Mole Mole Mole

I love mole so much I have to say it three times! Is this the best mole recipe ever? Not even close, but I am a mole snob. It is, however, pretty darn good, especially when you want to make an easy version. Also, as much as I love throwing things into the crockpot in the morning and being mostly done with dinner, I think this recipe would be better made differently because the chicken releases more liquid as it cooks and dilutes the sauce. So I will give directions for a couple ways. One day I will try my hand at a paleo version of my traditional mole recipe that takes 3 days to make, but that is not this day. In the above picture, I served it over cauliflower "rice" (sauteed with ghee, garlic, salt and a bit of paprika, oregano and cumin) and zucchini sauteed with ghee, garlic, salt and chili powder - my favorite way to eat zuke!) Now all I need to do is figure out how to make a wrap and turn these into enchiladas.... hmmm.

Ingredients:

About 4 chicken breasts or 6 thighs (I like to use a bag of boneless, skinless thighs from Trader Joe's)

2 TB ghee

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups tomatoes, chopped (or you can use a 15oz can if that is how you roll)

2 TB raisins, optional (I leave these out when we are low carbing, and I still think it is great)

1 - 2 cups chicken broth (I want to try just 1 next time, whether crockpot or not)

3 TB sunflower seed butter

3 TB chili powder

2 TB cocoa powder

1 ts cinnamon

1 ts cumin

1/2 ts coriander seed

1/2 ts anise seed

1/8 ts ground cloves

1 ts salt

1 ts pepper

Instructions: 

Start cooking your chicken by your desired method. I usually just bake mine in the oven,but you can also saute it if you cut it in small pieces ahead of time. In the meantime, melt the ghee in a good sized pot, and saute the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and raisins, if using, and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the broth sunflower seed butter, chili powder, cocoa, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, anise, cloves, salt and pepper. Stir until the the sunbutter is melted and all is well combined.

For the next step, if you have an immersion blender, you are a happy camper as you can just blend it up right in the pot. If not, transfer it all to a blender and whir it up, then pour it back in the pan. Cook on low for about another 10 minutes just to get the flavors nice and melded. Are you in heaven yet just from the smell? Can I haz for soup now pleez? :D

When your chicken is done, drain off the fat and add it to the mole pot. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so on low, just to get the flavor nicely mixed up with the chicken. Longer would be fine too, but you don't want it to go too long or your chicken could get overcooked.

Crockpot option: Don't cook your chicken ahead of time, but instead put it in a crockpot, then pour the sauce over it when it is done. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours or low about 6-7.

NOTES: I would really like to try this with an equivalent amount of unsweetened baking chocolate. If you do, let me know how it is!

Salsa Chicken

This recipe is so embarrassingly easy, it can hardly be called a recipe! But all the more reason to include it here I guess! You need a bunch of chicken and a jar of salsa. That's it. I use a bag of Trader Joe's boneless, skinless thighs and one of their chipotle salsas. Put the chicken in a crockpot, pour the salsa over it, and 7 hours later, you have dinner. Again, that's it. You can shred the chicken a bit at the end if you want. We serve this over lettuce and topped with guacamole. Sometimes I add sauteed peppers or zucchini if I have the time to make them.

Pumpkin Pie Pork

Whoa, this is one of the best things I have ever made and quite a splurge as we usually try to keep our carbs down.  I really wanted to give this idea a try though!  The chipotle was kindof of a whim, but hey, the way I think, anything worth adding pumpkin and maple to is worth adding chipotle to!


Pumpkin Pie Pork

Whatcha Need

3 pound pork roast
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup maple syrup (you can use up to 2/3 cup if you don't mind the carbs and would like it really sweet)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 ts salt
1 ts pumpkin pie spice (see above)
1 ts Worcesteshire sauce
1/2 ts chipotle pepper (optional)

Whatcha Do

This is as easy peasy as they come.  Put the roast in the crockpot, mix up the rest of the ingredients and pour them over the top.  Cook it on low or high depending on how much time you have.  I usually start checking a roast about 5 hours in on low, then I cut it up to make sure the flavors are penetrating the whole roast.  When it gets more toward falling apart done, I cube it or shred it, depending on how I want to use it, and pop it back into the juices again for at least 15 minutes on the keep warm setting.  Watch out, this one is addicting!

