Saturday, February 6, 2010

Bacon-Shitake Lamb Chops w/Walnut Guacamole


Just in time for Valentine's Day - This meal will impress your Paleo buddy and it's easy/fast to make. Before we get there though - a little rant...
This is probably insanity, but i'm gonna talk about cholesterol, specifically MY cholesterol. Now hold on, i know you don't give a rat's a$$ about some paleo punk's lipid profile, but hold your water... How often do you find someone with terrible cholesterol, on drugs for many years, who tells his doctor to shove it and goes Paleo, full tilt, for 1.5 yrs, drugless, and lives to tell about it? ;-) So, on the slim chance some of you care about what all this does under the hood, here's a very short glimpse/summary by admittedly a non-doctor, non-nutritionist, non-dietician, paleo-punk.

If you're interested, and thus familiar, with all these numbers, the data is pretty self-evident so i won't jibber jabber along. I will say i'm pissed that i was not given the right information when i asked the doc what to change in my diet. So instead, i stuffed a white pill down my beak for several years. Bottom line, a PZ diet is almost as good as straight Lipitor and if i get my HDL up a little more, it will be equivalent - at least on this sample of one. And here's what really blows.. Doc says cut back on red meat and eggs. What did I do? Ate more! I'm not happy about the HDL (future experiment..) but it is what it is. This is also not an "iso-body-weight" experiment - leaned up on that PZ stuff. Couldn't help it, ain't goin back...BTW, Lipitor is about $1/day. U do the math... OK... enough ranting.

Bacon-Shitake Lamb Chops with Walnut Guacamole
... this is enough for two 35 gm P meals. It's low carb/high fat. Sub it for a standard 5 block PZ meal just for fun.

Enough Lamb Chops to yield 12 oz meat - I buy it at Costco and trim the meat off the bone. It's from down-under - darn good.
1 Full Cup sliced shitake mushrooms
1 green onion - finely chopped
2 slices bacon
1 sprig fresh rosemary - finely chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil - 1 for lamb, one for mushrooms/onions
1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
celery salt and pepper to taste

Preparing the lamb and mushrooms:
Trim lamb meat off the bone - lose the fat.
Get Bacon going in the pan - when done, remove, but leave bacon fat
Add 1 Tablespoon (if necessary) olive oil and saute mushrooms and scallions, when almost done, add rosemary. Break up bacon and add to mushrooms. Keep warm.

With really hot pan, add olive oil then 10 oz lamb. Add celery salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce. Saute 'till done. Dish it up and top with mushroom saute. I garnished with some yellow pepper but whatever fresh veggie you have in the fridge will do, just to add some color.



Guacamole - you can buy this pre-made. This is simplified- based on what i had on hand. You should prepare this ahead of the lamb and have it already on the plate.
1 1/2 Avocado
1 scallion - finely chopped
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
Mix well, put on some romaine or other leafy green, top with walnuts.
... U might serve a glass of red dependent upon the occasion ;-) If you haven't had lamb lately, you're in for a real treat.
Last thing is a status on the whole macro-nutrient cycling (MNC) experiment i'm doing. I was inspired by Rob Faigin. Where am I at on it after ~4 weeks? Well, at the risk (probably high) of appearing vain, right about here... Now this is 1.5 yrs of PZ and ~4 weeks of MNC so don't draw conclusions yet. I can say it's not HURTING me but i'm on the fence about how much it's helping me. BTW, i'm not on any sauce, helpers, HGH, or supplements of dubious origin - and never was. On occasion, i will take creatine, glutamine, glucosamine,and fish oil - but it's irregular.

The other night, right after a FRAN workout, i did my carb-up meals. The next day I felt HUGE, like someone turned a switch on. IDK, gotta keep going with it. Will do my post MNC crossfit total in 4 weeks and more blood work. The other reason i posted this vanity shot, and the lipid table, is to hopefully encourage the old (yes i'm 47) and the young to read the books, question the docs, lift heavy $hit, crossfit 'till U puke, eat a PZ diet, and make up your mind. For the first time ever, we're getting good information on fitness and nutrition - and it works. Thank you Crossfit, Audette, Cordain, Wolf, Sears, Taubes, Wiley, and many others. If you don't know what i'm talking about, ask them (they figured it out), or ask me (a practitioner with an eye for detail - i hope).
Eat Well! Steve "Paleo"
PrimitiveFoods.com

14 comments:

  1. that lamb recipe sounds incredible. im gonna have to try that one, thanks!

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  2. Lindsey and I are both really excited to try this recipe!

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  3. Warrior Steve, once again really creative recipe I am excited, to make and most of all EAT it, keep em coming.
    'Jeremy CrossFit Capacity

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  4. Thanks J! Load up on some lamb and every other meat you can find! You're gonna need it!!!!!

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  5. No one made a comment about that pic..Steve..wow you look amazing and 47 years young! Damn dude..what ever you are doing don't stop...Very inspiring. Would love to talk food with you sometime..
    Soo cool about your numbers..
    Just a side note..I have lymes disease the Dr. gave me meds to take for 3 weeks..I was still sick she said I would have to wait for it to run its course, it could take 6 months..who has 6 months..so I came across the paleo diet from a crossfit site..Urbangetsdiesel(and your site)..Only been paleo for 3 months but..I have never felt better!! I will never go back

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  6. Thanks Anita - there are many many benefits to the Paleo diet. Glad it's working for you!

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  7. Dude you are RIPPED! Holy shit.

    I am glad to hear about your numbers. I'm getting mine run next week, and I look forward to seeing where they stand versus last February.

    Finally, I bet you can get your HDL up. Have you got any clues about what to try?

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  8. Thanks Matt! - I once had my HDL in the low 70's and it was after I had been doing some pretty serious MTB endurance training. I've gotten away from the long distance stuff lately so my thinking right now is a experiment in the summer where I add it back in big time. All i have to do is crossfit all day and ride all night!!!! Good to hear from ya!

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  9. yum yum yum yum yummy......and I'm not just talking about the meal. Jesus Steve, you are an anatomy book - how do you do it!?

    Keep up all the great work and the delicious recipes coming. I'm making the coconut shrimp tomorrow night. Can't wait to taste it!

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  10. Thanks Shari! Apparently a little lighting goes a long ways ;-) Sure hope you liked the coconut shrimp!... Will post again soon... waiting for some "data" so i can summarize the MNC experiment. Steve

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  11. Just found this blog very nice ,I'm gonna try some recipes.
    What is your bw in those photos
    Graeme

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  12. Hi Graeme - hope you like the recipes... BW about $1.72 Steve

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  13. I have been reading Rob Faigin's book would like to know your thoughts on it.

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  14. I think it's a really good book, and inspiring. However, I think it's hard to eat paleo and follow his protocol - that many carbs is tough w/out carb dense foods.. Also, cycling macro-nutrients seems like it took constant focus for me. I prefer to just eat consistently...

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