Haole Style Kalua Pork

***Disclaimer--This is not an authentic Kalua Pork recipe. This is a badly misinterpreted version of the recipe that I came up with. I appreciate the Hawaiian culture very much which is why I simply cannot try and pass this off as one of their recipes. I can say with 100% certainty that this is good food--out of a crock pot no less! I call it Haole-Style because "haole" is the slang term used for Caucasians on the Hawaiian Islands (it's not really a term of endearment, but it works, I guess). This is just a backwoods way to make something similar (and it is eerily similar in flavor).***
The Hawaiian dish really isn't difficult to make, but requires time and a lot of things that most of us don't have access to. Such as a fire pit, banana leaves, a whole pig, Hawaiian wood, lava stones, etc. But the pig really is just smoked pig, seasoned and wrapped in banana leaves and shredded. So what I've done is horribly misinterpreted the whole recipe for kicks. I've substituted things that are related, but are a far cry from the original ingredients, but they all serve a purpose to contribute to the mimicking of real Kalua Pork.

• Whole Pig is now a Pork Roast
• Apple in the pig's mouth is now cider vinegar and apple chunks
• Kalua is now Kahlua (or go cheap and get spiced rum and instant coffee)
• Smoke from the banana leaves is now banana slices and roasted flavor of the coffee
• Natural saltiness from island-grown pig is now sea salt
• Hawaiian Fire Pit is now a Crock Pot

Ingredients:

• 2.5lb Pork Roast
• 1c Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1.5c Spiced Rum (Capt. Morgan is fine, Black Heart or Sailor Jerry's is a bit more 'edgy' tasting)
• 2T Instant Coffee
• 1t Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1T Sea Salt
• 1T Granulated Garlic
• 1T Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Granny Smith or Fuji Apple, cubed
• 2 Ripe Bananas, sliced 1.5" thick
• 1lb Dark Brown Sugar
• Unfiltered Apple Juice (amount needed depends on size of crock pot)

Method:

1. Place roast on cutting board and cut many 1/2'' slices diagonally across the top of the meat (scoring). Cut them the other way as well so it appears you have many diamonds across your roast. Flip the roast and repeat to the bottom. Set aside.
2. Place all prepared ingredients into crock pot and stir. Make sure all instant coffee grounds are dissolved. Place roast into mixture and use Unfiltered Apple Juice to bring liquid to the top of the roast.
3. Set Crock Pot on medium and let cook for 5 hours (this may vary depending on crock pot and size and weight of your roast). Low and slow is what we're going for here.
4. Check your roast by securing it with a carving fork then firmly dragging a dinner fork over the top of it. If the meat pulls away with little effort, you are done. Remove roast from crock pot and place in a large mixing bowl.
5. Either pull it apart with two forks, your hands or, as I do, with a hand mixer. All the chunks of banana and apple will be soft enough to simply mix in with the meat. if it seems a little dry to you, mix in some of the juices from the crock pot until it's the consistency you like.
6. Either serve by itself or on a kaiser roll. Top with pickled jalapenos or banana peppers for a tasty kick!

Enjoy! Let me know how it all turns out! Don't forget to 'Like' me on Facebook and 'Follow' me on Twitter and Pinterest!

Kayla's White & Green Chicken Chili

My wife, Kayla, makes this amazing chicken chili. It's a white chili that has so many flavors to it that all hit you at different times of the bite but meld into one great flavor at the end. It has some bite but finishes clean and keeps you ready for another bite. I use scoop style chips to get a whole lot of the chili in each bite but thin blue corn chips have their merit as well.

Here is her recipe. I make no claims to this stuff. This is completely her creation but it's so good I had to share! The following was pulled directly from her blog. The pink text is hers and the notes I make will be in black.

The absolute best thing about this recipe is that if you substitute red curry powder instead of using cumin and it makes a completely different, amazing chili. Try it!

You will need:

• 4-5 Chicken Breasts, or the equivalent amount of chicken tenders. I've used both. I like thigh meat better than breasts. It's got better flavor, but I'll never complain about my wife's white meat usage.
• 3 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 jar Salsa Verde. Don't use the trendy looking jars of green stuff. Get the cans from the Mexican section that look like you could get sick from eating it. Those products always make the best food!
• 1 purple onion (chopped)
• 1 jalapeno (chopped) 1? 1? How about 4!
• 3 Cans Great Northern Beans. Smash one of the can's beans to oblivion and pour it in. It will help with the thickening process. Otherwise you might end up with "White & Green Chicken Soup".
• Cumin (I do mine to taste). Be generous! If you're not sure of what cumin brings to the table, just remember that cumin is what makes taco bell taste like taco bell. It is useless in small quantities, but if you are generous, it will return the favor with flavor.
• Crushed coriander seed (I do mine to taste). I would roast them if they weren't roasted prior to jarring.
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• Olive Oil
• Cilantro. USE A TON! I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!
• Limes
• Mexican Cheese (Shredded)
• Your favorite tortilla chip (I prefer the blue corn! Yum!)

