Prime Cuts

My best friend in San Francisco, Alex, recently introduced me to the concept of eating primal. Mark Sisson, the author of the book The Primal Blueprint and blog Mark’s Daily Apple claims that his eating plan and lifestyle tips will help you lose weight, gain muscle, increase energy levels, reduce stress or just generally look and feel healthier. His health philosophy includes:

…a diet based on an understanding of evolutionary science. I think it’s more important to eat, move, and live according to how humans are designed and not according to society’s artificial developments of the last 100 years. Fortunately, this regimen is not only incredibly healthy, it’s quite simple.

In a nutshell:
- fresh, organic, unprocessed food – no junk!
- daily activity – whether it’s the gym or a walk along the beach, it all counts
- plenty of quality sleep
- plenty of water, no soda or sweetened drinks
- antioxidants galore – the key to limiting stress
- a good fish-oil supplement
- essential fats, reckless amounts of vegetables, and lean, clean protein
- time for fun – don’t take anything too seriously – ethical behavior – because what goes around comes around
- taking responsibility for yourself and your life – openness to new things and ideas

Since moving from Chicago to San Francisco, I’ve made health and fitness a priority. I regularly practice bikram yoga and I’m training for a half marathon on Halloween. Though I’ve always been a fairly healthy eater, carbs and grains were a large part of my diet.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve replaced English muffins with a half an avocado or banana with natural peanut butter. I’m eating less whole wheat pasta and bread and more fish and meat (I used to eat very little meat)… less high-fiber granola bars and more fruits and vegetables.

Making these small changes, I was surprised to quickly notice an increase in my energy and pretty drastic improvements with how I feel every day. I’ve already experienced changes to my body too! I used to get lightheaded frequently and my energy wasn’t sustainable. A diet with a heavier focus on fat and protein helps me sustain this energy. It’s quite amazing!

With that, I wanted to share an ahi tuna recipe I recently made that follows my new eating habits and is equally as delicious too.

Seared Ahi Tuna Over Mixed Greens

Ingredients

2 fresh, sushi-grade ahi tuna steaks (approx. 6 ounces each) – Look for firm, ruby red flesh with no fishy odor.
1 teaspoon salt and coarse pepper
Mixed greens
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
2 tablespoons rice vinegar or rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons virgin olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
Lemon slices

Preparation (Tuna)

1. Coat the tuna steak with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a grill pan over high heat. (I use a heavy-bottomed frying pan.)
3. Prep pan surface with a think layer of oil.
4. Add tuna steak to the hot cooking surface and sear tuna 2 minutes on each side.
5. Remove tuna from heat.

Directions (Salad)

Dressing: whisk wasabi, vinegar and soy sauce. Add in oil to combine dressing.  Combine greens in a bowl and toss with dressing.  Slice tuna, place on the salad and garnish with lemon.

Enjoy!

Photo by: foodista

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Today Joe explains why he will never buy pre-packaged croutons ever again…

So Justin and I have been doing a lot of brain storming lately about good recipe posts we can share that aren’t overly difficult but make a large impact on food when done properly.  One Prime Cuts reader mentioned to Justin that they were interested in making their own breadcrumbs, and while this is doable in the home kitchen, it isn’t really the most effective use of time or resources.  But this lead us to think croutons…the perfect simple food that is infinitely better when made fresh at home.

But just to touch on breadcrumbs for a moment… I used to prepare fresh breadcrumbs at Roberto’s, a pizza kitchen I worked in for many years.  The method is simple: save all end cuts and stale pieces of soft white bread grinder rolls in a dry warm place (on top of the pizza oven) until you have accumulated enough to fill a large hotel pan.  You then run stale rolls through a food grinder until processed to the desired consistency.  You will get a few cups of crumbs for every large pan of bread scrapes saved.  As far as I’m concerned this is worth it to do, if you are a restaurant, but too much work and too many days of eating sandwiches on the same type of bread to do at home.  But, it can be done at home using this method in small batches.  A grinder works much better in this case than the food processor.

