Paleo Fried Chicken

The Paleo diet definitely has its perks, fried chicken being one of them.  The magic ingredient in this recipe is almond flour, while it is expensive it is so much better than regular old white flour.  It adds a rich and filling flavor to any recipe and is the perfect ingredient to bread anything, including chicken nuggets.  In other news Spring has finally come to Portland we had almost two full weeks of sunshine and now we are onto the manic rain showers.  The other weekend it was even sunny enough for us to go enjoy our first Portland Pilots baseball game which was ridiculously fun, can't wait for soccer to start up!  In addition to the Spring time activities we have begun prepping our garden, this is our first Spring at this home so hopefully the soil gives our veggies lots of good nutrients.  Onto the recipe, created by yours truly.

Serves 2

Ingredients
6 chicken legs
1 cup pickle juice
1 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 pepper
1 egg, whisked
Spray Oil
Hot Sauce (optional)

The Process
1.  Marinate chicken legs in pickle juice for at least three hours and pat dry when done marinating.  Then preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Whisk egg in bowl and set aside.  Next in medium bowl mix together almond flour, Old Bay, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

3.  Individually dip chicken legs in egg and then almond flour mixture.  Make sure each leg is fully breaded.  Then place on oiled baking sheet.  Next take spray oil and lightly coat each leg.

4. Put chicken in oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Then flip chicken and bake for about 15-20 more minutes or until cooked through.

5.  Serve with hot sauce!

Paleo BBQ Sauce

I came across this recipe after much research and attention to specific ingredient combinations.  When I took the store bought BBQ sauce out of our fridge to look at the ingredients I was very surprised at how much sugar it contained, along with a massive amount of corn syrup.  I had figured it was kind of like ketchup but was still stunned.  This recipe blew me away, it is so flavorful and still sweet.  My favorite ingredient is the apple cider vinegar because not only am I obsessed with it I actually love the taste of it (I know a lot of people that don't).  I have made this sauce a couple times now, once for chicken and in the case for fabulous pork ribs.  Enjoy!

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients
16 oz tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 Tbsp. honey
1/2 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. onion powder
1/2 Tbsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

The Process
1. Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat and stir to combine. Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking. Bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 1 hour.

3. Pour that stuff on some meat and eat up!

Italian Meatballs

All I want to do is rest and let these meatballs slowly cook in the crockpot...it has been a very eventful weekend.  To start it off Friday evening my boyfriend's parents came to town and treated us to an amazing dinner at The Woodsman Tavern, this night I cheated and ate non-paleo items (the food was too good not to cheat).  I had the NY strip steak with bone marrow butter with a side of broccoli rabe.  Our appetizers consisted of cured pork and fresh and tasty oysters (all local), and I tried a whiskey pickle back for the first time and am in love!  Saturday my boyfriend and I stayed at Edgefield to celebrate his 32 birthday.  It was so stormy and windy which I found very comforting especially when we were in the very large salt water soaking pool.  To our surprise this morning when we woke up everything outside the hotel was covered in ice, so we called in a late check-out and lazed around until it was safe enough to drive.  And now I'm sitting here with the fabulous smell of Italian meatballs in my home and doing what I love to do, blog.  This recipe is made by yours truly.  Enjoy!

Serves 2

The Ingredients
1 lb organic ground beef
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (29oz) can of tomato sauce
1/8 cups balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 cup olive oil
1/4 cup almond flour
1 egg
Salt and Pepper to taste (use in meatballs and sauce)

The Process
1.  In medium bowl mix together beef, 1/4 of the chopped onion, 1 clove garlic (minced), salt, pepper, 1/2 tbsp oregano, 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning, almond flour, and egg.  Mix well and form into balls, about 11 balls.

2.  In another medium bowl add tomato sauce, vinegar, 1 1/2 tbsp oregano, 1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning, olive oil, cayenne, the rest of the onion, honey, 3 cloves of garlic (minced), and salt and pepper to taste, mix well.

3.  Heat skillet over medium high on stove and lightly brown all the sides of the meatballs.

4.  Pour tomato sauce mixture into crockpot and turn to low.  Add the browned meatballs cover with lid and cook for 4 hours.  Stir a couple times throughout to make sure meatballs are evenly cooked.

Paleo Turkey Gravy

This paleo diet just keeps getting better and better! The fact that I can still make an amazing gravy without butter and white flour makes my world very happy.  I have read and been told time and time again that it is important to use almond flour, sweet potatoes and other starchy items in moderation and I believe I definitely am following that rule.  Still in my first 30 days I am kind of following the rule 85/15, paleo most of the time and cheating a little bit of the time.  I have only cheated in small ways at this point...a little Worcestershire sauce, a little brown sugar, and a little A-1 sauce.  I feel that real cheating would include pizza, mozzarella sticks, corned beef hash...and believe me pizza is the first on my list.  My plan is to continue for 30 days (and beyond) but I am a wholehearted cheese lover and will not give it up for life.  For me this adventure is all about flushing out my body and reintroducing moderation with the dairy and grain products in my life.  Anyway here is your wonderful paleo turkey gravy!  I adapted this recipe and forgot to take a picture of just the gravy so here is a delicious picture of the gravy poured over my scrumptious turkey leg.

