Last week in my kitchen...

I've had some buffalo liver in my freezer for awhile now.  I cut it into manageable chunks for the freezer.  Determined to eat (and somehow like or tolerate) more liver I took out these ingredients - a whole white onion, three garlic cloves, about 3 oz of liver, and a couple of tablespoons of lard.  I fried up the onions really well with the lard in a cast iron skillet.  Then I chopped the liver into very small cubes (helps to do this while it's still frozen, but slightly thawed) and kept the heat on high.  Throw that in with some sea salt and pepper and cook quickly till browned.  I put the chopped garlic in at the end so as not to burn it and make it bitter tasting.

This is what I ended up with.  The liver and onions made two servings for me.  Here's one serving with some lacto fermented kraut and raw sour cream.  It was do able, but I still don't like the aftertaste of liver.  I masked it with a bunch of kraut and ate it all, but it will take some getting used to.  It WAS very flavorful the way I prepared it, I just can't seem to get over that liver taste after chewing it.

A couple of days later I ended up taking the other serving and running it through my food processor with some chevre to make a sort of pate.  I then made sourdough crepes (which were delicious!) and rolled the pate up in that.  Was pretty good and I'm thinking that if I don't have to chew the liver and it's mixed with other things it might be better.  One thing to note - after eating the liver and onions, sour cream and kraut - I felt amazing!  Almost like some kind of buzz. Energy, calmness, and just an overall feeling of wellbeing.  Coincidence? I don't think so - happened again after eating the pate.  So that in itself is reason enough to keep at this liver thing.

I've been wanting to revive the sourdough starter in my fridge, so after a feeding or two I gave the  minimal knead sourdough bread recipe a shot.  I made half the recipe and out of that formed it into eight buns.  Basically they came out as rolls that I cut in half for burgers.  They were very good!  Nice and sourdough like.  I used a combo of whole wheat and rye flours.  The burgers are made out of grass fed ground beef with buffalo liver ground up with onion mixed in.  Sneaky, aren't I? ;)  These burgers also had guacamole that I made out of the lovely avocados Mom sent us with raw chevre cheese mixed in. Who says cheeseburgers aren't healthy?

Last week was my birthday and instead of letting my family pick up a grocery store cake I decided to make my own!  After looking around for a healthier alternative I settled on a chocolate sourdough cake from Wardeh's site.  The dough came out really thick and tasted wonderful.  I was afraid it wouldn't rise well, but just look how beautiful it came out!

Once cool I topped it with a whipped cream topping since I didn't have the ingredients for the frosting listed.  I just used regular store bought heavy cream whipped till stiff with a drizzle of raw honey.  Spread that over the cake and let the kids decorate.  Here's my compromise - animal cookies and store candies for decor.  Oh well.  I thought the cake was amazing - as did my husband and oldest son.  The younger two didn't exactly think the same.  I'm sure it was because it was so dense.  It was almost more like a bread.  If I made it again I think I would try and find a way to make it a little lighter.  Other than that I feel like it was a wonderful cake option!

I've joined the Real Food Challenge over at The Nourished Kitchen blog.  The first days assignment was to clean out your pantry of foods you shouldn't be eating on a whole foods diet.  I've been wanting to reorganize my pantry for quite some time.  So this was a good excuse to do it.  Here's the before and after:

    

And here are my purged items.  Nasty buggers.  That bag of splenda was from my last purge during the summer that I posted here.  Except I didn't fully 'purge' it all.  It went into a big box into the office waiting for a suitable place to donate it or dispose of it.  I should have just thrown it away.  During a weak moment I went back to that box and pulled the splenda out.  

So, those are a few of this weeks kitchen happenings.  This week I am embarking on some mayo making, sprouting, and maybe some more sourdough adventures.

This post is proud to be a part of Tuesday Twister Blog Carnival and Real Food Wednesday !

Comments

[Millie @ Real Food for Less Money]

I'm glad to see that you made sourdough buns. I keep meaning to try that but haven't yet. The cake looks delicious!

[Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS]

Tara, I'm happy you tried the cake - and yes, I agree, it is thick. That is probably why we like it so much - more like brownies than cake. Happy Birthday, by the way! Your lard - how are you storing it that it is shaped like that? You're so beautiful. I love that picture of you holding your cake. Thanks for sharing your week in the Twister!

[chanelle]

good for you for trying to like liver. That cake looks great, and so does your reorganized pantry!

[grammajayne]

save me some liver! you amaze me, Girl!

[Tara]

Wardeh - When I render my lard I pour it into mini muffin tins and the cool it. They just pop out and I put them in freezer bags in the freezer and pull out perfect 2 tablespoon portions for frying onions, sauteing, even waffle making! So easy.

Thank you for the nice compliments! Your blog is quickly becoming my favorite because it seems we have a lot of similar tastes and ideas.

[Anita]

The liver is easier & better eaten Raw (for heat-sensitive Vitamin A) cut into tiny little slivers.
Great pantry!