Our day in Houston

Bill

March 28, 2013

Hey Folks,

We just got in to Austin for the 2013 PaleoFx festivities! We’re super excited to see many of our friends, meet some new faces, and listen to some of the brightest minds in Paleo. We are slated to do a cooking demonstration on Saturday afternoon, and we’re making a very special recipe… our General Tso’s Chicken from Gather! Speaking of which, we FINALLY got our first copies of the book and it looks *bleeping* incredible. Expletives abound. It is exactly as we envisioned it, and we are thrilled for you all to start receiving it! If you want to pre-order a copy, you’ll be among the first to receive it, and you’ll also be guaranteed the lowest price offered by Amazon from now until the ship date. So order yourself a copy.

Yesterday, we flew into Houston for a pair of special events our dear friend Karen organized. The first, a book signing at the River Oaks Bookstore was a nice chance to meet with some of our H-town fans and followers. The folks at the store put together a very nice signing, and we thoroughly enjoyed chatting with folks and showing off our new book. Everything rolled over into a fabulous Paleo dinner at the Corner Table. Chef Bruce Molzan put together an amazing 4-course menu of Paleo dishes for the evening. The restaurant was filled with Paleo folks, and we had a great time dining with some new friends and old friends. Chef Bruce’s dishes were simply incredible. He EVEN served a cheesecake and brownie based on our recipes from Make it Paleo! After dinner, he gave us a special tour of his restaurant, which is breathtaking and full of amazing artwork and custom built furnishings.

We had a great time in Houston, and are really looking forward to our next visit! The food, the people, and the weather were all amazing.

One of the best parts of our trip to Houston was seeing my lifelong friend, Chris (and his lovely girlfriend Janna… Chris, she’s a keeper!) It was great catching up with my old friend, who now happens to be a CrossFit coach at CrossFit West Houston, and is also a huge fan of Chris Kresser.

And we also got to meet Josh Weissman, the promising young talent behind Slim Palate (Seen here with another familiar face, Charissa of Balanced Bites). If you haven’t checked out his amazing blog (and story), you should. He totally turned his life around by going Paleo and losing 100 lbs! And also, fans of the food porn around here will take note he’s already taking photos that rival some of the best in the Paleo scene. His site will be the one to watch this year…. mark my words.

The staff at the restaurant was kind enough to put several tables together so that we could all enjoy eating as a group!

Chef Bruce Molzan created an incredible meal for everyone! Everyone who had dined there before raved about his Paleo fried chicken, and also said that you can get the “clean” version of just about anything on the menu (and there is typically Paleo stuff on there to begin with!)

It was a special night for us because, for the first time ever, we got to carry around more than one of our books! A big difference between the two is that Gather is a hard-cover book, and will lay flat on your kitchen counter (or coffee table)!

We had a wonderful time with our “Texas family” – the Banks. Karen organized both the signing and the Paleo dinner, and we also got to attend Jenny’s yoga class this morning (which was great!)

The first course of the evening was a lamb gyro with roasted leg of lamb, onions, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce.

Their almond flour wraps for the gyros were legit!

The second course was this incredible pulled pork salad with apple chutney. The dish included roasted and braised locally raised pork, kale, arugula, almonds, and an apple reduction vinaigrette.

The kitchen staff ran the event like a swiss watch. There might have been 5 minutes between courses, and everyone got their food all at the same time. The dinner service was perfect!

The third course was a spring snapper, served over squash noodles and topped with a citrus grape salsa. Many people said this was the best dish of the night!

Dinner concluded with a decadent Paleo dessert – Chef Bruce’s take on two of our favorite desserts from Make it Paleo – the cheesecake, and the dark chocolate brownies.

After our evening with friends, we passed out easily. This morning, we woke up and headed off to Jenny’s yoga class at Big Yoga. The class has movements for students of all levels, and at times (at most times) I felt pretty challenged! However, yoga seems to be one of the few things in life I can do without feeling super competitive, so it was a refreshing morning on the mats. We followed up yoga class with an amazing brunch at Karen’s house, prepared by herself and her daughter Sarah. By the end of the trip, Hayley and I were referring them to as our “Texas Family” … and the sendoff brunch was no exception. Sarah even brought some of her special US Wellness Meats bacon from her private stash. When someone shares their good bacon with you, they’re a true friend. They also made a great frittata, some sauteed Brussels sprouts (which I helped cook), sweet potatoes, and a refreshing salad. And then I followed it by polishing off my slice of cheese cake from the previous night. oops!

After brunch, Hayley and I made our way up to Austin to join our friends for the second annual Paleo Fx conference in Austin. We are eager to see many more of our friends tomorrow at the conference. If you are attending, come say hello! We will have a copy of Gather with us (Duh!) which we will gladly show off if you want to see it.

See many of you tomorrow morning!

Gather – Easter menu download!

