Lacto-Fermented Mayonnaise

This is another fabulous recipe from our friend Chris over at Lost Arts Kitchen.  Chris is brilliant in the kitchen and a great teacher about food and food preparation if you are in the Portland OR area.  There are many recipes on the Lost Arts Kitchen site that are GAPS or GAPS-friendly, but she now has a GAPS blog as well called Cooking GAPS. 

So here is Chris' recipe for lacto-fermented mayonnaise, which is now the only kind I make!

Peach Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

This is a simple yet unusual twist on cranberry sauce that has become our favorite.  If you like cranberry sauce, you can have a lot of fun trying different combinations of fruit, juices, and vegetables.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups cranberries (one 4 oz bag)
2 cups of peaches, cut into chunks (frozen work fine)
1/4 cup pure pomegranate juice
1/4 cup honey (or to taste)

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to medium heat.

Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture has simmered long enough for the cranberries to pop, about 20-30 minutes.  The mixture should thicken as it simmers- if it gets too thick, or begins to scorch, you can add more pomegranate juice. 

Aioli (Garlic Mayonnaise)

This is so easy, delicious and healing. It is fabulous with artichokes, but it is also good with boiled eggs and a variety of vegetables.

Ingredients

2 fresh egg yolks
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2-3 cloves fresh garlic (peeled)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 scant cup olive oil

Method

Place egg yolks, lemon juice, garlic and sea salt into the bowl of a food processor. Blend until garlic is chopped. With motor running, begin adding olive oil in a very thin stream. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides of your bowl from time to time. Continue adding olive oil until all has been incorporated. Refrigerate or use immediately. It will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

Jam

This is a very simple way to make GAPS-legal jam.  It is a bit runnier than "normal" jam, but still works well.  You can adjust the level of sweetness to suit your preference.  I made my jam not very sweet at all, figuring that I could always mix honey in later for flavor.  Also, if you make it less sweet, then you can use it in savory sauces and dishes (such as apricot-rosemary turkey breast).

I used apricots, but pretty much any fruit that you would normally make jam from would work.  I simply cut up the fruit into large pieces- probably into quarters or eights- and then put it in a large stock pot.  I covered the fruit with cold filtered water and brought it to a boil, then turned it down to a simmer.  I think I added the honey at this point- I'm not sure it matter exactly when you add it. 

Simmer the fruit for several hours until it thickens and cooks down to a consistency you like (keeping in mind that it is thicker when cool).  Keep a close eye on it while it cooks so it doesn't scorch, and add more water as needed.  Once it has thickened, remove a little and let it cool enough to taste, and add more honey if desired.


Once the jam is done you can either can it or freeze it in small containers or ziploc bags.  I suggest making large batches in the summer when the fruit is in season and less expensive, but many of us on GAPS don't have as much control over when we are ready for certain foods.  You can easily make this in smaller batches during the winter as well.  Even though it may be more expensive, it can still be cost effective compared with purchasing SCD-legal jam online.

This jam is delicious on toast, in sandwiches, on pancakes or french toast, in crepes, or as a filling in desserts.

Bacon Cheddar Potted Cheese

When I was a kid, one of my favorite flavors of the holidays was those salty cheese spreads that came in the Christmas food packages.  I loved how they were so creamy and salty, and probably loved them partly because of the MSG.  A friend recently posted a recipe online for one of these spreads and when I saw it I knew I had to make it work for GAPS.  I think this is even better without the MSG.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T coconut oil
12 oz raw cheddar cheese
8 oz bacon (I used Organic Prairie brand)
2 shallots
1 T bourbon
1 cup kefir or homemade yogurt (you could probably use coconut milk if you don't have either)

METHOD:

Chop the bacon and cook in the coconut oil until crispy, remove and set aside.

Fry the shallots in 2 T of the fat left from cooking the bacon, until caramelized.

