Venison Stuffed Peppers from "Paleo Comfort Foods"

Yesterday afternoon, while I was making my grocery list, I flipped through the "Paleo Comfort Foods" cookbook and found a recipe for stuffed peppers. One of my favorite dishes, even though I have never made them myself, it is easy and fun to make and kiddos can help with mixing!

I'm not going to describe the entire recipe and how to make it because I followed the step-by-step in the book. I will however, describe the minor changes I made to accommodate what I had available.

I'm fresh out of venison, so I used instead ground pork and turkey breast. Also, I like the peppers a little more crisp when finished, so I did not boil them as the recipe calls for. Also, instead of mixing in the bacon from the beginning of the recipe, I added it on top of the meat with a couple of minutes left on the oven timer and switched to broil.

On a scale of 1-10, I give this one a solid 9! It is very well though out, simple to make (although I took longer than expected because it was my first time making them) and you can make easy changes to the recipe without throwing it out of whack. 

To compliment, I made some spicy guacamole and put a dob of it on top when served. 

This is a brightly colored and fun recipe to make. I highly recommend this as a regular dish because you can change the ingredients to fit what ever you want and they make easily transported individual meals.

Peppers fresh out of oven, before adding guacamole.

If you do not already have "Paleo Comfort Foods" I seriously recommend you make the purchase immediately. You can get it by clicking HERE.

Other cookbooks for differing recipes that I like are "The Primal Blueprint Cookbook" by Mark Sisson and "Everyday Paleo" by Sarah Fragaso (particularly good because the first half of the book is her real life story about bringing the whole family through the paleo switch).

Roasted Kosher Chicken

OK, so it's been a while since my last post. But, with renewed interest in spreading awesome Paleo recipes to my friends and family, I give you a variation of my wife's dish - Kosher Chicken.

What you will need:
One whole young fryer chicken
Chopped Thyme Seasoning
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - EVOO
Box of Kosher Salt

To make cleanup much easier you must first cover a 13X9 glass dish with aluminum foil. Next, fill the dish with kosher salt until you have about 1/2" evenly dispersed on the bottom of the dish.

Preheat oven to 400'F, cook time is one hour and 20 minutes.

Layout the chicken and coat liberally with the EVOO on all parts except the very bottom. Do not remove the skin, this helps in the cooking process. I will explain that in a minute. Be sure to get into the spaces between the wing/breast and the thighs and legs. Once you've coated the chicken with EVOO, sprinkle the Thyme over the top and sides of the chicken. Put as much or as little as you like, I used about 2 palm fulls (side note: during the cooking, this makes the house smell sooo gooood!) but whatever you like will work.

Place the whole chicken, breast side up, in the 13X9 dish, centered neatly and on top of the salt. Once oven is preheated, place on rack in middle of oven and set timer to one hour.

WARNING - NOT PALEO: While cooking, now is a good time to enjoy a glass of white wine or a craft brew. A chardonnay will pair well with the thyme roasted chicken, as well as an IPA such as Sweet Water Brewing Co's IPA, hoppy with a bit a grapefruit.

For a side, I made a fresh salad. Also, I made smashed sweet potatoes. For this, you will need 4-5 large sweet potatoes and one half Florida sweet onion (won't make you cry and doesn't have an overpowering onion taste). Skin the potatoes and chop into small pieces roughly 1" or less. Boil all of the pieces until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Strain and put into a large mixing dish, then use a smashing tool to smash the pieces into the texture you want. The more you smash, the less chunky it will be. Once that's done, add in 2 tsp of cinnamon powder, one Tbsp garlic powder, cracked peppercorn and salt to taste. Dice the onion into small pieces and mix into the potatoes. Serve right in the mixing dish.

About this time the chicken should be cooked to an internal temp of 145-150'F. Once the hour timer is done, check the internal temp, put back into the oven for nineteen more minutes. Once the timer is done, turn to broil for about 1 more minute to finish crisping the skin on top. After broiling, chicken is ready to serve. Let sit about 5 minutes outside oven before cutting to serve.

The reason we cook this slowly is to maintain the moisture inside the chicken. By leaving the skin on, the salt in the dish creates a convection process that you can literally see during the roasting. You will see fluid bubbling under the skin, as the meat self bastes. Contrary to what you may think, the chicken will not be salty tasting in any way. It will, however, stay extremely juicy, even in the drier white meat parts like the breast.

Serve plated with the side of your choice and the fresh cool salad. The salad is a nice contrast in both texture, color and temperature to the rest of the dish. Dress it with some avocado oil and balsamic vinegar.

Now enjoy!