Chinese Take out

Ingredients

• 800 g boneless chicken thighs, (or beef or pork) cut into bite-sized pieces

• 2 tbsp apple juice

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 cup cornstarch

• Oil, for frying

• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced in large pieces

• 1 large bell pepper, sliced in large pieces

• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

• Sauce

• 2/3 cup water

• • 1/2 tsp dried ginger

• 4 tbsp brown sugar

• 5 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tsp cornstarch

• dusting of chicken bouillon 

• • 3 tbsp minced garlic

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the chicken pieces with juice, baking soda, and cornstarch. Mix until all the chicken pieces are well-coated.
• Heat your frying oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Shallow fry the coated chicken in batches for about 6-8 minutes, or until fully-cooked through. Set aside.
• Drain your skillet or wok, reserving about 1 tbsp of the cooking oil. Add in the onion and peppers. Saute for about 3 minutes or until tender.
• Pour in the prepared sauce and let simmer for 1-2 minutes minutes until thickened.
• Once thickened, add in the cooked chicken pieces and drizzle on sesame oil. Toss to combine until the chicken is fully coated in the sauce.
• Serve with a bowl of rice or a side of veggies. 
• Original base recipe: https://iankewks.com/mongolian-chicken/#wpzoom-premium-recipe-card

Balsamic Glaze for Pork Loin

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
a few dashes of ground sage
2 cloves garlic

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil. Stir constantly.
3. Boil about 5 minutes (or until desired consistency is reached).
4. Pour part of the sauce on the pork loin 1 hour before pork is finished cooking.
5. Pour a little more over meat in the crockpot then remove for slicing.
6. Spoon extra sauce over meat on the plate if desired.

Instant Pot Potato Chowder

This recipe makes about 8 servings. You can easily halve it; cook time will stay the same.

Ingredients: 

1/2 pound bacon, cut into bite size pieces

1 large onion, finely diced

3 celery stalks, trimmed and diced

2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and diced (about 8 potatoes)

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup water

2-3 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of frozen sweet corn

Directions:

1. Spray Instant Pot with cooking Spray. Set to Saute.

2. Cook bacon until crispy. Press Cancel.

3. Remove bacon from the pot and most of the grease. Leave about 1 Tbsp of grease.

4. Set to Saute again. Add onion, celery, and potatoes to the pot. Cook for about 5 minutes or until onions soften. Add garlic and brown for 1 minute. 

5. Press Cancel. Add broth, water, bay leaves, and thyme. Stir soup and lock on the lid. Make sure the vent is set to Sealing.

6. Select Manual for 3 minutes. When time is done, press Cancel and switch the vent to Venting for a quick release. 

7. Scoop out about 3 ladles of soup mixture and blend in blender.

8. Add blended soup back to the Instant Pot with cream, frozen corn, and bacon bits. 

9. Select Saute and bring the soup just to a boil, stirring often. Once it comes to a boil, select Cancel again and soup is ready to serve. Don't forget to stir once or twice after the Instant Pot is off. The bottom stays hot for a few more minutes.

Hint: You can add frozen corn to the bowls of hot soup to help it cool faster, instead of adding it in step 8.

Hint: For thicker chowder you can blend more soup, or add a cornstarch slurry to the soup and bring back to a boil. We thought the thickenss was just right without adding cornstarch and only blending a small portion of the soup.

St. Louis Pork Ribs

I love the St. Louis cut better than baby backs or loin backs.  They're from the lower portion of the pig's rib cage so it has a bit more fat and connective tissue.  They need to smoke a little longer to render the fat but they are worth it!

Have them warm up to room temperature as you heat the smoker.  Pat down your ribs and turn them upside down.  Remove the membrane on the underside of the ribs.  Your body can't break it down and no amount of cooking will make it go away.  It just stays there like plastic so I recommend removing it.  I use the end of a spoon or fork to separate it enough I can grab it with a paper towel.  Be careful not to tear it as you pull it off.

Take your favorite mustard and brush a coating around the rack of ribs.  This will make your bark around the ribs.  After you apply your mustard then cover the ribs with the Pork Dry Rub (see previous post).  Add as much or little you'd like.