Bill

March 15, 2013

Comments (4)

The release date for Gather is drawing nearer, and we want to encourage you all to pre-order the book. This does several things which will benefit us both. For us, it means we might have a better shot of landing on the New York Times Bestseller list for the first week the book is out (often, an author’s best chance of receiving this accolade!) For YOU, it means you are guaranteed Amazon.com’s lowest price between now and when the book is released. It also means that you will receive your book earlier than most other people, maybe even before the release date. We had people receiving their orders of Make it Paleo up to 10 days before release date back in 2011!

To encourage you to place your pre-order, we wanted to offer up a bit of an incentive. Anyone that pre-orders our book through March 31st will receive the entire Easter section of the book as a downloadable PDF. This means that you can use the menu NOW to plan for Easter, instead of waiting an entire year to use it. We’re all about instant gratification, and have a hunch you might feel the same way.

IMPORTANT:

Forward the email receipt of purchase to PrimalPalate@gmail.com – use subject line “Gather Easter Download”
Please give us up to 24 hours to reply with the download link.

Here is a little more about Gather, if you’re hearing about this cookbook for the first time!

Enjoying good food with friends and family is one of the greatest pleasures of life. Yet many home cooks shudder at the thought of entertaining guests for even a simple meal. In Gather, The Art of Paleo Entertaining, you’ll find everything you need to make cooking for family and friends a care-free (and delicious) affair.

The book is organized by season, providing inspiring menus to enjoy throughout the year. Whether you are planning an informal Sunday brunch with family or hosting an elaborate feast for a crowd of friends, Gather provides inspriation through gorgeous photography, concise recipes, and a foolproof plan for effortless entertaining. Inside, you’ll find recipes for holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and New Year’s Eve. It includes menus that celebrate Chinese, Italian, and Caribbean cuisine. It also incorporates creative ideas for cooking with game meat, hosting an elegant farm to table dinner, organizing a garden party, or even enjoying traditional afternoon tea.

The beauty of the recipes in Gather is that they can be used together as intended, or individually. You’ll find a flavor for any palate herein, with recipes for popular classics such as General Tso’s Chicken, Margherita Pizza, Lattice Crust Apple Pie, and a collection of decadent desserts, all of which will convert any naysayer who insists they cannot live without their favorite foods.

In Gather, you’ll discover that following a grain-free, Paleo lifestyle can benefit anyone, especially those who feel confined by the idea of a “diet.” The wealth of recipes and inspiring menu ideas in Gather aim to make the Paleo diet easy, accessible, and delicious for everyone and any special occasion.

Thanks for your support – we hope you will consider ordering our new cookbook!

Gut Healing Gummy Snacks

Hayley

March 8, 2013

Comments (4)

Those of you following a Paleo/Primal/and especially Weston A. Price type diet should know that broth made from the bones of pastured animals (not CAFO animals) is a superfood. A gut healing food that improves digestion (the gateway to total wellness, and being free of disease), promotes healthy joints, supple skin, and thick, gorgeous hair and and nails. Most of you making broths at home know that when you refrigerate your broth and it comes out looking like a giant jello jiggler, this is the time to brag about it to all your friends on Facebook, and maybe even call your mom or best friend. Some of you have even experienced that feeling of having to hold back tears when your broth doesn’t gel. I know it’s a sad thing, but it happens….**pro tip** Just use chicken feet, and your broth will always be impressive.

We love broth, and always, ALWAYS make it from scratch when we are making a soup or stew. Chicken soup -aka Jewish penicillin- isn’t healing without the broth. That is the key ingredient to healing your body when you are under the weather, and if you are using broth from a container, you aren’t healing your body. Although a hearty bowl of meat, vegetables, and broth is almost always welcome, what about spring or summer when the weather is warm, and you just don’t feel like drinking a piping hot cup of broth? Fret not friends, we have your solution.

We will always recommend getting the things your body needs from food first, but in the world we live in today, that’s not always realistic. If you want to make sure you are getting daily doses of gelatin to help detoxify your body, and prevent illness and disease, but your work schedule doesn’t allow for broth making time, or your home is so hot you couldn’t imagine sipping broth unless you were able to sit in your refrigerator, Great Lakes Gelatin is at your rescue.

We don’t drink broth everyday, but we have made an effort to supplement with Great Lakes Gelatin. Some days we will mix a tablespoon into a cup of warm lemon water in the morning, and if we drank smoothies (chew your food–don’t drink it, it’s important) we would probably throw the gelatin in there to get it down. You can also add this gelatin to your soups and stews when you think they might need a little assistance in the gelling department. However, we are here today to tell you our newest and favoritest way to use Great Lakes Gelatin. GUMMY SNACKS!!!!

