Pecan Crusted Paleo Fried Pork Chops

Paleo, GAPS, Gluten free, Traditional Foods, Low Carb, Delicious!

Two unfortunate events combined to cause us to create the most delicious fried pork chops I’ve ever eaten in my life! These are far better than any traditional flour chops. If you just want the recipe and don’t’ want to read my story, scroll down to the bottom.

First, we were driving back to Pensacola from Tampa. If you’ve driven it, you know you drive North on I-75 and then change to I-10 West just above Lake City. Now, I generally do most of the driving, but I was tired and determined to get Niko to sub in more than 1 hour on the trip—so we changed drivers about 20 miles south of Lake City.

Once I got in the passenger seat, I decided to make use of my free time by returning some phone calls from potential patients and getting some snacks together. I busied myself with this for a little while. Then, once we’d had enough snacks and the phone calls were finished, I looked up to see where we were. I started thinking, “Seems like Niko’s been driving for a while and we should be on I-10 by now,” so I was just about to pull up my GPS to see how much farther when I saw: Valdosta Next 5 Exits. Uh-oh. For those who don’t know, that’s in Georgia—and definitely NOT on the way from Tampa to Pensacola, both of which cities are in Florida.

So to console ourselves, we stopped off at Big Rosie’s Pecan and fruit stand—where someone I’ll call Big Rosie informed us that the Pecan Meal/Flour they were selling could be used to fry fish, chicken or pork.

The second thing that happened is that we went to the Palafox Market in downtown Pensacola, as we do every Saturday morning. And as usual, we stop off to see what Roger has at the Green Cedars Farm stand. He has the best pork I’ve ever eaten. We bought our usual bone-in pork butt and decided to splurge on some chops.

Saturdays are often a long day out of the house for us, so we always bring multiple coolers to fill with our groceries. We packed the pork down into the ice and went on about our day. When we arrived home, all the meat had somehow frozen into the center of a giant iceburg—which I had to drop on the cement to break apart. When I got it all apart, I noticed that the pork chops had somehow managed to completely thaw while encased in ice. I’m sure someone who understands physics better than I can explain how you get a warm area in the center of a block of ice.

As a result of the chops thawing out, we decided we would have to cook them the very next day (today).

Since we just learned about frying in pecan flour, I decided to give it a shot. I couldn’t find any recipes, so I looked up several and came up with this one. These are honestly the absolute best pork chops I’ve ever eaten in my entire life! Juicy, flavorful with melt-in-your-mouth fat. The sweetness of the pecans plays perfectly off the porky, salty, pepperiness. Amazing! Enjoy.

You will need:

  • Meat thermometer
  • 2.5 lbs pork chops
  • ¾ c pecan meal
  • 1 egg, beaten or ¼ c raw milk
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 2 T coconut oil
  • 2 T ghee
  • 2 T butter

 

  1. Pour beaten egg or milk on one plate and pecan meal on the other.
  2. Heat coconut oil, ghee and butter in a cast iron pan over med-high heat till bubbling.
  3. Dredge chops in egg/milk and pecan meal.
  4. Place in hot fat.
  5. Cover top of chop with a crust of salt and pepper—nice and thick!
  6. When the bottom is good and brown, flip chops and turn down heat to medium.
  7. Start checking the temperature of your chops pretty frequently. Once they reach 135o, remove chops and place on cutting board for 10 minutes. The temperature of the chops will continue to rise as they sit. Do not skip this step, as it allows the juices to soak back in! Note: chops may cook at different rates, so be sure to check the temperature of each
  8. Pop on a plate with a delicious side and eat up!

Lamb Broth with Lamb Shank

Lamb broth w/ lamb shank

 You Will Need

3-4 lbs Lamb shank from Avedano’s

2 T apple cider vinegar

4-5 2 qt. jars

Ladel or 2 c. pyrex measuring cup

Canning funnel

Metal tea strainer

Tongs

1 programmable slow cooker

 

  1. Place lamb in slow cooker
  2. Pour vinegar over meat.
  3. Add filtered water to fill slow cooker
  4. Cook for 24 hours on low.

Tip: Make sure you’re slow cooker isn’t going to go off and need to be re-set in the middle of the night while you are sleeping! Just re-set it before bed if necessary.

  1. Let the stock and meat cool for a couple of hours before attempting to work with them.
  2. Place a colander inside a large mixing bowl, and set up a jar with the canning funnel in the top and your tea strainer across the top of the canning funnel.
  3. Use the ladel or 2 c measuring cup to pour the liquid through the tea strainer into your jars.

 

Tip: If you plan to freeze your broth, use BPA-free plastic containers . My jars always seem to crack into the most frightening giant shards of glass you’ve ever seen!

