Honey/Chinese Spiced Pork Skewers

Inspired by a recent visit to SE Asia, this recipe uses street-food cooking and Chinese spices. Marinated thin slices of pork belly are skewered and simply grilled or barbequed. Easy-peasy, and a good breakfast idea too.

Ingredients:

1 kg pork belly, sliced into thin pieces

For the marinade:

2 tbsps honey

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp ground cloves

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1. Mix the marinade and marinate the pork for at least 2 hours.

2. Soak the bamboo sticks in water for 30 minutes. This stops burning.

3. Skewer the meat. 

4. Grill on medium for about 5 minutes each side, basting with residual marinade with a little oil.

5. Devour. :)

Crispy Pork Belly

As you may have guessed already, we love pork at the Paleo Larder.  And many will agree that pork belly is the crowning glory of all swine cuts (beats tenderloin, anytime).

The mix of fat and muscle that melts in your mouth is just way too enticing. Then, there is the crackling. A bit tricky to get right, but when you do, it beats winning the Olympic gold. ;)

Most recipes will ask you to cook the meat at a really high setting in the oven then turn it down. We tried the opposite method over the weekend and it turned out ok actually. Better, actually. We think it is because the initial cooking at a lower temperature cooks the meat without burning or crisping, while driving out water. So when the temperature is ramped up, the skin crisps up nicely.

All you need is the best pork belly you can find (free-range, flown first class, went to Eaton, massaged, and had a facial J), oil and salt.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan.

2. Score the skin of the pork and dry with paper towels.  Rub with oil and season with salt all over.

3. Place in oven and cook for an hour, opening occasionally to let the steam out.  If water gathers in the pan, tip it out carefully.

4. After the hour, ramp the temp up to 180C for 20 minutes, then to 200C for another 20 minutes. Again, occasionally letting out steam.

5. Brush the skin with a little oil and season again. Grill under setting 2, or just one notch above the lowest.  At this stage, make sure that you keep an eye on it as it could burn.  If the skin burns before it crisps up (forms little bubbles), turn the setting down.  If it is taking ages, turn it up a bit.

6. Rest for 15 minutes or longer before carving.

7. Serve with lime, fish sauce and chilli dressing to cut through the richness.

Simple Brownies

These devilishly delicious brownies are so easy to make. Remove the chips if you want it strictly paleo as some chocolate chips use soy lecithin --- read the label. You may also add half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you are of the adventurous kind. ;)

Ingredients:

1 cup almond flour

½ cup cocoa powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt (remove if using salted butter)

Handful of dark chocolate chips (optional)

½ cup of melted coconut oil/ghee/butter or combination of any

½ cup of runny honey

3 whole eggs

Seeds from 1 vanilla pod (1 tsp extract is ok too)

1. Combine the dry ingredients (except for the chips) and set aside.

2. Beat the eggs, then add all the other liquids and whisk until the honey is dissolved.

3. Mix the liquid and dry ingredients.  This will be a bit runny.  Throw in some dark choc chips if you fancy.

4. Transfer into a greased 8x8 spring-form.

5. Bake at 175C (fan) for 20 minutes.  On the 20^th minute, check by inserting a toothpick/fork into the brownie. If it comes out clean, it should be ok. If not, bake for a further 3 to 5 minutes.

6. Thoroughly cool before cutting. My cake rose at the centre while cooking but actually flattened out once it cooled. 

*Warning: may cause addiction.

Pork Scratchings / Pork Popcorn

Pork (and fat in general) has had a bad reputation. Saturated fat, cholesterol, blah blah blah --- the demonisation of this delicious meat has gone on forever and this has got to change.

O well, a few stuff I’ve read indicate that dietary fat does not directly affect the levels in your blood.   I’m not going to bore you with science bits but what I am trying to say is that pork is delish and not as bad as what it’s been purported to be.