That’s right kids, healthy gummy snacks. Your kid wont eat broth? Gummy Snacks! Your husband wont eat broth? Gummy Snacks! You wont eat broth? Gummy Snacks! It’s too hot for broth? Gummy Snacks! I think you get the point. Unfortunately I didn’t come up with this recipe on my own… A friend of mine sent this recipe my way for healthy sour fruit snacks. I tried this recipe using frozen raspberries, and then fresh blueberries. My favorite was the blueberries. There also is no need for honey, unless maybe you are making them for your child, although when I made the blueberry flavor, I just added a bit more blueberries and the fresh fruit sweetened them very nicely! The blueberry was definitely Bill’s favorite too.

Once The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking (pre-order now!) is turned in, I will be experimenting with more recipes using Great Lakes Gelatin. Gelatin is really important to have in your diet–it’s a source of protein, and full of amino acids (we love amino acids!!), and luckily it’s really fun and exciting to create recipes with!

Gut Healing Gummy Snacks

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Show Nutritional Info

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	77
Fat:	0 g
Carbohydrates:	16 g
Protein:	6 g
Calculated per serving.

prep time
1 hour

cook time
5 minutes

ready time
1 hour

Difficulty

Print Recipe

Add to myKitchen

Add a Note

Add to Meal Planner (Coming soon)

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2/3 cup 2/3 cup Lemon Juice, organic
1 cup 1 cup Blueberries, fresh and organic
4 Tbsp 4 Tbsp Unflavored Gelatin (Great Lakes - Beef)

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

Place lemon juice and blueberries into a heavy sauce pan, and heat over medium heat.
Stir blueberries, and allow to cook until the liquid is steaming, and the blueberries are plump.
Place lemon juice and blueberries into a high speed blender, or food processor, and blend until smooth.
Remove the lid, and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
Add 4 tablespoons of Great Lakes Gelatin to the blender, and blend again until smooth.
Pour mixture into candy molds, or a 9x9 glass dish, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Our recipes are created using Paleo, Primal and Gluten-free guidelines. Learn more about our diet and lifestyle at www.primalpalate.com.

Roasted Marrow Bones with Spicy Caper Relish

Bill

March 7, 2013

Comments (0)

Hayley and I have had the busiest, craziest week ever. A few weeks ago, I caught Hayley looking at PetFinder multiple times checking out shih tzu puppies up for adoption. One little guy named “Trouble” stuck out as being terribly cute. A few phone calls later, we were making arrangements to drive up to Connecticut to visit with him. I had a shih tzu growing up, and my parents also have one now (named Miles). They are amazing dogs, and we have both been considering adding a four legged family member for several months now. Knowing that there would never “truly” be a good time to adopt, we pulled the trigger and went to see Trouble.

When we reached the shelter (a giant barn), we were greeted with the sound of barking dogs. Out bounded a hoard of dogs and puppies, and the littlest shih tzu either of us have ever seen. Trouble (now “Charlie”) has been here a week and we can clearly see why he was given the name Trouble in the first place. He is very mischievous, very friendly, and devastatingly cute with a pair of eyes that seem to look in two different directions. I lobbied to call him “Wednesday”…. because he’s looking both ways to Sunday …. but that name got vetoed after a few chuckles. Either way, we’re so happy to have given Charlie a forever home here with us. We will try not to bombard you with too many puppy pics, but here is one for good measure.

That’s, of course, a big part of why we’re busy. The house, frankly, is a complete disaster. As Hayley points out, “we’re definitely new parents.” The other reason is that we’re clawing to get our third book, The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking, out the door to copy edit. Last summer, we decided to work on the two books at the same time. Bad decision! But now, nearing the end, we’re happy we did – sort of. If we can survive the next week, we’ll be golden. AND you guys will have not one but TWO new books to look forward to.

For some reason, I’ve been craving fat in my diet over the last few days. It’s not for lack of fat, that’s for sure – but the brain food was an absolute necessity today. Good thing I had set out some beef marrow bones to defrost yesterday. Instead of having what many would consider “typical” breakfast food today (like eggs and bacon), we had these tasty marrow bones and some leftover paella which we made last night (paleo paella, mind you). That recipe will be in the 30 Day Guide book too. For this recipe, it’s definitely preferable to have your marrow bones cut longways for ease of access. Unless you don’t mind digging the marrow out, then go for it.

We should be back to normal in a few weeks. Actually, you’ll really want to check back because our web development team has been working with us on updates for many months now, and some of them are going to start rolling out. Exciting stuff! Let us know if you make this recipe, and what you thought of it! Cheers.

Roasted Marrow Bones with Spicy Caper Relish

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Show Nutritional Info

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	262
Fat:	16 g
Carbohydrates:	10 g
Protein:	13 g
Calculated per serving.

prep time
5 minutes

cook time
30 minutes

ready time
35 minutes

Add to Meal Planner (Coming soon)

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup 1/2 cup Marrow Bones (Beef), 2 large, 6
1/4 cup 1/4 cup Onion, minced
2 tsp 2 tsp Capers, minced
1 clove 1 clove Garlic, minced
2 tsp 2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/8 tsp 1/8 tsp Chipotle Powder, a pinch
1/8 tsp 1/8 tsp Paprika, a pinch
1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp Salt, a bigger pinch
1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp Mustard (Whole Grain Mustard)

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place marrow bones in a roasting dish, and roast for 20-30 minutes (depending on their thickness, and whether or not they are cut in half longways).
Mince onion, capers and garlic. Toss with the olive oil and spices.
Saute onion caper relish in a small skillet over medium-low heat until onions are soft. Shut off heat, and allow to rest until marrow bones are done.
Serve marrow bones with the onion caper relish and a spoonful of grain mustard.

