No Red Food Dye Red Velvet Cupcakes

 

I have always admired red velvet cakes.  They make a stunning presentation.  But other than a huge flop I attempted as a kid with my lovely girlfriend, Karalea, I just couldn't bring myself to add a full bottle of die to a cake to get the color.  It just seems sinfully unnatural!  So I did a little research and discovered that modern cooks are just being lazy by adding the food dye and it has become an acceptable standard.  True red-velvet cake was invented when a chef discovered this beautiful red reaction occurs when acidic foods are combined with beets.

 

Yes, beets! That funny looking purple root that tastes exactly like mud.  I loved the idea of using beets as the base for cake.  Beets are rich in iron and folic acid, which are two nutrients in which most women are deficient, especially pregnant and breastfeeding women.  I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding for 3 1/2 years now, so I am all about adding beets to my diet!  Regardless of the obvious nutritional benefits, I was a bit dubious about how a beet would taste in a cake.  I had to find out.

 

 

 

I cannot claim this recipe as my own.  I found it on Sophistimom's blog.  It seems she shares my concerns with the unnaturalness of modern red velvet cakes and did some experimenting in her kitchen until she came up with the perfect recipe.  Click the link below to get the recipe. 

 

http://www.sophistimom.com/all-natural-red-velvet-cupcakes/

In her recipe you will see that she made the cake in her blender.  I just couldn't bring myself to do that, it just seemed so naughty to make a cake in that manner.  So like a good girl, I creamed my sugar and butter, added the eggs, beets, vinegar and lemon juice, then added my dry ingredients.  I ended up doubling the cocoa and used an extra tablespoon of lemon juice because the batter still looked a bit purple.  These additions helped, but when I put the cupcakes in the oven they were still just slightly purple hued.  But, when they came out of the oven, they looked like the image above.  This photo is untouched, that is REALLY how red they were!  Stunning! I frosted them with a German buttercream cream cheese frosting with crushed up candy canes in the frosting, and then topped them with crushed candy cane. 

I am pleased to report that these cupcakes might have possibly tasted better than they look.   The cupcakes taste just earthy enough that you know you are eating something unique, but not enough that you feel like you are eating a dirty root vegetable.  The frosting was a perfect compliment adding a peppermint kick that reminds you what time of year it is, and plays off the cocoa in the cake very nicely.  This makes a very dense cake, which would be a perfect texture for a layer cake, but I would recommend doubling the recipe if you are headed in that direction. 

Truly Homemade Marinara

Making marinara from scratch is seriously so easy and having it on hand opens up dozens of healthy meal options.  I don't understand why everyone doesn't do it!  I am amazed at how many recipes for "homemade" marinara have canned tomatoes and tomato paste listed in the ingredients.  Why not just open up a jar of Prego, add some of your own spices, and call it "homemade"?  Same thing. Ditch the cans and make up a big batch of this recipe, refrigerate what's left, and incorporate into quick, healthy meals all week.

Sadly, but truly, there are people out there who will actually argue that what you get from a can is just as good as fresh. So before I go any further, I want to address this argument.  First of all, most canned tomatoes are peeled using a chemical process.  This is something they usually don't address on the label so unless it specifically reads "steam peeled", it has probably been chemically peeled.  Secondly, they usually contain artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, etc, and obviously we don't need any of this in our systems. Thirdly, when you select your own tomatoes individually you get to choose the best out of the bunch.  Who knows what those tomatoes looked like before they went into your can?  I am not completely against canned food, but when fresh food is so readily available to us why would we use a can instead?  Leave your cans for your food storage, and go buy some fresh tomatoes, or pick them from your garden if you are so lucky. 

This recipe is simply using a few ingredients to enhance the wonderful flavor of tomatoes instead of masking the flavor under a bunch of other ingredients.  Therefore, selecting a high quality flavorful tomato is critical to the deliciousness of your marinara.  I have used every different type of tomato you can think of for this recipe and have come to the conclusion that the type of tomato doesn't matter nearly as much as the quality of the tomato.  Here are a few tips in how to select the most flavorful tomatoes:

1.  Look for vine ripened.  This means that the fruit was allowed to mature on the vine rather than being prematurely picked before they reached their full nutritional destiny! 

