Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

http://marianutrition.blogspot.com/2011/10/mexican-chicken-lime-soup.html

This was really good. I also had sour cream with it. It was pretty spicy. I used 2 large chicken breasts, about 2 lbs. They were shredded.

Scotch Eggs

This is from a Paleo cookbook I recently purchased called Well Fed. Someone blogs about the recipe here: http://lowcarbcookery.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/scotch-eggs-from-well-fed/

Anyway, it is really good. I used almost all of a 3.75 oz bag of pork rinds. I probably coated them too thick, it is hard not to, so I was running out of the 2 oz and so crushed more. We each had one as the main course of dinner. It felt really fancy, and is a great way to have eggs be the star of the meal. David loved the pork rind. Non-paleo versions of this recipe on line use breadcrumbs instead of ground pork rind, but even if I had the choice I'm not sure i would use breadcrumbs after seeing how much David liked this.

Update: I am not loving the leftovers. It is too strong flavored for me. Maybe with another kind of meat or different seasonings, but as is it is not that appetizing to me. It would be better if the meat later was thinner, maybe with 3 oz ground meat per egg instead of 4.

Grain Free Porridge

Loosely based on http://www.thefitnessdish.com/?p=11957.

1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 Tablespoon coconut oil or grass-fed organic butter (put in at end)
1/3 of a very ripe large banana (or one whole small one), mashed/smashed

~ 1 cup whole milk

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (put in at end)

1 egg

cinnamon

few raisins and unsalted pepitas (good for texture, but optional)

So measure out first 3 ingredients into small saucepan. Add half the milk and stir on medium until it starts to cook. It will expand, but never really gets thick. Then add honey cinnamon, and banana. Add more milk, cooking a few more minutes. Beat egg separately and whisk into hot porridge. Don't let the heat be too high, this is making a sort of custard pudding by adding the egg. When it looks like the egg has thickened and cooked after a few minutes, you are done. Stir in butter, vanilla, raisins and pepitas.

Calamari Steaks

Based on http://www.food.com/recipe/calamari-steaks-81489. I tried to paleoize it by using almond flour and skipping bread crumbs. It was very strange. And dredging in almond flour never works very well. The calamari itself was really odd. I don't think I'll buy any again, even it if it is cheap like it was this week.

David did not eat any because he is very anti squid. So only I ate it. And the rating is mine.

Paleo Chocolate Cake in a mug

Yesterday was chocolate cake for breakfast day, and though we've had it on the calendar for many years have never actually managed to do it. Until yesterday.I made chocolate cake in a mug based on this: http://www.delightedmomma.com/2012/09/3-minute-chocolate-paleo-mug-cake.html

It was good. I halved the honey though, and I'm glad I did. It became drier with time, but was pretty good for a 3 minute paleo cake. It was the right sweetness for morning. Sweet, but not too sweet.

Green Bean Casserole from scratch

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/best-ever-green-bean-casserole-recipe/index.html

This was good, but I used arrowroot starch instead of flour and it made the onions stick together and bake strangely. It worked fine as a sauce thickener though. And I left out the panko. So that definitely brought this down a notch. David said it wasn't much better than the green beans plain, but I thought it was still fun and will try it again sometime, maybe without any flour coating the onions.

Quick Tiny Chocolate

1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted (or at least softened)
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp peanut butter
1 tsp honey
a few pecans

Mix all except pecans until smooth, then stir in pecans. Use a very small dish. Put in freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Now you have a quick tiny chocolate.

Measurements are all approximate. I'm sure about the cocoa measurement, but everything else is a guess.

Serves 1!

Brussels Sprout Hash

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Brussels-Sprout-Hash-with-Caramelized-Shallots-240411

David hates Brussels Sprouts. He said he would rate steamed brussels sprouts a 2. And he rated this dish a 3.5. So that is some progress. But as good as this was, it took forever to make (mostly because I didn't fully read the directions and didn't realize the extent of slicing involved. Also, I HATE peeling shallots. It takes forever and ever.

Next time I think I'll just do onions instead of shallots and chop the brussels sprouts really fast any which way and not do the careful cutting the way they want.

Sauerkraut

I used the fermented Sauerkraut recipe form the book Nourishing Traditions (which I totally dig), and it is reprinted here: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/02/homemade-sauerkraut.html

And I did make whey to use in this recipe and others as I describe in a post I'll make soon.

