Pulled Pork Sandwiches

• Pork butt roast or pork shoulder roast ($1.78 per pound at Sam's Club)
• 1 bottle cheap, runny BBQ sauce
• 1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce or your favorite
• Buns
• Homemade coleslaw (Pretty Good Times Six Coleslaw)

Put meat in crock pot with 1 cup water and the cheap BBQ sauce. Cook on low overnight. In the morning, drain meat and sauce through metal strainer. Return to crock pot. Shred with forks. Layer meat with BBQ sauce. Serve on buns with extra sauce and homemade coleslaw.

Baked Beans Two Ways

Really Involved but Totally Worth It Baked Beans

The BBQ Bible

4 oz. bacon, cut into 1/4-inch slivers

2 cups finely chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 cans (15 oz) Great Northern or kidney beans, drained & rinsed

1/4 cup EACH firmly packed brown sugar, molasses, barbecue sauce, & ketchup

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon EACH dry mustard, prepared mustard, & cider vinegar

1 to 2 cups diced smoked or barbecued pork, ham, or brisket (optional)

Salt & freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Cook bacon in heavy pot on medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat. Add onion, garlic & ginger; saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat & stir in everything else. Bake 30" at 350.

Simply Terrific Baked Beans

2 cans baked beans

Bacon bits

Sautéed onions (optional)

Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce

Drain extra juice from baked beans. Add a few handfuls bacon bits, onions, and drizzle BBQ sauce. Stir gently. Bake 30" at 350.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

We love, love, love Happy Cow Buttermilk and use it almost weekly in buttermilk pancakes. We also use buttermilk for Lemonade Layer Cake and for Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits. On Sunday evening we had the missionaries over before Elder Barker went home. Ryan was given the task of making biscuits and completed them beautifully! We ate them too fast to catch a picture though.

All-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 cold extra-large egg
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk

Preheat oven to 425.
Place 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer with paddle attachment. With mixer on low, add butter & mix until butter is size of peas. [The trick to layers of flaky biscuits is keeping the butter & other ingredients cold.]
Combine buttermilk and egg in small glass measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With mixer still on low, quickly add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In small bowl, mix cheese with small handful of flour and, with mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.
Dump out onto well-floured board and knead lightly about six times. [Remember, cold butter makes flaky biscuits.] Roll dough into a rectangle 5x10 inches. With sharp floured knife, cut dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with egg wash, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are browned and biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

Easy Homemade Ciabatta

Perfectly crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside homemade ciabatta bread.

Ingredients:

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons SAF yeast

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

1-3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp warm water (115F)

2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl

Instructions: I did not follow the instructions. Haha.

Follow bread machine instructions. For mine, this means putting wet ingredients in first, then dry with the yeast last. Mix on dough setting. 

Oil a large bowl, then plop dough into bowl. Flip the dough over (effectively oiling the top of the loaf). Cover bowl in oiled plastic wrap & cover with a towel. Place in a warm spot & allow to rise for two hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, then sprinkle with flour. Flour hands & then shape the loaf. The directions said 12 inches long & 4 inches wide. I just plopped mine down in my deep dish stoneware pizza pan & called it good. Bake 35-40 minutes, until the bread is lightly golden. Place on a cooling rack & allow it to cool down for 20-30 minutes. Slice for sandwiches. I copied Panera Bread and sliced the bread into six pizza slices (60 degrees of the circle) and then filled the center with chicken salad. YUM!!

Turkey Meatloaf

I have not been a big fan of meatloaf. However, the stuff we had today was fabulous.

2 cups onions

1 tablespoon olive oil

1+ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup chicken stock (from a box)

1 teaspoon tomato powder (from food storage - could use 1 tablespoon tomato paste)

1 pound ground turkey

1 pound mild Italian sausage

1 cup plain dry bread crumbs

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup each Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce , Trader Joe's Carolina Sauce (mustard-based)

Preheat oven to 325.

In medium saute pan over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, & thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, & tomato powder & mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature. I allowed the mixture to bubble for a few minutes, still on low heat.

Combine ground turkey, ground sausage, bread crumbs, eggs, & onion mixture in bowl. Mix well & shape into a loaf on an ungreased sheet pan, or in 9x13-inch pan. Spread barbecue sauces equally on the top. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until thermometer registers 160* F.

Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich.

Heavily inspired by the Barefoot Contessa's recipe on the food network.

Pretty Good Times Six Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1 head green cabbage, finely shredded 

2 large carrots, finely shredded

3/4 cup best-quality mayonnaise (I used generic Costco)

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons finely minced onion

2 tablespoons sugar, adjusted to taste

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

2 teaspoons celery salt

Salt & freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Combine shredded cabbage & carrots in a bowl. (Or open the bag & empty into a bowl.) Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery salt, salt, & pepper in a medium bowl, and then add to the cabbage mixture. Mix well to combine and taste for seasoning; add more salt, pepper, or sugar if desired. Yummy!

Bobby Flay recipe

Lemonade Layer Cake -- You're welcome in advance!

LEMONADE CAKE

Cake:

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

2 cups all-purpose flour (*I used bread flour & it was fine.)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk

Cooking spray

Frosting:

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate (*I use regular lemonade; pink is too sweet & takes away from the flavor of the cake & the frosting.)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Raspberries for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.

Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.