Bacon-Salmon Patties

Because without bacon things do not go as well.  While driving home tonight I got a craving for seafood.  I wanted tuna or swordfish or even salmon.  So I stopped at the grocery store and could only find salmon so salmon it is!  I had my recipe put together in my head before hitting the store so I picked up a few other things and headed home to prepare my supper.  It turned out really great and I'll probably keep this in mind for a future meal but subbing tuna steaks in for the salmon fillets.

Bacon-Salmon Patties

6-8 pieces of bacon, fried

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 t. ginger, minced

1T. balsamic vinegar
1t. Red Boat fish sauce
1t. Coconut Aminos
2 scallions, chopped
2-3 pounds salmon fillet, remove the skin
1 egg
1/4c. almond meal

1. Fry the bacon and set aside on a paper towel. Drain most of the grease out of the skillet.
2. Add the bell pepper to the skillet and let it cook for about 4-5 minutes of until it starts to get soft.
3. Add the garlic and ginger, stir to incorporate and let it cook about 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to coat the peppers well.  Turn off heat.
5. Add the bacon to the food processor and pulse until it is in large chunks.
6. Add the red pepper mixture, fish sauce and aminos to the bacon in the food processor. (A'la Bacon Jam)  Pulse until it is a fine blend.  Scrape into a medium size mixing bowl.
7. Cut the salmon into large chunks and add to the food processor.  Pulse until is is chopped to a medium-fine texture.  You may have to make two batches depending on the amount of salmon.
8. Add to the mixing bowl with the bacon and pepper mixture along with the egg and mix.
9. Add the almond meal and mix well.  Form into patties and fry in the skillet with the fat of your choice.

Cooking in Bulk

Well, it's my weekend to work again.  That's means I need to cook all my meals in advance so that I am prepared and ready for my busy week.  This week I also prepared a couple dishes for my Mom so she has paleo meals for the next few days.  She wanted me to prepare the Saudi chicken dish that I found over at PaleoMiddleEastern the other day.  I also prepared an old family favorite, hamburger stew, which is very paleo friendly.  I usually try to make a meal when I visit my parents just so I can dazzle them with my culinary brilliance show them how tasty and easy paleo cooking can be.  Tonight I chose to prepare a dish from Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home by Scott Linquist.  I have quite a few Mexican cookbooks but they are all traditional cooking.  Mod Mex is the only modern Mexican cookbook that I own. 

I was raised on Mexican food and in the first few weeks of my Paleo life I had the most doubt about my new lifestyle whenever I thought of Mexican food.  Let's face it, a taco isn't a taco without the shell.  I've been hesitant to try any Mexican style cooking because it's just not going to be the same without tortillas, rice and beans.  I did make a cauliflower dish a few weeks back that was a riff on Mexican rice.  It turned out really well so I made it for my Mom.  She was really pleased with it and said it satisfied the urge she was having for those flavors.  So, I browsed through some of my cookbooks and thought I'd try a few things from Mod Mex.  Mainly because they aren't the traditional dishes that I grew up with and I thought that maybe I could work my way towards trying more Mexican flavored dishes in the future.

Pepita Encrusted Salmon

2 C. of pumpkin seeds, raw
2 T. olive oil
s & p to taste
Salmon fillets, skinless
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1.  Toss the seeds in the oil and season to taste with the salt and pepper. 
2.  Toast in a skillet until they are lightly brown and starting to become crisp.  Remove from heat and let cool.
3.  Once the seeds have cooled slightly add them to a food processor and pulse until they are coarsely ground.
4.  Dip the fillets in the egg wash and then dredge in the ground pepitas.
5.  Cook in a hot skillet until fish is done.

* I was suppose to serve this over chili verde but I forgot to make it.

I served this with mashed rutabaga that had a few cubes of butternut squash in it and some collard greens with bacon bits and tequila soaked golden raisins.

Dinner Pics

Just wanted to put a few dinner pics up.  I need to do better about this but I usually cook in the evening and when I get done I just want to eat a be done with the day.  Recently I've been thinking a lot about the quality of foods that I've been buying.  I wish I were able to afford grass fed meats, game meats and organic veggies but the truth is I can't.  I am on a very, very limited budget and the organic/grass fed products are about double the price of traditional grocery fare.  I've got to make my funds go as far a possible.  I live very sparingly so there really is no way to make cuts in order to pay for better food.  I do work in a few items such as nitrate free bacon.  I am hoping to hunt for some game meat this year starting with turkey this spring.  I'm also pretty excited about my parents buying chicks this spring which means farm fresh eggs and maybe some fryers for butchering.  This will all help reduce the grocery bill while adding quality meat/eggs to the table.  I know that I spend a lot less on food because I no longer eat take out and I don't eat near the quantity that I previously did.

Anyway, here are some food pics of some recent dishes.  First up is a meal pic of grilled salmon, brussel sprouts and swiss chard.  I wasn't real keen on the chard but that may have been due to the preparation.  I had found a recipe that called for some lemon juice but I think it made it to sour/bitter for my liking.  I might try chard in the future but right now I'm in love with collard greens.

Here are some pork chops that I dusted with coconut flour.  They were pretty tasty.

This is mashed cauliflower that I added a little bit of coconut milk to in order to gain a little creaminess.  They were delicious with the chops and some collard greens.

Tonight I cooked some Italian sausage up then added onions and peppers to the skillet until they were soft and starting to caramelize.  Then I added a little organic sugar free mushroom pasta sauce that I found in the health market section of Hy-Vee.  I served this atop some spaghetti squash and thought it was absolutely scrumptious!!

Before I go, I wanted to share a couple of links that I stumbled across during the past week that will make hunting and gathering recipes more enjoyable.  As you know, I'm always checking TasteSpotting for veggie and meat recipes that I can tweak or use for inspiration.  Sometimes looking at all those cupcakes, cookies and pasta pics makes me miss the old days.  Well, not anymore!  I've discovered a couple of sites that are TasteSpotting-esque but for Paleo chefs!!!  They are called The Foodee and Chowstalker.  Now I can gaze at food pics all day long and feel good about it!!!  Yippeee!