Paleo Dinner Club Recap!

We had quite the feast this Wednesday, people.  Paleo taco night!  It was impressive.  Let's recap -

My contribution to this event turned out to be a little bit of a fail whale.  First, I couldn't make up my mind between an appetizer nibble thing and a dessert, so why not do both, right? (read: biting off more than I should have chewed)  Something crunchy and savory and something custardy sweet.  For the savory I wanted to make some yummy veggie chips to go along with the guacamole that was promised, so I did a bit of internet and grocery store hunting and ended up with some beets, turnips, and kale ready for chippy goodness.   I sliced the root veggies very thin with my mandolin slicer, and removed the ribs from the kale and tore them into chip-like pieces.  I tossed everything with olive oil, salt, and pepper (and garlic powder and cayenne pepper for the kale).  I set my oven to 350°F and got out every cookie sheet I own and started doing batches of beets and turnips.  Everything I saw online said, "they won't be crispy out of the oven!  don't worry!  they crisp up as they cool!"... but no, either the internets were wrong, or I was, because my beet and turnip chips were soggy limp little sad things.  They tasted pretty good, but not even close to a chip... back to the drawing board.



The mandolin slicer is handy when replacing packaged foods
with yummy good for you stuff!



So much promise... beet chip FAIL.

The kale chips were much more successful (but of course I didn't photograph them...).  Same deal - 350°oven for about 15 minutes, turning the leaves every once in a while until they turn very crispy but not burnt.  They were super delicious, a bit like the nori seaweed wrapping for sushi, although very very brittle.  Not dippable by any stretch of the imagination, unfortuantely.  They seemed to go over well with the crowd, though.  A good thing to hit a crunchy/salty craving, and get your dark, leafy veggies at the same time!

For my sweet thing I attempted a crazy-sounding paleo recipe for "crustless pumpkin pie."  Basically a coconut milk and pumpkin custard.  I baked and baked that sucker and it wouldn't set up, but by the minutes before we had to leave, the internal temperature was fine, so i figured it would set up more as it cooled.  Not so much.  Again, it tasted pretty good, and surprisingly similar to regular pumpkin pie, but it had all the aesthetic appeal of... well, things that parents of small children and dog owners are familiar with cleaning up.  Next time: needs an almond-based crust, and maybe add another egg or two to help the custard set.

(I'm not gonna post the recipes here until I like how they turn out... if anyone wants a go, I can point you to them)

Anyway, moving on.  The main event was grass-fed beef, bison, and/or rare tuna tacos - lettuce/cabbage wrapped, of course.  I do apologize for the crappy phone photos... need to bring the "real" camera next time, d'oh!



The ground beef and bison meat were extra yummy with the addition of sauteed onion.  I personally think most things are improved with sauteed onion, but that's my opinion.  I believe Trader Joe's brand taco seasoning provided the spices.



Fearless leader Harpa gettin' her taco meat on!



Upon arrival, I was almost immediately handed a package of ahi tuna and asked to figure it out.  I kinda just cut it into chunks, salted it a bit, and cooked it in a nonstick pan over high heat just until it was opaque on all sides (turning it often... it took maybe 30 sec.-1 min. per side), then I sliced it into bite-sized bits.  It turned out tasty and as far as I know nobody died.  Success!

Also on hand were a lovely purple cabbage slaw, dressed with a hit of balsamic vinegar, and probably some other goodness (I didn't find out), then roasted vegetables, cilantro and an obscene quantity of guacamole (which was all eaten.  I'm surprised the bowl wasn't licked clean).  I also spotted a lovely veggie salad with tomatoes and olives and all kinds of wonderful things.  Oh, and fruit!  I'm probably missing dishes, the spread was bountiful.

 

Lettuce taco wrappers and my
super-mega-gourmet tuna
(oh, AND the diy soda water... so gadgetey!)

On the liquid side, there was a more-or-less continuous flow of the semi-famous "Norcal" margarita, so named and deemed "paleo" by paleo biochemist god himself, Robb Wolf.  This is a refreshing blend of good tequila, lime juice, and soda water.  The soda water itself was homemade by one of those crazy infomercial soda makers... I'm smitten!  I love fizzy drinks and am a recovering Coca Cola addict, so I've been having visions of homemade tonic water, mint soda, vanilla soda, lavender soda, etc. etc.  Gotta get one! There may have been some fermented fruit juice and (gluten free) pre-digested grains, too.  We like to let the microbes do the dirty work for us. 


Fearless leader/mixologist Jer fixing up Norcal Margs. 

It sure appears that we planned our dinner tonight (Satruday) around this blog post, but it's not the case.  Pork shoulder just looked good at the market and what better to do with pulled pork but stick it in a lettuce leaf and cover it with guacamole?  Oh, and fix me a weekend cocktail with that leftover lime, will you?  Now I can give you a real recipe with this post.

Mark's Daily Apple's Garlic Pulled Pork

3-4 lb. Pork shoulder roast (for a little bit faster cooking, cut off any strings and slice the roast into 3 or 4 pieces... you're gonna shred the meat, anyway)
1.5 T kosher salt
.5 t ground cumin
1 t fresh ground black pepper
1.5 T garlic powder
6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
juice of one lime (or bitter orange, if you can find one of these... I never have)
1 onion, sliced
1 bay leaf

Preheat oven to 300°F.  Combine the dry seasonings (except bay leaf) in a small bowl and mix in lime juice to form a paste.  Rub all over the pork roast.  Make small slits in the roast with a sharp paring knife, and insert garlic cloves (or just put the garlic in the pot with the onion).  Place sliced onion and bay leaf in a heavy, ovenproof pot with a lid, put pork on top.  Cover and bake in the oven for 3-4 hours, until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 190°F internal temperature.  Shred it up and stick it in a paleo taco!



If you have a leftover lime and a bottle of Perrier, mix yourself a Norcal something-or-other with your favorite distilled sprit!  You deserve it!


Dramatic reenactment: the Norcal Margarita (cachaça standing in for tequila)



Dramatic reenactment: paleo tacos with garlic pulled pork and guacamole!

Next time: Good-for-you roadtrip snax!  We're off to Albuquerque by way of Cali!