Bacon & Mushroom Stuffed Pork Roast

This recipe was posted by CrossFit athlete Graham Holmberg via his wife's blog Savy Mama. We haven't tried this particular recipe yet, but we have done a similar one with chicken we simply referred to as chicken roll-ups.

The photo shows a twine wrap around the pork to hold it and in our chicken recipe we used toothpicks. Either will obviously work, just don't forget to soak your toothpicks (skewers) in water to prevent them from burning, especially if you are going to use a grill.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bacon, cut into bit size pieces
• 1 1/2 cups of cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly
• salt and pepper
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped parley
• 1-2 pork tenderloins (depending on size, you need a total of 2 pounds), trimmed
• Cooking twine (or toothpicks)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375. Cut bacon into small pieces and cook until crisp. Add the mushrooms and 1/2 tsp of salt, and pepper to taste; cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Let cool.

Rinse the pork and pat dry. Butterfly the pork, being careful not to cut all the way through. Open the meat like a book so the tenderloin lies flat.

Cover the pork with plastic wrap; pound with the flat side of a meat mallet until about 1/2 inch thick, starting from the middle and working outward. Spread the mushroom mixture over the tenderloin. Starting with the long side, tightly roll up each side and secure them with cooking twine.

Place in a cooking dish and cook 35-40 minutes. Let cool before cutting. This will serve roughly 6.

*Savy Mama states: "This recipe is adapted from Food Network Magazine and calls for bread crumbs, so I omitted them to make this dish full on Paleo. The perfect crunch of juicy bacon and delicious soft mushrooms give more taste to this beautiful cut of meat."

Pan Fried Chicken Thighs

If I never eat another boneless, skinless, chicken breast again in my life I would die satisfied.  I have grown more than weary of this particular cut of meat and find them tasteless and too processed for my liking.  I have joined the chicken thigh party.  I may be late, but I have arrived.  I substitute these little numbers whenever and wherever the recipe calls for breasts.  

These pan-fried breasts are so simple it is sinful.  I love leaving the skins on as the skin ends up crispy and adds flavor.  

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs - skin on
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon of avocado oil, or palm oil (I don't use olive oil as the high heat can turn the olive oil rancid) 
• Spices of your choosing - salt, pepper, thyme, sage, garlic powder 

Method

• Heat oils in a cast iron skillet on medium high
• Combine spices together and sprinkle on skin side first and place the chicken thighs in the heated oil skin side down
• Sprinkle spices on opposite of thighs once in skillet
• Cook on medium high and keep turning and rearranging chicken thighs until the skin sides are crispy - approximately 10 minutes
• Flip chicken thighs and continue to turn and rearrange pieces and cook for an additional 10 minutes

I tend to want to overcook chicken, but there isn't anything more disgusting than under cooked chicken.  I will either turn the heat down once the thighs are crispy on both sides, or I will place in the oven to continue cooking until done.  

Sweet Potato Bowl

Last week, I followed PaleoOMG's recipe for her Easy Bacon Chicken Bowl and it was very hearty and delicious.  Today for lunch, I mimicked the recipe and added a few touches to give it a bit of a southwestern flavor.  Here is what I did to make lunch for two:

Ingredients:

• 1 Sweet Potato, cut in half
• 2 chicken thighs-diced (baked from last night)
• 4 slices of bacon
• 2 cups of bell peppers sliced
• 1/2 of a purple onion, sliced
• salsa 
• avocado
• taco seasoning 

Method: 

• Preheat oven to 400.  Place sweet potatoes, cut side down, on a greased baking sheet.  Cook for 25 min.  
• Meanwhile, cook bacon.  Use a bit of the leftover grease to sautee the peppers and onions adding a bit of taco seasoning to the veggies to taste.
• Add sweet potato to bowl and top with cut up bacon, diced chicken, veggies, salsa & avocado.  
• ENJOY!

Fried Fish

Ingredients:
1 cup of almond flour
1 cup of coconut flour
3 eggs
8 filets (possibly more?) of your fish of choice
Olive Oil

1. Fill a cast iron skillet (or whatever pan you’re using) with enough olive oil so that you have about ¼- ½ inch at the bottom of the pan. Turn on medium heat and let warm until it’s sizzling a little.

2. Combine almond and coconut flour in bowl. Break eggs into a separate bowl. Whisk together.

3. Coat each fillet in egg. Then dip the fish in the almond and coconut flour mixture. Coat again (this is key!) in egg and then in almond and coconut flour. If you skip the second coating the breading will come off. Trust me, I know this from experience and you don’t want to waste a expensive ingredient like almond or coconut flour.

4. Lay fish gently in oil and cook until golden brown and then flip. Transfer from oil to plate with plate lined with paper towels. You may, at some point, need to get rid of the oil you’re using and add fresh oil (the oil can get pretty muddy with the breading).

5. Serve with gluten free tortillas, cabbage and guacamole for Paleo Fish Tacos. You can also use a cabbage leaf as your “tortilla”. These are good reheated as well!

Paleo BLT

I did make an attempt to review my resources for where I originally found this recipe.  I have made this numerous times and don't require the written recipe any longer; so here goes.  This dish really best if you can make some Paleo mayonnaise to accompany it.  I have thrown in the towel on the Paleo mayonnaise.  I have attempted it four different times and it has been successful only once. I have tried a number of different methods and they were all a huge FAIL!!!  So if anyone masters the Paleo mayo, let me know the secret. 

Boneless skinless chicken breasts - 1 breast makes 2 BLT's
Bacon - 1 piece per BLT (or more if you prefer)
Tomato
Lettuce (I prefer Boston Lettuce) 
Salt and pepper to taste

• Cut each chicken breast in half and flatten each half between plastic wrap or in a re-sealable bag to approximately 1/4"-1/2" thickness; salt and pepper
• Cook bacon and set aside
• In the bacon drippings cook the flattened chicken breasts approximately 4-5 minutes per side or until done over medium high heat
• Layer a lettuce leaf, tomato, chicken breast, and piece of bacon

You may want to allow the chicken breasts to cool slightly before layering.  The lettuce wilts rather quickly.  Eeewwww!!!

Rotisserie Style Chicken

This recipe makes two whole chickens.  I often mix up the spices and just use the rub for one chicken.  Also the recipe calls for refrigeration for four to six hours before baking.  I don't always do that either but the spices do penetrate the skin a little better if the chicken refrigerates with the spices. 


4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 quartered onions
2 - 4 pound whole chickens

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees
• Mix together spices.  Remove any giblets from chicken and rub the chicken with the spice mixture.  Place one onion is the cavity of each chicken and place chickens in a resealable bag or plastic wrap.  Refrigerate overnight or at least 4-6 hours.
• Place chickens in roasting pan and bake uncovered for 5 hours.  Let chickens stand for 10 minutes before serving.