2.  Go local.  Check out your farmer's market.  Once any plant it plucked from it's life source it immediately begins to decompose and lose nutritional value.  The longer something sits, the less nutritious, and as a result less flavorful, it becomes. 

3.  The redder, the bedder. (Yes, I realize that is a typo.)  The red color represents the presence of a powerful antioxidant, lycopene and it's co factor beta-carotene.  Lycopene has been shown to reduce the risk of hearth disease, certain cancers, and slow the aging process to mention just a few of it's powerful health benefits. 

4.  Use your sniffer.  If they smell sweet and delicious, they probably will be.  If they smell like nothing, that is probably similar to how they will taste. 

5.  Heirlooms and grape tomatoes I have found to be the sweetest, but don't just settle on these types because I said that.  If they are not quality tomatoes, it doesn't matter what type they are. 
 
Okay!  Now that you have your tomatoes, here's what to do:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Slice an "x" in the bottom of each tomato.

 

 

Gently place the tomatoes into the boiling water.  Be careful you don't overpopulate your pot.  If you put too many tomatoes in at a time it will cool off your water.  Then you will have to leave the tomatoes in the water too long in order for them to peel, and they will become soggy.  Just watch your water.  No more than 5 tomatoes at a time.  Sort of like the rules for a hot tub, but for different reasons.

 

 

Once the skin begins to peel away (like the image below), shock the tomatoes in cold water.  (If you are making this in the summer and you live in Phoenix, you will probably need to add ice to your tap water to get it cool enough.)  If you are using the marinara for pasta, you've already got some boiling water.  Toss your pasta in and keep it going!

 

Once your tomatoes are cool to the touch, the skin will easily peel off.  Remove the stemmy part and the peel and set aside.  Reserve your stems and peels to compost your garden.  Of course you have a garden.

Now, warm up a large non-nonstick sauce pan over medium heat with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom.  We will be mashing the tomatoes right in the pan which will not be pretty if you are using non-stick.  Once your oil is hot, add some diced onion.  I like to use 1 onion per 10 tomatoes, but you can adjust this based on your love of onions.  I find that the sweet brown onions make the best marinara sauce.  Cook the onions until they become opaque, or "see through", about 5 minutes.  If you are a good multi-tasking cook you can get your onions going while you are boiling your tomatoes.  If you are not a good multi-tasker, don't.  You will either scorch your onions or mush your tomatoes. 



 

 

Add some finely chopped garlic.  I use one clove per tomato, but we are garlic lovers around this house.  Adjust as you see fit.  Let it hang out with the onion for about a minute.  Be careful not to scorch it!  Since it is finely chopped it will scorch easily. Just watch it and you will be fine.

 

Tear your peeled tomatoes in half and place them on top of the onions, seed side down.  Some people like to remove the seeds, but I find this pointless and honestly don't know why someone would waste the beautiful seeds and sacrifice innocent juice in the process.  I digress.  Drizzle the top of your tomatoes with a little more olive oil. (Lycopene is fat-soluble which means you’ll get the maximum benefit of tomato nutrition when tomatoes are absorbed in your body with the help of fats. Think about this any time you eat a tomato.  Add some fat!)  Your pot should now look like this:

 

Cover, and keep your heat at medium for about 5 minutes while the tomatoes release their juices and soften. After about 5 minutes, grab your tomato masher and start smashing!  Make sure to set your baby down before you do this.  Don't ask me how I know this is an important step. 

 

Now, this is what you should be looking at.  A nice juicy pot of tomato sauce.

 

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes or so.  Use your masher and smash them more every 10 minutes or so as the little pieces continue to soften.  Once your sauce has thickened, you are ready to add your seasonings.  If you season early on, the tomatoes will cook down and the seasoning might be too much (especially salt).

This is what mine looked like after 30 minutes or so.  Nice and thick and chunky!

 

 



 

Time to season!  I added about 1 tsp of salt using 10 tomatoes.  I like to add about 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper to give it a little bite, but in this batch I used one of Bernie's Santa Fe Chile's from our garden.  For herbs, I used oregano, parsley and thyme because that's what was still thriving in the garden.  I usually add basil, but the fresh stuff didn't survive this last cold spell for some reason.  Basically, whatever herbs suite your fancy will be great.  I have yet to find an herb that doesn't blend well with tomatoes.

