Pumpkin Oatmeal Smoothie

I N G R E D I E N T S 

1/4 cup dry rolled oats 

1 cup of oat milk 

1/2 cup pumpkin puree 

1 frozen banana 

3 to 5 pitted dates, or to taste 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 

pinch of nutmeg 

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds

2 scoops Vital Protein (if they have the pumpkin spice flavor, use that otherwise vanilla is okay)

1/2 cup of ice cubes

I N S T R U C T I O N S 

1. Place the rolled oats in a high powered blender and pulse once or twice to grind the oats to a coarse powder. 

2. Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed, and pulse until smooth. 

3. Add more milk to thin, if desired.

4. If you have a child, add some whipped cream and chocolate to the top!

Nutrition:

This makes two servings!

Each Serving contains:

370 calories

9 grams of fat

4.2 grams are saturated fat

4.8 grams are unsaturated fat

60 grams of carbohydrates

10.5 grams of fiber

18 grams of protein

Halibut - Mediterranean Style

Halibut - 

1 pound of halibut - cut into 2 inch pieces

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Lemon Juice

Toasted Whole Wheat bread crumbs

 

Preparation:

Cut the halibut into even 2 inch slices and place into an oven safe dish

Sprinkle on Kosher salt over the Halibut to taste - pepper if you like

Coat with Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Cover with whole wheat bread crumbs

 

Bake 450 degrees in an oven for 15 minutes

 

Making bread crumbs is easy:

 

Take two slices of whole wheat bread and tear into small pieces

spray on olive oil or coat

add your favorite Italian seasoning (I used Herbs de Provence)

Bake 400 degrees for ten minutes - don't let them burn!

Then you can crush them over the halibut

Overnight Oats

 Overnight oats are my go-to for at least three days a week. They are easy to make ahead of time, and are portable.  My recipe is oddly easy:

Ingredients:

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup of oat milk

1/2 cup of Whole Milk Greek Yogurt

2 tablespoons of Chia Seeds

Mix the ingredients up. Then place them into a cute little Mason Jar.

That is the basics. But you can add so much more than that.

I leave the basic overnight oats in the refrigerator for two hours or overnight. They are good for about 4 days.

But typically in the morning I add two teaspoons of peanut butter, and some fruit like fresh blueberries, strawberries or a banana. 

Mediterranean Diet Points:

1/5th for whole grains

1/3 for fruit (if you add 3 oz of fruit and the chia seeds)

1/2 for legumes (peanut butter). 

Mediterranean Diet

It isn’t what you may think….

 

In science, we don’t look to confirm what we know; we want to find out something that we don’t know. We love it when science proves us wrong.

 

If your doctor told you that you have heart disease, or were pre-diabetic, or said you should eat healthier they likely will tell you to follow the Mediterranean diet.

In spite of all the noise on the internet about low carb/keto, vegan, or other diets/lifestyles you will find that the Mediterranean Diet is consistently ranked as the number one or two diet for health in the United States.  That is based on many studies showing how the diet leads to a decrease in heart disease, improved hypertension, better control of diabetes, less strokes, and lowering risk of dementia.

The Mediterranean diet is neither low carbohydrate (it is about 50% carbohydrate) nor low fat (it is about 30% fat). It is not high protein (it is about 20% protein). Obsessively counting those macronutrients is unimportant in this diet. Adherence to this diet is more dependent on consuming the quantity of the foods and completely ignores counting macros (proteins, carbs, fats, and alcohol).

In spite of the diet being neither low fat, or high fat, not high protein or low protein, not low-carb or all carb – the combination of food has the most consistent long-term results for a decrease in heart disease, strokes, cancer, and increase in longevity of any diet published. In addition it is the most anti-inflammatory of all diets.

If you examine modern literature, numerous studies show for those who have diabetes, or are insulin resistant, that this diet is superior to others. Those who claim low-carbohydrate diets are the best for diabetes are often stunned that the Mediterranean diet, rich in whole grains and fruits, which can produce transient spikes in blood glucose levels, leads to better long term results than avoiding whole grains and fruits.

