Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce

Snow on the ground means time for delicious beef in pomegranate sauce.

Have I got a slow cooker recipe to soothe winter weary spirits. Why? The mesa is clouded in white this morning- again. We woke to a fresh dusting of snow. I'm posting on a laptop in bed, snug beneath a Pendleton blanket, hoping Steve lights a fire in the kiva soon.

Although consensus is that New Mexico is drop dead gorgeous in the snow, I am so not a winter person. By mid January I am bored with fussing with boots and itchy sweaters and jackets. The tedious layering. (I never choose the right winter coat, so I gave up- I haven't owned one in two years- and besides, who knew you needed a winter coat in New Mexico?) And then there is the loopy ritual of locating gloves that migrate to the oddest hiding places- inside boots or under folded pillow cases. If it isn't obvious to you, Perceptive Reader, I am more than ready for spring. Until she arrives, I remain a big fan of winter comfort food.

Last night I tossed together an intuitive combination of pomegranate juice and balsamic vinegar sweetened with pure maple syrup. Odd, you think? Just taste this.

And by the way, my recipe is featured in the fab new cookbook:  Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking

Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce Recipe

You can slow cook this in a slow cooker like we did or slow simmer it, covered, on the stove top. It's an easy sauce- no fuss. And huge on flavor. Big, bold lip-smacking flavor. I could regale you with factoids about how good pomegranate juice is for you- with all those nifty antioxidants and all- but you know what? It's just tastes so crazy good. Try it.

1 1/2 to 2 pounds grass fed beef or buffalo roast or steak, fat trimmed if necessary
Sea salt
Light olive oil, as needed
1 onion, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 14-oz can Muir Glen fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar- omit for yeast-free
1/8 cup pure maple syrup- or use agave to keep it lower glycemic
1/2 cup fresh cranberries or golden raisins
1 teaspoon dried French herb mix or Bouquet Garni
A small pinch of cinnamon

I slow-cooked my recipe in a slow cooker because that's what works for me here at high altitude. You can follow suit and Crock Pot your little heart out. Or do it old-school style, in a heavy Dutch oven or soup pot.

Salt the beef on all sides. Wait a few minutes. Kiss the cook. Get your slow cooker situated and turned on to High.

Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef on all sides to sear in the flavor, using long tongs to turn the pieces. This doesn't take but maybe five minutes, or so. Remove the beef and set aside.

Add a small dash of olive oil to the crock. Add in sliced onion and garlic. Stir to coat with the olive oil. Place the beef on top.

Pour in the pomegranate juice, crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Stir to combine. Add the cranberries or raisins, dried herbs, a pinch of cinnamon, sea salt and ground pepper.

Stir a little bit to co-mingle ingredients.

Cover and let the magic happen- about 4 to 5 hours.

Taste test the sauce for seasoning adjustments. My intuitive combo was the perfect balance of tart and savory with a hint of sweetness.

We served ours with a generous mound of whipped mashed potatoes. Heaven. Seriously.

Serves 4.

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Gluten-Free Banana Cookies

Gluten-free and vegan banana cookie recipe.

Two firsts today. I made my first batch (ever!) of banana cookies (and the recipe just so happens to be gluten-free and dairy-free). And I took my first post-fracture outside walk today, bundled up against a chilly wind, walking stick in hand, patient husband at my side.

I use the word patient for a reason. Because Babycakes, walking with me is painted turtle in the shade slow. Careful. Deliberate. No funny business. No waggling or showing off. It ain't necessarily pretty.

But it's vertical.

It's biped (if you don't count the requisite walking stick as an appendage). And these days- in this house- vertical rocks our world. When we circled back to the casita the kitchen smelled like bananas and vanilla. I unwrapped my purple scarf, peeled off my mittens and turned the kettle on. It was time for tea and cookies.

And I had worked up an appetite.

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Vegetarian Polenta Pie

Layered polenta, veggies and vegan cheese.

An easier savory vegetarian pie than this you won't find. It's a simple fresh recipe that rocks. I made it to celebrate.

We just got back from my three-month post-op check-up. The hip looks good. "I gained ten pounds," I said to my hunky surgeon, Brant, as he was lifting my left leg in the air and poking me in the pelvis.

"So what?" he snorted and turned to Steve. "These tall skinny chicks. Ten pounds."

"I thought you'd be proud of me," I countered. "You know- that whole, You fit the broken hip profile thing you said to me? Female. White. Skinny. Vegetarian. (Celiac!)"

"Yeah, well. I gotta give you shit about something," he said.

