Beef Stroganoff over Buttered Spaghetti Squash by MamaWithFlavor, on Flickr

Beef stroganoff is another one of those meals that conjures up memories of childhood dinners. I grew up eating stroganoff that was made with ground beef, a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, and light sour cream served over egg noodles. I’ve tried to elevate the stroganoff of my childhood by making it with homemade mushroom soup without making it unaccessible to those without much time to cook or experience in the kitchen. If you can’t make your own mushroom soup, choose a canned brand with all-natural ingredients and no preservatives. I also serve stroganoff over vegetables rather than noodles to make it a gluten-free, lower carb meal.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 – 2 lbs cube steak or other steak sliced into thin strips
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup stock (beef, chicken, or vegetable will work)
• 1/4 cup kefir or sour cream
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Generously season the steak with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet and sear the steak. Remove the steak from the skillet, heat the second tbsp of butter, add the onions and sauté until soft. Return the steak to the pan, add the cream of mushroom soup and stock. Simmer 10-15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Add the kefir or sour cream just prior to serving.

Serve alone, with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, or over a noodle-like vegetable such as “zucchini fettuccine” or spaghetti squash.

Braised short ribs with sautéed carrots and brussels sprouts with leeks and garlic.

Most short ribs recipes are very similar. After searing the ribs, you cook carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and tomatoes or tomato paste to create a sauce. Time and time again I’ve followed recipes from big name chefs like Tom Colicchio only to feel let down by the lack of flavor in the sauce. Then one day when I wanted to make short ribs but didn’t have all of the vegetables I needed on hand, I had an epiphany. What is also made from carrots, celery, garlic, onions, and tomatoes and already has great flavor? Pasta sauce. So I decided to cut out the middle steps and use a jar of my favorite pasta sauce with no weird ingredients Rao’s Homemade Arrabbiata instead of trying to develop flavor from scratch. Lazy? Yes. Delicious? Absolutely. (This is an excellent recipe for impressing a date. He or she will think you slaved for hours in the kitchen. You can also make it a day before the date so you don’t smell like seared meat.)

Ingredients

2-4 pounds short ribs, cut into chunks with one bone per

12 ounces pasta sauce

1-2 cups red wine (any kind will work, I tend to use ones we didn’t like enough to drink)

1 cup broth

salt and pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350˙ with the rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat an enameled cast iron or cast iron pot over high heat*. Generously salt and pepper one side of the ribs. Place the seasoned side of the ribs down in the preheated pot to sear, working in batches to prevent overcrowding. While that side is searing, season the side that is up. After the first side is seared, flip the ribs over and sear the other side. I also like to flip the ribs on end and sear every edge. Depending on how hot your pan is, you’ll need 3-7 minutes per side for a good sear. Don’t be afraid of cooking them too much. You really want the meat to crisp up so lock in the flavor. Move the seared ribs to a plate as you finish each batch.

When you are done searing the ribs, pour the wine into the pan to deglaze it, which is just a fancy word for “loosen up the delicious layer of flavor stuck to the pot”. Add the broth and pasta sauce and heat until boiling. Return the ribs to the pot. The liquid should come about half way up the ribs. If it doesn’t, add a little more wine, broth, and or sauce.

Cover the pot and place it in the oven and set your timer for 1 hour. Try not to eat everything else in the house while you suffer through the amazing smell as the ribs cook. Whatever you do, don’t leave the house and come back hours before dinner. This only makes the smell stronger and more mouth watering. Check on the ribs after an hour to make sure there is still enough liquid to keep the meat juicy. If there isn’t much liquid left, add some more of whatever you have left (wine, sauce, broth).

If you’ve planned ahead and made your ribs the day before, stop here. Remove the pan from the oven, let it cool, then place it in your fridge. Tomorrow, an hour before you want to eat,reheat your over to 350˙,  pull the pan out of the fridge and scoop out the hardened fat. This will make your sauce less greasy. You can use this fat to cook a vegetable for a side to give it amazing flavor. Continue with the rest of the steps as though you didn’t plan ahead.

