Smoked Orange Chicken

1 1/2 lbs bone in, skin on chicken drumsticks or thighs
1 small - medium orange juiced and zested (I used a blood orange)
1 tsp Penzey's BBQ 3000
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder

Place chicken in a zip lock bag. Zest and juice orange into the bag. Add seasoning and marinate for 12-24 hours. Place chicken in smoker and reserve the marinade in a bowl for sopping. I used mesquite, but any kind of wood would work well with this. Smoke chicken at 150-180 degrees F for about 4 hours. Periodically, brush chicken with reserved marinade.

When ready to eat, grill or bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes
.

Pastrami

Pastrami is like beef bacon, cured in brine for a week and then smoked to tasty perfection and sliced thin. Use it to top a boar burger or fry it up with some eggs. It goes nicely with sauerkraut and pickles.

1-2 lbs Brisket
4 cups water
3 tbsp kosher salt

Pickling Spice:
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp black peppercorn
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground clove
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground allspice

Bring water to a boil and add salt until dissolved. Remove from heat and pickling spice ingredients. Let steep for 1 hour. Put meat in a glass baking dish and cover with brine (pickling spice and water mixture). cover and leave in fridge for at least a week, turning half way through the brining process.

Smoke at 200-250 for 2 hours, turning once. Use a mild wood, such as maple. Once done let cool. Freeze pastrami to make slicing easier. I use an electric meat slicer.

Smoked Tomato Aioli

With Almond Crusted Asparagus Fries

Today, I ordered a food processor. I had thinking about it for weeks, trying to decide what brand to get and how big I should get it. The one I ended up buying is probably way bigger than I could ever need, but it had great reviews and I can order lots of extra attachments.

And it's a good thing I finally did this because I burnt out the motor on my immersion blender trying to make this recipe. I was being overly cautious about drizzling the olive oil and I realized it was taking way longer than it should and the blender was getting really hot. I had slightly less than 1/4 cup of olive oil left when it died. I quickly grabbed a whisk and mixed up the beaker. I can always use that olive oil later when I make asparagus fries.

This recipe was inspired by a restaurant in Fredrick, MD called Isabella's. They serve panko crusted fried asparagus with smoked tomato aioli. When I lived in Virginia, I would go there often with my friends Danielle and Kevin. We order these every time we go there.

1 large egg
1 cup smoked tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle powder (depending on how spicy you like it. You could also use Chipotle Tabasco)
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup olive oil

Puree first 7 ingredients in food processor or immersion blender. When smooth and not at all lumpy, slowly drizzle in the olive oil blending continuously. If you're using an immersion blender, don't take too long like I did.

Smoked Duck Legs

People who know me know I'm not particularly fond of children. Individual children are fine over the age of ten. That's about the age when you can finally talk to them like they're human beings. However, hordes of children at any age are best avoided.

I do like dogs of all ages. I have two. They are both totally with me on the paleo diet. Jack won't have it any other way. He was born wild and probably had to do alot of hunting and scavenging in his formative years. At least his mom did. I'm sure he helped. He's always trying to help me around the house. It's a shame he doesn't have thumbs. If you give Jack a dog cookie that was made with wheat, he'll look at you funny and try to hide the treat. Hazel will eat anything.

It's alot easier to get your family on board with the paleo diet when your family members are canines. I don't need to keep cookies and cereal in the house. I can cook any vegetable I want without anyone complaining. Their treats are my scraps: bones, gristle, fish skin. They love it. They won't have it any other way.

The duck legs came two in a package. How convenient, I have two dogs who like leg bones. Well, they like all bones. They're not picky. 

Gratuitous Dog Picture

2 duck legs
1 Tbsp Black Currant Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp anise
1/8 tsp cloves
salt, pepper to taste

Mix spices together, rub on legs. The duck legs, not your own legs, although, it might make a soothing muscle rub. Put legs in a ziplock bag and add vinegar and the rest of the spice mix and marinate overnight. Smoke! I used cherry wood chips. You can use any balsamic vinegar for the marinade, but I recommend finding a sweet and fruity one.

Smoked Almonds with Thyme and Sea Salt

Wooden cutting board give these nuts a "rustic" look.

My name is Kat and I have a Marcona Almond addiction. They are not your standard almond. They're more round than, um, almond shaped. They are usually blanched, but the ones I get at Trader Joe's still have skin on them. They are fried in olive oil and covered in sea salt. If you have a salty-oily food addiction, these may be your downfall.

I couldn't find any last time I was in Trader Joe's. Probably better off that way. I've been known to eat an entire 6 oz bag at once. When I got home, I knew I had a bag of raw almonds waiting to be roasted. Almonds are one of those foods that I can eat cooked, but not raw. I bought those raw almonds with every intention of smoking them.

Za'atar is a Middle Eastern seasoning blend made from thyme, sumac, sesame seads, salt and sometimes other herbs (marjoram, oregano). The first time I had it was at a Lebanese Restaurant in Arlington, VA that served olive oil with za'atar to dip their fresh baked pita bread in. I was never one to over indulge on bread, but when it's fresh baked and I can drench it in seasoned olive oil it's a little hard to resist. Now that I don't eat bread, I need to find other things to drench in seasoned olive oil.