 

But what is that diet? When I introduce the Mediterranean Diet to my patients I get a response like this:

“Sounds great!  Who doesn’t love red wine, olive oil, and fresh Italian tomatoes?”

This is followed by asking for a recommendation of a book of recipes from the Mediterranean.

It seems to invoke sitting on a rooftop restaurant in Positano sipping wine while munching on fruit and waiting for pasta. Yes, the food and wine are all on the diet.

The assumption that the Mediterranean Diet is just what people in the Mediterranean eat. And the origin of that diet is from what ‘some’ people in the Mediterranean ate, but that isn’t what we (doctors, scientists, registered dieticians) mean today.   

Over the last fifty years over 150 foods have been studied to see their effect on humans, for better or for ill. Those foods have been divided into broad groups: vegetables, fruit and nuts, legumes, fish, meats, whole grains, dairy, fats and oils, and alcohol.

 Each one of those categories is worth a point, so you have a chance to get nine points total. For some categories you get a point for eating a given quantity of food (more for some, less for others). We determine adherence to the diet based on how many points a day a person gets on average. The closer to nine points a person has on a daily basis, we say the more that they are adherent to the diet.  

Vegetables:

The target is 9-10 ounces a day of vegetables. 

We count the pre-cooked weight of vegetables. If you bake 9 ounces of broccoli it will weigh about 4 ounces when cooked, but you still get credit for the 9  ounces. 

A medium carrot is 4 ounces - so two carrots a day gets you almost to your goal!

There is a long list of vegetables and recipes in here to add them, but in case you want a refresher:

Asparagus, Beets, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Celery, Collard Greens, Cucumber

Eggplants, Peas, Leeks, Lettuce, Onions, Peppers, Shallots, Spinach, Squash, Zuchinni

and those are just a few of them. 

Don't think of vegetables as a side dish - think of how you can incorporate them. One of my favorite is to put in cabbage in fish tacos to give it a lot of crunch.

Add carrots, onions, peppers, celery to your tomato sauce for pasta. 

Add them to your chicken soup, or your dahl

Fruits and Nuts (not politicians):

Target is 8-9 ounces. A medium apple is 6 ounces. 

Fruits are portable, delicious, filled with fiber and a part of a great diet. 

The nuts in here are tree nuts (peanuts are a legume).

So how to get this in? Easy to have a handy fruit at lunch, some fruit in the morning, and even some for dessert.

While you know apples  - did you know there used to be over 14,000 variety of apples in the United States? Most common apples sold in most supermarkets are not that great, but I like Honey Crisp. My absolute favorite apple is the Knobby Russet - which is hard to find, unless you have someone with a tree.

Don't forget the berries: blueberries, blackberries, salmon berries, Huckle berries.

This also includes seeds - and I love putting chia seeds into my overnight oats. Seeds have a lot of magnesium.

Nuts have more calories, but with their mono-unsaturated fats and fiber they make a  healthy portable snack. I like walnuts, as they are a great source of vitamin D.

If you have diabetes and notice that fruits will spike your blood glucose level you should know that in long-term studies people with diabetes who ate whole grains and fruits had lower Hemoglobin A1C than others. Short term glucose spikes are not as important as a healthy diet.

Legumes:

The target is 2 ounces a day.

Think beans, lentils, and even okra. In culinary medicine a legume is any plant that seeds are lined up in a pod, but if you talk to a botonist they will tell you how okra is not of the legume family. We will count okra here.

Chickpeas are my favorite snack - bake them in the oven or an airfryer and you have a great snack. Peanuts, in contrast to tree nuts, are a legume. 

Legumes are a great source of protein and fiber and low in fat. Did you know that people who eat legumes as a primary source of protein in meals at least four times a week have 22% less heart attacks?

Lentils are great, and my Dahl for a great soup is a wonderful filling dish. 

Green beans, like haricot verts, are a great side dish - I like mine with a dijon mustard and olive oil sauce.

Even peanut butter - a good legume.

Vegetarians often find that legumes are a major source of protein.

Cereals and Grains:

The target is 9-10 ounces a day.

Whole grains are associated with a decrease risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Refined grains (white four, white rice) is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. 

