Almond flour and coconut flour can be perfect substitutes for traditional flour in many Primal baked goods, but they don’t always provide a texture that is as light and airy as we want. This is why we were so pleased when Katie Hudgens sent us a recipe for baked clafouti that eliminates flour entirely. Her Chicken Curry Clafouti bakes up into a rich, savory pastry with a texture that’s so smooth and buttery it made us wonder why we ever thought clafouti needed flour in the first place.
A clafouti is a French pastry with a texture somewhere between cake and custard. It’s usually served as a dessert, and Katie often makes it this way herself by adding mixed berries to the batter. As good as this sounds, don’t let the temptation of berry clafouti dissuade you from trying Katie’s savory version, Chicken Curry Clafouti. A simple batter of eggs, butter and coconut milk (or whole cream) bakes into a flourless, sugarless pastry that’s more like a quiche than a cake. It does retain a pastry-like quality, however, in the puffy, light-as-air crust and in the sinfully buttery texture. The butter and coconut milk also lend a slightly sweet flavor that is the perfect backdrop for spicy curry powder. A generous amount of chicken adds to the ample amount of protein already in this savory, eggy custard that can be enjoyed any time of day. Make it for dinner and eat the leftovers for breakfast, or pack it up for lunch or an afternoon snack. Whenever you eat it, we think you’ll find it as surprisingly delicious as we did.
Read MoreAs spring in our part of the world finally gives way to summer, cooks start their migration outdoors, turning off ovens and firing up grills. But saying goodbye to your oven for the summer doesn’t have to mean saying goodbye to slowly roasted, succulent meat. As reader Rich Freund has pointed out when submitting the following recipe, meals like whole roasted chicken are just as good, if not better, when cooked on a grill. The trick lies in a culinary technique with an extremely technical term.
Ladies and Gentleman, let us introduce you to spatchcocking.
Read MoreLauren Seaver had us with the first three ingredients in her salad: bacon, chicken and avocado. What is there not to love? This combination is not new to most of you, in fact, you might even throw it into salads all the time. But if it’s been awhile, let us remind you how insanely delicious this simple combination is.
Crispy, salty bacon is a perfect topping for cool, creamy avocado and the chicken thighs seared in bacon fat take on a deep, rich flavor that chicken doesn’t always have. It’s a comforting and satisfying combination, familiar ingredients that each take on a new dimension of flavor when paired with the others. You can toss this salad with any green you like, but there is something especially tasty about the combination of crisp romaine lettuce with bacon. While not a “dark, leafy” green, romaine still packs a nice nutritional punch and pretty much everyone loves the mild flavor, which makes it a good choice if you’re serving this salad to others (like picky family members).
Read MoreThis week’s soup recipe comes from a military man who prefers to keep his real identity undercover. He did, however, decide to declassify his Chicken and Shrimp Soup recipe for the Primal Blueprint Cookbook Challenge, and we’re glad he did. The soup follows one of our favorite soup-making methods, which is throwing a bunch of healthy stuff in a pot and letting it simmer to deliciousness. All that’s required on your part is a little chopping and stirring. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients, but if you scan the list you’re likely to find that you already have many of them on hand.
Read MoreThanks to a generous forum member, curried chicken salad is now an official Primal recipe! And a delicious one, to boot. It’s the perfect combination of crunch and flavor, using nuts, celery, and a bit of chopped apple for slight sweetness. It’s also a great recipe for the traditional bun-substitute: wrapped in a giant, fresh lettuce leaf.
When I tried this recipe, I found homemade mayonnaise to be best, since even high-quality brands of mayo (even the kind that use Extra Virgin Olive Oil) often still include preservatives, thickeners, and other unpronounceable junk. Try the mayo recipe below or, if you have leftovers, the coconut chive mayo recipe from yesterday’s post would also work nicely. Mustard can also substitute, instead, if you prefer the spice, don’t have time to use the blender, or simply aren’t a fan of mayo.
Read MoreAs an MDA Worker Bee always on the lookout for new Primal dishes I’ve developed a few tricks. My favorite method is by scanning different restaurant menus and then finding substitutes for highly-processed or high-carb ingredients, and through a system of trial-and-error, creating a new Grok-inspired treat.
Last week I wandered around Brooklyn’s Smith Street to see what I could do about the strange wintry-food yen I was experiencing (how could I crave hot stew in 90 degree weather?). I discovered it was not so strange – there are plenty of people enjoying winter eats even in the crux of July. Beef stew, macaroni and cheese, pork shoulder are all top menu items even while city temperatures skyrocket. When I asked a staff member at one of the restaurants why these items stayed so popular, even during months when people would seem to want lighter fare, he replied these meals were “the most satisfying.” Good taste, I suppose, knows no weather.
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