Zone? Can I eat carrots/green beans/ or vinegar on Paleo?

A: It doesn’t really matter too much until you actually start, then we can start tweaking. Don’t let such a small detail prevent you from taking the first step.

What most people do: Nothing. Continue eating the way they always have and looking/feeling/performing under their potential.

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Q:I just need to keep working hard and eventually I’ll get good enough to qualify for the games.

A: Bullshit. You need to recognize and then assault your weaknesses. More of the same doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to be a start. Take a 1 on 1. Go to an Olympic Lifting Class. Do nothing but double unders for an entire week.

What most people do: Nothing. Continue training the way they always have and hope they get better.

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Q: I’m a bad runner. Should I do CF Endurance 3 times a week, join a running team, do a five K once a week, or buy a weighted vest to run with?

A: All of the above, some of the above, or any one of the above. Just do something.

What most people do: Nothing. Use the lack of a perfect program as an excuse not to run.

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Q: Should I squat heavy 3×5 twice a week, 5×3 four times a week, 3×3 eight times a week, or just do strength bias?

A: Uhh I dunno, just start squatting heavy and eating a ton, that’ll do the trick

What most people do: Nothing. Say to themselves, “I just don’t have the body type to be strong or I’m too old” and blame it on genes.

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Q: If only I knew more people, had more cash flow, had more time, or got luckier….. then I’ll quit my job and start doing what I want.

A: Bullshit. The harder you work the luckier you get. Start the process now…. as in today.

What most people do: Nothing. Continue on the path of least resistance until one day they hear about someone who did what they want to do with less money/less resources/less time/less connections/ less whatever. Then they wake up.

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The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What are you going to do today to get one step closer to your destination? Send that email? Do that research? Book the private session? Apologize to the person you care about and pissed off?

Now go forth and conquer.

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“Someone once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.”