We Interrupt To Bring You The Following...

That there, my friends, is the way I presented my Choc-Avocado Mousse at a pot luck gathering last week - surrounded by whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Mmmm! I also brought along my Coconut Chicken Curry and cauliflower rice; another hit, especially since everyone was expecting nothing more substantial than finger food snacks. Faces lit up once they had real food in their bellies (and not just because they could now 'safely' drink more alcohol!).

I've been run off my feet of late, with illness hitting my household, and the end of the year for my seniors sneaking ever-closer. So that, along with more rip-offs of my recipes floating around the Internet, has been killing my urge to blog regularly. I know there's no such thing as true culinary originality, but if you're going to steal my primal/paleo recipes to put on your own blog, you could at least change the quantities and photos... Or, even better, give me the credit I'm due. I always do. After all, my main drive for taking risks in the kitchen is to inspire you guys - I could happily live on nothing but sausages for the rest of my days.

For those of you who can't fathom the idea of snag after snag (you clearly haven't tried Jonathan's sausages!), you will soon have a huge recipe resource at your virtual fingertips:

I was invited by Doug of Health Habits a while back to offer up some of my tastiest primal recipes to be part of a collaborative Paleo e-Cookbook. Since then, a massive number of primal cooks have jumped on board (and I've been traveling through their blogs to see what kind of stuff they're offering up, which has lead me to the sad face I demonstrated earlier...), and the resource is promising to be quite an exciting product! The best part - it will be free! Doug's effort is to get paleo nutrition out there, and remove the mystery of what you can cook with paleo ingredients. Some of the recipes are, of course, going to get the "bleurgh neolithic re-enactment is EVIL" fascists' knickers in a twist, but who cares? If the average parent who wants their kids to be healthy find the book and starts making cookies without gluten grains and sugar, I call that a win.

So, keep an eye out in late September. I will be sharing the book through my blog as soon as it's available. But, for goodness' sake, if you try the recipes and put the results on your own blog, share the link love. You'll make that person who went through a lot of produce perfecting the balance of ingredients just so you could do it yourself without a risk very, very happy.

We Like To Party!

Now I could bum you all out by regaling you with the continued fat accumulation misery hell I'm going through, and reveal that - although some water weight is involved - I hit my pre-2009 weight when I weighed in this morning and I'm back to tracking my food and I'm going to push my fat percentage to 90% to try and kick-start some loss and that my summer lake-side holidays in Canada next week is suddenly a terrifying cellulite-laden nightmare of a prospect...

Or...

Party food photos!

Cheese Crackers - no, LITERAL Cheese Crackers! Parmesan and cheddar cheese, grated, plopped on a lined baking tray, and melted violently in a hot oven. Peel, slice, and serve the hardened, crispy, tasty goodness!


Kangaroo Balls!


Then my interest in snapping photos diminished as guests started arriving, but here's the rest of the goodies as laid on the table - from the top: Fried Chicken Fingers, Warm Beet Medley with lots of extra veggies like fennel, a yummy cos salad with snow peas and capsicum and stuff, Veggie Frittata, Kangaroo Balls, and Ham & Veggie Frittata.


A final plateful...


The final flourish - Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!


... and lookit! Leftovers the next day!


Now, wasn't that more fun??

Recipe: Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Don't you love it when an experiment goes oh-so right? I had planned to make my Savory Zucchini Slice for my dinner guest, but had already prepared a savory starter and main, so why not something a little sweeter for dessert? I didn't want to use sweeteners, of course, so I used the next best thing - raw cacao powder! Playing on the inherent sweetness (to me) of zucchini, the resulting muffins tasted almost exactly like the carby rubbish (low fat, of course) I used to inhale on a regular basis. Moist, rich, tasty perfection, with visual appeal to boot!


Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

3 small zucchini, grated finely
6 eggs
1 cup coconut flour or almond flour
1/2T baking powder (although the slice works well without it)
1T cinnamon
1/2 cup raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa)
1/2 cup coconut oil or melted butter
1/2t salt (unless you're using salted butter, like I do)
Some chopped nuts and coconut flakes for topping

Optional - stevia or maple syrup to taste (or make available to add later upon serving, if desired)


Method:

1. Preheat oven to moderate - around 175 deg C.

2. Line and grease a muffin tray

3. Separate eggs, placing yolks in a large mixing bowl, and whites in a medium bowl for whipping. Whip whites until fluffy.

3. In the large bowl, combine zucchini, egg yolks, spices, and oil.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Add flour mixture to zucchini mixture, and stir until combined.

5. Fold egg whites into batter carefully, then pour everything into prepared pans.

6. Sprinkle with nuts/flakes, and bake for at around 50 minutes, watching carefully for burning. The mixture's density means that it will cook quite slowly, but if you see burning happening before the muffins bounce back when prodded with a finger, turn the heat down to 100 deg C and allow the centre to cook slowly.