If you didn’t plan ahead (I never remember to**), set the oven timer for another 30 minutes. After the final 30 minutes are up, the meat should be tender but will probably not be falling off the bone (yet). Remove the lid and let the ribs cook uncovered for another 45 minutes or so until the sauce reduces to a fairly thick consistency. You’ll want to turn the ribs once or twice during this time so all sides get caramelized and extra delicious. Once the sauce has reached the desired thickness, remove the pot from the oven and separate the ribs from the sauce. You can try to remove some of the fat from the sauce here if you are concerned about the greasiness or you can just eat it as is. Trust me, it’s delicious either way.

Plate the ribs with sauce on top and serve with your sides of choice. I like to serve mine with crispy brussels sprouts or sautéed kale and mashed Japanese sweet potatoes or sautéed carrots. But really they go with everything so just use whatever you have on hand.

*If you are using cast iron, make sure the pot is well seasoned. You can add some oil or butter to protect the pot. If you do not have a cast iron or enameled pot, you can use another type of pot but you will want to add a small amount of oil or butter to prevent the ribs from sticking until they release some of their own fat.

**If I have time the day I want to have short ribs, I will make them in the morning, then move the sauce into a dish in the fridge for the afternoon so I can scoop out the hardened fat. This is a nice compromise between doing everything the day before and doing it at the last minute.

My back and shoulders after 3 months of weight training.

I’ve started and stopped more workout programs than I can count. For a couple of weeks I was a runner. In college I did the aerobics class version of kickboxing. A few years ago I did half of Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. With all of these programs I worked hard and felt great for a short period of time. Then when I didn’t see results or got bored, I quit. Does this sound familiar to you?

It wasn’t until I found weight training that I really fell in love with working out. Through heavy weight training (no 5 pound pink dumbbells here) I have been able to dramatically change my body while staying interested in working out. Weight training keeps me interested, not just because of the relatively quick changes in my physique, but also because of the consistent progression in performance which feeds my inner competitor.

With aerobics, while you can certainly improve your coordination and cardio capacity, there really isn’t any way easy to benchmark how you’re progressing. With running, you can get faster and go farther, but it takes a long time (at least for me) to see any significant improvement. However, with weight training you can consistently increase the weight you lift, sometimes in every workout but many times every week. That consistent reinforcement that I’m getting better at something keeps me motivated. And the competitive side of me loves challenging myself every time I decide how much weight to use on an exercise.

You can also see physical changes happening faster with weight training that you can with purely cardio workouts. While most women start working out to lose weight, in reality they just want to improve how they look. Doing an hour of cardio every day won’t result in any noticeable difference in your physique at the end of the week. But, I can see changes in my body every week by doing 30-60 minutes of heavy weight training 3-4 times a week. By building muscle, you not only boost your metabolism and reinforce your skeletal system to prevent fractures and osteoporosis¹. You also draw attention to areas of your body that will make you look thinner or more fit and deemphasize areas that need improvement. For instance, by building more muscular, defined shoulders you draw attention to your shoulders and your waist appears thinner. (And no, you won’t “look like a man” from doing resistance training. You would have to not only dedicate yourself to lifting very heavy weight very often but also supplement with testosterone to develop a male physique.)

With weight training you can also take advantage of nutrient timing to allow you to eat foods that you may not be able to eat as much of when trying to lose weight. Weight training depletes muscle glycogen stores which are rapidly refilled next time you eat. During this window, your muscles are very insulin sensitive so the nutrients you eat will be efficiently used to replenish glycogen and will not be used for fat storage, as long as you don’t eat considerably beyond what your muscles can store². You can use this window of opportunity to eat a large portion of your carbohydrates so you not only benefit from the temporary enhanced insulin sensitivity but but also from the reduction in insulin spikes throughout the rest of the day due to limiting carbohydrate intake at other meals. This is a “best of both worlds” scenario in which you get to have something sweet or higher in carbohydrates than you usually would when trying to lose weight.

If you’d like to see what my workouts look like, you can follow me on Fitocracy and I will follow back to encourage you in your quest for fitness. If you’re new to weight training and want to learn about how to build a great body, check out this ebook preview of Strong Curves: A Woman’s Guide to Building a Better Butt and Body.

