Taste of Place

I will be vending at the next Taste of Place market by Root Sellers. This event is December 11th in Niwot at the Left Hand Grange. Please come out and support local foods and entrepreneurs! Mention that you heard about the market here or on Facebook and I'll give you a free treat!

I plan on bringing Kava beverages, Guarana Fudge, Herbal hard candies, Teas, Flower Essence Sprays and Tinctures.

Taste of Place: A Holiday Artisan Food and Craft Market will be held on December 11 from 10:00am-2:00pm at the Left Hand Grange in Niwot. The market will feature a wide variety of foods and crafts made by local artisans, so come ready to do some holiday shopping!

Roast Chicken

Do you remember the commercial with the mom in the kitchen, reading her romance novel, who then throws flour in her face and flounces out with a perfectly cut plate of rice krispy treats? Her family is vastly appreciative of her hard work producing such a culinary delight. They're so good, they must take skill and effort!

That is what roasting a chicken is like. To those who don't know how to do it, it must take great skill to produce! They are tasty, but they are also ridiculously easy to prepare.

Roast Chicken

I heat the oven to 375 F, rinse the chicken, place it in a roasting pan, sprinkle it with whatever spices catch my fancy that day, and put it in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Sometimes I get all herb-lady-fancy and smash fresh herbs in a mortar and pestle with sea salt and olive oil. Those herbs get tucked under the skin, or you can cut into the flesh and tuck them away inside the bird.

I wrap a few sweet potatoes in foil and put those next the chicken.

This dinner is always well received. Being allergen-free, there is no food coma, despite the tryptophan content of the chicken. This is a happy belly meal!

The best thing about this meal, is that you can use the carcass to make a nourishing bone broth, which will help to feed you for the rest of the week.

Broken Bone Soup

chicken carcass, with larger bones cracked or cut to expose marrow

Onions

Garlic

Veggie Scraps

Splash of Vinegar

Tonic herbs like Shiitake, Astragalus, Codonopsis

Place all of the above into a crockpot, cover with water. Heat on low for 12-24 hours. Strain to remove solids.

You can freeze this in ice cube trays, and pop a cube into anything else you cook to boost the nutrition. You can add a cube or more to grains, other soups, stews, casseroles, etc. Heat and sip when you're feeling a little off, and with the minerals from the bones, it is especially good for you when you've broken a bone of your own.

Paleo economy

Sometimes concessions are made in efforts to balance a Paleo diet with economic realities. Subsidized grains make dinner immediately cheaper, but don't pay off in the long run. Tonight's dinner is ALMOST Paleo, I stretched things a bit with Lentils. I'm also using up some older spices in the pantry, and random ingredients that I find tucked away. This is free of Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy and Nuts.

Soak 1 C lentils in filtered water overnight. Drain and rinse. Soak several handfuls of dried mushrooms in filtered water overnight. Do not drain. Add drained lentils and undrained mushrooms to Crockpot, along with lots of dried onions, dried minced garlic, a can of green chilies, several shakes of chipotle hot sauce, diced sweet potato, 1 C chicken broth, and 2 C filtered water. Let that cook all day.

In a separate skillet, brown 1 pound of ground meat, I used goat. When cooked, remove all but what you need for your meal, refrigerate leftovers. Add washed and torn spinach to the meat you've kept in the skillet. Put in more than you think you need, it cooks down. Cook until spinach is just cooked, and is a dark yet bright green. I didn't season the goat and spinach, as I put a lot of flavor in the crockpot, but I could have, it would have been fine.

Mix together enough of the crock pot concoction and your goat with spinach to make a hearty serving, add a splash of your favorite vinegar, and enjoy! The leftovers keep well, and can feed a single person for 3 or 4 more meals.

In this recipe I used dried mushrooms, garlic and onions, and canned green chilis because I am making way for this year's fresh ingredients. Economy is using what you have, and everything was hiding in the freezer, pantry or came in today's CSA share. Vinegar gives your dish some sparkle, and increases the availability of the minerals in the spinach.

Ingredients:

1C Lentils

1C Mushrooms

Sweet Potato

1 C Chicken Broth

Onions

Garlic

1 can Green Chilis

Chipotle hot sauce

1 pound Ground Goat

Spinach

Vinegar