Pulled Pork Perfection

Pork is a great sandwich staple and I enjoy a good ham sandwich as much as the next person. It’s classic, straightforward, no-nonsense meat that pair well with all kinds of mustards, cheeses and pickles. For a refresher on this concept and some inspiration to get you started, check out an earlier post from 2014, 3 Parts Mustard/2 Parts Pickles/1 Part Ham.

But it’s always fun to change it up and try something different and it’s even better when you have some outside help. So I must give the majority of the credit for this sandwich creation to my husband Mike, since it was his kitchen-wizardry that came through in a big and tasty way when we made our own Pulled Pork Sandwiches, on some fresh-from–the-bakery bread, topped with some lovely caramelized onions.

Pulled Pork Perfection, in 3 stages

To make your own Pulled Pork Perfection, you will need:

Leftover Pork Shoulder Meat, shredded

1/2 cup White Vinegar

1/4 cup Red Wine or Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Water

1/4 cup BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup Ketchup

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp Spicy Mustard (heaping)

Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste

Caramelized Onions (optional)

Sandwich Bread, thickly sliced

Smells so good!

Prep:

1-Shred the pork meat with two forks and put in a pot on the stove.

2-Add the three kinds of vinegar.

3-Mix the water and sugar together and pour over the meat and vinegar.

4-Bring to a boil, uncovered for 10 minutes.

5-Turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and let out the steam. Your kitchen will smell amazing at this point.

6-Mix the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.

7-Pour sauce over the pork, mix and reduce heat.

8-Top with some fresh ground pepper and caramelized onions. They’re optional, but a very nice touch. Simply heat the sliced onion in a skillet with some olive oil and stir until they soften and brown slightly.

9-Assemble the pork and onions into sandwiches.

10-Serve warm and enjoy!

This pulled pork is tangy, sweet and just a touch spicy. You can always adjust the quantities of the vinegars to suit your tastes and play with different types of mustards and breads. It would pair really well with a cool, crisp coleslaw or salad. Think classic deli-style. Yum.

This is a great way to use up leftover pork shoulder meat from a Sunday dinner. It works well with bread and wraps stuffed with whatever you like. And it freezes well too. So with all that going for it, what’s not to be excited about?

Leftover Turkey Dinner Sandwiches

Gobble, gobble! 'Tis the season to celebrate big dinners and lots of leftovers!

It’s the time of year when turkey dinners make themselves at home in our kitchens, dining rooms and after all is said and eaten, in our fridges in leftover form. You could enjoy piling up plate after plate of leftovers for the next few lunches and dinners – and there’s nothing wrong with doing just that. Who doesn’t love another meal of mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce?

Or you could compress all that goodness between two thick slices of bread instead.

And from the Tupperware and Pyrex containers of leftovers rises the Leftover Turkey Dinner Sandwich.

I’m not going to pretend the idea for this sandwich creation is uniquely mine because I know for a fact that many people have been enjoying this sandwich for countless post-turkey dinners. It’s probably not as iconic as Grilled Cheese, but it’s up there. At least, it is for me.

It’s hard to describe the sheer pleasure I got a few weeks ago, from pulling out the leftovers from our big Canadian Ex-Pat Thanksgiving Dinner and heaping them together in a huge, delicious mouthful of a sandwich. So tasty, so filling. After your next turkey dinner, I encourage you to do the same.

This was only part of the feast. Potluck dinners are amazing.

You will need:

Sandwich bread, thickly sliced, or a small baguette, ciabatta or sub-style loaf cut lengthwise

Whatever leftovers you have from Turkey Dinner: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, etc.

Mustard and/or mayo, if you so choose

A hearty appetite

Stretchy pants or a belt you can loosen after eating are nice to have too

Stuffing, mustard, cranberries, turkey and bread.

Prep:

1-Spread your chosen condiment(s) on the bread or loaf.

2-Pile on your turkey dinner fixings in any order you choose. My personal favorite is turkey (dark meat, if possible), then stuffing, then topped with cranberries. We almost never have mashed potato leftovers, so I haven’t tried them on the sandwich. Hopefully I will someday.