Notes

Marrow bones sliced longways are ideal for this recipe. Have your butcher prepare the bones this way. If they are not sliced longways, simply use a narrow knife or small spoon to remove the marrow.

Our recipes are created using Paleo, Primal and Gluten-free guidelines. Learn more about our diet and lifestyle at www.primalpalate.com.

Gather – The Art of Paleo Entertaining (VIDEO)

Bill

February 27, 2013

Comments (3)

Gather – The Art of Paleo Entertaining from The Food Lovers on Vimeo.

Our newest team member – meet Kara!

Bill

February 24, 2013

Comments (0)

Our lives have been in an absolute swirl for the last 9 months, as many of you know (or can tell). We have been working on two beautiful books (Gather, and The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking), both due out in a matter of months (April 30, and June 14 – respectively). With several other projects still in the works, it was becoming too much for the two of us to do everything we wanted to get done (and still find time to sleep). Even as it is, we haven’t even taken a weekend off in about two months. No complaints for being able to live our dream, because we love it, but we love doing everything we can for you all even more. Lately, there simply haven’t been enough hours in the day. We want to do more for you!

To help us out, we would like to introduce you to the newest member of our team: Kara! We are so pleased to have Kara joining our team. She will be spearheading our 30 Day Intro to Paleo ebook program, and helping affiliates of the program maximize their potential. If you’d like to learn more about our affiliate program, visit this link!

We thought there would be no one more qualified to introduce Kara, than Kara herself.

- – - – -

Hi! I’m Kara- a total foodie and a running freak.

Those two things-running and food-have always been my two first loves. But the way I think about food and my overall approach to healthy living has varied greatly.

I grew up on a conventional farm in Iowa. I classified potatoes as my favorite “vegetable,” thought fried food was delicious, and never heard of a thing called Meatless Monday. I survived solely on meat and potatoes for eighteen years until I entered college. While I understood the basic division between which foods were “bad” and which were “good,” nutrition was not something I gave a great deal of thought to. My high school track team and I completely eliminated caffeinated drinks while in season and I never ate dessert within three days of a meet. My complete list of diet restrictions ended there. I still believed in the concept of carb-loading and could easily eat my weight in spaghetti. Mornings of competition consisted of a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast followed by a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.

After high school, I went to Drake University on a track scholarship and was forced to take a solid look at my diet for the first time. My teammates and I were weighed weekly, kept food journals bi-weekly, and had our body fat tested each semester. While my team joked over my Midwest-style eating habits, it wasn’t until my junior year that I decided to make a change. A summer excursion to Europe (and all the bread, chocolate, and gelato that comes with it) had resulted in a weight gain of ten pounds, or twenty in “track-terms.” My coach took a single look at me and immediately sent me to a nutritionist.

Rather than giving me an overbearing, complex diet plan, my nutritionist left with me the most basic principles to follow. She instructed me to divide my plate in fourths, with half my plate divided between protein and “good” carbs and the other half filled with fruits and vegetables. She increased my protein intake. She informed me that carb-loading was a complete myth. She diversified my diet and put green food on my plate for the first time in twenty years. My muscle came back, the fat came off, and I thought I had everything figured out.

Then I moved to Washington, D.C., one of the most diversified cities in the nation in terms of population as well as the food people eat. I was friends with people who were vegan, vegetarian, or avoided specific foods for religious/cultural reasons. As a die-hard carnivore from Iowa and retired athlete, I was the protein advocate in the group. However, given my new exposure to such a wide-range of diets, I found myself questioning all I had been taught.

Since moving to Pittsburgh, I have refocused not only on what I eat, but how I want to live. What attracted me to Paleo is the basic premise that no matter what your background, beliefs, or dietary preferences may be; just eat the foods our bodies were designed to consume. When I met Bill and Hayley, the first thing they told me was, “What’s our Paleo is not necessarily your Paleo.” My paleo is one where running is the go-to form of exercise, where red meat forms the bottom of the food pyramid, and where I follow the golden rule that if it comes in a wrapper, don’t eat it. Oh, and potatoes are still my favorite vegetable. But that’s just me.

- – - – -

Now you’ve gotten a taste of Kara’s voice. Be on the lookout for posts from her on the new 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking Facebook page. She brings a lot to our Paleo table, and we’re really happy to have her join our team!

-Bill & Hayley

Grain Free Hamantaschen Cookies for Purim

Hayley

February 18, 2013

Comments (2)

circular cookie cutter dough

Paleo Hamantaschen Cookies for Purim from The Food Lovers on Vimeo.