Chop the cheese into small cubes and put into the bowl of a food processor along with the bacon, and pulse until well blended.  Add the kefir, bourbon, and shallots and continue to blend until the mixture is creamy. 

At this point the mixture is a thick spread or dip, that would go well with veggie sticks, apple slices, crackers, or coconut bread or nut butter bread..  You can easily adjust the consistency by adding in more kefir, if you want a thinner dip.  For an extravagant salad dressing, or dressing for vegetables, you could thin this down a lot with oil and vinegar as well as more kefir.

Roasted Peppers

This is a simple thing to do to add some wonderful flavor to many different dishes.  Roasted peppers are great in salads, mixed in lima bean hummus, added to salsa, on pizza and burgers, and so many other things. 

The technique I use is simple.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Wash the peppers and cut them in half, then clean the seeds and pith out of the middle.  Rub the skins with oil or fat (I used olive oil) and place them skin side up on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the peppers are soft.  I like it when the skins get a little burned or charred.  When they are cool enough, remove the skins.  If using smaller peppers such as Anaheim, reduce the cooking time.

Peppers, particularly hot chili peppers, are also very good roasted over a fire or roasted in the broiler for a similar effect.  Hold them near the fire until their skins blacken, then cover them or put them in a bag for 10 minutes, which will cause the skins to come off more easily.  Be careful with hot peppers- roasting them in any fashion can release the capsaicin (what makes them hot) into the air which can irritate your eyes and nose.

Lima Bean Hummus

It looks sort of grayish in the picture because I added black olives before I thought about how unappetizing that might make it look in the photo!  Honestly this tastes so good that my husband has wondered why everyone doesn't make hummus with lima beans.  This would work fine with other white beans that we're allowed on GAPS, but as they are higher in oxalates I decided to go with limas.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups soaked and cooked lima beans
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
3 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil (or more depending on how "wet" your beans are and the texture of hummus that you like)

METHOD:

Put all ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend to desired consistency.  Taste and adjust flavors.  You will undoubtedly find your own blend of ingredients that you like best. 

For variation, try adding olives, anchovies, roasted garlic, roasted peppers, dried tomato, or whatever herbs and spices you like.  If you find an especially tasty variation, please post it in the comments for us all to enjoy!

If you serve the hummus with sliced veggies for dipping it makes a nice side dish or even a light meal.

Chile Verde

 This was a delicious treat after being in a GAPS rut for awhile.  It was a time-consuming meal, especially since I started out by going into my garden and harvesting the tomatillos!  If you make a lot of the sauce ahead of time and freeze it, this would be an easy crock pot dinner. 

Amazingly, the recipe I used was the first one that came up in a google search.  The steps of the recipe are nicely pictured, which I appreciated.  The only modification I made was not to drain off the excess fat.  Here's the link:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chile_verde/

Honey Bourbon Cranberry Sauce

This is yummy. I hope some of you have a chance to try it for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

8 oz. organic cranberries, washed and picked over
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup honey
zest of half an orange or whole lemon
1 Tbs. good quality bourbon

Method

Bring all ingredients except bourbon to a boil. Simmer until all of the cranberries pop. Allow to cool a bit in the pan. Add bourbon. Refrigerate. You can pass the sauce through a sieve of food mill, if you don't like whole cranberry sauce.

Ranch Dip or Dressing

This is a simple and delicious recipe that Teri came up with.  It is basically the "real thing" rather than the sugar-and-MSG concoction that tends to pass for ranch.  This is an easy and wonderful thing to bring to a potluck or buffet.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup mayonnaise (yogurt and thick kefir would also work if you prefer egg-free)
2 T chopped parsley or cilantro
1 (or more!) cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
2 green onions minced, or 1/4 regular onion minced
squeeze of lemon juice
ground pepper to taste

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  This is great for simply dipping veggies in, or can be thinned to make salad dressing with olive oil, nut milk, kefir, or water. 

