The Strangest Juice Recipe Ever

While I'm a big fan of juicing (it very likely saved my life, but that's a topic for another post), I don't usually write about juicing recipes because, let's face it, it just isn't that complicated. If you follow the basics - make sure to get some chlorophyll,  add fruit as needed to make the vegetables palatable, peel any citrus besides lemons - that's really all you need to know.

That being said, I put together a recipe this morning that even I thought might, well...suck. I'd gotten the raw materials ready last night, while the wife was in town, running errands. This morning, she sat on the kitchen stairs, looking askance at me as I juiced:

• 1/2 pineapple, cored and skinned
• 1 organic beet, peeled
• 3 bell pepper tops, de-stemmed (these were left over from stuffed bell peppers the night before)
• 6 organic carrots
• several leaves of organic red lettuce
• 2 cloves organic garlic
• 1 medium small organic tomato
• 2" organic ginger
• 1 bunch organic parsley
• 1/2 bunch organic celery

 The wife cheered me on from her seat on the stairs ('You're going to juice ALL THAT?') ('You're putting in GARLIC???') ('Aren't you afraid of chlorophyll overdose?')

At any rate, she didn't try any, so you'll have to take my word for it: It didn't suck.

In fact, it rocked. Within 60 seconds of the first sip, it was like liquid energy pulsed through my veins - it was almost a high.

The moral of the story, I suppose, is that odd combinations can work well. Oh, and that I shouldn't be left unattended in the kitchen.

The Best Revenge Against Winter

With the onset of winter last week, I figured that it was a perfect time to fire up the grill (my way of shaking my fist at the gods of winter).

I had a houseful of kids, so I decided to make the most of it and grill in bulk. Twice. By all accounts, the results were outstanding, even though the lamb chops were done largely blindly, in the dark, in freezing cold wet wind.

So I thought I'd share the recipes from last weekend: Hot Wings and Herb-Encrusted Lamb Chops.






Hot Wings

Ingredients

Wings (I picked up a 10 lb bag of frozen wings at Sam's Club)
Hot Sauce (I prefer Louisiana Hot Sauce, but use whatever you like)
2 packets of Dry Ranch Dressing Mix
16 oz Sour Cream

Directions

It's key to this recipe to marinade the wings long enough to really absorb the hot sauce. I marinade them in plastic bags at least overnight in the fridge, and then set them out on the counter an hour before I put them on the grill.

When it comes to grilling, I'm a bit of a purist. I only cook over charcoal and wood, and I never use starter fluid to get the fire going. Instead, I use strips of newspaper, covered with sticks, covered by the charcoal. I actually have a (clean) garbage can full of sticks in the garage that I keep for this purpose. With as many mature trees as we have in the back yard, keeping the can full is no challenge. In fact...I bet I could sell the excess to the neighbors. Hmm...

But I digress.

Another key to this recipe is to mix some hickory chunks in with the charcoal. This is in contrast to the usual instructions of soaking the hickory, then adding it to the coals just before putting the meat on. In my experience, the soaking doesn't add much, if anything, and I get plenty of hickory flavor using them dry.

Once the grill is ready, put the wings on, and before covering, sprinkle one packet of the Dry Ranch mix on the wings.



The goal is to grill the wings at 350° over indirect heat. I put the coals to the right of the grill and the wings to the left. If you have a thermometer on the grill, you can adjust as you go along. If not...well, then just 'wing' it.

While the wings are cooking, go ahead and mix the other packet of Ranch dressing with the sour cream and store in the fridge to keep cold.

Since you're using indirect heat, you don't need to turn the wings during the cooking process; just let them cook (doesn't get any easier than that).

Once the wings look and feel done (again, about an hour), this is what you'll get:

Dip the hot wings in the cold Ranch dressing. Add a few cold beers, and you've got poultry paradise. If you've followed the recipe correctly, you should also get a lot of compliments, and possible surprise visits from the neighbors.

If you somehow really burned them, then add more beer. It won't do anything for the wings, but it might for your guests.


Herb-Encrusted Lamb Chops

Using fresh herbs really pops out the flavor of this recipe. I actually did this on Monday night for Clay, Lisa's prodigal son, who returned home from college for food. Uhm, I mean, to see his mother. It's a little more involved than the wings, but still pretty quick and easy.

Ingredients

4 lamb loin chops (These, too, I got at Sam's)
1/4 cup olive oil (Use good quality olive oil. I get mine from World Harvest on University)
About a tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped
About a tablespoon of fresh basil, chopped
About a tablespoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
2 cloves garlic (More if you love garlic. There's no such thing as too much)
The zest of 1 lemon
About a teaspoon of salt
About 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Combine everything except the lamb chops in a bowl. Use a garlic press to get the most of the garlic cloves. Once everything is mixed well, dip the chops into the mix and coat evenly. Put the chops in a shallow bowl and pour any remaining mix over them. They should something look like the photo below.

I'd let the chops marinate for about an hour in the fridge, flipping them once.

Get the grill going. Follow the suggestions in the wing recipe for prepping the grill (adding hickory chunks, etc.)

