Fuel for Fire

Fuel for Fire Fuel Packs

A few weeks ago, Fuel for Fire sent me some samples of their Fuel Packs.  Funny thing is, around the time they contacted me, I was literally about to purchase some to take to Nationals with me but didn't quite fully execute on that.  A good friend of mine loves them and convinced me to try them out.  So when they contacted me, I was stoked to try them out.

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Baked Chicken with Capers and Olives

Lemon Baked Chicken with Capers and Olives

I've been playing around with cooking with chicken recently since I feel like it's one of those proteins easily and often overcooked, but is so good when done right: moist, tender and full of flavor.  So for my 200th post, I'm excited to share with you one of my new favorite Paleo dishes: lemon baked chicken with capers and olives.  Check it out!

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Paleo Cauliflower "Couscous"

Cauliflower "Couscous"

'Tis the season for cauliflower!  If you go to the Farmer's market now, you'll probably find many farms with lots of cauliflower, colored cauliflower, and even Romanesco.  I've been on a Mediterranean/Spanish/Moroccan/Israeli kick lately.  A couple weeks ago I made a baked chicken dish with lemon, capers, and olives and had it with some couscous (the real deal).  After my first serving, I figured I could do with out the couscous and sub it for the healthier and gluten free cauliflower mock version of it.  I try to cook with ingredients in season as much as possible, so with cauliflower fresh and in abundance, I figured it would be a great time to take a stab at our version of the Paleo "Couscous."  I want to say it has a Mediterranean flair to it, but I don't know the cuisine well enough to claim that.  Regardless, it's still pretty freaking good.

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Roasted Beet & Mâche Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Avocado

Roasted Beet & Mâche Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Avocado

You can say I've been on a Thomas Keller kick recently and I think that's because of our frequent trips up to Napa and dining at ad hoc.  The other reason is because his beets recipes are so tasty and beets are season!   

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Baked Beets

Baked Beets!

I've never been a huge fan of beets, probably because I was fed the terrible kinds, such as canned beets.  After dining at L'Arpège in Paris and ad hoc a handful of times this spring, I grew to really like beets.  They're sweet, juicy, bursting in flavor and so in season now!  So the next step of course is to cook them.  Baking them is my favorite style to eat them.  I've been getting them every week at the farmer's market!  SO GOOD!!

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Whole Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Root Vegetables

Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Root Vegetables

After dining at ad hoc restaurant multiple times in the past month, I decided to buy the cookbook: ad hoc at home.  I've always loved Thomas Keller restaurants but Ad hoc is truly special.  It's one of my favorite restaurants in the greater Bay Area, and definitely a must every time I go up to Napa.  I love how it's simple foods you can cook at home using equipment you own at home, but done way better than you.

Inspired to go back to basics, I decided to make one recipe per week from the book.  The first recipe I made out of the book was one of Thomas Keller's signature dishes: whole roasted chicken on XYZ, depending on the season, and in this case whole roasted chicken on a bed of root vegetables.  I know root veggies are technically winter veggies, but I saw them at the farmer's market and had to snag a few before summer kicks in.

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Roasted Brussels Sprout Chips - 2 ways!

Roasted Brussels Sprout Chips - 2 ways!

I feel like everyone has some kind of brussels sprouts story.  Some go crazy over them and some seriously try to avoid them.  I used to hate them.  Smelling them from a distance would already throw me off.  Then one day, drunk at a fancy bar, I had brussels sprouts chips and thought they were amazing.  Afterwards, I was on a mission to make Paleo/Primal brussels sprouts chips!

This recipe is for Roasted Brussels Sprout Chips with:

• Lemon Salt and Italian Basil
• Lemon Salt and Bacon

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Kaddo Bourani

Kaddo Bourani

So you might be wondering, what is Kaddo Bourani?  At a high level, it's an Afghan dish of caramelized pumpkin topped with two sauces: a mint-garlic yogurt sauce and a savory meat sauce.  I like this dish because it's bursting with flavor.  The dish incorporates very contrasting flavors while maintaining balance.  Each of the three components of the dish can be too much on it's own: the pumpkin perhaps too sweet and the yogurt, too sour, tangy, and cold.  However when all combined together: cool, sweet, tangy, savory, minty, the results are quite amazing!

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Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2013

We took Thanksgiving this year up a notch from last year by not only doubling the different dishes we made, but also in guests.  We still made everything from scratch and kept it gluten free for the most part.  But unlike last year, we developed an entire menu not just for dinner, but basically all day... including a wine and cocktail menu, of course.