Churasco Burger with Chimichurri Sauce

This recipe comes from the book "Great Burgers" by Bob Sloan.  This is one of the few cookbooks that I have bought since beginning the GAPS diet- even though it is not technically special diet at all, many of the recipes are GAPS-legal without any modification, and most of the others require only minor adaptations.  I particularly like that the recipes in this book provide many ideas for using ground meat, something that I am wanting to use more of to save money, as well as recipes that are very flavorful and with a wide range of flavors to help bring more variety into the diet.

INGREDIENTS:

For burgers:
1 1/2 pounds of ground round (beef)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint
3 T finely chopped or crushed garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 T red pepper flakes (optional)

For sauce:
1 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
1 cup packed fresh mint
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 T finely chopped garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 T red pepper flakes (optional)

METHOD:

In a medium bowl, combine the ground meat with all of the burger ingredients except the salt.  Mix gently until just blended.  Form into 4-6 patties, depending on how large you want the patties.  Sprinkle both sides of each patty with salt.

Grill on high heat (around 500 degrees) for 4-5 minutes per side, depending on how rare or well done you like your meat.  You can also fry the burgers in a very hot skillet for about 5 minutes per side.

To make the sauce, blend all ingredients together in a food processor.  According to the recipe, this sauce also goes well with steak and chicken.

Tandouri Lamb Burger with Cumin-Yogurt Dressing

I recently got the book "Great Burgers" by Bob Sloan from the library, and am loving it.  Because the focus of the book is meat patties with seasonings, most of the recipes are GAPS-friendly (some are entirely GAPS-legal) and offers ways to include more variety of flavor into the diet as well a a way to use more ground meat (which I have been wanting to do to save money).  This was the first recipe from the book that I tried but there are many more that I am eager to get to.  These were absolutely delicious and my 8-year-old LOVED them, he said they tasted just like food from an Indian restaurant.  This recipe did not require modification, and even includes a yogurt sauce that is diet-legal.  Did I mention that I love this book?

For the meat patties:

1 lb ground lamb
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 T finely chopped garlic
2 T finely chopped (or grated) peeled fresh ginger
1 large egg
1 T curry powder (I get mine from Mountain Rose Herbs)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I left this out)

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer).  Form into 4 patties. 

To cook them, the book suggests putting them into a 500 degree oven for 8-10 minutes in a skillet on the middle rack of the oven.  The idea is to mimic a tandouri oven.  I did this and while the burgers were cooked and tasted good, they didn't brown and were very soft.  In the future I plan to broil them on a rack.

Serve with slices of red onion, tomato, and lettuce leaves.  Cumin-Yogurt dressing is optional.

For the dressing, combine the following ingredients in a small bowl:

1 cup yogurt
1 T freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt

Spiced Steamed Artichokes with Lemon Garlic Mayo

This is simple, delicious, and requires no modification to be GAPS-legal.  This is our favorite "treat food" for dinner when we are feeling down about the food restrictions- you can't feel down when eating this!

To Prepare Artichokes:

Choose artichokes that are firm and green over ones that feel "squishy" and have deep splits in the leaves (these can be okay too, but aren't the best).  Wash them. 

Pull off the small leaves around the stem, these are very bitter.  With a sharp knife, cut off the spiny end- the tips of the leaves bunched together at the top.  With scissors, trim the sharp tips off of the remaining leaves.  Cut off the tip of the stem where it is brown.  Some people prefer to trim off most of the stem, while others feel that the stem is the best part and should be saved.  To do this, carefully remove the outer skin around the stem and leave the soft inner part attached (like the one in the picture).

Place them stem-up in a steamer basket, or if they don't fit, you can slice each one in half lengthwise first.  Put enough water into the bottom of the pan to not quite touch the artichokes.  Into the water, put about 4-5 whole cloves, 2-3 cloves of garlic cut into several pieces, a bay leaf, several black peppercorns, some red wine or vinegar, a few cardamom pods if you have them, or other savory spices that you like.

