ABC's of Paleo: D is for Daikon Radish (Daikon Radish Pancakes)

It's our fourth week in the series "ABC's of Paleo." Here's a recap of ingredients and what has been made so far.

Week 1 - A is for Artichoke - Roasted Artichokes with Creamy Lemon-Garlic-Dijon Dip
Week 2 - B is for Bison - Bacon-Bison Chili
Week 3 - C is for Cherries - Cherry Pie with Crumble Topping

This week, our ingredient is daikon radishes. You're probably wondering what is a daikon radish. These radishes are a member of the turnip family. They were originally cultivated in southeast Asia. Some of you may have eaten these little gems in the form of a Chinese dim sum dish known as turnip cake. I scoured the internet looking at various recipes for these turnip cakes (AKA daikon radish cakes). All of the recipes contained large amounts of rice flour. I thought about substituting the rice flour with tapioca and/or arrowroot. Then I realized I didn't have all the ingredients for a traditional turnip cake (dried shrimp and dried mushrooms, specifically). It seemed like a pretty time-intensive process to make them. I also searched for Paleo turnip cake, hoping someone had already converted some of the ingredients, so I could adapt the dish from there. No such luck.

I was back to square one. Do I try to adapt a non-Paleo dish or create something new?

I went with the latter of course. I thought the radish cake, or pancake, sounded like a good idea. I do love pancakes. I decided to start with bacon, since some of the turnip cake recipes called for Chinese bacon. Chinese bacon is similar to pork belly, but I only had regular bacon on hand. I wanted to make some sort of patty or pancake, so I knew I would need eggs as a binder, but wanted it to be a little bit thicker than just scrambled egg. That's where the tapioca and almond flours came in. I'm pretty sure I just developed a basic recipe for so many other dishes that I will develop soon.

Paleo Daikon Radish Pancakes

Makes: Approximately Five 5” pancakes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 daikon radishes, shredded
• 12 oz. bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 eggs
• 2 T. tapioca starch/flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• 2 T. grass-fed butter, ghee or coconut oil (or other cooking fat)
• Sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste
• Green onions, to garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Remove bacon from skillet and place in a paper towel-lined bowl.
2. While the bacon is cooking, peel the daikon radishes (I used a potato peeler).
3. Shred the radishes, using either a box grater or your food processor with the shredder attachment (I used my food processor and it took no time at all).
4. Put the shredded radishes into a large kitchen towel. Squeeze out
   
   
   as much excess water/liquid as possible.
5. Once you’ve removed the bacon from the skillet, add the shredded radishes. Season with sea salt and pepper.
   
   
6. Flip the radishes over a few times to ensure even cooking. They won’t get crispy. I cooked mine for 8-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
7. Remove from pan and let cool slightly.
8. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the 4 eggs. Then whisk in the tapioca starch and almond flour.
9. Add the slightly-cooled radishes and bacon to the bowl. Mix well, so everything is coated with the egg mixture and the bacon is evenly distributed.
10. Add about 1 T. of grass-fed butter to the skillet. Using a ½ cup measuring cup, scoop out batter into the pan, flattening the top with your spatula so it’s somewhat flat. I was able to cook two at a time in my skillet. You could make them smaller and fit more into the pan.
11. Cook your pancakes for about 4 minutes on each side (or until golden/spotted). They’ll flip pretty easily.
12. Repeat with remaining pancakes.
13. Garnish with green onions, if you wish.
14. Enjoy! 

I loved these pancakes. The batter to daikon radish ratio was just right. They cook and flip easily. The batter itself is fairly neutral tasting, so the bacon and lightly-sweet radish flavor comes out. I think these would make a fabulous breakfast or part of a brunch. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Next up in the ABC's of Paleo: E is for Elk!

ABC's of Paleo: "C" is for Cherries (Cherry Pie with Crumble Topping)

It's our third week in the series "ABC's of Paleo." Here's a recap of ingredients and what has been made so far.

Week 1 - A is for Artichoke - Roasted Artichokes with Creamy Lemon-Garlic-Dijon Dip
Week 2 - B is for Bison - Bacon-Bison Chili

This week, our ingredient is Cherries. We have a couple of cherry trees in our backyard, which prompted my ingredient selection for this week. About a month ago, one of our trees was teeming with bright, red cherries. Unfortunately, the birds got the best of our second tree. We do put nets over the trees, but didn't do a great job with the second tree. We actually had a bird get stuck into the net of the first tree (which was pretty secure). I spent over 30 minutes trying to get the bird out, because I didn't want him to eat all my ripe cherries! We ended up with quite the yield from just one tree. After picking my basket of cherries, I rinsed and pitted them. Once dry, I froze them in a single layer on a baking sheet and then put them all in a Ziploc bag for later use.

