Easter

Sweet Potatoes with Dukkah

This is another side dish we had during our Easter feast over the weekend. It’s just potatoes sautéed in coconut oil (Tropical Traditions is the best!) and sprinkled with a nut and spice blend called dukkah.

If you missed the recipe before, allow me to introduce you to dukkah… the nut and spice blend that is to meat and vegetables as sprinkles are to ice cream. A magical little topping that makes everything taste irresistible. 🙂 Below is how to make enough for this recipe and also enough to store in your cabinet and use on other things like fish or sautéed vegetables.

Dukkah

You can modify/change-up these ingredients to your liking:

1/4 cup ground coriander
5 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried mint leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Nuts:
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup raw pistachio nuts
1/2 cup raw almonds
3/4 cup cashews

It’s easiest ( I think) to roast all the nuts in the oven first, until they are golden brown. I do this on a sheet pan at 350° until they turn color. Be sure to watch closely, they will burn fast.

While the nuts are toasting in the oven, toast the herbs, spices, and seeds until they are brown/toasty/aromatic. Allow each of them to cool completely.

Place the nuts and seeds, along with the mint and salt, into a food processor and pulse into a coarse consistency.

This is the finished product…

Now that you have your spice blend, you will want to slice the potatoes into disc shapes… thin enough so that they will cook through without taking too long (see picture above). A good tip is to microwave them for a minute or so to get a jump-start on their cooking.

Next, heat up some coconut oil in a frying pan/skillet and put the potato slices in (don’t stack them up… just cook them one layer at a time). Pan fry them until tender and sprinkle them with the dukkah. Use as much or as little as you like. Cover the pan with a lid and cook until they are fork tender.

When you plate the potatoes, you can sprinkle them with a little more dukkah as a garnish if you desire.

April 12, 2012 | Categories: coconut oil, Easter, paleo, primal, Recipes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Paleo Recipe: Gingersnap Crusted Ham

I’d like to start this post with a big thank you to Tropical Traditions. They sent me a huge jar of coconut oil to try out in my Paleo recipes. I ended up using it in the Paleo Gingersnaps that I used to crumble up and coat the ham below. Here’s a picture of their product. It’s not only good in cooking (use it in the place of –and in the same ratio as–any butter or oil), but excellent as a moisturizer!

So look at the crusty beast below! Can you believe it is gluten free? 🙂 This Gingersnap Crusted Ham was a “side” for our Paleo Easter Meal. I snagged the idea for it from the Alton Brown recipe I first made years ago.

What You Will Need:

One 2 pound”City” Ham (I used an Uncured, Nitrate Free, Hormone Free, Vegetarian Fed Ham)
You will find that 2 pounds of ham is actually only about 1/4 of a normal sized ham. 🙂

3/4 Cup Dijon Mustard

1/2 Cup Maker’s Mark Bourbon (in a spray bottle)

2 Cups Paleo Gingersnap Crumbs (To get the crumbs, you have to make the gingersnaps themselves.)

Paleo Gingersnaps
1.5 cups Blanched Almond Flour
1 tablespoons ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 Tbs fresh ginger or ginger paste

1 omega 3 Egg
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/8 cup molasses

1/4 cup Coconut Oil (Tropical Traditions for best results!!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (including lemon zest).
In a small mixing bowl beat eggs, honey, molasses, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
Add coconut oil into batter, and continue to blend until combined.
Press the dough out flat on a parchment lined baking sheet, about a tablespoon in size. Bake cookies for 15 minutes at 375.

Let cool completely then break the cookie into crumbs and set aside.

Procedure:

1. Place the ham in a glass baking dish and paint the dijon mustard on it with a pastry brush.

2. Then take the gingersnap crumbs and coat the ham until it is completely covered in crumbs.

3. Spray the ham with the bourbon to seal the crumb coating.

4. Bake the ham in the oven at 350° for about 10 mins, then take out the ham and lightly spritz the it with more bourbon. Return the ham to the oven and bake it until the crust is golden brown, or if you are like me, you can get the crust a little more brown than that. Let rest about 5-10 mins and then carve to serve.

Mmmm….HAMMALICIOUS!

April 10, 2012 | Categories: almonds, coconut oil, Easter, food, gluten-free, paleo, primal, Recipes | 2 Comments

Leftover Easter Eggs? Make Hard Boiled Eggs with Avocado, Cumin and Curry

Here’s a great recipe to use all those leftover Easter eggs!
It’s one of the many great dishes the BF and I enjoyed this weekend in Tahoe. We ate a completely Paleo Easter dinner on Saturday evening, and day by day I will be sharing everything we had and how to make it!

Hard Boiled Eggs with Avocado, Cumin and Curry

Ingredients:
6 organic cage free eggs
1 avocado
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry
1 tsp garlic pureé
pinch of salt to taste
optional: fresh black pepper on top
1-2 beets

To prepare the beets, cut them into cubes and boil them until they are tender. They will slip out of their outer skins much easier after they cook. Cut into little “diamond” shapes and set them aside.

Hard boil the eggs and peel them out of their shells. Cut them in half and scoop out the yolks into a small bowl. Cut half an avocado and mash it together with the yolks in the bowl. Add the spices and garlic puree and the salt to taste. Spoon the mixture back into the egg white halves. Top with cracked pepper.

Garnish the finished eggs with the beet diamonds.

Tomorrow I will show you how I made a Gingersnap crusted ham Paleo style!