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Golden Potato Soup for the Sensitive Soul

A lovely creamy potato soup- gluten and dairy free.

When I want a recipe for comfort food I reach for potatoes first. And when I need a soup recipe in a hurry, this creamy potato comfort always hits the spot.

Decades ago (yes, decades- how scary is that?) while I was still in art school, living in my boxy white washed one-bedroom off Dupont Circle, I would make potato soup in a blender (no crankin' Cuisinart or snappy immersion wands back then) and serve it chilled in Asian blue and white bowls (Pier One Imports, 99 cents apiece) with a sprinkle of bright green chives. Art student friends would scrape their bowls clean and ask for more. And I would gladly oblige. (They were easily impressed, because they were, well, not exactly starving, but used to living on instant ramen noodles, pizza and beer.)

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Weekend Picks

January weekends put me in the mood for two things. Cocoa with marshmallows and browsing cookbooks. Ideally, at the same time. In bed.

And since you can't join me, Dear Reader- as I spoon rapidly melting marshmallows from my hefty green-glazed cup, trying ever so carefully not to drip chocolate on an open cookbook as I slurp- I thought I might quickly browse some of my favorite on-line recipes and snag a list of seasonal inspiration for your weekend. Pure comfort food.

The cocoa part is up to you.

From Karina's Kitchen:

Roasted Green Chile Bake

Two Artists Chili
Buttermilk Flatbread
Roasted Vegetable Cheddar Quiche

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

From some of my favorite tasty blogs:

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries at Kalyn's Kitchen
Potato "Gatto" from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen
Black Bean Soup at Simply Recipes
Curried Chicken and Rice Soup from Gluten Free Gobsmacked
Salad with Fennel, Pears and Pine Nuts at Lucullian Delights

Gluten-Free Soup, Stew and Chili Recipes

Gluten-free soup is comfort in a bowl.

Gluten-Free Soup, Stew and Chili Recipes

Here is a collection of my favorite gluten-free soups, stews and chili recipes. Warm up body and soul with one of these hearty slurp-worthy bowls of  comfort. There's nothing like soup. And from a can doesn't count. Many of these favorites are made in a slow cooker for easy, year round cooking.

African Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

African Coconut Chick Pea Soup
Big Easy Soup with Beans and Andouille Sausage
Buffalo Sausage Stew
Butternut Chili

Carrot Soup
Celery Soup with Fennel with Ryeless Rye Croutons
Cream of Broccoli Soup with Coconut Milk
Curried Butternut Soup
Curried Carrot Soup with Pan Toasted Cornbread Croutons 

Detox Green Soup
Detox Soup: Mulligatawny
Favorite Gluten-Free Chili
Irish Potato Cabbage Soup- with sausage
Kicked Up Coconut Split Pea Soup

Mexican Pumpkin Soup with Black Beans + Lime
Mulligatawny Soup with Jasmine Rice
New Mexican Stew with Ground Turkey + Green Chiles
Potato Leek Soup
Potato Soup for the Sensitive Soul
Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup
Purple Cabbage + Sweet Potato Soup

Roasted Corn Chowder with Chicken
Roasted Tomato Soup
Roasted Vegetable Chowder
Rustic Mediterranean Chicken Soup for the Soul

Santa Fe Chicken Chili
Santa Fe Pumpkin Chowder
Sesame Noodles
Slow Cooked Green Chile Stew with Sweet Potato, Corn + Lime

Sneaky Tomato Soup
Spicy Vegetable Soup with Lime
Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger

Turkey Soup

Watermelon Gazpacho

See also: Slow Cooker + Crock Pot Recipes

Baked Cod with Roasted Sweet & Sour Vegetables

Yesterday, it snowed. Today the winter sky is clear and bright. The snow shadows are blue- almost purple. I was sorry to see the last of our Beef and Potatoes au Chocolat go. A chilly day like today is the perfect day for a slow cooked soup or stew. But alas. There's not a cup of soup in the house. Or any leftovers, for that matter. Last night we tossed together a simple dinner for two- cod fillets baked in olive oil and garlic, and topped with tangy roasted vegetables. Mermaid comfort food. 

It was gone faster than you could say Daryl Hannah.

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Beef and Potatoes au Chocolat

 Beef. In chocolate. That's right.

One of my favorite food-themed movies is Chocolat. All those sexy close-ups of thick and glossy ribbons of deep dark chocolate. The dustings of cinnamon you could almost taste. And the revelation of chile-spiked cocoa! It's enough to make any chocolate and spice lover swoon. So when I learned I was allergic to chicken, Dear Reader, you can bet one of my first laments was, No more mole! [I loved me some chicken mole.]

