Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Paleo Dutch Baby

Recipe base is from Nourished Kitchen as follows with my substitutions shown in red:

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee (see sources) - I used coconut oil
  • 3 medium apples, cored and chopped into 1/4-inch dice - 4 or 5 apples
  • 6 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup milk, not ultrapasteurized (see sources) - 3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk + 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup whole grain sprouted flour (see sources) - 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • no more than 1/4 cup whole unrefined cane sugar (see sources) - 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
  • 1 lemon, sliced thin, to serve

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Melt clarified butter in a cast iron skillet over a moderate flame, then toss in chopped apples. Fry the apples in butter until they release their perfume and become tender when pierced by a fork, about six to eight minutes.
  3. Beat eggs and milk together in a separate bowl until smooth and uniform, then beat in sprouted flour, unrefined cane sugar, cinnamon, cloves and sea salt.  Continue beating the batter for the Dutch baby until it is smooth with no lumps.  The batter will be very liquid.
  4. Remove the skillet from the heat, pour the Dutch baby batter over the cooked apples and bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty-five to forty-five minutes until puffed and golden.
  5. Serve the Dutch baby pancake immediately, garnished with sliced lemon.
YIELD: 6 to 8 servings.
TIME: 6 to 8 minutes (stovetop), 35 to 45 minutes (oven) - I checked my version at 22 minutes and it looked done so I turned the oven off and then took it out after 5 minutes at rest in the hot oven and it was PERFECT.


Texture is moist and just the right amount of crumbly.


The texture lends well to using cookie cutters to  make neat shapes, something I think my 5 year old will enjoy in his lunch box. I cut some out last night and stored them in the fridge overnight and they're just as good.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Beet Raviolis


Knowing I can't have a certain type of food makes me crave it. I hardly ever eat pasta and NEVER crave it. So, naturally eating Paleo made me crave raviolis. On day 3 of the 30 day challenge. Sweet. I thought I'd try thinly slicing a big fat red beet to see if it would work and we all agreed it did the trick!


Ravioli not-pasta:
2 big red beets, sliced very thinly and evenly (did this with a sharp knife but a mandolin or cuisinart might make the job way easier). Steam for 5 minutes to soften. Set aside.

Filling:
3 zucchini, sliced
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic
apx 1t olive oil
Toss all ingredients into a shallow baking dish and bake/roast uncovered at 350 until softened, stirring once. I think this took about 25 minutes. When it comes out put into a dish and stick blend slightly but leave some chunks behind for texture. 
Cook up 3 sausages with their skins removed (or dice up pre-cooked sausage). I used a lamb pesto raw sausage.  Mix cooked sausage with veggie mix. Allow mixture to cool and then add in 2 whisked whole eggs and any herbs desired. I added a handfull of fresh herbs conisting of rosemary, thyme, oregano, and Italian sage.

Place half the sliced beets on a cookie sheet or two lined with parchment paper. Spoon a tablespoon or more of mix on to it, top with other half of sliced beets and press each down slightly.

Cover with another sheet of parchment paper, bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Serve!

I thought about adding a pasta sauce but the flavors were so delicate that we agreed it would have been overwhelmed by sauce. They were juicy and yummy as is.

 

Beet Raviolis served with steamed broccoli and purslane.
Incredibly Unphotogenic Curried Pork & Veggies with a Sweet Potato Top

No idea what else to call this --
2 cups leftover meat, cut into small bites (I used leftover pork shoulder)
3 broccoli stalks, sliced thin
1 cup chopped carrots, sliced thin
2T garlic, chopped
1T Indian curry powder
1T Tandoori seasoning

Toss all ingredients together right in the tall baking dish you will cook this in.

For the top:
apx 3 cups cooked sweet potato (I oven roasted mine)
2T soft coconut oil
2 eggs

Whip these few ingredients together, I used a hand whisk. Spread over top of meat & veggie mixture.

Bake at 350 until bubbly, I'd guess 30 minutes but I forgot to keep track.

DELICIOUS! Cyrus said it was one of the tastiest pork dishes he has had for a while. Served our family of 4 (2 littles with big appetites) with no leftovers.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

First Paleo Dinner: Tip roast bbq + butter leaf salad and steamed broccoli.
 Cilantro vinegarette dressing was tossed with the lettuce and avocado and poured over meat:
bunch of cilantro (mine is flowering)
2 raw garlic cloves
juice of half a lemon
apx 3T seasoned rice vinegar (completely forgetting it is made from a GRAIN!)
apx 1t grapeseed oil
-- mince cilantro and garlic, combine all ingredients. Voila.  I'm sure ACV could be substituted, but I've never tried using it w/o a sweetener of some kind.


Breakfast Casserole
Loosely adapted from CrossFit North Atlanta
3/4 yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
1t grapeseed oil
1 stalk leftover steamed broccoli
10 eggs, mixed.
s & p
-- Roughly chop onion and bell pepper, saute in grapeseed oil until softened. Thow in casserole dish, allow to cool. Chop steamed broccoli, mix in. Mix eggs, add s & p, pour in over veggies. Cook at 350 degrees until eggs are set. I took mine out a bit early because the kids were starving, in the future I'll cook the veggies and assemble them in the pan the night before. The broccoli made the dish, the kids ate a ton of it.