Over the holidays my mom put in a request for us to make grain free hamantaschen for her. Hamantaschen is a pastry traditionally served during the Jewish holiday of Purim. “Hamantaschen” is the Yiddish word meaning “Haman’s pockets.” Haman is the villain in the Purim story. Jews eat hamantaschen on Purim as part of the celebration to remember how Jews escaped Haman’s evil plans.

hamantaschen dough

arrowroot powder

My mom’s family is Jewish, my dad’s is not. Although I do have family on my mom’s side that practice Judaism, my immediate family doesn’t much. Everyone seems to be married to a Christian! I grew up celebrating all Christian holidays, and lighting the Hanukkah candles. Although I consider myself to be a very spiritual person, I don’t consider myself to be very religious. All of those things really don’t have much to do with this blog, so I don’t feel it is appropriate for me to go into too much detail about that part of my life here. I do really like celebrating where I come from, even if I don’t know all of the stories behind it, or have all of the knowledge of it, so I was really excited to learn about these cookies and take a stab at making them grain free.

stock photo rolling out cookie dough

stock photo cookie cutter

For this recipe I had a pretty good feel for how I would make the cookie dough, but the filling needed a bit of research. I learned that hamantaschen is traditionally served with a prune and raisin filling, but that using other berries for the filling can be done sometimes as well. I thought prune and raisin would be a fun filling to try, so we went for it. I cooked the filling with water, lemon juice, and a touch of maple syrup. I allowed the liquid to boil down, until I had a really nice thick filling of plump prunes and raisins. For the dough, the key ingredient to making these cookies work is adding enough arrowroot flour to thicken the dough enough to be able to manipulate it so that it will form the proper shape. If you choose to not eat arrowroot, tapioca flour can be used in the same amounts.

cookie dough with fruit filling

how to make hamantaschen cookies

For these cookies we used a fun round cookie cutter that made an almost flower like shape. You can use a plain circle for these cookies, or one with smaller crinkles. Leaving the dough a little on the thicker side also helps when folding the cookies. If the dough is rolled out too thin you will not be able to fold the cookie to make the classic triangle shape. After the cookies were all cut, We filled the center of each cookie with about a teaspoon (give or take) of the prune filling. After that we carefully folded in the edges of the cookie to create a triangle. These beautiful little cookies then baked for 20 minutes, yielding one of the best cookies we have ever made! The texture was wonderful, and the flavor was even better.

paleo hamantaschen cookies

If you celebrate Purim, or if you do not, you will really enjoy these adorable little cookies!

Hamantaschen cookie for purim

Hamantaschen

Reviews (0)

Show Nutritional Info

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	289
Fat:	18 g
Carbohydrates:	33 g
Protein:	3 g
Calculated per serving.

prep time
25 minutes

cook time
20 minutes

ready time
45 minutes

Add to Meal Planner (Coming soon)

Here is a recipe for grain free hamantaschen. Hamantaschen is a pastry traditionally served during the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Serves: 18

Ingredients

11 oz 11 oz Prunes (dried plums), pitted and chopped
1 cup 1 cup Raisins
3/4 cup 3/4 cup Water
1/3 cup 1/3 cup Lemon Juice
2 cup 2 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1 cup 1 cup Arrowroot Flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting
1 tsp 1 tsp Salt
1 tsp 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup 1/2 cup Maple Syrup, Grade B, + 1 Tbsp to add to the filling
1/4 cup 1/4 cup Coconut Oil, Organic, melted

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

In a medium sized sauce pan, add the prunes, raisins, water, lemon juice, and maple syrup. Heat over medium heat.
Bring filling to a boil, while stirring. Continue to stir frequently, while "mashing" the filling with a wooded spoon.
Once the liquid has reduced, and you have a thick filling of plump prunes and raisins, remove from heat and set aside for filling the cookies.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, arrowroot, and salt.
Add in the vanilla extract, maple syrup, and melted coconut oil. Stir until all ingredients are combined and you have a ball of cookie dough. **You can use your hands for this as well.
Place ball of dough on to a sheet of parchment paper, adding additional arrowroot flour and kneading the dough until it is firm enough to be rolled and cut into shapes.
Place another sheet of parchment paper over the dough, and roll into a 1/4 inch thick layer.
Dust dough with additional arrowroot, as well as dip the cookie cutter in arrowroot flour, so the dough does not stick.
Carefully cut circles in the dough, and remove the excess dough from around the circles.
Add about a teaspoon (give or take) of filling to the center of the cookies, and carefully fold three sides in, making a triangular shape. Pinch the corners in to seal the cookies.
Transfer the parchment to a baking sheet, and bake cookies for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.
Repeat this process using a fresh sheet of parchment, for the remainder of the dough, until you have used all of the cookie dough.
Any remaining filling can be frozen and saved for future use.

