Apr 26, 2015 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
I have never been a huge fan of smoky barbecue sauce or just straight up red BBQ sauce. So I developed a conglomeration that works in the interim … I may soon develop one from scratch but for now this one is GF and spicy, tangy, sweet and a lovely afterbite!
Bill’s BBQ Sauce
1 jar (298 g) Mr. Sauce Honey BBQ
2 tbsp (30 ml) Habanero Tabasco
1/2 cup (125 ml) spicy sweet mustard (a ground mustard is the best if possible)
1/2 cup (120 g) minced garlic
2 tsp (10 g) cilantro
Mix and enjoy!
Apr 1, 2015 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
The jar on the left is Habanero Jelly and on the right is the Jalapeno Jelly. The jelly should last for quite awhile – this jalapeno jelly was still good after three years. Be careful about preparation and sanitation though if you plan on keeping it that long.
When I was a young warthog, er, when I was a young boy, I loved Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. Grape was my favourite flavour. As I got older, it was a guilty pleasure at times, but of course that was all BCD. So as a guilty pleasure goes, it went out the window.
Of course PBJs are not the only way to enjoy jelly. And it definitely is not a great way to enjoy Pepper Jelly. This spicy sweet goodness goes amazingly well with cream cheese and bagels or a personal favourite is with cheese ball and crackers – obviously both the bagel and crackers would be GF!
Pepper Jelly
2 pounds (900 g) peppers (Habanero for really hot jelly or Jalapeno for a milder jelly)
2.5 cups (625 ml) apple cider vinegar
2 – 1.75 ounce (100 g) packages powdered pectin
10 cups (2.2 kg) sugar
- Wearing rubber gloves, take the stem off the top of peppers and puree the peppers as fine as possible in a food processor.
- Combine the puree and 4 cups water in a large non-corrodible pot and place over medium heat. When the liquid comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the hot puree into a jelly bag or a strainer lined with a dampened cheesecloth. Let the juice drip for an hour, stirring occasionally.
This would be the straining process. I didn’t bother with a cheesecloth because in this case I have a fine mesh colander that works just as well.
- Pour the strained juice into a non-corrodible pot; there should be approximately 4 cups. Add water equal to this amount. Add the vinegar and pectin, stir well.
- Bring to a full boil and add the sugar. Bring the contents to a boil that cannot be stirred down and stir for 1 minute.
- Immediately ladle the hot liquid into hot sterilized jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace, and seal. Refrigerate any jars that do not seal and use within 2 weeks. Note – if you don’t like the colour, you can add a little food colouring. That won’t alter the taste or texture.
Precautions:
Nov 3, 2014 | Dairy Free, Entrees
A long time ago, in a galaxy (or in this case) a country not too far away, I worked in a supermarket deli. That job helped me learn a lot about a number of different foods and the preparation of said foods. At the same time, it helped me flesh out what I liked and what I despise. To this day, I try not to eat ham unless there is no choice.
Bacon, on the other hand, can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. But I’m getting sidetracked.
I worked through most of the sections of that deli including the wok station where I first learned how to do fried rice. Obviously this will not be the recipe they used for a few reasons such as it’s GF, it’s spicy and it’s a non-traditional fried rice. And speaking of the other white meat, it has pork as its meat and like my quesadillas, it’s a full meal deal!
FMD Pork Fried Rice
2 cups (480 g) enriched long-grain white rice, cooked
4 eggs
Olive Oil
1 bunch diced green onions
1 lb. (480 g) pork
1/2 cup (115 g) GF peanuts
2 cups (500 g) frozen broccoli
1 cup chopped carrots
Cilantro
Oregano
Minced Garlic
Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 cup (125 ml) GF Soy Sauce
1/2 cup (125 ml) Apple Juice
1/4 cup (60 ml) Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp (15 g) Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp (5 g) cilantro
1 tsp (5 g) oregano
- Wash your rice in water to get all the excess starch off. Then you can cook it as a plain white rice or cook it with a bit of chicken bouillon.
