Crispy Duck Breast with Chipotle Orange Sauce

Crispy Duck with Chipotle Orange Sauce: PaleoSpirit.com

As the summer wanes we have been trying to cram as many good things into the remaining days as possible. To this end, the boys and I have spent some blissful afternoons at a nearby arboretum. The weekends bring the crowds of wedding parties so we journey there on weekdays. The peace of the gardens … Read more

Ode to Julia Child and her Boeuf Bourguignon recipe

Julia Child Boeuf Bourguignon (Gluten-Free)

Image from Google Today, August 15, 2012, would be Julia Child‘s 100th birthday. Julia is a bit of a hero to me. She taught Americans to cook and paved the way for all celebrity chefs. But Julia is inspirational to me for other, more personal, reasons. Julia Child started her career as an advertising copywriter in … Read more

Asian-Style Beef Short Ribs (Paleo)

paleo asian beef short ribs

paleo asian beef short ribsBeef Shorts Ribs is/are one of those foods I mostly avoided prior to “going paleo”. They just seemed way too fatty to be a reasonable option for someone concerned with eating “healthy.” Or so I thought. I do remember being on vacation in New Orleans years ago and dining at Emeril’s Delmonico restaurant. We were on vacation so I was going to go a little wild. Okay, when talking about vacationing in New Orleans and going “wild” I should probably qualify that by saying my going wild amounted to eating a huge plate of beef short ribs and polenta. I was going craaaaazy I tell you!

Anyway, the meal was so fantastic I still remember it fondly not only because of the splurge on beef ribs but the accompanying polenta which was beyond delicious. For years I wondered what in the world could have been in that recipe to make it so amazing. Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve figured it out and….it is beef fat (aka tallow). Duh! That exquisite polenta was soaked in tallow from the short ribs. So imagine my delight when I read information like this telling the truth about red meat.

asian-style beef short ribs from PaleoSpirit.com

Of course, we know now that grass-fed/finished beef is higher in Omega-3 fats than conventional beef. So I do recommend when eating fatty cuts you use grass-fed beef. Although I must confess I did not follow that advice for this recipe simply because I did not have access to a higher quality product. Here’s a shot of the ribs I used.

raw beef short ribs

Instead of making polenta to go along with the short ribs (too much corn) I decided to take an asian path. Asian food is one of my favorites. Never having been able to achieve results at home that matched the food in good asian restaurants, it has usually been my preferred cuisine when eating out. The problem is I have celiac disease and am intolerant to all kinds of weird ingredients. If you have ever taken a stroll down the asian food aisle at the grocery store and peeked at the labels of some of the packaged food you will understand the problem. To get my beef AND asian food “fix” I came up with this recipe that avoids troublesome ingredients. If you are following an “autoimmune paleo protocol”** this recipe will work for you. The only ingredient that might be considered unusual is coconut aminos. Coconut aminos is a product derived from coconut that tastes like soy sauce but does not contain wheat (gluten) or soy.

When I was putting this post together I looked at the photos on my camera and had to laugh at what I saw. There were photos of beef short ribs then photos of flowers, then photos of more ingredients for asian-style beef short ribs, then vegetables from the garden and back to food and on and on. I just bought a new camera lens and I’ve been having fun practicing with it. But this is only part of the explanation. The truth is, flitting from activity to activity is pretty much standard operating procedure for me. Hmm, wonder what that means…Oh look, a spider!

spider waterdrop blackeyed susan @Paleospirit.com

Veggies from the garden.

veggies on towel

Sorry, what were we talking about? 

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Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce (Autoimmune Paleo Recipe)

Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce

From what I have heard, many people have chosen August as a month to follow the “Whole 30″. For those of you who have never heard of it, Whole 30 is essentially a strict version of the paleo diet similar to what I wrote about here. For one solid month there’s no wiggle room with sugar and no “cheats” with grains, legumes or dairy, among other things. It is a pretty drastic elimination diet but can do wonders for health. It is an absolute necessity if you suspect you have food intolerances. But it can also serve as a “reboot” for those of us who have already completed a 30 day (minimum) elimination diet in the past.

I already eat a fairly strict version of the paleo diet most of the time, but I do occasionally indulge in full fat (preferably pastured) dairy and some sugar in the form of things like maple syrup or honey. But in honor of folks following “Strictly Paleo” or “Whole 30” plans this month, I wanted to post a recipe that will fit right in.

Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce is easy, takes just a few minutes, will provide plenty of protein and Omega-3s and is also approved for those of you following an autoimmune paleo protocol. This means you are not eating nuts, eggs, plants in the nightshades family and certain types of peppers. (See my food matrix)

Even though I used pastured butter when I made this salmon dish recently (as shown in the photos) you can easily substitute ghee* or even olive oil. (Check out this post for an easy way to make ghee in the oven.)

