Sweet and Sour Pork

I remember going to my grandma's house every year for my mom's birthday and drooling over a giant turkey platter piled full of homemade sweet and sour pork.  Bite sizes of crispy pork and chunks of luscious pineapple swimming in a golden sauce that was perfectly sweet yet perfectly sour.  I always looked forward to mom's birthday dinner, so I could eat some of my favorite foods!  

When you have to change your eating due to food allergies, it's not like being on a diet.  You can't have your once a year/month/week binge and make up for it by working out extra hard at the gym or having lettuce for dinner.  If you have your binge, you are left with consequences far greater than an extra pound on the scale. You can become violently ill or break out in a rash, or even worse, suffer an anaphylaxis reaction.  Often times, the reaction you have to the offending food can last much longer than your initial reaction, lasting for days, weeks, or even months, leaving you suffering with headaches, body aches, digestive issues, and countless other issues.  For me, if I eat foods with gluten, I wake up the next morning feeling like I am extremely hungover.  I'm tired, nauseous, irritable, and achy.  Each time I eat gluten, it leaves me wanting more gluten, starting that entire cycle all over.  

It can be frustrating to try to convert your favorite family recipes to a gluten-free version.  The flours generally don't work on their own, the suggested make-your-own kinds can be costly, and the pre-made "cup-for-cup" all-purpose flours just don't always seem to work out in your favorite cake or cookie recipe.   Plus, many of those pre-made blends have other ingredients I can't, shouldn't, or won't eat.  Luckily, this recipe only calls for a small amount of flour, and I found substituting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour that worked just fine. As always, make sure that all ingredients are free of any allergens you need to avoid.

I think the key to this recipe is frying the pork twice to achieve that truly cripsy batter.  It's a little bit of extra time, but totally worth it! 

Since this is a special occasion dish for us, and it's usually made for a family get-together, I tend to double or quadruple the recipe.

Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Pork

1 lb pork tenderloin, visible fat trimmed, cut into 1" cubes

Your favorite high-heat oil for frying

Batter:

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/2 c. organic cornstarch

1/4 c. gluten-free all purpose flour (I'm really liking this brand right now)

1/4 c. chicken broth

1 tsp. grated ginger (fresh or powdered)

Sauce:

1 tbl. organic corn starch mixed with 1tbl. water till smooth

1 8oz. can chunk pineapple in 100% juice (not syrup)

1 TBL gluten free soy sauce/liquid aminos/coconut aminos

5 tbl rice vinegar (not seasoned)

5 tbl organic sugar

1/2 bell pepper, cut in small chunks

Preheat oven to 250*.  Set aside an oven safe shallow dish (like a jelly roll pan) lined with a  couple paper towels. 

Heat a dutch oven or deep heavy skillet to 350* with approximately 2" of oil. 

Mix together egg, salt, cornstarch, flour, chicken broth, and ginger until batter is smooth. I like to use the blender for this.  Place cut up pork in a large bowl and pour batter over the pork.  Make sure to coat each piece of pork completely with batter. 

Working quickly, carefully place pork, one piece at a time, into hot oil with tongs and dry to a light golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.  Work in batches and be sure not to crowd the pork, or it will clump together and the yummy batter will fall off.  When you take your first pieces of pork out of the oil.  Place them on the oven safe baking dish layered with paper towels.  Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, adding each batch of pork until you are finished frying all the pork.  Leave in the oven until a few minutes before serving.

Use a candy thermometer to make sure your oil is the proper temperature.

In a medium sized saucepan, mix together cornstarch water mixture, vinegar, and soy sauce.  Add the juice from the can of pineapple into the sauce pan as well, reserving the pineapple chunks.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Add pineapple and cook for one minute.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.

Sauce waiting to meet the crispy pork

While the sauce is cooking, reheat the oil back to 350*.  Add the pork back to the oil and fry once more until a medium golden brown and it's extra crispy.  If you need to fry in batches, make sure to keep the pork in the oven so it doesn't get cold and soggy.

Place twice fried pork in a large serving dish.  Pour sauce over the top.  Serve immediately.   