1. *Boil water and add chicken breasts. Cook until done.
2. *Chop chicken. I like to use a pizza cutter to dice it. It gives good sizes and is quick and easy!
3. *In a pot (I like to my cast iron dutch oven!) heat olive oil. Add chicken, salt and pepper and let it simmer a little.
4. *Add purple onion and jalapeno. Cook for approximately 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. *Add cumin and crushed coriander and stir. Then add the salsa verde
6. *After cooking for a few minutes, add chicken broth.
7. *Add one and a half cans of the beans. With the other can and a half, smash beans first, to make a more chili feel, if you prefer.
8. *Squeeze in some lime juice and let it simmer until its hot enough to your liking!
9. *Add cilantro shortly before serving.
10. Serve with shredded cheese and limes, and dip with the chips to your hearts content.

Perfect Pot Roast with Dripping Sauce

Friday night, with a little method help (searing and foil pack) from Alton Brown, I attempted my first pot roast. Now a pot roast is typically a not-so-great piece of meat with inconsistent marbling and the potential for a dry, overly fatty dinner results. This is easily fixed with some searing and strategic wrapping. I hope you enjoy this method as much as I did...and Cubby...and JoJo...and Kayla...well kind of because she is pregnant and nothing tastes normal right now.

Perfect Pot Roast
Ingredients:
-One pot roast: The bigger the bone, the better. Look for decent marbling and a little fat. Not too much but enough for some great flavor.
-Granulated Garlic Powder: Enough to cover both sides of roast
-Fresh Ground Black Pepper: Enough to cover both sides of roast
-Salted Butter: Use butter. Margarine is gross. Fat is good.
-Kosher Salt: Palm full
-Balsamic Vinegar: 1/2 Cup
-Red Wine: 1 Cup: I used a dry, Italian merlot but you can use what you like.
-Handful of Red Grapes
-Handfull of Queen Olives: Pitted, with or without pimento.
-Yellow Onion: Half an onion will do. Sliced thin (hamburger style).
-Fresh Basil: 1 Sprig/3 leaves...whatever

Method:
-Preheat oven to 325-350 degrees
-Bring roast to room temperature (don't let it sit there all day, you'll get sick and blame me. But it won't be my fault, I warned you). Season with garlic powder and pepper on both sides. Set it off to the side.
-Bring a cast iron (CI) pan to a high temp on high heat. If you don't have a CI skillet, use the thickest metal pan you have. Even heating is the key.
-When the pan is hot, melt butter onto bottom of pan. When the butter starts to foam and is completely melted, carefully place roast in pan. Sear roast on both sides for about 2 minutes or until a nice brown crust appears. Black is bad but doesn't ruin the roast, just try to not let the meat get that far.
-When the roast has a brown crust on each side, pull it and set it to the side.

-There will be a significant amount of rendered fat, a little beef juice and some butter left in the hot pan. Turn the heat down to med-high and add 2Tbsp of butter. When melted, add sliced onions, grapes (crush them in your hand and toss them in). Add olives in the same manner. Let the onions brown in the butter before moving on to the next step.
-Add kosher salt, balsamic vinegar and red wine. Now you should add the fresh basil, bruised (roll it in your hands a few times) and toss them in.
-Let ingredients simmer until sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Roast and reduction in foil pack

-While sauce is simmering, tear off two 2ft strips of wide, heavy duty aluminum foil. Lay them in a cross in a glass/metal baking pan (square, rectangle--whatever the roast will fit in. The pan doesn't matter, it's just an apparatus for catching juice if it spills). Place roast in the middle of cross in pan.

-Sauce should be reduced nicely by now. Pour sauce over the top of roast until roast is covered about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up the side of meat making sure to get all the onions, grapes, olives and everything in there. Wrap foil loosely around the roast. Try to make it air tight so juice doesn't spill out.
-Place in 325-350 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes hour before checking. Bake until medium (don't worry if you don't like medium meat, it will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven).
-When roast is about medium (135 degrees F), you should remove it from oven and LET IT REST FOR 15-20 Minutes. It will continue to cook and redistribute the juices as well as soak up some more of the sauce you poured over it.

Cup full o' flavor...not gravy!

-When 15-20 minutes has passed, remove roast from pan and place on the cutting board. Take leftover sauce/drippings from the pan and place them in a gravy boat/liquid measuring cup or whatever pouring utensil you want, really. Do not add flour or corn starch to make this sauce a gravy. This sauce is perfect the way it is and has all the rendered fat, juices, red wine, and tangy vinegar flavors all in one sauce. If you add flour or corn starch to make a gravy, you will dull these flavors and be very disappointed.
-Slice roast ACROSS the grain of the meat into 1/4" slices and arrange, fanned, on plate. Pour some of your sauce on it and DEVOUR!

Finished product. Finished with fresh cracked pepper, dripping sauce and a sprig of basil

I have never been a fan of pot roast. I have always enjoyed beef in the steak-on-the-grill form, but I am a newly found advocate of roasts.

Dinner and a movie with the wife. It's "Boiler Room" for tonight.

***UPDATE***

My sister-in-law, Kim, Tried the recipe and my brother and nephew devoured it!  Below is a picture of her roast. It looks awesome! Thanks for the pictures, Kimbo-Slice!

This pic makes me want to make it again tonight!