Low Carb Curried Pork Stew

A couple of things you should know about me.  Don’t care to know? Fine!  Skip down to the semi-fabulous recipe that can cook while you’re off to visit your busy day and still feed your ungrateful family who has no idea how hard you work and all the things you do for them daily.

But, enough about you.  Let’s get back to me and the things you should know.  I love to cook…scratch that…I love to empress people with my cooking.  I only invite people who are exuberantly thrilled to be impressed.  I am also lazy…well not really lazy….ok, really lazy.  I like to work at a frenzy, then casually sip a wine or three with my freeloading friends, while the spectacularly delicious meal takes care of itself.  Lots of ways to do that and one of my favorites goes under the unremarkable heading of stew.

In my never ending search for the unremarkably remarkable, I chanced upon a stew recipe that with just a bit of tweaking could turn a suburbanite’s common Mustang into a fire-spitting Shelby Cobra.  I know, I know.  Mixed metaphors.  First cooking, then screaming sports cars.  But, that fire-spitting Shelby Cobra sticks In your mind, n’est pas?  Mission Accomplished!

On to the recipe.

Low Carb Curried Pork Stew

Hint:  If you’re getting an early morning start, cook this stew the night before.

Pre-heat your oven to 275ºF (140ºC)

1 Pound (or a bit more) of either cooked, or raw pork.  I used some of each.

3 cloves of fresh garlic, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper to taste or about ½ teaspoon each

6 Ounces button mushrooms, washed and quartered

½ Medium onion, diced

½ Red bell pepper, sliced

½ Green bell pepper, sliced

1 Large parsnip, julienned

4 Tablespoons of your favorite concentrated curry paste.  I use Patak’s.

1 Can (about 1 ½ to 2 Cups) double strength beef broth, undiluted

2 Cups chicken broth

Juice of ½ Lime to finish

Puttin’ It All Together:

If you’re using raw pork, drop a tablespoon or two of oil in a frying pan and lightly brown the meat, adding salt and pepper.  Don’t worry about the pork not cooking completely!  The stew will be in the oven a few hours.

Put the vegetables in a large skillet and lightly cook them.  This reduces the water in the vegetables and intensifies the flavor. 

In your stew pot, put a bit of oil and the minced onions and garlic slices. Cook until they wilt.  Add all the pork and stir.

Add the beef and chicken broths and bring to a boil.  Add the curry paste and stir well.  Add the vegetables.

Put a top on your stew pot, slip it into the 275ºF (140ºC) oven and go do something else for three hours.

When the stew comes out of the oven, taste, and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Squeeze the juice of half a lime over the stew and stir.

Ladle the stew into bowls and serve with a slice of lime.

This stew goes well with either swilling a beer, or sipping a Pinot Grigio!

Heavenly Sausage and Eggs Casserole

Heavenly Sausage and Eggs (another sensational low carb recipe)

No, you have not had sausage and eggs like this supremely delicious offering.  Not at Denny’s, not at McWhat’s it, not in Aunt Julie’s Emporium for Holistic Eating and Meditation, although, you will be thinking about this meal for a long time. 

The secret is an unusual ingredient, not in the same sense as pickled Madagascar squirrel, or Chinese wrinkled yeast, just something not normally found in culinary association with sausage and eggs.

This is a dish you’ll want to serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  At lunch and dinner, I like to add a cucumber salad.  And afterwards a medicinal brandy or two.

Heavenly Sausage and Eggs

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF (180ºC)

Grease an 8 inch X 8 inch (20 cm X 20 cm) baking pan (glass or metal)

¾ Pound (300 g) loose sausage (I make my own. See below)

6 slices sandwich size Swiss cheese

1 Ball of fresh mozzarella di bufala cheese (about 1/3 pound, 125 g)

5 Eggs

1 Cup unsweetened coconut milk (not coconut juice or cream) Be sure to mix this well before using. Often the top of the can is thick and the bottom watery.

1 Green bell pepper, diced

1 Yellow bell pepper, diced

½ Red onion, diced

Salt and pepper

1 Level teaspoon dried marjoram

1 Level teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence

½ Teaspoon ground sage

Red pepper flakes

Ready to cook?

If you’re not using a commercial sausage:  Put ¾ pound ground pork, or beef, or a mixture in a bowl.  Add salt, pepper, and the dried herbs.  Toss in 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and mix well. Not trying to make this HOT, just enough red pepper to put a slight tingle on the tongue. 

For either commercial or homemade versions, add a little oil to a frying pan and fry the sausage, breaking it up with a spatula as much as possible. When it has lost it’s color and beginning to brown, take it off the heat and set it aside. You want the sausage cooked, but still juicy.

In another frying pan, add a tablespoon of oil and fry the onion and bell peppers, only until wilted.  Set aside. (All you’re trying to do is cook the onion and peppers a little bit and also remove much of the water.)

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and add the coconut milk. Toss in salt and pepper to taste, along with just a pinch or two of red pepper flakes.  Mix well.

Putting It All Together in Three Layers:

Put only enough of the egg mixture in the baking pan to cover the bottom.  Sprinkle in 1/3 of the cooked sausage and peppers/onion mix.  Add more of the egg mixture, then more sausage and peppers/onions.  Lay the Swiss cheese slices to cover.  Add the remaining egg mixture.  Put the last of the sausage and peppers/onions on top.

Rip up the ball of mozzarella and scattered it evenly over the top.

Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until the center is firm and the top is beginning to brown. Hint:  just give the pan a little shake and you'll know if the center is firm.

Let the dish rest about ten minutes before serving.

Serve with Pinot Grigio, you wild man!  Even at breakfast?  Damn straight!