 

  1. Use your tongs to remove meat and place into colander inside the bowl.
  2. Once all the stock is in the jars, it’s time to pull the meat off the bones!
  3. Using your hands, slowly pick the meat off the bone.
  4. Place meat in a jar or Tupperware in the refrigerator.
  5. Leave stock on counter to cool for a few hours and place in fridge.

 

Meat can be stored on the bone or removed from the bone prior to storage.

 


Duck Stock with Duck Neck

Duck stock w/ duck neck

You will need:

1.5 lbs duck feet (ratios and total weight may vary)

1.5 lbs duck neck

2 T apple cider vinegar

4-5 2 qt. jars

Ladel or 2 c. pyrex measuring cup

Canning funnel

Metal tea strainer

Tongs

1 programmable slow cooker

 

  1. Place duck feet and neck in slow cooker, no need to thaw them.
  2. Pour vinegar over meat.
  3. Add filtered water to fill slow cooker
  4. Cook for 24 hours on low.

Tip: Make sure you’re slow cooker isn’t going to go off and need to be re-set in the middle of the night while you are sleeping! Just re-set it before bed if necessary.

  1. Let the stock and meat cool for a couple of hours before attempting to work with them.
  2. Place a colander inside a large mixing bowl, and set up a jar with the canning funnel in the top and your tea strainer across the top of the canning funnel.
  3. Use the ladel or 2 c measuring cup to pour the liquid through the tea strainer into your jars.

 

Tip: If you plan to freeze your broth, use BPA-free plastic containers . My jars always seem to crack into the most frightening giant shards of glass you’ve ever seen!

 

  1. Use your tongs to remove meat and place into colander inside the bowl.
  2. Once all the stock is in the jars, it’s time to pull the meat off the bones!
  3. Using your hands, slowly pick the meat off the neck bones and discard the bones. Feet can be saved for a second round of stock.
  4. Place meat in a jar or Tupperware in the refrigerator.
  5. Leave stock on counter to cool for a few hours and place in fridge.

Mashed Carrots

Mashed Carrots

You will need:

Carrots (Peeled)

½ lb duck fat, lard or lard butter

Filtered water

Large steaming pot

Large mixing bowl

Immersion blender or potato masher

 

  1. Pour a few inches of filtered water into the steaming pot. Put on high heat and cover.
  2. Chop and peel carrots. Place in steamer basket.
  3. Put basket into pot and cook on high until lid starts to jostle. Turn down until lid is settled.
  4. Steam for 10-20 minutes, until carrots are very soft. Don’t worry about overcooking.
  5. Dump fat into large mixing bowl and pour hot carrots on top.
  6. Blend or mash until there are no large chunks.
  7. Eat hot or place in Tupperware or jar in fridge.
  8. Salt to taste.

Optional:  mix in fresh ginger juice


Mashed Cauliflower

Mashed Cauliflower

You will need:

2 medium heads cauliflower

½ lb duck fat, lard or lard butter (Avedano’s)

Filtered water

Large steaming pot

Large mixing bowl

Immersion blender or potato masher

 

  1. Pour a few inches of filtered water into the steaming pot. Put on high heat and cover.
  2. Chop cauliflower, removing and discarding stem. Place in steamer basket.
  3. Put basket into pot and cook on high until lid starts to jostle. Turn down until lid is settled.
  4. Steam for 10-20 minutes, until cauliflower is very soft. Don’t worry about overcooking.
  5. Dump fat into large mixing bowl and pour hot cauliflower on top.
  6. Blend or mash until there are no large chunks.
  7. Eat hot or place in Tupperware or jar in fridge.
  8. Serve with butter and salt to taste.

Stewed Onions

Stewed Onions

You will need:

4 large yellow onions

1-2 c stock/broth

2-4 T duck fat (other fats are fine, but duck tastes particularly good in this recipe)

Medium to large sauce pan or stock pot

Salt

 

  1. Place all ingredients in pot with lid on over medium heat.
  2. When ingredients start to simmer, turn down to low.
  3. Simmer for 10-30 minutes, until onions are soft and translucent.
  4. Salt to taste

12 Minute Oyster Soup

12 Minute Oyster Soup

serves 2

 

4 cups homemade fish stock

2 cups Backyard CSA seafood stock (or more fish stock if you don’t have Tiffani’s delicious seafood stock on hand)

1/3 lb shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 dozen oysters, in the shell, scrubbed clean

1/3 cup chopped chives

butter and sea salt to taste

 

Bring stock to a boil. Add mushrooms and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 7 mins (just enough time for the mushrooms to cook a little). Add oysters and simmer for 5 or so mins, until most of the oysters are cracked open. Add the chives in the last minute or two. Serve in large bowls with salt and butter to taste. Yum!