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Zesty Marinated Pork Chops for Go Ahead Honey

This post is linked to Go Ahead Honey, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesday, and Wheatless Wednesday.

When I was heading to the International Food Bloggers Conference this past week, I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to pull off an entry to Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! carnival this month. I had forgotten to plan ahead for my post and I was running out of time. However, I’ve been participating in this fun roundup initiated by Naomi Devlin (Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried) for a long time now and didn’t want to miss it. So I was relieved when I saw that this month’s host, Chandice, of Gluten-Free Frenzy, had selected Barbecue Bash as her theme. I had a recipe—with photos—that I’d been wanting to share, which fit the bill well. And, thankfully, Chandice was gracious enough to let me join in despite delays due to all kinds of technical difficulties, including my blog being down for about 24 hours–aaargh.

Now what most folks call a barbecue, we call a cook-out in our area. Or at least both my families do. When we say barbecue, we actually mean pulled pork. As in, “let’s stop at that barbecue place,” or “I’m fixing barbecue for dinner.” We never say “let’s barbecue” or ”how about shrimp on the barbie?” Well, unless, we’re doing our Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee) imitation anyway, and that would inevitably also evoke the “big knife” quote, too, but I digress.  So the term barbecue means pulled pork to us, but I never say I’m serving pulled pork. Confused? I understand. Really, I do. But if you’re interested, my pulled pork recipe is here. (It’s a slow cooker recipe with just three ingredients, and it’s well loved by my family and friends.)

But let’s get back to my guess on what barbecue means for Chandice’s roundup. I’m thinking in cook-out terms—anything that one can grill. As far as pork, which is my husband’s absolute favorite and I don’t turn my nose up at it, there are a number of outdoor methods and cuts. One can go whole hog, so to speak … dig a hole, fill it with coals, and slow cook a pig starting in the wee (or is it wee wee?) hours of the morning. We call that a pig roast or a pig pickin’ event. It usually reserved for summer holidays or major celebrations, like weddings. Now if I grill a pork tenderloin, I call that cook-out fare. However, most often, I tend to go for pork that cooks up  more quickly when grilling. This recipe is another favorite in our household. It’s one of many recipes here at gfe that’s naturally gluten free, plus naturally dairy free. If you use an alternative like coconut/palm sugar instead of the brown sugar, it’s also refined sugar free.

Zesty Marinated Pork Chops
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
2/3 cup olive oil
½ cup lemon (or lime) juice
½ cup soy sauce (gluten free; or coconut aminos, which Ali discussed here)
2 tbsp brown sugar (or alternative, like coconut/palm sugar)
dash of black pepper (I used fresh ground)
4 – 8 pork chops

Combine all ingredients in a glass pan (or Ziploc bag) large enough to allow adequate marination. Marinate pork chops overnight for optimum flavor; turning at least once. Discard marinade. Grill pork chops on medium-high heat about 10 minutes on each side. Thicker pork chops may take an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Shirley’s Notes: Marinating the pork chops overnight will definitely yield the best flavor, but I have marinated my pork chops for as little as an hour before and have still been pleased with the results. In cooler weather, I have also baked mine in the oven versus grilled them. I preheated my oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and baked the pork chops on a lightly greased baking sheet for about 10 minutes on each side. I tested for doneness by cutting a tiny corner off of one pork chop to taste. As stated above, thicker pork chops may take an additional 5-10 minutes. Both bone-in pork chops and boneless ones work equally well.

Add a great salad and a veggie, like corn on the cob or a baked potato (or pan-baked potatoes), and you have a terrific meal … and your own little barbecue bash!  (Or rustic candlelight dinner on the screened porch perhaps.) With Labor Day this weekend, this could be a good time to try this recipe.

