Debbie's Paleo Pavlova

Bringing over some of the Northwest Cavegirl Recipes. This one is from Cavegirl Debbie.

Renowned across the globe for her scrummy pavlovas. No matter which party or event Debbie attends she is never without a pavlova in hand… I kid you not! Her non paleo recipe is in the Microsoft cookbook and her pavlova’s have raised a tidy price at auction! My hubby's birthday cake each year is always a Debbie Pavlova. So Debbie couldn’t go empty handed to Thanksgiving this year without a pavlova right?! NO she couldn’t and YES she did it again, a delicious paleo pavlova his time, to share. Paleo pavlova doesn’t go crunchy like regular pavlovas, more of a soft meringue as in lemon meringue. if you like coconut then you will love the cream. Paleo pavlova is super yummy and hit the spot without a doubt!

Thanks Cavegirl Debbie!

Originally published on Southern Crossfit.

Here’s Debbie’s version…

Ingredients:

• 6 egg whites
• 150 ml Agave Syrup
• 2 Tbs.Arrowroot
• 1 tsp. Lemon juice
• 2 cans of chilled full fat coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• few drops of vanilla extract

Directions:

• Pre heat oven to 300* F
• Whip egg whites until soft peaks start to form, slowly add agave syrup.
• Keep whisking white until peaks start to firm, add arrowroot.
• Finish by adding lemon juice.
• Scoop mix onto grease proof paper to form individual portions, about the size of your fist.
• Place in oven @ 300*F for 10 mins then turn oven down to 250*F and cook for a further 50 mins. Once the hour is up turn oven off and let the pavlovas cool in the oven, do not remove until cool.
• Cream: chill the cans of coconut over night and then scoop off the solid cream in to a bowl
• Add cinnamon and vanilla then whisk
• Serve with fresh sliced strawberries or raspberries (or any fruit you like)

ENJOY!

Another great paleo recipe! This lifestyle just keeps getting better and better!

Bringing over recipes from Northwest Cavegirls. This is from Cavegirl Stephanie.

At a lovely gathering at my friend Suzz's house (nope, I didn't misspell that, it's her nickname from my gang), Suzz served up some delicious Ahi Poke. I think I ate about half of it (sorry, Suzz!). It was SO GOOD. As I was wolfing it down, I was thinking and probably saying, too, that this is the ultimate Paleo food. What caveperson couldn't go out and grab a fish, whack it over a rock and eat it. Ok, there's a bit more to this dish than that, but really! This is so yummy and such clean-eating.

I followed the recipe that Suzz sent me from Allrecipes.com and made up a batch as soon as I could get my hands on some Ahi! I did, of course, paleo-ify the recipe a bit. Here was my take on it:

Ahi Poke for Two or for one really hungry person like me! :D

1/2 lb. Ahi
1/4 c. coconut amines
1/4 c. sliced green onions
1/2 T. red pepper flakes
One endive head, cups taken off rinsed and set aside.
Cube the Ahi steak. Toss all together, except endive cups. Let it sit and marinate a couple of hours before serving, in the fridge, cavegirl! Place spoonfuls in the little cups and CHOW!

Now, the original recipe called for toasted sesame seeds, which I bet taste super yummy on it, but I was out, and some of you Paleo peeps don't eat seeds, so whatever you want to do. AND, it did call for chopped macadamia nuts, which I love, but again was out of. However, it seems there is some disagreement over what is truly supposed to be in Ahi Poke. Perhaps this is one of those things where everyone has a "family recipe" for it. Like chili, mmm chili, I've yet to meet one I didn't like that was HOMEMADE.

Date Cardamom Energy Bites

Bringing over recipes from Northwest Cavegirls. Cavegirl Stephanie here: 

Before Paleo, one of my favorite new cookbooks, was The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre. This duo has created a lovely mix of delicious whole food recipes that are guaranteed to satisfy whole foodies. I currently don't use all of the cookbook, as it's carb intensive, but one of my favorites from this cookbook is the Raw Energy Balls on Page 354. They are a mix of nuts, fruit, and spicy goodness.

