Thursday, December 26, 2013

Make Ahead Paleo by Tammy Credicott

As you'll recall, before I dove into reviewing recipes from Well Fed 2, I had the pleasure of receiving a review copy of Tammy Credicott's Make Ahead Paleo.  This summary book review post is long over due, but you'll be rewarded for the wait as I've made one other recipe to add to my review that I've not posted yet.


This cookbook has six chapters/recipe categories.  I've made a recipe from 5 out of the 6.  I started my way through Make Ahead Paleo with the Slow Cooker Hunter's Chicken from the Low & Slow Chapter.  This recipe revolutionized my thinking on cooking chicken in the slow cooker.  The step of broiling the chicken after slow cooking crisps the skin takes care of the texture issues I often have with slow cooked chicken.  When you get the book, do not skip this recipe.



Next, also from the Low & Slow Chapter, I gave the White Chicken Chili a try.  Despite only being in the slow cooker for 5 hours on high, this chili had a deep full flavor with nice sweetness and kick.  This makes a great cold weather meal.  



Next up, I tried the Sausage Stuffed Portobellos from the Make & Freeze chapter.  This is a new favorite for me.  This is the closest I've gotten to a substitute for pizza flavor. When I tasted the finished dish, I had all the great flavor of the stuffing, with a little crunch where it had browned in the oven plus a meaty juicy mushroom.   

 

When I saw the recipe and picture of the Sweet 'n' Smoky Deviled Eggs in the On the Go chapter, I knew I had to try them out.   These had a great flavor to them, but as I used all avocado and no paleo mayo, the color was a bit off from what I expected.  Next time, I'll use a mixture of paleo mayo and avocado.  



I was really excited to see the Coffee Cup Eggs in the Room Service Chapter.  Not only is this a great idea of you are traveling, but its a great quick breakfast or meal anywhere you have access to a microwave.  I've started keeping eggs at work so I can make this if I need a super quick meal.  


For whatever reason, I'm attracted to recipes that involve a roulade.  I had to try Tammy's Garlic Topped Flank Steak Roulade  from the Make and Freeze chapter.  What a surprise to find that this is great tasting dish is actually pretty quick to cook and qualifies as a weeknight dinner in my house.  



Lastly, you know I'm not a dessert person, but I was sitting looking at this cookbook on Christmas Day and decided I'd see if I had the ingredients to make a dessert for Christmas dinner.  I decided on the Lemon Coconut Loaf from the Travel Treats chapter. Rather than do a full dessert post, I thought I'd just include it here.  The only ingredient I did not have was baking powder.  Did you know you can mix up your own?  I didn't have a mini loaf pan, so I used a mini spring form pan that I've had for years and never used.  The loaf uses almond flour, coconut flour and maple syrup.  

My mini cake/loaf turned out beautifully.  It was moist, light, and lemony sweet without being too sweet.  If I make this in the future, I might pair it with a raspberry puree, but it was certainly lovely on its own.  


Overall, this cookbook is beautiful.  It has an awesome picture table of contents so you can quickly pick out a recipe that looks good.  She gives a good overview of what Paleo is to her and also provides some great resources including charts for freezer inventory, food storage, and grocery lists.  Oh, how I love lists.  The organization of this book makes sense to me.  

If you're looking for a new paleo recipe/cooking resource and haven't already added Make Ahead Paleo to your collection, after cooking through it, I recommend it.  I'm proud to display it on my cookbook shelf in my kitchen.