Cherries are a delicious fruit. I won't get too into the scientific side, but it is worth mentioning that they have a number of antioxidants and have an anti-inflammatory effect. I do enjoy eating the frozen cherries right out of the bag. They're a tasty summertime treat.

Paleo Cherry Pie with Crumble Topping

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 5 cups pitted sour cherries, fresh or frozen
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• 2 heaping T. tapioca or arrowroot
• ½ t. vanilla extract
• ¼ t. almond extract

Crust:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 2/3 cup pecans
• 1/4 t. sea salt
• 3-4 T. local honey
• 6 T. cold grass-fed butter, cut into small pieces

Crumble Topping:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup pecans
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• ¼ cup coconut sugar
• 4 T. melted grass-fed butter
• ¼ t. almond extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Move oven rack to lower third of the oven.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F.

To make the filling:

Mix together all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set aside while you make the crust and crumble.

To make the crust:

1. Blend almond flour, pecans and sea salt for 10-20 seconds in a food processor.
2. Add honey and butter.
3. Process until the dough comes together into a ball.
4. Press into a pie dish.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until crust is golden.

 To make the crumble:

1. While the crust is baking, add all dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. Blend with a spatula or spoon.
2. Add melted butter and almond extract (if using). Stir until well-combined.

To assemble the pie:

1. Pour cherry mixture into your pre-baked pie crust.
2. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the entire pie.
3. Place pie dish on a parchment paper-lined baking pan to prevent any spillage in the oven. Trust me, burnt cherry pie filling is not something you want on the bottom of your oven.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
5. Bake pie for 30 minutes, checking at 20 minutes to ensure crust isn’t too dark. If crust is darkening too much, then wrap aluminum foil around the edges of the pie dish.
6. Let the pie cool completely until cutting into it. The pie will be runny if you cut into it too soon. I think the pie tastes even better after it has been refrigerated. It will help thicken the filling.

I also made homemade vanilla ice cream, which tastes great alongside a piece of this pie. My ice cream contains only 3 ingredients: coconut milk, vanilla bean/vanilla extract and honey. 

Bon appetit! 

We'll be taking a break next weekend due to other scheduled events, but will continue with letter "D" on Sunday, September 1st. What "D" ingredient would you like to see? Duck, dates, daikon radish and dandelion greens are all possibilities. 

ABC's of Paleo: B is for Bison (Bacon-Bison Chili)

This is week two of the series ABC's of Paleo. Here's a recap of what I've already made. 

Week 1 - A is for Artichokes - Roasted Artichokes with Creamy Lemon-Garlic-Dijon Dip

With week two comes a new ingredient, bison! Bison are naturally grass-fed, lean animals. Bison meat has high amounts of iron, making it a great option for those of us who need an extra boost in that area. Per 3.5 oz. serving, bison has the more iron than ground beef, chicken, pork or salmon. It's by far the leanest with only 2.54 grams of fat and only 143 calories. Not only is it packed with nutrition, but it tastes great too!

We've had a number of cloudy and rainy evenings here in Colorado, so I decided to go with chili. How does bacon fit in? Well, I think bacon makes just about anything taste better. So the question is... why not add bacon?

Bacon-Bison Chili

8 servings

Rating: 10 clubs

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 2 green bell pepper, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 jalapeños, finely diced
• 2 lb. grass-fed ground bison
• 4 T. chili powder
• 1 T. cumin
• 1 T. paprika
• 2 t. oregano
• 2 t. dried parsley
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 15-oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 cup homemade chicken or beef broth

Instructions:

1. Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat.
2. Add the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Remove from pot with a slotted spoon and reserve in a paper-towel lined bowl.
3. Add chopped onion, carrots, bell pepper and jalapeños to the bacon fat. Cook, stirring regularly, for 5-7 minutes or until veggies begin to soften.
4. Add the ground bison to the veggies, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the spices and minced garlic. Mix well to combine.
6. Lastly, add the broth, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir everything together.
7. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Ladle chili into bowls and sprinkle with the reserved crumbled bacon.

You may have noticed some wilted green leaves in my bowl. I had some leftover spinach that needed to be used, so I tossed it into the chili at the end. You can add whatever veggies you have on hand to bulk up the nutritional content. I served our chili with leftover Paleo “Cornbread”. The next day, I ate leftover chili with crushed plantain chips. Either option is delicious. If you are Primal and eat raw dairy, a sprinkle of raw cheddar would taste amazing. 

What did you make with bison? 

Next week in the series: C is for Cherries! Let me know what you'll be making. Keep in mind that I will link up your recipe in my post.