1. Schmiege, S. J., Aiken, L. S., Sander, J. L., & Gerend, M. A. (2007). Osteoporosis prevention among young women: Psychosocial models of calcium consumption and weight-bearing exercise. Health Psychology, 26(5), 577-587. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.26.5.577

2. Jensen, T. & Richter, E. Regulation of glucose and glycogen metabolism during and after exercise. Physiol March 1, 2012 590 (5) 1069-1076; published ahead of print December 23, 2011, doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2011.224972

Since skin is our largest organ and is absorbent, I decided I didn’t want to use anything on my body that I wouldn’t eat. My first change was to stop using fluoridated toothpaste. I started using OraWellness organic dental products and my teeth and gums have never been healthier (confirmed by my dentist). Since that switch was so successful, I decided to find natural alternatives to everything in my beauty routine. My favorite alternatives are listed below. If you have some favorites, add them in the comments!

Moisturizer: Coconut oil is a wonderful moisturizer that absorbs well into the skin. It also smells fantastic. Rubbing coconut oil on my skin always makes me feel like I’m on vacation. Coconut oil also has antimicrobial properties, thanks to the lauric acid content, which make it extremely beneficial for acne prone skin.¹ Coconut oil doesn’t work well under makeup but you can use it at night or on days that you don’t wear makeup to get a great moisture boost.

Dandruff treatment: Many people think that dandruff is caused by your scalp being dry, and for some people this is true. However, a major cause of dandruff may be a fungus called malassezia.² This fungus is found on the scalp of most people, however it may be more prolific on some people or the immune system of sensitive people may overreact to the fungus. If this happens, the turnover (growth and death) of the skin on your scalp may happen too quickly, resulting in those embarrassing flakes. Whether fungus or dryness is causing your dandruff, the treatment is the same. Rub coconut oil on your scalp and let it sit for at least 10 minutes. The lauric acid in the coconut oil will help keep the fungus under control. For a conditioning hair treatment at the same time, coat the full length of your hair with coconut oil. When you’re ready to wash it out, shampoo your hair twice to get all of the oil out before conditioning. An optional additional step that I’ve found helpful for most people is to rinse your scalp with apple cider vinegar before you condition. The vinegar will help normalize the pH of your scalp and further prevent dandruff. Doing this treatment once a week for severe dandruff will keep the flakes at bay.

Teeth whitener and skin exfoliant: I love having white teeth but my teeth are very sensitive so I can’t use commercial whiteners. Commercial whiteners can also be expensive and they contain things like carbamide peroxide which can cause chemical burns if not used properly. For a few cents you can make a natural and very effective tooth whitener from a tablespoon of aluminum-free baking soda and a squeeze of lemon juice. Dip an old toothbrush in the paste and gently brush your teeth. The baking soda is abrasive and will remove tough stains while the acidity of the lemon juice will help brighten your teeth. You don’t want to do this daily as you could eventually damage your enamel but once every month or two is plenty to keep your teeth looking great.

Deodorant: This is my favorite one. Most deodorants are so full of things I can’t pronounce and really don’t want soaking into my skin on a daily basis. But, most natural deodorants either don’t work very long or end up making you smell worse. I recently discovered that rubbing the pulp side of a wedge of lime or lemon on your underarms is a fantastic deodorant. It works all day long and even keeps me smelling fresh through hour-long workouts. The citric acid helps neutralize the bacteria in sweat that cause odors so you’re not just masking the smell. Obviously there is no anti-perspirant property here so you will still sweat, but you’ll smell like a rose lime.

1.Research on antimicrobials described by scientists at University of California, Department of Medicine. Biotech Week. (Oct. 20, 2010) p1828. Scientists discuss in ‘Antimicrobial property of lauric acid against Propionibacterium acnes: its therapeutic potential for inflammatory acne vulgaris’ new findings in antimicrobials.

2. Hay, R.J. (2011), Malassezia, dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis: an overview. British Journal of Dermatology, 165: 2–8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2011.10570.x

Sriracha seared albacore, greens, apple, leek asian salad, and roasted brussels sprouts.