Cooking time varies quite a bit depending on the size of the artichokes and their age.  For smaller artichokes, I would check them after about 25-30 minutes, larger ones can take more like 45 minutes to steam.  Check them by poking the choke end with a fork for tenderness.  Let cool a little and serve with lemon garlic mayo, or just melted butter with garlic.

Lemon Garlic Dip for Artichokes

Combine 1 cup of GAPS-legal mayonnaise (I make my own), the juice of half a lemon, and 2 (or more) cloves of garlic, crushed.  Add salt if desired.

Barbecue Sauce

We made the most delicious pulled pork and barbecued beef spare ribs last weekend. We are fortunate to have a built-in gigantic smoker that came with our house. DH did a great job with the meat, but I like to think that the sauce helped a bit too. I have been using Muir Glen brand organic canned tomato products without any problems, but if you are new to the diet or have very serious gut issues you may like to use fresh tomatoes and cook them down. You may also like to add liquid smoke to your finished sauce, if you don't smoke your meat.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
2-4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dark paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce, if desired
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Method

Saute onion in butter until softened. Add tomato sauce and paste. Stir until combined. Add honey and vinegar. Stir. Add garlic, paprika, dry mustard, hot sauce (if using) and salt and pepper. Stir and cook until heated through.

We basted the ribs with this sauce for about an hour before removing from the smoker. Mmmm.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

This dish is great for summer barbecue parties. The recipe works well with shrimp, and would probably work well with other meats as well (pork, etc). I suggest making a lot of it and using the leftovers for easy lunches.

INGREDIENTS:

For the marinade (per pound of meat used):
1 tsp dry white wine
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp curry powder *
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered ginger (or grated ginger root)
1 clove of garlic, crushed

*I use the curry powder from Mountain Rose Herbs, but there are many recipes online to make your own, and there is also a good recipe in Raman Prasad's book "Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet".

For the Peanut Sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut or seed butter)
1 T apple cider vinegar
2 T toasted sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 T honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 T grated ginger root
1/4 cup coconut milk

METHOD:

Combine the ingredients for the marinade, multiplying the units in the ingredient list by the number of pounds of meat to be used. Chop the meat into bite-sized pieces and marinade for at least 30 minutes, preferably several hours (in the refrigerator). If using shrimp, marinade whole.

Put the meat on skewers and grill it on both sides until done. The meat can also be cooked in the broiler, about 5 minutes per side, but check often. Cooking time will vary depending on how small the pieces are.

Combine the ingredients for the peanut sauce and serve along with the meat for dipping. The peanut sauce can be thinned by adding additional coconut milk if desired.

Basic Pizza Sauce

This sauce is very basic and very good. It makes exactly enough to cover the coconut flour pizza crust recipe. It would be very good with additional veggies pureed in, such as zucchini or leafy greens.

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 T of fat for cooking
1 onion
4 large tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
salt to taste

METHOD:

Heat the fat or oil in a large skillet. Chop the onion finely in a food processor, then add to the hot oil and saute for about 5 minutes. Puree the tomatoes in the food processor and have them ready.

Stir in the seasonings and add the crushed garlic. Add the pureed tomatoes and stir thoroughly. Add some salt. Let the sauce simmer for about 1-2 hours to cook down. Once the sauce has reached it's desired thickness, remove from heat, adjust the seasonings, and use on your pizza!

You can use the coconut flour crust recipe,

Hazelnut pizza crust recipe, or seed crust recipe.

German mustard

I made this months ago and gobbled it up in no time with good quality (GAPS-legal) store-bought bratwursts and homemade sauerkraut. It was a great quick meal. Next time I make this (soon!) I'm going to double the recipe. I found this recipe http://www.gretchencooks.com/, and I only had to change one ingredient.

