At Home Chinese Dinner - Revisited again - with Shrimp -too much salt :(

     The menu BGS had this week had a beef and ginger meal that we had 2 weeks ago, so I substituted the Shrimp Noodle dinner I made a couple years back - because I felt like it :)

The players

Sad part is I didn't read my recipe early enough to help myself this time.  Case in point, I forgot to defrost my 1 lb of shrimp.  And now begins the peeling and de-tailing of frozen shrimp. Cue frozen fingers.  *sigh*  Oh well, we move on.

The players have changed up this time around so pay attention: 1 lb shrimp, 1 10 oz bag of broccoli, 2 tbsp sesame oil 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock, 1/2 cup GF Soy sauce, 1 garlic clove smashed, 2 tsp fresh grated ginger, 2 tsp cornstarch, 4 tsp room temp water, 1/4 tsp five-spice (again, this five spice has seven spices), and rice noodles.

Last time I made this BGS was not yet GF, so I used egg noodles.  I also used low-sodium soy sauce (one of my pantry staples).  This time signals got mixed and the GF soy sauce that was purchased was most definitely not low sodium.  With the soy sauce being 1/2 of the sauce for this dish, the meal came out much saltier than BGS or I liked.  And he doesn't usually mind extra salt.

Before I started documenting tonight's meal, I ran to Amazon.com to add some low-sodium GF soy to my cart.  I think I will also add a different style rice noodle.  Tonight's noodle worked, but I think I would prefer noodles that were thinner and/or shorter.  Maybe something like this soba noodle (a BGS request).

Honey Ginger Apple Shredded Pork - Revisited

     Last week's attempt at this recipe came out dry and flavorless, so I decided to try it again with the recommended cut of pork and more liquid.  I also rearranged the order of operations/layers.  My camera batteries are still dead, so I took a few pictures with my phone.

The players - same as before, mostly: 2lb pork shoulder roast, 2 apples, cored and sliced, 1 onion sliced (thanks again to the grocery store for not making me cry), 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp dried ginger, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 

It's important to note the change in the ginger measurement.  I forgot to pick up fresh ginger at the store and I can't even imagine 2 tablespoons of dried ginger in one dish....

The recipe says that I should I add the onion first, then broth, then pork, then apples, then spices.  I decided to mix it up a bit.  I put most of  the spices on top of the pork this time instead of  adding the spices  on top of the apples and rubbed them in to the pork a bit,  then I put the apples on top and tossed on the rest of the spice mixture.   I put some of the spices on top of the pork in an effort to infuse the pork with some flavor that I noted was lacking last week.  I just hope I didn't end up overdoing the spice.

*Enter BGS stage left* "You didn't add more liquid this time.  We talked about this..." 

Commence measuring and adding an additional 2/3 cup of chicken broth.....

*BGS commentary - I bet it would taste good with beef broth*   "Yes, hon. The recipe said I could use beef broth, but I refuse to mix chicken and beef broth...."

Set the timer for 7 hours.....

And now we wait....

Halfway through cook time....it smells flipping amazing (again) ...almost drooling...almost.....MUST NOT LIFT LID.....

3hrs left -

*ENTER BGS stage left  

"Do you want me to lift the lid and flip it?  If I don't it will dry out again*

No.  Absolutely do NOT lift that lid.   "But...." No.  "Ok.  don't blame me if it fails" 

*Exit BGS stage left*

*BEEP* *BEEP *BEEP*

SMELLS DIVINE!!!

Lift the lid - apples are perfectly wilted across the top of the pork.  The liquid appears to have doubled in amount.  I call BGS.  He lifts the pork..well....he tries to lift it.  It falls apart in the tongs. *SCORE*.  Scoop out some apples and sit down to dinner.  Have to admit I cheated on the veggie tonight - I forgot to grab a veggie for tonight and there is no way I am leaving the house in this weather.   Thank goodness for backups - aka frozen steam veggies :)

I forgot to take a picture of the finished plate.  I just couldn't wait to eat the wonderful smelling meal.

I can confirm that the change from pork tenderloin to pork roast  did indeed aid to the success of this recipe revisit.  The pork is moist, mildly tasty with strong hits of cinnamon on the top of the pork in certain areas.

at this point in the evening, BGS informs me that he is not a fan of cinnamon with pork.....*sigh* I thought about smacking him, but decided against it.

He cleans his plate, though, and said he enjoyed the meal :)  

Cook's notes - I didn't notice the ginger, but maybe it's because the cinnamon was so strong this time.  Time to tweak this recipe for my house.

(Almost Overnight) Ginger Honey Apple Pork Tenderloin

First, I apologize for the lack of prep photos.  I completely forgot :(

Tomorrow night's dinner is going to be Honey Ginger Apple Pork Tenderloin.

Knowing that I have to leave tomorrow morning -  usually before I finish my first cup of coffee..mmmm coffee....wait....where was I?  Oh right, leave early and not return until noon-ish..... I prepped everything  tonight.  Including putting a slow cooker liner in the crock and putting the lid on.

