Recipe: Bison Picadillo

One thing I miss about my childhood: My abuela’s cooking. No one’s beans taste as good as my abuela’s but one recipe that always had me begging for seconds was her picadillo. I never thought I’d be able to master her recipe (and let’s face it, no one’s picadillo will ever taste as good as hers) but I managed to recreate it using all organic ingredients and… bison. Whaaat! Crazy, right? Crazy delicious! I’m super excited to share how I adapted her recipe using grass-fed Durham Ranch bison. YUM.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Durham Ranch ground bison
• 1 tbsp. cooking fat (I used Ghee but you can use lard, vegetable oil or whatever you prefer)
• 1 large carrot, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large zucchini, sliced and quartered
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 russet potato, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1-2 tbsp. tomato paste
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper
• Pinch of cumin
• Pinch of garlic powder
• Pinch of Mexican oregano
• Dash of chile powder

My Abuela never measures her spices so I tried not to either. Always start with a little bit, taste, and add as you go.

Instructions:

1. Melt the ghee in a large sauté pan over medium heat and get your onions cooking for 2-3 minutes or until almost translucent.
2. Brown the bison and season with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, garlic powder and chile powder. Be sure to add a little more cooking fat if needed. Bison is pretty lean and won’t give off as much fat as beef would.
3. Throw the carrots, zucchini and potatoes in the pan and add in your can of tomato sauce.
   
4. Let it come to a slow boil and stir in the tomato paste.
5. Bring the heat down to a simmer and cover with a lid to sweat out the veggies. Give it 5-7 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
6. Add in another dash of chile powder, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
7. Let some of the liquid reduce if it hasn’t already. Just simmer a few more minutes with the lid on.
8. Serve over rice or cauliflower rice or eat it on its own!

Serves roughly 4 people. Total cooking time: ~25 minutes. Tastes great with sliced avocado on top or in a taco as well!

Let me know if you try this recipe!

Recipe: Paleo Shepherd’s Pie

One way to make hearty-comfort food without the guilt is to try to make it “paleo”. There are some foods that are better left un-touched but I’ve found that Shepherd’s Pie is actually a great meal to paleo-fy and it was pretty easy. Enjoy the recipe below!

Ingredients:

For the filling –

• 1 tbsp. ghee
• 1 lb. ground lamb
• 2 celery stalks, minced
• 1 white onion, minced
• 2 carrots, minced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 tbsp. tapioca starch
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1 fresh spring of thyme
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper

For the topping –

• Bag of frozen cauliflower
• 1 tbsp. grass-fed butter
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 clove garlic
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper

Instructions:

1. Melt the ghee in a deep skillet over medium heat. Once shimmering, add onions. Cook until they turn translucent.
2. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and cook until browned.
3. Add carrots and celery to the pan along with the dried herbs and chicken stock.
4. Bring to a boil and add the tomato paste. Stir until combined.
5. Add peas and tapioca starch & stir. Bring to a simmer.
6. While that’s simmering for 20 mins or so, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the cauliflower. Cook until fork-tender.
7. Drain cauliflower and add to a high powered blender or food processor. Add coconut milk, butter, garlic and salt/pepper and blend until smooth. Make sure not to over blend so you don’t end up with a watery puree!
8. Make sure your filling is ready to go by making sure liquid has reduced and carrots are fork-tender.
9. Add filling to a pie or casserole dish. Top with the mashed cauliflower and add a sprig of fresh thyme on top.
10. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!