I find any type of red meat does well on high heat, directly over the coals, with a minimum of time on the grill. You really want to sear the flavor in. For these chops, I wouldn't go any longer than 5 minutes to a side. Actually, I slightly overcooked them at 5 minutes, but as I mentioned previously, it was night and it was cold, so I only stepped out the side door long enough to put them on / flip them / take them off. Ordinarily, I would have kept a closer watch.

At any rate, they still came out good - here's the final result:

These are great with or without steak sauce. Actually, I make my own sauce, as well, but that's a subject for another blog.

A dry red wine does well with these.

If you try either of these recipes and like what you get, let me know.

In the meantime...I'm hungry again.

Gotta go.

Three Days Raw

Yes, it's New Year's Eve. I'm at home tonight, and hadn't planned on going out anyway - just had a bad feeling about it - but I'm now sick, as well. Lisa has been sick, as has Maya, Brisa, and Clay, who spent the night here a couple of nights ago. Finally, whatever it is hit me overnight, and I've been hacking so hard that I'm certain my ribs are bruised. I had a coughing fit yesterday so bad that I cleared out the produce section of County Market. Everyone fled to the meat or wine areas to wait me out.

On the bright side, I did get my choice of the produce.

As Arlo Guthrie said in Alice's Restaurant, though, 'That's not what I came to tell you about…'

This is: Lisa got me a new juicer for Christmas. Not just any juicer, this is an Omega 8005. This bad boy is the Harley of juicers. Low-slung, clad in chrome, a single, heavy duty masticating gear that looks strong enough to be a wood chipper, a 1/3 horsepower engine and a 10 year warranty. You almost have to put on a black leather jacket with steel studs before you hit the ON switch.

So naturally, I've been doing a lot of juicing. And, as I was on vacation (and not on-call) this week, I thought I'd try to do raw foods for at least a full day. It couldn't be that hard, right?

As it turns out, it really wasn't that hard. In fact, I started on Wednesday, and only deviated today (Saturday), when, in the midst of my cold/flu, I simply couldn't make anything cold sound good, so I cooked up some egg drop soup. It was still pretty light weight, but definitely not raw.

That being said, I'm glad I went the three days raw, and I'll do it again (hopefully Monday) once I'm over this cold. In the meantime, I'd like to pass some things along I learned during the three days that I was Raw, in case anyone else wants to try it:

• Once you've gone a couple of days on 100% raw, organic foods, you'll find that you need a lot less food. It's a freaky feeling, especially for someone like myself, who is borderline hyperthyroid and has to eat nearly constantly, to suddenly realize that you've gone, say, 6 hours on 2 oranges, and you're just not hungry. When I'm in full carnivore mode, I have to call La Bamba a day ahead of time to let them know I'm coming, so that they can reorder in time from the wholesaler. If you try going raw, you may need to take up a hobby or two to fill your time.

• Along the same lines, you'll find that you need a lot less sleep. Again, that new hobby...

• If you're like me, the term 'Raw Food' means tons of salad, and little else. I typically do eat a lot of salad, but never once had salad during the three days. Now, I have a lot of raw food recipe books - those of you who know me know that I am almost constantly in the kitchen, coming up with new dishes, so I had an advantage in that regard.

• As a follow up to the point above, if, like me, you do a tremendous amount of cooking for other people, it helps to keep cooking (non-raw) food for those people. As long as they're content, they're less likely to point out that you're out of your mind, or in danger of overdosing on chlorophyll, becoming a bovine, etc. It's a win-win that way.

• There will be times that you have greater calm and clarity than you've had since you were a pre-adolescent kid. Enjoy it.

• Any vices you have will brought to your attention. For example, after even a single day raw, there comes a point in the afternoon when cigarettes start tasting nasty. You may look at the cigarette and say, 'Why am I doing this?' You'll have to fight that off.

• A big part of going raw is going liquid, as in juicing, and even water. I personally have found that I always start the coffee maker in the morning out of habit, but if I drink water with the juice of one lemon in it, once the coffee maker finishes, I really don't care so much anymore.

• If you have a craving for 'normal' food while you're trying to be raw, do the raw food first. Grab an apple, fire up the juicer, just have something raw. That usually takes care of the cravings.

• I have read that any emotional issues you've been stuffing down will arise during a raw food cleanse (or during an intense yoga session). I have to admit, I found that to be true. Just be aware of that ahead of time, and don't freak if it happens. Go with it, and find out what it has to tell you.

• This should go without saying, but if you're going to put the effort into going raw (for whatever time), stock up on organic produce ahead of time. If I have to spend more than a couple of minutes in front of the refrigerator trying to figure out what I can eat, the cat gets nervous. With good reason. He's still raw. If I'm hungry enough, I can rationalize that.

So, anyway, it's New Year's Eve, the traditional day of New Year's Resolutions. I've resolved to write again. And do another raw food cleanse, even if - overall - I'm likely to be an omnivore from time to time (just try to find a raw food restaurant in Italy). And to get back into yoga the way I was some years back. I was a lot healthier.

To anyone reading this on New Year's Eve, have a Happy New Year's! To anyone reading this on New Year's Day…try fresh, sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. They're really good for a hangover.

Namaste,

Dan