Recipes

Kristy's Garlic Cucumber Pickles

6 large garlic cloves, cut into thirds
2 or 3 pin oak leaves or grape leaves
thick sliced pickling cucumbers
sprig of dill

Place the oak leaves in the bottom of the jar, add dill and then layer slices of cucumber with pieces of garlic. Cover with brine (2-3 TBSP Sea salt per quart of water) and let ferment for 4-6 days at room temperature.

Millie's Cultured Autumn Salad

yield 1 quart

Millie says: "Watching your sugars?  Don't worry about the apple in this salad - according to Donna Gates, Body Ecology Diet expert, the sugars in cultured apples get eaten up during the fermentation process. In fact, she suggests using apples in cultured recipes even during Candida treatment.  Taking a cue from her, I added one to this mix; it adds a nice hint of tart/sweet flavor that compliments the other flavors well.  Trust your own intuition and tolerances; choose to include it or leave it out!"

Nancy's Apple-Cranberry Kraut

From Nancy, via Millie, comes this recipe, adapted by me:

1 part cabbage (very pretty with purple)
1 part peeled apples
1 pint fresh cranberries, or 1/2 bag frozen ones, whirled in the food processor until just chopped
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 cup sauerkraut juice/starter (optional)

Mix all ingredients, cover carefully (so that liquid covers the veggies/fruits) and let ferment for about two weeks.

Proportions: 4 lbs. cabbage and 4 lbs. apples, along with the cranberries, fits into 2 gallon jars, each filled halfway.

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Millie's Easy Kimchee

Millie says: "According to the Korea Food Research Institute, correctly fermented kimchi contains higher amounts of lactic acid and lactic acid bacteria than dairy fermented products such as yogurt. Kimchi contains protein, calcium, phosphorous, vitamins C, B1, B2, and niacin. The following recipe uses common ingredients usually kept on hand or easily found. The ingredients are cut into small pieces for easy eating and quicker fermentation."

Dilled Cauliflower Pickles

These are really tasty, just like pickles except...they're not. Recipe is adapted from someone on the GAPS yahoo group.

3 c cauliflower, cut into chunks
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 T dry dill
3-4 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 T sea salt
2-3 c filtered water

Wash cauliflower well, and cut into chunks.

Crush garlic clove, and add to jar with spices. Add cauliflower, pressing down firmly into jar so chunks are tightly packed, leaving 1" space at the top of the jar.

Beet Kvass

Adapted from a recipe that someone posted on the GAPS yahoo group.

Beet Kvass

1/2 c starter (either juice from last batch, or whey, or sauerkraut juice), optional
1 med beet, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp. salt
5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 head (or so) cabbage, roughly chopped (big hunks)

Wash beet pieces, and put them into a one-gallon jar. Add the garlic, and then cabbage chunks until the jar is full. Add salt, and fill with water to within one inch of the top (make sure veggies are submerged).

GAPS Vegetable Soup

This is deeply satisfying and reminds me of minestrone (add some crumbled ground beef along with the onions during the first step, if you like). Feel free to substitute for the vegetables; just make sure you have 8-12 cups

1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup fat (chicken, duck, beef, ghee)
6 garlic cloves, mashed
1/2 cup water

Homemade Sausage

This is Mark Bittman's recipe for sausage, and it's got LOTS of extra fat into which (if you're Ben) you can dip your sausage. :) You can freeze the sausages once they're made into patties; thaw overnight in the fridge.

2.5 lbs boneless pork shoulder, with its fat (or, if it's lean, use 2 lbs. shoulder and .5 lbs. fatback)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. dried sage (or 1 tsp. fresh)

Our Favorite Roast Chicken

Even though I know that some people feel that the holy grail of roast chicken is a crispy-all-over skin, I think this is a fine compromise. The fat doesn't burn on the bottom, the chicken is really tender, and there's a good amount of crispy skin that happens even with the lid on.

1 onion, diced
1/4 c. ghee
1 celeriac, diced
2 large carrots, or a small butternut squash, cut into large chunks

1 medium 4-pound-ish chicken
1/4 lemon
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 450f.

Barbecue Sauce, fruit-sweetened

This is delicious, and it's GAPS/SCD friendly! Makes about 2 cups.