Breakfast is a place where I get a lot of my whole grains - I love overnight oats (made with rolled oats). But on the days when I forget to make then there are some great whole grain cereals like bran flakes, cheerios, life cereal. 

Whole wheat bread is an easy way to change things.

Let us not forget about whole wheat pasta. It is finally available everywhere, and provides a filling meal and is worth some points. I didn't like the spirlized vegetable substitute for pasta, I like pasta. 

Fish:

Target is 2 ounces a day and two meals a week.

The Mediterranean diet is more fish than meat or poultry. The reason is fish are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, which are missing in many traditional diets. 

Give fish a chance. A few fish tips about buying fish: never buy fish that smells fishy.

Worried about mercury - check to see that most sustainable fish are low in mercury. Buy the light tuna (yellow) instead of albecore. Or buy from a place like Oregon's Choice, where their mercury levels are low. 

Heart disease and risk of heart disease is greatly reduced by eating at least two meals a week in fish. The oil capsules do not have the same advantage. 

Check out my fish recipes.

Olive Oil and other fats:

Olive oil is life! It was the first form of light, electricity, and used for cosmetics in the ancient world. Olive oil is still used by some for an aftershave!

These are high in monounsaturated fat, and other oils that are just as healthy include Canola, Grapeseed (which I use for a lot of cooking) Sesame oil, Tahini, Peanut butter, and Safflower oil. Be careful of avocado oil as it is recommended because of a high smoke point, but often is contaminated with other oils -- food fraud. Know your sources. 

Did you know the highest purest standards for extra virgin olive oil are in the United States. You can argue about your favorite olive oil, but the high standards are met when the US growers submit their oils for testing.

I buy California and Arizona olive oil. I hear Georgia has some good olive oil also.

Before you get too upset, my favorite olive oil in the world is from Liguria in Italy.

The goal is to have over 60 percent of the food you cook come from monounsaturated fats.

Dairy:

Target is less than 7 ounces per day.

This means you use cheese for its flavor - sprinkle some great parmesan cheese and you can taste it. 

Yogurt is great, you can make your own or be careful about what you buy.

Meats:

The target is less than 4 ounces a day.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but the latest studies confirm that a little meat is ok, but the more meat you have the greater the risk of heart disease. 

Protein sources from fish, vegetables, and legumes are important - meat is more of an extra bit on the side.

Alcohol:

Target: one serving for women, two for men. A serving is 5 ounces of wine, 1 ounce of hard liquids, or one beer.

Toxicity is in the dose. Too much is bad, too little is ineffective - but wine has some great polyphenols in it and associated with a lot of health benefits. But too much is never a good thing. 

Paella

 

The dish Paella is one of the most delicious combinations of flavors I have ever enjoyed. So much so that I have gone a bit crazy making different versions of it  - but here is the one that I teach my patients to make. 

You can make several versions of Paella: 

Poultry

Seafood

Plant Based

So depending on your flavors or choices, this is an amazing dish that you will enjoy again and again.

--------------------

Rice 

This is the basic ingredient of the dish and the way that it is made one has to use rice that is not standard rice you would find. My favorite kind of rice for this is from Spain called Bomba Rice. You can purchase this at some stores, but I ordered mine from Amazon. You can also use Risotto or from my state of California, Calrose rice.  Do not use long-grained rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Rice (Bomba, Calrose, or Risotto)

1 yellow or white onion diced small

2 10 oz cans of diced tomato

2 garlic cloves - sliced not minced

one bell pepper (I like red for the color)

Saffron (just a pinch) - and if you cannot find that Turmeric 1 Tablespoon

Vegetable or Chicken stock or water. For Bomba rice use 2.5 cups of liquid, for Arborio or Risotto use two cups.

1  can 13.75 oz  of Artichoke hearts

1 15 oz can of Lima Beans or Butter Beans

6 ounces of Green Beans. Remove the ends, and cut in half

1 Tablespoon of Paprika 

1 bag of frozen peas

Kosher or Sea Salt

Pepper

For shrimp - you want 10 ounces of deveined shrimp

For chicken - you want chicken thighs - average one per person

Heat stock in a separate stock pot. Once warm take a ladle full of the stock and put into a bowel. Then take the pinch of saffron and add it to the bowel.

