Hi, I’m Crystal, also known as the Content Coordinator for the Paleo Parents Team. My fiancé and I blog at Whole-Fed Homestead, where we share about grain-free life on our farm, the adventures of raising our own food and living life close to the land. So if there’s any one type of food I love to cook, it’s “homestyle” food!
We love wholesome, hearty, comforting meals, which is why All-American Paleo Table: Classic Homestyle Cooking from a Grain-Free Perspective was a cookbook that was right up my alley! You just know if something says “homestyle,” that it’s going to be good. And spoiler, it was! If you like comfort food and American classics, you’ll love this book.
This cookbook has been loved so much by the Paleo community that it is in the running for Best New Cookbook in Paleo Magazine’s Best of Paleo 2015 Awards! (PS: there’s still time to vote for all your favorites!)
We’re sharing Caroline’s (now famous!) recipe for Morning Butter Biscuits below, plus the Blackberry Skillet Jam to go with them – so don’t miss those recipes at the bottom of the post!
Overview
I’m a bit of a cookbook junkie. Thumbing through a new cookbook is like opening a present to me – discovering all the new recipes each book has is incredibly exciting! And All-American Paleo Table did not disappoint. Here’s what I like about it:
(1) I love a photo with every recipe. Yeah, a description is nice, but I want my mouth to be watering as I dream about what recipes I’m going to make. All-American Paleo Table has got this one down- there is a big, beautiful, rustic-styled picture of each finished dish.
(2) Practical cookbooks win me over, that is – a book with mostly simple and uncomplicated recipes that don’t take too much time or energy are my favorite (because days on the homestead can be busy and downright exhausting!). Caroline includes some recipes that are more involved and some that will have dinner on the table quickly.
(3) The food has to taste good. No kidding, right? I like food that is full of personality with different textures and lots of flavor, and all of the recipes I made from this book were outstanding! There are some traditional recipes in the book, but many things are made with a slight twist, or a different combination of flavors than what you’re used to, and I love that!
Book & Recipe Specs
There is the usual recipe index in the back of the book, and also a short resource guide to help you find Paleo staples if you’re new to this way of eating and need a little help in the grocery store. The recipes are grouped into chapters with a theme and are outlined in the beginning of the book. The chapters are playful and logical – with headings such as: A Farmer’s Breakfast, Old-Fashioned Dinner Favorites, Game Day Eats, Daily Gatherings, and The Thankful Table (autumn and fall recipes), you can quickly find what you’re looking for.
Recipes are labelled for things like dairy-free, egg-free and nut-free. Some common Paleo-friendly flours are used throughout the book, like coconut and arrowroot. There are a couple harder to find ingredients, like chestnut and cashew flour that make a rare appearance. Several recipes are dairy-heavy, and some have a small amount of dairy that is easily left-out or replaced with something else.
The Author
Caroline Potter is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, a survivor of Type I Diabetes, an all-American food enthusiast, and someone who greatly loves family gathered together around a table making memories, laughing, and eating great food. This definitely comes through in her recipes! You may know her as the blogger behind Colorful Eats.
The Food: What I Made
♥ MORNING BUTTER BISCUITS
I knew right away when I turned the page to “Morning Butter Biscuits,” that these were going to be in my near, near future. The base ingredient for these biscuits is cashews, which is quickly becoming my favorite nut to make Paleo baked goods with. The recipe was made entirely in the food processor (which I love) so it was very quick and easy. The finished biscuits were light, fluffy and buttery… one of the best Paleo baked goods I’ve had in a long time! RECIPE SHARED BELOW!!
I’m not alone! This recipe is soooo good, that it was nominated for New Paleo Recipe of the Year in Paleo Magazines Best of Paleo 2015! Totally deserving!
