Oh My Pork Chops!

These slow cooker pork chops are so good they could make me weep. Last time my daughter came home I chased her around all weekend trying to get her to try a teeny taste. She kept insisting, "Okay I might try it, but I don't like pork chops." Finally on Sunday night she took the littlest bite and said something like, "Wait, these are good." She then absconded with all my leftovers. They are seriously delicious.  This recipe is inspired by a recipe found on The Gluten Free Homestead post from October 12, 2016. I am definitely a KISS kind of cook. This version is somewhat more simple than the original. You do need to plan ahead for this one as you'll want to brine the meat for at least one hour. I like to put it in brine the night before and then set it up in the morning.

Ingredients for Brine

2 large Bone in Pork Chops, preferably pasture raised

3-4 warm cups water
2 Tablespoons salt
2-3 bay leaves
Searing Ingredients
2-3 teaspoons bacon grease, olive oil or avocado oil
About 1/4 cup Bragg's apple cider vinegar (or cooking wine).
Slow Cooker Ingredients
3 cups water
1 teaspoon Bragg's apple cider vinegar
1 medium onion
4 large carrots
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or a few fresh leaves)

Brining the chops. Add two tablespoons salt to 3-4 cups warm water to dissolve into a glass or metal container (I use a medium glass mixing bowl with a lid). Add 2-3 bay leaves and pork chops. Cover and refrigerate. Leave for at least an hour.

Pour off the brine, and put the bay leaves into the slow cooker (if possible). Sprinkle salt one one side of chops. Preheat a cast iron or stainless steel frying pan to medium high heat and add the bacon grease or oil. Once it sizzles when you drip a little water in the pan, it is ready for the chops. Please note if the oil smokes the pan is too hot. If that happens you probably want to throw out the oil, wipe out the pan and start again. After you put the chops salted side down, sprinkle the other side with salt.

Add the pork chops to the hot pan and leave them until you can shake the pan and the meat moves. If the meat is sticking to the pan, it's not ready.  While the chops are searing you can add the Slow Cooker ingredients to the Slow Cooker. Once the chops move freely and have some nice brown spots go ahead and flip them.

Add the seared chops to the slow cooker. After you remove the chops, you will deglaze the pan with about 1/4 cup Bragg's vinegar. Pour the vinegar into the still hot pan and scrap up all the good bits. Pour everything from the pan on top of the pork chops in the slow cooker.

Set the slow cooker on low and cook 4 hours.

Paleo Slow Cooker Osso Bucco

Paleo Slow Cooker Osso Bucco is a good solid family dinner. This recipe is a work in progress. I think I will be changing it up as I make further attempts. I do not make it into gravy, but you could make gravy when it's all done by putting cassava flour or almond flour into the  broth after it's finished cooking. I am good with just broth, but if you feel like being traditional that would be the way to go.

Starting in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients:
About 1 pound grass fed beef shank
3/4 cup bone broth (or substitute regular broth)
2-3 large carrots
1-2 celery stalks
1 pint cherry tomatoes or 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste (if you use the cherry tomatoes the skins can be a bit tough)
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup cooking wine
2 Tablespoons Bragg's apple cider vinegar
4 oregano leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
1 teaspoon thyme
pinch of cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt (plus salting meat)

And the Leftovers

Salt the meat and sear it in the olive oil*. Put the broth and vinegar in slow cooker, add seared meat. As soon as you remove the meat from the pan add the cooking wine and continue cooking as you scrap all the good bits from the bottom of the pan. (That's called deglazing the pan and is well worth the effort, plus the pan will be easy to clean.).  Pour all those good bits over the top of the meat then add all the seasoning. Chop and add vegetables. Since I do not tolerate onion very well, I peel and cut an onion and cut it in half (then remove it at the end). Cook on high for two hours and then on low for 6 hours. (If you have to be away and don't have a programmable cooker I would suggest low for 10 hours).

*To sear I prefer a cast iron or stainless steel pain. Heat olive oil to medium/medium high heat (if the oil smokes start over). Be careful not to use too much oil, it won't sear nicely.
Do NOT try to flip the meat until it moves when you shake the pan. If the meat is sticking, it's not ready. I like to wait until the meat has some color variation.