Heat a skillet - over medium high heat and place in two tablespoons of olive oil.

Chicken recipe:

If you are using chicken then pat dry the chicken thighs with paper towels and cut them into about one inch pieces. Then  and season  with kosher salt and pepper. 

Once the olive oil has a glaze pace the chicken thighs into the pan and cook Add the seasoned chicken. Cook 6 to 8 until browned and cooked through.  

Move the chicken thighs to the outside of the pan and now we add the vegetables.

Cooking the Vegetables.

First add your green beans. Gently stir until they become a brilliant green. 

Add your beans (lima or butter beans) and gently stir.

Add your artichoke hearts. I prefer canned because the work is done for me, but you can buy fresh and cut them and quarter them.

Once the vegetables are heated through and soft it is time to add the Sofrito.

Move the vegetables to the side of the pan and make the sofrito in the middle.

Sofrito:

Sofrito is the onions, tomato, garlic, bell pepper and olive oil. This is the basis of all forms of Paella. You can start with this, or put this in the middle. You can make Sofrito ahead of time and keep it stored. Sofrito is magic. 

• 1 yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, seeded, and sliced - I like red, but whatever color you like 
• Now you have two choices:
• 3 medium tomatoes or
• 2 10 ounce cans of diced tomatoes (like RoTel with chilis)
• 
  
• (1) Heat olive oil on a medium heat in your skillet or paella pan - if you cooked chicken thighs or rabbit meat in the pan, leave the frond in the pan.
• (2)  Add the diced onion and turn the heat to medium-low allowing the onion to become translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Stir rarely. It is ok if they get brown, but that is a bit too hot.
• (3)  Add the sliced bell pepper into the pan and cook until it softents.
• (4)  Now add the sliced garlic - but stir for 30 seconds to a minute. The heat should release the smell of the garlic not cook the garlic
• (4) Add your tomato. If using whole tomatoes - cut them in half. Then grate them over the skillet and toss the skin. If using diced tomatoes dump them in. 
• (5) Stir the mix until it is gently combined.

In some recipes I have seen them take the onion and grate it instead of mincing it. This is fine, but it will take much less time to make the sofrito.

Adding the Rice and Spices:

Add your rice on top of the Sofrito and mix them together until the rice and sofrito are mixed.

Add your cup of water with Saffron and mix with the rice

Add Paprika and if you wish add Turmeric

You should have a sticky mix of rice with sofrito and spices

Once they have mixed together it is time to add either the water or the stock

Add your water or stock and mix all the ingredients of the pan together so there is a uniform distribution of ingredients. Once you have finished this  you won't stir again. Now it is heat and time.

Increase the heat and allow to come to a boil for six minutes.

Decrease heat to low and allow to sit until the rice has soaked up all the liquid

If you are adding seafood - add when the liquid is almost soaked up. Nestle the shrimp into the mix.

Now add frozen peas right on top of the mix! Makes it look beautiful

Once rice has soaked up increase the heat to high for two minutes - BY THE CLOCK During this time the rice should be caramelizing on the bottom of the pan or creating what is called the socarrat. It will make a faint crackling sound and smell toasty sweet but not burnt.

If it starts to smell like it burns, turn off the heat.

Put the dish on the table and don't let anyone start to eat it for five minutes. I sit it on the table, then put out the wine and pour it and then the plates.

I serve with lemon wedges. I don't put the lemon into the paella - the citrus is best served fresh when you have plated the paella.

Socarrat is the best - and when I am romantic I don't call my wife "honey" I call her, "My Socarrat" 

A few points:

This is not a dish of perfection, like a pastry, this is a dish of love. This was the food that was originally gathered from the area to feed the people. They had huge paella pans and they made this over a wood burning fire.

We have a large family - between in-laws and us there are 6 or 7 of us living under one roof at anytime. So the large paella pan gets plenty of use.

You can buy a paella pan or use a deep skillet. Just a couple of you -use a skillet

You can also buy a propane unit to cook the paella pan over - its ok, we all have things we like.

You can camp and take your skillet with you and make this dish over an open fire.