Delicious Crockpot Pork Roast

I wanted to get this written up ASAP because it came out soooo good.  I put some honey in it, so it isn't technically Whole 30, but I am going to tag it as such because I think it would still be great without it, or you could throw some raisins into the sauce or some other fruit to sweeten it up if you want.   Plus, it is super easy peasy!

Delicious Crockpot Pork Roast 

Whatcha Need

3-5 pound pork roast

1 cup chicken bone broth

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves

3 TB olive oil

3 TB apple cider vinegar

2 TB honey (leave out for whole 30)

1 ts oregeno

2 ts chili powder

2 ts dried rosemary 

2 ts ground cumin

2 ts salt

Whatcha Do

Put your roast in the crockpot and pour the bone broth around it.  Put everything else in a food processor and pulse it until the onion is in small pieces.  Pour it on top of your roast and cook it on low until it is falling apart.  Really, that's it.  I was using a roast that was about 3 1/2 pounds, and it took about 6 hours.   I ate it by itself with cole slaw one night and then used it to make a taco salad type thing the second.  Amazing both ways! 

Osso Buco with Saffron and Mushrooms (Crockpot)

Let me start out by making a confession.  I really don't like the taste of beef.  I only started eating it fairly recently, and I only like it with ALOT of extra flavor.  I found a couple ways to make roasts or stew meat that I really like, but I was getting a bit bored with them, so I decided to go in hunt of something new.  I adore saffron, so on a whim, I decided to hunt beef recipes with saffron in them.  I was pleasantly surprised to find many of them.   After looking at several, this is what I ended up trying in my kitchen.  I really didn't know what to expect, but it turned out quite yummy!

I had some osso buco I wanted to use up, but you could use this recipe with any beef that needs long cooking with liquid.  I also think it would be absolutely fabulous with the addition of fennel.  Let me know if you try it!  I am going to list exactly what I used, but this recipe is very adaptable.  You could use just about any root vegetable.  My only complaint was that it could have used more salt, but I realized later that I used straight up chicken bone broth versus stock, so the amount of salt to add is going to depend on what you use for your liquid and personal preference.

Osso Buco with Saffron and Mushrooms

Whatcha Need

3 pieces of osso buco (or any beef good for slow cooking - up to about 5 lbs worth)
2 TB coconut oil plus extra for coating meat
1 onion, sliced
1 ts loosely packed saffron threads
1 TB crushed garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup chicken stock or bone broth (or beef broth would probably be fine too)
12 oz pkg of washed and sliced mushrooms (yeah I am lazy)
handful of baby carrots (or any other root vegetable of choice and/or sliced fennel)

Whatcha Do 

Start out by heating the coconut oil in a skillet and adding the onions and saffron.  While the onion is cooking, get enough coconut oil to rub over the surface of the meat, and then follow with rubbing garlic over the surface.  Finish up with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  When the onions are translucent, move them to a bowl and turn the heat up to med high.  Add the osso buco pieces to the skillet and brown them well on all sides.  Transfer the osso buco straight to your crockpot.  Now add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook just long enough to get any brown bits scraped up from your skillet.  Add a bit more coconut oil if it seems necessary, but the mushrooms will start to release their own moisture and most likely do the job.  Add a bit of salt to your bone broth if you think  you will want more, and then pour it into the crockpot around the meat.  Top with onions and mushrooms and any other veggies you choose to use.  Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours.  Cooking times will vary depending on the cut you are using.  When I am cooking a whole roast, I often cut it into quarters or even smaller pieces after about 5 hours to get an idea of how done it is and also to make sure it gets to soak up the flavor.  This recipe was great with osso buco.  It literally fell right off the bone and was practically melt in your mouth tender!  Enjoy!

Heavenly Crockpot Brisket

I never thought I would like beef this much! Hence my glowing title for this recipe lol.  It is sort of a BBQ spin off I guess.  I have had this brisket in my freezer for months, having no idea of what to do with it.  But then I got determined and did some research, made some adaptations, and voila.  I present you the best beef I have ever made, imho.

