Bbq Pulled Pork and Chipotle Onion Sandwiches

Bbq Pulled Pork and Chipotle Onion Sandwiches
Recipe from Aggie's Kitchen

1 Boston butt or pork shoulder roast (4-6lbs, depending on the size of your slow cooker)
1 large onion, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 whole, crushed garlic cloves
1 cup water
your favorite Barbeque sauce

1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1-2 tablespoons of oil
2 teaspoons of chipotle chili powder
couple - few dashes of Tabasco Chipotle hot sauce


Place pork roast in the slow cooker; add water, sliced onion, salt and pepper and garlic cloves. Cover and cook on low for about 9 to 11 hours, or until very tender. Drain all juices off, discard any fat and bone. Shred or chop pork. Continue cooking on high for about 1 hour.

Prepare onion topping by adding 1-2 tablespoons of oil in non stick skillet over medium high heat. Add onions to pan, salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until soft. Add 2 teaspoons of chipotle chili powder and a couple of dashes of Tabasco Chipotle sauce to onions. Combine and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. If onions are sticking to bottom of pan, deglaze by adding a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to pan.

Serve shredded pork on potato rolls with your favorite barbeque sauce, top with caramelized chipotle onions.

Bruschetta Bar

Roasted Red Peppers

6 large red peppers
olive oil
fresh or dried oregano
salt and pepper

Place red peppers on hot grill or under broiler. Cook over high heat until skin is charred, turn peppers while cooking so entire pepper becomes charred. Once peppers are done, place them in large glass bowl and cover with top or saran wrap for about 5 minutes, or until cooled down.

Once peppers have cooled, start to prepare peppers by peeling charred skin and taking out stems and seeds. Slice peppers in thin strips and place in serving bowl. Add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, chopped fresh oregano or dried oregano to taste, and salt and pepper to taste. Gently toss and serve. Can be served at room temperature or chilled.


Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil
Recipe from Simply Recipes

6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil

Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.

Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.

While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.

Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Black Bean Dip

Black Bean Dip
Recipe slightly adapted from Itzy's Kitchen, originally posted on Savory Spicy Sweet

2 cans black beans (original recipe used 1 can of white beans, 1 can of black beans)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
7 oz. hot salsa
2 cups shredded co-jack cheese (I used less than 2 cups and it was plenty)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
garlic salt to taste
cilantro to garnish
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°.

Rinse and drain both cans of beans. Squeeze the liquid out of tomatoes before chopping so the dip doesn’t turn runny. Put all ingredients except cilantro and cheese in a bowl and mix together. Grease a shallow baking dish (nonstick spray works) before spooning in the bean mixture. Sprinkle a little cheese on top.
Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the dip is heated through. Remove from the oven and top with cilantro.