Ready for stacking and snacking upon.

3-Stack the sandwich closed. This part is a bit messy but worth it.

4-Enjoy with a Cranberry Ginger Ale. If you’re lucky enough to find the real Canada Day stuff, good for you! If not, top up your half-full glass of ginger ale with cranberry juice.

Stacked to perfection.

My sandwich was good and thick and biting into it brought back many memories of Thanksgiving Dinners past: at home with my family in Canada and here in France with seven other families that make up one big combined, extended family. Always great times with great people on both sides of the Atlantic.

A question I’d like to put out there in the blogosphere – to heat or not to heat?

I didn’t heat mine and it tasted just fine, but when my husband made his, he pre-heated the leftovers before assembling his sandwich. It comes down to personal preferences and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

My husband's version, baguette style.

I hope this post gets you inspired with something fun to try after your next turkey dinner. For those of you who aren’t hosting and therefore don’t necessarily get leftovers, I hope your host sends you home with a care-package so the holiday gluttony can last for a few more days. Whether you eat your leftovers heaped on a plate or piled high in a sandwich, the end result should be the same: the satisfied silence of a turkey-dinner coma, complete with a full belly and a loosened belt.

Gobble, gobble, Sandwich Lovers. Eat up!

Bridges, Poulet Crudités and Being in the Moment

One day during my ESL Teacher training course in January, I bought a baguette sandwich from the bakery two doors down on Rue Dauphine (right in the heart of the Latin Quarter, such a cool area!) and walked a few blocks north to Pont Neuf and ate my lunch right there on the bridge, overlooking the Seine.

Lunch on Pont Neuf: Poulet Crudité, jus de pomme et pain au chocolat.

Pont Neuf, contrary to its name, is not a ‘new bridge’. It was actually built in 1578 and it has two parts that span the right and left banks of Ile-de-la-Cite. It’s a beautiful place and I was needing a few minutes of calm during a very busy and intensive course. I remember planting myself firmly in the moment, taking a deep, yogic breath, and deliberately acknowledging: “This is my lunch break. I’m eating on Pont Neuf. In Paris. Wow!”

Because life gets busy sometimes. And we often forget to just take a moment and acknowledge where we are and what we’re doing. Sometimes, the scenery of everyday, anywhere, can start to blend together and we can lose track of calm, lovely moments that make life interesting.

So I chose to make that moment count and to enjoy every single bite of my delicious sandwich, there on one of the oldest bridges in Paris.

The sandwich I bought from that bakery was a Poulet Crudité, a chicken sandwich with vegetables and a salad dressing sauce on a crusty baguette. It was tasty and filling and kept me going through the busy afternoons of teaching, observing and planning during my course. Recently, I had some lovely leftover roast chicken and I was inspired to gather the ingredients and make my own version of the Poulet Crudité, right at home. And now, you can too!

Cheese and eggs

You will need:

-one baguette

-Mayo or salad dressing sauce, like ranch

-roast chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces or thin slices

-some cheese of your choice; we used some nice Bleu des Neiges, a combination brie/blue type cheese

-hard boiled eggs, sliced (1 egg per sandwich)

-tomato slices

-lettuce/salad greens

Chicken and Tomatoes

Prep:

1-Slice the baguette in half, lengthwise.

2-Drizzle the mayo/salad dressing on each half of the bread loaf.

3-Boil the eggs, using the method from the Colourful Egg Salad post.

4-Layer the bottom half of the bread with cheese, chicken, egg slices, tomato and lettuce.

5-Assemble the top half of the baguette, slice and serve. Makes two big, dinner-sized sandwiches!

Poulet Crudité: Pret a Manger!

This particular sandwich was eaten for dinner in the comfort of my own home, with the company of my husband. It may not be as exciting as a bridge in Paris, but it’s home and I enjoyed every bite of this sandwich just as much as I enjoyed the other one.