Ingredients:

Fish

• (2) 4 to 6 ounce sashimi grade albacore filets
• 2 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (or homemade sriracha) per piece of fish
• Salt & pepper

Salad

• 1 large or two medium leeks, sliced
• 2 cups mixed greens
• 1 julienned apple (Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, or similar variety)
• butter or coconut oil for sautéing

Salad Dressing 

• 1 tbsp gluten free soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 1 tbsp ponzu (without soy sauce, omit soy sauce if using ponzo with soy sauce)
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Coat each piece of albacore on all sides with Sriracha then generously season with salt and pepper. Start with a hot pan then turn the heat to medium after you start searing. Sear the albacore on all sides for about 1 minute per side, depending on the thickness of your filets. Ideally the fish should be raw but slightly warm in the center as shown in the photo above.

Sauté the sliced leeks in butter or coconut oil until crispy. Toss the mixed greens in the dressing and layer with the apples. Top the salad with the crispy leeks.

Serve with your vegetable of choice such as crispy brussels sprouts, sesame broccoli, or bok choy.

I never thought the gym would be my happy place.

I’ve always hated gyms. Hoards of people running in place for hours on end never seemed healthy to me and people who could bench press three of me were intimidating. So, up until last month I did all of my weight training workouts in a 3 x 5 foot area in our bedroom with a set of dumbbells, a stability ball, a pull up bar. I had good success doing my at-home workouts and believe that anyone can get a great strength building workout using just bodyweight exercises. Doing a circuit of push ups, planks, lunges, and squats will definitely get your heart pumping and your muscles throbbing. But, if you’re like me, you will eventually want to take your workouts to the next level.

The more I got into weight training, the more I wanted to do traditional lifts like barbell back squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. I’d been doing versions of these with dumbbells for a few years but in order to progress, I would have to find a gym with the equipment I needed, which was something I dreaded.

I spent a few months half-looking at gyms near me and found that my options were either cardio-geared places like Planet Fitness, which wouldn’t have the weight training equipment I wanted, or serious Olympic weight training gyms that I just didn’t feel ready for.  Then I remembered that there are hotel gyms that offer memberships to local residents. Gyms in high-end hotels frequently have a wide range of high end equipment to appeal to their guests and are usually less crowded than regular commercial gyms. I scheduled a time to tour the gym at a Hilton near me and knew as soon as I walked in that this was the gym for me.

Now that I have a gym that fits my needs and my personality, I’ve learned that I didn’t hate the gym, I hated the gyms I’d been to. Going to the gym regularly has not only improved my fitness and physique but has given me increased confidence in my ability and in my body.

The first few times I went to the gym I was timid and cautious with the equipment because I didn’t know how to use it all. To overcome this I would bring my phone with me into the weight room and would pull up videos on YouTube so I could learn how to use equipment I was unfamiliar with and how to have proper form on new exercises. The more comfortable I got with the equipment, the better I felt about my workouts and the harder I pushed. I also started smiling more and making eye contact with other gym members. It wasn’t long before people I thought were intimidating were introducing themselves and complimenting me on my workouts.

The locker room was another reason I avoided the gym. The idea of changing in front of strangers and showering in a public stall caused me to have junior high flashbacks. But, after doing it a few times, I realized that everyone is just trying to change clothes and get on with their day. No one is judging your body and if they are, they don’t deserve the power to make you feel bad about yourself. You are at the gym making healthy choices and you should be proud of that. So, now I walk from the locker room to the sauna in my bikini instead of hiding under a towel – something I never would have done two months ago.

So, if you’re like me and think you hate the gym, you may just need to find the right gym, whether it’s one with aerobics classes, a CrossFit box, a high-energy cardio gym, or a small private hotel gym. As my trainer says, it’s not where you train, it’s how you train. Once you find the right gym for you, I recommend taking advantage of the customary free training session you get with most memberships so you can learn how to use all of the equipment, even if you don’t think you’ll use it right away. The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel and the more likely you’ll be to stick with your program.

Remember you have as much right to be at the gym and use the equipment as every one else. Just because you’re not as strong or not as fast as someone else doesn’t mean you don’t belong.

Finally, smile and enjoy your workout! If you don’t have fun with it, you won’t stick with it. A workout you enjoy and do consistently will do more for you than one you hate and therefore only do sporadically.

Join me on Fitocracy to track your workouts, get motivation, and help motivate others!

