As a Wisconsin girl born and raised, cheese was always an essential part of my diet. It went in, on, and through everything. It is basically the 5th food group (being superior to all other dairy – except maybe ice cream). So, after my last blog on paleo, which is definitely cheese-adverse, I had a person or two say “Sure, Paleo is good, but really, no cheese?” While I have never been one to consume mass quantities of cheese, I admit that there are just some times when cheese can’t be beat. Whether topping hamburgers/sandwiches/pizza, to small bits with wine & crackers, to curds that are beer battered and deep fried, you really can’t go wrong with cheese.
So, while the three recipes below can’t really go head to head in comparison – they are three yummy recipes that I tried out this last week. The first two are totally paleo and one not so paleo (can you say cheese). If you get a chance to try them, let me know what you think. I thought both were awesome.
RECIPES 1 AND 2
Mexican Braised Beef with Oven Baked Zucchini Fritters
I did a couple things different. For the beef, I left the roast whole so I could shred it over the fritters (faux sliders). I didn’t have paleo fish sauce, so I didn’t use it. I followed the fritter recipe nearly exactly. They were not as firm as I would have liked so perhaps next time I’ll try to squeeze out more water from the zucchini and then I might not put in muffin tins but make small patties and bake on a baking sheet. I might even finish off with a bit of broiler time. Definitely sprinkle with cilantro and squeeze some fresh lime on top. Very yummy and I didn’t feel like I needed a starch at all.
RECIPE 3 (for all you cheese lovers)
Brie Stuffed Mushrooms – this is such a simple and fast appetizer
Basically I just used this recipe as a base. If I did it again, I don’t think I would broil each side of the mushroom more than 3 min. Also, I did not use A1 steak sauce. After browning the tops of caps I turned them over, stuffed in bits of brie, topped with some pecans and broiled for another 2-3 min. Then I served it with apricot fruit paste and some really good balsamic vinegar that we got down at the Italian Market in Philly. Jimmy was popping these like candy and basically his only complaints were “I want more” and “Maybe you should use bigger mushrooms next time”.
So all in all . . . both were a hit and I will definitely use both in the future. Can I live without cheese? I’m not sure. There certainly are quite a few faux cheese recipes out there in the paleosphere (more on that later) but I am more a believer in moderation. And the little mushroom cheese bites seem pretty moderate.
Enjoy!
Contentment and French Fries 