Balsamic Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Wow! I am finally getting another blog post up. Feels like forever! Sorry about that folks. But I'll make up for it with this amazing recipe Balsamic Pulled Pork. Its spectacular. It was supposed to be balsamic honey pulled pork, but funny thing - my "well stocked" pantry did not contain an ounce of honey. HAHA whoops! So, I did without and this recipe was still great. Make it this weeked - you'll love it because its one of those slow cooker recipes where you just throw it all in and walk away (well, until the last hour any way, then it takes a little bit of effort, what with making the sauce and all). But it is honestly worth the little bit of effort. I promise!

Balsamic Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

• 1 3lb boneless pork shoulder roast
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp each ground cumin and smoked paprika
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup garlic bbq sauce
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 12 fresh buns
• coleslaw and pickles to garnish, if desired

Method:

1. Rub pork roast all over with cumin and smoked paprika. Set aside. Place chopped onion on the bottom of the slow cooker. Place pork roast on top of onion and slowly pour over 1/2 cup of the chicken broth. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 5 hours.
2. During the last half hour of cooking, make the sauce. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth, vinegar, ketchup, bbq sauce, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, garlic and pepper in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until sauce has thickened slightly. Taste sauce, if sauce is too vinegary, add more chicken stock.
3. Remove pork from slow cooker and shred. Remove juice and onions from the bottom of the slow cooker and place shredded pork back in the slow cooker.  Pour sauce over and stir to combine. Replace lid and cook on low for one hour.
4. Top buns with pulled pork, coleslaw and pickles. Enjoy!

This was unbelievably good! I love pulled pork, but this one was just over the top. I made these potato buns - stay tuned - I will post the recipe soon. :) Also coming up - details and a recipe from my most recent cooking class at Well Seasoned and the Crazy Cooking Challenge. Hope to see you soon!

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Maple & Ham Scones

If you ever make ham for your family, I'm sure you are well aware that you always have leftovers. And while leftovers are fun in their original form the next day or so, they quickly become monotonous and may even go to waste. Not with this recipe though!! Ohhhh are these ever good. I was inspired by the maple scalloped potatoes I made for easter and thought if they went well with ham, so would maple syrup, in scones! Oh yah, I did that!

I LOVE Anna Olson's scone recipes! They always turn out so light and delicious. So I flipped to my favorite recipe of hers for Apple Cheddar Walnut Scones and heavily adapted it to serve my purpose. Here's my rendition of the recipe made with Ham & Maple.

Ham & Maple Scones
Recipe adapted from Anna Olson's Back to Baking

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup, plus extra for brushing
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 5-6 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
• 1/3 cup finely grated asiago cheese
• 9 oz leftover ham
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, plus extra for brushing

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Pulse the flour and baking powder together in the bowl of a food processor until combined. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly, but pieces of butter are still visible. Remove from the food processor into a medium bowl and stir in the cheese and 1/2 of the ham until coated. Add the heavy cream and the maple syrup and stir until dough starts to come together. Turn out on work surface. Knead lightly until dough comes together fully, being careful not to overwork. Lightly pat dough out into 1/2 inch thick square. Sprinkle with remaining ham pieces and press lightly into the dough. Fold the dough in half, pressing the ham in at the same time. Repeat process until you've worked in about 4 folds.
3. Shape dough into a square, about 8 inches by 8 inches. Cut the dough into 16 pieces and place on prepared baking tray.
4. Stir together about 2 tbsp heavy cream and 2 tbsp maple syrup. Brush tops of scones with mixture and bake in preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until they are a rich golden brown.

I baked these for hubby to take to his guys weekend last week and they were a hit!! I have been asked to kindly make these again next time I make a ham. Hope you enjoy these - they're a little different than your usual scone combination, but they work. :)

Happy Baking my Friends!

Daring Bakers' Challenge March 2012 - Dutch Crunch Bread

Well, its time for this month's Daring Baker's Challenge again. This challenge wasn't all that daring, but it was delicious. Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses. Sara and Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch Bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to make a one of a kind sandwich with our bread.

The bread is quite interesting - it is a white sandwich bread topped with a thick layer of a mixture of rice flour, yeast and water. This mixture cracks and turns golden as the loaf bakes, giving the bread it's unique appearance. I'm going to send you over to the Daring Baker's website for the recipe since I didn't change a thing. I used the white sandwich bread recipe and topped it with the dutch crunch topping.

 I decided to make my bread into a Muffuletta sandwich. I adapted the recipe from Bobby Flay's Throwdown cookbook (which is a stellar cookbook, well worth the purchase!!).

 Muffuletta
Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay's Throwdown

Ingredients:

• 1 round loaf of dutch crunch bread
• 1/3 lb thinly sliced genoa salami
• 1/3 lb thinly sliced serrano ham
• 1/3 lb thinly sliced lean capicola
• 1/3 lb thinly sliced spanish salami
• 1/4 lb thinly sliced provolone cheese
• 1/4 lb thinly sliced swiss cheese
• 1 recipe special dressing

Special Dressing:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp sherry cooking wine
• 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 cup pitted green olives
• 1 roasted red bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 pepperocini peppers
• 1 tbsp capers
• salt and pepper

Method:

1. First, make the special dressing. Combine all ingredients except the capers in the bowl of a food processor. Whirl until mixture is almost smooth, but still a little chunky. Stir in the capers.
2. Slice the bread in half horizontally. Spread both halves of the bread generously with the dressing. Layer the meats and cheeses on the bottom half of the bread and cover with the top half.
3. Serve cold. Serves 8 - 10 people.