So much yummy goodness, you won't want to share! 

How I Learned to Love Breakfast ~ Homemade Breakfast Sausage

I never ate breakfast growing up.  I despised most breakfast foods.  I didn't like eggs, bacon, pancakes, cereal with milk, toast, sausage, or danishes.

There were a few exceptions:

Donuts

Waffles with fresh strawberries and whipped cream

Apple cinnamon walnut pancakes with butter and cinnamon sugar

Biscuits and Gravy  

Hash Browns

Pilsbury Cinnamon Rolls in the pop tube

Those were special occasion foods reserved for Birthdays, vacations, and Holidays. I only ate breakfast when those were on the menu.  And even then, it wasn't until mid morning, hours after I stumbled out of bed.

I am not a morning person AT ALL.  It takes me a while to roll out of bed, and even longer before I'm functional.  The thought of food or coffee within the first couple hours of me waking up was nauseating.  I used to get sick on car trips as soon as dad cracked open his green thermos full of coffee.    

Once, when I was about 7, we were visiting my Grandparents in Washington, and they took the whole family to a super fancy brunch at a restaurant overlooking Snoqualmie Falls. Rumor has it that the breakfast was very expensive, even for children, and that I only ate a few strawberries.  My Grandparents were NOT happy with me.  

Most mornings I skipped breakfast.  My mom was always on me about eating breakfast.  Sometimes she could get me to have a poptart or a glass of Carnation Instant Breakfast.  But most times I'd just wait till I got hungry around lunch time.

I know, I know. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day blah, blah, blah. 

As I got older, I still couldn't really eat until I had been up for a while.  But I had started to like some breakfast foods.  Bagels and cream cheese?  Yes, please.  Leftovers from the day before?  Sure.  A grilled cheese sandwich or a quesadila?  Always.  But still no eggs or "traditional" breakfast foods. Eventually, I learned to like an egg breakfast casserolle my mom made for Christmas breakfast every year.  It barely tastes at all like eggs and is full of bread, sausage, cheese, and a mushroom sauce. 

Mom, I can't wait for Christmas breakfast.  I look forward to it all year long.  We'll make an allergy friendly one again this year! 

When I met Dave, he was a breakfast person.  I'd want to go out for an early Sunday lunch.  He would want a big, Sunday breakfast.  Most places won't serve lunch until 11.  But every Sunday morning hangover needs a filling, greasy meal to make you feel better.  I usually ended up getting a side of hash-browns or a side of biscuits and gravy.  Sometimes I would order a meal and ask for the eggs on the side and give them to Dave.   I always wanted to order the fruit bowl, but they always have melons, and I'm very allergic to them.  Sometimes I timidly asked if they would make an exception to their lunch service times and ordered a sandwich or a burger. I got mixed responses.  I never went hungry, but I didn't understand the obsession with breakfast. 

As slowly as I introduced him to new foods, like cheesecake, he introduced me to breakfast foods, like bacon and cheese omelets .  Then suddenly breakfast became my favorite meal of the day.  I couldn't get enough of omelets.  Fluffy eggs stuffed with veggies, meats and cheeses.  A pile of hash-browns.  A side of gravy.  Sourdough toast slathered in butter.  Then came the love of bacon.  Glorious bacon. 

I could eat an enormous breakfast Sunday morning and then not eat again till dinner, or even Monday morning. 

As I've gotten older, my body has decided that it functions much better on a protein heavy morning meal.  I am more awake and less hungry throughout the day. It just makes me feel better.  

Last year, Dave started working and living out of town, so I ended up cooking scrambled eggs for myself most nights.  It was quick, easy, and filling.  I was loving breakfast so much, I was now making "brinner."

Then in February, I found out I was allergic to eggs.  The food that I had grown to love, ripped away from me.  

Once again, my dear friends, who both eat a paleo diet, found me recipes that didn't have eggs, or could be made without eggs, but were still filling.   One of the recipes was a root vegetable hash topped with meat and avocado and a fried egg.  Leave the fried egg out of the recipe, and I would have a tasty breakfast! 