Serve warm or cold with cream, fruit, and maple syrup if desired. I enjoy them alone, although coconut flour can be quite drying in the mouth.



The review from the panel? "They taste just like normal chocolate muffins - though it's good to know they've got zucchini in them, else the green bits inside would be a tad concerning..." True. And scrumptious!

Recipe: Savory Zucchini Slice

With the only organic produce currently available in the supermarket being zucchini, and a pile of coconut flour sitting sadly in my pantry, I decided to have a go at making a grain-free version of Mum's old zucchini slice last weekend. I always loved the flexibility of the neutral-yet-distinctive flavour, that could be dressed up with honey or maple syrup for dessert, or with some garlic butter as a savory dinner accompaniment. Great minds continue to think alike, with a similar but sweet version of zucchini cake being posted at Joyful Abode a couple of days later! If only I had JA's mad photography skills and equipment!

Savory Zucchini Slice


Ingredients:

2 or 3 small zucchini, grated finely
8 or so eggs
1 cup coconut flour or almond flour
1T baking powder (although the slice works well without it)
1t cinnamon
1t nutmeg
(You can add other herbs & spices, depending on whether you want a definitely savory slice (try cumin), or one that you can serve with cream for dessert. Works both ways! A bit of vanilla helps if you're going for a sweet pudding slice)
1/2 cup coconut oil or melted butter
1t salt
1 cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts and almonds)


Method:

1. Preheat oven to moderate - around 175 deg C.

2. Line and grease a shallow slice pan or a deeper loaf pan.

3. In a large bowl, combine zucchini, eggs, spices, and oil.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture to zucchini mixture, and stir until combined.

5. Fold nuts into batter carefully, then pour everything into prepared pans.


6. Bake slice for at least an hour, watching carefully for burning. The mixture's density means that it will cook quite slowly, but if you see burning happening before the slice bounces back when prodded with a finger, turn the heat down to 100 deg C and allow the centre to cook slowly.


Serve warm with butter or cream, or cold with whipped garlic butter. Depending on level of spices, this one can work as a great snack, entree, or even as a bread pudding dessert!

The End of Summer & Suffering

Time sure becomes tight when you're going through drug withdrawal whilst also preparing for a big birthday party! But it's good news all around - I'm feeling like my chipper self again (and am trying to ignore the NINE kilograms I'm carrying post-DepTran; here's hoping it is easy enough to shed), and my birthday party was very successful, both food- and fun-wise. I'm already looking forward to throwing a bash for the beau's next big day, although that's not until April... We seem to have enough leftovers to last us from now til then though - and not to mention the massive supply of alcohol now in the cupboard! I somehow ended up being given three bottles of wine as gifts - not bad for a non-drinker... So that means I'll have to throw some dinner parties to help share the wine with friends who don't mind a bit of tipple, although then they often bring a bottle of wine anyway, even if I tell them not too... Ah, what a hassle my life is. :P

So to briefly catch up on the eats of late - there have been lots of protein shakes during most days, so rather than bore you with every little detail, I'll just post some shots of the best actual food from each day of the past week:

Monday

Rockling coated in egg, almond flour and spices, a la my White Fish Fingers recipe.


Tuesday

Oopsie pizza, topped with smoked salmon, smoked bacon, and green capsicum.


Look how foldy!


Wednesday

A circular fry-up of zucchini, tuscan sausage from Jonathan's, fried eggs, and pepperoni.


Thursday

Jonathan's chipollatas & fried eggs


Salmon sashimi!


Friday

I intended to fast for the day, but since I was up half the night cooking desserts and crackers and such in preparation for Saturday's party, I had to nibble on a few things to check the flavours. I avoided sampling my desserts though, relying on the beau for the yay or nay.

First up I made Choc Date & Walnut Balls, forming both balls and slice pieces for variety. I then tried to make the recipe using the usual dried apricots, but the batch was drier than usual I suspect, as the mixture failed to hold together. I was left with a bowlful of finely chopped nuts and apricot, so I had to get a little bit fancy...

First I made apricot nut biscuits by adding coconut flour and almond flour, as well as eggs and coconut oil:


I then thinned the mixture with water and more oil to make a batch of muffins - some with added cocoa, some without:


(Photo credit - party guest Dorothy S.C. - see her photo blog, Arrows To The Underground)

I then used the rest of the mixture to make an incredibly dense yet surprisingly moist apricot & nut loaf - it disappeared within seconds or serving it on the day, which is why I'm left without a shot of it! The muffins were just as good, but their large size scared off party guests who were already full of the other menu items...

