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herbed pork skewers kebabs marinate barbecue bbq recipe paleo diet

Recipe: herbed pork skewers

This is another great barbecue option and can be prepared a few hours ahead and stored in the fridge. The best thing is it is super simple and quick to prepare. If you grow your own herbs, experiment with what you have on hand – fresh herbs give far more flavour than their dried equivalents.

Recipe: herbed pork skewers
Recipe type: Pork
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • 750g pork fillets
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Dash of extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice of a lemon
Instructions
  1. Cut the pork into small cubes. The key thing here is to make sure the cubes are all similar in size to ensure they cook evenly.
  2. Mix the fresh herbs together
  3. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients and make sure the pork is evenly coated
  4. Refrigerate for a few hours (overnight if you have time) to allow the flavours to marinate into the pork
  5. Thread the pork onto skewers, ready to cook
  6. Barbecue the pork skewers until they’re tender. Make sure they’re cooked right the way through before serving.

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I like to make up a few different types of kebabs to barbecue to add some colour and variety. What are your favourite types of barbecue skewers?

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Recipe: spinach & walnut beef rotolo

Whether you like to call them Rotolo or simply beef rolls, these are always a hit. They look great and are perfect for entertaining, as they can be made a few hours in advance. If you do make them in advance, just hold off the slicing, and do that right before you serve. For a bit of colour variety try using some brightly coloured capsicum (bell peppers) in place of the spinach. Make sure you tie the string up tightly to make sure you don’t lose the stuffing.

Recipe: spinach & walnut beef rotolo
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Beef
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of spinach (silverbeet or English)
  • dash of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium brown onion, finely diced
  • Handful of walnuts, chopped,
  • 50g anchovies, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1.5kg of topside beef
Instructions
  1. Steam the spinach until tender, then as much as possible squeeze out the excess liquid using a cheesecloth or clean tea towel, then dice the spinach as finely as possible.
  2. In a pan, heat the olive oil, and then fry the onion until soft.
  3. Throw in the walnuts, anchovies and fresh herbs and cook for another minute or two, making sure to keep stirring.
  4. Stir in the spinach and allow the mixture to cool.
  5. Using a rolling pin, pound the steaks to make them as thin as possible.
  6. Pour the spinach mixture over the steaks and spread it over evenly.
  7. Next, roll up the steaks tightly, trying not to let too much of the spinach mixture squeeze out.
  8. Use string to tightly tie the rolls up.
  9. Barbecue with the lid down until tender and remember to remove the string before serving!

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Lemon Ginger Chicken wings paleo recipe barbeque diet mint

Recipe: Lemon Ginger Chicken Wings

These chicken wings are great to throw on the barbecue. I make them the day before to allow the flavours to fully marinate into the chicken, but if you're short of time, a shorter marinate will work too. I always make up a big batch too, meaning left-overs for lunch!

Recipe: Lemon Ginger Chicken Wings
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Poultry
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • 3kg chicken wings (approx 24-30)
  • grated rind of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Instructions
  1. In a bowl, combine the chicken wings with the lemon rind and juice, honey, coconut aminos, ginger and mint
  2. Cover, and refrigerate overnight (or a few hours if less time available - the longer, the tastier!)
  3. Every few hours stir to ensure the wings are coated
  4. Barbecue the wings until they're tender, but cooked through (check to make sure no pink bits remain)
  5. During the barbecuing, baste with the remaining marinate from the bowl.
  6. Serve and enjoy!

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Serve with a side salad – and how about making some home-made burgers too – no bread necessary!

Smoky Pulled Pork with Sugar Free Apple BBQ Sauce paleo recipe-min

Recipe: Smoky Pulled Pork with Sugar Free Apple BBQ Sauce

Although it requires a lot of patience, pulled pork doesn’t actually require a great deal of time in the kitchen. Cure it overnight in the fridge, then cook slowly for 5 hours – and you have a seriously juicy, melt in the mouth cut of meat.

The tricky part is getting the balance of flavours right, but you just can’t beat the classic; smoky bbq. The dry rub is packed with complex flavours, whilst the apple bbq sauce is the perfect complement – and sugar-free to boot!