…and now on to croutons,  home made croutons are sooooooo much better than the bagged or boxed store bought type.  Even if you were to barely season them, your croutons will still be great because they are fresh.  And it is on that note that you should think when learning to prepare croutons at home,  season lightly when experimenting as a little flavor will go a long way.  Also, croutons typically play a secondary part to the overall flavor of a salad.

The overall method is simple:  start with any type of bread that does not contain chunks or pieces of non- bread material in it  (raisins, garlic, olives, cheese, herbs, stuff like that is a big no no, when in or on the bread prior to making croutons).  I like to use baguette, or ciabatta, or any kind of rustic, crusty white type bread. The basic procedure to making croutons begins with the bread.  It is best if you do this with bread that is a bit stale, you will be drying out the bread in the oven anyhow, so it is going to be dry and crunchy and it it much easier to cut even pieces of bread when it has some rigidity to it.

Begin by cubing the bread into pieces approx. 1/2″- 1″ square, if not quite stale at this point, place in a container loosely covered with aluminum foil punched with many air holes.  Leave for a day or two in a warm dry place until the bread is crusty all around.  If bread is not getting dry, make more holes or just leave uncovered.  Next the bread is hydrated with oil, most often olive, and seasoned with herbs, spices, and flavorings, then baked in an even spread out layer in the oven till crisp… then eaten.

Joe’s Simple Garlic Croutons

Ingredients

1 loaf plain ciabatta bread, cubed into 3/4″ pieces, slightly stale
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp plain vegetable oil
1 1/2  tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt
few shakes or grinds black pepper

Preparation

1. Place bread in a large bowl or container that is double the volume of what the bread will fill.
2. Drizzle evenly with the oils, sprinkle on all the rest of the ingredients as evenly as possible.
3. Cover the container tightly with plastic wrap, and shake vigorously to thoroughly distribute all the ingredients.
4. Place the seasoned croutons to-be on a large sheet pan or two, so they are in an even layer and not piled more than one high.
5. Bake at 350 degrees, positioned centrally in the oven.  Generally these croutons take 15 minutes, but I always check after 10 minutes, and then every 2 minutes until done, they can go from uncooked to over very quickly, especially when making smaller croutons.  You are looking, for a light golden brown color and a crispness throughout or just about throughout, as the croutons will continue to cook while they rest on the hot pan next to the other hot croutons.
6. Let then cool thoroughly, or eat warm for a different taste, they are great in tomato soup when warmed.
7. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month.

With these basic procedures you can make croutons easily at home, and it is easy to vary the recipe.  Use plain bread that does not have any chunks of stuff in or on it. Work in small batches and season lightly, adding more and perfecting the recipe each time you make it.  Remember small croutons cook quickly!  When adding fresh herbs or cheese, cut these flavorings to a size that will be thoroughly dried by the time the croutons are done cooking.  Experiment with different types, and differently flavored oils.

Repeat after me: I vow to never buy pre-made croutons again!!!

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Photo by: jspatchwork

Today Joe shares an awesome roasted beet and green apple salad as a healthy addition to our other recipes.

Something that Justin and our readers have been asking me to do for a while now is to post a healthy/lighter fare recipe.   Specifically a recipe that is non-beef or even vegetarian.  While meat is my forte, I do have a few vegetable dishes in my repertoire.  Although I eat a steak or two just about every day, once in a while I have a salad too.

One of my favorite veggies has to be beets.  I hated this vegetable as a child, because until I began working in professional kitchens, I had never had a beet that was fresh or for that matter wasn’t boiled to death.  Beets are especially delicious when roasted, and once they are, the possibilities are virtually limitless.  They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, well a beet a day keeps 10 doctors away.  They are packed full of vitamins and nutrients, which is why they have earned a place among the super vegetables…those few veggies that contain significantly more nutrition than most others and simply put are super good for you.