I then made up a batch of Sunflower Sesame Crackers - another one that quickly left the plates!

I then cooked up a HUGE batch of my delicious pumpkin soup - it was really hard not to spoon it straight into my mouth!

And finally, I made my birthday cake - a vanilla & cinnamon cheesecake on a nutty coconut crust, topped with whipped cream and berries. The guests couldn't believe it was sugar-free!


With everything in the fridge, I finally toppled into bed at around 2am...

Saturday

I ended up stuck in the kitchen, serving course after course, and didn't have enough hands nor time to get photos of everything, so you'll just have to imagine it...

Guests were greeted by platters of soft cheese, roasted nuts, primal crackers, and a number of primal dips: beetroot, spinach & basil (using cashew nut butter), and smoked salmon and olive.


(Photo credit - party guest Dorothy S.C. - see her photo blog, Arrows To The Underground)

Shortly thereafter, an array of single-serve Cauliflower Pizzas were served; some vegetarian, some with pepperoni and ham, and some with anchovies. Gone in a flash.

Then out came the fried chicken drumettes with caveman chicken sauce. The next day, my brother called to invite himself out to dinner on the condition that I would make him more chicken. And he's not a fan of fatty food. Win.

Once people had time to digest those (and the last few late-comers had arrived and were hanging out for some food), I heated up the pumpkin soup and served it with crumbled sunflower sesame crackers as croutons. Rave reviews! I'm really happy with this recipe - I don't have to measure anything any more, so I know I'll be able to make it forever.

That was the end of the savory courses, so then out came the muffins, balls & slices.


(Photo credit - party guest Dorothy S.C. - see her photo blog, Arrows To The Underground)

And finally, after we were into the swing of 80's SingStar madness, we whipped out the cake and topped off our happy bellies with delicious saturated fats! What a feast! And lots of happy faces! :)

Sunday

After sleeping most of my actual birthday away, I didn't want to eat anything but protein shakes until dinner time. This was a little awkward as my Mum wanted to take me out for a birthday lunch, but we all went along to a little place in Melbourne Central before going to the movies (I get a free ticket on my birthday).

When we finally arrived home, I whipped up tasty bits and pieces for the beau & Mum, focussing on one of the recipes I wanted to try for the party but didn't get around to trying - the fried goodness that others know as Popcorn Shrimp!


I treated my shrimp in the same way I do my fried chicken and fried white fish - coated in egg & then coconut flakes, almond flour, herbs & spices. Then into the coconut oil until browned and crunchy. Om nom nom!

Monday

Today, after weighing in to note a starting point for March (currently weighing more than I did this time last year, how crushing), I continued my protein shake ritual, breaking for dinner of two favourites - cooked & peeled prawns, and salmon sashimi!


And since the beau doesn't like raw salmon, I tried something to tantalise his taste buds... I kept the sunflower crackers that weren't quite the right shape, so I put them in a shallow bowl and crushed them back into sesame seed-sized crumbs. I then dipped the salmon fillet in egg and rolled it in the crumbs, then repeated the egg/crumb process. I then fried up the coated fillet in coconut oil, and served it on top of romaine lettuce to a boggle-eyed beau who squealed excitedly upon spying and then tasting the fishy treat!


So now that I've kicked the DepTran out of my system, and am reminding myself that it's NOT normal to want food late at night when there isn't a drug driving my hormones, I'm enjoying the return to tackling the challenge of creating small but satisfying meals that my particular physiology prefers!

Zzzz-Day Weekend - Recipes for savory frittata and choc-raspberry muffins

The beau & I joined my folks in Daylesford this weekend for a pleasant family getaway. I was still lugging my drug's side effects with me (i.e. fatigue, wooziness, and hormonal disruption in the form of mood swings, raging appetite, and some unexpected feminine issues), but I fought to stay as alert and pleasant as possible - something I found easier to manage on Saturday once I gave in to a couple of handfuls of cashew nuts for afternoon tea. Apparently keeping my fat intake up helps immensely with countering whatever particular hormonal disruption the drug is causing.

Breakfast: hard boiled eggs for the road trip - an early start. The beau 'forgot' to have breakfast and tried to pull the old "Oh, I better get something from McDonalds cos I forgot to eat before we left..." Not so fast, boy-oh! I boiled four eggs, and knew I would only need two, so I peeled the other two and popped them in his gob faster than he could say McMuffin.


Lunch: we met with my folks at Pipers By The Lake in Ballarat for a 'light' late lunch before our early dinner plans. The lightest non-neolithic offering was the eye fillet beef steaks on broccolini (and a pile of asparagus, apparently). I was hungrier after lunch than before, so I succumbed to Mum's big bag of cashews, a nut I had previously been sure that I didn't like. Well, in this state of hyperphagic hovering anyway, it would seem that I do indeed like them.


