Hot Ham Sandwiches

We have another pot luck dinner to go to tonight.  I thought about making the meatballs again from the other night but thought better of it.  I wanted something simple and easy.  I have made this recipe in the past and people love it.  The original recipe calls for the use of apple juice, since I am allergic I substituted pineapple juice.  The original recipe also actually calls for sugar, which we no longer use in this house.  I converted the recipe using honey and molasses. Serve this with or without buns, hawaiian sweet rolls are a favorite.

This recipe is close to being paleo but not quite.

Hot Ham Sandwiches
12 Servings
3 pounds thinly sliced uncured deli ham (about 40 slices)
2 cups pineapple juice
2/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
Separate ham slices and place in a 3 quart slow cooker.  In a bowl combine the pineapple juice, honey, molasses, relish, mustard and paprika; mix.  Pour over ham.  Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours or until heated through.  Place 4-5 slices of ham on each roll with a little bit of juice.

Hawaiian Meatballs

I have a pot luck dinner to go to tomorrow night.  I went ahead and made my meal tonight which will save me time tomorrow and all I need to do is put it in the crock pot and warm it up.  You can also double this recipe which is what I did.

Simple and Easy!

Hawaiian Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon coconut aminos (you can also use soy sauce or tamari)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place all ingredients into a large bowl.  Form meat into 1 inch balls.  Place meatballs into a baking dish that has been sprayed with olive oil.  Place into oven and cook for 15 minutes, remove from oven and turn meatballs over, return to oven and cook for about 5 minutes more.

In a small bowl combine:
2 tablespoons arrowroot
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons coconut aminos
Mix well with a whisk, set aside.

In a large saucepan add:
2 tablespoons ghee
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup diced green peppers
1 can pineapple chunks in natural juice, reserving juice
Over medium high heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the arrowroot mixture and the following ingredients to the pan.
1/2 cup vinegar
3/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
Simmer, stirring constantly until mixture thickens.  Add cooked meatballs and serve.

If you are serving this the next day like I am, I placed the sauce and the meatballs into my crock pot, pot.  That way all I need to do tomorrow is place it in the electric part of the crock pot turn it on and serve.

Breakfast Bars (Grain Free and Dairy Free)

I have made these bars before and really enjoyed them.  This time I changed it slightly.

Breakfast Bars (Grain Free and Dairy Free)
1 cup almond flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a food processor add almond flour, salt and cinnamon, process to mix.  Add coconut oil, honey and water and process.  Add in coconut, pumpkin seeds, hemp hearts, almonds and raisins; process until thoroughly mixed.  Press mixture into a greased 8x8 inch baking pan (I used a rubber spatula to help me with this).  Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Cool completely before cutting.

Thanksgiving 2013

If you are a regular reader of my blog you have probably been wondering where I have been.  It has been a crazy fall.  Time is flying by and here we are at the end of November already with the end the of year creeping ever slightly closer. I wanted to share with you the dishes that I made for our Thanksgiving Feast.

Roasted Turkey

Fresh sage, thyme, and oregano

A couple of cloves of garlic, peeled

1 lemon, cut into quarters

8 tablespoons of Ghee (I used this in place of butter)

Salt and Pepper

Take the herbs, lemon and garlic and put them into the cavity of the bird.  Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper. Spread some ghee on and around the bird. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put foil over turkey.  Place in oven for 1 hour (this is key, it's called blasting the bird) then after 1 hour turn the oven down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cook the turkey for about 15-20 minutes per pound until the thermometer reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add some homemade chicken broth to make enough gravy.  To thicken it I use Arrowroot.

Mashed Parsnips

8 parsnips, peeled and diced

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup coconut milk, warmed in a pan on the stove

Add diced parsnips to a large pan of water, bring to a boil and cook until tender.  Remove from stove and drain.  Place drained parsnips back into pan and place on burner (do not have burner on).  Use a potato masher to masher the parsnips, add garlic cloves.  Using a immersion blender, blender the mixture by slowly adding some coconut milk until you get the right consistency.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

2 pounds brussel sprouts, washed and cut in half

1 pound of bacon, diced

Salt 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add bacon to a pan over medium high heat and cook until crispy.  Remove bacon, reserving fat.  Place brussel sprouts into a small casserole dish.  Drizzle sprouts with bacon fat.  Place in oven and cook for about 30 minutes until tender.  Mix in cooked bacon to incorporate and add a little bit of salt to taste.  Serve.

Roasted Whole Sweet Potatoes
Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and place in oven, cook for about 1 hour or longer depending on size of sweet potato. 

