Hawaiian (Kalua) Pig

Let's just put it on the table and say I F*IN love pork.  Any kind of Pork...I will even eat SPAM...yes sir.  Anyway this of course is a recipe courtesy of NOMNOM PALEO.  Her recipes are A-MAZING! I just thought I would show you my spin on it!  I did it once with a pork butt...a Ginormous Pork Butt  about 8 lbs.  This was a BJ's wholesale type of thing...we had Kalua Pig coming out our ears for about a week.  It's good, but you get sick of it after a while.  The best part about the recipe is the SIMPLICITY!  I mean Bacon, Red Sea Salt (talk to my neighbor about sea salt and he will go Balistic!) and some Pork.  This time I used a boneless pork loin.  You also set it an forget it which is perfect on those days I leave the house at 7am drop off James, get home by 5pm and well am just too exhausted to really cook.  The OTHER good thing is you cook it overnight! Like 16 hours of simmer meat YUMMERS!  So this is how I did it:

1 4lb(ish) Boneless Pork Roast

2 strips of Bacon (from Sherwood Farm in Easton)

enough Red Hawaiian Sea Salt to cover your roast or shoulder

1/8 cup of water (since there is little fat and you don't want the thing to dry out)

  

First put the two strips of Bacon on the bottom of the Crock Pot.  This will give the nice smokey flavor to the pork when all is said and done.  I used the bacon afterwards to cook my greens YUMMY!!!

 Take out the Pork roast and pat it dry with some paper towels.  Give your roast a little massage with the red sea salt.  Something about the red and the taste and Alaea?  I've never been to Hawaiian I will take the word for it though!

 Your roast is now a nice red color and will get a nice crust...it's so good.

Lay that roast on top of the bacon just like so.  Try and put the fat side up.  That is if there is much fat on the roast.

 Pour your water around the roast I used only about 1/8 cup of water.

Set your crock pot for low and go to sleep...good night.  It should be ready for your Din-Din the next day!!

There it is with a crust so juicy and tender.  So tender that when I poked it that little piece on the bottom literally fell off.

 I take this put it on a plate and shred it with two forks...or one fork...or these things...dumb.  I separate the juices in a fat separator and pour a little over the meat and return the meat to the crock pot.  I actually used a little juice to cook in my greens I got in my CSA box last week. Random field grass...like grass I swear.

ENJOY!

Lemon Basil Chicken and Sautéed Asparagus

It was one of those days when I didn't know what to cook.  I had chicken thighs but I was bored with BBQ chicken.  I am was bored (and didn't have the ingredients for) these Asian Chicken Thighs.  Even though they are so good it's illegal.  So I looked at what I did have in the fridge and found some recipes and whipped up this Lemon Basil Chicken.  I mostly did this because I LOVE BASIL in anything.  I also had some lemons I needed to use up.  So here is the basic recipe.  What I ended up doing was taking a few recipes and combining elements.  We also had paid a visit to bishops orchards where we found some fresh seasonal Asparagus.  So I used the lemon there too.  Lemon is so fresh and yummy!

So here are the two recipes for your enjoyment!

Lemon Basil Chicken

4 bone-in Chicken Thighs (use whatever you want Thighs, breasts, drumsticks)

3 tablespoon fresh basil chopped

juice of 2 lemons (or 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice)

1 TBSP olive oil or oil of choice (I used Avocado oil)

4 cloves chopped garlic

1. I put all of the ingredients (except the chicken) in a blender and whipped that sucker into frenzy.

2. I added everything into a ziplock baggie and coated the chicken nice and good.  This goes into the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors get happy.

3. I covered a baking sheet with some tin foil (IMPORTANT your baking sheet will get all messy if you don't.) I also put the pieces on a wire rack on the baking sheet.  I baked these pieces for about 50 min at 475 degrees.  Half-way through turn them over.  At the end they should be nice a golden.  The meat should be 165 when done.

ENJOY!

Sautéed Asparagus

1 big ole bunch of asparagus trimmed

a little lemon juice

olive oil

butter

garlic powder (or chopped fresh garlic)

pepper to taste

1. So I basically trimmed up the asparagus by finding the place near the bottom where it snaps (although I just snap them myself) I then cut those into thirds so I could fit them all in the pan

2. Add the oil and butter to the pan and let the butter melt.  Maybe mediumish heat works so you don't burn the oil or butter.

3. Toss the Asparagus into the pan and coat with the liquid.  

4. add the garlic powder (I would add the fresh garlic before the Asparagus and let that flavor get into the oil.

5. Let this set for a min or two stir every once in a while.

6.  Add about 2 TSBP of lemon juice to this and toss.  Let it set for a moment.  If you have a splash guard or cover.  Cover the pan for a min or two

7. Stir it a little and add the S and P to taste.