Dinner: I booked us an early seating at Mercato in Daylesford, where the menu promised many primal options, and I was keen for some fish. As the FOD turned out to be barramundi on potato mash, bathed in an unfriendly sauce (can't remember exactly what the waiter said), I ended up going for the kangaroo fillets, hold the potato. Well, they didn't hold the potato, but they did serve up a posh side salad of wilted greens, avocado and feta cheese, which I shall certainly reproduce with my own twist for my next dinner party!


Taken with the beau's iPhone - don't buy one of those if you like your phone to double as a half-decent camera! I love my Sony Ericsson C905...

After dinner, we returned to our rented residence for movies and - against my will - snacks. I actually wonder whether my mother didn't believe me when I told her about this weird drive to eat I'm currently experiencing, so she put the platter of meats and cheeses right in front of me... Well, she believes me now. I wish she had bought wheaty and sugary garbage, because I would never be compelled to consume something that could harm me. The down-side of teaching her about nutrition... So, the plan for Sunday was to make up for a bit of excess with a normal-to-low eating day...

Sunday - Valentine's Day

After a very deep, generous sleep, we rose from the luxurious bed in our cottage to be greeted by an entire lack of hot running water. The house was build in the mid-1800's, but we were still expecting a few mod-cons... Fortunately, I'm more than accustomed to skipping a shower or two, so I headed to the kitchen to breakfast on salmon sashimi. Sadly, my ever-efficient mother had already unpacked the fridge, and had left my salmon fillet out on the bench after packing everything else away for the drive home. I opened up my room-temperature fillet, and sliced a bit from the middle, but it was lacking in taste and texture. It would have been fine had I some lemon juice (since plain sashimi is best chilled), but without it I couldn't manage more than two bites. Ah well, I was eating light anyway... Having identified the positive effects of fat consumption on my side effects' symptoms, I bought some double cream (51% fat, practically solid!) and devoured a spoonful for breakfast.

We passed through the Daylesford Sunday Market on our way out of town, hoping to find the organic meat supplier that my parents had spied in Ballarat - they put up a stand at a Saturday market near Pipers but it closed before the beau & I arrived. There was no meat to be found, but plenty of trashy trinkets, so we hopped back in the car and made our way back to Melbourne for our Valentine's Day celebrations. The day was teetering on the edge of disaster from a very early hour: the beau had been up frequently throughout the night, tending to work issues, and thus was pretty tired; I was in my usual fatigued state, coupled with some off-schedule PMT to deal with; it was a two-hour drive back home, and as soon as we arrived we were heading to the first part of our V-Day (or as it felt, Zzzz-Day) plans - to see the live cinema streaming of the play, Nation, performed at London's National Theatre.

After the show, it was off home, and the beau was banned from the kitchen whilst I whipped up some secret picnic fodder:


Ham, feta & red capsicum frittata, roast chicken, and fresh garden salad for the beau.


I served myself a frittata sans capsicum, a bit of chicken, and a generous chunk of double brie for the fat content.

The frittata muffins were made much like my Mini Frittata recipe details, but lazier as I was pressed for time:

Simple Savory Frittata - Single Serve Sized

1. Heat the oven and grease the muffin tray holes with butter.

2. Dice 400g ham (free-range and unadulterated), 180g smooth feta cheese, and one large red capsicum. Combine in a large bowl.

3. Spoon diced mixture into muffin tray holes - don't pack tightly. Fill holes evenly, and the mix should be no higher than level with the top edge of the tray.

4. Crack 7 or 8 eggs into a cup and beat until yolks are combined with whites. Pour egg mixture evenly over dived mix in tray, filling to around the 3/4 level.

5. Bake in moderately hot oven until risen and firm to the touch. Turn off oven and allow to cool with oven door ajar before removing - this will ensure the bottom of the frittata cooks properly and may make them easier to remove from tray. If they stick, loosen gently around the edges with a knife.

Delicious served hot or cold. They keep well in the fridge if you need to make them a day or so in advance.

These treats were served to the beau at Moonlight Cinema's V-Day Screening of 'New York, I Love You'. Unlike the beloved 'Paris, Je T'aime', this one wasn't terribly romantic, and a bit slow, so there was time to notice the lack of padding between us and the ground of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, but at least no one can see you shifting around and sprawling on top of piles of blankets under the cover of darkness... Plus, on V-Day, no one would really care what other couples got up to on their picnic blankets...

As a special V-Day surprise, I experimented with making choc-raspberry muffins based on the chocolate sponge recipe of eggs and cocoa. Success, although how I failed to photograph it, I'll never know! But here's a photo that is fairly similar to what my experiment ended up looking like, although my mixture was much darker and denser - I didn't bother separating the eggs, but the mud-cake result was just as satisfying, if not more so!



