It's recipe swap reveal day! The theme this time around was Burgers/Sandwiches and I was given Pulled Pork Sandwiches from Dough See Dough. I know what you're thinking, and you're right, this photo is not a sandwich. We did make this into sandwiches, twice, and I didn't get a photo either time. However, I did capture this quesadilla photo which I made from the leftovers.

The photo wasn't my only issue. I had a moment of panic when I smelled something sweet as I was pouring what I thought was chicken stock into the crockpot. It wasn't chicken stock. It was pineapple juice! Ugh! Note to self, you may want to consider labeling the containers you put in the freezer! Despite my mistake, this recipe turned out well and we enjoyed this for several meals as sandwiches with coleslaw and as quesadillas. There was still more leftover which I froze for a future meal.

Since this utilizes the crockpot, it was a perfect recipe to make during the heat wave that hit New England last week. If you're in for a heat wave this weekend or are hosting a July 4th picnic, you may want to dust off your crockpot and let it do the work while you sit in front of the air conditioning with a drink!

Check out A Taste of Home Cooking for the upcoming Recipe Swap Roundup: Burgers/Sandwiches.

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 lb pork shoulder roast
• 1 cup homemade barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

Place chopped onion in the bottom of crockpot. Place pork roast on top of onions.

I am in a rut. A dinner rut. As a result my blog is suffering. I'm struggling with the transition from winter to Spring/Summer. It feels like Spring/Summer, however, the produce I am craving isn't here yet. I'm hoping within the next few weeks we'll start to see some fresh local produce in our area. However, I couldn't allow this rut to continue a few more weeks. Fortunately, this week I was able to snap out of it and as a result, today I come bearing gifts. Sorry, I don't mean a giveaway, I mean recipes to share.

This recipe resulted in a mildly flavored pork, which really let the meat flavor shine through. I served the pork as is on challah rolls, but you could opt to add a barbeque sauce if you prefer.

Since this makes a ton of food, you'll want to keep your eye out for ideas to use the leftovers. Or pop the leftovers in the freezer and you'll have an easy weeknight meal on a busy day!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 large onion, chopped
•  1 (4-6 lb) boneless pork butt or shoulder
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ¾ cup cider vinegar
• 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoons dry mustard

Place onion in crockpot, then place pork on top.

Mix all other ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour over roast.

Cook on high 10 hours.

When roast is done it will shred easily with a fork. Shred all the meat and mix well to allow the meat to absorb the juices. Serves 8+.

Source: Adapted from My Baking Addition

Bacon, it's everywhere in the blogosphere, but it's not a trend I gravitated toward. That is until I saw this fun play on Bacon and Eggs on Oprah.com, Bacon and Egg Salad Sandwiches. Genius! I'm pretty sure that's what my guests were thinking as they quickly gobbled these up. I will definitely be making these again, and I'm looking for an excuse to make them soon (excess Easter eggs, anyone?!)!

I mixed the egg salad the night before and assembled the sandwiches a few hours before the party. I opted to place cooked bacon on top in order to avoid it getting soggy. I suppose I could have just crumbled the bacon and given the salad a stir before assembling too.

Here is what you'll need:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs , chopped
• 6 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 8 strips bacon, cut in thirds and cooked until crisp
• 12 mini rolls, sliced (I used potato rolls)

Add the eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper to a mixing bowl and combine well. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of egg salad onto each roll.

Place 2 pieces of bacon on each sandwich. Makes 12 mini sandwiches.

• 2 cups finely chopped chicken 
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp plain non-fat yogurt
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder 
• 12 mini sweet Hawaiian rolls

Add all ingredients, except rolls, to a mixing bowl and combine well. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of chicken salad onto each roll. Makes 12 mini sandwiches.

Source: Adventures in My Kitchen original

I've been a terrible blogger the last few months, and it's time I make up for it.  The next few posts are "make-up" posts so to speak.  They've been sitting in my drafts, staring at me to finish them up.

I didn't realize how similar this recipe was to Stuffed Pepper Soup until I was in the middle of cooking.  It's rare that I put such similar recipes on the same week's meal plan.  Now that I think about it, we ate a lot of beef that week which is also rare.  There seemed to be a lot of rarity going on, because JR also suggest we have Sloppy Joes (they were already on the meal plan!) on Garlic Toast. 


Hmm, Garlic Toast.  What a fantastic idea!  JR just brought Sloppy Joes to a whole new level, perfect for enjoying while watching the MLB playoffs (see, I told you the drafts have been sitting a while!).  These would also be perfect for the Super Bowl.

I should note that JR also asked for chunky Sloppy Joes, so my peppers and onions weren't chopped as small as I normally would.  It totally up to you how large or small you chop them.

I hope you'll try these and let me know what you think of serving them on Garlic Toast!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 lbs ground beef sirloin
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp steak seasoning blend, I used McCormick's Montreal Seasoning
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste

• sandwich rolls
• butter
• mayonnaise
• Garlic powder or seasoning (I used Outrageously Garlic)

For the Filling: In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and break it up with a wooden spoon.

Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning in a small bowl.  Add mixture to meat and stir to combine.  Continue cooking the meat until it is no longer pink and beginning to brown.

Add onion and peppers to the skillet and cook for 1 minute.  Reduce heat to medium, add vinegar and Worcestershire and combine well.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add tomato sauce and paste and combine well.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes.

For the Garlic Toast: While the filling is simmering for the last 5 minutes, spread a thin layer of butter on the rolls, then spread a thin layer of mayonnaise over the butter.  Sprinkle with garlic powder (I used about 1/2 tsp per roll, but this should be adjusted to your taste).  Toast in the toaster oven until browned to your liking.

Serves 6.