Recipe: Smoky Pulled Pork with Sugar Free Apple BBQ Sauce
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Pork
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • Smoky Pulled Pork Ingredients:
  • 1 pork shoulder, approx. 2kg
  • 50ml Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Sea Salt
  • For the marinade:
  • 2 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp chipotle paste
  • 2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 heaped tbsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp blackstrap molasses
  • For the Apple BBQ Sauce:
  • 250ml tomato passata
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 heaped tbsp unsweetened applesauce
  • 50ml apple cider vinegar
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
  1. The night before you wish to cook your pork, remove the skin and place in a large food bag. Pour in the vinegar and sprinkle over the sea salt, before tying up the bag and giving it a good shake. Leave in the fridge overnight.
  2. The next day, make your marinade by crushing the coriander, fennel, black peppercorns and cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well to make a paste. Set aside.
  3. Preheat your oven to 220C / 425F. Rub the marinade all over the pork, taking care to massage it deep into all the nooks and crannies. Place the pork in a foil lined roasting dish, and transfer to the oven for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 140C / 275F, cover loosely with foil and leave to roast for 5 hours.
  4. minutes before serving, begin to make the bbq sauce by heating the passata in a saucepan until it begins to simmer. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes, until it reduces to about half its size.
  5. Remove the pork from the oven and shred with a fork to get your pulled pork. Serve with a generous dollop of the bbq sauce.

Smoky Pulled Pork with Sugar Free Apple BBQ Sauce paleo recipe-min

paleo barbecue recipes primal bbq ideas summer-min

Paleo Barbecue Recipes

We've finally started to have a few sunny days – the perfect time to get the barbecue out and try out some Paleo Barbecue Recipes!

There were a few recipes I’d wanted to try in Mark Sisson’s cookbook, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, which had been waiting for some sunshine.  I amended the recipes according to which ingredients I could get – and what I already had in my kitchen.

I managed to get hold of some turkey (I don’t know why it’s not more popular in Australia?), an essential ingredient in the Turkey Kebabs I wanted to make.  I also made Green Chili Burgers, based on a recipe in the book.  Sadly mine were made with regular beef and not bison as the recipe suggests (another type of meat I've not seen in Australia).

Turkey Kebabs

Ingredients:

200g minced (ground) turkey
1 egg (I'm using omega 3 enriched eggs at the moment)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon each of garlic powder, cumin, paprika & salt
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon & cayenne pepper
1 spoon of olive oil
 

Method:

It doesn't get much simpler!  I simply added the ingredients (except the oil) to the food processor and blended until everything was well mixed in.  I then formed the meat into kebabs on wooden skewers and coated with a little olive oil.

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The kebabs were then barbecued until cooked thoroughly.

Burgers

Ingredients:

200g minced (ground) beef
1 teaspoon dried chilli
2 tablespoons coriander (cilantro)
Half a small finely diced onion
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon chilli powder & salt
2 eggs
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Method:

I put everything except the eggs in the food processor and blended well.  I then formed the meat into burger shapes and cooked thoroughly on the barbecue.  Whilst the burgers were cooking I fried the eggs and served them on top of the burgers.

paleo-burgers-barbecue_recipes

Along with the meat, I made a simple salad to complete the meal.

With it being this easy to make burgers and kebabs, I don’t know why anyone would buy them ready-made!

What are your favourite barbecue recipes?

paleo barbecue recipes primal bbq ideas summer-min

Paleo barbeque meetup event social grill bbq primal-min

Paleo Barbeque

Yesterday was the Sydney Paleo meet-up group’s Paleo Barbeque.  We met at beautiful Tamarama beach, where there are a couple of public barbecues, which were in hot demand yesterday!  The weather couldn't have been more perfect for the barbecue, with sunshine and beautiful blue skies!

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I spent yesterday morning making a few dishes from the new “Make it Paleo” cookbook, to take along to the barbecue with me.

I made the guacamole to go with some raw vegetables I cut up.

