Meat Pie

This is a really easy recipe and a throwback to a meal I used to eat at a friend's house as a kid. All I remember about it is that it was a big hunk of ground beef and I used to put loads of ketchup on it. We didn't eat red meat in my house very often, if at all. Believe me, I make up for it now. I think the original recipe had potato cubes in it but I opted for sautéed onions instead.

Ingredients

1 whole organic onion of any kind chopped

1 pound of ground grass-fed beef

1 pound (approximately) of seasoned pastured pork sausage removed from casing- I used Herondale Farm's sweet italian

2 tbs organic ketchup

6 oz can of organic tomato paste

1/4 cup of red wine

1 tsp sea salt

2 pastured eggs

Crust

2 and 1/2 cups of blanched almond flour

1/2 cup of tapioca, arrowroot or sweet potato starch

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp grain-free baking powder

1/2 tsp organic oregano

1 pastured egg

1/4 cup water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees while you prepare the crust.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl before adding the egg and water. With a fork, mix the liquids through the dry ingredients until the crust sticks together without sticking to your fingers. If you need to add more water, do it in small amounts so the mix does not become too sticky. Powder up your hands with a little of the dry starch or flour and press about 2/3rds of the crust mix into a greased pie pan. Make this base as even as possible and bring it all the way up the sides. The remaining 1/3rd of the mix will be rolled out in between two sheets of parchment paper in the same size as the pie pan. Place the bottom crust in the oven for about 2 minutes, so it sets up just a little. You should see some bubbling in the bottom. Now prepare the filling.

With a spoonful of bacon grease, lard, butter or your preferred fat add the chopped onion to a pan and sauté until soft. Add both meats and break into pieces, cooking until almost fully browned. Add the remaining filling ingredients to a bullet or food processor and blend until smooth. Once the meat is done turn off the heat and add the liquid mix thoroughly. 

Now you can fill the pie and add the top crust. Peeling back one of the pieces of parchment paper on your top crust, you should be able to lay it onto the filled pie and pinch or roll the excess to the top of the bottom crust.

Once this is assembled, bake it for about 30 minutes or until there is a nice golden brown color on the top crust.

Pancakes, Muffins, Waffles and more...

The below recipes are using The Primal Pantry grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free Pancake/Muffin Mix seen on the right above.

Blueberry Muffins
You will need:
1 bag of mix for 10 - 12 muffins
3 eggs
1/2 cup of full fat organic coconut milk
1 cup of fresh or frozen organic blueberries

Directions
Empty the bag of mix into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and coconut milk and whip until smooth. Fold in the blueberries and pour into muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. It's that simple!

Waffles
You will need:
1 bag of mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup of full fat organic coconut milk

Directions
Empty the bag of mix into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and coconut milk and whip until smooth. Pour into a waffle-maker on medium heat and let it sit for about 5 - 8 minutes. After this time check every minute until it is to your preferred level of doneness. Drizzle with a tiny bit of maple syrup or add fruit and voila! You can also add blueberries or chocolate chips to the batter. Yum!

Simple Pancakes
You will need:
1 bag of mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup of full fat organic coconut milk

Directions
Empty the bag of mix into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and coconut milk and whip until smooth. Pour into a greased or non-stick pan and well... you know... make pancakes! 

Other uses for this mix:
Banana nut bread, gingerbread, blueberry lemon etc.....
Cakes
Cookies
Cupcakes
Pie crust
Doughnuts
Crepes

Any other ideas? Please share your recipes!

Hard and Soft Taco Shells

To make these, you will need 1 package of The Primal Pantry pizza crust mix... which I may start calling my "Magic Mix" since it can take so many different forms.

What you also need
rolling pin
parchment
muffin tin
1 egg
1/4 cup of water

Directions
Mix the ingredients of the bag in a mixing bowl with the egg and half of the 1/4 cup of water using a fork. Slowly add the remaining water until the dough sticks together but doesn't stick to your finger. You may not need all of the water. 
Once your dough is mixed, divide it until you have about 1 and 1/2 inch dough balls. You should have 10 to make 10 large taco shells or tortillas. If you want more, you can make them smaller. Remember that the larger they are, the harder it may be to keep them upright in the mold when making hard shells.


Take each ball and using your rolling pin, roll it into a circle between two pieces of parchment paper or one folded in half. I use this small one-handed rolling tool so that I can hold and rotate the parchment with my other hand. It definitely makes things easier!