♥ BLACKBERRY SKILLET JAM
To accompany the biscuits was Skillet Blackberry Jam. This was a rare treat, and oh-so-good! This jam has a new twist, which I thought was genius – instead of having to cook the berries for a long time and with a lot of sugar to get them to gel up into jam (the traditional way to make jam), this jam is cooked for a short time and uses gelatin to give it the jam/jelly texture. The fruit has a brighter flavor because it isn’t cooked to death, plus the gelatin adds extra nutrients. I’ll be using this method with other fruits in the future! RECIPE SHARED BELOW!!
On their own, each of the these recipes was great, but together they were almost too good to believe. We had them on breakfast-for-dinner night alongside a sausage and spinach frittata.
♥ ROASTED BEET SALAD WITH PEARS AND CANDIED PECANS + BALSAMIC BASIL VINAIGRETTE
We love a quick salad with dinner, but lately we’ve gotten into a rut with the same old lettuce and dressing, which is why I was excited to try something new. The dressing for this salad was quick, easy, and bright with the bold flavors of basil, fresh garlic, and balsamic vinegar. It was the perfect thing to pour over lettuce with roasted beets, candied nuts, and crisp pears (we skipped the feta cheese).
I even made a double batch of this dressing recipe the next day, to have on hand for salads all week – and it went with everything I put it on! Even a crazy-simple salad with lettuce, tomato and carrots tasted new and exciting with this dressing on it.
We’ll be making this one again for sure!
On My T0-Make List
I dog-eared a lot of recipes in this book… a few more that I can’t wait to make are:
– Strawberry Chocolate Granola
– Meat Lover’s Spaghetti Squash Lasagna
– Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes
– Honey Lime Margaritas
– Crispy Bacon Sweet Potato Waffles
– Garlic Bread Bites
– Pumpkin Spice Lattes
– Brown Butter Whipped Cauliflower
Preview this Book for Free
Did you know that on Amazon you can take a virtual look into most books? If you want to see a list of recipes for this book, read more about the author’s story, and even sneak a few more recipes for free (who doesn’t love trying before buying?!) follow this link to Amazon, hover your mouse over the book cover where it says “look inside,” and have a deeper look!
Recipe Share
I can’t wait for you to have these biscuits in your life… If you like home-cooked meals and food made with a lot of heart, you should definitely consider All-American Paleo Table!
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp butter, ghee, or palm shortening
- 3 cups raw cashew pieces
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp gelatin, preferably grass-fed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp double-acting, aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- Coconut oil for greasing hands
- 1 pound fresh blackberries
- 1/4 cup water
- 4-6 tablespoons raw honey, depending on desired sweetness
- 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoon gelatin, preferably grass-fed
Instructions
- Slice butter into small cubes and set aside to soften for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F, adjusting the rack to the bottom portion of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add cashew pieces to the bowl of a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds or until a smooth nut flour begins to form. Be careful not to turn into nut butter.
- Next, add the flour, gelatin, baking soda, baking powder and salt, pulsing several times to incorporate.
- Finally, add the butter, honey, eggs and vinegar and briefly blend for about 10 seconds or until the dough starts to form.
- Lightly grease your hands with coconut oil. Pinch off a small handful of dough and shape into biscuits, using your fingers to form a smooth top and round shape. Place on baking sheet about 3 inches apart, as these biscuits do expand a bit. Repeat the process to form all biscuits. If your dough becomes too sticky, wash and lightly re-oil your hands.
- Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow biscuits to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, so they firm up.
- Best served warm.
- Warm a skillet to medium-low heat. Add the blackberries and water and heat for 10 minutes.
- Next, use the back of a wooden spoon to crush the berries, releasing their juice.
- Stir in the honey, lemon juice and gelatin. Heat for an additional 10 minutes, allowing the jam to slightly simmer.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside to cool for 15 minutes before transferring to an airtight container and placing in the refrigerator. Cool the jam for 4 hours, allowing it to thicken.
- Spread on warm biscuits, sandwich bread or even add a scoop to vanilla ice cream!