A dozen balls can be made by mixing my current favorite blend of these ingredients:
1 c. raw walnuts or almonds in your food processor until they are finely ground (not dust or butter, though)
then add in:
1 c. dates
1/4 c dried blueberries
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cardamom (freshly ground please, you'll be so glad you did)
Pulse until it's a nice mealy mixture, then add:
1/4 c. raw almond butter
Pulse again until the mixture is well blended and sticks together.

Roll into balls (I actually used a 1 t. scoop for cookies and got about 24 balls out of the batch). Roll each ball in raw coconut shreds or cocoa or ground nuts, whatever. EAT! These do not last long at our place. This is a recipe that it's important to buy every ingredient organic. I've also doubled the spice, because I'm like that. I LOVE cardamom... and love it even more when I grind the little seeds myself in the spice grinder. The whole kitchen smells great afterward.

Sweet treats like this keep me swinging that club.

Memories of My Uncle Tiny

My Uncle Tiny passed away this morning. He was the only uncle I had. His name was Clinton, but he was always Uncle Tiny to me. Now you might think he was a small man from the name, but you would be mistaken. He was 6' 3" and usually weighted around 300 lbs and had a heart and a voice to match his size. You always knew when Tiny entered a room; he knew how to make an entrance!

Tiny and my dad were twins. Although they were roughly the same size and shape, their personalities couldn't have been more different. My dad is quiet, Tiny was loud. Dad likes to not draw attention to himself, Tiny loved being the center of attention. But the thing they both had in common was that everyone loved them both.

Tiny lived with my grandma and grandpa for most of my childhood so I got to see him all the time. I remember hanging out in his room looking at his jar of steel pennies and other interesting things he'd collected. He loved Hank Williams Jr and sang along with Bocephus in the lowest voice he could muster, which was pretty low.

He would play fight with me and my brother and when we would fight back he'd say "you don't want to mess with me. See this fist here? This one is called Hospitalization and this other one is called J.H. Ermert (the local funeral director)." 

From as early as I can remember he either called me Angie Dawn or Tootie. Then he'd tell the story of why he called me Tootie. Apparently when I was a baby Harold Hoey gave me that name, and when Harold died, Tiny felt it was his job to keep calling me that to carry on Harold's memory. 

My Grandma (Nannie)  was a tee-total-er and didn't believe in drinking alcohol at all, but Tiny liked beer. So when I was little and he lived in my grandparents house he would hide cans of beer in my Nannie's potato drawer or in with her onions. Sometimes she'd find it and pour it out and they'd both pretend like it was never there in the first place. 

When I got older and went to college and brought home my boyfriend (now my husband) who was from Massachusetts, Tiny would come in the door and in his booming baritone voice would ask "So you brought home a Damn Yankee?" and then proceed to try to turn my yankee boyfriend-husband into a true southern boy as best he could. He was proud to be from Arkansas and proud to be a Good Ole Boy and especially proud to be from Knobel.

Tiny loved Knobel and was scorekeeper at all of the high school home basketball games until the school was closed. He was a big part of the local christmas parade that was small-town, home made and drew crowds from all of the larger towns. If there was a card tournament at the old Home-ec building or community center he was there, either as a card player or just to be part of the fun and share the pot luck.

Tiny worked for the Game and Fish commission for a lot of his life and enjoyed being outdoors. He loved duck hunting and would practice his duck call while sitting around the house.

When I would send him things in the mail I would address the envelope "Tiny Hancock, Knobel, AR" and it always got to him.  Tiny was everyone's friend. Everyone knew Tiny. Everyone loved Tiny.

I will miss you, Tiny! 

Eggplant Pad Thai

Bringing over Northwest Cavegirl recipes. Cavegirl Stephanie here...

So, on to take two on Pad Thai. If you missed version one, in all it's clumped cat food glory, look at the previous post. I renamed that post to Paleo Quick Pad Thai, because I realized it's all Paleo unless you use a baddie fish sauce. If you can't find a clean fish sauce, gather yourself some coconut aminos, drag a sardine through it and call it good.

Take #2 features eggplant "noodles" in a bit tangier sauce with cute little shrimps. If you're not a nightshade eater, I'm sorry, but stay tuned as I plan to sample other options for this idea.