 

This is what my sauce looked like after it was all said and done.

 

And this is what my son looked like eating a cherry tomato he picked from from our Tower Garden.

This particular batch went over some spaghetti squash for a vegetable covered in vegetables for dinner!  You can puree about 2 cups and make a delicious pizza sauce.  Throw it in the crock pot with some peppers and chicken for chicken katchatori. Add some panchetta or hamburger if you like a meat sauce.  Add some mushrooms if you like fungus. Chicken ziti, lasagna, risotto, I could go on and on.  So many options with this sauce!  Next time tomatoes are on sale, do yourself a favor and buy about 20, make a big batch and freeze it in medium mason jars.  You will thank yourself next time you need to make a quick meal and you don't want to order take-out.  It's also husband proof.  I like to leave some in the freezer when I leave town so Bernie can have some home-cooked meals while I'm away. 


Recipe:

Ingredients:
10 ripe tomatoes
1 medium sweet brown onion, chopped.
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.
3-6 T olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/1 tsp. crushed red pepper
A few sprigs of chopped fresh basil
A few sprigs of chopped fresh oregano

Process:

Boil some water in a large pot.  Cut an "x" in the bottom of each tomato and gently place into the boiling water.  Boil about 5 tomatoes at a time for about 1 minute.  Once the skin begins to peel away, shock the tomatoes in cold water.  Remove the skins and stem and set aside.

Heat up 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Add chopped onion and cook till opaque, about 10 minutes.  Add chopped garlic and cook for about 1 minute.  Tear your tomatoes in half and place on top of garlic and onions.  Cover your pot and cook for about 5 minutes.  Mash your tomatoes using a tomato masher, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 20-30 minutes, mashing occasionally.  Once your sauce reaches a thick and chunky consistency, add your seasonings. 



Can you guess what type of pie this is? Hint: It's not pumpkin.

 

Look at the picture above and take a guess as to what type of pie this is.  If you guessed pumpkin, you would be wrong.  Keep guessing.

 

Raise your hand if you guessed carrot!  Congratulations, you were right.  Now put your hand down.

 

Why carrot pie, you ask? I was trying to come up with something original.  On the one hand, I make a really great carrot cake.  On the other hand I make a perfect pumpkin pie.  I put my hands together and marveled at my genius!  Then I shared my excitement with Bernie and told him I was going to make him a carrot pie.  He was underwhelmed to say the least.  His look said "my crazy vegetable loving wife has gone too far."  His mouth said "That doesn't sound good.  Why don't you just make a carrot cake and put it in a pie shell?"  Men.  I didn't even dignify that with an answer.  His lack of confidence gave me the extra push I needed to make a pie that would blow his mind. 

 

I proceeded with caution.  I figured there must be a reason why you never hear about carrot pie.  Carrot cake is an American favorite. You can make pie out of other vegetables such as pumpkin and sweet potatoes, so why never carrots?  Maybe when you add carrots into a pie shell the elements combine and combust.  Wait, that doesn't seem logical.  My chemist husband is getting into my head now.  Regardless of my reservations, I proceeded.

 

The first thing I did was prepare my crust.  This was cinchy.  I have perfected my pie crust making technique after much trial and error over the years.  If you aren't seasoned at making pie crust, follow these instructions and save yourself a lot of errors:  Combine your flour, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl or in a food processor. You can't possibly screw that up. Now, it gets a little trickier. The key to creating a perfectly light and flaky crust is to keep your fats cold. I like to freeze my butter and lard before hand and actually grate it into the dry mixture with a cheese grater. You can also cut it up into little chunks and pulse it a few times in a food processor. The latter is probably much easier, but alas, I do not have that kind of food processor. The cheese grater works just fine.  This is what it will look like after you grate your fat into the bowl and cover it with flour.

