NYC Paleo Skillshare I

The first NYC paleo skillshare was a BLAST! Over twenty people gathered at the Sanocki bro's awesome apartment at Union Square to discuss, learn, and most importantly- EAT!

Bone Stock

We learned about how to make a basic and tasty bone stock. Why bother with bones? Bones stocks are a great source of calcium, which can be hard to get on the paleo diet, as well as other vital nutrients. They are also simple to make and easy to digest, which is perfect if you are recovering from illnesses like leaky gut. For the foodies out there, bone stock is an essential part of every great chef's kitchen, providing the savory "umani" flavor in everything from silky mashed root vegetables to delicious soups.

Supplementary reading:

Why Broth is Beautiful by the Weston A. Price Foundation is a great article that further elucidates the healing properties of a good broth

Bones by Jennifer McLagen is an excellent cookbook that instructs on how to make basic broths and provides great recipes to use broth and other meaty bones. My basic broth recipe is from this cookbook...but

I modified it because I like to do Asian recipes. Most of my modifications are inspired by the Momofuku cookbook by David Chang which is a great cookbook that showcases how a fine restaurant like Momofuku utilizes bones, as well as lard.

Basic Bone Stock

The Bones: I use all the bones that come through my kitchen. Chicken bones are many people's favorites and whenever I roast a chicken I save the skeleton to make a delicious chicken soup. Veal bones are probably the second most prized, being extremely savory and flavorful. But all bones are useful. The stock we made in class had bison and pork bones. Don't worry about leftover flesh or other things hanging on the bones- this enhances flavor! In fact, Momofuku, which has plenty of money for ingredients, uses whole chickens to make their ramen broth. Roasting the bones enhances their flavor through the maillard reaction, which is in simple terms responsible the delicious savory flavor in seared and roasted foods. Roasting is optional, but delicious.

Acid: Draw out the minerals in the bones more effectively by adding your favorite acidic ingredient. Lemon juice is a versatile favorite, vinegars are also delicious, and when I am making a Mexican or Asian-inspired soup I often use lime juice.

Vegetables: Vegetables add flavor and nutrition to a stock. Stock is the perfect use for the trimmings of vegetables that have flavor, but that aren't delicious on their own. The tops of leeks, herb stems, carrot tops, celeriac stems, and other kitchen "waste" are perfect ingredients in stocks, but don't be afraid to buy vegetables specifically to make stock with. Vegetables to avoid in stocks include members of the cruciferous family, like cabbage and broccoli, which have many bitter compounds. I would in general avoid anything that's very bitter like beet stems. Members of the allium family- onions, leeks, shallots, garlic, and scallions, are particularly prized in stock. Carrots and celery/celeriac tops add a delicious fresh flavor.

Flavor enhancers: Bits of smoked meat (Momofuku uses bacon), mushrooms, bay leaves and peppercorns are my favorites.

Iodine hack: Iodine is a nutrient essential for thyroid health. Most people get it in processed salty foods that have it as an additive to the salt, but on the paleo diet you won't be eating much of that. The additive form is also inferior to the natural form found in marine foods. To add iodine to your stock and enhance digestibility, pick up a seaweed called kombu and add a stick or two to your stock.

Our Stock

First, we cut up the leeks, scallions, shallots, and garlic, making them into a "bed" on the roasting pan. On this bed we placed some pork bones from Aberdeen Hill Farms, which I purchased at the Park Slope Co-op, and some bison bones bought at Union Square Farmers Market. We roasted this at 435 F for an hour, then placed it in a large stock pot with our dried mushrooms, kombu I bought from The New Amsterdam Market, pepper, some parsley stems, and fresh squeezed lemon juice. We covered this with water and brought it to a boil. After that, we turned it down and let it simmer.

Stock should simmer for a long time. If you don't feel comfortable leaving a pot on your stove simmering for 12 hours, a crockpot is a wise investment. I put the stock into the crockpot and set it to high.