6-8 Servings

The Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3 tablespoons turkey pan dripping
2 cups Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Almond milk (unsweetened)
3 tablespoons Arrowroot powder
1 turkey neck and giblets, cooked (boil for one hour and chop up)
Salt and pepper to taste

The Process
1.  In a heavy weight medium sauce pan over medium heat, warm the onion powder for a few seconds.

2.  Add the chicken broth to the saucepan.

3.  Stir in the pan drippings and combine well.  Bring this to a boil.

4.  Meanwhile measure the almond milk in a 1 cup measuring cup, arrowroot, and turkey neck / giblets.  Stir a make a smooth slurry.

5.  Stir the slurry into the hot broth.  Reserve a little slurry for extra thickening.  Continue stirring to combine.

6.  When the gravy thickens, remove it from the heat source.

7.  Add salt and pepper to taste and stir and serve.

Paleo Chicken Nuggets

Still going strong with the paleo diet!  These chicken nuggets were actually better than the normal breaded kind, I have a new found love for almond flour.  Almond flour has a very full flavor to it although I will say it is not cheap!  Today I finally picked up some arrowroot powder which will be very helpful as it is a substitute for corn starch, I plan on using it tonight to make some yummy turkey gravy.  Tonight we a roasting a fabulous turkey and have invited over some of our best friends and everyone agreed to make paleo friendly dishes which is super awesome and nice of them to adapt to my new food diet.  I will definitely be posting about the dinner and my special gravy very soon.  As you can can see in the picture we paired the chicken nuggets with a wonderful slaw and we used tomato sauce to dip the nuggets in.  Adapted from this recipe.

Served 2

The Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T olive oil (enough to generously coat the baking sheet)
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp. paprika (not smoked or hot)
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 egg, beaten
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

The Process
1.  Turn on the oven to 400F. Brush a baking sheet liberally with olive oil and put the pan in the oven to heat as the oven preheats.

2.  Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts, then cut each breast into nugget pieces. 

3.  Combine the almond flour, paprika, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper in a bowl, mixing together well. Dip each nugget piece in the egg then in the almond flour mixture, pressing on with your fingers so it coats the chicken. Coat all the nuggets before you remove the baking sheet from the oven.

4.  When all nuggets are coated, lay them on the hot baking sheet and cook 8-10 minutes, or until the side touching the pan is lightly browned. Remove pan from oven, turn nuggets, and bake 10-12 minutes more on the second side, until nuggets are lightly browned and cooked through.

Cauliflower Muffins

With my new Paleo diet I have been looking for alternatives to bread and this adapted recipe really hit the spot.  I served these muffins with Shakshuka and it was an absolutely delicious meal.  The Paleo diet is definitely ideal for me because I love meat, but once in a while it feels good to have a meatless meal that is just as filling.  I have found a lot of great Paleo recipes that have continued to impress me and are often better than regular recipes.  I have found it hard to not use A1 sauce and Worcestershire sauce because they are both staples when it comes to marinating beef, as for other sauces I do use tamari even though some people say it isn't paleo.  In general I am still enjoying this Paleo adventure but sure do miss pizza.

Makes 12 muffins

The Ingredients
2 1/2 cups grated cauliflower (about one small head)
1 1/2 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

The Process
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Mix everything in a mixing bowl until it forms a dough.

3. Fill regular size muffin tins until full.

4. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean.
 

Paleo Hot and Sour Soup

I am on a new adventure, while I love cheese and bread I am determined to cleanse my system and see how the Paleo diet treats me.  I'm on day 10 and going strong.  I haven't actually had many cravings at all which is surprising and I have only cheated once (ate fake chicken nuggets), which is pretty good considering there is lots of cheese in my fridge.  I am amazed at how many things have soy in them, especially all the sauces I love.  Tonight I was craving Asian soup and one of my favorites is hot and sour soup.  This was a challenge because the normal recipe I use involves corn starch, sugar, and peanut oil...none of which I can consume according to the rules.  This adapted recipe did the job and was a delicious alternative to my other Hot and Sour Soup recipe posted on this blog.

Serves 2

The Ingredients
1 large chicken breast, cubed
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
7 white button mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup carrots, chopped
3 scallion, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp tamari
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 egg, very lightly beaten
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic chili paste
1/2 tsp sesame oil

The Process
1.  In small bowl  marinate chicken in white wine vinegar and 1 tbs tamari for 15 minutes.

2.  When chicken is done marinating heat olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat.  When hot add chicken and carrots.  Cook for about 3 minutes or until the outside of the meat looks cooked.

3.  Then add broth to pot and bring to a boil.  Once it is boiling add ground ginger, 2 tbs tamari, salt, apple cider vinegar, pepper, garlic chili paste, and mushrooms.  Then bring this to a boil again and boil for 2 more minutes.

4.  Lightly beat egg and add the sesame oil into the egg.  After boiling soup take off the heat and slowly stir in the egg mixture.  Then add scallions and serve immediately.

Check out my awesome apron my wonderful mother made me!