I want to mention that the first time I ate lunch on Pont Neuf, it was Friday, January 9 2015, the day there was a hostage situation underway in Porte de Vincennes. I didn’t know it was happening at the time and where I was in Paris, it was business as usual. The Paris attacks shocked me and my husband, as it shocked the rest of the world and we were quick to reassure our friends and family that we were safe.

Shocked though we were, we still went to the ballet at Palais Garnier that weekend, because life must continue. And the following week, I made a point to buy my lunch again (a different kind of  sandwich from the same bakery) and eat it on Pont Neuf. Because I refuse to live in fear and I want to keep looking for the good in my life, in the people around me, and in my surroundings.

And I’m happy to report that the view was just as picturesque and my sandwich was just as tasty as it was before! Paris is a beautiful and a tough city, having withstood a lot in her history, and I will continue to look for the good in it and take the time to deliberately acknowledge that I’m lucky and happy to be here.

One of my favorite lunch spots in a beautiful and tough city.

I hope you find the time to be in the moment and appreciate where you are, what you're doing and to find the good in it.

Thanks for your support and Happy Sandwich Making!

Comfort Chicken Soup

A hot bowl of soup on a cold winter night is a truly special thing - especially when it’s chicken soup! Temperatures hung around the -20s this weekend, so making soup just felt like the comforting and fun thing to do. I am proud and excited to bring you the first soup post of Sandwiches are Beautiful!

This chicken soup recipe is adapted from a hambone soup recipe I found online at allrecipes.com  Obviously, I swapped out the hambone for the leftover carcass of a roast chicken I’d made earlier in the week (thank you, Jamie Oliver!) and omitted the tomatoes and included more herbs for increased flavour, but the overall process was the same – simple one-pot, fragrant goodness!

Comfort Chicken Soup requires: 

Chicken, carrots and celery about to be added to the soup.

1 leftover carcass of a roast chicken (It had leftover sprigs of rosemary, sage and thyme stuffed in the cavity, which added beautiful flavor to the soup. If you don’t have a leftover chicken carcass, a store-bought rotisserie chicken would also do, along with the addition of the above mentioned herbs)

3 carrots, chopped

3 celery ribs and leafy tops, chopped

½ sweet onion, diced

2 bay leaves

1 cup of cooked chicken, cut into small pieces

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables 

¾ cup uncooked rice

1 cup uncooked macaroni

¼ tsp each of ground pepper and salt

One-Pot Process:

Smells heavenly!

 1- Put the chicken carcass in a large pot and cover with water.Bring to a boil for 10-15 minutes.
 2- Add the onion and the herbs (if not already in the chicken).
 3- Turn the heat down to medium and add the chicken, carrots, celery and other veggies.
 4- Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes and add the rice and macaroni. Season with salt and pepper.
 5- Cover and simmer for 60-90 minutes.
 6- Use a slotted spoon to fish out the chicken bones and carefully pull any remaining meat off the bones (it’s really hot, so use a fork!)
7- Discard the bones, bay leaves and herbs.

8- Let cool 10-15 min. before serving.

Souptacular! It's especially lovely when enjoyed with some soft buttered French bread that you can dip into the soup.  This soup would also pair with a thick tuna sandwich, like the Veggie or Spicy Tuna sandwiches from December.  It’s a comfort food that’s piping hot and hearty – just right for a lazy Sunday dinner.

Have a great week!

Doesn't get much better than hot soup and soft bread!

Colourful Egg Salad

I love colourful food and I am of the opinion that a meal should have a broad colour pallet: rich reds and oranges, bright greens, a dab of yellow or crisp white and even sometimes a pop of blue or purple (purple potatoes are delicious, in case you couldn't think of a purple food).  When I create a sandwich, like any designer, I consider the colours of the ingredients and how they will look together.  I like to build something with a range of colours  because it's aesthetically pleasing and hints at variety in taste and texture.  And let's face it, when something looks good, chances are it tastes good too. 

Such is the case for my latest sandwich creation.  The white and yellow mix of hard boiled eggs provided the basis for a lovely, multicoloured egg salad sandwich.  When mixed with some green celery, red pepper and rusty-tinged spices, the sunny yellow hue reminded me of springtime.  It's a cheerful-looking (and tasting!) sandwich to enjoy this slushy winter week.

