myfirstwordwaschocolate

Recipes and photographs from an Asheville Foodie

Enjoy this cooking blog with tons of sweet AND savory recipes. I use down-to-earth language and love to create my own recipes as well as recipe-test other chef's work. 

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Orange Scented Pork

July 23, 2012 by my1stwordwaschocolate in "carnitas", "entree", "orange", "pork butt", "pork shoulder", "pork"

Take one inexpensive pork butt, give it a little love in the oven, and out pops this heavenly scented and fall apart tender pork. It's a recipe for your family to love =)

Orange Scented Pork

Adapted from seriouseats.com

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds boneless pork butt (shoulder), rind removed, cut into 2-inch cubes
  • 1 orange
  • 1 medium onion 1 tablespoon kosher salt (1/2 tablespoon if using table salt)
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 cinnamon stick, broken into three or four pieces
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 F degrees. Split onion into quarters. Set aside. Season pork chunks with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and place in a 9 x 13 glass casserole dish. The pork should fill the dish with no spaces. Split orange into quarters and squeeze juice over pork. Nestle squeezed orange pieces into casserole. Add onion quarters, 4 cloves garlic, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick to casserole. Nestle everything into an even layer. Pour vegetable oil over surface. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven. Cook until pork is fork tender, about 3 1/2 hours.

Using tongs, remove orange peel, onion, garlic, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves from pork. Strain the liquid from the pork. Once defatted, you can use the liquid as a base for a sauce. Transfer pork back to casserole. Shred pork into large chunks with fingers or two forks. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

When you're ready to serve, broil on high until brown and crisp on surface, about 6 minutes. Stir to expose new bits to heat, and broil again  for 6 more minutes or until crisp.

July 23, 2012 /my1stwordwaschocolate
"carnitas", "entree", "orange", "pork butt", "pork shoulder", "pork"
coconut macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

July 12, 2012 by my1stwordwaschocolate

Have a houseful of friends coming over for dinner, and no dessert planned? What if your best pal is gluten intolerant and their partner is lactose intolerant? This is the dessert for you!

No dairy, no flour, and no kitchen-ful of dishes to clean.

Coconut macaroons are super easy to whip together, and you only need 5 ingredients. You can also dress them up with a drizzle of dark chocolate, or simply serve them with coffee.

Here's how to make them from Mark Bittman's 1998 classic, How to Cook Everything:

Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 2 egg whites
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, or use a silicone baking mat. Combine all ingredients in a bowl (you don't even need to beat the egg whites). To form the cone shaped cookies, use a spoon or ice cream scoop for more even cookies. Place on sheet pan, then with wet hands form the cookies into cones. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, or until just browned at the peak. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking tray for 30. If you have extras, they keep beautifully for days in an air tight container.

Note:  The recipe says it makes two dozen cookies. Because I used a larger sized scoop, I only got ~15 out of this recipe.

July 12, 2012 /my1stwordwaschocolate
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