A rare outing with the family.

Ever since hearing about DMK burger on food network ( I think it was the best thing I ever ate, but also featured on diners drive-ins and dives), I have been wanting to try it out. This is the most paleo-friendly restaurant I have found to date. They use 100% Grass fed beef, as well as pastured eggs, bison, turkey, and lamb. Their philosophy is that if cows where meant to eat corn, they would. sound familiar? Here is a link to their website: http://www.dmkburgerbar.com/index.php

After a lot of consideration, I went with a number #4 roasted hatch green Chile, fried farm egg, sanoma jack cheese and the most amazing smoked bacon.

For the appetizer I got an order of deviled eggs - I have to say, it's either been a really long time since I have had them, or they really were amazing. They also have quite a few different kinds of freshly made french fries: So many that its impossible to choose just one! Guy Ferreri suggested the truffle fries. They were okay, but nothing compared to the sweet potato fries with lemon tabasco aioli. My mouth is watering just thinking about them!

If you live near Chicago (or are planning a visit), I highly recommend stopping by and enjoying a very Grok friendly burger!

Orange Chicken and Fried Brown Rice

One of my wife's biggest complaints since going primal is that she misses her orange chicken that we used to get from take out or the trader joes bagged one (lets face it, its freaking delicious)

I have seen some paleo recipes floating around but was going to just wing it. Thanks to a FB friend for pointing me towards a relatively simple recipe. I did make a few tweaks for my own personal taste. The original recipe can be found here http://www.health-bent.com/proteins/paleo-orange-chicken 

We had one head of Cauliflower laying around, and I could of used it to make paleo friendly fried rice, but I opted to save it for mashed cauliflower instead. This is the first official "cheatish" meal I have had since going primal, so i do not feel that guilty. Feel free to sub the fried rice recipe for a Cauliflower one. 

Rice Ingredients

• T olive oil
• 2T Tamari
• 1.5 cups organic brown rice
• 3 eggs lightly beaten
• 3 cups water
• 3 T Ghee (or coconut oil)

• 1 cup peas
• 1/2 cup mushrooms diced
• 1/2 shallot diced

Chicken Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless Chicken breast chopped into 1" cubes(I prefer breast over dark meat)
• 2 T Ghee (or coconut oil)
• Juice of 3 oranges
• 2 T orange zest
• 1 t fresh grated ginger
• 1/4 c Tamari (or coconut amino's) 
• 1 t chili garlic sauce
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 heads of broccoli (optional if you want steamed broccoli with it)

First step is to Cook the rice.

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in Med size pot. Once boiling add brown rice and return to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 50 min or until water is absorbed. Stir with fork every once in a while.

Once rice is done, remove from pan and spread on greased cookie sheet cool to room temperature. If you are lazy and impatient like me you can pop it in the freezer for a quick cool down for a few mins.

In a small size sauce pot, add the orange juice, zest, ginger, 1/4 cup Tamari and chili garlic sauce. Set over medium heat and let simmer to reduce and thicken while the chicken and rice cooks.

Rice

Heat a wok over Med heat until hot, add 1T Ghee and heat for another 15-30 seconds until melted.

add eggs and cook for about a minute or until just set on the bottom. Turn eggs over and stir to crumble until cooked but not dry. Remove from wok and set aside.

Chicken

In a separate saute pan heat 2 T Ghee over med high heat. Add the Chopped chicken breast and cook until a nice brown crust develops (approx 6 min) Remove from pan, drain grease and return meat to pan. 

Add sauce to pan stir until well coated.

Rice

while chicken is cooking add remaining Ghee to your Wok and heat until melted. Add peas, shallots and mushrooms saute for 5 min stirring frequently. Feel free to add cooked and chopped bacon if you have any in the fridge ( I really wanted some but didn't have any left as usual)

Add cooked rice, 2T tamari and 1T olive oil. Cook 5 min stirring frequently add cooked eggs cook until heated through. Remove from wok and place in a serving dish

Serve your chicken with Fried rice and steamed broccoli if you made any. Enjoy!

Side note, OMG WAS THIS FREAKING GOOD! 

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Chimichurri Sauce

This was the first time that I have ever attempted at making a Chimichurri Sauce. Matter of fact, it was the first time ever had it at all. I just happened to be sitting in the break room at work yesterday watching a cooking show. The gentleman was grilling a skirt steak and the thought just hit me like a ton of bricks.  "Chimichurri!" I shouted out loud drawing a few stares from my coworkers. I had happened to remember a conversation that I was having with a buddy who recently returned from Peru and all he could talk about was how great chimichurri was and how it was in just about everything they ate while there. 


I did some quick internet searching for basic ingredients and did some modifying for my own personal taste. The recipe was a big hit with the family, including my wife who is rather picky and does not like most sauces.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Fresh Basil

1/2 Cup Fresh Parsley

1/2 Cup Fresh Thyme

1/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro 

1-2 Jalapenos to taste

Juice of two lemons

2 Shallots 

4 cloves of Garlic 

Pinch of Crushed red pepper

Place above ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the desired consistency like shown below.

Allow the sauce to sit for at least an hour to allow the flavors to mingle.

You can use as a marinade or as a  dipping sauce. You can also double the recipe so you have some left over to use in other meals. I tried some tonight on fried eggs and it was surprisingly tasty.

In my case it was a nice sized skirt steak that I picked up at the local supermarket for only $6

I rubbed the steak down with Garlic and the freshly made chimichurri sauce.

Grilled each side for several minutes and served with sauteed onions and red peppers. 

I also prepared some BBQ Chicken for quick reheat meals over the weekend. 

BBQ sauce for the Chicken was from http://www.cavemanbob.com/ a paleo condiment provider who uses paleo freindly ingredients in his sauces.