My local grocery store makes amazing homemade sausages.  They have so many flavors, including an Italian breakfast sausage.  Right now, I can't eat it because it contains bay leaves and some other ingredients that I tested positive to.  

The other day, I really wanted some sausage on my breakfast hash, so I decided to figure out how to make it myself.  

I am a lazy cook, I admit it.  So instead of starting out with a whole pork roast and pork fat and grinding it myself, I decided to buy plain, organic ground pork and just season it for myself.  I added salt, pepper, some of my fermented garlic cloves, and a chopped up red bell pepper.  I mixed it all together and browned it in the skillet.  I could have stuffed it into casings or even made patties, but that's so much work, and I was hungry! 

I ended up roasting my sweet potatoes in the oven only because they end up using so much fat when you cook them in a skillet and they get a bit too greasy for my taste.  I know that one should get plenty of healthy fats in their diet, and I would already be eating lots of other healthy fats in this meal. 

 Everything in moderation, right?!?!

While the sweet potatoes were cooking, I added a diced up onion and added it to the browned sausage.  I let it cook until it was soft and translucent.  When the potatoes were done, I added them to the skillet with the cooked sausage and tossed it.  I served it with sliced avocado on top.  You could definitely add a fried egg or two on top.  I was getting low on veggies when I made this, but I will add more veggies in with the onions, like some chopped baby spinach or some shredded zucchini.  And with any breakfast, it would be great topped with some hot sauce.  But the eggs and hot sauce will have to wait for me right now.  But you should try it and tell me how it was!  

Homemade Breakfast Sausage 

2 lbs organic ground pork

2 tbl salt

2 tbl of pepper

1 red bell pepper, minced

4 tbl fennel seeds

10 (fermented - opt.) garlic cloves, minced

Mix all ingredients together until just combined.   Can form into patties first if desired.  Brown in the skillet or use in your favorite recipe! Always cook pork thoroughly until no longer pink in the middle. 

Kalua Pork...the crockpot edition

For anyone who has ever been to Hawaii, or knows anything about Hawaii, you know that they are known for a few foods:  Spam, Pineapple, and Kalua Pig.  

Yes, those are SPAM flavored macadamia nuts. 

Spam.  Side note...go see Spamalot.  We went and saw it this spring in San Francisco and it was magical.  I've seen several musicals, and this has to be my second favorite one I've ever seen.

You can buy spam at the grocery store, but you probably don't because it's terrible for you.

I hope you buy pineapple every chance you get, because it's delicious and really good for you.

Kalua pig.  If you are lucky enough to live near an authentic Hawaiian restaurant, you may be able to get it there.  I don't think any of us have the ability to roast a whole pig in an underground pit covered in banana leaves.

Dave and I at the Luau

My aunt and her family go to Hawaii about once a year.  She always talks about how good the food is there.  Like the pineapple shrimps (yes, shrimps) from the hole-in-the-wall place they like to visit.  We finally had the opportunity to go in November 2010, and I fell in love with the Island of Oahu.   Honolulu was decent, (it was like SF with warmer weather...I love SF, but I can go there anytime), but I really loved the other parts of the island that were less over-run with tourists.  I could definitely see myself visiting there many more times, maybe even take up temporary residency for a year or two and learn to slow down and live on Island Time.

The famous pineapple shrimps from
Fatty's Chinese Kitchen
International Marketplace - Honolulu

Luau Food - Yum yum yum!

One food that I have fallen in love with is kalua pig.  What is better than smoked pig? It's just so amazing, I started to try to find recipes to make it at home.  As I did some research, I found that people have been making an at home version of kalua pig by taking a pork shoulder/butt, covering it in the traditional Hawaiian Sea Salt, adding some liquid smoke for flavor, wrapping it in banana leaves and then foil, and slow roasting it in the oven for several hours.  

If you can slow roast something in the oven, that says to me that you can slow roast it in the crockpot.  I did a quick google search and found dozens, if not hundred of recipes for making pork in the crockpot!