The following recipe is for a simple salad that is my spin on a salad course that was prepared for me by Caminito predecessor chef, and my personal mentor, Maryann Salcedo.  I have done several variations of this salad in my day, and although this recipe is quite simple, the contrasting flavors and textures are truly complex.

Roasted beet and green apple salad a la Maryann

Ingredients

4 medium beets (racquetball sized) stems, and roots trimmed
2 granny smith apples
4 large mint leaves Chiffonade
Zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 tbsp light olive oil
1 tsp sugar
Salt
Pepper
(Vegetable oil and coarse salt for roasting beets)

Preparation

1.    Wash beets thoroughly, (do not peel) then rub with vegetable oil.  Place in a single layer in a baking dish and sprinkle with coarse salt.  Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for approx. 2 hours, or until a small paring knife slides in without resistance, be careful not to overcook.  Cool beets to room temp and then chill.  This step can be done a day or two in advance.

2.    Combine zest, juice, olive oil, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl, whisk vigorously to combine.

3.    Prep beets by peeling outer skin with a sharp paring knife.  Cut beets into matchstick size, next cut unpeeled apples into the same matchstick size, quickly transfer beets and apples into large bowl with citrus dressing, toss lightly to coat.  The citrus juice will prevent the apples from turning brown.

4.    Transfer salad to serving plates, you will not need to apply any of the excess dressing left in the mixing bowl, whatever clings to the beets and apples will be sufficient for flavoring.

5.    Garnish with chiffonade mint, and possibly a small scoop of plain yogurt if you like.  In the summertime I like to add a few fresh blueberries at the last minute for color and added sweetness.

This is a very refreshing salad that is good for just about any time of year.  All the ingredients are readily available, and inexpensive.  While this combination may seem less than exotic, the proper roasting of the beets, and knife work that goes into producing a uniform matchstick cut, will make this salad stand out.  The matchstick cut creates more surface area on the beets and apples for the dressing to cling to, but you can of course cut yours however you like.

Eat one of these salads a day and your doctor will soon be but a memory.

Enjoy!

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Photo by: Kitty Sonnenschein

Saturday night Justin and his fiance, Laura decided to have an Asian-themed night for dinner.  Besides yummy pork, scallion and ginger potstickers (recipe to follow soon), they made an adaptation of a recipe for Asian slaw that they found from Guy Fieri.

If you’re looking for a fun and healthy recipe to try, definitely give this one a shot.  Depending at how fast you are at chopping and how sharp of a knife you have, it does take a little while to put together.  But, it is worth the hard work.  Your family, friends or other guests will thank you for serving this next time.

Asian Slaw

Recipe Credit: Guy Fieri, Food Network

Ingredients

Preparation

In a small saucepan add 2 tablespoons olive oil, ginger and garlic, lightly saute until lightly brown. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. Saute for 5 minutes and remove from heat. When cool whisk in olive oil, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar.

Mix all vegetables in a bowl and toss with dressing.

Garnish with crushed chow mein noodles and peanuts.

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Photo by: Food Network

One of Justin’s favorite salads lately has been any combination of apple, pear, walnut, dried cranberry and blue cheese in a salad.  So, Justin has put together this recipe for you which combines all of these great flavors into a single salad.  There are no specific measurements for this salad as it should be based on what flavors you like more than others.  As always, we hope you enjoy

Apple and Walnut Salad with Blue Cheese Crumbles

Ingredients

Spring Mix
Red Onions, cut into thin rings
Granny Smith Apples, cored and cut into bite-sized chunks
Pears, julienne
Dried Cranberries
Unsalted Walnuts, chopped
Blue Cheese crumbles
Apple Cider Vinegar, drizzle
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Lightly toss salad to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together with the apple cider vinegar and serve.  If you don’t like apple cider vinegar, you could substitute a cranberry walnut dressing or anything similar to that flavor profile.

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Photo by: Suviko