I am looking for an induction top that is 14 inches - then I will be really happy. 

The Mighty Meatball: Bringing Back Flavor

Do you want a flavorful meatball? Something that will wow your guests? Then think of adding cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and garlic.  Think that is new? It isn't - in fact it is returning to the origins of the "Swedish" meatball.

Todays Meatball is a bit Boring

When I went away to the states for college, the meatballs in the continental US were boring. Many are just combinations of beef and pork, and often the meat is overcooked leaving the meatball dry, although that is often hidden in the sauce (tomato sauce if you are making spaghetti, or a gravy sauce for others). One recipe had frozen meatballs from the grocery store placed into a crock pot with a vat of grape jelly (it wasn't bad, it was ghastly).

Most meatballs are like having only the meat from a burger without the crunch and sour of the pickle, the sweetness of the tomato, and that touch of bitter from the onion. I  didn't understand why my grandmother's and mom's meatballs were so delicious and these were so dull.  Over time I had received recipes from different people who made meatballs and they were all versions of the same until history showed me the ingredients I was missing.

In Search of The Mighty Meatball

While there may have been other reasons to visit Turkey, Norway, Italy, and Sweden - there was always project meatball. Finding a meatball that tasted like my mom's. I can't ask mom about this, her dementia won't let me crack that code, so I had to travel the world to find the secret to unlock the flavors in her meatballs.

The Swedish Meatball's Origins in Turkey

If you go to Stockholm consider taking a "food tour." Not only will you learn about the history and culture of the country, but you will eat well.  Then, if looking for recommendations they know the city and its food like no other. In this case, I wanted a meatball.  The traditional meatball as served in Stockholm.

My wife, who says she doesn't like meatballs really like these. How much?

This much

But when talking to the food historians in Sweden, the meatball did not originate in Sweden. The meatball was brought to Sweden by King Charles XII in 1714.  He was forced into exile in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) after losing a war to Russia in 1709.  For five years he was a guest of the sultan, and besides trying to get the Ottoman Empire to go to war against Russia, he enjoyed the Ottoman cuisine. After five years the sultan became tired of Charles scheming and tossed Charles out of Turkey. Charles returned to Sweden with two cuisine items: the meatball and coffee.

Besides loving war, King Charles XII loved food. From his exile in Turkey he brought back to Sweden two important products: coffee, and the meatball. 

The Meatball in the Ottoman Empire

Istanbul is the the western world's second cosmopolitan city. This was the last city of the Roman empire, until the Sultans conquered it in 1453 which began the Ottoman Empire. But today I was walking in The Spice Market. This market has been in business since 1664.  You can imagine when Charles XII came here and his nose was filled with aromas that came from around the world. Aromas he never smelled before. Food he had never eaten before.  When I was there the smell of the spices were so abundant and so fresh that my nose is overjoyed.  Just outside the spice market, as everywhere, are people who will sell you lamb that is cooked simply over fire and to that lamb is added lemon zest, salt, zaatar, as well as nutmeg.

There was something comforting about the smell in the spice market, I didn't realize that my brain was remembering food aromas from home.

Putting ground meat with spices isn't an original idea. In Roman times the cookbook author Apicius (25BC - 37AD) describes meats from chicken to fish being ground with spices added.  Almost every culture has a variation of a meatball (ground meats roasted with some spices).

For the Ottoman empire, the meats they used  were lamb and poultry.  No pork (they were Muslim and pork was forbidden). The flavor came from the variety of spices that were available to the Ottomans.  The Ottomans, it turned out, had all of the known spices of the Western World. The spices from Asia and Indochina were traded to Europe through the Silk Road that began in modern day Xiian and ended in Istanbul.

Isn't ironic, I am looking for a meatball made from lamb, and the best lamb I had was at the start of the Silk Road.  Simply cooked, much like in Istanbul, over some flames with some great spices.

The Silk Road started in modern day Xian and ended in Constantinople. These were spices they would use daily and likely ones Charles XII had never tasted before. Spices also made the Ottomans  wealthy: turmeric, pepper, nutmeg,  cardamom, cinnamon, as well as herbs such as ginger.  The addition of these spices to the meatball made the cuisine delicious.