After your stock has been simmering for some time, skim off any "scum" on the surface, strain out the bones and vegetable remnants, and put it in your fridge, in a jar ideally. After it cools you should have excess fat floating on the top. Discard this or use it as an ingredient. I would taste it first, as some stock fat isn't so tasty.

Finished touch: Salt makes a big difference in terms of flavor. If you are using the stock soon, salt it to taste. If you want to freeze it for future use DON'T SALT- you should reduce it by boiling it down. Then you can put it in icecube trays and use it later.

So now you have some delicious stock!  Serve it as a broth soup or puree in your favorite roasted vegetables. I like to stick a pumpkin in my crockpot on low overnight until it's soft and just scoop out the flesh and mix with the broth and my favorite flavorings. I also use stock to make restaurant-quality brown sauces, gravies (sub out flour and use coconut flour which you can purchase at many health food stores like the Park Slope Co-op or online) and mashed root vegetables.

Chicken Hearts

Chicken hearts are cheap, healthy, and can be tasty, but when most people buy a whole chicken they throw the heart out along with the rest of the giblets. That's a shame because of the giblets, hearts are perhaps the easiest to make tasty. If you didn't grow up eating offal foods like liver, you might have a tough time with their earthy mineral flavor. I personally don't really like that flavor, but it can be muted with acidic and spicy ingredients. 

I was originally looking for calves heart, but not wanting to make a trip to every butcher in the city, I settled for the first heart I saw at Union Square, which was chicken hearts. They came attached to the livers, but they were easily detached. The sinews and clots might look gross, but they are easily removed. Just as much of that as you can to reveal the muscle. 

Chicken hearts can be found in Japanese cuisine. In class I mentioned the temple of chicken offal, Yakitori Totto, which is in Midtown. They serve organic chicken hearts on a skewer! Mmm! Great and open late. I heard that this is one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite late night eats. 

I marinated the chicken hearts using the method Fergus Henderson uses in The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating for calves heart. The night before the class I sliced the hearts into bite sized pieces and put them in a jar with a "health splash of balsamic vinegar," some coarse sea salt, ground black pepper, and some hot pepper. They were simple to cook, I just grilled them in a bit of lard. A perfect appetizer for adventurous guests. 

Lard

I guess since I mentioned lard, I might as well recap our short talk about it. Our host Matt showed us his homemade lard. He got fatback from a local farmer and rendered it over low heat. The biggest mistake with rendering lard is boiling it, which can ruin it. I personally like to render lard from pork belly, since I LOVE pork belly anyway. I just put it in the crock pot on low overnight and the fat renders out. The pork belly is seasoned and crisped and the bonus is this wonderful cooking fat. Momofuku uses a similar method to obtain belly and cooking fat. 

We talked about how great lard is-high in saturated fat that holds up well to heat. Coconut oil is another good choice, which is easier to find. I also obtained some excellent lard from my membership in The Piggery CSA. 

BONE MARROW

Yum! Those bones might look boring, but that white stuff is delicious nutritious FAT. In fact, there is a theory that this fat is what fueled the large brain development in our early meat eating ape ancestors. Scavenged muscle meat is kind of gross, but if they cracked a bone, delicious and perfectly good fat would be the reward. 

Marrow bones were popular in Victorian times, often given as a healing food for invalids. Their popularity waned and you could get them free in many places, but in the past decade there has been increased interest in the gourmet world. That was spurred by chefs like Fergus Henderson, who wrote the aforementioned The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. His book celebrates quality local carefully raised meat by not wasting any of it. On this side of the pond, his disciple Anthony Bourdain has also done his part to glorify "the nasty bits." The foreward to the American version of this cookbook is written by him. 