Heat the smoker to 225 Fahrenheit.  I recommend a charcoal/wood smoker. I use oak because I have a lot around the house (Stick with fruit and nut bearing trees and you'll be fine).  Make sure the oxygen is limited so the wood doesn't catch on fire; you only want it to smolder.  Any smoker will cook the meat but I like the rich, robust smoke flavor from a combustible heat source, but of course to each their own!

Smoke the ribs for about 3 or 4 hours.  The internal temperature should be 185 Fahrenheit when finished.  Grab the ribs with your tongs in the middle and pick them up.  The ribs should start to make a U shape and the top should crack a little but the meat should NOT fall off the bone.  Wrap in foil for 20 minutes so they are cool enough to cut.  Enjoy!

Boston Butt/Pulled Pork

This an easy recipe that is relatively inexpensive and is a crowd-pleaser.

Brine:

8 ounces molasses
9 ounces pickling salt
around 2 quarts of water

Buy an 8-10 pound bone-in pork Boston butt or butt shoulder roast.  Place it in the brine the night before you plan to smoke it (let it soak at least 8 hours).  The butt needs to be fully submerged in the brine so add some water if necessary.  You will need a kitchen scale (around 5-10$ on Amazon) because you want to go off of weigh instead of volume.  Pickling salt dissolves in cold water so I recommend using it.  Also, molasses dissolves in cold water and it won't lump up like white sugar.

Remove the butt from the brine and pat dry and cover with your Pork Dry Rub (see previous post).  Let it warm up to room temperature as your smoker is heating.

Heat the smoker to 225 Fahrenheit.  I recommend a charcoal/wood smoker. I use oak because I have a lot around the house (Stick with fruit and nut bearing trees and you'll be fine).  Make sure the oxygen is limited so the wood doesn't catch on fire; you only want it to smolder.  Any smoker will cook the meat but I like the rich, robust smoke flavor from a combustible heat source, but of course to each their own!

Smoke the butt with the fat cap down and smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 Fahrenheit. Meat won't absorb additional smoke past around 160 Fahrenheit so it is better to wrap it so it stays moist.  Remove the butt from the smoker and wrap it in foil. Place it back on the smoker with the fat cap down and smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 195-200 Fahrenheit.

Let it sit for 20 minutes to cool off so you can shred the meat.  You should be able to remove a "clean" bone easily.  Enjoy!

Sweet N Sour

This is my favorite sweet and sour recipe. I don't take the time to deep fry the meat, and i think it tastes just as good cooked this way. I have used this with chicken and pork, and both were yummy.
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 lb lean meat, raw and cubed into 1 inch pieces
• 1 green bell pepper, stemmed,seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1/2 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 cups cubed pineapple
• cooked rice (for serving)

Directions:
1. Combine first 10 ingredients in large sauce pan and stir until well dissolved.
2. Add meat, green pepper, onion, and pineapple to sauce and bring to a simmer.
3. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until meat is cooked through.
4. Serve over rice.

http://www.food.com/recipe/sweet-sour-pork-100871

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

These are easy because you just let it cook in your crockpot all day. It takes a lot of planning ahead: Getting the roast out a day or 2 early to thaw in the fridge, dry-rub marinading, cooking for hours. It was so delicious though.

Ingredients:
1 pork butt or shoulder roast, bone-in (about 5 pounds total)
5 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 can chicken broth
2 cups BBQ sauce
1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Trim fat/skin off roast.
2. Combine all dry ingredients and rub well into roast.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge over night or at least 2 hours.
4. Place in crock pot on low for 2 hours.
5. Add chicken broth and turn crock pot up to high for 2 hours.
6. Turn to low and cook for 3 more hours, or until pork falls away from bone very easily.
(or you can add chicken broth with roast when first added into the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 6, according to the original recipe)
7. Take pork out and cut into sections to cool while preparing sauce.
8. Mix the last 3 ingredients in a sauce pan and bring just to a boil
9. Pull or shred pork, discarding bone and fat
10. Pour sauce over meat. Mix well. Serve on buns or hoagies.
Serves 6 -8

http://www.parents.com/recipe/pork/pulled-pork-sandwiches/