Wild Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce

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Paleo Chipotle Chili

Paleo Chipotle Chili

Posting a recipe for Paleo Chipotle Chili today seems especially appropriate. I am traveling back to my home state of Texas for the Paleo FX Symposium 2012 in Austin. It was an early morning for me today, beginning with my 3:30 a.m. alarm, but made better by the pink sunrise highlighting the dark Manhattan skyline … Read more

Trout with Blood Orange Sauce and Cassava Bacon Hash

While perusing the fish options at Whole Foods recently, my attention was captured by the trout. According to the powers-that-be at Whole Foods (or whomever wrote the little note in front of each fish variety at least), trout goes great with sage, citrus and bacon (BACON!!!). Ordinarily I think of fish as requiring more delicate flavors. In fact, when I was living in Italy I distinctly remember the passionate view of my Italian roommates who insisted you should never, NEVER combine fish with cheese in recipes. (I did not entirely agree with that, by the way.) The given reason for this “RULE” of Italian cooking is the flavors of fish are much too delicate to withstand the strong flavor of cheese. Strong flavors supposedly overpower fish. So when I saw the bacon recommendation for trout I was intrigued. Who is this fish that defies such a universal truth?

I snapped up a couple of pounds of trout and determined to further investigate this culinary conundrum.trout

Another reminder of my former life in Italy was the gorgeous blood oranges I found in the produce section. Hmmm. Blood oranges qualify as citrus. I added them to my cart and began to formulate my plan for an amazing paleo fish recipe.

blood oranges

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Rutabaga Hash Browns with Pulled Pork

Turnip Hash Browns

Turnip Hash BrownsDo you aspire to be one of those people who plans ahead? Would you like to have your weekly meals all laid out in advance? While I know it would save me time and money to do that, the fact is I am not especially talented in this area (can you say ADD?). The following recipe for Rutabaga Hash Browns with Pulled Pork is an exception. Breakfast on the Paleo diet can be a tough transition because we are so used to eating some type of grain in the mornings. But while this recipe will not solve all weekly meal dilemmas, a few quick steps the night before and you will be minutes away from an amazing, delicious, nutritious and inexpensive breakfast the next day.

On a whim (see how I don’t plan!) I bought a waxed turnip. (I previously titled this post “Turnip Hash Browns with Pulled Pork” because I was a little mixed up about the terms. See explanatory post.) According to my crumpled receipt, which I just fished out of the bottom of my purse, I paid $1.52 for this 2.21 lb purple and white beauty. It is lower in overall calories and carbohydrates than white potatoes but high in vitamin C. Before I went to bed I peeled it and put it through the shredder on my food processor. (You could use a box grater.) It went into a big container and then my refrigerator. I ended up with about 7 cups of shredded rutabaga.

shredded turnip for hashbrowns

Next, I rubbed a 3 lb boneless pork butt (cost me $6) with some Tsardust Memories Russian Style Spice Seasoning from Penzey’s. It’s one of the spices I got on my recent trip to a Penzey’s retail store. It’s not critical that you use this exact spice. I was just experimenting and thought it might work well and it did. I also don’t remember the exact measurement but I basically covered the pork in a light layer. (Maybe 1 tablespoon?) The Tsardust Memories mix contains the following spices: salt, garlic, cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg and marjoram. I added about a 1/2 cup of chicken stock (you could use water) and cooked it on low heat overnight.

Here’s what it looked like in the morning:

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Garlic and Herb-Crusted Pork Loin

This Garlic and Herb-Crusted Pork Loin, inspired by Emeril Lagasse, goes great with my Pomegranate Raspberry Chipotle Sauce and Glaze. Christmas Eve is a perfect time to serve this dish because the red and green colors are so gorgeous and festive. I have also used the sauce to go with beef tenderloin on Christmas Day and it is absolutely delicious. The advantage of serving it with the pork loin is the whiteness of the pork makes a great backdrop to the red sauce.

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Broccoflower with Spicy Italian Sausage

The paleo diet has been the catalyst for eating an incredible amount of vegetables.  I would venture to say I eat more vegetables than most vegetarians I know.  In fact, the paleo diet has led me to eat veggies I had purposely avoided, (kale), ones I simply ignored, (beet greens), and others I did not know even existed, (pink banana squash). The following recipe includes a food I was never motivated to try until now: Broccoflower.

Broccoflower is in the same family as cauliflower and broccoli. Because the two are so closely related they are easily cross-pollinated. The result is something that looks like green cauliflower. Romanesco broccoli is very similar to broccoflower but looks a little different due to an interesting pattern displayed by the floret.  I found the broccoflower to be truly a cross between broccoli and cauliflower in both appearance and taste.  It was milder than cauliflower and the texture, especially of the stalk parts, was very similar to broccoli.  In the following easy recipe I employed the same “ricing” technique I have used with cauliflower. But the green color of the broccoflower really added to the aesthetics of the dish.

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Banana Squash and Leek Soup with Bacon

leeks in garden

This Banana Squash and Leek Soup recipe is the result of a few different factors coming together. It is the first year we have grown leeks in the new raised garden beds and I needed a suitable venue for these beauties.leeks in gardenSecondly, I impulsively purchased a gorgeous pink banana squash and found myself wondering what to do with such an enormous vegetable.

pink banana squash
Big Boy demonstrates the monstrous pink banana squash

And, of course, the weather is getting cooler and the family is ready for some seasonal soups. So combining the banana squash and leeks to create a hearty paleo recipe just made sense. Add some bacon and all is right with the world!

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