Yes, those were kids in that clip but it doesn’t make it any less shocking and it drives home how much difference one generation can make. If we start teaching kids now where their food comes from and how food relates to health, by the time they have children we may finally be on the road to a healthier population.

Over the last few years I’ve been trying to get closer to where my food comes from, both to support local businesses and to eat healthier, properly-raised meats and organically grown produce. I buy 90% of our produce at the farmer’s market now and no longer buy meat from the supermarket. Instead, I found farms that raise cows, chickens, and hogs for meat and purchased shares of the herd. When the animals are slaughtered, we get a large amount of meat at once that we make use of for the next 9-12 months. (I’ll do a post in the future about how to find farms that you can buy direct from and what to look for to ensure you are getting quality meat.)

Our chickens come from a fairly new operation called Primal Pastures that is just over an hour away from where we live. They raise chickens naturally using no soy or genetically modified feed and allow the birds to eat bugs and worms right from the ground as they were meant to.

Last weekend Primal Pastures invited their customers to come to their farm and see first hand how the chickens live and we jumped at the chance. The event was a potluck for which everyone was asked to bring a gluten-free dish to share. The local Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader also took a few minutes to speak about WAPF for those who were unfamiliar with the organization.  We all ate and chatted while sitting right next to the chicken coops which were separated into one for the baby chicks, one for the meat birds, and one for the egg-laying hens.

Adorable 4 day old baby chicks.

Portable coop for raising pastured chickens.

Coop for egg-laying hens. They insisted on being in the shade so I couldn’t get a better shot of the ladies themselves.

I brought a butternut squash soup that I adapted from a recipe I found in Delta Sky Magazine of all places. The original recipe called for canned chipotle peppers in adobo, which taste fantastic but all contain vegetable oil. Since we don’t eat vegetable oil, that wasn’t going to work so I used some chipotle powder and all-natural chipotle salsa instead. I was worried about people not eating the soup because they had to carry the soup bowl, plus their plate of food, and their beverage back to their table. But, by the end of the potluck there wasn’t a drop left, which I was actually a bit disappointed about because it was so good I was looking forward to leftovers!

The recipe is below. I forgot to take a picture of the final product in all of the potluck craziness so I’ll just have to make it again to get a photo.

Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 6-8

8 slices bacon, diced

1 large or 2 small yellow onions, diced

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2-4 cups homemade stock

2 pounds frozen, diced butternut squash

1 12-16 ounce can organic sweet corn*, drained

2-3 tbsp chipotle salsa

2-3 tsp chipotle powder or to taste (less for less heat, more for more)

salt and pepper to taste

*omit if you can’t find organic to avoid GMO corn or if you do not tolerate grains

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels or a paper bag to drain. Cook the onion in the bacon grease until just soft. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute until fragrant.  Add the butternut squash, corn, salsa, chipotle powder, and enough stock to just cover everything. Bring to a low boil for a couple of minutes, stirring periodically.

Blend about 3/4 of the soup in a blender or food processor until creamy then mix with the unblended potion for a slightly chunky chowder. Generously salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the crispy bacon pieces on top.

Stressing about not losing weight can negatively impact your weight loss success.

If you are eating right and exercising but not losing weight, there may be other factors at play including hormone imbalances or food intolerances. When we look at the many factors that can affect successful weight loss, nearly all relate to stress on the body. When our bodies are under chronic or excessive stress, we tend to maintain or gain weight rather than losing it due to disruption of the many mechanisms responsible for weight homeostasis.¹ While some may initially lose weight under chronic stress, that weight loss becomes a further stressor which results in longer term health complications such as cardiovascular risk and reduced metabolic function.²

Many things that we consider normal in our modern lives are stressful to our bodies on a cellular level:

• Not eating enough or eating too much
• Exercising too much or not exercising enough
• Not sleeping enough
• Work, school, family, or relationship stress
• Smoking
• Excessive or binge drinking
• Prescription medications
• Hormonal birth control
• Food intolerances or allergies
• Financial concerns
• Poor diet/high intake of processed foods or fast food

When we are under stress, whether it is acute or chronic, our bodies respond by initiating our “fight or flight” response. The fight or flight response is a series of reactions within our bodies that occurs in response to a threat, such as being chased by a predator. Unfortunately, our bodies respond the same whether the threat is that of a physical attack or an emotional one and whether the threat is real or perceived.