 

 

 Some of you are probably wondering why I mentioned lard as an ingredient.  This is for 2 purposes.  #1, you can get lard that contains no hydrogenated oils (or trans fats). (You will probably have to order it online.  Click the link below for a great product!)  Hydrogenation is a chemical process used to change the structure of a fat and turn it from a liquid into a solid, making the molecular structure more similar to plastic than oil.  True story.  It is commonly found in peanut butter, margarine, shortening, and just about any baked good (including pre-made pie crust) you can buy.  Food companies are getting sneaky and claiming "0 grams trans fat"!  What this probably means is that they lowered the serving amount so much that there is less than .5 grams of trans fats per serving so they can leave it off the label.  Read the ingredients.  If is contains anything hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, throw it back!  It is so toxic for your body that it has been outlawed in other countries.  If you read up on hydrogenation you will probably be astounded by the fact that it is legal.  The adverse health effects have be proven over and over again.  It's not a joke.  Don't eat it. Go through your pantry right now and throw out anything that contains it.   Okay.  Done with that tangent.  Reason #2 that I use lard:  It makes the best pie crust, hands down, no questions asked!  You will love me for this tip.  It can be your secret weapon and I won't even take credit. 

http://www.canadianfavourites.com/Maple_Leaf_Tenderflake_Pure_Lard_Non_Hydrogenated_p/mapleleaf001.htm.) 

 

Now, cut your fat into the flower with your pastry cutter (or use your food processor if you are cheating.)  Don't overdo it.  If your fat gets too soft, your crust will be tough.  Once it looks like this, you are done: 

 

Now, add a few tablespoons of ice water, cut it in, add a few more, cut it in, add one more if you have to, now stop.  Now, split the mixture into two even pieces.  Gently kneed until the mixture comes together and form into a 4-5 inch disk.  Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.  The recipe makes enough crust for 2 bottoms.  I recommend always making the full recipe.  You can put the unused portion into a plastic baggie and refrigerate for up to a week, forcing you to bake another pie that week.

 

Place a flannel towel on your counter top and dust it with flour.  (Your baby's old receiving blankets work perfectly for this.)  Unwrap your dough, place it in the center of the blanket, dust the top with flour, dust your rolling pin, and roll it out into a nice circle.  Try to work quickly because you don't want that fat to soften too much.  You will want to pick the crust up and turn it every few rolls to avoid driving the dough into the towel and really screwing up your texture.  Once it looks like this, move along:

Now, fold your crust over your rolling pin and move it onto your pie pan. 



 

 

Trim your edges up so that they are barely touching the counter all the way around.  If you have short areas, worry not.  You can use your trimmings to patch it up.  Tuck the edges under all the way around the pan, then pinch the edges to make it look pretty.  You can also make little fork indentations all the way around if you are to chicken to try pinching.  It will look something like this:

Put that crust back in the refrigerator while you make the filling.  Have I mentioned that you need to keep the fat cool? 

Onto the filling.  Peel a one pound bag of carrots and throw them in a covered casserole dish coated in olive oil.  Roast your carrots in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes.  You will want to toss them around a little bit a few times during the baking process so that the bottoms don't scorch.  Once you can poke them with a fork and they are nice and soft, they are done.  They will be a little bit dark in places, but that's good, it gives them wonderful flavor!  You could also steam or boil the carrots, but roasting them will develop the flavor much more pleasantly. 

Once your carrots are nice and soft, throw them into your magic bullet (I highly recommend these to anyone who spends and time in the kitchen - or has kids), or your blender.  I added just a splash of apple juice to help the pureeing process.  We happened to be juicing apples that morning, so it worked out perfectly.  Blend, blend, blend.  Make sure you get the carrots nice and smooth and no chunks remain.

You can't possible screw up the next part.  Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix.  That's it. You can even whisk them together if you would rather. 

Once the ingredients are mixed together, put it through a strainer.  This will remove any possible unpleasant chunks or fibers and make your pie smooth and creamy.  You can use your spatula to push it through if you need to.  Now, pour the mixture into your chilled pie shell and cover the edges with foil.  This pie takes a long time to bake and if you don't cover the edges, they are going to burn. 

