Elizabeth's Birthday Dinner

We hosted dinner at our house with all the family because Mom and Dad had to spend the day at the conference center and couldn't host at their house. We started with a recital for all of the grandkids to perform and then we ate. The food was great! Ashlee made funeral potatoes, Olivia made roasted red potatoes, Jessica did the dessert and I did the rest. Elizabeth said all the food turned out great. She said she liked everything we made. I tried a bunch of new recipes and Libby said sometimes it doesn't turn out great when I do that, but today it did. I didn't do any changes to most of the recipes because I didn't have time to think about it. So I'm re-posting them here along with links to the originals.

PEA SALAD

First I made Pea Salad. This is one recipe I did my own version. There are lots of them out there. It's pretty much potato salad with peas instead of potatoes.

7 cups frozen peas

14 slices of bacon, crumbled (or just 7 if you don't add more later)

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

5 oz cheddar cheese cut into cubes (about 1 cup)

4 oz Mozzarella cheese cut into cubes (about 1 cup)

3/4 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped

1 Tbsp Ranch powder (the kind used to make dressing)

1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (I think this was too much - I'll only do 1 Tbsp next time)

Salt and Pepper as desired.

Put the peas in a colander and rinse with warm water to thaw. Allow to drain completely. Meanwhile mix sour cream, mayo, dill, ranch powder, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the peas, cheeses, onion and half the bacon. Stir to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top with remaining bacon and serve. - I forgot to add the rest of the bacon. It was good anyway- so you could use less bacon slices. 

SEED ROLLS

Next I made rolls from Our Best Bites. She named them after the Hunger Games movie - I don't know why. I just called them seed rolls. I doubled the recipe. The rolls are REALLY big. I think next time I might cut more than 8 slices from each round, or make more than 2 rounds from the recipe.

MAKES 16 Rolls

3/4 cup warm (105-115 F) water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon yeast

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons table salt

3 tablespoons flax seed, divided 

3 tablespoons unsalted, shelled sunflower seeds, divided

2 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds, divided

3 tablespoons sesame seeds, divided (Mine were already toasted, so I didn't toast them again)

2 tablespoons uncooked oats

3 cups wheat flour

2 tablespoons dough enhancer

2-3 cups bread flour

1 egg white

2 tablespoons cold water

In a small bowl or larger liquid measuring cup, combine the warm water and the sugar. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir to combine, and allow to stand for 10 minutes or until frothy.While the yeast is proofing, combine 2 tablespoons of each of the seeds in a small skillet, reserving 1 tablespoon each of sesame, flax, and sunflower seeds and 1/2 tablespoon of poppy seeds (you’ll use these later to top the rolls). Toast over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and the sesame seeds start to turn a light golden color.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, combine the buttermilk, melted butter, honey, and salt. Add the yeast mixture and mix well. In another bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, and the toasted seeds and then add to the yeast mixture and mix well. Add 2-3 cups of bread flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl to the center and it barely sticks to your finger when you touch it. When you reach that point, allow the mixer to mix it for 5 minutes.While the dough is kneading, spray a large glass or metal bowl with non-stick cooking spray. When the dough is done kneading, turn the dough into the bowl and cover with a clean dish cloth. Allow it to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

While the dough is rising, lightly flour a work surface (or spray with non-stick cooking spray). Line 2 baking sheets with Silpat liners or parchment paper and set aside.When the dough is done rising, transfer it to the work surface and divide it in half. Roll each half into a circle about 12″ in diameter and about 1/4″-1/2″ thick. Using a pizza wheel or a dough cutter, cut the dough into 8 equal wedges. Starting with the wide edge of each wedge, roll down to the point. Place on the prepared baking sheet and then form into a slight crescent. Repeat with remaining dough pieces. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.When the dough has about 10 minutes left to rise, preheat oven to 375. Whisk together the egg white and water. Mix the reserved seeds and the oats in a small bowl. When the rolls are done rising, carefully brush the tops of each of them with the egg white mixture. Sprinkle evenly with the seeds and bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve warm (if possible) with butter. 

ALMOND CRUSTED BAKED HAM WITH APRICOT GLAZE

By this time I was running out of time and had Ryan help me make the ham. It's from A Spicy Perspective. We used a pint of mom's homemade apricot jam to make it. Everyone said they really liked it. - it was a little dryer than some hams and had more of a caramelized, roasted flavor. I learned how to carve it too- but we didn't do that. Stand it on its end and cut around the bone, then cut down the natural breaks where the fat it so- about 3 different places to get nice slices you can put on a serving plate.

10 pound Spiral Sliced Half Ham - ours was about 9.5 lbs

18 ounce jar Apricot Preserves - I used a pint of mom's homemade jam - Yummy!

1/2 cup Crushed Pineapple

2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup Sliced Almonds - Our was a little skimpy - we ran out. 

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Unwrap the ham and place it on a large rimmed baking sheet. Place the apricot preserves, crushed pineapple, and Dijon mustard in a microwave safe bowl. Warm in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, until the apricot preserves soften enough to mix evenly into the other ingredients. Stir well. 