Our recipes are created using Paleo, Primal and Gluten-free guidelines. Learn more about our diet and lifestyle at www.primalpalate.com.

Homemade Raw Butter

Hayley

February 9, 2013

Comments (2)

We love butter, and cook with it often. Bill and I both tolerate grass fed butter just fine, and really enjoy incorporating it into our diets. Up until now, we have always purchased Kerrygold or Smjor butter from Whole Foods. Living in Pennsylvania, we can legally buy raw milk at our local food coop, or straight from a farmer. Unfortunately our coop does not carry raw cream, or butter, just milk, so grass fed butter was as close to the “really good stuff” that we could get. For those of frightened of raw milk, fret not. This food is a good one. The milk we find today in our grocery stores is heavily processed for good reason. It comes from factory farmed cows, who are fat and sick from being fed an improper diet. Sick cows means sick milk, in which case the milk from unhealthy cows needs to be heated or “pasteurized” to kill all of the bacteria growing in the milk of those poor, unhealthy cows. The common milk we find in most grocery stores today is a dead food, that causes all of the intestinal upset that we know it to cause.

Raw milk on the other hand is full of live, beneficial bacteria. Milk is a live food, and can be safely incorporated into a Paleo/Primal/and especially Weston A. Price diet when sourced from a good farmer who grass feeds and grass finishes his cows. These cows are healthy and happy, and their milk will be healthy and happy too! For more information on the benefits of raw milk, click here, here, and here. All of that in mind, personally I (Hayley) HATE milk. I don’t have any intentions of feeding our children cows milk, and I never drank the stuff growing up. Watching someone else drink milk makes me feel like I’m going to gag (which you can imagine was fun at the Weston A. Price conference when everyone was drinking that stuff like water). So, milk I hate, but cream, butter, cheese, and ice cream I LOVE. Just give me the fat I guess!

Bill does really like milk, but doesn’t crave it. He really loved the raw milk he tasted at WAP, but hasn’t asked for it since. He does seem to tolerate it okay (no gas, bloating, breakouts, emotional responses, etc) so my desire to get my hands on some raw butter was finally awarded by Bill being willing to drink the milk we had to buy to get some raw cream. We headed to our food coop to grab a few groceries, and while we were there we got a gallon of raw milk. Looking back on it, we probably could have settled for a half gallon, just because Bill doesn’t drink the stuff much, and based on how much cream I was able to skim off the top, we didn’t need to buy that much milk.

After we got the milk, we came home and both starred blankly at the gallon, wondering how we were going to get the cream out. First we thought maybe we could pour it out, and after starting to pour we realized that wasn’t going to work, so we poured a good bit into a glass container, and put that in the fridge to separate over night. The next morning we had what looked to be a good layer of cream in the glass container, as well as in the gallon jug again. I watched a few videos on how to skim the raw cream, and one that looked easy enough used a turkey baster. Off we went to buy a turkey baster (nope, we didn’t have one–we are still a young couple folks and despite having some pretty cool kitchen gadgets, there are some things we just don’t have yet–like turkey basters.) Anyway, we got what we needed, and headed back home to make some butter.

First thing we did was get all of our ingredients: food processor, a few glass bowls, the milk of course, some cheese cloth, and the turkey baster. Then we skimmed as much of the cream off of the milk as we could. This was slightly stressful for me, because I felt like I kept getting milk in the bowl, and the line of cream seemed to never go down.

(can you see the faint line of separation between cream and milk? it was even harder to see in real life!)

After we skimmed what we thought was a good amount of cream off of the milk (enough to cover the blades of the food processor), we poured the cream into the food processor and started to blend. We blended for several minutes, and thought nothing was going to happen except milk bubbles. At that point I got on Facebook chat with one of our favorite farmers and she gave me some tips.

1. The cream takes a really long time to whip.

2. It whips faster at room temperature.

Since I’m impatient and we had cold milk, you can see where the worry came from. After a few more minutes the cream started to thicken and I got really, really excited!

After a few MORE minutes the cream started to really thicken, turn yellow, and separate from the buttermilk. Once it did this, we poured the butter milk into the sink, scraped the butter back down onto the blades, and kept blending.

Finally we had a cute little ball of butter that we could strain into a bowl.

We strained the remaining buttermilk from the butter through our cheese cloth.

After that we had butter!! Woot!!

Lessons learned from raw butter making:

1. Skimming cream from milk is a pain, and results in more buttermilk and less butter (or I just suck at it, which is a huge possibility).

2. Use room temperature cream for faster whipping.

3. Making butter is really fun, even though it’s a lot of work.

I really enjoyed making this butter. Before making butter from raw cream yourself, I would definitely recommend watching The Healthy Home Economist’s video tutorial on how to make raw butter. She does a fantastic job with this video!

