Solar Baked Pork in Curried Fruit Barbecue Sauce

Solar Baked Pork in Curried Fruit Barbecue Sauce

This is a recipe I created using the tomatoes, apples, and figs that I dehydrated last year. As I planned on using all three in my sauce, it only made sense to rehydrate them in the same dish to thoroughly combine their flavors in the rehydrating liquid. 

Baked Pork in Curried Fruit Barbecue Sauce

   12 ounces rehydrated tomatoes

     10 ounces rehydrated apples

4 ounces rehydrated figs

1/4 cup liquid from rehydrated fruit above

one medium onion, minced

1 teaspoon mild Curry powder

1/2 teaspoons instant coffee

1/2 teaspoon ground fennel

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

1 tablespoon raw sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon each: ground marjoram, ground oregano, and ground thyme

   (or, 1 tsp each: marjoram leaves, oregano leaves, thyme leaves, finely chopped)

1 pound pork, fat removed and cut in bite-sized pieces

optional, but oh, so, good: thinly sliced apple rings, at least three per plate

Preheat solar oven to 225°F       2-quart baking dish with cover/tin foil

Here you can see the tomatoes on the left, apples in the center, and figs on the right. Apples can take up to 45 minutes to rehydrate, tomatoes around 30, and the fig roll less than ten, so you would want to plan accordingly

Solar Baked Grapples - An Easy, Attractive, Delicious Dessert!

My sister discovered Grapples last year and jumped at the chance to bring more home, again, this year.  An interesting fruit combination that fills the kitchen with its aroma. Don't know exactly what the infusion of grape flavor does to the apple texture but, for me, the snap of the Gala or Fuji apple didn't pop as much as the originals I know and love. On the up side, they are tasty and I wanted to see what happens in the baking process. I used an apple corer and loved the spiral effect. Simply cut them down the center for serving.

Braised Lima Bean-Barley Pork (Seitan) Patties

Been taking post-op care of a dear friend for the past week and just returned. We've been promised a few more days of sunny weather before the last throes of winter weather return.  Time for home cooking!

Braised Lima Bean-Barley Pork (seitan) Patties
Seitan is nothing more than gluten separated from wheat by making a dough and rinsing it until the water runs clear, dividing the steps between kneading, rinsing, and resting in the refrigerator several hours. The end result is a stringy mass of wonderfully adaptable gluten that can be shaped into whatever mock meat you want it to be. I like the long method because I can count on the firmness and consistency of the gluten and it works very well in my processor, thank you.  But, for those of you who prefer the quick method to food preparation, I found this site, recently, that describes a faster basic recipe method, including several recipes showing how you can slice, cube, grind, however you want your mock meat shape -- in other words, it's very versatile.  And, if you want another option, I've never tried this process and would love to know your results, check out this site here.