Here's what I did:

Choc-Raspberry Muffins

1. Heat oven to moderate and grease a mega-muffin tray hole with butter or coconut oil.

2. Combine 40g unsweetened cocoa, 3 pastured eggs, and around one teaspoonful of sweetener (stevia & xylitol here, for the beau) in a bowl, preferably using an electric beater.

3. Spoon mixture into muffin pan until hole is half-full.

4. Add a layer of fresh or frozen (not defrosted) berries on top of the cocoa mixture, and top with more cocoa mixture until berries are covered.

5. Bake until risen and firm in the centre. Turn off oven and allow to cool with oven door ajar before removing - this will ensure the bottom of the muffin cooks properly and may make it easier to remove from tray. If it sticks, loosen gently around the edges with a knife.

Serve warm or cool with cream (or cream cheese, as that was all I had left in the fridge).

Monday

I was meant to step-up the drug dose last night, which is why I organised to take today off work. Yeah, forgot to boost the dose. Oops. So now I either do it tonight and risk crashing through my 11 hour day tomorrow, or put it off... I wanted to also call my GP to talk about my reaction to the drug, but I couldn't get through. Oh well. I'm feeling good though - upping the fats, and restricting myself to animal products again. Also, my protein powder has arrived, so I will have that to help control my urge to feast as well as hopefully help me to shed the gain. I'll be more-or-less following the Six-Week Cure Shake Weeks program, sticking to meat and eggs for dinner. The powder is making its journey to me via the beau, so today I went for the carnivor-friendly foods that were already in my fridge:

Breakfast/Lunch (eating window from 11:30am til 4:30pm) - roast chicken leftover from the picnic yesterday...

... and haloumi fried in copious amounts of coconut oil and macadamia nut oil. The haloumi was just the messenger, really. I bought the macadamia nut oil to make mayo with, but haven't tried yet, so I figured I'd try cooking with it - yum! I could possibly eat it alone too; something I can't stomach with coconut oil, no matter how I try...



I also had a leftover ham & feta frittata, and my eating for the day was all done by 4:30pm (satiety- & calorie-wise). I metaphorically locked myself out of my kitchen, sticking to tea and water for the rest of the evening. I kept myself busy with a bit of a bodyweight exercise, and then half an hour of sweeping the back patio and pulling out chunks of grass squeezing their way through the paving stones. Hard work, and quite a bit of sweat, so I'll be grateful for my hot running water tomorrow morning!

Recipe: Sunflower Sesame Crackers

These will be old news to you if you follow the posts on Mark's Daily Apple, and that's how Mark wanted it. But now it's my obligation to ensure future readers of this blog find these tasty treats in my Recipe Index to replace nasty wheat and rice crackers that seem ubiquitous at every party, on every cheese board, and around every bowl of dip. When you want something fancier than veggie sticks and chips to snack on, grab out some sunflower and sesame seeds, and you'll have tasty, crunchy crackers in no time!


(Above - Mark Sisson's Worker Bee's rendition of my crackers, along with my prawn paté)

Sunflower & Sesame Crackers

Ingredients:

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sesame seeds
A small amount of filtered water, just enough to make a paste

Optional - dried herbs such as parsley or thyme, sea salt, black pepper, powdered garlic, cinnamon, etc!

You might also like to try substituting nuts or other seeds for either of the primary ingredients here. I've played with nut flours many times, so I wanted to try experimenting with seeds, especially since they tend to be more affordable and reliable than nuts. You might also like to try nut or seed butters, but that makes for a messier cooking process, as well as adding to their overall price-tag.

Note: Since this recipe calls for seeds, I thought this would be a good time to point out the importance of soaking/sprouting seeds in order to minimise the potential harm caused by phytic acid. The Weston A. Price Foundation details the importance of this thoroughly on their site and in their resources, as do many other publications detailing optimal health and traditional food preparation. Below is a simple step-by-step process (originally posted here) for preparing your seeds - minimal effort for maximum results:

If you choose to soak your nuts and seeds, please follow these general guidelines:

1. Getting ready: Use raw, preferably organic, nuts and seeds. Make enough for three days only. Use a glass or stainless steel bowl or jar (plastics may contain toxins). Rinse your nuts or seeds (purified or distilled water is generally preferred).

2. Soak them: Place your nuts and seeds in in the bowl or jar and then cover it with something breathable, like a towel or pantyhose. Let them soak according to the following schedule (all times approximate).