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I made the barbecue sauce, which went beautifully with the organic grass fed streak I took along.  This had a bit of a kick to it with the mustard and paprika and proved very popular.  I’ll definitely be making this one again over the summer.

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I was really excited to try the Fennel & Orange salad.  The combination of the anise flavour of the fennel and the peppery flavour of the radishes made for an unusual, but very enjoyable salad.

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I grated up some carrot, which I mixed with shredded coconut (I love the combination)

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Finally, I roasted some seasonal vegetables which were colourful and delicious!

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It was great to see such a good turn out to the barbecue – Paleo in Sydney seems to be well and truly gaining momentum.  Despite a few people attending for the first time, we were an easy group to spot; as the only party at the beach without bread, crisps and junk food!

I hope we’ll be able to have a few more outdoor Paleo meet-ups this summer – it seems so much more Primal!

Make it paleo cookbook recipe book-min

Make It Paleo

I was very excited to receive a copy of “Make it Paleo” yesterday.  I met Bill & Hayley at the AHS and they really were just as lovely as they seem from their blog.  I've used quite a few of their recipes, so have been immensely looking forward to receiving the book.  I took the book down to the park this morning to have a read through, whilst topping up my Vitamin D levels in the sunshine.

Make it Paleo Sydney Harbour Bridge-min

Make It Paleo Arrives In Australia!

I hadn't realised how big the book was going to be!  It's the size of my old Chemistry text book – but much more enjoyable to read.  As with the Primal Palate site, the book is full of beautiful photos and well over two hundred recipes.  You could cook something different everyday for months on end!  There's a great introduction about Bill & Hayley and lots of information about Paleo; which ingredients are good to use, different cuts of meat, useful kitchen equipment and cooking tips.  I think these sections will make the book a great Christmas present for friends who have expressed an interest in Paleo, but may be a bit hesitant about diving in.

Initially, I was a bit confused at first as to why the book had so many recipes for entrées – then I remembered; that is the American word for main course!

Tomorrow is the first beach Barbecue of the Sydney Paleo meet-up group, so I've decided to make up a few things from the book to take along with me.  What better testers than more Paleo people?  There are lots of dips and sauces that look really good in the book, so I'm going to make up a few to dip vegetables in, and to go with the meat.  I'm also going to try the Fennel & Orange salad, which I hope will be as good as it looks, I'm very curious to try that one.  I'll probably make up a few other side dishes, and possibly something from the treats/ cheat section too!  I bought some beautiful organic grass fed steak to put on the barbecue, so it should be a good feast.

Most of the ingredients in the book are very abundant here in Australia.  I did have to visit four shops to find the Fennel, despite it usually being easy to find.  I also had lots of trouble locating Chipotle, which I eventually found out is in fact American for coriander leaves (at least, I hope it is, as that is what I'll be using!)  There are a couple of other ingredients I've noticed in the recipes, that might be more challenging to find in Australia, such as Jicama (which appears to be a root vegetable) and spaghetti squash; but I'm sure these can be substituted – or perhaps if you've seen them over here, you can let me know where, in the comments below?

I usually try to make something different for dinner every evening, so it's great to have a new collection of recipes to try.  I'm especially looking forward to trying the Chicken & Vegetable “lo mein”, as I rarely eat Chinese food anymore (I find it usually has very un-Paleo ingredients).  I very rarely cook seafood at home too, so  I will take the opportunity to cook a few dishes from the seafood section.  Whilst it's not strict Paleo, it's great to have a chapter on cheats and treats!  The natural, grain free ingredients are a million miles away from their conventional purchased and home-made equivalents – a far better alternative for birthdays and the odd special occasion.

The recipes look straight forward and well explained.  I've chosen my dishes, gathered the ingredients – but not yet tested any of the recipes.  So, I need to get cooking for the Paleo barbecue tomorrow…  I'll post a write up and photos of the end results!  Fingers crossed for sunshine!

Make it Paleo is released next week – If you only have room for one Paleo cookbook, I don't think you'd go wrong with this one.  Amazon UK currently has free shipping to Australia with orders over £25 – a great deal for a book this big.