Bacon

Here it is, the ultimate recipe for this blog — homemade bacon! We love the flavor it gets from smoking, but if you don’t have a smoker (or a charcoal grill you can turn into one), you can still make great bacon in the oven.

Beautiful. Just... beautiful.

• 1 pork belly (about 8 lbs.) from a pastured pig, skin still on
• 2 Tbs. black peppercorns
• 1 tsp. fennel seed
• 1 tsp. caraway seed
• 1 Tbs. dried rosemary
• 1 Tbs. dried thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 8 Tbs. or ½ cup of sea salt (not coarse)
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Using either a mortar and pestle, small food processor, or coffee grinder, combine the peppercorns through the bay leaves. Then mix that powdery blend with the salt and garlic.

Cut the pork belly into slabs small enough to fit inside large plastic freezer bags. Divide the seasoning mixture evenly among the bags and coat the meat with it. Seal the bags and lay them flat in the refrigerator. Flip them every day, redistributing the seasoning and the liquid that will eventually gather in the bag.

After three or four days, remove the meat. Gently rinse with cold water and pat them dry on paper towel. Set your smoker or oven to 200 degrees. If using a smoker, place the meat skin-side down on the racks; for the oven, place them skin-side up in a baking dish. Smoke or bake for a few hours, until the internal temperature has reached 150 degrees.

Let them cool a little, then remove the skin by carefully slicing with a sharp knife into the layer of fat directly below the skin. If you let the bacon cool longer, you might be able to start it with a knife and gently peel the rest of the way by hand, wasting less of the fat. The reason you want a pasture-raised belly is because toxins are generally stored in the fat of the animals (think mercury in fatty fish), so CAFO animals’ fat will not be as pure and healthful as the fat from animals raised properly. It pays to spend the extra few bucks here. Slice your bacon to the desired thickness and enjoy your masterpiece.

Some tips:

• If your bacon is too salty, you can soak it in water for a few minutes, then rinse and pat dry again, before cooking it. Next time, reduce the curing time. Most recipes call for a week but we found that makes the bacon too salty for us.
• Bacon freezes well. If you made a lot, cut the slabs into smaller hunks; vacuum seal them and freeze. It will keep for at least a few months, but really — who keeps bacon around that long?
• Save the rendered fat after cooking the bacon; it’s a fabulous, stable fat that imparts awesome flavor onto everything it touches. It is wonderful on roasted broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, or as a fat in which to fry eggs or steaks.

Adapted from Tim Huntley, via Robb Wolf

Scotch eggs

Double this recipe and stock up on some protein bombs.

Almost the size of a baseball, these meat-covered eggs are just awesome. Shown are plain (front), potato-chip covered (rear), and almond-meal covered (right).

• 2 lbs ground pork
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• Pinch cinnamon
• Pinch cloves
• 1 tsp. dried tarragon leaves
• 1 Tbs. dried chives
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped (or 1 Tbs. dried)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 large hard-boiled eggs
• 1 bag of pork rinds, or olive oil potato chips, crushed to crumbs; or almond meal (optional)
• 2 eggs, raw and beaten (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl, then add to the ground pork. Incorporate it with your hands. Separate the meat into 10 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball, then flatten. Wrap the pork around a hard-boiled egg, rolling and smoothing the meat together. If it seems sticky, get your hands a little wet.

If you’d like a crust around the eggs, roll each one in the crumbs of the pork rinds or potato chips or almond meal. Then dip it in the beaten egg, then roll it again in the crumbs. We couldn’t find paleo-friendly pork rinds, so we used olive-oil potato chips on some and almond meal on others.

Place each meat-wrapped egg on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake the eggs for 25 minutes, then increase the temperature to 400 for another 5 to 10 minutes. If you still need to crisp up the crust, place the eggs under the broiler. Watch them closely and turn them often to brown the entire outside.

Dip into flavored mayonnaise.

Adapted from Well Fed Paleo Recipes

Grapefruit and honey

I love grapefruit. The flavor and aroma just make my taste buds water. So I was pleased to see that it’s one of many fruits that comes with benefits beyond being just delicious; it might just give your fat-burning metabolism the same boost as fasting does (IF you eat one each day for a number of weeks and yadda yadda yadda…). Grapefruit also contains a chemical called nookatone that is completely safe while being a fantastic mosquito repellant.

A juicy treat with great health benefits.

Back to eating grapefruit: I have always eaten them plain. With my spring allergies giving me a bit of a runny, sneezy nose these days, I’ve started savoring a spoonful of raw, local, unfiltered honey as a way to boost my immunity to some of these allergens. So today I combined the two, drizzling a bit of the honey over my grapefruit before digging in. While either is delightful on its own, together there is a layering of the sweet and bitter flavors that is nothing short of awesome.

So visit a local grocer or farmers’ market and pick up some honey made in your area, put a touch on a grapefruit and enjoy a delicious breakfast, post-workout snack or dessert.

Bacon blanket

If we ever open a paleo restaurant, this will be a featured item.

This time, the pig IS the blanket.

• 12 slices farmer’s bacon

Lay one slice of bacon at the edge of your pan. Lay another one at a right angle to the first, along another side of the pan, making a large “L” shape. Take the third piece of bacon, lay it alongside the second, and tuck the end under the first. Continue alternating with pieces four through seven along the length of the first.