This pork popcorn recipe was lifted from a Gordon Ramsay recipe.  The skin is cooked in two stages and is fool-proof.  You can use long strips of skin or, like me, some irregular diamond cuts as Waitrose already sells their pork scored!

What you only need is pork skin and salt.  If this is not available, take a slab of belly, slice the skin off, maybe around half a centimetre thick. You can use the remaining belly for other recipe.

Stage 1:

• Generously salt both sides of the skin and wrap in paper towel and keep in the fridge for a day or two. The more dehydrated the skin becomes, the better.

• When ready, slice the belly however you want it.

• Heat a pan of oil over medium fire. Ramsay suggests 120C. I just waited about 5 minutes ;)

• Cook the skin in the oil in batches for 8-10 minutes. Do no overcrowd.  If the temperature is fine, the skin should not blister.

Take out and drain.

Stage 2:

• Turn the fire to high (or 190C).

• Fry the pieces again for 2 to 3 minutes. This time they will blister.

Take out and drain.

Season and enjoy!

Word of caution: Hot oil is really HOT! Careful not to burn yourself.

Easy Fish Cakes

Here’s a dinner idea, quick and easy for when you do not have a lot of time in the evening.  Frozen fish fillets (after thawing, of course) work perfectly fine for this, no need for expensive varieties.

You'll need:

500g white fish fillet

6 large kaffir lime leaves, shredded

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 chopped lemongrass

1 tbsp red curry paste (without MSG)

1 egg

Coconut oil for frying

1. Blitz the fish in the food processor until it forms a paste.

2. Add all the other ingredients apart from oil. Blitz some more.

3. Form into patties and fry until brown on both sides.

Aromatic and light. Quick and healthy. Should be a regular on the paleo menu. Serve with paleo mayonnaise or a dip made equal parts fish sauce and lime with chopped chillies. 

Lemongrass Pork Winter Warmer

This one was borne out of the necessity to use the lemongrass that has been in the fridge for about a week. A simple, broth-y dish which will keep you warm on a cold evening. With an Asian twist.

You will need;

Thin strips of pork (1 kilo), free range is best
2 stalks of lemongrass, bashed and tied into knots
Half a bulb of garlic, crushed
1 or 2 cans of coconut milk
Shredded cabbage
Sliced pepper
Mange tout
Salt (or fish sauce) and pepper to taste

Sauté crushed garlic until aromatic. Stir in pork, cook until all pinkness is gone. Pour in coconut milk. In go the lemongrass stalks too. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the veggies, mix in, and cook for another 3-5 minutes (cabbage should still be green-ish). Season to taste.

Paleo Bread

(contributed by JBairam @jonskib -- thanks dude!)

This is a basic recipe for a low carbohydrate, gluten-free and dairy-free bread recipe. It can be eaten savoury as is or as I prefer, to be sweetened and lemony as a cake type treat.

I used a teacup size cup and I got a decent size loaf. It's the ratios that count rather than the amounts but the teacup will give you a small loaf tin sized loaf.

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1 1/4 Cups Almond Flour
1/4 Cup Ground Chia Seeds or Flaxseeds
5 Eggs
1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
A dash of water if required to loosen

For the sweet version add: 3/4 Tablespoons of Agave syrup / Honey and the zest of 1 small lemon.

Just a note on coconut flour: I ordered mine and it arrived as desiccated coconut, so I blitzed it in a food processor to get it fine enough to use. It really should be as close to flour as possible to avoid larger bits in the bread.

Method:
1. Blend all dry ingredients in bowl and all wet ingredients in separate bowl.
2. Combine wet and dry ingredients.
3. Pour into a 7.5 “x 3.5″ loaf pan and smooth the top.
4. Bake at 200°C for 35-40 minutes.
5. Let cool before slicing.

I find that this bread doesn't crumble and does toast well. Be careful not to put too much coconut in, as I think it changes the flavour. The sweet version is definitely my favourite, but the savoury is great, too. It works for sandwiches and makes great on-the-go food.