Source: Rachael Ray

I'm sure by now you've heard of Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  I don't know much about her story, other than she's married to a cowboy, but she's made quite a name for herself.  Recently she premiered in her new cooking show which I haven't seen yet.  Have you?  What did you think of it?

I've only tried one of her recipes, her Italian Drip Beef.  Both times I adapted it for the crockpot and it's worked out beautifully.

We ate this as sandwiches twice and still had leftovers.  I didn't want the leftovers to go to waste but I wasn't interested in having another sandwich or freezing it this time either (we are terrible about eating meals we've frozen).  I ended up sauteing an onion, added the leftover beef with peppers, and then added a packet of brown gravy with 1 cup of water.  I let it come to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes and served it over white rice. 

Here is what you'll need:

• 3-4 lb beef top round roast 
• 1 can beef broth
• 4 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 8 oz. jar of pepperoncini peppers, including juice
• sandwich rolls
• toppings of your choice (we use cheese and/or arugula)

Place all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low 10 hours.  

Remove roast and shred meat.  Add meat back to liquid and combine well.


Serve on rolls with your favorite toppings.  Serves 8-12+ depending on the size of your roast and size of your sandwiches. 


Source: The Pioneer Woman

If I ask JR what he wants for dinner, at least 50% of the time he will respond, "bacon cheeseburgers".  While I'll occasionally eat a cheeseburger, it's rarely something I want for dinner.  Make it a turkey burger and I'm on board, but then JR isn't interested.  It's complicated.  I need to expand our burger horizon and that's exactly what I did with these Shrimp Burgers I saw on Pink Parsley.

These were delicious, but messy!  I adapted the recipe slightly, mainly leaving out most of the cayenne and hot sauce since JR cannot tolerate heat.  See I have issues here, no turkey burgers, no heat...and the list goes on.  Even with less heat (really no heat since it's only used to boil the shrimp then rinsed off) these were packed with flavor!  JR agreed that a burger doesn't have to be made of beef to taste great!

I had some trouble keeping these from falling apart, but since there was tartar sauce to cover them up you probably couldn't tell.  I thought maybe it was because I didn't finely grind the breadcrumbs.  It was hot and I was being lazy, so I just broke the bread up into small pieces.  However, Josie mentioned she had the same problem and she thought it was due to the chopped vs. ground shrimp.  

While the burgers were great, let's talk about this tartar sauce.  YUM!  I've never experimented with tartar sauce beyond mixing relish and mayonnaise, and I never realized what I was missing!  This tartar sauce will no doubt be my go-to from now on.  So even if shrimp is not your thing, make this tartar sauce to accompany fish sticks!

The changes I made are listed here:

For the Burgers:

• 2 quarts water
• 1 Tbsp peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp celery seeds
• 1 Tbsp mustard seeds
  
• 6 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup sea salt
• 1 Tbsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 pound shrimp, shells on 
• 2 scallions, chopped
• corn kernels, cut from 1 fresh cob of corn
• 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp mayonnaise with olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Greek yogurt
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp canola oil

In a large pot, add water, peppercorns, celery seed, mustard seed, bay, 1/2 cup sea salt and cayenne t.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Add shrimp and boil for 2 minutes until they turn pink.  Remove from heat and run under cold water to cool.  Peel, devein and chop (or grind) the shrimp, then place in a large mixing bowl.

To the mixing bowl with shrimp, add scallions, corn, ginger, lemon zest and juice, mayonnaise, yogurt, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine all ingredients together well.  Add egg and gently fold into mixture.

Form mixture into 4 even size patties.  Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill and mold together (I would recommend longer, maybe an hour).

In a large frying pan, heated oil over medium-high to high heat.  Once oil is hot, but not smoking, gently place shrimp burgers into pan.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until browned.  Flip and cook other side 3 minutes until browned.  Remove from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb any extra oil.

For the Tartar Sauce:

• 1/2 cup drained pickle relish
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise with olive oil
• 1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Mix all tartar sauce ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.

Serve burgers on rolls of your choice topped with tartar sauce, lettuce, tomato or other toppings of your choice.  Serves 4.

Several years ago I was living with a friend after my condo building was uninhabitable due to a fire.  She loved to cook and always included me in her family's dinner when my schedule would allow.  I always enjoyed those dinners.  I loved being able to help her prepare the meal, and it was so refreshing to sit down to dinner with a family.  Back at the condo, I often pulled together something quick and ate in silence, aside from Lacey begging for my food.  Some days I didn't mind that, but after a while it got lonely.

I was sorting through recipes the other day and came across this Rachael Ray recipe she introduced me to, and I immediately put it on my menu for the week.  When dinner time came, I was missing one of the important ingredients, a lime, but I had lemons and tangerines - time to experiment!  While lemon seemed like the obvious choice, I decided to use a tangerine.  It worked. 

I think I need to do a side by side comparison next time to determine which I like better.  But really, what's not to love about either version of an easy weeknight sandwich dinner?

See that awful looking tomato?  Yeah, I should have skipped the tomatoes.  The looked good on the outside, but not so much on the inside.  Just another reason why I can't wait for summer and my garden.

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 tangerine
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cumin
• A handful cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp grill seasoning
• Toppings of your choice, we used: lousy out of season tomatoes, red onion, avocado, salsa and sour cream
• 4 rolls

In a medium bowl add  juice from the tangerine, honey, cumin, cilantro and oil in a bowl and mix well.  Add chicken breast to bowl, stirring to coat well.  Set aside 15 minutes.

Heat grill or grill pan to medium high.  Place chicken on grill pan and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Flip and finish cooking on other side.  Be careful that you pan isn't too hot, and watch as these cook since the honey burns easily.

Once removed from the heat, let the chicken sit for a few minutes.  Then serve on rolls with your favorite toppings.