I'm so fascinated by the intersection of food from across the diaspora. The recipes I enjoy developing most often take notes from southern Black American, Caribbean and West African food. Thanks to my Cape Verdean background I'm also just as likely to pull in elements of Portuguese cuisine. (The West African islands of Cabo Verde were colonized by the Portuguese.) Today was no exception. I prepared shrimp in a spicy tomato-based sauce which was inspired by Haiti's creole sauce and New Orlean's bbq shrimp. It also reminded me of Shrimp Mozambique, a Portuguese dish named after its former African colony. (As an interesting aside, Lousiana also has its own tomato-based creole sauce, and Cape Verde's language is called Creole/Kriolu. So, you can see how these jumbled ideas in my head might exist.)


I've been craving shrimp for a while, but held off on attempting this dish until I found some decently sized shell-on shrimp. The shells add a ton of flavor to the sauce and also protect the shrimp from overcooking. If the idea of peeling them at the table really bothers you, I'd take the time to simmer the shells in chicken stock to make a shrimp stock for this recipe first. If you can't find shell-on shrimp, a splash of fish sauce will help. As written, the recipe works for Whole30, assuming your stock and hot sauce are compliant. If I was off Whole30, I'd probably have incorporated white wine or beer in the sauce, but I relied on lime juice and a dash of vinegar for acidity today. Read on for the easy recipe, below!

Happy New Year! 2020 "officially" started today with the kids back in school and my inbox overflowing from a much needed holiday break. But before diving into work, I spent some time this morning getting my kitchen in order. Cleaning out the pantry is something I try to do at least quarterly, and it was a priority today because I am starting a new round of the Whole30 program! The past year has been full of major changes, and unfortunately with that came a lot of stress-eating, fast food, and overindulging. To keep it real, I feel fatigued, my digestive system is a wreck, and my eczema's been flaring up regularly. The medication I've been on caused weight gain, which comes with even more emotional baggage. All signs were pointing to my diet, so I'm happy to be kicking off the decade with a renewed commitment to being more mindful of what I eat. But here's the thing. I don't do diets, and Whole30 isn't one. It's thirty days without dairy, grains, added sugars, soy, alcohol, and legumes. Lots of foods in these categories tend to cause inflammation, so the idea is to eliminate for thirty days followed by gradual reintroduction until you've figured out what your body can handle. (You should read the full program details here.) It's not about counting calories or macros, weighing in, or any of the other activities that stress me out about dieting. The best thing about Whole30, besides the way I know I'll feel in a few weeks, is restoring my relationship with food. I still remember the initial shock of reading all the things you can't eat on the program. But what I quickly learned is that there is still a whole world of fresh food out there to choose from, and none of it has to make me feel sick.


Today's chicken stew is a great example of how you can still enjoy comfort food within the Whole30 program. This is just a good old-fashioned, rustic chicken stew with a couple minor ingredient swaps that make the recipe compliant. I used ghee as my cooking fat where I would have used butter, because ghee is lactose-free. Clarified butter, duck fat, or olive oil would also work well.  The potatoes help to thicken the broth, but I also added some tapioca starch, because flour and cornstarch are out. (Yes, you can still have your white potatoes! However, I'm careful not to go crazy with starchy root veggies every day.) This recipe is similar in method to my Stewed Chicken & Manioc, but I used a whole chicken here instead of all dark meat.

I'm not here to convince you to do your own Whole30, but I can definitely be a resource for advice and recipes if you've chosen to take that path. I'll be sharing many of my day to day meals on social media so you can grab some inspiration that way too. Five years ago, I wrote about my early experiences with Whole30 so that's a good place to start if you're new here. In my next post, I'll provide an update on what I keep in my pantry while I'm doing Whole30. The good news is that in the last five years, so many more brands have gotten behind this and it's not nearly as difficult to grocery shop for compliant ingredients anymore. (That's thanks in part to the advocacy of Melissa Hartwig Urban, Whole30's co-founder. I could write a whole post on my admiration for this woman, who I finally got to meet in person last summer!) With all that being said, if you never plan to try Whole30, my "regular" recipes will still be posted here. But I do hope you give some of these sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free meals a go as well, because I promise they hit just the same.



Ingredients:
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 leek, sliced (discard the dark green parts or freeze for stocks)

This post is in partnership with Sam's Club. The content and opinions are my own.

Holiday brunches call for a bit of decadence, so I decided to take a stab at a classic steakhouse dish for this post. A steak served "oscar style" is topped with crab, Béarnaise sauce, and asparagus. It's a luxurious surf and turf combination, but easier than it looks to pull off at home. Luckily, Sam's Club was a great way to save on the most important ingredients - filet mignon and lump crab. Sam's Club offers USDA Prime Beef, selected from the top ten percent of all beef. The marbling, tenderness, and flavor make for an amazing value at a low price. In the past, filet mignon has not been one of the first cuts I reach for because it is so lean. But these steaks were marbled so well, that combined with the luscious Bearnaise sauce, it was a real treat.


