Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Going paleo has meant dropping some of my life long comfort foods. Mashed potatoes is a big one of those.  I love me some mashed potatoes and gravy. Mashed cauliflower is not quite mashed potatoes but it is pretty darn close.  The flavor is a bit different and the consistency thinner than the originals (at least our attempts).  We may try some things to thicken them up potentially with coconut flour and/or less steam time.  We'll let you know if it works out. The results at the dinner table were pretty good.  One out of four of us do not like them at all and considering it is my son, the pickiest in our crew, I think they will grow on him.  Not being a big cauliflower fan I expected I would have to choke them down but I actually love these and always polish off the left overs.  Of course if you eat dairy I am sure some cheese on top of these would send them to some new stratospheric level.  Cauliflower is one of those super veggies that has a pretty decent amount of a broad array of essential nutrients, so this recipe may just be they way to work them into your meal plan.

• PREP5 mins
• COOK15 mins
• READY IN20 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 Head of cauliflower
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 tsp. and a pinch or two of fresh ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. grass-fed butter (We use Kerrygold)
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Cut the head of cauliflower into 1" pieces 
2. Coarsely chop the cloves of garlic 
3. Place the cauliflower and garlic into the steamer and cook for 10 mins. 
4. Dump contents of the steamer, butter, 1/4 tsp. of nutmeg, salt, and pepper into a food processor.
5. Pulse until smooth
6. Serve warm with a pinch of nutmeg sprinkled on top.  

Crispy Duck Breast

My wife and I had a few minutes without the kids and decided to check out Charlottesville's Organic Butcher,  We were mainly interested in what kind of game meats were available.  The prices were comparable to other gourmet meats in the area and with the other specialty shops in the West Main Market this is a perfect destination prior to preparing a special meal.  As far as I can remember I have never had duck but have heard how wonderful it can be.  I saw some very good looking duck breasts in the cooler and snatched them up.  I had no idea how to cook these but wanted something simple so that I could fully savor the meat.  I found a recipe at theawl.com   This page very thoroughly explains how to handle duck.  I slightly modify the recipe times and ended up with a perfect medium rare.

My daughter and I are the adventurous ones and according to my daughter the duck was "deeee-licious".  The other half of the family was a little less enthusiastic.  This dish will have to be a special treat for Dad daughter diners.

• PREP5 mins
• COOK20 mins
• READY IN25 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 Duck breasts
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
2. Separate the two duck breasts
3. Season both sides with fresh ground salt and pepper
4. Slice the skin on each breast in a diagonal pattern creating diamonds shapes
5. Place the duck skin down in an oven safe room temperature frying pan
6. Slowly increase the heat to medium high
7. Periodically pour the rendered fat off and reserve (We used a smaller pot lid to hold the breasts while pouring of the fat.  Careful, the fat is a lot like bacon grease and is very hot!
8. When the skin is a crispy brown, after about 7-8 min turn the breasts and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
9. Turn the breasts back skin side down and place in the oven for approximately 10 minutes.
10. Remove and serve with your favorite paleo sides, this time we chose garlic mashed cauliflower and zesty sweet potato chips.