Quick entree: Plantain chips with guacamole and chorizo

Ingredients:

1 avocado

1/4 chopped red onion

1/2 lime

a bunch cilantro

1/2 jalapeno

1 plantain

chorizo, cut in small cubes

Just because we cook paleo, doesn't mean we cannot serve great amuse-bouche. An amuse-bouche is a little bite size appetizer. This is also very useful for situations when:

- you are waiting for food to cook and ... starving

- you are in the mood for TV snacks

- you feel playful and snacky (which happens way more often than any of us would like to admit).

I baked the plantain chips for about 15 min in the oven at 350 degrees. I had arranged them on aluminum foil in a baking pan, with a drizzle of oil and a dash of cayenne powder.

I made a quick guacamole while the chips were baking combining all the ingredients in a bowl and mashing it all together to get a smooth consistency. Finally I cut the chorizo in cubes. Once the chips were done, I combined everything by adding one cube of chorizo and a tsp of guac on every chip.

Paleo mousse au chocolat

Everyone needs a little chocolate from time to time. I used to buy processed mousse au chocolat in France, it has already been one of my favorite desserts. But it is such an easy recipe, it was a shame to buy it pre-made, and not being able to control the quality of ingredients. Now that I eat paleo, I have no choice than to make it myself and contrary to what you could think, this is an easy recipe. It has to be prepared in advance, as it needs to chill for about 2 hours. This is a very satisfying dessert.
 
Ingredients
1 bar organic 70% dark chocolate
1/2 cup warm  water
3 eggs
a tsp honey (or sweetener of choice)
zest of orange, mandarin

Break the chocolate into pieces in a metal bowl and add the warm water. To melt it completely, put it over a small saucepan with simmering water and whisk it until it reaches a smooth texture. Set aside for one minute. Separate your eggs, and add the zest and honey to the egg yolks. Beat them until they turn foamy and fluffy. Add the yolk mixture to the chocolate and blend well together. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff. To make this easier, you can add a sprinkle of salt and refrigerate the whites for a couple of minutes. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture tbsp by tbsp, making sure to homogeneously mix in the whites.
Pour the mousse into individual ramekins, cover with plastic film and refrigerate for 2 hours.

One of my favorite mousse of chocolat was made by my friend's cousin. She used to put "langue de chat" cookies soaked in fresh expresso (or coffee liquor) at the bottom of the bowl and pour the chocolate mousse on top. I am thinking of replicating this by making an almond cookie soaked in expresso, or cooked bananas. I'll post the update.

We ate two the first day and then kept the other two days in the fridge. The mousse keeps well refrigerated. The second time around, we topped it with fresh young thai coconut meat. Delicious!

Clam thai chowder with butternut squash fries

This recipe has become quite a staple and every time I cook it, it improves. I gave it a twist this time around by adding some butternut squash fries. I cut the butternut squash into fries size. I preheated the oven at 370 degrees, lined a baking pan with aluminum foil, arranged the fries on the baking pan, and sprinkled them with cinnamon. I baked the squash for about 20 min, turning them 10 min into the cooking.

The squash fries were a great addition to the clam thai chowder.

Lemon sole with parsley

Believe it or not but I made this dish as an appetizer. I wanted to try a different seafood vendor at the Farmer's market, so started by buying two "filets de sole" and a half dozen clams.
I prepared these Immediately after coming home.

I coated the fish with a little coconut flour and then pan seared the fillets on medium heT with a little olive oil and flaxseed oil. Since finishing Dr.Cordain's book, I have been blending olive oil with flaxseed oil for cooking and vinaigrettes. It improves the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio. The sole cooks fast, be careful not to overcook it. I turn it around after about 3 min, then squeeze a bit of lemon and finish by adding the parsley.

The end result was very successful. The fish was fresh and very flavorful. It was caught wild off Montauk. The coconut coating added a nice flavor and slight crust.

Egg, sausage and cantaloupe

 

I recently finished Dr. Cordain's book. One of his breakfast recipes, leftover meat and canteloupe,  inspired me to buy one. 

I made some hard boiled eggs by cooking the eggs in a covered pot until the water boils and then turning off the heat and letting the eggs rest for 6 to 10 min. I like the egg yolk to be a little soft, so take my eggs out at the 6th min. In a skillet, I cooked wild boar sausages. 

This breakfast took less than 15 min. It would have been even faster with ready made hard boiled eggs. Hard boiled eggs can be kept in the fridge for a week. 

This recipe reminded me of the great produce I used to get in the South of France. The most famous canteloupes come from Cavaillon. Their taste is incomparable.  I also grew up eating lots of game meats. My dad has hunted birds, like wild duck, grouse and pheasants, venison and wild boar for as long as I can remember. He has always been extremely respectful in the process and never "over-hunted". There is a great sense of camaraderie among hunters and his friends would often give us venison, wild boar meat or homemade sausage. It is fairly hard to find wild meat, unless ordered online, so I would love to be back in France with my dad's friends giving us wild meat. 

After breakfast, we headed to Crossfit Hoboken, for an early Saturday Yoga class. The food had given me the perfect energy to flow through the poses without feeling heavy or lethargic.

Banana split

 

This is another great paleo snack. You could make this at work using the microwave. I crushed a ripe banana, sprinkled it with cinnamon and microwaved it for one minute. In the meantime, I crushed a small handful of walnuts and organic 70% dark chocolate. Chocolate can create a little bit of controversy but I believe that used in moderation and as long as the chocolate does not contain bad sugars and lots of dairy, it is not harmful. This is usually the most prevalent comment that I read from other people as well. My next step is to buy raw cacao nibs!

I ended by adding a handful of blueberries and a tbsp of almond milk. With the warmth of the bananas, the chocolate started melting. This was way more satisfying than a piece of cake.

Avocado snack

  

When I get home, I am often starving and need a snack before I can cook dinner. I used to snack on bread or crackers. Ma favorite 4PM snack had always been cheese sandwich with earl grey tea. The 4PM "gouter" is an institution in France, and we mostly eat bread with either butter and jam or cheese. Considering that I am French, I find I am doing really well on the Paleo diet, no eating any bread or dairy. I thought it would be a lot tougher but as long as there are easy tasty snacks, there is nothing to miss.

This snack is avocado with smoked trout and spicy mayonnaise (a mix of mayo and chili paste).