Your oven is already warm from the carrots, so just place it in.  My pie took a solid 1 hour 15 minutes to bake.  Start at 45 and work up from there, but don't be surprised if it takes much longer.  The pie will rise when it's done, and when you tap the sides it will look a little gelatinous.  If it doesn't wiggle, you've cooked it too long. You may want to remove the foil for the last 10-15 minutes of the baking cycle to get your edges golden.  This is what mine looked like fresh out of the oven:

  Put your pie in the refrigerator and let it chill for at least an hour.  While it's refrigerating, prepare your topping by adding a cup of whipping cream and a few tablespoons of powdered sugar to your mixing bowl.  Whip on high until it reaches a firm consistency.  Add your mascarpone and whip again.  Add your vanilla and whip some more.  I piped a little onto the edges of the pie to make it look pretty.  But, let's be honest, it's much better if you just pile a big blob of it on your slice when you eat it.  Here's the pretty picture:

 

 

Since I am sure you are all dying to find out what Bernie though of the pie, I will tell you.  He was impressed.  His first slice he said "I think I might like it better than pumpkin."  His second slice, he said "this is definitely better.  You were right.  Carrot's can go into pie."  Victory!  It really was delicious.  You can certainly taste the carrot flavor and the texture is so perfectly smooth yet firm.  I had to add mascaraing to the whipped cream because you can't possible go carrot without going cheese!  The mascaraing is so light that it doesn't over power like cream cheese might.  It compliments the flavor of the carrots very well, just like in a carrot cake. 

 

Please let me know if you try this!  I recommend bringing it to Thanksgiving dinner, but don't tell anyone what it is.  See if they can guess.  Hopefully, they can tell that it's not a boring old unoriginal pumpkin pie.  Happy baking!

 

 

 

Pie Crust Ingredients:

 

2 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour

1 t salt

2 T sugar

3/4 C frozen butter

1/2 C frozen lard

6-8 T ice water

 

Process:

 

Combine your dry ingredients into a medium bowl.  Grate your frozen butter and lard into the flour mixture with a cheese grater, or process in the food processor using short pulses.  Cut the butter and lard into the flour using a pastry blender.  Add 3 tablespoons of water and blend, or pulse in your food processor.  Repeat this step.  If the dough still seems a bit dry, add one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.  Divide into 2 equal parts, and gently kneed until the dough comes together.  Form into a 4 inch disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour.  Once the dough is properly chilled, place it on a floured flannel cloth and unwrap.  Lightly dust the dough and rolling pin with flour.  Place your rolling pin in the center of your dough and roll out towards the edges using even pressure.  Always roll from the center out.  Repeat this until your dough is in a large round, even circle.  Fold the dough over your rolling pin and lift it into your pie pan.  Trim the edges then tuck them under.  Pinch the edges together using the thumb and index fingers.  Place back in refrigerator.

 

Filling Ingredients:

 

1 lb roasted, pureed carrots

1/4 C apple juice

1 C heavy cream (or whipping cream)

1/3 C sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 C granulated sugar

1/4 C brown sugar

2 t vanilla extract

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t ground nutmeg (about 1/2 of a nut)

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t allspice

1/4 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

 

Process:

 

Preheat your oven to 375 F.  Place your carrots in a covered casserole dish coated with olive oil and place in the oven until tender, about 45 minutes.  Add the carrots and apple juice to a blender and puree.  Combine the pureed carrots along with the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix until combined.  Pour the mixture through a sifter, then pour into your pie shell.  Wrap the edges of the crust in foil then place in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Once the pie rises evenly, it is done.  The pie will still be jiggly.  Remove from oven and place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

 

Topping Ingredients:

 

1 C whipping cream

1/8 C powdered sugar

4 oz (1/2 C) mascarpone cheese

1 t vanilla

 

Process:

 

Add whipping cream and powdered sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and whip on high until it thickens.  Add the mascarpone and whip again.  Add the vanilla and whip until combined.  Use this mixture to top your pie however you like. 

 











New Mexican Holiday Pinwheel Steaks; arranged like a holiday wreath

 I have officially entered the dark side...mom blogger!  I am brand spankin' new to the blogging world, so you will have to excuse/ignore my rookie mistakes or ignorance of blog etiquette, if there is such a thing.  Is there such a thing?  I am not new, however, to health, nutrition, and cooking.  Friends and family are often asking me for recipes, and/or nutritional information (or I am giving them nutritional information without them asking, either way). I decided to start this blog for these purposes.  I give you, blog post #1:

I was trying to come up with a unique holiday dish, so I asked for my husband, Bernie's help.  Sometimes I am amazed by the things I ask him these days.  It reminds me that I am officially domesticated.  Those of you who knew me through my single years will know understand why this is strange. Anyhow, he suggested I make pinwheel steaks, slice them up, and display them in the shape of Rudolph.  A bit ambitious for pinwheel steaks, but I liked where he was going.  A few more back-and-forths, and this baby was born!  The two of us are good at making babies.  Figuratively and literally.  Was that TMI?  Blog faux pa #1 perhaps?

