Havana Roast Pork paleo dinner lunch recipe-min

Recipe: Havana Roast Pork

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One of the tastiest roast pork dishes I know, this recipe makes a wonderful centre piece when entertaining guests. It does require a little more attention than a normal pork joint, but I can guarantee it is more than worth the effort.

As always, especially with Pork, make sure you use the best quality you can find. Ideally you want to use pasture fed Pork, your butcher should be able to help you. If not, perhaps it's time to find a new butcher…

Ingredients (Serves 8):

  • 1.5 – 2kg of high quality pork shoulder
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tbsp black peppercorns
  • 6 cloves, whole
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme
  • 6 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tbsp raw honey
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Roast Pork How To:

1)     Heat a pan to a medium heat. Add the cumin and peppercorns and toast for 2 minutes, taking great care not to burn. In a mortar and pestle, crush the spices with the cloves, oregano, thyme and a little sea salt, then add the crushed garlic to form a paste.

2)     Transfer the spice mixture to a small bowl, and stir in the citrus juices, honey and the olive oil. With a sharp knife, pierce the pork all over then place into a large resealable plastic bag. Pour over the marinade and shake well, ensuring all the meat is well coated, then leave in the refrigerator overnight.

3)     When ready to cook, heat the oven to 200C / 400F / gas mark 6. Put the pork in a roasting dish, keeping the marinade to one side, then cook for half an hour.

4)     Lower the oven temperature to 160C / 325F / gas mark 3. Baste the pork, then cover with foil, and roast for another 2  – 2 and a half hours until cooked through. Be sure to keep basting the meat in the juices from the dish whenever you can to maximise the flavour.

5)     Transfer the meat to a carving board and cover with foil, leaving to stand for 10 minutes. Pour any leftover juices into a saucepan, and skim the fat off the top. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Carve the pork, and serve with the reduced juices. Works great with sweet potatoes or cauliflower rice!

Do you often make a roast? I'd love to hear how you make yours in the comments below!

Havana Roast Pork paleo dinner lunch recipe-min

How To Make Perfect Pork Crackling rind scratchings recipe-min

Recipe: How To Make Perfect Pork Crackling

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I love Pork Crackling (which you may know as Pork Rinds or Pork Scratchings, depending on where you’re from). But it’s often a disappointment, either soft and underdone, or burn and completely wasted! But when it’s crunch and crackly, it is so good.

Pork crackling is obviously mainly fat, which makes it the perfect Paleo snack. Just a small amount is extremely satiating, so you can easily cook enough to last for many servings. Whilst you can buy them, one look at the ingredients (not to mention the uncertainty about the quality of the pork used) will probably tell you to get in the kitchen and make your own!

I’ve been trying to work out the best way to get perfect Pork crackling, which I’ll share with you below.
Firstly with Pork, perhaps more so than any other meat, quality really counts. I always go for Pasture Raised* pork and am careful to buy the best quality I can. If I could only buy one type of meat organic and pasture raised, without doubt I would choose pork.

You can use a few different cuts, blade or a roasting joint work well, but my favourite is Pork belly.
How To Make Perfect Pork Crackling rind scratchings recipe-min

How To Make Perfect Pork Crackling:

Dry the skin thoroughly (use a paper towel).

With a sharp knife, score the skin, leaving the cuts about a finger width apart. Go for either diagonal stripes, or make a diamond pattern. Make sure you score through the skin, but not through to the meat.

This might sound odd, but pour boiling water over the skin – and don’t panic about the fact it doesn’t make it look good.

Dry the skin thoroughly once more, then rub sea salt into it (I tend to use Himalayan or Celtic sea salt). Make sure the salt gets right through, into the cracks. Some people add oil here, but I’ve had great results without, so don’t.

If you can, leave the salted pork in the fridge overnight.

When ready to cook, add more salt to the skin and cook in a very hot oven for about 15 minutes per kilo. I start at 180C, the in the last 15 minutes of cooking, turn the oven up to about 240C.

Please share your tips below, I know almost everyone seems to have a slightly technique.

*Pigs will tend to eat lots of different foods – not just grass, which is why grass-fed isn’t a term used to refer to pork and other pig related products. “Pasture raised” means they’ve been raised to eat their natural diet, which may include whatever they find as they roam about the pasture – grass, bugs, corn, fruit, veggies, weeds etc.
Moroccan Pork & Dressing paleo lunch recipe-min

Paleo Lunch Recipe: Moroccan Pork & Dressing

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Further to her guest post yesterday, Stormy Sweitzer, owner of Maoomba, the Real Food for Active Lives blog, and author of Paleo Power Lunch: Easy, Filling & Delicious Workday Meal Strategies, has very kindly shared one of the recipes from her book.