I'm very grateful for these chefs, but also kind of annoyed at how expensive marrow bones have gotten. They are still very cheap, but you can't get them for free any more. They are easy to find at butchers like The Meat Hook, Dicksons Farmstand Meats, the farmer's market, and sometimes Whole Foods. If the store you shop in doesn't know what marrow bones are, you need to find a new place to shop because anyone versed in meat should at least know them. The bones used in class were bison bones from the Union Square Farmers Market. Henderson uses veal bones, which are great, but the bones of any large ruminant are all good. 

His most famous recipe is probably the parsley and bone marrow salad, which we made. This salad basically uses the delicious silky fat as a dressing. It uses flat leaf parley as a salad leaf, which is perfect because it is milder than its curly leaved cousin, but still wonderfully fresh and bright tasting. 

Marrow bones are SO easy to cook. In fact, I've even cooked them in a toaster oven. But Vlad pointed out that you don't even need to cook them. We passed around a bone and some brave people in our class ate the marrow raw and enjoyed it. I like the taste of cooked marrow though. I put the bones in at 425. The point is to melt the fat so it can go on the salad. 

In the meantime, I picked the leaves from the stems of a bunch of parsley (the stems went in the stock),  thinly sliced a shallot (Henderson calls for two, but I prefer just one), squeezed on some lemon juice, and added some capers. Henderson, like me, doesn't seem to care for fussy recipes. Basic ingredients are all you need and you can adjust things to taste. Henderson does warn you to be careful about not putting in too many capers....but don't forget them! I had never had capers until last year and despite their ugly measly appearance, they do add an important zing to many dishes. 

After the fat in the bones was melted (be sure to cook them on something that can collect this), I took them out and using a spoon and a knife, put the delicious globs of fat and the drippings from the pan on the parsley mixture. I added some salt and pepper to taste. People really seemed to enjoy this recipe! It combines fatty indulgence with vegetal freshness. 

You can learn more about the nutritional properties of marrow bones here. 

What is paleo?

This class was a good reminder that approaches to paleo can be diverse and it's important to think about your food. Sarah made a delicious split pea soup, but many questioned whether legumes were OK. Legumes can be very high in antinutrients(these can interfere with nutrient absorption and irritate your gut) and Loren Cordain warns against them. But most of us aren't 100% paleo. What is in your off percentage? Whole foods like peas are certainly much better than candy bars. I'm 100% real food and 100% into using evolution to guide my choices, but sometimes I crave some legumes. The best way to prepare them is by soaking and fermentation. Nourishing Traditions is the bible for that, providing instructions handed down through the ages that minimize harmful substances in legumes and maximize their nutrition (Sally Fallon, the author, will be speaking in NYC next week!). One thing I enjoy occasionally are dosas and idlis. Stephen from Whole Health Source has a great post about these. I make them over two days, one day to soak the legume, fenugreek seeds, and rice (you can use any variety, I have used split peas, red rice, black rice...), the next to ferment. My crockpot instructions warned me not to leave food in the pot on "warm" as that can encourage bacterial growth. YES! I love bacterial growth. In India, where dosas and idlis were invented, they don't need this as the climate is warm, but here you do. I grind the soaked mixture in a food professor with water to make a thin batter and put it in the crock pot on warm. If you are successful, you should get a sour smell some hours later. Sour = good. If it smells bad, just cut your losses and throw it away. Once it is sour enough, I either steam to make idlis or fry in coconut oil to make dosa pancakes. Paleo? No way, so I don't eat them that often. Real food? Yes. 

Potatoes also came up? Are potatoes paleo? Paleo blogger Don says yes, others say NO way. They do have lots of carbs and nightshades have some anti-nutrients that may be harmful (though scientific studies on this are sparse). I say that it's best to avoid tubers and nightshades at first. Carbs can feed bad bacteria, so if you have stomach problems, stick with low net carb until your stomach feels better. I added in potatoes and peppers about a year after going paleo and never had any ill effects. I am happy to enjoy spicy Thai food and mashed potatoes again, but I recognize that some people feel better without these foods and other people gain weight on them. 

If you have questions about paleo ingredients, I strongly suggest visiting Paleohacks.com.