Be sure to check back over at Chandice’s for the complete Go Ahead Honey roundup.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Creme Brulee Ice Cream

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Food on Friday, Foodie Friday, and Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

I admit it … I was going to cheat a bit on my entry for this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! If you’re not familiar, Go Ahead Honey! is the longstanding gluten-free blog carnival invented by sweet and creative, Naomi Devlin, over at Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried. Each month, the carnival is hosted by a different blogger, who chooses the theme. (I had the honor of hosting last summer with the theme, Make Me A Happy Camper.)  This month’s hostess is Sheryl of Breaking Bread. Her theme is Ooh, La, La, Bastille Day!—which, of course, means the entries should be recipes for French food. How was I going to cheat with my entry? Well, I made a sort of French dish the other night, but I didn’t have to go across the pond for it. It was Catfish Etouffee, a French Cajun dish that turned out very well. But, I’ll have to share it another time because it was actually after making the etouffee that true inspiration hit. Suddenly I knew what I really wanted to make—crème brulee. After all it’s my favorite dessert and it’s a classic French recipe … Julia Child and all that.

I realized that thoughts of making crème brulee have been forming in my brain for quite some time. It started subconsciously when I first tasted coconut sugar. I was so surprised by its caramel/butterscotch flavor and its slightly crunchy texture. I fell in love on my first bite, and that was before I discovered the depth of flavor it can add to desserts. So coconut sugar and its application to crème brulee were bound to reach my conscious state eventually.

To be clear, I didn’t actually want to make crème brulee itself. The amazing dessert that comes in lovely little ramekins. (It’s the dessert that can decide if a restaurant is a good one or a great one in my book.) No, I didn’t want that crème brulee. I wanted crème brulee ice cream—with that rich, creamy, caramelized brown sugar taste—and I wanted to make it without eggs. Frankly, I just don’t have the patience for ice cream recipes where you have to cook the ingredients, temper the eggs, and usually chill the results for several hours or overnight. (It’s that whole “easily” thing, you know?) And, there are always my egg-free gfe readers to consider, too.

I knew I’d add full-fat coconut milk and vanilla extract, in addition to the coconut sugar. Then I decided to add half of a vanilla bean as I had one on hand. But, I knew I needed more thickness and lusciousness to turn the ingredients into creme brulee ice cream. After I thought about the possibilities, the answer was clear … and easy, too. Condensed milk. One can readily purchase condensed milk or make one’s own—even a dairy-free version. (See notes in recipe.) I cheated and picked some up a can of condensed milk at the little, family-owned store I frequent. So I didn’t make this particular recipe dairy free.

I started measuring, mixing, caramelizing, and after about a half hour, the ice cream was finished. It was glorious. Yes, glorious. Or, c’est magnifique! And, somehow, I just knew it would be.

With the beater dripping ice cream into a large bowl and a big spoon in hand, I headed to our bedroom where Mr. GFE was relaxing. He eyed me suspiciously, as he looked up from the movie he was watching.

Me (offering a big spoonful of ice cream): Taste.

Mr. GFE (scowling, looking first at me and the large bowl, and then back at the television screen): Is that French?

Me (momentarily confused and then looking at the screen, on which “Entre Acte” was displayed): Yes, it can sort of mean intermission … between acts. Taste.

Mr. GFE: What is it?

Me (impatiently): Just taste, please. It’s crème brulee ice cream; I need your opinion.

Mr. GFE (no longer frowning, eyes bright): Uhhmmm. Is that French?

Me: Yes, crème brulee is French.

Mr. GFE: No, on the tv.

Me (looking at the television again and frowning upon seeing “Entre Acte” still displayed): Yes, I just told you that. It basically means intermission.

Mr. GFE (shrugs): Sorry. I got distracted by the ice cream. What is it again?

Me (somewhat patiently): The words on the screen or the ice cream?

Mr. GFE: The ice cream.

Me (as I am exiting the room): Crème brulee. Do you like it?

Mr. GFE did not answer. Instead, he followed me into the kitchen and grabbed a spoon to dig into the beater bowl of ice cream himself.

Mr. GFE (emphatically): That’s not ice cream. That’s custard.

Me: It’s really good, isn’t it?

Mr. GFE with his mouth full, nods.

Me: Well, yes, it does taste like frozen custard, but custard is made with eggs and this has no eggs.

(Have you noticed that we discuss semantics a lot in our house? Food semantics, to be specific. Cake or bread—here and here? Pizza or casserole?)