I used elk backstrap for the meat.  My dear White Mountain friends and family will totally get this, I may have already lost the rest of you.  Calm down.  I am not suggesting you have to go on an elk hunt to make this.  You can substitute with a beef flank steak, or perhaps something pork. I have never really made a meal with pork so I don't really know how that would turn out.  If you have access to wild game (deer, elk, antelope, etc.), use it! The nutritional value of the meat will be immeasurably higher than if you use store bought meat.  Wild game is truly organic, free of any growth hormones or pesticides, and totally lean.  Totally lean.  We are talking NO SATURATED FAT!  Naturally.  The animal was also living a happy, natural, wild life so I like to think that the meat contains positive energy that is also good for your soul.  Don't worry, I am not some free-loving hippy.  You will not be asked to drink any cool-aid at the end of this post. I just have a bit of a mystical side.

The first thing you want to do is roast your red bell peppers and green chile.  This is how you obtain that authentic New Mexican flavor.  I gave my family about 50 lbs of green chile fresh picked from a farm here in Las Cruces, and didn't save and for myself.  I kept thinking I had time to go back, and I never made it until chile season came to an end.  Very sad story.  I had to buy the pre-roasted chile from the store.  If you have to do this, make sure it is New Mexican green chile - that stuff from California or Mexico or from wherever else your produce travels is almost not even the same species.  Trust me.  Crank your oven up very hot and put your chiles in until their skin scorches and begins to peel away.  Your house is going to smell so wonderfully New Mexican! Now enjoy an image of my beautiful red bell peppers sweating in the oven. 

If you are using wild game, try to use a whole backstrap and butterfly it to make a thin, rectangular cut of meat.  I wasn't so fortunate.  All I had in the freezer was a backstrap cut up into tiny little steaks.  This will work out fine, it just requires a bit more work on your end.  If using a beef flank steak, you need to do nothing yet.  It should already be thin and rectangular.

If using wild game, make sure you remove all the fat and gristle, anything white.  Fat from wild game has a "gamey" flavor (whatever that means), and the gristle is like trying to chew through rubber.  Clean it up.  If you are using store bought meat, you will still want to clean the meat up a bit but it won't ruin your meal if you leave some on.  Now, lay the meat on a cutting board and gently pound it with a meat mallet.  And watch your fingers!  I actually got myself with the mallet a couple of times.  This comes as no surprise to those who know me.  Good thing I used my "gently" recommendation. If you are using small steaks pieced together like me, this process is marrying the pieces back together.   

Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place a piece of plastic wrap over the meat and turn the entire thing, cutting board and all, onto your counter top so that the pieces don't divorce (get it?  Since you married them, if they come apart they will be divorced.  Great, I just explained my own joke.  This may fall into the "blog etiquette" we discussed earlier.)  Lift your still-married meat back onto the cutting board using the plastic wrap to support it, and tenderize this side as well. It's already dead, you don't need to rekill it (Shawna, this is mostly for you.) If you go too nuts you will get meat splatters all over your cabinets and end up tearing your meat. I am laughing right now because I have a very clear visual of Shawna, my sister-in-law, "muscling" this part and ending up with hamburger, everywhere, even in her hair.  Now, salt, pepper, olive oil.

Next step, place your prosciutto on top of your meat.  You can also use bacon, but prosciutto is much leaner and the flavor won't over power.  I know, I know, it's pork and I just told you I never cook with pork.  I meant that I never make a whole meal of pork. I will, occasionally, add prosciutto to my meals.  Moving along!

Now get out your rinsed kale.  Did you know that kale is the most nutrient dense food in existence?  Well, now you know.  Incorporate it however, and whenever you can.  Your body will thank you!  It is also a very sturdy leafy green and holds up nicely under intense heat.  Grab onto the stem of the kale with one hand, wrap your fingers around the base of the leaves with your other hand, and pull.  The stem is like a tree trunk - you don't want to eat it.  Lay the kale leaves on top your prosciutto, and press them down gently. Otherwise the leaves will not lay nice and flat and may prove difficult to roll later.