Pad Thai for ONE - eggplant noodle version

Ingredients:
1 T. fish sauce (Red Boat fish sauce is pretty simple ...or whatever soy-like sauce you want to use to make this more paleo)
2 T Lime juice
1t. honey
1/4 red onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp chili garlic paste
1 tsp coconut oil
6-8 shrimps (raw)
1 small eggplant
Toppings: cilantro, green onions, etc. This is such a personal preference sort of thing.

First, prepare your eggplant noodles. Trim the ends off of your eggplant. (Mine was about 7-8 inches long and about 3 inches in diameter at it's widest point. I used an aubergine for this, but I think this might work better with the slender Thai eggplants that we get in our markets. I'm going to gather a few and try that, too.) Using a mandoline at thin but still substantial slicing thickness. I think mine were a few centimenters thick. Then, stack the slices and using a sharp knife, cut the slices into noodles.

You might want to toss these with a bit of lemon juice if it will be a while before you get them in the pan, just so they don't get too discolored.

Mix together this sauce and set aside:
1 T fish sauce
2 T lime juice or lemon, whateveh
1 t. honey

1/4 red onion, cut into long strips
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. chili garlic paste
2 tsp. coconut oil

Stir fry onion in coconut oil until transluscent. Add in garlic and chili and stir fry for a minute or so with the exhaust fan on (trust me, that chili paste will get you, really... did you not believe me last time?).

Add the eggplant noodles and shrimps, stir it in nicely, you want your onion/garlic/chili getting really friendly iwth the noodles and shrimps so that they are imparting their flavor. Stir fry for a minute or two, letting some of the moisture fry out. Then add in fish sauce mixture and mix it around nicely until combined. Stir fry until the shrimps are done and the eggplant is nicely cooked but still has some "al dente" feel to it. The sauce allows the eggplant to get a bit of steaming, but doesn't leave them tasting washed out.

Add in 1/4 c. chopped cilantro and green onions and whatever other toppings you might desire on your own pad thai. Toss a bit and serve!

This one I liked better than the spaghetti squash one. The "noodles" had more of the mouth feel that I was looking for. I DID plop about 2 T of peanuts on top of them. Peanuts don't bother my tummy at all, so I eat them from time to time. If they bother you, put some almond butter or sun butter in with the sauce, or chop up some brazil nuts or something to get that lovely salty crunch on top. What I completely forgot was the eggs... Next time, I'll scramble an egg, set it aside and stir it in at last before dishing it up.

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

Bringing over Northwest Cavegirl recipes. Cavegirl Stephanie here:

Pad Thai...How I love thee. No, really, I LOVE pad thai with a deep and sincere foodie sort of love. Back in the day before Paleo, I had a period of time where I made 10-12 batches per week for a few weeks until we found our favorite. The result: we had SEVERAL favorites. That is what I am hoping to do this week. I shall record for you here "attempt #1".

Pad Thai for ONE - Spaghetti Squash version

Ingredients:
2 T. fish sauce (Red Boat fish sauce is pretty simple ...or whatever soy like sauce you want to use to make this more paleo)
2-4 T Lime juice
1t. honey
1/4 red onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp chili garlic paste
1 tsp coconut oil
3 oz. cooked meat/poultry/egg whatever
1 T almond butter
1 c. cooked spaghetti squash
Toppings: cilantro, green onions, etc. This is such a personal preference sort of thing.

Mix together this sauce and set aside:
2 T fish sauce (Red Boat fish sauce is pretty simple ...or whatever soy like sauce you want to use to make this more paleo)
2-4 T lime juice
1 t. honey

1/4 red onion, cut into long strips
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. chili garlic paste
1 tsp. coconut oil

Stir fry onion in coconut oil until transluscent. Add in garlic and chili and stir fry for a minute or so with the exhaust fan on (trust me, that chili paste will get you).

Add 3 oz. cooked meat/poultry (I added some smoked pork tenderloin because it was on hand). Stir it in nicely.

Add in a tablespoon of almond butter and stir in quickly. Then add in fish sauce mixture and mix it around nicely until combined.