 Here are some pictures of this monster sandwich. Don't worry about the olives in that dressing... my hubby hates olives, but he was madly in love with this sandwich. It all goes together so perfectly with no flavour overwhelming the others.

 It was a little hard to cut due to all of the toppings, but it still tasted great.

This post has been yeast spotted!

This post has been linked up with Fusion Fridays over at Jennifer Cooks. Head over to check out other delicious goodies other bloggers have whipped up this week.

Thanks Sara and Erica for hosting an interesting challenge. I can't wait to go around and check out what kind of sandwiches everyone else made. Happy Baking my Friends!

Restaurant Review: Ignite Cafe, Langley BC



Daily Ignite Specials posted curbside

I work in downtown Langley (the old part) and its been really hard to find a yummy lunch place close to the office. Well, you can imagine my excitement when Ignite Cafe was opened by local owner Dan. Absolutely delicious food - aways fresh and everything is made from scratch! Check out Dan's facebook page to stay current on whats going on at Ignite and to see some photos of his awesome food.

This is a great little restaurant open for lunch on weekdays and dinner on the weekends (be sure to make a reservation for the dinner service - seating is limited). I've broken down my review of our most recent lunch experience at Ignite Cafe into the following sections: Restaurant, Location, Food, Service, Atmosphere, Price.


Ignite interior, viewed from front entrance

Restaurant: Ignite Cafe
Location: 5572 - 204 Street, Langley, British Columbia

Ignite wine list

 Food:

The food at Ignite is always delicious (soup of the day is sooooo good!!). Dan sources ingredients locally and always has the freshest produce. He makes all of his soups, sauces and dressings from scratch and it shows - the taste is always superb. I recently had lunch at Ignite and my group tried the french onion soup, potato leek soup, the Ignite Burger (topped with avocado, proscuitto, yummy flavoured mayo and stuffed with provolone cheese), the Cajun Chicken Sandwich (topped with delicious cajun seasoning, avocado, delicious spiced mayo, roasted red peppers with a full chicken breast - thats right - a full chicken breast that is perfectly cooked - none of these pre-processed chicken patties here), and the daily special - Roasted Chicken Panini. All of these sandwiches were served with fresh greens topped with an absolutely divine homemade vinaigrette.

The only downside (if you can really call it that) is that there aren't any fries with the burger! But honestly, given the size of the burger, unless you have a HUGE appetite, you won't even miss them. And if you do have a big appetite, or if you're starving... probably if you talked really nice to Dan he would whip you up some kind of potatoey goodness to go along with the burger!!

Overall rating for food: 5/5

Soup of the day: Potato Leek

 Service:

I've got nothing bad to say about the service here. They check back to your table regularly to make sure you have everything you need. Dan usually comes out to check on the tables even if he's got a server on staff that day - that’s what makes it special and makes the service so great. Its always personal - Dan remembers you and he'll take care of you when you're in his place. And you'll always get service with a smile. :)

Overall rating for service: 5/5

Soup of the day: French Onion

 Atmosphere:

This cafe is cozy and makes the perfect lunch place. Not the most ideal location (its pretty hidden on a side street and street parking can be hit or miss) in the older area of downtown Langley, but the food makes it more than worth checking out!

I haven't noticed any music on at the cafe each time I've been in (maybe its on, but it must have been a little too quiet because I didn't notice!!) - it would add a nice touch to have some music playing while customers were there otherwise if there are only a couple tables of customers it can be a little awkward when you can hear everyone elses conversations!

Overall rating for atmosphere: 4/5

Special: Roasted Chicken Panini

 Price:

Prices are super reasonable at Ignite. You get a huge burger for only $11! Most of the prices range from $7 - 16 (a little more for some of the daily seafood specials). Considering the locally sourced, fresh, healthy ingredients used in preparing the food, you're getting a bargain here.

Ignite also offers wine at reasonable prices starting at $28 per bottle or $6 per glass. For such a small place, they carry a decent variety of wine - most people should be able to find something they like to drink on the menu.

Overall rating for price: 5/5

Cajun Chicken Sandwich

Picture doesn't do the Ignite Burger justice!! Fantastic, huge burger!

 

As you can see, I like this place. So do my co-workers and my friends. I'll be back and I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a great lunch place (or weekend dinner place) in Langley. See you there friends!

Another interior shot of Ignite Cafe

Restaurant Review: Lamplighter Gallery Cafe, Fort Langley BC

My sister & I did a day trip to Fort Langley, BC the other day - we browsed through some of the cool little boutique stores, checked out the farmers market, and went for lunch at the Lamplighter Gallery Cafe. The Lamplighter Gallery Cafe is a quaint little lunch place that makes some delicious sandwiches, soups and other dishes. All of the food was really reasonably priced too!! If you're out in Fort Langley any time soon, do give this place a try.

 I ordered the Fort Langley sandwich with smoked salmon and halibut chowder for lunch. The Fort Langley sandwich is made with free range organic chicken salad and roasted garlic cranberry mayo. The sandwich was absolutely delightful with the roasted garlic-cranberry mayo adding such depth of flavour to an otherwise classic chicken salad sandwich. The chowder was slightly under-seasoned, but the other flavours were there, so once I seasoned it with salt, it was great!

 My sister ordered the Kamloops sandwich with the soup of the day. The Kamloops sandwich is made with tomato, boccocini and griddled zucchini. My sister loved the sandwich and the soup. We really enjoyed the quaintness of the cafe and the service was really personal and attentive.

I would give this restaurant a 4/5 overall. If you do get a chance to try it out, let me know how you like it!

Cheers!