For Hard Shells: 
Take your rolled out rounds and using the underside of the muffin tin, place them upright with the parchment still underneath. These will be baked at 350 degrees until they are hard to the touch and have a little brown on the edges.
If you are having trouble with keeping the shells upright before getting them in the oven, you can also hang them over the bars of your oven rack. Just keep both pieces of parchment on for this method.






For Soft Shells:
Keep your rolled out rounds between the parchment laying flat and bake them at 350 degrees. You are going to really want to watch these carefully. Check them after 5 minutes and every couple of minutes after that. You are trying to achieve cooking without hardening. The pieces of parchment protect the middle from cooking too quickly. So, when you start to see the edges of the parchment curling up and the edges of the tortilla are getting stiff, take them out. The middle should still be soft enough to bend when you pick them up. The degree of difficulty is pretty high for these because you really have to avoid letting them go for too long. If you have a tortilla press (if only!) you are a lucky person and may be able to use that to master the perfect even temp for soft shells.

When you have achieved the perfect tortilla, you can create many amazing things like these delicious fajitas! Good luck!

Basic Sauces

If you don't have the magic bullet, you can use a food processor... but again, I HIGHLY recommend making it easier for yourself and just getting this awesome tool. These are all made in the bullet in a matter of seconds. How can you beat that...?

Basic Mayonnaise
Blend in the bullet with the flat whipping blade equal parts egg and extra-light tasting olive oil with a pinch of salt. If you don't feel like it tastes like the stuff in the jar, you can add a splash of apple cider vinegar and squirt of mustard. Also, when the oil gets cooled in the fridge it will thicken up... but you can add more oil if you really want peaks.

Ranch Dressing
Blend with the flat whipping blade basic mayo with equal parts garlic powder, onion powder and dill. For a one egg batch, start with about 1/8 of a tsp of each and add more if you want more flavor. Also, the more salt you add, the more it will taste like the stuff straight out of the bottle. Big shocker there.

Dressing Variations
To the ranch dressing, add an one or more of the following:
-one fully ripened avocado
-roasted red pepper
-lemon juice
-balsamic vinegar
-dijon mustard- also good in combination with balsamic
-roasted garlic

Ketchup
1 whole can of organic stewed tomatoes blended until smooth in the bullet with:

1 tbsp. of white vinegar or balsamic

1/8 tsp of ground cloves
2 tbsp. of xylitol
1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp of apple cider (not totally necessary, but I had some)  

2 of the tiny scoops of stevia extract the spoon that comes in the container (probably about 1/8 tsp.)

Boil it all on the stove until it reduces and thickens... add more salt to taste.
I may have also added a tbs. of coffee because I find it makes things taste richer. Definitely cool a little spoonful and taste it to make sure it is the way you want. It only gets better when it is cooled off!

Dairy-Free Alfredo
Using the basic mayo recipe and adding some lemon juice and garlic, whip it up in the bullet. Pour the mix into a sauce pan and whip it with a whisk while heating slowly. It will thicken and you will know when it is done. It takes some practice, but as long as you are continually moving the sauce around and not heating too quickly, it will keep a nice smooth texture. As soon as it is ready, pour it over your veggies, noodles, etc...

Creamy Tomato Sauce
Using the same method and recipe as above, add some organic tomato sauce and check the flavor before it has heated and thickened. If this is a sauce you've eaten often, you will know when it's the right consistency.

Russian Dressing
Use the mayo base and add ketchup, a squirt of mustard and some organic pickle relish or chopped pickles.

BBQ Sauce

Steak Sauce

Hollandaise Sauce

Dairy-Free Hollandaise Sauce
3 eggs
2 1/2 tbs organic lemon juice
1/2 cup lard or extra light tasting olive oil
A pinch of organic paprika
Salt to taste
Whisk everything in a sauce pan on low heat until it thickens.

Deviled Egg Mix (to add to yolks)
Use the basic ranch dressing mixing in the bullet and add:
1 tbsp organic mustard (yellow, stoneground, horseradish... it's up to you)
1/2 tsp organic lemon juice
1/2 tsp organic apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp paprika
-Makes enough for 1 dozen eggs deviled. Don't add it all at once. It should be the right consistency with all of this mix added to the yolks, but add it in increments to make sure. It will depend on what size eggs you used. You can also mix in capers, chopped red onions, pickle relish, etc... to give the filling a different taste. Stuff it all into a ziploc bag and cut the corner to pipe it into the eggs.

Taste everything as you go! You know what taste you are looking for! The flavors will also become more noticeable as the ingredients sit together longer.
This list of sauces will grow as I continue to create more and get requests for specific recipes.