My family and I are getting settled into our new digs in Memphis, TN. We've been here just over a week and I'm embarrassed to admit just how much BBQ we've already eaten... I've even had BBQ at a Paleo restaurant downtown. Yes, a PALEO RESTAURANT! How freaking exciting is that???
Anyway, I will be sharing more about BedRock Eats later on the blog I am sure, but today I want to share an easy and crazy delicious recipe for you. Because, easy recipes are what I need right now ! Moving out of state is such an ordeal, so stressful, and eats up more time than you think it will. And somehow, it makes you crave takeout food, both for the exciting flavors and the convenience of having someone else cook for you.
So of course I have been so grateful for Russ Crandall's new cookbook Paleo Takeout. It's letting me have the best of both worlds - the amazing takeout flavors I want made with healthy ingredients AND the recipes are easy, simplified versions of these traditional dishes.
To show you just how amazing this cookbook is, I got permission to share this recipe for easy oven-roasted pork adobo with you today. This is just a taste of what you can find inside this incredible cookbook, which covers a huge range of Asian cuisines (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Filipino) as well as American take out classics.
Some of the ingredients called for to give these dishes their authentic flavor may be totally new to you, but luckily Russ has an entire section at the beginning devoted to explaining what each of these ingredients are and where to find them. Lucky for me I have this gigantic ethnic grocery store not too far from my house that carries items from all over Asia, Latin America, and Europe. It's the size of a normal chain grocery store (I think it used to be a Kroger location) and has all sorts of unique and wonderful products (even live fish they'll butcher for you!)
Russ has also got a great section in the beginning of the book on kitchen multitasking so that you can pull together an incredible multi-course complete dinner in an hour or less. Super helpful if you're struggling with efficiency in the kitchen! (Side note - check out 20 Dishes if you want to learn how to make an entire week's worth of Paleo meals in an hour, not just one meal!)
If you follow Russ's blog at all you'll know he is on #TeamWhiteRice, so of course there are recipes inside calling for rice, but don't worry - you can also use your favorite cauliflower rice recipe or my most amazing and wonderful best-ever starchy Paleo rice (because I never enjoy eating cauli-rice. It's just not right, I tell you! Gimme oven-roasted cauliflower slathered in fat any day.)
Ever wished you could make things like Pad Thai, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Mongolian Beef, Ramen, Pho, Butter Chicken, Chicken Sandwiches, Chili Fries, and Gyros at home and with Paleo ingredients? NOW YOU CAN! Click here and then click on the book image on the left to "look inside" and see the full table of contents.
Trust me: this will be one of those cookbooks that you actually use often, not one that collects dust on the bookshelf! Mine's already got some stains from use :-)
Check out some of the dishes I've made from it:
Seriously, grab a copy of this cookbook! And now, check out this amazing recipe - I am thawing out pork belly and shoulder currently so I can make this this week :-)
Also, in my opinion, this recipe is perfectly fine to enjoy if you are on the autoimmune protocol, and it's definitely OK for the Repairvite diet for healing leaky gut. I'm long overdue to write a blog post about why I don't agree with excluding peppercorns (or most seeds) while following the AIP, but trust me - I'm not convinced by the available evidence in the scientific literature. However, if you are avoiding black pepper, you can simply omit or possibly use drained capers or nasturtium pods as a substitute.
Easy, Paleo, Oven-Roasted Filipino Pork Adobo
Adobo, often considered the national dish of the Philippines, is a method of stewing meat in vinegar. The word adobo itself is linked to a Spanish method of preserving raw meat by immersing it in a mixture of vinegar, salt, and paprika. When the Spanish observed an indigenous Philippine cooking method involving vinegar in the 16th century, they referred to it as adobo, and the name stuck. The original name for this dish is no longer known.
My Pork Adobo recipe in The Ancestral Table is one of my family’s favorites, but it is admittedly a little time-consuming, since it requires you to brown the pork both before and after stewing it. I found that oven-roasting the pork pieces creates a similar crispy texture with significantly less hands-on time. Serve with rice, your favorite cauliflower rice, or starchy Paleo "rice".
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus at least 30 min to marinate (up to overnight)
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs pork belly, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1/3 cup gluten-free tamari (preferably organic) or coconut aminos for soy-free (NOTE: try to find these ingredients locally as you will pay MUCH less for them than online!)
- 10 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 5 bay leaves
- 2/3 cup cane vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 cup water (I use the Zero filter for my cooking and drinking water)
Cooking Directions
- Combine the pork, tamari, garlic, and peppercorns in a resealable plastic bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes, overnight preferred.
- In a stockpot or Dutch oven, place the pork and its marinade along with the bay leaves, vinegar, and water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour. Do not open the lid during this hour; many people believe that doing so will make the dish taste sour.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Remove the pork pieces with tongs and set aside, then strain the liquid and discard the peppercorns, garlic, and bay leaves. (Some cooks prefer to leave them in, which is fine.) Using a fat separator or a spoon, remove and reserve the fat from the braising liquid and set the liquid aside.
- Pour and spread about 1 tablespoon of the liquid fat onto a rimmed baking sheet, then add the pork pieces. Bake until the meat is crispy and most of the fat has been rendered out, about 20 minutes, turning halfway through cooking. The shoulder pieces may crisp more quickly than the belly pieces; if you’re so inclined, remove the shoulder pieces and keep them warm while you roast the belly for a few more minutes.
- As the pork crisps, prepare the sauce for serving. Place the braising liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; when it has reduced by one-third (about 8 minutes), turn the heat to low to keep warm while the pork finishes.
- When the pork is crispy, use tongs to transfer it to a serving bowl, then pour the sauce over the pork and serve.
Tools & Ingredients I use in my kitchen
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