Prosciutto Turkey Roulades with Beurre Blanc and Caulitatoes

Turkey Roulades
2 whole boneless, skinless turkey breasts
prosciutto
sage
salt
pepper
2 TB coconut oil

You can use the turkey breast as one big piece or cut it into thirds so each is about the size of a chicken breast. Costco carries fresh turkey breast that is prepared in smaller pieces like that. Place the meat between two pieces of saran wrap and beat the daylights out of it until is it thin and spread out (but not absolute mush!).

Hammer time

Sprinkle each piece of turkey with salt, fresh ground black pepper, and sage then cover with a layer of thinly sliced prosciutto. Roll it up, starting at the thicker end.

Spice and roll

Heat the 2 TB of coconut oil in a large skillet on med heat and cook each of the roulades until golden brown on all sides.

Beurre Blanc Sauce
1 Cup White Wine or Chicken stock
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp table sugar (gasp!)
1/4 tsp black pepper
pinch of salt
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/3 cup butter, cubed

In a saucepan, bring wine/stock, lemon juice, onion, garlic, sugar, pepper, and salt to a boil. Simmer to reduce by half. Pour into a heat-safe bowl and let cool.

Heat, but do not boil, a shallow amount of water in a medium sized pot. Place the heat-safe bowl overtop as a "double boiler". Gently whisk in the egg yolks and stir over the heat until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and add the butter cubes. Serve over the turkey roulades.

Whisking in the egg yolks with the caulitatoes on the back burner

Caulitatoes
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 parsnip
2 cloves of garlic

Steam all three together until soft and then blend in the food processor. You should not need to add any other liquid.

Spiced Pork Chops

Ingredients:

4 bone-in pork chops

2 TB honey

2 TB dijon mustard

1 TB olive oil

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cinnamon

1/2 tsp whole allspice kernels

Brown the pork chops in a skillet for a few minutes on each side. Transfer to a slow cooker and drizzle with the sauce. Be sure to layer the glaze if you have to layer the chops (depends on the size of your crock pot). Simmer on low for 5-6 hours. This will make your house smell like pumpkin pie!

Grilled Pineapple Tenderloin Skewers

Ingredients:
1 LB Beef tenderloin chunks (you could use a lesser cut...)
1/2 a pineapple, cut into chunks

Marinate the meat in a mixture of the following:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 TB soya sauce
1 TB sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1" chunk fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Be sure to soak the skewers first. Alternate chunks of pineapple and steak. Grill over direct medium heat and enjoy!

Sesame Ginger Chicken Thighs

(Szechuan Vegetable recipe in the post below)

Marinade

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 TB Sesame oil
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
1 TB water

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Sesame seeds

Take a large tray of approximately 24 boneless skinless chicken thighs and trim of any obvious connective tissue or remaining bits of bone. Dip each piece of meat into the sauce and roll it up. Line up the rolls tightly in a deep pan, smooth side up. Drizzle any remaining sauce on top and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 400F for aprx 30 mins.

Szechuan Vegetables

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

1 TB grated fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

Any assortment of fresh vegetables

3 TB oyster sauce

1 TB water
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Saute the ginger and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat for just a couple of minutes in a large pan or wok. Add all the veggies and stirfry until softened. Mix the oyster sauce, water, and red pepper flakes and pour this sauce into the pan with the veggies. Stir to coat and serve!

Dad's Brandy Mushroom Sauce

1 TB olive oil

2 slices alder smoked bacon

1/2 onion, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup brandy

1 cup beef broth

1 cup red wine

3 sprigs fresh tarragon

salt and pepper

Slice the bacon into small strips and fry in the olive oil until cripsy. Add the onion and garlic to sautee in the bacon drippings. Throw in the mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes until softened. Pour in the liquids, add the tarragon, and salt & pepper to taste. Allow to reduce by half.

We had this over cajun spiced grilled pork tenderloin, but it would also be fabulous with beef or bison. Shout out to my dad and his mad culinary caveman skills!

Lessons from the Road

First off, my apologies for the lack of posts this week. David and I were off in Calgary hacking our way through the CrossFit Level II cert. Luckily we both came out victorious in the end, newly minted certificates in hand!

Being on the road, however, did not leave much time for creativity in the kitchen! We did manage find a few interesting paleo options and learned an important lesson or two along the way.

1. CrossFitters everywhere are awesome people! Thanks to everyone at CrossFit Calgary and our fellow testees (hee hee) for all the feedback, support, and positive vibes. Heart you all.

2. Jerky and trail mix are the universal snack staples of caveman eaters everywhere

3. The safeway deli makes an interseting chicken and mango salad with loads of veggies and no pasta or grains

4. Always check your oven before preheating...

This is what remains of all 4 trays and the lid of my food dehydrator, along with my latest batch of bison jerky. We put the trays in the oven overnight to keep them out of the cat's reach at David's mom's place on Tuesday night and unfortunately forgot to check if the oven was empty before preheating to make dinner the next night. Big OOPS!

Matt's Almond Milk

Our good friend Matt is in town visiting from Hawaii. He's a nutritional ninja in his own right, employing the same whole food, caveman style of eating that we love. He brought with him some great ideas, including how to make your own almond milk! It's a delicious addition to coffee or tea and we're pretty sure it would make a tasty egg nog-like drink. We'll keep that in mind to experiment in the winter...

Ingredients
3 Cups of almonds
Water
1/2 tsp salt

Step One: Soak the almonds in water for at least one hour or overnight if you've got time.

Step Two: Drain off the water

Step 3: The 3 cups of almonds will now have swelled to 4 cups. Take half the almonds (about 2 cups) with 3 cups of water and blend thoroughly, for about 3-4 minutes.

Step 4: Pour the milky mixture into a tight mesh strainer. We used a paint strainer bag, available at a hardware or paint store for less than $1.


Step 5: Squish the living bejeezes out of that bag to get every last drop of liquid out. Repeat the blend, strain, and squish steps one more time with the other half of the almonds.

Step 6: Add the salt to the final liquid (about 2L) and shake-shake-shake. Once you place it in the fridge to cool, it will separate into 3 layers. You'll only have to mix it to reincorporate once, Matt says, and it won't separate again.

You can save the remaining almond meal and use it as filler in burgers or meat balls, as a thickener for a sauce, or in place of flour for a crust or dough! Any other ideas what to do with the remains?? Post suggestions to comments

Sobeys vs The Drive Thru

Some days I haven`t planned ahead very well and I know this because lunch times rolls around, I`m starving, and there`s no lunch anywhere to be seen. When this happens I like to play a little game I call Sobeys vs the Drive Thru. The grocery store closest to the gym shares a parking lot with a Burger King restaurant. During the busy lunch rush I like to take note of the car at the end of the drive thru line up as I dash into Sobeys to forage myself something to eat. If I can get in and out of the store before that car makes it through the drive thru line up, I win!

On one of the more recent showdowns, here`s what I managed to come up with: sliced in-store roasted turkey in a lettuce `boat` with olive oil mayo (which we had in the fridge here), cherries, a kiwi, an apple, and some almond butter. Yum!