Even though this is a classic dish, there are ways to take advantage of more modern technology in the kitchen to prepare it. I opted to cook the filet mignon using my sous vide machine, which produces a perfectly rare or medium-rare interior without any guesswork. The time the steaks cook in the sous vide bath also allows you to better focus on prepping the other components.  (If you're new to sous vide cooking, check out my guide first. If you don't have sous vide equipment, you can sear the steaks in a heavy skillet and finish roasting in the oven.) For the Béarnaise sauce, I used an immersion blender, similar to how I'd make mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce. It takes just a minute and is much less fickle than whisking clarified butter and egg yolks by hand. This part of the dish was adapted from Serious Eats, which I've found to be a solid recipe.

Multi-tasking is required to pull this off, or you could work with a partner to split up the tasks. For timing purposes, you'll want the crabmeat prepped and asparagus roasted when the steaks are seared and ready to plate. The blended sauce should be the last thing you prepare, but follow the instructions to reduce the tarragon infused liquid ahead of time, which takes about 15 minutes. Read on for the full recipe, below.

Step 1: Sous vide steaks.

This post has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. I always feel slightly guilty for switching gears peak-holiday season, but the truth is I'm tired of holiday testing. And my kids needed something "normal" for dinner tonight, so I took the opportunity to finally document my spaghetti & meatballs recipe. As often as we eat it, I have been attempting to do so since 2016! I realized this as I was looking for my plated spaghetti photos and spotted The Toddler. She's five-going-on-forty now, but spaghetti is still near the top of her list. The Teenager doesn't complain either, so it's one meal we can all agree to eat for at least a couple days.

• If you buy your ground meat from the counter, it's easier to ask for the exact amount you need. Otherwise, you're typically stuck with buying 1 pound or more at a time, pre-packaged. (When I'm in that predicament I just freeze my extra ground meat, or make more meatballs.)
• If you can't find veal, use additional beef or pork. But they're so much better with veal!
• If you don't eat pork at all, try ground lamb or ground turkey. Please get ground turkey thigh, and don't try to make meatballs with super lean white meat. You can find it at Whole Foods. Turkey meatballs are not as succulent as the pork version, to me, but I do make them often for clients who enjoy them.
• Gluten-free bread crumbs behave completely differently when soaked with milk or stock, as this recipe calls for. The last time I attempted was disastrous and I wasn't able to completely break up the clumps of breadcrumbs that formed. I've used ground oats in a pinch, which was moderately successful. I welcome your gluten-free modifications in the comments if you try my recipe out! (For a good gluten-free pasta, my clients like the Jovial brand.)
• San Marzano tomatoes are usually worth the extra couple dollars to me in sauces, but lately I've been trying domestic tomatoes. I liked San Merican's tomato puree, despite their questionable marketing which tricked me into thinking I was buying San Marzanos. 
• I do use a tomato puree here, because I liked the consistency of the finished sauce. If you want a chunkier sauce, by all means, start with whole tomatoes and just crush them in the pot.
• Use real parm, not the green can. A small wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano will set you back around $8, but lasts through several recipes. You can also save the rinds and simmer them in stocks, soups, and pasta sauces for more flavor.
• Practice smart food safety. Make sure to wash your hands immediately after any steps involving raw meat, and be extra vigilant cleaning up afterward.

Ingredients for the spaghetti sauce:
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
1 large onion, finely diced
Kosher salt, to taste
2 tbsp grated garlic (about 10 cloves)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
2  28-oz cans of tomato puree
2 tsp Italian herb seasoning
2 bay leaves
Several sprigs of fresh basil, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving
1 to 2 tsp sugar (optional)


Ingredients for the meatballs:
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup buttermilk, milk, or stock
2 eggs
6 cloves garlic, grated
1 small onion, shredded on a box grater
1/4 cup minced Italian parsley
2 tsp Italian herb seasoning
2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp crushed fennel seeds
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
3/4 lb ground beef (80/20 or 85/15)
3/4 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal

Other ingredients:
1 lb dried spaghetti

Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Yield: Makes about 3 dozen meatballs. Serves 6 to 8.
Special Equipment: You'll need a Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot, another large pot for boiling pasta, a colander, heavy duty sheet pan, fine grater, and a box grater.

Part One: Spaghetti Sauce

"The Dutchess" pot by Great Jones is one of my favorite things in the kitchen right now.