Mr. GFE (still eating, I’m very liberal with the amount that stays on the beater and ends up in the tasting bowl): Now, how are you going to show people how good this is?

Me: With my photos, of course.

Mr. GFE (shaking his head): You can’t show them how good this is … you just can’t. They have to taste it. Where did you get the recipe?

Me (smiling): I made it up.

Mr. GFE (eating another giant spoonful, doubtfully): You made this up? Really?

Me (smiling even wider): Yep. Pretty good stuff, huh?

Mr. GFE (still eating, nodding): Yeah. Pretty good.

Me: What movie is that you’re watching? (I knew it wasn’t a high-brow French art film or anything similar, so I was curious.)

Mr. GFE: How the West Was Won

Me (my turn to be doubtful): Really? Why would How the West Was Won have displays in French?

Mr. GFE (shrugs, eats the last bite of ice cream in the bowl): I don’t know.

Enough of our bantering and “Who’s on First?” routines that go on pretty much non-stop in the gfe household. You’ll want to make this recipe, but it is not one to make when you’re home alone. Consider yourself forewarned. I had to take half of it to work today, as a way to impose some self discipline. Because as much as Mr. GFE loves it, he’s also the type to decline when I offer it to him the next night and come back a week later and ask, “May I have some more of that great ice cream?” Yeah, like it’s still going to be around a week later. Clearly, we have different genes … and jeans. He’s wearing the same size jeans (34 x 34) that he wore when we met so many years ago. After we got married and he was no longer eating bachelor cooking, he was on his way to gaining 20 pounds. He was going to have to move, uh, “up” to the next size of jeans. He refused to do it. So he stopped eating third and fourth helpings (yes, you read that correctly), and soon his jeans were fitting perfectly well again. Sigh. Now do you know why I say my marriage is a love-hate relationship?

Oh, and what did my friends at work think of this ice cream? Well, only two got to try it. Here’s what they said.

Sherry (expression of incredulity): Ooohhh! That is so good. What’s in it? It’s so creamy. I could eat that whole container.

Then when she ate some more later, she emailed me: All I can say is CREAMY DELISH GOODNESS !!!  I’m glad this is all you brought in cuz I could eat 10 gallons of it !!!!  AWSUM delicious I tell you!

Tavie: It’s really good. I think it tastes like toasted coconut, but I don’t eat crème brulee often, so I’m not a good one to say about the crème brulee flavor.

They both tasted the coconut flavor. Neither I nor Mr. GFE taste any coconut flavor, but maybe that’s because we’re used to coconut milk as a non-dairy milk substitute.

Here’s the recipe …

Crème Brulee Ice Cream (Gluten Free, Egg Free, with Dairy-Free, Vegan Option)
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

just under 2 ¼ cups full-fat coconut milk, chilled
1 can condensed milk (see homemade versions—including dairy-free options—in this post from Heidi (Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom)  and here at Alisa’s Go Dairy Free site)
1 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
scrapings from half a vanilla bean

Mix all together in a large bowl with hand mixer. Pour into frozen ice cream tub. Churn 25 to 30 minutes. As soon as ice cream starts churning, start making brulee sugar as shown below. (It doesn’t take long to make, but you will want to chill it as directed, which does take several minutes.)

Brulee Sugar for Swirling In

1 – 2 tbsp oil (coconut or grapeseed oil)
3 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp coconut “cream”

In a small skillet, heat oil on medium heat until warm.

Add coconut sugar. Stir constantly for a few minutes until coconut sugar is a little crunchy.

Stir in about a tablespoon of the coconut cream (the thick “cream” at the top of the can after refrigerating for a long period of time) or a little less of some full-fat coconut milk, as a binder. Stir.

Place skillet in freezer until 5 minutes before the ice cream will be finished churning. Remove skillet and break up brulee sugar, if necessary, with wooden spoon. While ice cream is still churning, using wooden spoon, knock brulee sugar pieces into ice cream maker, a little at a time. Wait until each piece “disappears” before you add the next one, so you’ll have brulee sugar “deposits” spread throughout your ice cream.