Gather Recipe: Orange Scones and Cranberry Scones

Hayley

January 30, 2013

Comments (4)

Gather (our NEW cookbook) is just about to go to print (YAY FINALLY!!) So we wanted to get the “teaser” recipes going so that you will of course want to buy the book This recipe is one of my favorites in the book. We made these scones for our Tea Party themed menu, because scones go so perfectly with tea of course! This menu was also one of the easiest to organize and photograph, as well as one of the most fun. As a child, I always wanted to go to a fancy tea party, dressed up in a party dress with jewels and white gloves. I never really got to live out my tea party fantasy as a little girl, so it was really special that we were able to really have fun for this shoot with two of my cousins and their two friends.

paleo girls tea party

Paleo tea party

The little girls had a blast, and were cheesing it up for the camera as we had hoped. They were the perfect little models we needed for the day. They were patient, and kind (no diva attitudes whatsoever) and ultimately were very grateful that we wanted to include them in this special project. They sipped their gingersnap tea with pinkies high, smiled and giggled as they passed scones and zucchini bread, and they made an effort to taste everything we made.

little girls tea party 2

little girls tea party

We made two different types of scones for Gather, both using the same base, but different flavorings. This is great information for you to know, because if you love scones but are dying to try say a chocolate chip flavor for example, then you can use our recipe and omit one or two flavorings and add in any others you may desire. I must say though that ours are fantastic and you should absolutely make the recipe as is! Only sweetened with two tablespoons of maple syrup, they are not very sweet, so we really loved enjoying them with some apple butter.

Paleo Scones Process

Paleo Scones with Apple Butter

You don’t need to have a tea party to enjoy these scones, but we highly recommend that you do!

paleo scones

You can pre-order copies of Gather on Amazon now (and will be guaranteed the lowest price between now and the release date in April)

Pre-order Gather

[thanks for your order & support, folks!]

Orange Scones and Cranberry Scones

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Show Nutritional Info

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	424
Fat:	42 g
Carbohydrates:	13 g
Protein:	6 g
Calculated per serving.

prep time
10 minutes

cook time
20 minutes

ready time
30 minutes

Add to Meal Planner (Coming soon)

Scones are a traditional Scottish bread which are slightly sweet, and are served with tea widely around the world. For these scones, it is easy to make delicious variations by adding fruit to the batter. Scones are wonderful served with apple butter and a hot cup of tea.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

2 cup 2 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1/4 cup 1/4 cup Arrowroot Flour, Plus 2 Tbsp
1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp 2 tsp Baking Powder (Hain Brand)
2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup, Grade B
1/4 cup 1/4 cup Coconut Oil, Organic
1 1 Egg
1 1 Orange, Zest

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine almond flour, a quarter cup of arrowroot flour, salt, and baking powder.
In a smaller mixing bowl, combine maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and one egg. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth.
Pour wet ingredients into dry, and blend until all ingredients are evenly combined.
To make the orange scones, add the orange zest. To make the cranberry scones, add 1 cup of dried cranberries in place of the orange zest.
Add two tablespoons of arrowroot flour to the batter to thicken the dough.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough on the parchment lined baking sheet and flatten slightly.
Carefully cut the dough into eight equal wedges, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Notes

If making Cranberry scones, add 1 cup dried cranberries in place of the orange zest.

Our recipes are created using Paleo, Primal and Gluten-free guidelines. Learn more about our diet and lifestyle at www.primalpalate.com.

Sous Vide Beef Tenderloin with Truffle Butter

Bill

January 27, 2013

Comments (2)

Back in December, we saw a post by Sous Vide Supreme on Facebook about a Paleo recipe contest. We didn’t think much of it, considering we didn’t own a Sous Vide. However, a few days later, we found out that in the course of the contest, entrants would be provided with a Sous Vide to try out in the completion of our entry. How’s that for a perk? We couldn’t fill out the entry form fast enough, because were dying to give the cooking technique a shot which our friend Nom Nom Paleo has been using as long as we’ve known her. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this cooking method, you vacuum seal your food in a pouch and cook it in a temperature-controlled water oven (called a Sous Vide). This method has been used for just over 200 years, but has not become truly popular until the last few decades.

Sous Vide Beef with Mashed Cauliflower

The allure of cooking Sous Vide is achieving a consistent and even internal temperature to your food. Want medium rare meat? How about the ability to get it 134 degrees internally from end to end! While it has been primarily used in restaurants for the last few decades, Dr’s Michael and Mary Eades (authors of Protein Power) have made this technology accessible and relatively affordable for the masses.

We were very excited to try out our Sous Vide when it first arrived, and because we’ve seen a million of Michelle’s fantastic recipes using the method, we felt quite comfortable from the beginning in using our new toy. It’s not just easy…. it’s actually hard to mess something up! A few minutes of reading the directions (less complicated than you would get to assemble a piece of Ikea furniture – damn you, “Fartfull” work bench.) you’re up and running.

