Mango BBQ Pulled Pork

For the LOST series finale I decided to do a tropical themed pulled pork and I love mangos so that's pretty much my inspiration for creating this dish.  This is an all day recipe or at least you need to commit a good 4-6 hours of your day towards it because pulled pork really is an art AND science and it just takes that long to make it mouthwatering awesome.  I must say with no measure of bias that this pulled pork was just about the best pulled pork I've ever had.  I found myself explaining multiple times throughout the night to fellow LOST fans how exactly I made it so awesome.  I doubt anyone remembered my explanation so I'm sure they'll come to our next party where I probably will repeat it making it.  Okay that's enough self-gratification, here's the actual recipe.

Dry Rub:
1 c brown sugar
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp dry mustard
2 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp chili powder

1 5-7lb Boston Butt or Picnic Shoulder

Rub the dry rub all over your pork and let it marinate for at least an hour but overnight it optimal.  I did it for only an hour because well I forgot to do it.  As you can see in my picture I did one butt and one shoulder.  Once it's been sitting for an hour (or more) put it into a preheated 300 degree oven covered with foil tightly or with the lid of your roasting pan.  Let it roast for 4 hours and check the internal temperature and if it's at least 170 degrees, if not let it keep roasting.  It shouldn't take more than 6 hours total. 

Let it sit for at least 30 minutes before touching it. 

Then you can use two forks to "pull" the pork apart.  Then you can set it aside if you don't need to eat it right away or add the BBQ sauce which follows and enjoy.






Mango BBQ Sauce:
1 c cider vinegar
2 mangos, peeled and cut up (might be able to use frozen mangos that have been thawed)
1 red onion, chopped
2-3 Tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c ketchup
4-5 shakes Worcestershire sauce
1 large lime, juiced
TT Salt & Pepper
1/2 c orange mango juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
10 shakes Frank's Red Hot
2 Tbsp parsley, fresh or dry
1 Tbsp thyme
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Here's the hard part, put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. 

Then simmer on medium heat for at least 45 minutes.  Can use about half of the sauce to mix with the pulled pork.

Kat's Awesome Potato Salad

So Aaron, my sister's bf, decided to have a BBQ this weekend, and me being me decided that I needed to make some side dishes.  I whipped up a random concoction of potato salad and it turned out amazing!

1.5 lbs red potatoes, 1 inch cubes(ish)
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small onion (spanish ideally), diced
3/4 cup frozen peas (thawed)
1/2 cup mayo
1 tbsp italian herbs
2 dill pickle spears, diced
1 tsp Frank's Red Hot
2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
TT Salt and Pepper

Put the cubed potatoes into cold water and bring to a boil, and cook until the potatoes are al dente (aka cooked but not soft).  While the water is heating up you can easily dice and mix all the other ingredients together in a large bowl.  Once the potatoes are done cooking, drain them and rinse them with cold water, then let them sit in the strainer for a couple minutes to let them dry off a little.  Then pour the potatoes into the mayo mixture, no need to cool them down first just dump them on in and mix it to coat all the potatoes with the mayo mixture.  This is when I taste it to see if I need to add anymore Salt and Pepper.  If you taste it before you put the potatoes in you may think it's too salty only to find out after the potatoes are in that it's too bland.   Then just refridgerate for at least an hour or until it's cool and enjoy!  Though I must admit I always eat some potato salad before it's cold because I love it so much.  For the note I have about spanish onions, I like using those in this recipe because it is raw and other types of onions can be a bit harsh, but spanish onions are a bit more mild and are much easier to handle raw.  And you may notice that I use Frank's Red Hot as sort of my secret ingredient in most of my dishes, even if it's not listed in my recipe I might have ended up using it.  Its something that if used in small amounts can really enhance flavors within the dish much like salt does, used in larger amounts it makes the dish pretty hot however, so start off small and work your way up a few drops at a time and always taste taste taste!

Enjoy!

Eggplant Lasagna

This is one of my favorite comfort foods to make that actually fullfills my craving for italian food since the consistency my "noodles" actually taste and feel like noodles.  It is one food also that actually gets better with reheating.  For some reason the eggplant noodles meld together in the fridge and when you reheat it it tastes exactly like normal italian lasagna.  My mom and I have both fooled finicky eaters with this reheated, we just neglect to tell them its eggplant instead of egg noodles until after their plate is empty.  And one nice thing about this is that you can really add what ever you want for vegetables in the intial saute.  My recipe is just what how I made it when I was experimenting.  This can easily be made vegetarian if necessary, I just am an omnivore.

3.5 oz Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 Tbsp various italian herbs
1 large eggplant
1 jar marinara
1 lb shredded mozzarella
32 oz ricotta
2 eggs

Saute the mushrooms, onion, pepper, garlic, and ground beef in a hot pan until the beef is fully cooked.  Add the sauce and bring to a simmer and add the herbs. 

In a seperate bowl combine the ricotta and eggs and set aside. 

Peel the eggplant and slice thinly.

Take a deep dish and put the sauce down first, then layer the eggplant, ricotta, mozzarella cheese, and sauce. 

Make sure to finish with the sauce on top.  I did about 4 layers of eggplant.  Bake for about 1 hour at 375 degrees.  This will be VERY juice so definitely let it sit for a bit before cracking into it.  The only reason why I used a circular pan was because it was my only deep pan.  If you don't want to use egpplant you can also use zucchini slices in the exact same way as the eggplant for a similar texture.