- Cut up your pork into small bite-size pieces and cook in a wok with garlic, cilantro, oregano and flakes until done. You can make it as spicy as you want – though I would caution against putting too much since you will add cilantro and oregano to make your sauce.
- Add the carrots, green onions and broccoli with a little bit of the sauce. When the vegetables are bright and cooked through, turn the wok down to low.
- Scramble the eggs in olive oil in a small non-stick pan. While the eggs are cooking you can mix the soy sauce, apple juice, balsamic vinegar and spice to create your sauce. Put the eggs and rice into the wok before adding the sauce and returning to heat. Once the rice has taken the soy colour and been warmed up, serve it immediately.
For an alternative, replace the pork and apple sauce with chicken and orange juice.
Sep 14, 2014 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
I love pork – prepared in just about anyway but ham and regular barbecue. Sorry Mom – but they may have ruined those “treats” for me. So pretty much any other kind of bacon or pork I will inhale.
And I recently developed a new way of doing a pork roast after my wife starting buying beef roasts in their own gravy, which contained – you guessed it – glutenized gravy. So I had to come up with an alternative that in my book far surpasses the other roast in not only taste but in being gluten free!
Caribbean Pork Roast
3-4 lb pork loin/roast
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
1/4 cup (60 g) Jerk Seasoning
1 large red onion
1/4 cup (60 ml) spicy sweet mustard
1-2 cups (~.5 l) cooking sherry
- Heat your olive oil in a stainless steel saute pan while you rub down your pork with the jerk
seasoning. Once the oil is hot, you want to sear the pork on all sides sealing in the juices – should develop a nice browned skin at about 3-4 minutes per side. Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees
- Saute the julienned red onions in the drippings after you pull the pork out. While the onions cook, brush the mustard over the entire roast. Let it rest for about ten minutes.
- While the roast is resting and after your onions are done, add the sherry to the pan to deglaze. You can add a little butter if you want to make the sauce richer.
- Once the sauce has thickened a bit or your 10 minutes rest is up, add the pork to the pan and put it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until it’s at about 145 degrees internally in the thickest part of the roast.
- Serve the roast and sauce over rice and enjoy!
Aug 21, 2014 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Entrees, Nut Free
As I mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of traditional barbecue. But I love some tender juicy ribs and done with an amazing sauce – like my Cola Cajun BBQ Sauce – you can’t go wrong! This recipe really is all about the preparation rather than just the sauce …
Slow Ribs
Rack of Ribs – however many you need
Lowry’s Seasoning Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Barbecue sauce
- The night before you cook your ribs, you will need to prep them. Take your ribs and add generous portions of the dry seasoning rubbing them in.
- Wrap them in aluminum foil with simple fold and tuck. Wrap them a second time with the “open” side down to help trap in the juices.
- The next morning preheat your oven to about 175 degrees or frankly you could just throw them into the cold oven, preferably in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet that can catch any extra juices that might escape.
- Leave them alone for at least eight hours, up to about 10.
- Take them out of the oven. Unwrap them carefully.
- Slather both sides with a good barbecue sauce like my Cola Cajun BBQ and let them cook for about 20 more minutes – long enough for the sauce to glaze on the ribs
- Take them out and serve. Beware – the bones will literally slide out of the ribs. So it would pay to get some nicer ribs without all the fat and extra sinuous bones.
Aug 17, 2014 | Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sauces & Seasonings
Caribbean Jerk Seasoning
This is obviously a dry seasoning. It can be used as a rub or to season meat. As a note, you will need to make a batch of the Cajun Seasoning to make this recipe.
1 tsp (5 g) dry mustard
1 tsp (5 g) dehydrated onion
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) cinnamon
2 tsp (10 g) cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) ground allspice
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) dried thyme
1 tsp (5 g) seasoning salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) turmeric
1 tsp (5 g) Cajun Seasoning
I have never been a huge fan of smoky barbecue sauce or just straight up red BBQ sauce. So I developed a conglomeration that works in the interim … I may soon develop one from scratch but for now this one is GF and spicy, tangy, sweet and a lovely afterbite!