I didn't put sesame seeds in this because the almonds already have the nutty flavor, being that they are nuts. Sumac is widely used as a seasoning in the Middle East. Yes, it is from the same genus as poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac, but the sumac berries used for seasoning are from a different species of plant, one that does not cause irritation. Don't worry, you won't get hives on your tongue. Sumac has a slightly bitter flavor and as we know, acidic flavors are good for bringing salty flavors to life.

Ingredients:
1 lb raw almonds
1/4 cup olive oil (If you don't want them dripping with oil, use 2 tbsp.
2 tbsp thyme
2 tsp sea salt (or less, these came out pretty salty)
1 tsp (or more) sumac (optional)

Hickory wood smoking chips. Or any wood, really.

Combine all ingredients and smoke for 1 1/2 hours. Rather than spreading the almonds out on a sheet, I put them in an aluminum loaf pan to save space and periodically shook them up. If you don't have a smoker, grill indirectly and don't forget the smoking chips.

Smoked Bambi Bitkis (Meatballs)

Bitkis are Russian Meatballs. The seasoning in this recipe you're more likely to find in sausage, but that seemed entirely too complicated. Instead I decided to make meatballs and smoke them.

I make my own coconut milk and this has almost nothing to do with this recipe. I only do 1 coconut per week. Although 1 coconut only yields about 1 - 1.5 cups of coconut milk, what you're left with is about 2 cups of shredded coconut. There's only so much I can do with that since I live alone, don't eat sweets and don't like children. I used to just throw shells in the compost heap, until I saw this and I suddenly wished for this elderly Asian woman to adopt me. So I threw the shells onto the coals in my smoker.

1 lbs ground venison (you can sub beef or pork)
1 Tbsp Penzeys Tsardust Memories
1-2 Tbsp Fat of choice (I used macadamia nut oil)
1/2 Tbsp Caraway seeds
1 tsp crushed brown mustard seeds

Mix in bowl, make into balls, smoke. Venison is very lean which is why I added the mac oil. If you use a fattier meat, you won't have to add any. Another good idea is to get some high fat ground beef and do half beef half venison. Smoke for about an hour, turning only once. I put them on top of aluminum foil so they don't stick to the grill. If you bake them or pan fry them instead of smoking them, 1 Tbsp of oil will suffice, but with smoking you have to worry about them drying out, so err on the side of caution. Using an animal fat is probably a better idea than an oil, but I don't have any.

I made a mushroom sauce to go with this.

Smoked Chicken Thighs

I eat alot of boneless skinless chicken breasts. They taste great grilled, but smoked they turn out way too dry. I don't have this problem with thighs. Yes the bone in, skin on thighs would be much tastier, but for expedience and convenience I go with boneless, skinless.

1- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless thighs
1/4 cup Apple Cider vinegar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp smoked Spanish Paprika
1/8 tsp of the following: ground yellow mustard, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne (or more if you like it spicy), chipotle powder (or double the cayenne if you don't have any), cinnamon, ginger, cumin.

Directions: Trim off odd bits and set aside for dog. Marinate remaining chicken in vinegar and spices for as long as you like. Cook in smoker for about an hour, turning only once. If you're going to grill instead of smoking them, obviously the cooking time is going to be much less. You can use smoking chips to give it the smokey flavor.

My dog, Jack, loves when I make chicken thighs. It's because I trim off the odd bits and cook them up separately for him. He's a spoiled little paleo-pup.

See, pretty simple. Almost too simple. I usually eat this with roasted red peppers, grilled asparagus and butternut squash. I like to peel the butternut squash, cut it into "fries" and bake it with smoked sea salt. (Any ol' salt will do)

Guess who's coming to dinner.

Smoked Pistachios with Chili Seasoning

Sometimes I make something that tastes so good I don't want to stop eating it. My Fra Diavolo Sauce almost became Fra Diavolo Soup. I am nuts for these pistachios. I probably shouldn't have made them so delicious. Too late. I just ate half the container.

Ingredients:
8 oz raw pistachios, shelled
2 Tbsp Olive oil (you might want to use less. I happen to like olive oil covered fingers.)
1 Tbsp Chili Seasoning blend (I used Penzey's Chili 9000. It has cocoa in it!)
1-2 tsp sea salt (if your chili seasoning is salt free)

Hickory smoking chips.

I had the smoker at about 250 and smoked them for about an hour. If you don't have a smoker, cook indirectly on a charcoal grill and don't forget the smoking chips. I put them in a loaf pan and periodically shook it up, rather than spread out on a sheet of foil.

Slow Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Plum Sauce

I eat about 5-6 times a day and try to space out my meals every 2-3 hours. So my meals get packed up in little Rubbermaid containers. I have the worlds largest lunch bag.

It's not going to look this pretty when I open it tomorrow.

1 lb pork tenderloin
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar 

Rub:
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 tsp Chipotle Powder
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Allspice

Marinate pork in balsamic and rub over night. I smoked the pork, but it could also be roasted. I cooked it at about 200-250 for about 3 hours. But I have no concept of time.


Sauce:
coconut oil
4 Plums
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
garlic
ginger
chipotle

Heat coconut oil in a pan, saute plums, add spices, add vinegar cook until reduced. 

You might want to make the sauce sweeter by adding honey or something. I like it tangy. Here it is with spinach, spaghetti squash, grilled red onions, roasted red peppers and smoked tomatoes.