This Colourful Egg Salad requires:

Red, green, white and yellow!

5 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 tsp diced fresh dill weed (estimated)
1 tbsp-ish of mayo
1/2 tbsp-ish of Fresh's Dijon with Chardonnay mustard
Paprika and Cayenne pepper flakes to taste
Spinach 
Bread or buns, split


Hard Boiled Eggs can be tricky, but luckily there's no shortage of tips online to try!  Some say to add vinegar or salt to the water to prevent the egg whites from oozing if the eggs are cracked and others don't; I recommend reading a few and trying whatever stands out to you.  I've used this method many times with consistent hard boiled results:

Just add water, boil, remove from heat and cover.

1. Place the eggs in a single layer and fill your pot with cold water that covers the eggs with an extra inch and a half.
2. Bring the water to a boil for 1 minute and remove the pot from heat.  I know the expression "a watched pot never boils" but it's important that you do watch it so they don't overcook.
3. Cover and let the eggs sit in the boiled water for about 12 minutes. 
4. Run the eggs under cold water and peel.  Fini!

Sandwich Creation:

1. After peeling the eggs, mash them in a bowl with a pastry cutter.
2. Add the diced celery, red pepper, dill weed and mix.
3. Mix in the mayo and mustard.  I don't like my egg or potato salads drowning in sauce, which is why my measurements were 'ish' amounts as I constantly taste as I mix.  Add more/less to suit your liking.
4. Sprinkle on the paprika and cayenne spices to taste.
5. Scoop egg salad on one bread slice/bun half and pile with spinach.
6. Enjoy! 

Chopping fresh herbs with this is so easy and they smell amazing!

Delightful!  The eggs were still warm and the spices and Dijon mustard added some zip. Since there was some leftover egg salad the next day and I was feeling inspired, I added some diced radishes, and fresh basil to the mix for even more colour and flavor!  Fresh basil smells and tastes lovely but in the leftover amount, it was a bit intense, so I recommend either using a smaller amount for the leftover batch or adding it the whole batch next time.  

For even more colour, I added some baby carrots on the side because for me, the more colours, the better the sandwich.  Enjoy!

3 Parts Mustard/2 Parts Pickles/1 Part Ham

3 kinds of mustard, 2 kinds of pickles...that's how I remade an otherwise ordinary ham and cheese sandwich.  

The experimental process

With lots of traveling over the Christmas holidays and getting the house back to its pre-holidays mess, cooking a nice, grown-up dinner just wasn't in the cards last night.  Thankfully, there was lots of leftover baked ham (sent home with us in a huge care-package from the farm from my amazing mother-in-law!), half a loaf of homemade bread, some veggies and lots of condiments in the fridge to work with. 

Since ham and cheese is pretty basic, I tried experimenting with combinations of mustard and pickles to dress things up.  What I discovered was a hot and savory mix! 

For my 3 Parts Mustard/2 Parts Pickles/1 Part Ham creation, I used:

French's Original Dijon

Sensations' Whole Grain Dijon (I love its grainy texture)

French's Class Yellow Mustard 

Unico Pickled Hot Pepper Rings

Bick's Sandwich Saver Dill Pickles

Baked Ham, sliced

Mayo

Baby Spinach

Plum Tomatoes, sliced

Marble Cheese slices

Brown Bread

Fresh Ground Pepper

Cast photo! Missing the Grainy Dijon, which was finished off.

Tips:

1. Combine the Original Dijon and Grainy Dijon on the same bread slice to make a Super-Dijon Mustard! 
2. Spread the mayo and the Classic Yellow on the other bread slice to balance it all out. (For an even bigger kick, I dare you to try Keen's Mustard instead of the Classic Yellow; it's my favorite hot mustard and it would bring this sandwich to a whole new level!)
3. Pile on the other ingredients and don't skimp on the spinach and hot peppers!
4. Add some fresh ground pepper before fully assembling.
5. Enjoy!

