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!

Peanut Butter and Jam Stuffed French Toast

Sandwiches are Beautiful would not be a true sandwich blog without a Peanut Butter and Jam post.  Since my peanut allergies prevent me from trying this classic sandwich, I’m proud to present the following post by my friend and fellow food blogger, Caroline Lyster. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Jam: the early stages.

I’m not usually a sandwich person, but I couldn't say no when Erin asked me to write a post for her blog.  Luckily, the sandwich she had in mind for me is one of the few that I absolutely adore: Peanut Butter and Jam.

Whether you’re partial to jam, jelly, honey, or bananas, the key is mixing something sweet with the salty goodness that is peanut butter (or another nut butter if you are so inclined).  It’s easy to make, and pretty healthy if done the right way (Protein packed peanut butter (in moderate quantities)! Whole grain bread!).  And, of course, it’s just flat out delicious.

Because PB&J is so easy to make talking about the sandwich itself would not be a very long post (PB on one side, J on the other…consume and enjoy).  So I decided to get creative, and make my childhood lunchtime staple into something better served with a mimosa in hand: stuffed French toast.

French toast was another staple at my house growing up: we used to get lots of homemade bread and rolls from my grandmother, and these tend to go stale faster than your average store bought loaf.  The solution was simple: soak the slightly stale slices in a custardy mixture of eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla (allowing them to get moist and flavourful), then fry in butter (allowing the outside to get crispy while the inside remains creamy), and smother in maple syrup.  For stuffed French toast the basic method remains the same…the only thing you do differently is make your slices of bread into a sandwich before you soak them!

PB&J Stuffed French Toast needs:

-bread of choice, 2 slices per sandwich (it’s okay if it’s a little stale)

-peanut butter (my personal preference is for crunchy)

-jam of choice (strawberry is the classic)

-4 eggs

-1 cup milk

-2 tablespoons brown sugar (or any other sweet ingredient…syrup would work just as well)

-1 tablespoon vanilla

-a dash or two of cinnamon (if you’re so inclined)

-butter (to keep the French toast from sticking to the pan)

-a large frying pan

Optional…taking direction from Chef Michael Smith, I chose to crust my stuffed French toast with some oatmeal (making the outside extra super crispy).  If you want to do this you’ll also need one or two cups of rolled oats.

Crusted with oatmeal, ready for the frying pan.

How to:

1) Heat the pan that you will be using; medium is high enough.  You don't want the pan to be too hot or the outside of your sandwich will burn before the inside gets warm and creamy.

2) Make the PB&J sandwiches: peanut butter on one side, jam on the other (or, if you’re a true peanut butter lover, peanut butter on BOTH sides with jam in the middle).

3) Mix the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Dip the sandwiches in the eggs mixture

If you've decided to crust your sandwiches with oatmeal à la Michael Smith, do this after they've been soaked in the eggs and milk.

4) Melt the butter in your frying pan, then add the sandwiches.  Fry slowly (be patient!) until they are golden brown, then flip them over and do the same on the other side.

That’s all there is to it…your stuffed French toast is now complete!  If you’d like, you can top them with syrup to complete the brunch effect, but they’re just as delicious without.

PB & J Stuffed French Toast: a new twist on a classic sandwich.

The great thing about this particular recipe is that once you've got the method down you can really stuff anything you want into your French toast…it doesn't have to be PB&J!  Chef Michael suggests mixing jam with cream cheese and using this as a filling and as a cheesecake lover,

I am definitely going to give that a try.  You can also experiment with other combinations of nut butter/sweet filling…almond butter with honey perhaps, or Nutella with bananas!  The possibilities are endless, and delicious!

For more information, check out Michael Smith's recipe and video.

Caroline Lyster is a graduate student with far too much free time on her hands, most of which she spends in the kitchen. As of right now she lives in Montreal, but now that she has finished her Masters she will soon be off to start a new adventure in a new city (with her giant box of cookbooks in tow). She is the author of Cooking=Love, though the blog is currently on hiatus as she has been quite busy finishing her thesis...she's done now, so be on the lookout for new posts featuring delicious (and mostly healthy) recipes, as well as little tips and tricks to get you cooking more often!

A Sandwich Valentine

Good food brings people together, or as Julia Child once said: “People who love to eat are always the best people.”

I tend to agree with Julia. 

Our first baking venture back in Oct. 2010: Thanksgiving Pies!

Good food – both the making and the enjoying of - ties strongly into both my and my husband’s memories of growing up.   We both spent time in the kitchen with our Moms and Grandmas, and I also enjoyed helping my Dad bake bread or make Saturday morning pancakes.  We look back fondly at big family dinners and we enjoy making fun potluck dishes when we get together with friends.  When you cook with someone else, it’s a lot less work and a lot more fun.  The fact that we both enjoy baking and that he inherited some of his mother’s incredible baking genes is a big bonus - plus we take turns between who washes and who dries.  Go kitchen-teamwork!

Making dinner was one of the first things we did together when we started dating.  We continue to enjoy cooking together because it’s a fun way to unwind from the day and catch up with one another.   So it was no big surprise when I mentioned a special Valentine’s sandwich post, he was excited to help.  Together, we bring you our Sandwich Valentine of grilled cheddar and special heart-shaped salami.

Grilled salami and cheese: a heart-melting comb!

You will need:

Your favorite sandwich bread

Slices of Heart Salami (found in the Sobey’s Deli)

1 package of Sensations’ Aged Two Years Cheddar, sliced

Butter

Heart-cucumbers, sliced

Recommended veggie sides: red pepper, baby carrots

Tips:

1-Pre-heat your skillet on medium heat and melt 1tbsp of butter. (Alternatively, you can butter both sides of the bread before grilling it.)

2-Arrange the salami hearts and cheese on one slice of bread and put the other one on top.

3-Press the sandwich down with a spatula as it grills.

A great Valentine is one you can eat!

4-Cover with a lid and let each side grill for a few minutes before flipping.

5-Serve with your favorite condiment – for me, that’s ketchup all the way!

Yum! The smoky salami and the mellow cheese pair beautifully together and I sliced up a red pepper and heart-cucumber and added a handful of baby carrots for some extra special Valentine’s Day veggies.  We enjoyed our sandwiches with frosty mugs of root beer while we cheered on the Canadian curling team. 

Good food and good company is all we need.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope it’s a fun and special day for you and yours!