Heavenly Crockpot Brisket

Whatcha Need

1 brisket, 2-3 pounds
8oz can of tomato sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 TB olive oil
2 TB chili powder
2 TB dijon mustard
2 TB apple cider vinegar
1 cup crushed pineapple
1 ts sea salt
1 onion, diced

Whatcha Do

Mix the tomato sauce, garlic, olive oil, chili powder, mustard, vinegar, pineapple and salt in a bowl.  Put the brisket in your crockpot and pour about half the sauce over it.  Turn it over and pour the rest of the sauce on it.  Put the onions over the top.  Cook it on low until it is falling apart.  For me that was about 7 hours but might vary depending on how hot your crockpot is and the size of the brisket.

I kept thinking how good this would be with bread lol.  Need to think about good ways to serve it.  There is also SO much wonderful, delicious sauce that I would like to come up with ideas for.  I was thinking it might be good in scrambled eggs but haven't tried that yet.

Balsamic Beef Stew

I was so excited when I started this blog to get all my favorite paleo recipes in one place, but life happens, and I seem to spend most of my time in the kitchen, shopping or cleaning!  But I want to start getting back to this project, mainly so I don't have to go hunting recipes I used for inspiration.  I think my biggest holdup was that I wanted to take lots of PICTURES! That doesn't seem to be in the cards, though.  I have a hard enough time sitting down to type up instructions!  I guess while the kids are young is not the time for me to have a fancy photo blog.  :)  If I get some up from time to time, good for me. If I don't,

On that note, I am going to kickoff my reentry into blogosphere with what has become my favorite beef stew.  If you knew me a few years ago, you would never have imagined those three words put together would ever come out of my fingers lol.  But I have managed to develop a taste for beef, as long as it is well seasoned.  I still don't care for a straight up steak, and not sure I ever will, but in the meantime, I am finding things to do with the grassfed cow share I bought this year, and this one, in my humble opinion, is divine!

Balsamic Beef Stew

Whatcha Need

Enough ghee to brown your beef, or other FOC (fat of choice)
2-3 pounds stew beef, grass fed if possible, cut into cubes
1 onion, chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
1 cup chopped tomatoes (or a whole can is probably fine - I usually use about a cup of the tomatoes I slow roasted from my garden, and those are amazing, but not everybody has slow roasted tomatoes on hand. :) )
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
4 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper to taste
Big handful of greens (optional)

Whatcha Do

Heat up your FOC in a dutch oven, and brown the meat.  You may need to do this in batches.  Set the meat aside in a bowl as it is finished.  Saute the onion and garlic until the onion is starting to brown, then add the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and stir to make sure you are scraping up any yummy bits that have collected on the bottom of the pan.  Add the meat and any juices back to the pan, and add all the spices.  Cover the dutch oven, and cook on low for about 2 hours.  You can also finish this off in a crockpot on  high for about 4 hours.  If I don't have any other veggies to go with my meal, I will often toss in some arugula or kale at the end and cook just till it wilts down.

Crockpot Greek Chicken

This recipe is based on one from my old blog that wasn't a crockpot recipe.  I decided to try it that way and was really glad I did!  So many chicken recipes end up tasting kinda watered down in the crockpot, but not this one.  It comes out just perfect!  This one is a total staple now, and the best part is, it is soooooooo easy!

Crockpot Greek Chicken

Whatcha Need:

4 carrots, sliced
1 whole chicken, cut up, or selected pieces, or use boneless (I use a bag of frozen thighs from Trader Joe's)
1 TB dried rosemary
2 ts salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
15 pitted kalamata olives
1 TB capers

Whatcha Do:

Put the carrots in the bottom of the crockpot and add the chicken on top of it.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook it up.  That's it!  With the frozen thighs, it takes about 7 hours on low.  This recipe does benefit from a stirring somewhere in the second half.

NOTE: I have also added zucchini to this and it comes out tasty.  Kale might be interesting as well, although I haven't tried it yet.  .