Apple Crumble (Paleo & Gluten Free) with Scream Sorbet

 As the finishing touch to a paleo feast, I made an apple crumble sin flour and milk. Served with Scream Sorbet out of the East Bay which is sold from the Ferry Building Farmer's Market on Saturdays. I had the pleasure of meeting Sierra who was working the Scream Sorbet stand. Sierra is full of life and knowledge about Scream Sorbet's process and ingredients. They usually have 4 - 6 flavors available for sampling and purchasing and I believe it changes week to week. For this I used their 'Saffron Almond' flavor which was divine. The ingredients are on the carton and include nothing more than water, Kashiwasi Farms blanched almonds, sugar, sea salt and saffron.

Apple Crumble 

Ingredients:
6 large apples, peeled and sliced. I recommend the Pink Lady apples for crumbles
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Raw honey
Cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place apple slices in a glass baking dish. Drizzle the honey on the apple slices
2. Mix the almond flour, egg, coconut oil and cinnamon in a bowl until you have a 'crumbly' consistency
3. Add the topping to the apples. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until hot and bubbly and the crust is golden.
Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving with Scream Sorbet. Enjoy!

'Spaghetti' Squash & Bison Meatballs (Paleo)

Bison is by far my favorite meat. I debuted by love for bison on GLHC with my bison stuffed squash. I've never been a huge meatball fan - mostly because I never felt that great after eating meatballs however with bison, it's completely different. As with all meatballs, you can experiment and make them slightly different every time. For a recent paleo feast, I made these meatballs as the main course with a homemade tomato sauce. Instead of spaghetti, I used 'Spaghetti' Squash. It's the end of the season so I literally bought the only ones available! I'd never cooked this type of squash but was delighted on it's much healthier and equally tasty substitution for spaghetti. I was certain I would cut off my hand as I was trying to cut open this squash. I had to put all my weight on the knife to open the squash so be careful when doing this at home. Disclosure: I'm also accident prone - this may not be an issue for most folks :)
This meal can be made in advance and heated up. The meatballs are addicting and taste DELICIOUS the next day on sandwich bread or even cold. The longer and slower you cook the tomato sauce, the more enhanced the flavor will be and the thicker the texture. So, in true Italian style - cook this meal slowly with love, music and glass of wine.

                                  

'Spaghetti' Squash & Bison Meatballs 
Makes enough for 10-12
A meal planning tip: Start with baking the squash. While squash is in the oven start the sauce then the meatballs.

Ingredients:
2-3 large 'Spaghetti' Squash

For Meatballs:
4 lbs ground bison
2 small onions, finely chopped
4 eggs
1 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons fresh herbs
1 head of garlic
Olive oil
4 tablespoons ghee

For Sauce:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 28 ounce cans plum tomatoes
1 16 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 small cans of tomato paste
2 bunches of Italian parsley, chopped
2 chili peppers, chopped

Directions:
For Spaghetti:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the squash in half. Place cut size down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until it is easily pierced with a knife.
2. Scrape the spaghetti out of the squash shell and set aside into a bowl.

For Meatballs:
1. Saute the onion, garlic with 3-4 tablespoons of ghee until the onions are translucent. Allow the onions to cool.
2. In a bowl, vigorously whisk the eggs. Whisk in the almond meal and herbs. Add in the bison and mix until everything is incorporated. The best tools for this are your hands.
3. Roll the bison meat into small balls. Saute on a pan (LOW & SLOW) with a bit of olive oil. The bison meatballs don't take much time and you want them to maintain their moisture so be sure the heat is set to low. They should be golden brown.  They will produce their own natural oils which make for a fantastic base for sauteing vegetables. Set aside on a platter while you finish the meatballs.


For the sauce:
1. Heat live oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic until soft.
2. Add in the pureed tomatoes with juices, crushed tomatoes, parsley, and peppers. Bring the mixture to a boil. Season with salt and pepper
3. Reduce the heat and cook until it is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Add in the tomato paste and cook for 20 minutes.

                             

Enjoy with a nice big salad and a glass of wine :)

 

Lemon Walnut Parsley Pesto

I was recently given the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and have loved learning all the health benefits to various foods. When I made the flax and almond paleo bread, I wanted a pesto like spread to go with it. Ordinary pesto is made with cheese however this pesto is effectively paleo and vegan. It contains no cheese. I love Italian flat leaf parsley and it comes in bushels in our Eat Well CSA so I decided to make this  a parsley pesto. Raw parsley is one of the best sources of Glutathione. Glutathione acts as a super antioxidant and can inactivate cancer-causing agents, that may otherwise damage cells. It also neutralizes fats that initiate artery clogging build up. Glutathione also protects our eye lens from the destruction caused by ultraviolet light, as such it is an antioxidant that helps protect us against cataracts. 

Lemon Walnut Parsley Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped scallions
2 cups parsley
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 heaping cup walnuts
salt to taste

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you have your desired consistency and taste. Sprinkle in the salt depending on your preference.

Flax & Almond Bread (Paleo & Gluten Free)

 I recently made a Paleo feast for 8 good friends. This bread is like an energy and fiber packed bread that is lovely alone, with dips and it keeps in the refrigerator for a little over a week.  Instead of flours, this "bread" is made with flax meal and almond meal. The finer the grind, the better the bread will taste. I grind my flax seeds in a mini mill. In addition, flax seeds need to be ground for us to get their full nutritional benefits, so always be sure to cook with flax meal as opposed to flax seeds. It's an extremely easy recipe and can definitely be jazzed up with pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top, or walnuts folded into the batter. I've also though this would taste nice with crushed dried herbs. Let me know if you come up with any good ideas! I served this bread warm with a paleo lemon walnut parsley pesto.

Flax & Almond Bread

Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups flax meal
2/3 cup almond flour
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
1. Turn on some nice tunes - Natalie Merchant recommended
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil a loaf pan.
3. In a bowl mix the flax meal, almond flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.
4. In a separate bowl vigorously whisk the eggs. This is where your love goes into the bread baking
5. Add the olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper to the eggs.
6. Add the dry mixture to the eggs mixture and mix.
7. Put mixture in the loaf pan. It will not be as wet or fluid as most bread batters, you will need to use a spatula to get the batter into the pan. If it is too dry, you can add a little more olive oil. 
8. Bake for 30 minutes.