Take the next five pieces and weave them perpendicularly into the others. Turn your heat on low and cook for about ten minutes, or until the bacon is done enough to hold together when you flip it with a spatula and tongs.

To eat, grab a piece and pull! Serves two.

Hiker’s scramble

This recipe makes one three-egg scramble. Mix and match the meat and veggies for variety in the morning.

• 

  Ham, cheese, peppers and onions, and cheese mixed with re-hydrated eggs.

  9 Tbs. powdered egg mix

• 2 Tbs. dehydrated onion
• 2 Tbs. dehydrated peppers
• 1/4 cup dehydrated meat (taco meat, chili or ham)
• 2 oz. hard cheese (aged gouda, Parmesan, etc.

Vacuum-seal the cheese in one bag, the powdered eggs in another. Put the onions, peppers and meat in a third.

Cut an opening in the egg and meat bags. Add 1 cup water to the meat and veggie bag; let sit until the meat softens, about 10 minutes. There should be some extra water, it will cook off. Add 9 Tbs. of water (a little over 1/2 cup) to the eggs; mash gently to mix. Heat your skillet or pan and add the veggie-meat mixture, cook until the water evaporates and the veggies start to brown. Add the eggs and cook thoroughly, stirring constantly. Turn off heat and cut in hunks of cheese.

Plain yogurt

Here is a basic yogurt recipe, compliments of my sister. You can add flavorings (vanilla, almond extract, lemon extract, fruit) after it sets, or leave it plain and eat with fruit and nola.

Make a homemade yogurt parfait.

• One-half gallon of milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup yogurt for starter

Heat milk and cream to 180 degrees — don’t let it boil. Remove from the heat and let it cool to 110 degrees. While it’s cooling, heat the oven on the lowest setting. My lowest setting is 170 degrees. When the milk has cooled, add yogurt and gently mix it into the milk.

Pour into glass containers and cover with plastic wrap. Turn the oven off and put yogurt in. Let it sit for 8-10 hours or overnight. If there is a layer of liquid (whey) on top when you take it out just soak it up with paper towel, or spoon it off — it can be used for making sauerkraut.

Let it cool in the fridge for a day to really set up.

Sweet crepes

Got a few leftover egg crepes from another recipe? Don’t let them go to waste.

Frozen blueberries top an egg crepe.

• Leftover egg crepes
• Frozen fruit/berries
• Goat cheese, crumbled (optional)
• Chopped mint (optional)
• Freshly whipped heavy cream (optional)

Microwave the frozen berries until they’re hot and bubbly and reduced to a nice fruit sauce. Let it cool for a couple minutes. Pour a few spoonfuls of the fruit down the center of a crepe. Dot it with goat cheese if you’d like; fold over the sides and drizzle with more fruit. Garnish with chopped mint or freshly whipped heavy cream, if desired.

Banana pancakes

Sometimes you just need a pancake. Bananas are pretty high in sugar, but they work perfectly in this recipe.

A beautiful breakfast treat.

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 2-3 tbs. almond butter
• Coconut oil
• 1-2 cups berries (any kind)

Put the berries in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. If they are fresh, add a little water. Stir now and then and make sure they don’t burn; they’ll start to cook down into a sauce.

Mix the bananas, eggs, coconut flour and almond butter to form a batter. Once the berries are well on their way, heat the coconut oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is very hot, drop a couple spoonfuls of batter onto the pan. Brown on both sides, serve with the hot berries and yogurt, if desired. You should get 6-8 pancakes.

Adapted from Mark’s Daily Apple

Basic bacon and eggs

So simple, but so good! It’s almost a daily staple, so it has to be featured on this site.

Simple and full of protein, nothing is better in the morning than eggs over easy and bacon.

• 2 jumbo eggs
• 4 strips farmer’s market bacon

Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the bacon, cook for 2-3 minutes or until some of the fat renders off. Toss the strips around a bit. Get the bacon a few more minutes, until just cooked but still soft. Remove from the pan, cover with foil.

Crack the two eggs into the hot bacon grease and turn the heat off but keep the pan on the hot burner. If you have a gas stove, turn the flame to its lowest setting. Spoon the hot grease over the eggs to cook the tops. Once the yolks cloud over, move the eggs to your plate with the bacon and enjoy.

Warm quinoa noatmeal

A nice treat on a chilly morning or after a heavier workout, this is a delicious warm dish that is just as satisfying as oatmeal. I actually prefer that it’s not as gummy. But quinoa is relatively high-carb if you’re counting — about 30g from the 1/3 cup in this recipe.

Quinoa makes a good grain-free alternative to oatmeal.

• 1/3 cup quinoa
• 2/3 cup whole milk or almond milk
• a few berries of your choosing

Rinse the quinoa well with cool water. Warm the milk on low in a small saucepan. Add the quinoa when the milk is warm to the touch. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it towards the end. The quinoa won’t soak up all the milk, it will still be a bit soupy; if it’s been cooked too long the texture will be just mush. I’ve made that mistake before.

Remove from heat, add your berries and enjoy.

Adaptation for hiking:

Quinoa, prepared in a Jet-Boil

Place 1/2 cup of dry quinoa in a sealable bag with 3 Tbs. dried whole milk and 2 tsp. cinnamon. This can be packed away.

Put in your cooking vessel with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for three to five minutes. Add dried fruit, remove from heat, cover and let sit until soft.