The Swedish Version

Until the mid 1800's meatballs were mostly consumed by the wealthy in Sweden.  Charles didn't have meatballs as a meal but  would eat them as a snack with coffee (coffee being the other Turkish product he introduced to Sweden).  Meatballs were first mentioned in Cajsa Warg's 1754 Swedish cookbook. She described meatballs as chopped meat (calf, sheep, or ox) with grated bread and eggs.   The seasonings were pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Nutmeg, for a time, was worth more per weight than gold.  

By the 1850 the meatball became common food for the Swedes. Much like fashion trends are set by the famous today, the meatball was the fashionable food and became a beloved dish of Sweden.

The Meatball Coming to America

When the economy collapsed in Sweden, many migrated to the United States. Over 1.5 million Swedes immigrated to America in the mid 1800's bringing their love of meatballs.  It is in America that the first pork was introduced into the meatball.  Pork was the primary protein of early America, and while Swedes had cultivated pigs since the stone ages, pigs were often too valuable to be used for daily fair.  There is no record of pork being used in a meatball before the Swedes came to the United States. 

What the immigrants didn't have were many spices.  In the 1850's there were  few spices available in America. To season meat there was salt, and to flavor was pepper, and probably Allspice. Ironic that America was discovered in an effort to find a new route to get spices (trying to break the Ottoman's hold on the spice trade). The only spice native to North America is Allspice (first noted by Christopher Columbus on Jamaica). Allspice is from the dried berry of an evergreen tree but I'd describe its flavor as a mix of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

Italian Meatballs

When Italians migrated to the United States they would often write home about how inexpensive meat was. Their relatives would write back in disbelief, because in traditional Mediterranean cuisine there is little meat, unless you are wealthy. In Italy people would spend up to 75% of their income on food, and in the US their relatives would spend only 20% or less, and have meat. 

Going to Rome you want  the flavors of Italy. But Italy has been influenced so by the many cultures that have brought ingredients. All roads lead to Rome, and from Rome comes our first cookbook, restaurants, traditions.  Rome took these and made them their own.  Tomatoes came from the new world, and yet are such a part of Italian cooking. But one thing you won't find is a dish called "spaghetti and meatballs." In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a meatball in Rome. 

Italian-American meatballs are primarily beef and pork, with only garlic, salt,  and pepper to add flavors.

Norwegian Meatballs

Norway is one of the friendliest countries on the planet. Going to the little town of Otness to have great food from my relatives meant I had a chance to try meatballs.  I admit to getting lost in the cold poached salmon, the Norwegian variety of goat cheese, and cucumber salad. But I did find some meatballs and tried them. They were ok, but they were not what my mom had fed us.

Back in America, go to any Son's of Norway Lodge and during holidays they will have a smorgasbord with meatballs.  But now I was curious, did mom have the secret of meatballs from their recipe books? Somehow Amazon had a copy of the recipe book   put out by the  Midnatsol Lodge in Ketchikan (1969). I won't tell you what I paid for this, but suffice to say I would have paid double.  When it arrived I opened to find the meatball section and their meatballs have Allspice in them. I made the recipe, it was better than most, a hint of flavor that made the bland meatball palatable, but still not "wow."

Then I asked my aunt, who had my grandmother's cookbook.  The recipe my grandmother used came from a Son's of Norway cookbook from Minnesota that was printed in 1940 and it had ginger, nutmeg (from the old country) and allspice. This was the recipe I remember as a child.

Coming Home Through Food

They say you travel the world to find paradise in your backyard. In this case I had gone to four countries in Europe to find the meats and spices used to make the meatball that was in my grandmother's cookbook.

But we have to add a twist - we have more of the spices available, so here is my version of the meatball. Made, tested, and even wife approved.

The Ottoman-Swedish-Norwegian Meatball Revisited

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees

The Meats:

1/2 lb ground lamb
1/3 lb ground pork
1/3 lb ground veal (or you could use hamburger)

The Spices:

It is always best to get the whole spice and grind it rather than getting pre-ground spices. They are far more aromatic. But if you don't use spices that often (yet) pre-ground will provide you with more flavor than you have experienced in your cooking.