Paleo Pumpkin Pie

I have to place all the credit for this recipe to Elana's Pantry

Pie Crust

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 egg

Place flour and salt into a food processor and pulse briefly.  Add coconut oil and egg, pulse until mixture forms a ball.  Press dough into a 9-inch pie dish.  

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 - 15 ounce canned pumpkin puree

3 eggs

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

In a food processor combine pumpkin puree and eggs.  Pulse in coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Pour filling into a pie crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, allow to cool then refrigerate for 2 hours to set up.

Paleo Cinnamon Buns (dairy free, wheat free, sugar free)

I have to say this is the best thing I have eaten in a while.  I got the recipe from a blog I follow called The Urban Poser.  Eating these rolls made me feel like I was eating something I was not supposed to have but they were really good for you.  They were delicious!

The rolls are more like a roll that is made more like a biscuit consistency.

Paleo Cinnamon Buns (dairy free, wheat free, sugar free)
For the rolls:
3 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons honey
2 large eggs at room temperature

For the filling:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins soaked in water to plump
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 340 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, gently beat together coconut oil, honey and eggs.  Add the egg mixture to the almond flour mixture.  Mix until a smooth dough is formed.  It will be sticky at first, continue to mix until it firms up some.  Let rest in refrigerator for about 10 minutes.  Lightly grease the outside of the ball of dough.  Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to keep it from sticking when you roll it up.  Roll to about a 9x13 size rectangle.  Drizzle the dough with honey, using your hand to carefully spread it around.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and pecans.  Drain and squeeze out the liquid from the raisins and spread over the dough.  From the small end of the dough, start to roll the edge up.  Try to start a tight roll from the beginning.  Continue rolling until you have a uniform log.  With a sharp knife, cut the roll into thick slices.  Place the rolls cut side down onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.  Let cool before removing them from cookie sheet.  Drizzle with icing just before serving.

Icing
1/4 cup softened coconut butter
2 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup coconut milk
Mix together coconut butter and honey to form a thick paste.  Add coconut milk a little at a time until you get the consistency you want.  Spread/drizzle over the cinnamon buns.

Ginger Dressing

I made this dressing the other night to go over a grilled salmon salad and it was fantastic.  I believe that I could eat this dressing on just about anything, of course though I love ginger.

Ginger Dressing
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Mix all ingredients into a jar and shake until well mixed.

The salmon was cooked on the grill using cedar (wood) wrappers.  The wrappers impart a nice flavor to the salmon.

Braised Lamb Shanks

I have to start this post as a confession, I have never made lamb shanks before in my life.  I decided to give it a try when I purchased them at the Farmer's Market yesterday.   Truth be told, I am not really afraid to make anything.  I love trying new things.  I decided a nice slow roasting of the shank was in order so that they would cook to fall right off the bone.  In case you don't know what a lamb shank is I put a couple of pictures prior to cooking.  Also, here is a definition.

I began to look at the fundamentals of this meal and realized that the majority of it either came from local farms or our own garden.  Mike planted a winter garden of several different things.  A winter garden is usually something that you have that comes up during the winter.  He planted kale and it was so happy it came right on up and we were lucky enough to be able to enjoy it now.

Braised Lamb Shanks
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced
Kosher salt (add pepper if you want as well)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 - 28 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes and 1 - 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 lamb shanks
1/2 cup room temperature red wine (I used a Cabernet Franc)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large oven proof dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat.  Add onions and season with salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally to help separate the onions and cook them until softened about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add tomatoes (using a spoon to break up the whole tomatoes) and cook until they break down.  Add lamb shanks and cover with the sauce.  Bring to a boil, cover and place pot into oven.  Cook for about 3 hours, or until lamb is fork tender.  With about the last 15 minutes of cook time, remove lid and add wine.  Cover again and let cook until done.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
Up to a 1/4 cup of coconut milk
salt
Place sweet potatoes into a large pan and cover with water.  Place pan over high heat and bring to a boil.  Continue to boil (don't let it boil over by adjusting the heat) and cook until fork tender.  Drain and then add sweet potatoes back into the pan and place on stove (no heat).  Using a potato masher, mash them while adding a little bit of coconut milk.  Continue to mash and add milk until you get the consistency you like.

Cooked Kale
1 large bunch of kale, washed and cut into small pieces
2 shallots, diced
extra virgin olive oil
1/4 white wine
In a large heavy bottom skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add shallots and cook until tender.  Add kale and stir.  Let cook constantly stirring to incorporate the shallots.  Add wine, cover and let cook for about 10 minutes.  Remove lid and let continue to cook to let liquid evaporate.  Serve.

In the pan after coming out of the oven

The meat fell right off the bone

Raw Lamb Shank

Raw Lamb Shank