The Double Down

I couldn't help it. Everyone's been talking about it. The critics are finally eating it. I couldn't get it off the brain. I had to know -- what would a paleo/primal friendly Double Down taste like? Unable to wait a moment longer, I decided it had to be made tonight. And because Meagan is the best roommate ever, we made it happen. Here's how we went from this:

The KFC Double Down

to this

The Paleo Double Down

The Recipe:

       Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1.5 cups pecan meal/pieces
• 4-6 strips nitrate-free bacon
• Monterrey Jack Cheese
• pepper
• salt
• chili pepper
• Avocado (optional)
• Tomato, sliced (optional)
• Romaine lettuce (optional)

Fry up the bacon and set aside.  Leave the bacon grease in the pan to use later.

Cut the chicken into tender-sized strips.  Find 3 bowls or containers big enough to dunk your the tenders into (I used tupperware.) Beat the eggs and place in one bowl.  Place the almond flour in the second, and the pecan meal in the last.  Add any seasoning you want for your tenders to the pecan meal.  We used salt, pepper, chili pepper and garlic.

Take one tender and coat it in the almond flour until completely covered.  Dunk it in the egg, and place in the bowl holding the pecan meal.  Turn the tender until coated and place onto a clean plate. Do the same for each tender until all are battered.

Heat up the bacon grease over medium high heat until it is just starting to smoke.  Fry tenders in the grease, about 3 minutes each side, depending on the size of your tender.  Make sure you have enough grease in the pan that the tenders are swimming -- if not, they will stick to your pan and lose their crust.

Remove tenders and plate with toppings.  For the original Double Down, place 1 slice of monterrey jack cheese and 2 strips of bacon.  While we plated one this way, this wasn't our favorite.  Both Meagan and I favored avocado instead of cheese (to make it truly paleo) and added some tomato.  I found the Double Down even more delicious and easier to eat wrapped in Romaine (and with some hot sauce for kick.)

The Verdict:

The Double Down is good. It feels sinful -- anything deep fried does.  But while it was tasty and filling and insanely fun to make, it's not really that different from what us paleo-ites eat anyway.  Chicken, nuts, bacon? All sound  pretty normal to me.  So if you're looking for a new flavor combination, or something that's going to blow your mind, don't try this.  But if you're looking for something fun to get your non-paleo friends attention, give this a go.  I can't imagine anyone could argue that the paleo version is NOT tastier than the original.

Meagan's Take: It was too much. Clearly, KFC wanted to be talked about, and it succeeded. But whilst I love avocado, tomato, bacon, and paleo-style fried chicken, there was just no need to put them all together. In fact, I'd say that the problem is too much fried stuff going on at once for the Double Down to be enjoyable in its entirety. And really, if you're eating bacon, it would be a shame to not enjoy it!

Paleo Cookbook Recipe Roundup

In case you missed it, we've been putting together a "paleo cookbook" over on the Crossfit Genius website. You can access it here. We'll round up our recipes each week for your consumption.

This week we posted:

Three Easy Things to do With Cauliflower

Sage's Braised Lambshank

Common Substitutions

Cocoa Bites

Bratwurst and Apples

1-Ingredient Ice Cream

Paleo Indian Fried Eggplant

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Bacon

Ratatouille

Ask and ye shall receive. I'm thinking this may become a budgetary staple, maybe served up with a chicken breast (and yes, Meagan, I know I have previously harbored an illogical hatred of ratatouille, but I am somehow totally craving this.)

I want some of this immediately.





Dad's Authentic Ratatouille
Serves 2 for 4 meals

Ingredients (feel free to play with proportions as this is a more or less situation):

2 large eggplants, peeled and cubed into 1-inch cubes
6-8 zucchini, coined
3 bell peppers, roughly chopped (red are classic, but use what you have on hand)
5 cloves garlic, whole
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 yellow onions
1 bay leaf
3-4 sprigs thyme (fresh thyme is the key to making this Ratatouille taste right)
1 can whole tomatoes or 4 large tomatoes that are nice and ripe
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large pot saute the onions in olive oil until brown, then add peppers and allow to soften. Stir in whole garlic cloves, tomatoes and bay leaf and turn heat down to a simmer and leave for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sautee eggplant and zucchini (they tend to get mushy if you throw them in with everything else but that can be good too and is easier than dirtying a second pan) until browned and softened.

Add the zucchini and eggplant to the simmering pot along with the sprigs of thyme and some salt and pepper (to taste) and allow to simmer at least another 20 minutes. Simmer longer if you want the flavors to really get good, or just reheat it the next day and you'll have the same effect.

Fish out the bay leaf and the whole garlic cloves and serve piping hot with crusty fresh baked bread or basmati rice. Add the minced garlic to the top of each serving.