Dairy free recipe: Prok chops with onion compote

We like onions, and just about anything with onions on or in it. In this case, slow-ish cooked onions with a white wine sauce on porkchops? Oh, yes. And its dairy & egg free (see note below).

This is a recipe from Martha Stewart Living (the magazine), but its altered slightly... because I only  have 1 skillet.

Preheat oven to 375'. Put a cookie sheet or such in the oven to heat as the oven heats. I put down foil on the cookie sheet to make it easy to clean. Heat about 2 TBSP oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the porkchops, and brown in the hot oil, about 3 minutes each side. I can only brown one porkchop at a time. Put the browned porkchops on the hot cookie sheet in the oven and let them bake to desire doneness.  I let them bake for about 5 to 10 more minute, then turn the oven off but leave the porkchops in the oven.

porkchops in the oven

In the skillet that you browned the porkchops in, add a bit of oil and let it heat up. Turn the burner down to medium heat. Slice 2 onions. Put them in the hot oil and let them brown slowly. Give them a good 20 to 30 minutes to brown, stirring occasionally.

When they are a nice golden brown, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white cooking wine, or white wine vinegar (I use white wine vinegar). Let it simmer until almost all the liquid is gone; this will take 5 or so minutes.

Serve with rice and a green salad.

Note on the egg-free: I've noticed a pattern and I'm not certain its dairy bothering Peanut. The pattern indicates it might be egg, so I'm now going sans-eggs. The plan: two weeks with no symptoms and I'll do a "challenge" -- first milk, then egg. Hopefully, I won't have to drop anything else from my diet.

Non-dairy recipe: Pizza substitute

Hubby loves pizza and Friday is pizza night. But, as I'm doing the sans-dairy thing, no cheese for me. And that's just weird having pizza, sans-cheese.  So, I came up with a permissible substitute... bread sticks with marinara sauce.

I made pizza dough as I normally do, but saved a chunk off the bit I rolled out for the pizza. That I divided up and rolled each bit into long ropes. I baked the pizza dough ropes with the pizza. I saved back some of the sauce, dished out my favorite sweet onion vinegarette dressing (no dairy!) and I had a nice dinner.

My pizza dough (sans-dairy)

In a mixer bowl with a dough hook (or in a good sized bowl and a hefty spoon), mix:
2 Tbsp yeast
2 cups warm water
2 cups wheat flour

Let sit for 10 to 30 minutes (however much time you have).  Then turn the mixer on low and add:

1 to 2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Add about a half cup of white flour at a time, till the dough holds together and isn't so sticky. You'll need about 3 to 4 cups. If you are doing this by hand, you'll need to pull the dough out of the bowl at some point and knead by hand. Either way, kneed or run the mixer till the dough is smooth and stretchy, about 8 or so minutes by hand, less by mixer.

This is enough for 2 thin crust pizzas at about a 10 inch diameter, or one thick crush 10 inch diameter pizza. Pulling off enough for 3 bread sticks still gives a decently thick 10 inch diameter pizza.

The marinara sauce I like, I found here. I've stopped adding maple syrup as I don't have any (used some homemade vanilla syrup first time, then no sweetener the next time, and liked it just as well). I've also used sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar. All three were good, I liked it with the balsamic best.

Enjoy!

Non-diary recipe: Honey Chicken

Since I've gone on a complete dairy elimination diet, I'm looking for meals I can make with no dairy.  Seems like most things are at least "manufactured on equipment that also manufactures goods containing milk", so it has become necessary to get creative.  I sorted out my recipe binder and found several things that are dairy free, and I plan to present those things here.  First up: Honey Chicken.

This was my absolute favorite dish growing up. I LOVE this sauce. I will even enjoy rice with this sauce.  I believe it comes from a 2008 Southern Living cookbook. And its very flexible.

Ingredients:
Honey
Mustard
Oil or butter
Cumin
Chicken pieces

Instructions:
Arrange your chicken pieces in a 9x13 baking dish. If they are boned, bone side down. If not, just space them out. Fit however many pieces you'd like, and scale the sauce to cover them.

Sauce: Use about half honey and half mustard. Mix in the oil or melted butter, about 1 TBSP for a total of 2 cups of sauce, and about 1 TBSP ground cumin for 2 cups of sauce (give or take a bit, according to your taste). We like lots of sauce, so I often use a cup of honey and a cup of mustard. If you like it sweet, use more honey than mustard. If you like it tart, use more mustard than honey.  If your tastes are simple, like ours, use straight yellow mustard. If you have more discerning tastes, use a fancy mustard -- according to your taste.

Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces, being sure to cover the pieces well. Place in the oven uncovered.

Bake at 375', for about 45 minutes. I suspect smaller pieces of chicken, like thighs will need a shorter time in the oven. I know for sure that bone-in pieces need the full 45 minutes.

Enjoy over rice and with a salad -- with a non-dairy dressing.

Ubiquitous Ingredients

Well, milk, milk solids, and whey might not be truly ubiquitous ingredients, but its close.  I've talked about giving up dairy for my little peanut. Turns out its more than merely dealing with fussiness. With our pediatrician, we made an educated guess about the source of the intestinal irritations the little boy was dealing with.

So, I am eliminating all milk and milk products from my diet. Anything with milk, or milk derivatives, is out. And goodness, milk derivatives are in near everything. Its a touch scary. If this doesn't work, its eggs next, then soy. If I have eliminate soy.... well, that is in everything.

So far, I've gotten margarine to replace my butter. I used mustard on my sandwich instead of miracle whip. And no chocolate for me. :::frowny face:::  Luckily, peanut butter doesn't have an milk products in it.

I'm off to get creative, and figure out some new things to make that don't have milk in the list of ingredients.