Enjoy!

Re-vamp of blog and Risotto!

So in an effort to re-vamp my blog somewhat I've decided to incorporate going out to Boston restaurants to test the food, gluten free knowledge of staff, and if there are even gluten free options to begin with.  I'll try to do something like this each week, or at least post a recipe.  Who knew it was so hard to keep up with blogging!

And since this is such a short post I might as well add a recipe.

Red Pepper and Mushroom Risotto

1 cup Arborio Rice
2 cups Chicken Stock
1 cup Milk or white wine.
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red bell pepper
5-6 shiitake mushroom tops, diced
1/4 cup Parmesean Cheese.
1 Tbsp Italian Herb Mix (i.e. oregano, basil, marjoram, etc)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter

Melt the butter in a pan with the olive oil on medium high heat.  once melted add the onion, pepper, garlic, and mushrooms and saute until the onions are translucent.  Add the arborio rice and stirring with a wooden spoon until the rice is a little toasted and completely covered by the oil and butter.  Add the cup of wine if you are using wine, otherwise add a cup of stock.  Stir the rice frequently until the the liquid is almost completely gone then add another cup of stock. Repeat the process of stirring until the liquid is almost gone then add the cup of milk if you are doing milk instead of wine, or if you did the wine add the stock.  At this point everything should look pretty creamy.  Reduce the liquid again and when its about halfway reduced add the cheese and herbs.  Take the risotto off the heat once the liquid is almost gone, but leave a little juice because it will continue to soak it up.  Then salt and pepper to taste.  This can be eaten as a main dish or can be used as a side dish.  I like to have risotto with baked salmon because it just always goes so good together!

Enjoy!

Hummus

Oh look I still have a blog!

Getting ready for the Super Bowl and one of the things I decided to do was make Hummus for the vegetarian crowd coming to our party.  I believe Hummus is usually gluten free anyway but my recipe I made for the party exceeded my expectations in taste, and it's so simple to make!

1/4 c Tahini (sometimes called seseme tahini paste)
1 lemon - juiced
1 T ground cumin
2 garlic cloves minced (or more to taste)
1.5 cans of chickpeas drained
4 T olive oil
3/4 c hot water
Pretty much just put all the ingredients into a food processor except the hot water which you drizzle in and blend til it looks like hummus.

After you taste it if it is a little bland you can add a little more cumin and garlic.  Mine was a little bland at first and I added more of those things and it turned out amazing.  My recipe does take into account the additions of the cumin and garlic I added to the end, but I didn't have exact measurements so you may have to add a little more.  Also adding a little salt and pepper can enhance the flavor as well.

Enjoy!

Organic Milk is Better!

Dairy is one of the first things people tend to get that is organic when they decide to switch over, mostly because of availability of the items. In almost any grocery market these days you can go in and buy a gallon organic milk for not too big of a price difference from nonorganic milk. In fact many organic milk producers can easily sell twice as much as what they produce and the US has to import 10% of its organic milk from Holland. Organic milk is defined as milk from cows that graze on organic pastures and are fed hay or silage. None of the food for dairy cows can be modified using chemical fertilizers, animal byproducts, or with the addition of medication and hormones. However organic dairy cows can be administered medication on an as needed basis. Nonorganic dairy cows are regularly given synthetic growth hormones to increase their milk production, however research has shown that not only can it affect preteen onset of puberty but also increase the possibility of women to have twins. Women are have an increased chance at having twins because the growth hormones given to dairy cows affects proteins in a woman’s body that increases ovulation. When it comes to dairy it seems like a no-nonsense decision to go organic. Women are told when they are breastfeeding to stay away from a lot of various things because everything they eat or use goes directly into their breast milk. So why do we inject dairy cows with antibiotics, growth hormones, and various other things and not think that it will come out in our milk? The answer is, because we can. By injecting those things into the dairy cows they produce more milk and stay healthy longer. In the end, milk and dairy are things that are definitely worth buying organic.

Quick and Easy Chili

Intimidated by making chili? Don't be. One of the first things I made when I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease was chili. I had bought one of those chili packet mixes and discovered that it in fact had gluten in it. However I read the recipe on the back of it and thought, this packet mix really does nothing! So I just made the basic recipe from the back of the packet. It came out decent, and that became my staple for the first few months and I slowly was able to adjust it until I could make it within a half hour for pretty cheap as well.

1 lb ground meat
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 habenero or Serrano pepper, diced
TT Chili Powder
TT Garlic Powder

Brown the meat and chop it up into little pieces while browning. Once cooked or at least mostly cooked add all the other ingredients including the juices. Bring up to a boil and then let simmer for at least 15 minutes. And enjoy!

See? Super easy. And the longer you let it simmer the better it gets. If I make it for lunch I just leave it on the stove on the lowest heat and eat some more at dinner time or put it in a bowl with some shredded cheese and eat it with tortilla chips. Just store the rest in the fridge and when you reheat it, it makes even better chili dip as well as soup. A really good chili dip idea is putting cream cheese on the bottom of an oven safe pan or dish add the chili and top with cheddar cheese. And throw it into the oven to heat it up and make the cheese bubble.