Spicy and grainy mustard combined with hot and garlicky pickles really rebooted this sandwich, which proves that having fun with the classics is all about the condiments.  

What's your favorite condiment combo? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Two Tasty Tunas and Some Grilled Pear Topped with Brie!

Tuna is the kind of sandwich ingredient that you can really play and experiment with to suit your taste at any given moment.  It’s like the black cardigan of sandwiches: it pairs well with other elements and is very hard to mess up.  I had a hard time deciding what kind of tuna sandwich to share, so I picked my two top favorites and threw in a desert/appetizer/side sandwich as a bonus, grilled pear and brie.  I also couldn’t help but have a lot of fun coming up with this post’s title, a funny play on the 12 Days of Christmas Song.  Enjoy!

Tasty Tuna #1: The Veggie Tuna

This sandwich is packed full of fresh, crunchy veggies piled thickly on some artisan bread.  I also went light on the mayo since I don’t like my tuna drowning in excessive sauce and I wanted to be able to taste each vegetable in the mix.

You will need:

-Sandwich Bread; I used Black Pepper and Swiss Cheese Bread from the Save-On-Foods bakery for all three sandwiches and it worked beautifully!

-One 170 g can of Clover Leaf Solid White Tuna, drained and flaked (one can makes 2-3 sandwiches, depending on how thick you make each one)

-Grated Carrot

-Chopped Red Pepper (one half to a whole pepper, depending on its size)

-Chopped pickles or ½ tbsp of sweet relish

-One heaping tablespoon of Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise

-Cheese; I tried Saputo’s Monterey Jack for something a little different

-Dill sprinkled on top

Assembly tips:

1-Mix the carrot, chopped pepper, pickles/relish, mayo and tuna together.

2-Spread on bread.

3-Add cheese.

4-Serve with leftover red pepper strips or carrot sticks.

5-Enjoy!

Some popular add-on's for veggies: celery (normally a tuna classic but individual stalks were short on hand at the store), green pepper, red onion, spicy banana peppers (could also be a very interesting addition; try it!)

Tasty Tuna #2: The Spicy Tuna 

I was really excited to try this spicy sandwich because of its unusual ingredient: horseradish!  I was inspired by a salmon spread of my Mom's because she always uses a generous helping of hot horseradish and I wondered how it would taste with tuna.  It was so good that this sandwich completely forgoes the mayo in favor of the horseradish for a full and spicy tuna mix that's sure to surprise and satisfy.

You will need:

-Sandwich bread (see above)

-One 170 g can of Clover Leaf Solid White Tuna, drained and flaked

-Two tablespoons of Woodman’s Extra Hot Creamed Horseradish

-Chopped Red Pepper

-A mellow cheese, like Swiss or the Monterey Jack I tried with Tasty Tuna #1

-Paprika, sprinkled to taste

-Fresh Ground Pepper

Assembly tip:

1-While you mix the tuna with the horseradish and red peppers, keep tasting a little bit until you've reached your desired spiciness, along with the paprika and ground pepper.  I think this sandwich would pair well with a mixed green salad or a tomato vegetable soup.

Desert/Appetizer/Side-Sandwich: Grilled Pear and Brie

This bite-sized sandwich of grilled pear and brie sizzled happily on my go-to tool for grilled sandwiches: George Foreman's Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine.  Just plug it in, let it heat up and grill away! The creamy, decadent brie oozes apologetically when heated, wrapping snuggly around the pear, still sweet and juicy.

You will need:

-Sandwich Bread (see above)

-One pear, cut into thin slices

-Belle-Creme, Triple Cream Brie, cut into thin slices

Assembly Tips:

1-Put a slice of pear between two slices of brie, like a sandwich within a sandwich. ;)  This ensures the sandwich will melt together.

2-Check for melted cheese on each side of the pear and remove when it starts to melt out to avoid burning.

It would make a lovely appetizer sandwich at a holiday party - any excuse to eat good brie! 

I feasted on a half of each of these lovely sandwiches tonight, as I hope you do whenever you make your favorite kind of tasty tuna sandwich.  

Cheers!