1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp of ground Allspice
1 tsp of ground cardamon
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp Kosher (Diamond) salt

The Herbs:

2 inches of ginger - minced
Parsley leaves - chopped to make 2 Tablespoons (about a handful of leaves)

More Added Flavors

The zest from one lemon
1/2 medium red (purple) onion - minced
3 cloves of garlic - minced

The  Peaky Binders

1/2 cup of dry bread crumbs (best to make these. Tear a loaf of sourdough bread and place on a sheet pan in an oven at 325 F for 20 minutes). Once they are done then grind some in a food processor and keep the rest sealed in a ziplock bag.

1 large egg -- beat it, just beat it. It doesn't matter who is wrong or right
1/2 cup of water

Cardamon comes in a pod. The easiest way to extract it is with a rolling pin. Just roll over the pods then take out the seeds. 

Once you have enough seeds for a teaspoon then put them in a nonstick pan, no oil or grease, and roast for about a minute. Then place them into a mortar and pestle to grind. Or you could use a spice grinder. If you use other whole spices- roast them first, like the nutmeg or Allspice, or cinnamon stick - then grind them 

Spice grinders (like coffee grinders) are ok, but a mortar and pestle (especially the smooth kind) grind the spices quite well.

Lemon Zest is a classic Mediterranean addition to foods. In Morocco they make their meatballs with lots of lemon zest, and abundant spices

While the original meat was lamb, and it is still the tastiest meat, the combination of meats provides some unique flavors when blended.

The flavors of the meatball come from the spices that you add. Fresh spices are always best. Every year on my birthday I change out the spices in my spice rack. 

Toss all the ingredients into a medium-large bowl and mix together. Add 1/2 cup of water. Then make meatballs, all about the same size (shooter-marble or larger).

Add two tablespoons of olive oil to a nonstick skillet and heat over medium high. Once hot add the meatballs. Since you don't wish to have too many meatballs in a pan, I often will have the oven on about 200-300 degrees and once I am done with one batch of meatballs, I put them into the oven to keep warm. Leave the brown bits (the fond) we will use this to make the gravy

Meatball Gravy

1 stick unsalted butter

2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

16 oz of Chicken stock

The juice from the lemon you zested above

1/4 cup of heavy cream

2 Tbs of Dijon Mustard

1 shallot - minced

To the pan that roasted the meatballs at 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place on medium heat until it is hot. 

Add the dices shallot and stir until you can smell the shallot and it is translucent.

Add the chicken stock and the lemon and use a spatula to scrape up the frond and mix it in

Leave on a medium-low heat until the stock is reduced by half. Add the heavy cream and Dijon mustard and the remainder of the butter.  Add the meatballs and let them sit in this for two minutes.

Pork Vindaloo from Simon Majumdar

Recipe from our good friend Simon Majumdar - made by Chef JJ with his Sous Chef Terry

Add caption

Here are all of your ingredients

Two Pounds of Pork Shoulder

Whole Spices of Cardamom, Cinnamon Sticks, and Cloves

Ground Spices: Ginger, Turmeric, Ground Cumin, Chili Powder, and Ground Coriander Seeds

Serrano Chili's, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 inches of fresh ginger

Coconut Milk, Sugar, White Vinegar, Kosher Salt, One white onion

Cut the Pork into 2 inch pieces

Add your 1/2 cup of vinegar. Traditionally palm vinegar was used, on the ships the vinegar came from the pork being shipped in wine, and the wine turned.  Distilled vinegar will work, as will any wine (white or red) vinegar.  But for today, we just used plain white vinegar. 

Next take the ginger and slice it. 

Pretty easy that even JJ can do it. Of course, I can always sew up a cut if I have to. 

 JJ also smashed up and cut the garlic and now JJ is putting them all into his food scraper

In go the garlic and ginger to a small food processor 

To help the ginger and garlic into a paste JJ is adding a sprinkle of kosher salt and about 2 tablespoons of water. These add a bit of friction to help break up the ginger.

We cut up some serrano peppers. We like it hot, so we left in the seeds and pulp. Most would prefer to take those out carefully.  These are added to the paste we made of the garlic and the ginger.