The fight or flight response starts with the hypothalamus receiving a message that you are being threatened in some way. The hypothalamus simultaneously sends a nerve signal down the spinal cord to the adrenal glands telling them to secrete epinephrine (adrenaline) and sends a signal to the pituitary gland which secretes a hormone, called ACTH, which tells the adrenal glands to secrete cortisol. Epinephrine and cortisol both take action that will increase the energy available to muscles so you can fight your attacker or run from it. This energy is made available as glucose through glycogenolysis (breakdown of glycogen) and gluconeogenesis (synthesis of glucose from other substances.<sup<3

This increase in available energy is ideal if you are running from a threat. However, if you are sitting at your computer stressed out over work or school, your body will break down muscle and other tissues to synthesize glucose that you aren’t going to burn off. Your body will release insulin to bring glucose to your muscles but since you aren’t using them to flee your threat, they don’t need the energy and insulin will take the glucose to your ever-welcoming fat cells for storage.

Over the long term, chronic stress that causes this adrenal response can lead to insulin resistance syndrome, adrenal fatigue, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.⁴

Reduction of stressors through dietary changes, identification of food intolerances, reduction of environmental contaminants, and lifestyle changes are integral in reducing chronic stress. Practicing deep breathing, yoga, or meditation can help reduce stress levels or help you better cope with daily stress. Finally, if you feel stressed, brief exercise can help improve your mood, increase oxygen flow to your brain, and burn off some of the glucose created by your body’s response to the stress. So, next time you feel like yelling at your computer screen, take a few deep breaths to relax, then do 10 push ups, 25 body weight squats, or go for a 10 minute walk. Your body will thank you and your waistline may too.

1. Vianna, C. R. & Coppari, R. “A Treasure Trove of Hypothalamic Neurocircuitries Governing Body Weight Homeostasis.” Endocrinology 152.1 (2011): 11-18.

2.  Flak, J.N., Jankord, R.J., Solomon, M.B., Krause, E.G., Herman, J.P. “Opposing Effects of Chronic Stress and Weight Restriction on Cardiovascular, Neuroendocrine and Metabolic Function.” Physiology & Behavior 104.2 (2011): 228-234.

3. Saccà L, Vigorito C, Cicala M, Corso G, Sherwin RS. “Role of gluconeogenesis in epinephrine-stimulated hepatic glucose production in humans.” American Journal of Physiology 245.3 (1983): E294-302.

4. Innes KE, Vincent HK, Taylor AG. “Chronic stress and insulin resistance-related indices of cardiovascular disease risk, part I: neurophysiological responses and pathological sequelae.” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 13.4 (2007): 46-52.

I also make the bisque with homemade beef or chicken broth, which adds to the flavor and the nutritional content. But, you can use water if you don’t have stock on hand. Next time you decide to have shrimp for dinner, save the shells to make this simple but impressive soup.

Ingredients

• Shells from 1 pound of medium to large shrimp (throw in the heads too if you’ve got them)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 medium onions, halved and sliced
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 6 tablespoons butter, separated into groups of 2 and 4 tbsp
• juice of half a lemon
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 5-6 cups of broth or water
• 3 tablespoons brandy, marsala, or madeira
• 1/4 cup potato flour
• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot. Add the shrimp shells and sauté over medium heat until the shells start to brown. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften.

Add the broth, lemon juice, tomato paste, bay leaves, and garlic. Bring the pot to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Strain the shrimp stock when the time is up.

In the original pot, melt the 4 tablespoons of butter and stir in the potato flour. Stir the mixture and cook over medium to low heat until it starts to brown. Add the brandy and about a third of the shrimp stock and whisk vigorously to mix in the flour. Slowly add a cup of stock at a time while whisking to ensure you mix all of the flour in thoroughly. You’ll be tempted to be lazy here and put all of the stock in at once. Don’t or you’ll end up with a lumpy bisque.

Cover and simmer the soup for another 5 minutes then taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Be generous with the salt as you’ll be adding cream which will mellow it out and because the salt will really bring out the savory flavor.

Add the cream, mix well, and serve hot with a sprinkle of fresh cracked pepper.