Flash forward.

Winter day. Steve is turning, smiling- devilish- in the late afternoon sun that slants through the square kitchen window, unwrapping (vegans please skip ahead now to when I acknowledge your goddess-given right for a substitute) a gorgeous ribeye steak from Whole Foods and ponders, aloud, Should we make some kind of stew tonight- something Sicilian, maybe? And suddenly- feverishly- I am possessed with the idea of mole- a lip smacking, foodgasm-inducing Mexican sauce, decadently rich and redolent with unsweetened chocolate and spices.

You know what happened next.

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Spicy Eggs Diablo on Polenta

Spicy eggs on polenta aka Huevos Diablo (or Diavolo)

I've been a tad busy behind the scenes here at Karina's Kitchen. A little cooking, yes. Now that I can stand for longer and longer periods of time and not topple over. And no, I haven't been drinking. Well, just a little red wine with dinner, of course.

No, I'm afraid it's not an intoxication issue at all, it's the whole getting-used-to being vertical thing. It's a wee bit strange and vertigo inducing. It seems I have to re-orient my depth perception and excavate my bi-ped spatial navigation skills (which were never as we now know particularly well honed). I must relearn how to aim and propel this stiff and complaining body (spare parts included) semi-crutchless around my casita-bound world. For the first time in ages.

You think that's easy?

Actually, it's all good. Even the failed baking attempts are good. Like the vegan pear cobbler that wouldn't bake in the middle and got only gummier the longer I baked the damn thing (what is it with high altitude and egg-less baking?). Actually, I blame gluten-free and egg-less baking. It's no walk in the park. It looked pretty, but tasted god-awful. So I'm sparing you.

Instead I'm reprising an older recipe I once ate with gusto (and can no longer consume due to an egg allergy; but you can, I hope!).

I love you that much.

Make this tasty egg dish for brunch or breakfast for dinner on some rainy spring night.

Eggs Diablo on Polenta

Bake the eggs as you stir the polenta and your brunch- or dinner- will be done in no time. I used stone ground cornmeal for the polenta, so it took longer to cook than a pre-cooked "instant" version. The creamy corny texture was worth the effort. Make sure the cornmeal you use is gluten-free.

To make the polenta:

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Polenta
4 1/2 cups light broth
1 cup grated Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese (use vegan cheese to keep it dairy-free)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

For the Eggs Diablo:

2 cups spicy salsa
2 cups Muir Glen pasta sauce
1/2 cup chopped roasted green chiles- hot or mild, to taste
A good dash of balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
Red pepper chili flakes, to taste
A good dash of cumin or chipotle powder, if desired
Fresh chopped cilantro or parsley, to taste

8 large free-range organic eggs

To serve:

Queso fresco, goat or feta cheese, if desired

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring the broth to a high simmer and pour the cornmeal into the simmering broth in an even, steady stream, whisking as you go. Keep stirring. This take a while. Hand the whisking job over to a willing and able assistant as you prepare the eggs. [Promise them chocolate, if you have to.]

Combine the Diablo Sauce ingredients in a deepish baking pan- I used a 10x13-inch pan. Place the pan in the oven for ten minutes to heat the sauce. In the meantime, give your assistant a break on whisking the polenta, or busy yourself with selecting appropriate Huevos Diablo music. Cesaria Evora works.

When you are about half way through the polenta process (around the 10 to 15 minute mark) pull the pan from the oven and crack the eggs- one at a time, preferably- into the simmering sauce. Place the pan back into the hot oven.

The Diablo sauce will poach the eggs. When cooking only four eggs, I will cook the eggs and sauce in a deep skillet (covered) on the stove, instead; I chose to bake them on this occasion because I was poaching 8 eggs at once.

When the polenta has thickened and is pulling away from the sides of the pot a bit, add in the shredded cheese and season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Remove the pot from the heat.

Note: If all goes well, the eggs and polenta will be done at the same time. My polenta took a little longer than I anticipated, so my poached eggs turned out a little more solid than I like. I should have pulled the pan from the oven and kept the eggs on the stove top until the polenta was ready.

To serve:

Spoon a circle of polenta on each of four warmed serving plates. Spoon some Diablo Sauce over each mound of polenta. Top with two poached eggs. If there is any remaining sauce, spoon a little extra on each plate.

Top with fresh chopped cilantro if you like.

If you are not dairy-free, crumble a little queso fresco, goat, or feta, on each serving, if desired.

Serves 4.

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