More Food Processor Love

The love affair with my food processor certainly isn't dying anytime soon. In fact, day by day our love grows (ha, now you know I've taken a dive off the deep end!). I've been using my new gizmo for everything, from turning my paleo cocoa bites into something even more delicious to stuffing dates with "almond cream cheese" to making paleo "rice."  Ahh the marvels of the food processor.  So, to start off (and no, there's no picture of these), two Saturday's ago we had a 1/2 way mark potluck at Milestone Crossfit, it was a little paleo celebration of being half way through our eight week challenge.  Since we've all sworn off sugar and everyone else was bringing meat and veggies I decided to do a variation on my paleo cocoa bites.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles
2 6oz Bags of Pitted Dates (nothing added to them)
1 5oz Bag, Unsweetened Coconut
2 Cups Cashews
1 Cup Pistachios
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Chipotle Pepper Powder
1 Tablespoon Mexican Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

This one is easy - it's really one step...throw everything in the food processor and pulse until it's chopped up nice and tiny and can be formed into balls, bars, etc. If your mixture needs a little moisture to come together, add hot water by the tablespoonful slowly (1 tbsp at a time).

These were a huge hit at the potluck, once of our coaches swore it was better than chocolate and one of my fellow challenge members told me 'bless you' for bringing them.  Ha, guess we are all surprised at how much we missed the sweet goodies!

My next feat from the food processor was to make some paleo 'rice' - using the fabulous instructions on Nom Nom Paleos' post about cauliflower rice, I  whipped up a big batch of 'rice' with one of the monstrous heads of cabbage in my weekly Farmhouse Delivery box.  I was really surprised at how simple it was to create rice.

A slightly blurry photo of just the rice:

What did I eat with my 'rice' you ask?  Well some amazing and quick Chicken Tikka Masala!  That recipe will be coming along shortly, I promise :)

Finally, to round off my food processor related creations, almond stuffed dates.  Nope it's not just an almond stuffed in a date.  In an effort to keep the book club snacks paleo, healthy and tasty I keep trying to find something interesting to take along.  With a few of the leftover dates from my truffles I searched for inspiration.  Interestingly, the vegan nut 'cream cheese' recipes I've seen provided just the right inspiration.

There are tons of variations on how to soak nuts and turn them into a cream cheese type texture, this is just the way I did it, I can't wait to experiment though to find new ways to do this and new flavors.

1 Cup Raw Almonds, soaked overnight in water
1-2 Teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
3-4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

1. Soak almonds overnight in water. After they have soaked, blanch them for 5 minutes in very hot water.
2. Pour off the hot water, pinch off the almond skin and set aside the almond meat.
3. Blend almonds with all remaining ingredients in a food processor.

*If it does not reach the texture you want, add a little bit of water (teaspoonfuls) until it does.  I added basil infused sunflower oil at this step to give it a little basil flavor.

Bacon-Wrapped, Almond Cream Cheese Stuffed Dates
1/2 Cup Almond Cream Cheese
14 Dates, Pitted
7 Strips Thinly Sliced Bacon

1. Split a date in half like a hot dog bun, leaving it intact.  Fill with a teaspoon or two of the almond cream cheese and freeze for at least one hour.
2. Remove from freezer and turn oven to 375 F.
3. Cut bacon into halves, use one half strip of bacon per date and wrap around.
4. Place dates on a baking rack (raised above cookie sheet) on a foil-lined (easier clean up) jelly roll pan.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until bacon is crisp or close to done, if bacon is not yet ready feel free to crisp it under the broiler.

Bucking trends...

I have never been big on following the trends, I've never cared too much to go buy the latest clothes (although I don't think I'm unfashionable, guess that's easy to say since I'm the one judging myself) and truth is once I find something I love (be it clothing, furniture, etc.) I could care less if it's 'trendy' it's something I will hang on to as long as I can. So when bacon hit the radar as 'trendy' I was a little sad to say the least, I've been a bacon fan as far back as I can remember.

As a small child my great grandmother (I've been a lucky girl who has known great grandparents and grandparents on both sides of the family) would take me to the grocery store with her and spoil me rotten...she let me pick out whatever my heart desired and at a very young age she taught me how to make bacon (in the microwave, because who trusts a 5 year old with the stove!). My poor mother was probably a bit horror stricken, she's not a huge bacon fan and really was a health-nut most of my childhood. Coming to my great-grandmothers to find her 5 year old happily nuking bacon was likely a bit of a shock. I always adored my great grandparents, bacon or not and have very fond memories of summers at their home, including my great-grandfather's huge veggie garden which continues to inspire me today.

I speak of this not to brag about the fabulous family I grew up with or the fact that I was lucky enough to know great grandparents but to prove my bacon pedigree. I have long been a fan and so when it became a trend, when it hit all the 'food' shows I was a bit sad. I suddenly looked like everyone else who loves bacon, as if I jumped on the band wagon, I'm here to say I was an early adopter! For those of you who have read my blog before you'll see that bacon is ubiquitous in my cooking, not so much so that I'll be suffering a major heart attack anytime soon but it's definitely present and has been since before bacon became the 'it' food.

Now that I'm done trying to prove myself, the purpose of my rant is really to share with you something delicious, slightly unexpected and a condiment that stands on it's own, bacon jam! Yes, I know it's been done, especially since the 'trend' began but this is my version, a little bit of heat, a little bit of sweet and a good solid dose of smokiness.

Bacon Jam
1 lb Thick Cut Smoked Bacon
1 Large Sweet Onion, Cut into 1/4 inch rounds
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Adobe Chipotle Chile + 1 Tsp Chile Sauce from the Can
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
1/4 Tsp Ground Allspice
1/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Shaved Dark Chocolate (at least 75% cocoa) or 2 Tbsp Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Strong Brewed Coffee (I prefer to use Pecan Flavored Coffee)

1. In a large dutch oven cook bacon over medium high heat until crispy on the edges but tender in the center. Remove from pot, set on paper towels to drain excess grease. Remove all but 1 Tbsp of rendered fat from pan. Chop bacon into half-inch pieces.
2. Decrease heat to medium-low and add onion and brown sugar. Cook until onions are well caramelized, stirring frequently for approximately 20 minutes.
3. Add garlic and remaining spices (including chiles and adobo sauce), saute for 5 minutes.
4. Add liquids and bacon back to pan, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Let boil 3 minutes.
5. Decrease heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, stir every 15-20 minutes.
6. If mixture become too dry add water by the tbsp to keep mixture from burning and sticking. Final texture should be moist and sticky, like a jam.

I should have far more interesting photos than the jar full of jam but you see it's been consumed so fast I really forgot....you should feel lucky I snagged these pictures : ) This is delicious in so many ways, on an egg sandwich, a BLT (instead of the bacon), just on a piece of bread as an appetizer...possibilities are endless!




Slight disclosure here, while I've been planning to share this post for a while it also coincided with a Foodbuzz program/contest called Baconalia.