I had some fun in the kitchen this weekend.
I was like a DJ. Not a radio DJ but like a big-time DJ in a club who takes songs that you love and mixes them together into a non-stop musical medley that keeps moving on the dance floor.
Or perhaps a better analogy for what went on in my kitchen this weekend is that I created a culinary mash up, like on Glee when they mix together two songs and make something new and fun. Like when all the boys did a mash up of songs from Top Gun and Risky Business a few weeks ago. Did you see that? No? Seriously, it was really clever.
OK, back to the recipe –
I had a beef kidney I wanted to cook. The paleosphere is buzzing lately about why everybody should be eating organ meats. So last week when I placed an order with US Wellness Meats and made sure to add two beef kidneys to my virtual basket.
I had already enjoyed one of them simply by sautéing it with mushrooms, baby kale and the Dijon mustard sauce from last week’s post. (That sauce is my new favorite. It’s good on everything!)
But I wanted to do something different with the second one.
So I went into culinary DJ mode and created this new recipe by synthesizing two brilliant recipes from others. I created a mash up of a paleo dumpling recipe I found on The Journey of Two and my favorite spice blend from The Clothes Make the Girl. I also tossed some fat and veggies and ended up with a sort of paleo ravioli/pierogi/biscuit.
Preparing this dish took a little more effort than my normal meal — but it turned out to be a real treat. If you are looking for a way to add a little organ meat into your diet, this is a good option. The kidney gets hidden among the onion, spices and dough.
Of course, if kidney is not on the menu for you yet, that’s fine. You could easily use liver or ground beef and create your own recipe mash up.
Beef Kidney Biscuits
Onion, 1
Celery, 2 stalks
Coconut oil, 2 tablespoons
Beef kidney, 8 ounces
Rogan Josh spice blend, 2 tablespoons
Paleo dumpling dough, 2 batches
- A few hours before you start, prepare the kidney. To do this, cut away the white connective tissue. Let the kidney meat soak in water with a dash of apple cider vinegar for an hour or more. (This is recommended to remove any odors. I didn’t notice any odors but I did it anyway to be cautious.)
- Chop celery finely.
- Shred or dice onion. Remove extra moisture from onion by squeezing it in your hands or pressing it on a paper towel.
- Add coconut oil to pan over medium heat. Once oil has melted, add onion and celery. Saute for 6-8 minutes, until onions are soft.
- Dice up kidney. Add kidney and spice blend to pan. Saute for another 10 minutes, until cooked through.
- Mix up dough batter. Create a thin, flat layer of dough about 12 inches long and 4 inches tall. (The dough is kind of moist so I used my hands to press it out since I was worried it would stick to a rolling pin. I did this on my cutting board but next time I will do it on parchment paper to make it easier to manipulate.)
- Using a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of the kidney mixture onto bottom 2 inches of dough so you have about 8 spoonfuls of filling. Leave space between spoonfuls so you can create a sort of pierogi or ravioli-type thing, which I am calling a biscuit.
- Fold down top part of dough over kidney mixture, taking care not to tear or break dough. This is a little hard, but just go for it. If they break, just press the dough back together.
- Use sharp knife to put biscuits apart. Gently press edges of each biscuit together to seal the meat inside.
- Use a metal spatula to transfer the biscuits to a greased baking tray. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes.
- Top with hot sauce or other favorite dipping sauce. They were good hot and cold.