This is the lunch that started it all. In the dead of winter, wanting something colorful to go with a leftover pork chop, I threw it together with a handful of berries, seeds, and avocado. It’s earthy, but light. Add a handful of raw mushrooms for more vegetables.

Moroccan Pork & Dressing
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Moroccan
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Ingredients
Pork
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 3 ounces pan-fried pork loin chop, sliced
  • ½ avocado, cut into chunks
  • ½ cup fresh blackberries
  • 2 Tbsp raw pepitas
Dressing
  • ⅓ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp dry mustard powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • Black pepper to taste
  • ½ cup avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp chives, chopped
Instructions
Pork
  1. Layer all ingredients in a lunch-sized food storage container.
  2. Pack 3 Tbsp Creamy Lemon Chive Dressing in a separate container.
  3. Paleo Diet Lunch Recipe
Dressing
  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender, except oil and chives.
  2. Slowly drizzle in the oil while the blender is going.
  3. Stir in chives when done.

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For more Paleo lunch recipes and strategies, check out the Paleo Power Lunch book.
Moroccan Pork & Dressing paleo lunch recipe-min

Sausage, Red Wine & Almond Casserole paleo diet recipe-min

Sausage, Red Wine & Almond Casserole Recipe

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After a barbecue at the weekend I had some left over cooked sausages that I wanted to make use of. There was also some red wine left over, so I came up with a recipe for a sausage almond & red wine casserole. I used ingredients I already had in the kitchen, so I am sure lots of tweaks could be made.

It made quite a few portions, so I was able to freeze quite a lot, to use for future meals.

Ingredients:

Barbequed Paleo Sausages
2 Red Onions
2 Brown Onions
1 clove garlic
1kg tomatoes
Tomato puree
2 handfuls of raw almonds
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 glass red wine
Chicken stock
Coconut Oil
Salt & Pepper

Method:

  • I diced the onions and browned them in a pan of coconut oil.
  • I added the crushed garlic, then the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and the stock. I let the mixture simmer for a few minutes whilst I chopped up the almonds.
  • I added the almonds and wine to the pan, and allowed it to continue simmering for a few minutes, before adding the cut up sausages.
  • I seasoned and added in the rosemary.
  • Once the sausages were thoroughly heated I served up the casserole and left the extra to cool ready for freezing.

I enjoyed the casserole on it’s own, but it would also have gone very well with some cauliflower rice.

Sausage, Red Wine & Almond Casserole paleo diet recipe-min

Ginger & Orange Pork Ribs paleo diet recipe-min

Recipe: Ginger & Orange Pork Ribs

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I got some lovely pork ribs from my local organic butcher yesterday.  All of the recipes I found seemed to involve sugar, soy sauce, wine, honey and commercial sauces.  I obviously wanted a paleo recipe, so decided to create my own.  I love the combination of orange and ginger, so made a mix which I coated the pork in.

Ginger & Orange Pork Ribs
Recipe type: Dinner
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
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Yum - you can't beat ribs. Usually hair-raisingly sickly sweet, my paleo version is far healthier - but no less delicious.
Ingredients
  • Pork Ribs
  • Zest of one and half oranges
  • Half a cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • One clove of garlic, crushed
  • One teaspoon of basil, thyme, parsley & rosemary
  • One and a half teaspoons of ground ginger
  • Salt (I'm using Himalayan pink salt at the moment)
  • ingredients-ginger-orange-pork_ginger_and_orange_pork_ribs-min
Instructions
  1. I crushed the garlic clove, and grated the orange peel.  I then mixed the herbs, garlic and orange in the oil.  I coated the ribs in the mixture, then laid them out on a baking tray.  I then cooked the ribs at 180C (350F), for about 45 minutes.
  2. pork-in-oven_ginger_and_orange_pork_ribs-min
  3. Whilst the pork was cooking, I diced and sautéed some bacon, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and onion in coconut oil.
  4. Once the pork was thoroughly cooked, I served it with the sautéed veg and bacon.
  5. final-ribs-ginger_and_orange_pork_ribs-min

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I really enjoyed this dinner, the orange & ginger flavours went so well with the pork.

Ginger & Orange Pork Ribs paleo diet recipe-min