The Backside of Forty: First Paleo Recipe Review

I've gotta tell ya, my parents are great! Why? Because they have been and always will be my guinea pigs when it comes to trying new recipes. It could be they enjoy supporting my hobbies, it could be they have no desire to cook this stuff at home or it could be they simply love to eat. I don't care what reason is, they are there at the dinner table enjoying good food (most of the time) with lots of laughs, who could ask for more?

I invited them to dinner this past week, it was going to be a quiet Sunday, no sports practice, no plans, I would get to whip something up and why not try something from the Paleo cookbook they got me for Christmas? However, I didn't clue them in until they arrived at my door, didn't want them to chicken out (pun intended). Now, the decision on what was going to be cooked is another thing entirely. I had my son leaf through the cookbook and pick out 5 recipes (always good to get buy-in from the kiddo). From there we picked out Lemon & Artichoke Chicken & Brussels Sprouts with Fennel as a side. Both appeared to be easy to make. My folks came along as I was chopping up the veggies for the side. They had never tried fennel before, so I gave them each a piece to nibble on. For those that don't know, fennel is a bulb shaped veggie that has stalks and texture similar to celery and fronds that look like fresh dill. The taste is a super mild black licorice or anise flavor, not enough to overwhelm, more of a hint with lots of crunch.

I had already put the chicken in by this time and cleaned up the dishes so my mom wouldn't see the mess. Both dishes were easy to cook and I have some suggestions for you as we go through each recipe, hopefully you can make it even easier by learning what went right and what went wrong. Bottom line, both dishes turned out great and were gobbled down.

Lemon & Artichoke Chicken

Ingredients

4 tbs butter, ghee or coconut oil divided into 2 tbs each

2 shallots, 1/4 c onion, sliced or a 1/4 c of chopped green onion

2 c artichoke hearts, thawed and/or drained and rinsed

1/4 c capers, drained

Juice or 2 lemons

2 lbs bone-in, skin on chicken

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Prep - 15 min / Dishes Count - 2 plates, 2 knives, 1 place mats (cut veggies first then chicken, not the other way around), 1 strainer, 1 measuring cup, 1 oven-proof skillet, 1 fork, 1 spatula, 1 spoon

Began preheating my oven to 375 degrees. Measured my butter out and put on a small plate, one of the 2 tbs cut into small pats. Rinsed and chopped the onions, putting them on the plate with the butter. Dumped 2 - 14 oz can of quartered artichoke hearts in a strainer, rinsed and let them sit. Drained a 3.5 oz jar of capers into the sink and put them in a measuring cup, it was about 1/4 c. Next time, I'll drain and keep them in the jar to save dirtying the measuring cup. Rolled the lemons until they were soft (makes juicing them a whole heck of a lot easier), cut both in half and juiced, making sure no seeds sneak in. I have a cheap juicer that strains the seeds out, one of the best Dollar Store purchases ever. And now the fun part...I purchased a whole chicken that I knew I'd have to cut apart. Well, it turned into a battle, "Sid Versus the Dead Chicken." There was chicken juice on my counter and mangled pieces of meat on the plate and luckily my fingers still intact. It was an ugly battle, but I won. Personally I'm just thankful I remembered to take the innards out prior to the butchering. That would have been just dandy, gizzards and what not cooked in.

Directions

In the large, oven-proof skillet melt 2 tbs of the butter and add the shallots or onion and saute until translucent. Add the artichoke hearts, capers and lemon juice. Stir to combine and heat up, but not to boiling. Turn off heat, place the chicken pieces on top, put the remaining butter, cut into pats, on top of the chicken and salt & pepper to taste. Pop in the oven and begin baking for 45-50 min.

Brussels Sprouts with Fennel

While the chicken is cooking, get started on your side. It cooks at the same temp as the chicken and takes 20 min to cook, so you'll have approximately 25 min to prepare and pop it in the oven so both are ready at the same time.

Ingredients

4 c Brussels sprouts, quartered (1 - 16 oz bag did the trick)

1/2 c fennel (about 1 bulb), thinly sliced, cut the stalks off first

2 tbs melted bacon fat, butter or coconut oil (I used butter, the bacon fat was tempting)

2 tbs chopped fennel fronds (the stuff at the top that looks like fresh dill)

Sea salt & black pepper

Prep time - 15 min / Dishes count - 1 baking sheet (no cleaning if you cover with tin foil), 1 knife, 1 spatula

Put tin foil on the baking sheet to save cleanup. Melted the butter. Washed and cut the bottoms off the Brussels sprouts, then quartered placing them evenly on the baking sheet. Sliced the fennel bulb (round objects are tricky to slice, I always cut a flat area and put that side down, then cut, it adds stability to the veggie, also keep your fingers pulled back from the knife when cutting to prevent mishap and ruining the food) and place slices over the Brussels sprouts. Top with chopped fennel fronds and drizzle butter over the top. Salt and pepper to taste. Pop them in the oven when there is 20 min left for the chicken to cook. Reminder - don't touch the skillet handle without a mitt, lol. Yes, I bumped the skillet handle when putting in the veggies and profanity came out. I said, "F...F...F..." and realized everyone was looking at me. My son pipes in and goes, "Mom, you sounded like a chicken, cluck, cluck, cluck. Better get some cold water on that." We all just started laughing as I put my finger under the cold water. Only my son could make me smile when I'm in pain, gotta love him.

While I'm waiting, I clean up the dishes, counters and set the table. My mom is just itching to help, but I just have her relax and enjoy her coffee. My dad is off having a Nerf gun war with my son, they are competing to see who has better aim. Of course mom and I have to join in. It comes down to my dad and I in the battle for the championship, who can hit the ball off the ladder...winner...tie. Those darn Nerf gun bullets certainly don't shoot straight. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Oven timer goes off, I open the oven and and pull out the dishes. Veggies are tender and chicken juice is running clear, we're good to go. I dish up everyone not forgetting to spoon sauce from the pan over the chicken. We sit down to enjoy our first Paleo meal and each other's company. I love family dinners.