Barbacoa
 

Recipe invented by my girlfriend.

Brown a one-pound roast in olive oil on the stovetop in a Dutch oven or large stock pot or something. I recommend owning a large stockpot and dirtying up only one piece of large cookware.

After it has browned, filet it, then add enough water to cover it while it is not actually in the pan. Chop up about 5 garlic cloves. You can either put them in straight, or put them in a tea infuser if you don't like the texture of cooked garlic bits (this is what I did). Make certain the tea infuse is immersed. Pour or squirt in some lime juice, perhaps a teaspoon or two. Add 2 tsp adobo, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp cilantro, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp oregano, and 2 tsp ground chipotle chili powder. Place fileted roast (I used a rump roast, but cow cheeks are the most popular for beef barbacoa) in the mixture, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for ever. I mean, I lost count of how many hours, but I did turn it off several times, brought it back to a boil, and began simmering some more. Continue this, oh, maybe 6 hours, maybe 10, I've really no clue, until the meat starts to fall apart when you try to pick it up with a fork. Remove the meat, it will sort of fall apart on you, and shread it/reduce it to itty bitty bits. Put it all back in the pot and boil it for a while so that the juices and spices work their way all the way through. Add more adobo powder and chipotle chili, to taste. Grind some [B]fresh ground pepper[/n] into the mixture. If you feel it needs anything else, if some flavor seems lacking, put some in to taste. It's fully cooked meat, so you can taste the broth to see if it's right.

It doesn't taste exactly like what you get at Chipotle's, but it's its own unique dish and I'm glad I have invented my own.

Bumping, because Waywardsis has a paleo faux cheese sauce, and Kallyn said something about chocolate mousse made with avocado, and I'm hoping they'll share!

I'll type it up when I get a free minute today!

Ok I was free earlier than I thought I was!

CHOCOLATE AVOCADO MOUSSE
------------------------------
1 cup cold water
4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup dates
2 medium avocados
1/4 - 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use 1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp stevia powder or 16 drops stevia extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup cold water or ice
a food processor

gently heat the 1 cup water in a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin on top; let it dissolve without stirring and then remove from heat

add the gelatin mixture and the dates to a food processor and blend for 60 seconds; add all remaining ingredients and blend until smooth

taste and adjust cocoa and sweeteners to taste

if you used ice cubes it's ready to eat; if not, chill in the refridgerator for at least 3 hours

if you split the recipe into 6 servings, each serving contains 19g carb with 5g fiber for a total of 14g carb

I tried this once with carob instead of cocoa but I didn't care for it.

Thanks!

Do you think the dates add a structural component, or are they just for sweetness?

No salt?

The dates do add some structure. You could probably cut back on them and use less water with no ill effect, I think. The recipe gives a variation where you replace the dates with 1/3 cup plus 1 TBS agave or honey and then subtract 1/4 cup water, although this is equally bad in terms of carbs. It gives some clues to the structure, though.

And yes, there is no salt.

Is this the one from Garden of Eating? How does it taste?

Yep it is! I think it's pretty good and DH likes it too (and he doesn't usually like desserts that aren't made with traditional ingredients).

I made this yesterday and it tasted great.

Sauteed Greens
1 serving

olive oil
finely chopped shallot (1-2 depending on size)
3 stalks of diced celery
3 stalks of diced fennel
2 cups of greens -- I used a Trader Joe's mix of 4 greens (mustard, turnip, collard and spinach if I remember correctly)

Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan
Sautee shallot, celery and fennel until soft
Add greens
Cook until greens reach desired softness


Variation: Add diced red pepper for a bit of sweetness and color

Ohh the fennel sounds like a nice touch.

I made this last night and it was really really good. Puerto Rican Pot Roast:
http://www.recipezaar.com/177108

I got the salt pork from Whole Foods and used 1 small potato. Also I shredded the beef and let it cook in the juice for the last 30 min, then ate it like soup. It's supposed to feed us tonight too, and I'm having to stop myself from gobbling all the rest down for lunch! (lest you think we're eating 4lbs of beef in 2 sittings, I only used a 1.7lb roast)

This barely counts as a recipe, but I bought some Navitas Naturals organic chocolate powder. I stir up a few large spoonfuls of coconut milk and a spoonful of chocolate powder - the powder quickly blends in to make a chocolatey mousse - and have it on top of fruit and nuts. Unreasonably delicious for something that requires no effort.

Coconut macaroons???
 

In the past, I have bought coconut macaroons that list only unsweetened coconut flakes, egg whites, and honey in the ingredients, but I can't find them any more.

Does anyone have a recipe like this?

As usual, just green tea with coconut oil and coconut milk in it.

ETA: oops... wrong thread.

OK, recipe.

This year I had to do some quick'n'dirty cooking because we had this huge multi-day power outage right before the holidays. I made up roasting pans with whole duck and bone-in leg of lamb. Around and inside the duck I put quartered oranges and lemons, fresh rosemary and halved artichokes (pre-steamed) and brushed it all with olive oil. Around the lamb, I placed halved and cored apples filled with butter and spiced, chestnuts and cranberries. The prep time was very quick for a holiday meal was very festive on the table. The only other food I served was the usual creme brulee, but it was plenty.

*wipes up drool*