On the same site, I found a really cool breakfast: The "Cyclops Cup." It's an egg steamed inside the cap of a portobello mushroom - like an inside-out mushroom omelette!

Looks pretty good. Almost as good as the turbaconucken.

There's also the bacon explosion or the meat ship.

Nice, though they should have went with Bacturchuck ;)



The bacon explosion looks pretty good; the meat ship is inspired, but we'd need to do something about the damn pastry hull.

Eggplant vegetable dip
 

eating plain celery gets old fast. here is a nice dip to make celery a bit more interesting!

Ingredients:

2 Large eggplant or 4 Chinese eggplant
3 yellow zuccini (squash) diced
2 Med Oinion diced
4 cloves garlic minced
5 carrors finely shredded
small bunch dill
salt pepper to taste
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry basil
oil


Directions:

If using regular eggplant cut in circles and soak in salted water for 1 hour. then ring out like a sponge and cut into cubes. If using Chinese eggplant do not need to soak. saute onions, eggplant, zuccini, garlick in oil until soft. using a hand blender convert veggies into a paste or use a food proccesor. add spices/herbs and shredded carrot. refrigerate for 1 hour to have the flavors blend and mature. Makes a great dip or side dish. If you want to jazz it up a bit add a splash or two of hot sauce if peppers are on the menue.

Borcht (Russian beet soup)
 

Ingredients:

bone in stew meat. Beef chuck, neck, ossobuco, tail all work well. (meat on the bone makes a good stock)
2 med beets peeled.
1 med onion chopped
3 cloves garlick chopped
1 carrot shredded
1/2 head small cabbage cored and shredded
salt pepper to taste
1-2 bay leaves
oil

Directions:

Place meat and beets into a large pot. fill with 3/4 water, bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. skim the scum. meanwhile saute onions, carrots until golden brown season with salt and pepper while they cook. then add garlick and saute for another few minutes. remove meat and remove from bones. it should fall off easily if not return to pot and cook some more. returm meat to pot in bite size pieces or shredded. run beets under cold wated and shred.
add all ingredients to pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 30-45 min. some people like the veggied to crunch some like them softer. my mom always cooked them for 45 min so the veggies are soft. remove bay leaves. Traditionally this soup is served with a dollop of sour cream. I've eaten it without it and it is stlii great.

Thanks for the borscht recipe! I think I'll try it out. :)

you are welcome! I just ran to the store to get beets and they were all out. :( so I bought canned beets instead. I'm in the mood for some borcht. I have beef neck cooking away now.


BTW I tried the "green brownies" with chard and they came out pretty bad. I think I did not drain the watreer well enough. oh well...

here is the final product, topped off with a little fresh dill

Baby octopus w/ baby spinach
 

Ingredients:
1lb baby octopus (found it in the frozen section of Whole Foods)
juice of 4 small limes
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1tsp dry oregano
5 cloves minced garlick
salt /pepper to taste
baby spinach
1 bay leaf

bring pot of water to a boil, place in bay leaf and baby octopus (I put it in frozen). reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. combine herbs, spices,lime/lemon juice and oil. remove octopus and run under cold water to stop cooking process. place octopus and marinade in a zip lock bag, remove as much air as posssible and refrigerat for 3hrs or over night. Heat skillet on high and place marinade and octopus into the skillet, turn heat to med and saute for 5-10 min until octopi are heated through and begin crisping up. place baby spinach on a large plate and place contents of skillet directly on the sinach. Enjoy!

If using mature octopus boil for 1/2 to 2 hours

Primal Energy Bar
 

This is my version of Mark Sisson's Primal Energy Bar. It is vegan because I came up with it when I was transitioning from raw veganism to primal blueprint.

Ingredients

1 c. nuts (I like all almonds, but can use walnuts, pecans or a combo)

1/4 c. hazelnut or other nut meal

1/4 c. nut butter

1/4 c. coconut oil

1/4 c. unsweetened, shredded coconut (reserve a few handfuls for topping)

1/2 c. unsweetened dried fruit such as cranberries, goji berries, blueberries

dash of vanilla extract

dash of sea salt

Directions

Combine coconut butter and nut butter and melt over low heat on the range top, stirring constantly. Once melted, add in vanilla and sea salt.

Process nuts and coconut in food processor, but not entirely, it’s nice to have some texture. Combine with hazelnut meal. Add dried fruit.

Mix the nut mixture with the coconut/nut butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Put into container lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle coconut on top.

Wow that baby octopus looks neat! Don't think I've ever seen them at my Whole Foods.

I do enjoy the tiny little ones that get used for calamari...the tentacles are my favorite part.

Sorry the chard didn't work out. :/ Too watery you said? Chard is also really strongly flavored.

one pan sage and onion chicken and sausage
 

This chicken and sausage recipe is quite good:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...cipe/index.html

I've made it a few times now and it turns out every time. The only thing I do differently is to NOT include the marinade in the roasting process as that leads to soggy chicken skin. For the sausages, they are unspecified so I use the nitrate-free Wellshire Farm pork andouille sausages. Four is usually as many as will fit in my Pyrex with all the chicken! I just cut them in half.



That's the chicken and some of the onions, along with some mashed lemony sweet potatoes and a side salad with tahini dressing. Don't be hatin' on my sweet potatoes. :p

I could lick my monitor right about now, Kallyn!

Thanks Nancy! The ultimate compliment. :p

I found another good recipe today. It's for a strawberry vinaigrette salad dressing. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/so...wberryvinag.htm It's very pink!

Need Paleo Mayo recipe
 

I want to start making my own mayo. I'd like a paleo acceptable version with a twist. any one have any yummy ideas?