The Ancestral Table: Traditional Recipes for a Paleo Lifestyle (24 page)

This recipe is a baseline and is only minimally spicy. Add more peppers if you like spicy food.

SERVES:
4
PREP TIME:
5 MINUTES PLUS OVERNIGHT
COOKING TIME:
1 HOUR

MARINADE:

5 GREEN ONIONS

4 CLOVES GARLIC

2 SCOTCH BONNET OR HABAÑERO PEPPERS, SEEDS AND RIBS REMOVED

JUICE OF 1 LIME (2 TBSP.)

1 TBSP. THYME

1 TBSP. ALLSPICE BERRIES

1 TBSP. HONEY

1 TBSP. TOMATO PASTE

2 TSP. SEA SALT

1/2 TSP. GROUND CUMIN

1/2 TSP. GROUND CINNAMON

1/2 TSP. GROUND NUTMEG

1/2 TSP. GROUND GINGER

1 PINCH CLOVES

2-3 LBS. PORK LOIN

1. Combine and blend all the marinade ingredients, adding a little water if the paste gets too thick to purée effectively. Place the pork in a resealable plastic bag, pour the marinade over the pork, and refrigerate overnight.

2. Prepare your grill for direct and indirect grilling (
see here
). Remove the pork from the marinade and set the leftover marinade aside. Grill the pork over direct heat, turning once, until the marinade forms a crust, about 10 minutes. Place on the cool side of the grill and roast using indirect heat, around 300°F, rotating the loin and brushing with the reserved marinade every 10 minutes. When the pork’s internal temperature reaches 145°F, after about 30-40 total minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and tent with aluminum foil. Carve after resting for 5 minutes.

Roasted Chicken

Chickens were first domesticated over 5,000 years ago in South Asia and spread across the world in the years that followed. Initially domesticated for their eggs, the birds themselves weren’t eaten until much later. In fact, chicken meat was not a large-scale industry in the United States until the 1920s, when it was promoted as a cheap alternative to beef. Today, chicken is the most popular meat in America.

Inspired by the high-heat roasted chickens prepared in gourmet restaurants all over the world, this whole-bird recipe is the easiest way to make a consistently delicious weeknight dinner. The key to making this foolproof recipe is twofold: You must let the bird come to room temperature, and you must truss it so that it cooks evenly. Both concepts converge to make a perfect roasted bird—a room-temperature bird will cook and crisp quickly without drying out, and trussing eliminates the need to worry about breast versus thigh temperature, as they’ll stay the same throughout cooking.

As in my Eye of Round Roast recipe (
see here
), if you roast your chicken in a stainless-steel or cast-iron skillet, you can move the skillet onto the stovetop to make a gravy from the drippings without having to transfer the drippings to another pan. This ensures that none of the chicken is wasted and leaves you with one less pan to clean afterward.
see here
for more information on how to make a gravy using the drippings.

SERVES:
3-4
PREP TIME:
1 HOUR 15 MINUTES
COOKING TIME:
1 HOUR

1 WHOLE CHICKEN (2-4 LBS.)

1/2 TBSP. KOSHER SALT

1/2 TSP. BLACK PEPPER

1/2 TSP. DRIED THYME

3 CLOVES GARLIC

PEEL OF 1 LEMON OR ORANGE, COARSELY CHOPPED

1 BAY LEAF

30" COOKING TWINE

1. Pat the chicken pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Let the chicken set out for 1 hour to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

2. Combine the salt, pepper, and thyme. Season the inside of the chicken with one-third of the seasonings, and place the garlic, citrus peel, and bay leaf inside the chicken. Tuck the chicken’s wingtips behind the drummettes so that the tip meets the drummette joint that’s attached to the body.

3. Truss the chicken by placing the center of the twine under the tail, pulling the twine up and over each drumstick, then looping each end of the twine across the chicken’s cavity and under the drumstick, creating a figure-8 shape. Tighten the figure-8 around the legs, then pull the twine down the length of the body, toward the front end, and tie at the front in the notch created by the neck (see illustrations).

4. Sprinkle the remaining seasonings on the outside of the chicken, then place the chicken breast side up in a stainless-steel or cast-iron skillet or on a baking sheet. Roast until the breasts and thighs register 160°F, 50-60 minutes. Remove the twine and let rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Coq au Vin

Coq au vin is often credited to the Burgundy region of France (the same place that gave us the infamous Boeuf Bourguignon), although similar versions may have been eaten during the Roman era. As its French name implies, this dish originally was cooked with a mature rooster and still is today in many parts of France. While historically used to save money (young chickens were more expensive), older chickens created a more complex taste and fared well with an extended braise.

This recipe uses a bouquet garni so that you can easily extract the herbs without disturbing the other ingredients; to make the bouquet, arrange fresh herbs in a single group and tie together with cheesecloth or cooking twine. Skinning pearl onions is a time-consuming process and is often considered a test of patience. For the sake of time, you may want to buy frozen, preskinned pearl onions.

SERVES:
6
PREP TIME:
30 MINUTES (SKINNING THE PEARL ONIONS TAKES A WHILE)
COOKING TIME:
2 HOURS

4 TBSP. BUTTER OR GHEE, DIVIDED

1 WHOLE CHICKEN, QUARTERED (OR 3-5 LBS. BONE-IN, SKIN-ON THIGHS OR LEG QUARTERS)

6 SLICES BACON, DICED

1 LARGE ONION, COARSELY CHOPPED

20 PEARL ONIONS, SKINNED

1 LARGE CARROT, COARSELY CHOPPED

2 SHALLOTS, COARSELY CHOPPED

2 CLOVES GARLIC, SMASHED

BOUQUET GARNI OF FRESH THYME, ROSEMARY, PARSLEY, AND BAY LEAF

1/2 BOTTLE (375 ML) MEDIUM FRUITY RED WINE (BURGUNDY, MERLOT, OR CÔTES DU RHÔNE)

2 CUPS CHICKEN BROTH (
SEE HERE
)

6 MEDIUM WHITE MUSHROOMS, QUARTERED

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a Dutch oven, melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter or ghee on medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces in 2 batches, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and add the diced bacon, lowering the heat to medium; cook for 2 minutes, then add the onions, carrot, shallots, garlic, and bouquet garni. Sauté until the bacon is cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the Dutch oven. Add the chicken pieces and broth, cover, and bake for 1 hour.

2. Remove the chicken pieces and place them on a baking sheet. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F and roast the chicken until crisp and brown, 10-20 minutes.

3. As the chicken roasts, strain and reserve the braising liquid and set the solids aside, discarding the bouquet garni. Return the liquid to the Dutch oven and simmer on medium-high heat to reduce by half, about 10 minutes. In a separate skillet, warm the remaining 2 Tbsp. butter for 1 minute on medium heat, then sauté the mushrooms until softened, about 10 minutes.

4. Once the sauce is reduced and the mushrooms are softened, add the mushrooms and braised vegetables to the sauce and gently stir to combine. Add the roasted chicken pieces and serve.