If you want to make gravy, when all is said and done take the meat and vegetables out of the pot. Pour the broth into a pot and bring to a boil. Whisk in a couple tablespoons almond or cassava flour and then simmer until it thickens.

Seed Crackers Recipe #5

As promised... a happy seed cracker recipe to go with the pastured and cultered butter. These crackers are so good, even when they are bad they are good. It's nice to have something to crunch that is not so high in carbs. Every time I make these I change it up a bit, but my latest version is my favorite so far.

I lovingly call this recipe "Seed Cracker Recipe #5"

Ingredients:
1/2 cup each of
-white (or brown) chia seeds
-flax seeds
-Black (or white) sesame seeds (soaked or straight out of package)

2 teaspoons each of
- paprika
-garlic powder
-onion powder

1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups fine blanched almond flour without the skins (I like Bob's Red Mill or homemade)
1 1/2 cups water

Instructions:
First put the chia and flax seeds in a mixing bowl and stir in water and let the mixture sit at least 10 minutes to allow the gel to come out of the seeds.

Add the spices to the top of the mixture while waiting if you want. Then preheat the oven to 300 F. Once the 10 minutes (or so) has elapsed add the almond flour and sesame seeds and blend.

Once everything is all mixed up you will spread the dough into two parchment paper lined baking pans about 11x13 in size. You can also spread it onto olive oil greased pans if you're fresh out of parchment.   Spread the cracker mixture as thing as possible in the bottom of the pans-- I use two metal spoons. Note that you can add water to your mixture to make spreading easier, but it will take longer to cook.

Cook for one hour. If not completely crispy you can flip and cook longer -checking every 15 minutes for crispiness. Remove from oven and allow to cool, then break into cracker sized pieces.

If you want to go for more uniformly sized crackers you can cook for 30 to 45 minutes, then slice them into squares and flip over for additional cooking. I myself could not care less about whether the crackers are squares or natural shapes.

VEGETARIAN RECIPE: Low FODMAP French Toast

I prefer to cook this frenh toast in a cast iron skillet to give it a nice texture.

Heat cast iron skillet on medium heat for five minutes. After four add a quarter cup of canola oil

1 c Trader Joe's vanilla rice milk
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1 egg
4 slices Udi's White Sandwich Bread

Note that some of it will fall apart-- but it tastes great anyway!

VEGAN: Charred Summer Veggies recipe

This recipe is adapted from one I found in Cooking Lite magazine a few years ago

Charred Summer Veggies
2 1/2 c corn kernals (~5 ears)
1 c chopped green beans
2 c chopped zucchini
1 c chopped red bell pepper
2 T chopped green onion tops (green part only)
2 T chpped fress flat parsley
2 T fresh lemon juice
4 t olive oil
1/2t salt
pepper to taste

Heat 12" skillet on high over high heat. Coat with cooking spray, add corn, beans, zucchini and pepper, stir to combine. Cover and cook 5 mins (it will smell like it's burning).Combine green onion tops with remaining ingredients and toss into pan.

PLANT BASED RECIPE: Vanilla Icing recipe and great GFCF Cake Mix

I can't remember where I found this recipe for vegan vanilla icing, but it's simple, easy and yummy.

GFCF Vanilla Icing

1/2 c vegan margarine

1/4 c vanilla rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)

3 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla
Put all margarine, vanilla and milk in large mixing bowl and cream together with a hand mixer. Add half of the sugar until well blended, then add rest of sugar and mix until blended.

 

Macaroni and Cheese-less - GFCF from Gluten Free Goddess

Cheesy Uncheesy Sauce
For an outrageously great cheese sauce alternative check out the recipe on the gluten-free goddess blog (http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/12/cheesy-uncheese.html)

I leave the white wine out of this recipe and it still comes out great. I prefer it with hemp milk, but if I use rice milk I thicken it with a little corn starch (2 tablespoons corn starch and 2 tablespoons water, mixed in slowly). I've used both almond butter and cashew butter with it, which is good, but I prefer the tahini.




Best Vegan GF Macaroni and Cheese
There's also a fabulous recipe for macaroni and cheese recipe the cheesy uncheesy sauce with GF pasta and  artichoke hearts. (http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/11/kicked-up-baked-mac-and-cheese.html)