Anyway, the sauerkraut is yummy with pork or other meat/fish. We ate it with pork and it was great. I love the caraway seeds. David likes it too and he is a major sauerkraut fan (though he's never had fermented).
I chopped up one large head of cabbage (which yielded quite a lot) and ended up doubling the recipe to spread between two cans. You do need to pound the cabbage a bit as the recipe says. I used  my metal meat pounder.

Meatloaf with Liver

http://www.holisticsquid.com/nutrient-dense-meatloaf/

This was really good. I used 91/9 beef, pork sausage, and 1/4 lb liver (pureed), though I should have used more because I couldn't taste it at all. I'm glad I used leaner beef since there was plenty of fat in the sausage, and more might have been too rich.

I added some ketchup on top (lacto-fermented paleo for us) and some bacon (uncooked strips) on top. The bacon was a mistake since it didn't cook well, but the ketchup was a great addition.

Roasted Pork Loin

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-pork-loin/

This was really great. I had a 4 lb roast that was really thick, and it needed more like 1 and 3/4 hours to get to 150.  I also doubled the spices and it was really great. I wish I'd had people over to eat with us.

The wine sauce was a must as well, especially since we ate it with homemade sauerkraut (fermented) and the sauce gave the kraut a nice extra flavor.

Low-Carb Pizza Crust

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/pizza/r/deepdishpizza.htm

I made this as written but with only 4 eggs, based on recommendations in the comments. I also used shredded parmesan cheese for the entire cup mentioned in the recipe. I baked it 25 minutes and it was golden when I took it out. It turned out well. David said he liked it as well as the cauliflower, but the cauliflower was more crunchy. This was good, though you do need a fork for the middle pieces. The big plus was there was no cauliflower taste, if you want a change from it.

Also, this was not deep dish. It was pretty thin.

Paleo Bread

http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-bread/

This is excellent. I baked it 40 minutes in a glass 8x4 inch pan.  I like this better than the coconut bread, it is lighter. Or maybe I just wanted something new and like them equally. Not exactly sure on this one.

Plum Crisp

Plum Crisp (wheat free)

Filling:

4 cups plums, halved and pitted (or 5 pears sliced)

2 tbsp cornstarch

½ cup apple juice

1 tsp cinnamon (or nutmeg if using pears)

Topping:

2 cups blanched almond flour

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ cup coconut oil

¼ cup honey or agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Mix filling. Mix topping roughly (will be semi-wet). Sprinkle over filling in 8x8 pan.

Bake 45 minutes at 350 covered with aluminum foil. Remove foil and bake 5-10 more minutes until top is crisp and golden brown and juices bubble. Let cool 30 minutes, then serve warm.

So that is the recipe. It is loosely based on a recipe from the Gluten-Free Almond FLour cookbook, by Elana Amsterday. The problem is that instead of fresh plums, I used canned plums that were 10 years old and mush, so the topping sunk in and never crisped up. The original recipe calls for pears and a tsp of nutmeg in the filling instead of cinnamon. Next time I'll follow it exactly. I don't think almond flour recipes are as forgiving as wheat flour.

Beef Liver and Onions - I

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/absolute-best-liver-and-onions/
I have recently discovered that DH is a big fan of liver and onions. I have had chicken liver at christmas, but I've never had beef liver before, so I made it tonight.

It tastes a lot like chicken liver. And it wasn't disgusting, but it was definitely strange. I modified the recipe to use 1/2 and 1/2 coconut flour to almond flour, instead of wheat flour since I'm not eating wheat right now.

David didn't really like it. He said the texture was too soft, and that's because anything other than wheat tends not to crisp up well in a breaded crust.

Also, I made a pound of it and there was more than half a pound left. The servings on the link there are ridiculous, I'm sure it could feed at least twice what they put there if they used a few more onions.
I sauteed one onion per person, and that seemed about right.

I won't make this recipe again unless I'm eating wheat and I can get the breading crispy. But my Julia Child french cookbooks have several other recipes in them for chicken or beef liver. And there are a lot online too. So I'm not done with liver yet.

Roasted Broccoli

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Broccoli-with-Asiago-241614

I liked this more than David. I used 1/4 c of parmesan cheese in this.

Ginger Mahi Mahi

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ginger-glazed-mahi-mahi/

I made this tonight. It was nice, but the flavor wasn't strong enough for me. It needed a sauce I think to put on after cooking. David liked it, but not as well as some other fish.

