Eat for a Week, Episode 19: Citrus Honey Stir-Fry Pork

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Technically, there's nothing about the way Mom made this one that I can't eat. This recipe also lends itself to great flexibility, so I just can't leave well enough alone. I spent about $12 on veggies, pork, and soy sauce.

TOOLS:

Large wok or skillet

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 lbs pork loin
1 zucchini
1 crown broccoli
1 bunch green onions
1/4 lb sugar snap peas
1 can baby corn
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 C honey
5 cloves garlic
1" fresh ginger root
Juice of 1 lemon and 2 limes *
2-3 dashes bitters **
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

cooked rice

HOW TO:

Chop all vegetables to approximately the same size.
Juice citrus, finely chop garlic, and grate or finely chop ginger.
Cut port loin into thin strips and coat with flour. (Season pork with salt and pepper if desired, but go easy on the salt since soy sauce is rather salty.)

Heat oil in pan over high heat.
When hot, add pork and cook until browned on all sides.
Remove pork from pan.
Reduce heat to medium.
Add citrus juice, honey, soy sauce, bitters, garlic and ginger to the pan. Stir well, being sure to scrape up any brown bits.
Allow to simmer approximately 10 minutes until sauce has thickened slightly.
Return pork to pan and add vegetables. Stir well.
Allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have reached desired tenderness. (2-5 minutes is probably best.)
Serve over rice.

One of the things I really like about this recipe is that it is very easy to alter according to my mood or what produce looks good at the store.

Music for this episode is "At Millie's Pancake Haus" by The Hybiscus Journals, available for free - or whatever you think it's worth - at http://thehybiscusjournals.bandcamp.com/track/at-millies-pancake-haus

* Or juice of whatever citrus you prefer, about 1/2 C.
** Completely optional. If you have it, throw it in.

Eat for a Week, Episode 18: Curry Turkey Porcupines

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I always loved it when Mom would make Beef Porcupines. Due to my MSG allergy, it's not something I'm willing to eat now lest there be much pain and suffering. The original recipe is made from a box of beef flavoured Rice-a-Roni and a pound of ground beef. I've chosen to take a curry angle here and use ground turkey.

The only things I didn't have on hand were the meat and coconut milk, which combined cost about $4.50. Since it was so inexpensive, I decided to pick up a bag of salad, bringing my total to just over $8.00.

No, this one won't go for a whole week unless you eat like a bird. I got four meals out of it. Roughly $2.04 per plate? Not too shabby if you ask me.

I apologize for the crappy framing in this episode. I'm still adjusting to the new camera, to which I am unable to affix my wide-angle lens. May need to experiment with other camera placement(s) in the future.

TOOLS:

mixing bowl
large skillet

INGREDIENTS:

For meatballs:

1 lb. ground turkey *
1/2 cup uncooked rice **
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 C hot water
2 heaping Tbsp yellow curry powder
1 Tbsp cumin ***
dash allspice ***
1 tsp ground ginger ***
1/8 tsp cinnamon ***
2 dashes cayenne pepper ***
1/4 tsp nutmeg ***
1 tsp dry thyme ***
1 tsp dry marjorum ***
1 can coconut milk ****
salt & pepper to taste

For mashed potatoes:

Instant mashed potato flakes and whatever ingredients for which the packaging calls. These are usually water, margarine (I use butter), milk (I use water) and salt (we'll use garlic salt here).

HOW TO:

Meatballs:

Mix ground turkey and uncooked rice until well combined, then form into balls. This recipe should yield about 20 meatballs.
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Brown meatballs on all sides.
While meatballs are browning, mix the spices with the hot water.
Once meatballs are browned, add spice & water mixture, salt & pepper, and coconut milk.
If the coconut milk has separated in the can, just mix in the skillet until evenly incorporated.
Allow contents of the skillet to come to a simmer.
Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. (It's a good idea to check on it once or twice and give things a stir to be sure nothing is burning to the bottom of the pan.)
If sauce is looser than you like after the 30 minutes have passed, continue to simmer uncovered until desired consistency is reached. I like the sauce to be fairly thick.

Potatoes:

Follow instructions on potato packaging, replacing the salt with garlic salt. I've found that using just under twice the amount garlic salt than the salt which is called for is a good balance. Then again, I really like garlic.

I also really like mashed potatoes, so I made six servings-worth for my four servings of meatballs.

CONCLUSION:

Yes, I know mixing uncooked rice with meat sounds odd. The juices from the meat and the sauce will fully cook the rice, however, so it's all good. Also, whatever rice is near the outside of the meatballs gets a bit of a nice, crunchy crust.

Music for this episode was "Yellow" from the album "Chakra Pop" by The Hybiscus Journals. This track, and many more, are available for download for free or whatever you think they're worth at http://thehybiscusjournals.bandcamp.com.

* This can be made with ground beef, though I find the beef flavour too strong for the curry. Also, you'll want to add an egg to the meat & rice mixture since ground beef tends to have less moisture than ground turkey.
** My rice of choice is jasmine rice, but use whatever kind you like and/or have on hand.
*** All these extra herbs & spices are entirely optional. You can drop a small fortune picking them all up in one trip, but I try to keep them on hand at all times, so I use them when I can. If you just have curry powder, salt and pepper, this should still be very tasty.
**** Coconut milk is also optional, though it does add a lovely rich layer to the dish. Coconut milk will separate in the can, so don't let that freak you out. The solids will re-dissolve in the sauce with a little stirring.