* Almonds, germination time 8 – 12 hours at room temperature
* Cashews, whole, germination time 2 – 2 1/2 hours at room temperature
* Sesame seeds, germination time 8 hours at room temperature
* Sunflower seeds, germination time 2 hours at room temperature
* Walnuts, germination time 4 hours at room temperature
* All other nuts, germination time 6-24 hours at room temperature

Over the course of the soaking, drain and rinse the nuts or seeds two (2) or three (3). Each time you do this, make sure you rinse them until the water drains clear. This is especially important with nuts and seeds that soak for longer amounts of time.

3. Afterwards: After you've soaked them, you may want to do a final rinse with grapefruit seed extract or organic apple cider vinegar, as these can will clean them of bacteria without being absorbed. You now have germinated nuts and seeds! You're ready to eat them. You can store the leftovers in the refrigerator for up to three (3) days.

Method:

First, you need to make a flour from the sunflower seeds. I use a food processor which does the job in a few seconds, but if you're feeling paleolithic you can crush the seeds by hand!


Sprinkle the sesame seeds into the mix and stir to combine evenly.

Add the water in small amounts and stir the mixture well, stopping when the flour and water have bonded into a mass of dough.

Line a baking tray with baking paper, place the dough on top, and then top with another sheet of baking paper. Roll out the dough as thinly as you can, ensuring thickness is consistent. (Sprinkle on any addition salt, pepper or herbs now)

Remove the upper sheet of paper, and score the dough into desired shapes with a sharp knife. Don't cut all the way through to the bottom of the dough, just deep enough to help you break the crackers apart once cooked.


Bake in a moderately hot oven until properly golden and check that the centre is crisp (about 20 minutes). Turn oven off, open door slightly and leave until cool. This will help dry out the crackers for maximum crunch!

Once completely cooled, break along score lines and serve as the perfect accompaniment to primal dip & cheese platters. They also do a great job as a stand-in for bread when enjoying soup or sandwich fillings, and are delicious topped with fruit chutney (such as rhubarb and strawberry) so long as the batch is plain and unsalted.


(A wonky edge piece topped with a piece of organic Edam cheese - the perfect antidote whilst my colleagues carb-binged on school-provided morning tea...)

The crackers will stay fresh for a good week or so if kept in a air-tight container once cooled completely, making them an excellent road-trip or camping food.

Enjoy!

The Recipe Index Post

Recipe Index
Click on the titles to be taken straight to the recipe page, or scroll down for the alphabetical listing of each recipe with description and picture to whet your appetite!

(These categories are just guidelines of how and why I usually make these recipes, but there's no reason why you can't have roast beef for breakfast and pancakes for dinner!)

Breakfast
Almond Pancakes
Bacon-Wrapped Mini Frittata
Coconut Pancakes
Grain-Free Granola (Nola!) & Nola: The Final Cut

Appetisers & Sides
Caveman Crab Cakes
Chicken Liver Paté
Coconut Curry Soup
Dips!
Feta & Capsicum Mini Frittata
Fried Chicken Fingers
Kale Chips
Kangaroo Balls
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Fries
Savory Zucchini Slice
Spinach & Cashew Pesto
Sunflower Sesame Crackers

Mains
Baked Almond Snapper
Baked Rainbow Trout with Cream Sauce
Baked Trout
Beef Curry I & Beef Curry II
Cauliflower Pizza
Caveman Chicken
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken with Coconut Curry Coating
Chunky Chicken Burgers
Coconut Chicken Curry
Coconut Crusted Salmon
Corned Beef Silverside & Veggie Gravy
Creamy Coconut Beef Curry
Frittata (Crustless Quiche)
Frittata Lorraine
Italian Chicken & Beef Sauté
Kanga & Bacon Frittata
Lamb, Basil & Garlic Roll-Ups
Lots'a Layers Lasagne
Meatza!
Oopsie Pizza
Pizza Burgers
Pizza Cake
Quiche
Tyrolienne Beef & Kidney Stew
Veggie Conucopia
Warm Beet Medley Salad
White Fish Fingers

Sweets
Almond & Coconut Biscuits
Apricot & Walnut Balls
Cherry Ripe Bites
Choc-Avocado Mousse
Choc-Berry Pie
Choc-Cherry Tart
Chocolate Sponge Cake
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Choco-Nutty Treats
Fruit 'N' Nut Crumble

Other
Lard

Alphabetical Listing & Descriptions:

Almond & Coconut Biscuits - a reliable and tasty baseline for endless variation - try adding chopped macadamia nuts, or cocoa and mint oil...



Almond Pancakes - these delicious babies are amazing any time of the day, and my Mum & the beau's Mom both enjoy them for breakfast everyday. See also: Coconut Pancakes.



