What do you do with leftover PulledPork?!

Make a pulled pork sandwich of course!!!

I simply created my own sauce using some of the leftover sauce from ribfest and adding my own ingredients, and then heated it up, then threw in the pulled pork to heat it up, and then served it on some fresh buns topped with homemade pickled onions and with a side of local steamed asparagus.

It turned out pretty good!

Until next time, Happy Munching!

Locavore!

   There is a lovely little market here on Sundays and one of the things I love about it, is that it is 100% local. Everything that is sold the market is from here. I think that is amazing, and I like to support the local economy and local farmers, too. My husband and I were lucky enough to win a basket from the market this weekend! It was great. It was filled with tons of strawberries, and local vegetables and we even got some local meat! Some of this local meat was fresh ground beef. When we took this home I said to my husband that I wanted to make burgers with it so we could really taste and try this meat. We had never gotten local meat before, though we had talked about it and expressed our curiosity.

    So, the next day I set out to make some burgers! I went to the store and picked up some awesome buns baked in the bakery, and that was all I needed! I mixed up the ground beef with some spices, added a bit of garlic and some finely chopped onion and some homemade bread crumbs (they came from a sun-dried tomato and garlic baguette, yum!). and I mixed it all together with an egg, and a little squirt of mustard. I shaped them all into patties and sent them to the grill.

  As a side for this dish, I made some homemade french fries. I chopped up some potato (left the skin on), deep fried them and then threw on some seasoning.

   We used our local romaine lettuce and local tomato to put on our burger, and of course, the usual dressings! (I personally like mustard, relish/pickles, ketchup, on mine. I also like cheese on my burger).

Check out those lovely grill marks!!

  This was a really delicious burger! I really cannot wait to go to the market again next weekend!

Until next time, Happy Munching!!

Ribfest!

   It's Ribfest time! My husband's favourite summer event (honestly, he talks about it ALL year long... lol). Honestly, I like it, too. It's not that easy to get ribs and pulled pork and chicken that tastes this good.

   The lines look long but it doesn't take too long to get through. We bought a full rack of ribs and a pound of pulled pork this year and shared it, though we didn't eat it all, it was so delicious!

Don't these look amazing?!

Sadly, not very picturesque, but still delicious!

Ribs and pulled pork are not hard to make at home! And you don't have to spend hours slaving over them either. I make pulled pork, and ribs, in my crock pot and it turns out great. Of course, its a bit different than the stuff you get at these cook-offs, but you can also BBQ them to get a more "authentic" taste. Either way, its just good. :) So try it out! 

Until next time, Happy Munching!

Borscht

     So for some time now I had been wanting to make borscht. A friend of mine made it for me a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. Sadly, I kept loosing the recipe he gave me. When I purchased my two most recent cookbooks there happened to be a recipe in there for borscht so I decided to try it out!


     A little background info: borscht is a beet soup which originates from Ukraine, but is popular in other Eastern and Central European countries. "The soup began its existence from trimmings of cellared vegetables consumed throughout the winter months. Most families had a container, usually a kettle or stove pot, kept outside to store those trimmings. Around the first spring thaw that pot was placed on the fire and cooked into a soup-like meal. One of the primary vegetables of the Slavic diet consumed during the winter months was beets. Hence the recipe morphed into what is traditionally known as a beet soup." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borscht).
     There are two types of borscht: hot and cold. The hot variety is the most popular made with beets and other starchy vegetables and may include carrot or even meat. The cold variety is more similar to a gazpacho. There are many variations the recipe, so feel free to check around for one you like best! Check out wikipedia to see what the different cultures do to make it their own.


     After that little information session, we can now move onto my experience cooking borscht. The recipe was very simple and the actual cooking time took 30 minutes. It can basically be understood as three 10-minute steps. Lots of times when I have recipes, if I don't have the exact ingredients, I improvise. Though this recipe called for thyme, I had none, and used my own seasonings, and it tasted great. I also used chicken stock instead of vegetable. And I rarely make homemade stock (I just feel it takes a lot of time to make and I like my meals to be quick and simple to make most of the time). Also beets can be quite messy, if you've never worked with them, they stain. To save my clothes and some time, I actually used canned beets. This is an easy way to save yourself time (and money), and not compromise taste. These are just a few tips to show how making homemade food does not have to be complicated, 100% from scratch, or expensive.

     Now, back to borscht.... After cooking up my soup I pureed it, and then I served it with natural yogurt and some fresh dill. I, personally, also like to put some vinegar in my soup. Others, like my husband, do not. It's up to you! It simply makes it a bit sour. :)

     Well I hope you enjoyed learning about borscht and my experience cooking it. I know that this is not asian food, but I haven't had a lot of opportunity to create bento lately, so I wanted to update you with something interesting. I will try to keep updating you with some food experiences and I will provide a bento post soon!

Until next time, Happy Munching!