We don’t have easy access to live lobsters here in California like we do other seafood. Live lobsters aren’t at my grocery store seafood counter waiting to be taken home like shrimp and scallops are. Sure, once in a while there are lobster tails there that I’ll pick up to throw on the grill. But, I hadn’t ever considered tracking down live lobsters to cook at home because it just wasn’t convenient. Then I found out I could have live Maine lobsters delivered to my door the day I wanted to cook them by lobster.com.

I could hardly contain my excitement for about 15 minutes. Then I became terrified about what I would actually *do* with the two live lobsters that were on their way to my kitchen. Cooking them seemed easy enough. According to the University of Maine Lobster Institute I could boil, steam, or grill them all with fairly equal effort. But would I be able to kill them? Or even touch them? I’ve never killed anything bigger than a grasshopper before and I tend to be overly sensitive to the feelings of other creatures.  If there was an option to keep them around for a while, I may have named them and let them live in my bathtub. Luckily the directions from lobster.com tell you to cook your lobster friends dinner the day it arrives so, I was forced to cook them quickly. Along with my lobster, I also got a couple of fresh oysters to sample. So, I decided to make a dinner that consisted of all things that people must have been really hungry to eat the first time based on how they look: lobster, oysters, and artichokes.

Lobster, Oysters on the Half Shell, and Steamed Artichokes with Balsamic Butter

A meal of “who the heck ate this the first time?” – Lobsters, Oysters, and Artichokes.

Artichokes:

• Two artichokes
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• Pot with steamer insert large enough for two whole artichokes
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tsp balsamic vinegar
• garlic salt to taste
• water

Lobster:

• Two lobsters
• 1/4 cup sea salt
• water
• large stock pot with pasta insert
• 2-4 tbsp butter
• 1/2 lemon

Preparation

Take the butter out to let it come to room temperature before preparing your dinner. When the butter is soft, take 2 tablespoons and mix with the balsamic and garlic salt. The butter and vinegar won’t completely mix but the flavors will blend. Serve this butter in one ramekin for dipping the artichoke leaves and hearts. Save the rest of the butter to melt and serve with the lobster.

For the oysters, I recommend just topping them with a bit of lemon juice and a squirt of your favorite hot sauce. But you can also use cocktail sauce and horseradish for a traditional preparation. Serve them on a bed of ice to keep them chilled.

Start with the artichoke as it will need the longest to cook. Put a couple of inches of water, the juice of half a lemon, the rind from that half of lemon, 2 tablespoons of sea salt, and two bay leaves in the pan and bring to a slow boil. Meanwhile, trim the artichoke. Once the water and artichokes are ready, place the whole artichokes in the steamer insert and cover with a lid. Let them steam for about 45 minutes.

Approximately 30 minutes before you want to eat, bring 2 inches of water with the 1/4 cup of salt to a boil in a stock pot. Place the pasta insert in the pot and cover with a lid. Bring your box of lobsters over to the stove and get ready to quickly move them into your pot. You want to keep the water boiling to maintain the temperature so you don’t want to have the lid off of the pan for too long. Pick up each lobster by the body and place it head-first in your pot. If they don’t fit immediately, don’t panic like I did. You can curl their tails and move their claws around so they will fit. Once they are in, put the lid back on and let them cook for the time indicated on the insert you receive with your lobsters. My lobsters were 1.5 pounds each so I cooked them for a total of 9 minutes.

Bright red shells indicate the lobsters are cooked.

At the end of the cooking time, the lobsters will be bright red and the tails will be curled. Pick up the lobsters with your hands, using a towel or oven mitt so you don’t burn yourself, and move them to a colander for one minute to allow any water to drain from the shells.

While the lobsters are draining, melt the butter you reserved at the beginning and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve this butter in a second ramekin for dipping the lobster meat.

After a minute or so has passed, follow the directions in this video to crack the lobster shells and get to the meat. Place the meat, the ramekins, and the whole artichoke on a plate and enjoy. Make sure to place a bowl on the table for the discarded artichoke leaves.

This meal will take close to an hour to prepare but the end result is delicious and impressive. I was very surprised that the lobster meat actually tasted better than any I’d had in a restaurant before. After the first bite I had no remorse for my kills!