Bacon with onions and apples

I've been doing a dairy version of Paleo (lacto-paleo), or grain-free, for the past week. Eggs seem to be making me sick in the mornings, so I'm trying other things for breakfast. Oatmeal and cereal are definitely not grain-free, so I've looked on paleohacks.com for some ideas.

Today I cooked 5 pieces of center cut bacon, 1 thinly sliced small granny smith apple, and 1 thinly sliced medium onion. I cooked the bacon first, then poured off most of the grease, then sauteed the apple and onion on medium or a little lower for 20 minutes or so until very soft. I ate it with the bacon, not mixed together but often some bacon and saute in each bite. It was so divine. I'm not going to eat bacon every day or anything, but this is definitely going to happen once or twice a week.

(I had center cut left over from some cooking light recipes, and I think regular bacon slices are longer so I'd probably only use 4 of those.)

David didn't try this. I ate it all. All mine.

According to daily plate, this meal is 406 calories if you assume 1.5 tbsp bacon drippings.

Shrimp and Spinach Curry

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/curried-shrimps-and-spinach/
Shrimp and Spinach Curry

This was really good. I've never made a curry before, and blending the sauce as it says in the directions made it perfect. David hates shrimp, so this is going to me a laura only dish. The spinach was nice in it as well.

Coconut Bread

http://nourishedkitchen.com/coconut-flour-bread/
Coconut Flour Bread

So I'm not sure how noticeable it is or not, but I'm doing a grain-free regime now, coupled with a goal to eat 50 effective grams of carbohydrate (or less) per day for 30 days (and possibly longer depending on how it makes me feel). Today is day 4. I had one miserable week of my life several years ago where I ate only 20 effective carbs per day, and that is definitely too low and not sustainable at all (which it wasn't meant to be anyway). I'm also following a Paleo/Gary Taubes style thinking bent, where fat is fine, and important for satiety.

Hence my desire to make this bread.

David has not tried this. He is out of town. But I like it. It is not something I would eat more than one slice per day. It is mostly a way to eat nut butters, or have something to spread cheese on. It is also helpful for getting some calories in a low-carb way when I don't want meat. I tend not to be a big meat eater, and so I'm only eating one meaty meal a day on my grain-free kick. I'm having vegetables and avocado daily and am  having eggs for a meal or snack. So this bread is a nice addition. We'll see how it goes.

This bread has the consistency of cornbread. You can taste the coconut for sure. At times it seems like you might be chewing shredded coconut (which you basically are, except it is dried powdered coconut). The coconut flavor is mild though, and you definitely need to drink water with it.

Mine turned out a little denser than the picture in the original recipe, that may be because I used butter and coconut oil instead of ghee. I don't have any ghee. I also used raw unheated coconut flour that is high in fiber. There are more processed coconut flours out there that may have less fiber and perform different in baking. I don't have any experience with them, and this is the first thing I have ever made with coconut flour.

Lamb Leg Steak

I bought a bit of lamb at the store when there was a sale. It was deboned, which was nice.

I marinaded it for a half hour, then seared it on the stove 2 minutes per side, then lowered the temp and covered, checking periodically. I really don't know how to cook meat that well. This ended up cooked medium at the end, which was fine with me.

Marinade:
lemon juice
olive oil
salt
pepper
minced garlic (or crushed) (I used 2 big cloves)
basil

I left the marinade on the lamb in the pan during cooking and then scraped out the blackened garlic bits as they cooked and served it with the lamb when it was done.

DH really liked it. I served this with this side dish.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Radicchio, Onion

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_butternut_squash_radicchio_and_onion/
Roasted Butternut Squash, Radicchio, Onion

This was very tasty. The radicchio has a bitter flavor that balanced well with the sweetness of the squash. When the author says to cut into wedges, I think quarter wedges are fine. Make sure not to cut off the ends before roasting since the onion/radicchio will fall apart otherwise.

Catfish

I bought some fresh catfish the other day. I'm trying to buy fish when I see it is fresh and not previously frozen to see if it tastes different. I'm not really sure yet, since I've only done it once, but David really liked this fish.

1 catfish filet (mine was ~2/3 lb)

I used almond flour (plus salt/pepper) and coated it slightly, then roasted the fish at 350 for 15-20 minutes. I was going to do 500 for 15, but something in the oven was smoking so turned it down. So the time is approximate.

DH really liked it. His reaction after tasting the fish was a good sounding "hmm" of surprise as opposed to the really long chewing for the lobster disaster earlier this week.