Transfer ice cream to a freezer container and freeze a bit longer if needed.

Shirley’s Notes: When making the brulee sugar, I recommend only using grapeseed oil (which is flavorless) or coconut oil, as a second choice, when making the brulee sugar. Other oils may be too strong and negatively impact the crème brulee flavor. After scraping vanilla bean, don’t discard it. You can add it to a container of granulated sugar to make vanilla sugar, add it to hot chocolate, add it to your homemade bottle of vanilla extract, etc. (The latter is what I did. My homemade vanilla extract that I made last year for Christmas is getting low. Soon, I’ll be adding even more vanilla beans and vodka to the bottle.)  If using non-dairy condensed milk, this recipe will also be vegan. Personally, I’d use full-fat coconut milk when making my own dairy-free condensed milk.

Original recipe by Shirley Braden

Only spoon a few bites’ worth (un petite peu, if you will) into a bowl. See the amount in my grandmother’s creamer in the top photo. (I love using non-traditional, sentimental dishes for small bowls of treats.) That amount is almost too much, but once you’ve spooned it into your serving dish, you will eat it. You just won’t be able to help yourself. I don’t know if you’ll agree that it tastes like creme brulee, but I’m pretty sure you’ll find this ice cream to be tres bonne!

Other gfe ice cream recipes (some made with dairy; some dairy free) that you might enjoy:

Chocolate POMerdoodle Ice Cream

Peach Sorbet

Honeydewed Sherbet

Honey Cinnamon Grand Marnier Ice Cream

Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Maple-Nut Sundae (with Vanilla Ice Cream)

POMerdoodle Ice Cream

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

Be sure to check back at Sheryl’s over at Breaking Bread in a few days for the complete Go Ahead Honey roundup. It’s always a treat to see what everyone has created!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

iHerb $50 Shopping Spree

This post is linked to Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, Valerie, who blogs gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and usually vegan over at City Life Eats! Thanks to all who entered the giveaway. I enjoyed reading your wish lists and comments. Another gfe birthday celebration giveaway is up here.

I’m a lucky girl … in so many ways. In my Cavemen Cookies review, I mentioned that I’d first sampled the product after winning a giveaway at Gluten Free Food Rocks. I’ve won several other giveaways, too. But, honestly, it’s not that I’m extraordinarily lucky in giveaways, it’s just that someone has to win and sometimes the odds are simply in one’s favor. If you take the time to enter (usually leaving a comment is sufficient for an entry), you will win giveaways. There’s no doubt that giveaways are controversial in the blogging world and while I won’t wade too deep into that discussion, I’ll just say that as a reader I find them to be a great way to try out new products or obtain valuable services. As a blogger who hosts occasional giveaways, my intention is to offer you the same opportunity. Of course, the giveaways that I’ve entered and offered have been for gfe products and services. So I was thrilled when I won a $50 shopping spree to iHerb over at Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free where my good friend, Amy, “resides.”  iHerb features so many real food, real ingredient products. I had so much fun deciding what I’d get with my $50. My order included chia seed, hemp seed, brown rice flour, millet flour, raw cacao powder, and two bags of flax seed meal. I even received a free bottle of D3 supplements. And, guess what … there’s still some left of most of these products. (Don’t worry … the food products are staying fresh in my refrigerator.)

Now as a new iHerb affiliate, I get to offer a $50 shopping spree here at gfe! (Note: This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.) I decided to become an affiliate because iHerb has so many products I believe in. Plus, I admire the company. For one thing, their service is top notch. If you order before 1:00 pm, your order goes out that very same day, and arrives in just a few days. And, if you are in the U.S. and your order is $40 or over, there’s no shipping charge. I’d rather not pay shipping, so that’s important to me. iHerb offers many quality products, including organic and natural choices. Full disclaimer: As an affiliate, I do get a small percentage of sales (very small, which incidentally does not increase the price of your order; affiliate sales never do). But, it’s still nice when you can recommend a company that you’d recommend to a friend any time. I’ve recommended iHerb to my support group members ever since I tried its products (long before this affiliation), and the members who have ordered have been very pleased. I also like that you can take $5 off your first order when you use a valid affiliate coupon code. Just enter my coupon code, LUT179, when placing your order.