Tx Bar Organics Beef

For the recipe competition which was co-sponsored by Sous Vide Supreme and Tx Bar Organics, we were charged to come up with a delicious recipe using the Tx Bar Organics beef, cooked using the Sous Vide. This is a match made in heaven. When you’re cooking with high quality, grass fed beef, the last thing you want to do is overcook it. Sous Vide takes this disastrous scenario out of the equation. We were given two tenderloin steaks and two top sirloin steaks to cook with, and decided to use all four in this recipe. In our own opinion, when you cook with good beef, you DON’T MESS WITH IT. Got it? Good. That is the golden rule.

compound herb butter

We whipped up a delicious compound herb butter for the steaks to bathe in (at 134 degrees). The trick is to line the (BPA-free) pouch with the butter. When you vacuum seal the pouch, the delicious herb butter literally smothers the beef (in a good way). No overpowering flavors here – just a good fat and some herbs. After making this recipe, we re-read the contest rules and saw “no dairy.” Whoops. We hope we can get a hall pass on this one, as we consider butter to be in the “healthy cooking fats” family – as most Paleo luminaries do these days.

herb butter sous vide

When we water came up to temperature, we placed the steaks into the water and let them cook for 2 hours. You could let them go for longer, but we were in a bit of a hurry to get this recipe captured in the scarce winter daylight. In the meantime, we whipped up some parsley mashed cauliflower using another one of our favorite kitchen toys, our Blendtec. This is another great tool in the kitchen, allowing you to blend just about anything (search “will it blend” and you’ll see what we mean).

black truffle butter

Adding insult to injury on the butter-front, we made a fantastically delicious black truffle butter to garnish the steaks. If the generous (incredibly good looking) judges cannot see past the inclusion of butter, we’re really screwed. And seriously, if you have that much of a problem with good old fashioned grass-fed butter, you can use ghee. As the steaks were preparing to emerge from their two hour bath, we fired up our grill to the hottest temperature we can muster out of it in January. You can deliver a sear to the steaks in a variety of ways: kitchen torch, oven broiler, grill pan. But our preferred method of searing is using our Weber grill outside. 2-3 minutes per side, with a 45 degree rotation half way through cooking will deliver a picture perfect, crisp sear. This is perfection, folks.

Sous Vide Tenderloin Sliced

Sous Vide Beef Tenderloin

As an added surprise (and bonus), we decided to make a video of this recipe to help you see exactly how this recipe came together in the kitchen. We have truly enjoyed our trial with the Sous Vide, and have cooked with it quite often! If you have been thinking about getting one, this is the sign you’ve been waiting for. Put it on your Amazon wish list, or maybe just get one right now! A big thanks to TX Bar Organics and Sous Vide Supreme for allowing us to participate. The meat was wonderful, and the machine is a new favorite in our kitchen.

Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Black Truffle Butter

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Reviews (0)

Show Nutritional Info

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	838
Fat:	89 g
Carbohydrates:	10 g
Protein:	1 g
Calculated per serving.

prep time
15 minutes

cook time
2 hours

ready time
2 hours

Add to Meal Planner (Coming soon)

We created this recipe using our Sous Vide, which yielded perfect medium rare beef. If you don't have a Sous Vide, you can recreate this recipe by grilling the entire time. Your cook time will vary depending on the thickness (and quality) of your meat, but aim for 125 degrees internally before you remove it from the heat. It will generally achieve the last 10 degrees of cooking once removed. 134 degrees internally is ideal.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 4 Sirloin Steak, (Tenderloin)
1/4 cup 1/4 cup Butter, Salted
1/4 cup 1/4 cup Sage, fresh, minced
1/4 cup 1/4 cup Fresh Marjoram, minced
1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp 1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 head 1 head Cauliflower
2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp Parsley, curly leaf
1/2 cup 1/2 cup Butter, Unsalted
1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Truffle Salt, from black truffles

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

Fill your Sous Vide with water to within one inch of the max fill line, and set temperature to 134 degrees.
While water is heating, make the compound herb butter. Soften 1/4 cup grassfed butter (salted), and mix with the marjoram, sage, salt and pepper.
Seal two BPA-free sous vide pouches, and line the insides with the compound herb butter.
Place two steaks in each pouch, and vacuum seal them. Place them in the water (if it is up to temperature), and set the time for 2-4 hours.
About 30 minutes before the steaks are done cooking in the Sous Vide, boil the cauliflower.
Drain the water, and add the cauliflower to a food processor or high speed blender. Add the parsley, butter, salt and pepper (following the order of ingredients).
Blend the cauliflower until smooth.
To make the truffle butter, whip 1/2 cup unsalted grass fed butter with 1/2 tsp black truffle salt.
Preheat your grill to high heat (about 500 degrees). Remove the steaks from their pouches and sear them for 2-3 minutes per side.
Serve the tenderloin sliced thinly, topped with the black truffle butter and with a side of mashed cauliflower.

Our recipes are created using Paleo, Primal and Gluten-free guidelines. Learn more about our diet and lifestyle at www.primalpalate.com.