Rebel Cooking - Growing Up

I have not been cooking overly much here today – just a little goat meat stew and some odds and ends. But, what I have been doing quite a bit of these days is learning more about preserving foods.

As well as working at growing a sourdough starter culture….it was growing well until I got a little carried away and added another type of flour to the mixture and promptly killed it.

At least I think I did – so, I am trying to revive it or I will start it all over again. But, it’s all new territory for me, so this is a great learning curve so far and I am enjoying making the mistakes too. Right now the starter has grown a tiny bit in the last hour, there might be hope yet!

But, back to the meat – there are so many different types of meat out there such as venison and goat, we in the West would not eat regularly (as a general rule). But, are really missing out when we don’t because they are not only a great source of protein (lean and healthy) but tasty too.

To really enjoy a meal of goat or venison – it’s all seems to be in the marinade and your approach to cooking. Of course for any stronger or tougher meat, you will have to treat it a little differently from a spring lamb.

When handled and cooked properly, any meat can be made into a wonderful meal and these gamier tasting meats are no different. So on to the marinade which might be anything really, but just something that will break down the collagen fibres of the muscle as well as add flavour…

I don’t follow any one recipe when it comes right down to it. What I do is just look at how much I would like to cook and then decide what ingredients I have on hand and how big a bowl to use.

It’s that simple – I often start with 3 or 4 bay leaves, add some olive oil if the meat is lacking fat (such as venison), a tablespoon of mustard, 1 level teaspoon turmeric, some sage, thyme, rosemary (especially for goat meat), chopped onions, garlic, leek, a little balsamic or apple cider vinegar and then I add something citrus or sweet.

Today I sliced up a whole lemon into thin wedges and added it into the marinade for goat meat, which all went into the stew once it started cooking. I would just season a little bit with pepper and some salt – at the beginning because it might draw out some moisture from the meat. Besides, salt can be added at the end of the cooking as well.

The last time I made a piece of goat or venison I added cranberry apple sauce and it was lovely….and since goat lends itself to herbs, I do put in whatever I can find from my garden (parsley, lovage, Welsh onion, sprouting things and leaves etc.).

So you see you can add anything and make a great tasting meal from this type of meat – no excuses necessary. Just flavourful great taste and a little learning curve will take you there….now I am ready to get back to my sourdough. This is so much fun!

April 

Goat Stew

Guinea Fowl Chilli (Tomato Free)

I don't eat chicken - ever since my days (years) spent as a Food Hygiene Inspector where I saw thousands of them coming down the line....often with tumors, growths and what not. It used to be surprising to me because they were for the most part still quite young.

However, it seems they were very prone to cancers of one sort or another. I never saw this in any other animal to this extent and naturally removed them from my diet. Actually I haven't eaten them since - instead I would tend to go for their wild fowl friends.

I really have come to like guinea fowl which is not related to the chicken, but belongs to the pheasant family. It is a lovely bird and I have written about on here before. Again, like any meat, it is not something we would eat more then 3 or 4 times a year, but when we do we love it.

This past week I had a guinea fowl to do something with and decided to make a chilli with it. Just something a little different and with a lovely combination of flavours. It turned out nicely - I have made this before and everyone has enjoyed it.

To make the chilli - I proceed in steps. First of all I slow roast the guinea fowl in the slow cooker for most of a day or a night. This way it is succulent and tender. I cooked this one in plenty of onions, garlic, sage, salt and pepper.

I take the meat off of the bones and place the meat back into the pot - keeping it on a low heat setting. The guinea fowl had lots of liquid around it so I sprinkled a little spelt flour over top to make a thicker consistency.

In the meantime I soaked some red kidney beans over night to be ready to cook once the meat was done. I always cook my beans in lots of sea weeds - so they are not tough, and the sea weed gets into the meal as well.

In another pot I made a sauce - using carrots, beetroot, sweet potato, squash, sautéd onions, garlic and leek - these were cooked until tender and then blended into a puree. Then I added generous amounts of cumin, coriander, turmeric, pepper, salt and some bay leaves. 

Next I started to assemble everything - the beans went into the slow cooker with the meat and liquid, then the sauce was poured over top of everything. I left it to blend and heat through for about an hour or so and then turned it off. 

Once it had been sitting cooling for the afternoon it was ready - the kids loved it, the guinea fowl adds a rich taste to the rest of the ingredients as well.

April 

Guinea Fowl chilli

Raw Pumpkin and A Scary Night

One more day until Samhain - this is such a big time of year for us here - things really get down to the crunch of detoxing after this last Feast of the season. What we try to do then is really enjoy this week and this season to the fullest.

When we strip away the commercial aspects of Halloween, the sugar, candy, and the near Christmas like atmosphere it has started to resemble - what are we left with? Perhaps a raw pumpkin and a scary night.

Of course being an Intuitive I am always trying to figure things out, I need to know why we think a certain way, why we eat the food we do and then how to make it better. There is no doubt the veil between worlds is thinner at this time of year.

What that means is that beings from other worlds can move more easily back and forth. But it also tells us they are supposed to - otherwise this time would not have been possible and built into the nature of the earth herself.

Why might this be important for those of us living here on this planet? And what does this all have to do with the food we are eating, detox and cleansing....well. Perhaps there are both living and dead parts of ourselves - in the same manner we would eat some of our foods dead.

In times past animal meats from game such as deer, rabbits, ducks and fish would have been consumed fairly regularly. To use such meat meant giving thanks for the souls of each animal as well as providing them with a place (and a space) to leave the earth on their own journey.

This is the time of year when these animals would have traditionally been hunted and killed for our food. It would have been important to the ancient Pagans that the spiritual aspects of these animals would be able to move on after death.

When we eat animal meats from animals who have been ill treated or are unhappy about being part of the food chain, we do end up taking on that energy. Perhaps that's why many people have trouble digesting meat in any quantity. 

Of course we only need a little meat (and many would argue none at all) - I have personally spent more than a few years as a vegan and would now only eat meat selectively. I would also prefer game meat and home raised food animals over commercial types of meats.

Maybe during this Halloween season you can give thanks in some small way for the animals who gave their lives for your dinner - mindfulness.

April 

Goose in the grass