Sprinkle your chevre cheese over the kale.  You can use a cow-cheese product if you wish, but you will be missing out of the wonderful nutritional benefits of goat dairy, not to mention the intense flavor.  Why is it more nutritious? I'm so glad you asked!  The protein structures of goat milk are much smaller than cows milk, so our bodies have a much easier time digesting and absorbing the proteins.  Goat milk is much more similar, structurally and nutritionally, to human milk than cow milk.  You eat it, and your body says "Hey!  I know what to do with this!"  Often times when we eat cow dairy, your body says "What in the heck?  That is way to big.  I can't process it."  What happens when your body can't process something?  That's a whole other chapter.  Google it for now. 

By now, your chiles and peppers should be nice and charred!  Shock them in some cold water, peel off the skins, slice them up, and place them on top of your chevre.

Now, I added some Santa Fe Peppers.  This is because Bernie grows some wonderfully extra hot Santa Fe Peppers.  I'm not sure how he does it, but every year they come out way hotter than our jalapenos, even though they are supposed to be medium heat.  Also, I thought it fitting to add them to a New Mexican dish because of their name.  You can add some more burn here if you want, but it's entirely up to you.  Those of us raised in the border states can probably handle it.  The rest of you, perhaps not. 

 

 

Now, your ready to roll!  Start with the long end of the meat and and roll it up like a cinnamon roll.  If you start with the short end, you are going to have some large pinwheels which will not make a nice wreath for display.  If you are using little married pieces, you will need to use your plastic wrap to assist in the rolling process.  It works beautifully. 

Give your meat another good drizzle of olive oil, especially if you are using wild game.  Since it is totally lean, it tends to be a bit dry if you aren't careful. Now, wrap it up with foil. The foil will hold the juices in while cooking and keep your meat tender and moist. 

Place it in the oven on broil for about 20 minutes if you want the center medium rare.  Adjust based on your preference of doneness. Remove from oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes or so to cool off.  While the meat is cooling, use the rest of your kale to create a circular wreath on your largest circular platter.  Now, unwrap and slice the meat into beautiful little Christmas colored pinwheels, about an inch thick each.

 

Doesn't this image just make you want to sink your teeth in?  It does me, and they taste as good as they look.  The red bell peppers add some wonderful sweetness to balance out the saltiness of the prosciutto.  The bold flavor of the chevre is balanced by the kale.  Since you didn't marinate the meat you can actually taste the wonderful meaty flavor.  The center came out perfectly tender and moist.  The display is beautiful and is going to impress the pants of your guests!  They will assume you slaved in your kitchen for hours.  You don't have to tell anyone the truth, unless, of course, they ask.  I don't promote lying.  This would pair well with some mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.  That's right, more veggies! Did you know your plate is supposed to be 1/2 fruits and/or vegetables with every meal?  Well, now you do.

 

Thanks for reading and being apart of my first blog!  I am anxious to hear your thoughts!  Please leave a comment.



Recipe:

Yield: about 15 pinwheels
Serves:  4-6 adults
Prep: 20 minutes
Cooking time:  20 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

One large cut of meat, butterflied.  Or, many small pieces of meat.
1 package of prosciutto
1 bushell of kale
1 container of chevre cheese (about 4 ounces)
4 roasted green chiles
1 roasted red bell pepper
3 Santa Fe Peppers (optional)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to about 475 F.

Place your pepper and chiles in a hot oven and begin roasting.  Remove from oven when the peels are scorched (about 15 minutes). 

Lay your meat on a cutting board and trim up the fat and gristle. 
Tenderize gently with a meat mallet.
Salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle in olive oil.
Cover in plastic wrap, turn over, and tenderize the other side.
Salt and pepper this side to taste.  Drizzle in oil.
Lay prosciutto over meat.
Lay kale on top of prosciutto, stems removed.
Sprinkle chevre cheese on top of kale
Shock your peppers and chiles in some cold water.  Peel and slice.  Place on top of cheese. 
Beginning with the long end, roll your meat.
Wrap in foil.

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes for medium rare pinwheels.  Adjust duration depending on your preference in doneness.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Prepare your kale in a circular pattern on your plate.

Remove meat from foil and place on a cutting board.  Cut into pinwheels about 1 inch thick each. 

Arrange onto your kale in a circle.