I love my crockpot.  It doesn't heat up the house, and it uses way less energy than running an oven for hours.  Not to mention, it has dinner ready for me after work on the days where I'm too tired to ten get dinner from a drive-thru.  

The thing I love the most about this recipe, is that it helps me sleep later in the morning.  You actually start it the night before you want to eat it.  That appeals to this girl who hates waking up early, and would rather have 5 extra minutes of sleep than take 5 minutes to start the crockpot for dinner.  

 Around 9 or 10PM, gather your ingredients.

 1 Pork shoulder/butt, about 6-7lbs

Red Hawaiian Sea Salt

Liquid Smoke 

Place the pork in the crockpot fat side up.  

DO NOT TRIM OFF ANY OF THE FAT.  RESIST everything that Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, Jenny Craig, and every other diet you have done for the past 20 years has told you. It will keep the pork moist as it cooks.  You will discard the fat AFTER it cooks, not before.  If you trim off the fat now, you will end up with very tough, shoe leather like pork, and that's not even appetizing to the dogs.

Add 2-3 tbl of liquid smoke.  Then sprinkle the roast with 

2-3 tbl of Red Hawaiian Sea Salt, covering the entire top of the pork. 

Now, set your crockpot for 20 hours.  

Yes, you read that correctly, 20 hours. 

Now for the hardest part of all.  

Put the lid on and walk away. 

Just like Christmas, there is no peeking!  Leave that lid on for all 20 hours.

Wake up the next morning to the smells of something akin to bacon wafting throughout your house.  

Resist the urge to cut off a chunk to eat on your way out the door, it's not ready yet.  It will be tough.  Go to work, and spend your day dreaming about a luau.  Because that's what your dinner is going to taste like tonight!

Then when your 20 hours is up, remove the pork from the crockpot to a large bowl or dish.  Reserve the juices.  Grab two forks and start to shed up that meat.  Remove any hunks of fat.  Add back some of the juices to keep the meat moist. 

Then you will have a nice, beautiful bowl full of mouthwatering "kalua" pig.  

I like to serve it plain, on a bed of shredded cabbage with a side of rice, just like at a luau.  Turn on some Iz, close your eyes, and pretend you are in Paradise.

Unless you are feeding 14 people, you will probably have a ton of leftovers.  That's awesome!  Because now it can be made into dozens of different recipes.  Oh and did I mention, it freezes great?  Just pop a couple cups into a freezer ziplock and pull out for your next amazing meal.  I wouldn't freeze it longer than 2-3 months or else it will get freezer burned.

Some of the things I have made with the leftovers:

Taco/Burrito Filling - crisp up in a frying pan with some diced ortega chilies and taco seasoning.  Serve with mango salsa. 

Enchilada Filling - Mix with Green Enchilada sauce, spoon not a tortilla, roll up, top with cheese and more sauce, bake until hot and melty. 

BBQ pulled pork - Mix with your favorite BBQ sauce.  Serve hot on it's own or on make it into sliders using King Hawaiian rolls with a small scoop of coleslaw on top. 

Omelet - Add pork with your favorite omelet fillings

Nachos - Top a pile of chips with your favorite kind of cheese, add pork, green onions, and pineapple salsa

Breakfast scramble - Fry up potatoes, veggies, and pork.  Add eggs and scramble.  Top with some cheese and your favorite hot sauce. 

Soup - I actually haven't made this, but my coworker did.  We had a pulled pork taco bar potluck one time.  She took leftover pork, mexican rice, refried beans, salsa, and a bunch of other things, threw it all in the crockpot and make it into a delicious soup.  (Note to self:  get that "recipe")

Words to the Wise: I have found out that if you use a smaller, leaner piece of pastured pork instead of say a giant fatty roast from Costco, the pork will dry out, it won't create any of those yummy juices that keep it moist, and it will burn.  While I always advocate to use organic meats that were raised locally and humanely, I can't say that this is the best option for the recipe.  I would work with your local farmer to make sure you get a large, fatty piece of meat, or buy one from a store you feel comfortable with. If you do use a leaner cut of meat, I would add water to the crockpot, or else it will dry out and burn.  


Shared at Full Plate Thursday's