Lechona, Colombian Stuffed Pig

This is a continuation of our Colombian trip this past New Years. This is a traditional dish that is served for special occasions, this time it was served for New Years. It’s originally from the Tolima region of Colombia, but we were staying in Cundinamarca next door in the town of Tocaima.  This popular dish consists of a whole pork stuffed with rice, peas, potatoes and spices, cooked in a brick oven for about ten to twelve hours.

Not totally Paleo, but we thought it was awesome to share. The Svendblad’s would Paleoize it and it would be even better.! :-)

Liver Filet Potato Flour Crusted

Hey, we are finally back from our vacation and there will be a few great Colombian rites and recipes shared in short order…  Henry and I do thank you for all of your allegiance and support in 2011.

You know how much we love liver and how important it is to have at least once per week.

Before we share our new Colombian recipes,  we will share our new amazing way to cook liver,

Remember how incredibly healthy it is.  

  • 1/4 – 1/3 inch slices of raw organic liver filets (2 lbs for 4 people)
  • 1/4 cup of sweet potato flour
  • 2 lbs of calf liver
  • little sea salt
  • little black pepper
  • 2 tps coconut oil

Place all liver filets on a board, on paper towels, dry all liver filets on paper towels; Salt and pepper on one side.  Prepare new sheet with sweet potato flour lightly sprinkled with sea salt.

Heat pan non stick pan with coconut oil, on medium – 3/4 high.

Place liver into sweet potato flour and coat perfectly …. shake off extra…

Heat pan with coconut oil and place into pan on medium -3/4 high. (important and according  to our stove..please pay close attention..only needs to cook 1 -2 minutes a side…TOPS!!!

Your liver after its dried and salted and peppered on one side, dab into sweet potato flour, dab on each side t; o remove excess.

Place into medium-hot coconut oil 1 – 2 mins on one side, 30 seconds on the second since and serve.

This is a great dish, try it and tell us about it.  Jo n Henry

Patacones

My brother Marc asked us to finally post this for him.  So babe, here it is: Colombian Patacones for you! My husband and mom in law taught me how to make these amazing treats. You should have these like most carbs after your workouts, don’t forget.

Fabulous Ingredients Required:

  • 2 Large green/unripe Plantains
  • Sea Salt, to taste
  • Water
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil

Here is how you make these great companions for your food:

  • Peel and cut the plantains  into 3/4 inch long slices.
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Douse Plantains with Coconut Oil and place into oven for about 10-15 minutes turning over as needed.
  • Remove Plantains from oven before completely cooked and use two cutting boards to smash them into a thinner “patacon”.  These should now be about 1/4 the size you started with.
  • Splash with some water, sprinkle sea salt, and brush with some more Coconut Oil.
  • Place back into oven.  Cook for another 10-15 minutes turning to make sure they are nicely browned on each side.
These are so incredibly delicious and healthier then the Colombian twice fried traditional; you will love them.  These are amazing with guacamole, cuban style dinner, or anything else that you love!
Enjoy Jo & Henry

Coconut Flour Pie Crust for Pumpkin Pie

This is the same pumpkin pie filling as the Perfect Paleo Pumpkin Pie from last year. We have one small modification to the last year’s pie…We only go to a little over 1/4 cup of sweetener instead of 1/2 cup. We’ve made the change on the original recipe page. 

Here are the ingredients for the super easy pie crust. 

  • 1/4 cup semi-melted butter, unsalted
  • 2 tablespoons Virgin Coconut Oil, soft
  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • pinch of Himalayan salt
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 tablespoon water

Add all ingredients together and blend well with a hand mixer, line a deep 9 inch pie pan, like the one I am using and line equally thick throughout.

Pour the PERFECT PALEO PUMPKIN PIE FILLING into pie pan and bake on 350 for about 50 minutes, cool and enjoy!

Spicy Macadamia Nut Okra

Okra is one of our most favorite vegetables to cook. Tonight I thought that I would try a different rendition to go with our perfectly cooked King Salmon. Check out a few of our other Okra recipes under Veggies and Sides.

This dish calls for 4 cups of Okra. Simply chop off the tops and soak in 1/2 water 1/2 coconut vinegar solution for 20 minutes.  Strain well and rinse well.

Prepare a wok on high heat adding:

  • 2 – 3 thick bacon slices, finely sliced
  • 3 – 4 large finely sliced garlic
  • 3 stalks of curry leaves (no stems)

After the bacon has rendered a bit, add the next ingredients below.

  • 4 Poblano peppers, sliced in half and sliced
  • 3 red jalapeno chilis, sliced in half and sliced (we leave the seeds in on all peppers with this dish)
  • 1/4 cup of macadamia nuts, whole
  • Add strained whole Okra
Continue to cook for about another 7 minutes uncovered, stirring often. Then cover and reduce heat to medium, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes – you may want to taste to see if the Okra has been cooked to your liking. You may need 20 minutes total depending on your stove an pot.
This dish rocks, it simple and an easy companion to fish and other dishes! Looking forward to your feedback. Jo

Black Cod Medallions with Mushrooms

If you have not made Sablefish medallions before, then this is the dish to try.  Alaskan Pride Seafood has the best that we’ve had.

Here is our line up of delicious Ingredients:

  • 1 lb Sablefish (black cod) medallions
  • 2 Cups baby bello brown  mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 Cups fresh organic spinach
  • 1 Large Red Onion, sliced
  • 3 Garlic Cloves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
  • 1/4 bunch of Cilantro, chopped
  • Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
  • 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
Here is how to make this lovely dish:
  1. In a medium cast iron pan heat Coconut Oil over medium heat
  2. Add sliced Onion and saute until glossy
  3. Next add chopped garlic, cilantro, spinach, salt, and pepper
  4. Add Coconut Milk and Sablefish Medallions, cover, reduce heat and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes
Serve with some of your favorite chilled salad or sides.  Enjoy!  Jo and Henry

Pescado a la Veracruzana

I got to spend some quality time this afternoon with my amazing friend Dunia, while my husband surprised us with this amazingly light and satisfying dish.  He used fabulous fish from our friends at Alaskan Pride and organic tomato sauce.