When I made it, I used a mixture of yellow and brown mustard seeds, but it was impossible to chop the brown seeds without pureeing the yellow seeds. I like the brown seeds for visual interest, so I will try all brown next time, but I'm not sure if it will thicken without some yellow. Anyway, it turned out great with the pureed yellow seeds, it just took a while for the spiciness to mellow.

Ingredients

1/4 cup mustard seeds

2 Tbsp. dry mustard

1/2 cup COLD water

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

3 Tbsp. honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. dried tarragon

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Method

Combine mustard seeds, dry mustard and water in a small bowl. Cover and let stand at least 4 hours or overnight. Combine vinegar, onion, honey, garlic, salt, tarragon and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to medium. Boil, uncovered for about 7 to 10 minutes until the mix is reduced by half. Pour vinegar mix through a fine sieve into a food processor bowl. Rinse saucepan and set aside. Add mustard mix to the vinegar mix; process in food processor about 1 minute or until mustard seeds are chopped but not pureed. Pour into rinsed saucepan. Cook over low heat until mustard is thick, stirring constantly. Store in airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 year. Wait at least two weeks before eating, preferrably a month.

Mayonnaise

This is my version of Sierra's recipe for mayonnaise. I think it's a good substitute for store-bought. This is a crowd-pleaser and goes well in mayonnaise-based salads and dips. Now that I've found an extra virgin olive oil that I like, I use all olive oil. I recommend starting out with the 1/2 cup canola or other mild oil, if you are trying to convert anyone to the homemade version.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 pinch mustard powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 whole egg
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cold pressed canola oil (or another mild oil, or all olive oil)

Method

Combine first four ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth and well-combined. With the motor running, add oil, a few drops at a time (I use an old squeeze bottle for this job). As the mayo starts to thicken, you can add the oil in a more steady, but thin, stream. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Dijon Mustard

I made this recipe about a month and a half ago. It is pretty good, but I found it a bit sweet. Next time, I will reduce the amount of honey. I'm posting it here in the form that I found it (more or less). It takes about a month for the flavors to mellow, so do not eat it right away unless you like very spicy mustard. It also yields about four small jars of mustard, which last a long time in my house.

Ingredients

1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
2 cups dry white wine
4 ounces dry mustard
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons salt

Method

Mince onion and garlic. Combine with wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Pour through a strainer and save the onion and garlic to add to soup.

Combine dry mustard and strained wine to make a paste. Add the honey, oil, and salt and mix well. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat until it thickens while you stir constantly.

Cool to room temperature. Stir well. Store, covered, in the refrigerator. Wait at least two weeks, before eating, preferrably a month. Will keep for months.

Zucchini Noodles with Pesto

It seems that Easter brought out the sweet tooth in us, so I thought I'd post something savory to provide some balance. I made the noodles by following Elaine Gottschall's recipe from Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which were actually easier to make then I was expecting. I also wanted to note that nether of my kids liked this dish at first, but after serving it several times, now they both love it. It is a good reminder that adapting to a special diet can be a process and not to give up on something too quickly.


To make the noodles, you will need 1-2 medium sized zucchini per person. Wash them, trim them and remove the outer peel. Then, to make the noodles, stick a skewer through the center of the zucchini to hold it and shave off slices from top to bottom while turning it.

There are several ways to cook these noodles. Elaine Gottschall says to pile them onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 215 degrees. This has worked well for us, but I do recommend mixing them around at least once during this time. Other people have reported success with sauteing them or boiling them.

PESTO

Ingredients:

4 oz basil leaves
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp salt
2 (or more) cloves of garlic
honey to taste (optional)

Combine in food processor and blend. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. This pesto is somewhat thin, which we don't mind, but you could thicken it with nut butter, coconut, or white beans (if you are at that point in the diet). I have found that cashews work well in place of pine nuts. As for oil, olive oil is traditional, but can be bitter, and there is no cheese to offset the taste. We used macadamia oil with great results.