This paste is added to the pork shoulder that has been sitting in the vinegar

The whole spices, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves are added with some salt and sugar to a nonstick pan on medium heat.  JJ is wafting the air and as soon as the ingredients are fragrant he takes them off the heat. 

Once the spices are fragrant, they are taken off the stove. Placed into a spice grinder (in this case a coffee grinder) and ground.  The aroma from this is amazing. You will have to break up the cinnamon stick to get it to fit into the grinder.  Since Uncle Simon is allergic to coffee we have a special spice grinder just for him.  

These ground up spices are added to our marinade for the pork. JJ is taking the last bits of them out using a brush (in this case a silicon one)

Remember all those dry spices, we put them out on a plate and JJ is adding them to the mix: 1 teaspoon each of Turmeric, Ground Cumin Seeds, Ground Coriander Seeds, Ground Ginger, and Chili Powder. 

Now JJ is mixing them all together. This is like second nature for any 7 year old. He is massaging all those ingredients and the pork together. Spices, vinegar, and pork. Once everything is coated, we are done - unless you like playing in the mud. But this is better than any mud castle. 

Covered with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator for two hours. It can go longer if you wish, but two hours allows better penetration of the meat with vinegar. Or as JJ would say, "The vinegar serves to denature the proteins on the surface of the pork."

The white onion is diced and placed into a Dutch oven that has some oil that has been heating over a medium heat. 

We don't want the onions to burn, but to speed up the process a bit of kosher salt and some sugar are added. JJ says, "The sugar helps the Maillard reaction of the onions, quickly combining with the proteins on the surface. The salt, just gets some of the surface water out of the way for the reaction to speed up."

 The pork and all the marinade are taken out of the refrigerator, and as soon as the onions have started to turn brown the pork is added to the pot.  JJ is keeping his head away from the inevitable rise of steam. JJ says, "Safety first in the kitchen." 

Now add the coconut milk and keep this on a low heat for three hours. Use real coconut milk, not coconut water.  Often you can find this in a can, or a milk container in the dairy section. "The coconut milk will calm the heat from the chilis, forming a covalent bond between the capsaicin and the proteins in the coconut milk away from the pork surface." -Chef JJ

Three hours on the lowest heat possible.  Put over some rice and you can see how the chef likes it.

Pork Shoulder 2 pounds
Onion - white, 1 whole - will be diced

Vinegar 1/2 cup  - any white would do, distilled, palm, or white wine
Ginger 2 inches
Serrano chili's 4
Garlic 4 cloves
Coconut milk 2 cups (the real thing not the water)


Whole Spices

Cardium 5 cloves
Cinnamon 2 sticks
Cloves 5 whole cloves

Ground Spices

Turmeric 1 teaspoon
Ground Cumin Seeds 1 teaspoon
Coriander Seeds ground 1 teaspoon
Ginger, ground 1 teaspoon
Chili powder 1 teaspoon
Kosher Salt 1 teaspoon
Ground Sugar 1 teaspoon


Cut the pork into 2 inch pieces

Cover the pork in the vinegar

Dice the ginger and smash the garlic.  Remove the seeds and pith from the chilis.  Blend together in a food processor after adding a teaspoon of Kosher salt and a tablespoon of water.  Once blended add to the mixture.

Heat a nonstick pan.  Add the whole spices - you can add a teaspoon of sugar and salt to it.  Once it becomes fragrant remove and grind in a spice or coffee grinder.  If you don't have whole spices it is ok to use ground spices and just add them.

Put the ground whole spices and the ground spices into the pork and vinegar.

Massage the mix into the meat.

Cover with plastic and put into the refrigerator for two hours.

---------- Once Two Hours are Finished

Head a dutch oven and add oil (canola, grapeseed, or olive) - 2 tablespoons. Once shimmering add a diced onion.

Pinch of kosher salt and sugar on the onions and stir.  Once the onions are brown add the Pork and all the vinegar.  Careful - it will steam some vinegar.

Add 2 cups of coconut milk.

Close the lid and simmer for 15 minutes.

After fifteen minutes remove the lid and cook for another 3 hours.

Serve over rice.