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Morels with Madeira

Morels with Madeira

I loooove mushrooms.  Last Sunday, I was lucky enough to take home some fresh wild Morel mushrooms!!!  The Morel season is typically from early to mid April to mid-June, so small window.  You have no idea how excited I was. 

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Escarole and Pork

Escarole and Pork

I wasn't sure what to call this dish, but the main ingredients are escarole, ground pork, and king trumpet mushrooms.  It's kind of unique in that you can serve it as a side dish or as the main course.  I had this with Stuffed Chicken Breast.  I can also imagine it tasting pretty bomb on top some cast-iron Cauliflower 'rice'.

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Stuffed Chicken Breast

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Cheesy veggies wrapped in meat... it's tough to mess this one up for taste.  You'd be happy to know it's super easy to make and doesn't require much effort :)

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Chicken Zucchini Salad w/ Almond Basil Pesto

Chicken Zucchini Salad with Basil-Almond Pesto

Mmmm pesto.  A versatile sauce, pretty much delicious on anything.  Instead of using the typical pine nuts or walnuts base, I decided to use toasted almonds instead.. just for kicks.

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Asian Steak Tacos

Marinated hanger steak w/ carrots, cabbage, and ginger-scallion sauce

I really like the steak tacos at Calafia Cafe in Palo Alto.  It's a great option for eating out, Paleo style.  Since they didn't look hard to make, I decided to try to make them at home.

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Primal Snacks for the Super Bowl

A few Super Bowl paleo/primal friendly snacks

It's Super Bowl time again!  This year we decided to deep fry pretty much everything... even guacamole, while still keeping it "Paleo", hah.

Check it out.  A ton of time was put into developing these recipes!  Enjoy.

Deep Fried Guacamole | Spicy Buffalo Wings + Blue Cheese Sauce | Sweet Potato Fries | Stuffed Mushrooms | Mozzarella-Basil-Tomato Bites

and from last year:
Guacamole | Plantain Chips | Bacon and Guacamole Sammies | Deviled Eggs | Kale Chips | Cran-Ginger Cookies | Marvelous Meatballs 

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Indian Chicken Curry

Indian Chicken Curry + Indian Cauliflower Rice

The problem with most Paleo/Primal/clean recipes out on the Internet these days is that they're all the same damn thing.  Almost all try too hard to "Paleo-ize" the dish.  This goes from adding that extra cup of veggies to make the carb/protein/fat ratios in the Zone Diet to going to trying very hard to make it look like the real deal for that one food porn shot.  With all that energy and focus devoted to aesthetics and Paleo-izing, so many of these recipes fail to incorporate the essential flavors and methods crucial to what makes the dish, the dish.

Alright, I'm done ranting.  Please don't take offense.  Anyway, here's a unique Indian curry recipe that actually taste like it could be from India.  I was hooked on it for awhile!  Though not a quick dish to make, we took the time to properly create the paste, revisit, and enhance.

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Indian Cauliflower "Rice"

Indian Curry + Indian-style cauliflower "rice"

I used to LOVE Indian food.  In college and for awhile afterwards, I ate Indian food at least three times a week!  I even went to India to pig out.  When I started the whole Primal/Paleo thing, one of the first recipes I tried to make was Paleo butter chicken.  It didn't quite taste like the real deal... especially when served with a side of veggies instead of naan and Indian rice.

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NorCal CrossFit Holiday Party & Potluck!

NorCal CF Holiday Potluck

On Sunday was the NorCal CrossFit Holiday Party & Potluck at our San Jose location!  It's been awhile since our last gym community event, so I was excited to attend and see everyone.  With the new job, it's been difficult for me to visit at the other locations as much, so it was great to catch up with people I haven't seen in awhile.

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Knives

New knives!!

Knives?  Possibly my new thing?  I don't know why it took me so long to upgrade my knives but I'm so glad I did.  Better late than never!  No kitchen is complete without a sweet set of knives!

This past week I got hooked up with some fine handmade Japanese knives from Bernal Cutlery in SF!!!!  It's a small shop that sells Japanese, French, and vintage knives and also offers classes on sharpening and knife skills.  The owner, Josh Doland, really knows his knives and the stories behind them.  He will spend plenty of time with you explaining the craft and answering all the questions you may have!

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Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving 2012!

This year we decided to go all out for Thanksgiving and make everything from scratch!  Last year, I had a gluten-free Thanksgiving with a lot of Primal/Paleo options.  And this year, well, we just went for taste, haha.

I was lucky to have some family and friends from home fly in to spend Thanksgiving with me!

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