Chicken Pepian

This is a stolen recipe from Food Network.  It sounds strange but is REALLY good. 


Chicken Pepian

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh tomatillos
1 large poblano pepper (about 2 1/2 to 3 ounces), seeded and cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup raw unsalted pumpkin seeds
5 peppercorns
2 whole allspice
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus 1/4 cup for garnish
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 medium (2-inch) jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 (6-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
Lime wedges

Method:
Preheat the broiler. Remove papery outer layer from tomatillos then rinse them in warm water to remove some of their natural stickiness. Pat dry, then cut into quarters. Toss tomatillos and poblano with 2 teaspoons of the oil, place on a baking sheet and broil until charred, about 10 minutes.

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add pumpkin seeds, peppercorns, allspice, and cumin and toast until pumpkin seeds are fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

In same saute pan, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

Place tomatillos, poblano, onions and garlic, cilantro, chicken broth, jalapeno, toasted seeds and spices and salt in a blender and blend on high until totally smooth, about 30 seconds.

Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in skillet and cook the chicken until browned on both sides and nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Add pepian sauce to skillet, covering chicken pieces. Bring to a simmer and cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken topped with sauce and garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

Buffalo Wings

Jess gave me another great recipe to try. I am always looking for ideas for appetizers and these wings turned out really well.

And no, bison do not have wings...the name came from the recipe's origination in Buffalo, NY.  Aren't you glad I clarified that?

Buffalo Wings

Ingredients:

12 chicken wings, wings and drummettes separated

1/4 c buffalo hot sauce, preferably Frank's
1 tbsp honey
1 ts unsalted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Arrange the wings in a single layer on the prepared pan and roast, turning over once, until cooked through, about 35 min.
(I noticed the skin was still soft, so I turned the broiler on at 500 F for about 5 minutes each side to crisp up the skin. Be careful not to burn. Burnt skin = smelly)

Meanwhile, combine the hot sauce, honey, and butter in a lg bowl. Remove the wings from the oven and immediately transfer to the hot sauce mixture. Toss continually until evenly coated.

They have great taste but not really hot. Matt thinks if you add cayenne pepper or some jalepenos to the sauce it will spice them up.

Serve them up with some celery and carrots and flavored Paleo Mayo...yum!

Coconut Curry Shrimp



Photo courtesy of http://www.foodgal.com/2009/01/a-tangy-spicy-shrimp-curry-to-usher-in-2009/

 I finally made it to the kitchen!  Sorry for my lack of posts recently. Life can be crazy and my creative time in the kitchen is paying for it.  I found myself in a pinch last night...forgot to thaw any meat and as I've stated before I'm afraid of the defrost setting on the microwave.  I did have shrimp in the freezer and they thaw in a flash, so shrimp is what we had!  I took the foundation of this recipe from Allrecipes.com and altered it to make it Paleo-friendly. I hope you enjoy!

Coconut Curry Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 cup Onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped
1 TBSP Minced Garlic
1 tsp Ground Cumin
3/4 tsp Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 cup Coconut Milk (From can. I prefer Thai Kitchen brand)
1 tsp Controversial Paleo Sweetener (I was out of honey, so used Maple Syrup)
1 tsp Arrowroot Powder
1 TBSP cool Water

Method:

Heat oil in large, nonstick pan over medium heat. Saute onion, red pepper, and garlic until vegetables soften (onions are transparent), or about 3 minutes.

Season with cumin, coriander, and curry powder.  Cook for 1 more minute. Stir in coconut milk, sweetener, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes.

Stir in shrimp and increase heat to medium high.  Cook and stir until shrimp is fully cooked, about 4 minutes.

In a small bowl or cup, combine arrowroot powder and water. Mix thoroughly then stir into shrimp mixture and continue to stir until sauce thickens, about 1 minute.

Serve over Curry "Rice"

Bacon-Wrapped Dates

In light of the Superbowl, I thought I would post a few appetizers.  I absolutely LOVE Cafe Vino in Fort Collins and they serve the greatest Bacon-Wrapped Dates ever.  I went home and tried to mimic them, minus the goat cheese, and they turned out great.  I make a Balsamic reduction to go over the top of them, but it isn't necessary...they are yum without it.

Bacon-Wrapped Dates

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon, cut into thirds (I used thick-cut)
18 pitted dates (buy good quality, fresh dates, like Medjool's from Sprouts)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Wrap each pitted date with 1/3 slice of bacon and "pin" with toothpick.  Arrange on baking sheet and bake until bacon is cooked; about 20 minutes.

Balsamic Reduction:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP raw, unfiltered honey

Method:

Combine vinegar and honey in small sauce pan. Heat over medium heat until vinegar starts to boil. Stir constantly until vinegar reduces and you are left with a thicker sauce (about 5 mins).  Pour over bacon-wrapped dates.

Egg McMuffin or Scones or Whatever You Want To Do With These Fabulous Biscuits

I posted a biscuits and gravy recipe found on Robb Wolf's site a couple of weeks ago.  I really loved the gravy, but was a little dissatisfied with the biscuits.  This week I decided to alter them and they turned out great.  I have now used them as the bread for a breakfast sandwich and as scones and they are totally satisfying.  Better yet, they freeze well. So, make a double or triple batch and throw some in the freezer for easy access.

Biscuits or Scones or Whathaveyou.

Ingredients:

1/2 C coconut flour
1/4 C almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 TBSP cold grass-fed butter
2 TBSP coconut milk (from can)
6 egg whites
coconut oil to grease pan

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease up 6 cups of a muffin tin with coconut oil.

Put coconut flour, almond flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is incorporated. The butter should be well dispersed, but the mixture will still appear dry.

In a blender (or by hand if you’re feeling energetic), whiz the egg whites until they are frothy. Add the egg whites and coconut milk to the food processor and pulse a couple times until incorporated. Don’t go crazy though, just pulse it a few times until blended.

Distribute the batter evenly into the 6 cups of your muffin tin. It should fill them about 3/4 full. These biscuits don’t rise, so that’s okay. Bake for about 20 minutes. There will be some browning on top and if you push the top of the biscuit, it should spring back at you.

To Make An Egg McMuffin:

Fry up an egg, add some ham, slice up a tomato, throw on some spinach, cut the biscuit in half, and PILE IT ON!

As for scones:

Place any sort of delectable arrangement in the middle of these muthas.  Thaw some frozen berries and have at it!