Here is the line up for your needed Ingredients

  • 2 lbs of white flaky fish (we used Alaskan Ling Cod from Alaskan Pride Seafoods) – cut into small filets or 2 inch cubes
  • Juice from 2 large limes
  • 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 Tbsp of Cilantro,  chopped
  • 3 Serrano Peppers
  • 2 Medium Red Onions, coarsely chopped
  • 5 Garlic Cloves
  • 1 Tbsp rinsed capers
  • 1 Bay Leave
  • 4 Whole Cloves
  • 10 Whole Black Peppercorns
  • 1/4 cup pitted and diced Olives
  • 1 tsp fresh Thyme
  • 4 vine ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 3 cups Organic Strained Tomatoes
  • 1 cup of water
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
And here’s how to prepare this light and tasty dish
  1. Combine 1/2 tsp salt, juice from limes, and fish in a large bowl.  Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
  2. In a large pan, heat coconut oil on medium heat and add onions.  Cook onions until glossy, then add peppercorns, cloves, cilantro, bay leave, peppers, garlic, capers, and olives.  Continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
  3. Next add tomatoes, tomato sauce, thyme, water, additional salt and pepper (as needed), and simmer for 15  minutes, allowing sauce to thicken.
  4. Finally, add marinated fish, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
  5. Serve with Cauliflower Rice.
Thank you my love, for a night off and an amazing meal!

Pho Nutty Kitchen Style

Thank you Paul and Shou-Ching for this amazing dish and inspiration from your awesome Perfect Health Diet site.

Wonderful ingredients that you’ll need to make this dish:

  • 2 quarts of stock, we used some our duck stock
  • 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • 2 inches of fresh sliced ginger
  • 3 cups of whole shiitake mushrooms, we took the stems off
  • 3 sticks of cinnamon, keep whole
  • 10 whole cloves, keep whole
  • 1 – 2 tsps of whole pepper corn
  • 1/4 cup of fish sauce
  • 1 package of rice noodles
  • 1 lb lamb ribs
  • 2 tbsp coconut Oil

Garnish Ingredients

  • 1 lb of thinly sliced grass-fed stew meat or your favorite cut
  • 1 bunch off cilantro, chopped
  • 4 limes, cut into 8ths
  • a bunch of sliced Serrano peppers
Here is how to do pull it all together:
  1. In a large soup pot, heat your favorite stock on medium heat.
  2. Add garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper corn, fish sauce, mushrooms and cilantro and continue to cook on medium heat.
  3. In a separate cast iron pan heat coconut oil on medium-high to high heat; add lamb ribs and cook until nicely browned and most of the fat is rendered.  Once browned, add oil and ribs to  soup pot and continue to cook on medium.
  4. In another pot warm a few quarts of water on high heat.  Once the water is boiling add rice noodles and cook  for no more than 3 minutes.   Remove from boiling water, put into a strainer, and run some cool water over them to keep them from overcooking.
So here is how to build your little bowl of paradise:
Get your favorite soup bowl, place some of the thinly sliced raw beef in the bottom, add hot soup on top and garnish with cilantro and serano peppers. Squeeze 2 – 3 wedges of limes into your soup and through the squeezed lime into your dish.
OMG, this Pho is just to die for with the browned lamb ribs added. Amazing and a must try.

Egg-Dijon Salad Dressing

We love a good oil and vinegar dressing, but ever so often we crave a bit more; looks like we have hit one of those plateaus, you can certainly expect a few more recipes coming your way.

Today, we’d like to introduce a simple, but different and delicious dressing for your favorite salad. We served this dressing on top of some fabulous chilled organic butter lettuce.

Here is what you need to make this dressing

  1. 2 hard boiled eggs, very finely chopped
  2. 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  3. 2 tbsp organic dijon mustard
  4. fresh cracked pepper to taste
  5. sea salt to taste
  6. 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  7. sprinkle of cumin
  8. 1 1/2 tbsp chopped cilantro (save 1/2 tbsp extra aside to sprinkle on top of salad)

Whisk egg and mustard together, then adding all other ingredients. 

I like to prep this 15 minutes before serving as the flavors will begin to marry and really pop for you. This is not an overpowering flavor, but rather a velvety compliment. Feel free to enjoy with a filet of anchovie or two if you are so inclined, and of course depending on what you are pairing this with.
ENJOY! J & H

Taro and Bacon Hash

If you are looking for an alternative to your traditional carbs, such as sweet potatoes or cassava root, etc. try these amazing taro roots in this super easy hash.  It is amazing, please let us know what you think of these little gems. The flavor of these taro are so silky and smooth, you have to try these. Just writing about these make my mouth water…left overs are great with eggs or sardines, or anything that you love.

Ingredients

  • 10 Small Taro Roots (peeled and diced)
  • 3 Strips Thick Nitrate Free Bacon (diced)
  • 1 Tbsp Virgin Coconut Oil
  • Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
Perfect Taro Root
Preparation
  1. Heat cast iron pan on medium-high heat, add diced bacon and coconut oil, cook until bacon fat begins to render (3-5 minutes)
  2. Add diced taro root and cook until taro begins to brown (10-12 minutes)
  3. Remove from pan, serve, and enjoy!
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 158 other followers