As a new affiliate and a blogger offering a $50 shopping spree, I was offered a $50 spree myself. I keep a running list of specialty items I can’t find at my own basic grocery store, so filling my virtual shopping cart was not hard. This time there was grapeseed oil, which I’ve come to appreciate for its health benefits, flavorless taste, and high heating point, plus palm sugar (also known as coconut sugar, or coconut sap, which Kelly discussed here), date sugar, and yacon syrup.

As I shared in my 30 Days to My Own Food Revolution post, I’m trying to eat dairy free (with one exception so far-—more in a minute) and refined sugar free. The grapeseed oil helps with the dairy-free commitment. Instead of using butter in baking or frying, a little grapeseed oil can be used. Elana (Elana’s Pantry) uses grapeseed oil in a lot of her baking, including her now famous gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip cookies, which so many of us inhaled (as demurely as possible!) at BlogHer Food ’09. If you want your oil or shortening to add flavor, grapeseed oil may not be the best choice, but my doctor recommends three types of fat/oil for baking and cooking: organic butter, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil. Yes, she recommends living gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, but she believes organic butter is part of a healthy diet unless one is completely dairy/casein intolerant. (So, I admit that I’ve still been eating some organic butter and some European butter.)

As far as the non-refined sugars, I’ve already baked with the palm sugar several times. I used palm sugar to make Cherry Upside-Down Cake and another version of that same cake, using both cherries and blueberries. I even made a version of my Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies using a combination of palm sugar and dark brown sugar, instead of granulated sugar and brown sugar, and the cookies were better than ever. I really don’t know why I waited so long to try palm sugar … I’m thrilled with this product! Palm sugar has a caramel flavor and sort of a ground coffee texture. I really like it. A lot. I’m not sure it can be used in all of my sweetening applications, but I’m going to give it a try as often as possible. Incidentally, the terms palm sugar and coconut sugar, and even palm coconut sugar are often used interchangeably. But, there are differences, as is explained here. For my eating and baking purposes, I’m not sure that the difference matters. The main thing is that I’m eating a non-refined, lower glycemic sugar (I feel better if I use lower glycemic), which provides a final product that tastes good. Finally, an FYI, technically, palm or coconut sugars are saps. Kelly shared that information in this post over at The Spunky Coconut. Be sure to see what she has to say because she also shares the “green” benefits of eating coconut sugar, as well as other nutritional benefits.

As far as the rest of my recent order, I haven’t tried the date sugar or the yacon syrup yet, but I’ll report back when I do.

Those are just a few examples of the products that iHerb offers. You may enter the giveaway following the guidelines below. Please remember that this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents, and note that the first requirement listed below is a strict one. You must be registered on iHerb’s sit to participate in this giveaway. That’s not a bad thing though; iHerb will not fill your In Box with unsolicited emails like many companies do. Oh, and the giveaway will end next Tuesday, July 20, at midnight, EST.

1. Register at iHerb website (required).
2. Leave a comment telling me what you are interested in ordering from iHerb. Are you like me? Do you have a “wish” list at the ready?
3. Subscribe to my feed either via RSS or e-mail, and leave a comment.
4. “Like” my Facebook page and leave a comment.
3. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment.
5.  Tweet about the giveaway, and leave a comment saying that you did.
7. Post a message on your Facebook page about the giveaway, and leave a comment saying that you did.
8. Post about the giveaway on your blog and leave a comment saying that you did, with your link.
9. Follow iHerb on Twitter (iHerb has great, informative tweets!), and leave a comment.

Hey, you may just get a chance to go on your own $50 shopping spree. A shopping spree that involves food, but is online and free—now that’s definitely one of my favorite ways to shop! I’ll be celebrating my upcoming birthday all week long (at least!) so look for more giveaways, information posts, and, of course, recipes. For those who want to conceive and/or have had gynecological/obstetric issues, you may want to check out this post on the gluten connection and enter to win a scholarship to Donielle Baker’s Fertility E-Course.  

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

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