Apricot & Walnut Balls - a healthy, sweet snack that travel well, if you can stop yourself eating them! Also delicious when you substitute dried dates for the apricots, and any nuts in place of the walnuts. Dates, cocoa & almonds may be my favourite combo now. Beware of the high sugar content of dried fruits.



Bacon-Wrapped Mini Frittata - because everything's better wrapped in bacon, especially eggy goodness!



Baked Almond Snapper - a collision between fried fish fingers & the desire to serve huge slabs of fish intact!



Baked Rainbow Trout with Cream Sauce - still one of my favourite recipes, as it maintains the moisture and flavour of the fish, whilst adding the extra flavours via the sauce, without necessitating a mucky, questionable white sauce mix to do so.



Baked Trout - a delicious trout preparation involving eggplant and gourmet sauce. Wonderful served with Warm Beet Salad Medley (part of same post).



Beef Curry I & Beef Curry II - a house favourite: a hearty but mild curry, with the meat ending up tender and flavoursome. Best served with Cauliflower Rice (see comment section of Beef Curry I).



Cauliflower Pizza - a must-have in any primal eater's repertoire! A delicious way to still enjoy pizza without the need for a grainy crust. It does require a copious amount of cheese - for a potentially dairy-free pizza option, try Meatza!



Caveman Chicken - my favourite! The combination of my tangy, nutty sauce and some freshly roasted chicken is a miracle to behold! (Recipe & image also include a range of veggie side dishes to compliment the main meal)



Caveman Crab Cakes - a great appetiser or entree for the crabmeat lover. Great by themselves, or can be used like a bread to spread tasty dips upon.



Cherry Ripe Bites - bite-sized sweet treats for those who want a healthy alternative to a beloved confection. Incredibly luxe, and make a fabulous gift.



Chicken Enchiladas - a visually-impressive yet simple meal of enchilada-esque fillings wrapped in a thin round of fried egg. A great one for the kids.



Chicken Liver Paté - a tasty way to enjoy the health benefits of free-range chicken liver that even the kids will like! Perfect served with Sunflower Sesame Crackers. (Image borrowed from RecipeTips.com since my photo doesn't do the recipe justice!)



Chicken with Coconut Curry Coating - a savoury hit, keeping the chicken gorgeously moist, and the coating crisp and tasty!



Choc-Avocado Mousse - my new favourite paleo dessert; it's like creamy chocolate ice-cream, without the dairy and sugar! Rich and scrumptious, and amazing served as a dip for strawberries!



Choc-Berry Pie - a decadent dessert of chocolate, fruit & nuts. Makes one devilishly heavenly breakfast!



Choc-Cherry Tart - the powerful antioxidant punch wrapped in a sweet, individually portioned package of almond crust & chocolaty filling, with cherries nestling inside.



Chocolate Sponge Cake - a ridiculously easy recipe for chocolate sponge, perfect for layered cream/fruit arrangement. Recipe can also be used to make muffin-sized snacks.




Chocolate Zucchini Muffins - a surprising combination of alchemic ingredients create a tasty and convincing baked snack. Try it on your non-primal friends, see if they can pick the difference...



Choco-Nutty Treats - the perfect chocolate craving queller - a healthy snack that satisfies our pleasure centres whilst delivering a healthful dose of coconut oil. Play with different nuts, dried fruits, mint oil, etc for endless variety.



Chunky Chicken Burgers - for when you want something lighter than your normal beef patty.



Coconut Chicken Curry - a nice and easy coconut cream-based curry - rich, tasty, and so satisfying!



Coconut Crusted Salmon - I wanted to add some more crunch and colour to my usual crusted fish fillet - enter, coconut flakes!



Coconut Curry Soup - a creamy, rich soup with enough zing to warm away the Winter chills from mouth to tummy! Perfect as a tasty veggie soup or you can add pretty much any kind of meat for a delicious, well-rounded meal.



Coconut Pancakes - for those with nut sensitivities, pancakes are still possible! Use coconut flour or, even better, make your own by blitzing shredded coconut, which still has the healthy fats in pace, and is much much cheaper! See also: Almond Pancakes.



Corned Beef Silverside & Veggie Gravy - a slight twist on the usual preparation of corned beef, plus a tasty replacement for those awful grain-based sludges they call gravy...



Creamy Coconut Beef Curry - a mild but hearty beef curry, featuring coconut cream for that creamy texture. Quite the saucy dish, this one!



Dips! This post details the recipes of eight delicious recipes for your next party - or even just as a healthy paleo snack! Includes: Chunky Beetroot & Herb Chutney, Nice & Naughty Nightshade Dip, Roast Pumpkin Puree, Refreshing Zucchini & Coriander Dip, Creamy Spinach & Basil Pesto, Anchovy & Olive Paste for Serious Savory Lovers, Smoked Salmon, Onion & Olive Dip, and Prawn Paté. Fabulous served with Sunflower Sesame Crackers.