As  many of you know I do my best to not alter a recipe or substitute ingredients until after I have made the dish once or twice.  That said....
Notes on the pork - the original recipe found on PaleoOMG's site called for pork roast.  My dad did my shopping for me this week, thanks dad :)  Out of habit I wrote pork tenderloin on my list....not roast.  So guess what he purchased....a tenderloin. I hope it turns out just as well.....

The players: 2 lb porkloin
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 apples, cored and sliced
2/3 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1 tablespoon raw honey
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 bay leaf

I grated the ginger, smashed the garlic, measured out the spices, and opened the pork.  I put the pork in  baggie number one, the honey in a small container 1 (with cooking spray),  measured and poured the low-sodium chicken stock in container 2, measured and placed the spices and put them in baggie 2, grated the ginger (baggie 3), smashed the garlic (baggie 4), sliced the apple and put it in baggie 5(with lemon juice), and saved myself some time by buying pre-sliced onion (THANK YOU, GROCERY STORE!!)  Stash the pork, the apple, the chicken stock, the ginger, and the garlic in the fridge and head off to bed.
. . . *insert sleepy music here*...

*Yawn* While my favorite Keurig ®pod  is brewing, I grab my oatmeal, creamer, and my mise en place (ingredients) out of the fridge (except the honey, since honey and refrigerators do not make for easy pouring).  Heat oatmeal here.

First, layer the onions on the bottom of the lined crock, then pour the chicken stock on top of the onions.  Toss the loin, ok maybe not toss...place the loin on top of the onions. add cream to coffee here Top the loin with the lemon-tossed apple slices, then empty the ginger baggie, the garlic baggie, and the spice baggie on top of the the apples.  Put the lid on and start the crock.  I set it for 9 hours and sat down to gobble up breakfast and coffee before dashing out the door.  ........*insert nice hold music here*....

Come back 4 hours later...walk up to the kitchen and almost fall over from the amazing smell coming from the crock pot.  It's BEYOND tempting to lift the lid, but I resist temptation.  I don't want any moisture to escape.  Now I just have to wait.  *sigh*  Had to warn BGS against opening the lid, also - just because I know he has a tendency to do exactly that...routinely....

*more hold music while I work on my passion of digitizing.  You can follow that passion here - Red's Stitch Niche*

Smelled fantastic, but I think I must have executed the recipe wrong(besides using the wrong cut of pork)...even though I followed the steps exactly, because it came out tasting like none of the flavors....and dry.

Note: when I pulled up the lid, I noticed that all the spices were sitting on top of the apples

I plan on trying the recipe again next week with the right cut of pork.  And maybe this time I will remember to buy and prep a vegetable and starch to go alongside the meal :)

Notes on the website from another person who also ended up with a dry roast - the author said to add more water next time.  Author said to make sure the liquid of choice comes up slightly higher than halfway up the roast.  I will try that and let you know.

Multi-step/Multi-day/Multi-Recipe Chicken-Havarti-Pear Chutney Panini :)

The players - the ginger moved and the allspice was suddenly shy

I started with this Ginger-Pear Chutney Recipe from Food.com.  Thank goodness that site allows you to scale the recipe, because I didn't want to can the chutney.  I scaled it to make 5 half-pints...that means I used 4 1/4 chopped pears, 1 2/3 sugar, 1/2 cup seedless raisins (wait seedless? have you ever seen raisins with seeds???), 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (that translated to my whole bottle of crystallized ginger from McCormick®), 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground allspice, 1/4 tsp cloves.
The directions are wonderfully simple for the chutney:
1.  Combine all the ingredients in the pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 1 1/2 hours, stir occasionally.
 - SEE? SIMPLE :)

Next day - cause I started the chutney around 5pm and we got hungry....
Whole Grain Chicken Havarti Pear Chutney Panini - makes 2 sandwiches
Today's players today are 6-8 tablespoons of the chutney, 4 slices of whole grain bread - some stores sell "Panini Bread" - it's a little taller and wider than regular bread you find in the bread aisle, 6-8 slices of sliced rotisserie chicken, 4 slices Havarti cheese, and olive oil for spreading - abt 2-3 tbsp.
1. Heat your griddle/panini press/pan to medium high
2. Brush olive oil on one side of each of the 4 slices

3. Assemble the sandwich by putting the oil side down (I assembled on a plate to make it easier) - spoon/spread 1-2 tablespoon(s) of chutney on the bread, layer 1-2 slices of havarti, 1-3 slices of chicken, 1-2 tablespoon (s) on the non-oil side of the bread and then stack the bread (chutney side down) on top of the chicken slices).
4. Place the assembled sandwich or sandwiches on the heated panini press or griddle.  If you are using the press, let it sit with the cover down for about 4-5 minutes.  If you are using a griddle or hot skillet, flip the sandwich at the halfway point - 2-3 minutes in order for both sides of the sandwich to get toasted.

I made the panini off the top of my head, just based on tastes I thought would taste good together.  Turns out I added a little too much chutney to the bread.  The resulting product was very sweet.  BGS ended up scraping half of it off before eating it.  He even accused of me of trying to make him diabetic.

I looked up chutney/panini recipes and most of them say 2 tbsp chutney for each sandwich, so I guess I over-did it.  *shrug*  Lesson learned :)

Sorry there are no photos of the panini - BGS was so hungry he took it before I could snap a shot.

It sure did taste good though :)