Apricot-Shallot Criminara on Pork-Chayote Rice

Take 12 small soft red apricots, remove stems and stones, and puree; the ones I had were so soft that a few got a bit crushed on the way home, but that makes them perfect for sauce.  Pour into 7 cup pyrex bowl with lid.  Without washing out food processor, add 2 tsp apple syrup, 6 tbsp silver rum, 3 tbsp pomegranate juice, and one 15 oz can sliced beets (w/ liquid).  Puree and add to bowl.  Lightly whisk together, cover, and move to fridge for 24 hours.

Take eight large shallots; peel and chop.  Place half in large sauce pan and half in large, deep skillet.  Add to saucepan two 15 oz cans yellow cling peaches in peach and pear juice (no sugar added), apricots from fridge, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp kosher sea salt, 2 tbsp ground paprika, 2 tbsp concentrated monkfruit in the raw, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp freeze-dried ginger.  Set heat to medium high (7) and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Peel and dice two Tommy Atkins (common) mangos; one of ours had gone soft, but was still tasty and edible, and the softness was perfect for sauce again.  Set aside in small bowl.  Chop up three slices of jowl bacon and set in bowl with mango.  Chop four slices of jowl bacon up and place in skillet with shallots.  When time is up, add mango and jowl bacon, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, and 1 cup frozen wild blueberries to sauce. Stir, drop heat to medium (5) and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While this is cooking, clean, core, and chop four chayote squash.  Put half in skillet and half in a medium saucepan.  Add 2 cups water to saucepan. When time is up above, stir 1 cup water into big saucepan and cook another 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, add 2 tsp hickory smoked salt, 1 tsp freeze-dried dill, and 1/2 tsp ground coriander to medium saucepan and set heat ot 7 (medium-high).  Set heat to same under skillet, adding 3 tbsp strawberry honey wine, 3 tbsp coconut oil, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp hickory smoked salt, 1 tsp freeze-dried dill, and 1/2 tsp ground coriander.  Cook until shallots brown, stirring occasionally.

Take 1.41 lbs boneless sirloin pork chops and cut crosswise into short strips.  When shallots are browned, add to skillet and cook until no longer pink, covering for the last 10 minutes or so.  When water in small pan just begins to boil, add 8 garlic-clove stuffed green olives.  Bring to full boil and stir in 1 cup jasmine rice; cover, drop heat to a half notch above lowest setting, and cook 15-20 minutes.  At same time last 20 minutes for sauce should be up; stir in 1 tbsp sweet basil and 1 tsp baking soda. Drop heat to medium-low and stir in until fizzing stops, then let cook a last 15 minutes.

Stir coconut flour into sauce to thicken as desired; 3 tbsp did it for us.  Serve rice and pork side by side, with sauce atop both.  This is a wonderful, savory dish, the sauce just the right amount of tart and sweet, the pork tender, the chayote and rice with a wonderful texture, the olives a nice garnish, and the shallots a delicious undertone.  The liquids left in the pork skillet are also quite tasty in their own right.  Certain ingredients were used to tie this recipe together; jowl bacon and shallots in the sauce and pork, chayote squash, dill, and hickory smoked salt in the pork and rice, and coriander in everything.  The basil and baking soda are added in late to help moderate acidity and make full use of basil's subtle flavor.

The sauce is one of my classic criminaras, and there is plenty left for several meals; we'll probably have some over pasta, and maybe use it as a salad dressing as well Sunday.

This dish is free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, peanuts, canola, tomatoes, grapes, and mushrooms.

Criminara CountdownThis is my fourth year running I've made something I call my Criminara sauce.  I can only make it during a few weeks in the months of May and June, as it requires access to black velvet apricots, which are shipped in to our local Hy-Vee from California.  They were a special draw when the store first opened, and I look forward eagerly to their arrival ever since.
I call it 'Criminara' because of its strong resemblence in appearance to marinara sauce, and its strong, crimson coloration.  My wife, Rachel, has become deathly allergic to tomatoes since having her appendix removed some six years ago now, and this is one of many methods I've devised to make fruit-based pasta sauces for her.  I often use other stone fruits (nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots, and peaces) with mangoes for other sauces, but I only get to make two or three batches of Criminara a year.
When I make Criminara, I tend to make enough for two to three meals, stretching it as best I can; I'll ofte  
   
Chopped Shallots 1
Chopped Shallots 2 
Chopped Shallots 2a
Cooking Criminara Sauce 1
Cooking Criminara Sauce 2
Chopped Shallots 3
Chopped Chayote Squash
Sirloin Pork Chops
Cutting Sirloin Pork Chops
Cooking Shallots, Chayote Squash, and Jowl Bacon
Pork, Shallots, Rice, Olives, and Chayote Squash 1
Apricot-Shallot Criminara on Pork-Chayote Rice 2
Apricot-Shallot Criminara on Pork-Chayote Rice 3
Apricot-Shallot Criminara on Pork-Chayote Rice 3a
Apricot-Shallot Criminara on Pork-Chayote Rice 4