Add in 1 c. cooked spaghetti squash and gently toss. Works best with more firm spaghetti squash. My first attempt was a bit on the "well done" side and well.. see the pic.

Add in 1/4 c. chopped cilantro and green onions and whatever other toppings you might desire on your own pad thai. Toss a bit and serve!

Mine looked like this when made with the MORE done spaghetti squash. Hubby said: "Hey, what's that clumped cat food looking stuff?" Hah! Thanks, babe.

Ya know what, it was really tasty and I'd eat it again for sure. More pad thai recipes to come!

Paleo Christmas Puddings

Bringing over some of the Northwest Cavegirls Recipes

On my endeavor to create a paleo Christmas dinner this year, I had to, of course, master a paleo Christmas Pudding. I was unable to find a true paleo Christmas pudding but I did come across these two gluten free ones which I used as my starting point. Gluten Free Christmas Pudding by Cookinlovebird found on JamieOliver.com and the other from the BBC Food website. I opted to base my Paleo Christmas Pud on Jamie’s guest recipe… Thanks for the inspiration Cookinlovebird!

Here it is…

Ingredients:

• 1000grams of mixed dried fruit

-Trader Joe’s Bing Cherries
-Trader Joe’s Jumbo Raisin Medley (whole 454g bag)
-Trader Joe’s Organic Thompson Seedless Raisins
-Trader Joe’s Dried Cranberries Fortified with Cranberry Seed Oil (whole 227g bag

• 2 apples peeled and chopped small
• 1 orange zest and juice
• 150ml brandy (optional but highly recommended ;)
• 6 free range organic eggs
• 250g palm shortening frozen before grating
• 350g pure maple syrup
• 175g almond flour/meal
• 1 tbs. coconut flour (new addition, see outcome below)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Handful of chopped prunes

Directions:

You need 2 x 2lb pudding case or 4 x 1lb ones, greaseproof paper, a big saucepan, coconut oil and a pastry brush.

• Mix together apples,orange juice and zest, grated palm shortening ( I began hand grating and then decided to shred it in my food processor), beaten eggs, maple syrup in a large bowl.
• Add the flour, baking soda, dried fruit and spices
• Stir all together adding a the brandy at this point if required!!

• Divide into the pudding bowls leaving about an inch from the top in the 1lbs and about 2 inches in the 2lbs, just so they can rise a bit.
• Place on the top of the mixture an oiled piece of grease proof, make it bigger than the top, then place the lid on top and seal down.
• Place puddings into a pan, add the water so its an inch from the top of the pudding, bring to the boil and simmer for 6hrs, adding more hot water every 20mins or so, you must keep your eye on it. 

• Put your kitchen back together again!

• When cooked leave to cool, wipe off any excess fat from the case,it does happen sometimes, re-wrap with greaseproof paper and foil, make a little hand grip with the foil, because you need to simmer it again on the day its to be eaten for about 30mins to serve hot.

Please be careful at all times with the removal of the pudding from the hot water.

Outcome:

This is interesting! The Christmas pudding looks like a Christmas pudding and tastes EXACTLY like a Christmas pudding but the consistency is different. It was very juicy, a lot of liquid ran out of it when I tipped it onto the plate. I wonder if it could have done with being cooked longer. I still have one more on the stove as I type and I plan to leave it cooking for another hour or so. I found that the bottom of the pud was cooked better than the top, which makes me think that with the simmering and evaporating water that the top of the pud was not getting direct heat all the time. Hmmmm?! It is going to be interesting to see.

Anyhow… the pud, as is, is super yummy and if that is what we have for Christmas Day then I am very happy! I am super pleased that it tastes just as it should and the consistency is nice and yummy, just different.

From Aiken Anecdotes I received a number of comments with great suggestions to reduce the liquidy issue, one of which was from our Angie, who suggested adding a tablespoon of coconut flour to the recipe as this is a great soaker-upper! Next time I make these I will definitely add this to my recipe!!

Also steam the puds in 2 inches of water rather than up to an inch from the top of the pud basin as to not risk seepage into the top of the basin. The puds in theory steam from the steam in the pan not from the water so this is a great point to which I will take use next year.