Sauerkraut in pictures, and under 10 minutes

aut in pictures, and under 10 minutes

1. Peel and discard any wilted outer leaves. Rinse the cabbage head.
2. Core the cabbage. I discarded the core, but you could also include it.
   
3. Cut it into pieces that fit in your food processor's chute.
   
4. Use the slicer blade and shred it (not the grater/shredder blade, the slicer will get it fine enough).
   
5. Weigh it.
   
6. Add 2% salt by weight. In this case I added 7 grams. Add salt: 4 teaspoons per kilogram. In this case, I used 1.5t.
   
7. Use your hands to smoosh it and wilt the cabbage leaves. You're trying to get it to release its own water to make a brine.
   
8. Pack it into a jar. The cabbage should be fully submerged in the brine. If not, add a touch of water.
   
9. Put a lid on it and label it with the date. Leave it on the counter for a few days. Check on it regularly to ensure it's still submerged in the brine. Taste it every so often. Once it's ripe put it in the fridge to slow ripening.
   

Notes: The first picture was taken at 7:15, the last at 7:25. Feel free to add other veggies and dress it up. Just follow the same rules, easy peasy.

Calories Yesterday

Worked out in the morning: deadlifts, chin ups, bent over row, crunches. I'm a 5'11" male, 166lbs, probably ~10 to 12% bodyfat. Goals are strength & muscle gain, maintain lean profile.

Time	Description	Calories (kcal)	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Protein (g)
1:00pm	4 egg omelet with a chicken breast, green onions and bleu cheese, with a small sweet potato on the side.	1138	60	43	105
2:30pm	Protein Shake (1 scoop w/water)	120	1	3	24
	3oz Cherries	50	0	13	0
5:30pm	21oz beef sirloin tips, 4oz yogurt (marinade), 1T butter, 3oz lettuce	1469	71	16	179
9:15pm	Protein Shake (1.5 scoops w/ 1/2 cup milk)	240	4	11	40
	15g Bleu cheese, 55g sauerkraut, 30 g cashews	236	18	11	8
TOTAL		3253	154	97	356
	Calories from each		1386	388	1424
	As % of Total		43	12	44

Discussion. Every once in a while I keep a tally to see how I'm doing. Use a kitchen scale and WolframAlpha.com to compute your macros. It's of course an approximation, but as close as you can get, I think.

For calories from each, use 9 cal/gram for fat, and 4 cal/gram for carbs and protein. You may notice that the percentages in the last row only add up to 98%. Close enough!

Braised Veal Chuck Roast

• Preheat oven to 350ºF
• In Dutch oven, brown all sides of a 2lb boneless veal chuck roast in bacon fat

Add to Dutch oven:

• 4 cups homemade chicken stock
• 2T rosemary
• 1t paprika
• 1/4t cumin
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise pod
• 1/2 habanero, minced
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1/2T salt

Bring mixture to simmer, then place in oven. Cook covered for 2 to 3 hours, or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from oven; remove meat from liquid and allow to rest. Discard cinnamon stick & star anise pod. Smoosh tomatoes, onions, etc and reduce (you want all of the flavor but none of the chunk). Strain out all the clumps, reduce some more (should be 1/4 to 1/2cup liquid remaining). Using two forks, shred the roast. Add back to liquid, shred some more, and combine well. Enjoy.

Exquisite. The mouth feel of the ultra-reduced chicken stock is silky smooth. A little spicy and complex with deep flavors. Highly recommended. Would probably work well with beef, too.

Thai Rama Beef

An experiment. Sautéed ground beef, coconut milk, a little green curry paste, a heap of almond butter and a dash of salt. Served with fresh steamed broccoli. Paste was too thick…need to get the proportions right.