2 medium-large ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 small-medium apples, with skin (preferably a sweet variety like macintosh)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 small onion, sliced
1/2 red chile pepper, seeded

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over high heat; when mixture boils, reduce heat and allow to simmer uncovered for an hour or so, until vegetables/fruits are super soft, and the liquid has reduced. (For even thicker sauce, simmer for a longer time.)

Apple Pecan Cake

I didn't follow this recipe exactly--it's copied from an SCD recipe site. I used more apple, some almond flour and less pecan, less honey (cooked honey really isn't GAPS-friendly), and ghee+milk solids instead of butter. Also, I omitted the baking soda. But on a birthday, one must be able to let loose a little!

It's better once it's chilled (at least, I thought so with our version, because leaving out the baking soda makes for a softer texture that improves with refrigeration). It had a tasty flavor!

Non-Sweet Cinnamon Summer Squash Pudding

This is only really a "treat" to those of us on extremely carbohydrate restricted diets, whose tastes are really pure...like my son!

~4 good-sized summer squashes, de-seeded if the seeds are large, and steamed until very soft (one quart mashed squash)
8 large eggs
6 T. cinnamon (no, that's not a typo)
~1/2 cup fat (ghee, coconut oil, or a mixture)

Blend very well in a food processor or blender, and turn into a well-greased pan. Drizzle some more ghee on top.

Bake at ~350f till puffed and lightly golden and cooked through.

Macadamia Nut Hummus

This is so amazingly tasty (and rich)! Adapted from a raw food cookbook.

1.5 cups raw macadamia nuts, soaked for 1-2 hours in water and then drained
2 T. lemon juice
1.5 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup good tahini (like Joyva)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup plus 2 T. water
1 small clove garlic

Blend all ingredients well in a food processor, and enjoy with raw vegetable sticks.

Kira's Delicious Zucchini Latkes

I adapted this great recipe from someone on the GAPS yahoogroup. They're slightly softer than potato pancakes, but really tasty.

3 medium-large size zucchinis or yellow squash (3 lbs. total)
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 - 1/2 onion grated (depending on your taste). Or you can use 1 shallot.
2 eggs, well beaten
fresh ground pepper
lard or duck fat

Grate up the zucchinis on the largest shredding side of a box grater. Add salt, stir well, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Creamy Basil Pate

1 head cauliflower, steamed and cooled
lots of ghee, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
large handful of fresh basil
3 large eggs

Blend in Vitamix or good blender; pour into greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350f for ~1 hour.

Squash Crepes

There are lots of versions of this recipe available in the SCD community. This one works well, although these are time-consuming to fry, because they're so thin and little.

4 eggs
1 cup mashed cooked zucchini or other cooked vegetable
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 T. melted coconut oil

Blend all ingredients well. Cook pancakes over medium heat in plenty of coconut oil, making little cakes so that you can flip them without breaking 'em.

Carrot Pudding

This is adapted from the "Carrot Mousse Cake" at http://gapsguide.com/2008/12/11/a-week-of-winter-dinners/ . It is austere, but highly delicious if you have been off all refined carbohydrates for awhile and have really tasty, sweet carrots.

10 large carrots, steamed till soft
1/2-3/4 cup ghee
2-inch piece of peeled, chopped fresh ginger (1 tsp. powdered)
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
Zest from a large organic lemon (optional)

Sigrid's Cauliflower Pilaf

I adapted this from a neighbor's recipe.

Ingredients
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 head cauliflower
1-2 carrots
green vegetable that can be shredded (e.g. 1/2 – 1 zucchini, or a handful of green beans)
ghee
2 cups chicken stock
(optional) sweet pepper, chopped
(optional) sliced mushrooms
(optional) green peas
(optional) 1-2 bay leaves
1⁄2 tsp. Italian-type seasonings
1/4 cup minced parsley
1⁄2 tsp. dry oregano
1⁄2 tsp. ground thyme
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sunflower Seed Patties

These are tasty, and hold together remarkably well.

2 c. sunflower seeds, soaked ~24 hours in salt water (they will nearly double in volume)
1 1/4 tsp. salt

Blend these ingredients, then stir in
1 lg. onion, minced
1/4 c. minced parsley
2 med. eggs

Fry small patties over medium-low heat in extra-virgin coconut oil.