Feta & Capsicum Mini Frittata - the perfect picnic piece - small in size but big on flavour! (Recipe & image also include Pizza Burgers.)



Fried Chicken Fingers - they look like junk food, they taste like (good) junk food, yet they're all primal, all paleo, and all satisfying!



Frittata (Crustless Quiche) - the basic formula for a tasty, never-fail meal that can be adapted to suit almost any dietary need (unless you don't eat eggs!)



Frittata Lorraine - a quick and easy meal with a classic flavour combination. A reminder of the meals that are part of the conventional Western diet that still follow evolutionary guidelines (with or without cheese involved). Scroll to the end of the post for the recipe.



Fruit 'N' Nut Crumble - probably doesn't need a description, and you can substitute your favourite fruit & nuts into the mix with ease. An always-pleasing favourite for primals & non-primals alike.



Grain-Free Granola (Nola!) - the anti-cereal to fill that cold cereal void.
Update: Check out Nola: The Final Cut for my tried & true, totally grain-free, easy recipe that's now a staple of the beau's diet.



Italian Chicken & Beef Sauté - a warm & hearty stew-esque meal without the long cooking time.



Kanga & Bacon Frittata - a tasty way to enjoy the flavours of kangaroo meat, whilst adding healthy fats back into the meal (roo meat is very lean; what with all the bouncing it all jiggles off).



Kangaroo Balls - another tasty way to enjoy the flavours of kangaroo meat, combining it with egg, herbs, and almond flour for added texture.



Kale Chips - if you find yourself missing potato crisps, or are at a loss as to how to fill that void at an upcoming party, try the unconventional yet truly delicious kale version! Minimal kale taste, and all the crunch of old-skool tayta chips.



Lamb, Basil & Garlic Roll-Ups - tender, tasty lamb backstrap, filled with fresh, intense basil and tangy garlic. A fabulous mini-roast for warmer weather thanks to the shorter cooking time, and always appreciated in the chill of winter!



Lard - it's much tastier if you get free-range pig fat and render it yourself.



Lots'a Layers Lasagne - no pasta involved! A playful mix of veggies and meat, in a stacks-on arrangement, somewhat resembling the appearance a decidedly non-primal favourite, although the taste is quite different!



Meatza! A pizza with a base that's like a hamburger patty, but so much more awesome than that sounds...



Oopsie Pizza - the pizza base of cream cheese and eggs! An adaptation of the recipe on The Wilderness Childe by the lovely Diana Renata.




Pizza Burgers - all the taste of pizza as part of a beef burger patty. Genius! (Recipe & image also include Feta & Capsicum Mini Frittata.)



Pizza Cake - it's not a pizza, it's not a frittata, but it's a piece of cake to make!



Pumpkin Fries - a twist on the typical roast pumpkin recipe, resulting in crispness on the outside, and soft pumpkin goodness on the inside. Also works with sweet potato.



Pumpkin Soup - a delicious mix of spices makes this warm favourite something very special indeed!



Savory Zucchini Slice - I always loved the flexibility of Mum's zucchini slice. The neutral-yet-distinctive flavour, that could be dressed up with honey or maple syrup for dessert, or with some garlic butter as a savory dinner accompaniment. So I've made a primal variation - a new favourite!



Quiche - upping the ante from the oh-so-simple frittata, this dish involves an almond flour crust, and can be adapted to include any additional fillings that you fancy. A visually impressive dish that's great to add to your repertoire.



Spinach & Cashew Pesto - a delicious dose of creamy greens, perfect for dipping, serving atop fish and chicken, or straight from the spoon!



Sunflower Sesame Crackers - the perfect crunchy accompaniment for primal dips and catering for cracker-needy gusts when serving antipasto and cheese at parties. I'm finally rid of the last remaining non-primal item I used to have to buy for dinner parties!!



Tyrolienne Beef & Kidney Stew - if you've ever been keen to try kidney, the stewing element of this recipe allows the organs to absorb a delicious flavour without toughening. An acquired taste/texture, but incredibly nutritious.



Veggie Conucopia - an array of ways to prepare veggies that may be a little different to your standard dishes. (Recipe & image also include Caveman Chicken, a delicious chicken preparation and tangy/nutty sauce that will blow your mind!)



Warm Beet Medley Salad - a wonderfully tangy and colourfully presented mix of cooked vegetables, with a surprising topping. The perfect accompaniment to Baked Trout (part of same post).



White Fish Fingers - I'm not a fan of white fish, or any fish that tastes 'fishy', if you know what I mean. Solution? Herbs, spices, and coconut oil!



Buon appetito!