Brush half the apricot glaze over the surface of the ham. Open and separate the slices here and there to let the glaze seep down between the layers as you brush it. Cover the ham with foil and place it in the oven for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, roughly chop (or crumble) the sliced almonds into smaller pieces. (This helps them stick to the edges of each slice of ham.) Toss the almond pieces with the brown sugar.

After 2 hours, remove the ham from the oven and raise the temperature to 400 degrees F. Brush the remaining glaze over the ham. Then press the almond and brown sugar mixture over the entire surface of the ham. Place it back in the oven for 30 minutes, uncovered, to allow the almond crust to brown. Serve warm.

CANDIED WALNUT SALAD

The last recipe I tried was a salad also from Our Best Bites. The entire meal had nuts in it- so if you don't like nuts and seeds it may not have been what you wanted, but the birthday girl liked it! I doubled the walnuts in the original recipe and I think I added more spinach than it said too. I added some extra cheese as well.

2 heads of leafy greens; 1 can be a bag of spinach - I use 1 head of romaine, and baby spinach - probably more than a bag.

3/4 c. Craisins

2 crisp apples - we used Fuji, mine were really big so I didn't use the last 1/4 piece.

Orange juice from 1 orange (enough to toss apples in to prevent browning and add a little flavor)

2 oz. Gorgonzola - I think I used 3.

1 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. sugar

1 recipe Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette 

Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

1/2 c. honey

1 clove garlic (recipe said roughly chopped, but I didn't do it)

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

1/2 c. canola oil - I used vegetable oil - it was all I had. 

In a blender, combine vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place lid on blender and blend on high. While blender is running, add oil in a steady stream. Store in refrigerator for about 2-3 weeks. Shake well before serving. **I just put everything in the Magic Bullet and blended it all together at once. It worked great - chopped up the garlic and incorporated the oil just fine).

Wash and chop lettuce. Set aside to drain.

To candy the nuts, combine walnuts and sugar in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly. After a few minutes, the sugar will look very fine and then a few minutes after that, it will start to liquefy. This is when you have to be absolutely vigilant about scraping the bottom of the skillet and making sure everything gets stirred around. The syrup will begin to darken and will coat the nuts. When they reach a golden brown color, remove from heat. Stir occasionally as the nuts begin to cool. After a few minutes, spread candied nuts onto a greased piece of parchment or wax paper or a greased cookie sheet and allow to cool completely. Set aside.

Chop blue cheese or Gorgonzola very finely. You want crumbles, not chunks.Chop apples and toss in orange juice.When ready to serve, toss lettuce, cranberries, walnuts, apples, and blue cheese in a large bowl. Add dressing if desired (I did!); it really is better all mixed together rather than on top, but the dressing will wilt any leftovers. ** We have left overs and it still tastes great even though it's wilted. 

That was it! Olivia and Ashlee and Jess will have to post their own recipes. Jess made cute little sugar cookie bird nests for Easter. Sorry - the only pics I have aren't great. Just one of my own half eaten plate:

Asian Beef Bowls

Elizabeth came into town with her kids to celebrate her birthday! We spent last night at a hotel with Mom, me, Libby Jessica, Ashlee and Olivia and had tons of fun rock climbing and going out to dinner. This morning Ryan made us all Liege Waffles. Libby had never tried them and they are SOOO good! We invited her and Olivia back for dinner, because Mom and Dad spent all day at the Conference Center doing their service mission for General Conference, and Ben had to work. I found a recipe for 30-minute Asian Beef bowls at Once Upon A Chef and thought I'd give it a try. Here's my own variation:

Beef:
3 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 c hoisin sauce
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoon ketchup
2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
10 green onions sliced, light and dark green parts separated
1 zucchini thinly sliced and cut into quarters

To Serve:
Rice
Chopped cashews
Sesame seeds
shredded carrots
shredded romaine lettuce
thinly sliced red and yellow bell peppers
Any veggie you like

In a large bowl mix the beef with the baking soda. I used my hands with plastic gloves on.Let it sit on the counter for 20-25 minutes. The baking soda will "soften" the beef.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
Cook the beef in a large skillet pan over medium-high heat. Brown the beef, stirring frequently and breaking into pieces, until just slightly pink, about 5 minutes. (I didn't drain the fat because the original recipe said there wasn't much and it adds flavor. I though that was fine, but Pierce complained it was greasy - he was the only one of the 11 people that ate it to complain.)
Add the garlic, ginger, and light part of the green onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, a few minutes.
Add the hoisin sauce mixture and cook until the beef is well-coated and cooked through, about a minute. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Add Zucchini and cook for a minute to soften slightly. Then stir in the green onions (the green parts). Spoon the beef into bowls over rice. Top with sesame seeds, chopped cashews, and shredded veggies, if you like.

The kids all had to use chopsticks to eat it. After all, it is the Asian way!

Sunday Dinner: Fish Tacos and Pistachio cake

Today for dinner, I made some fish tacos we had made a week ago. Ryan said it tasted like the fish tacos at Lone Star!

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Slaw:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons (or more) fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
2 small garlic cloves, pressed (or 1 large one)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro or more
4 green onions, minced (about 1/4 cup)
2 packages (8 cups) broccoli slaw (broccoli, carrots and a little red cabbage)

We found the broccoli slaw at Smith's in the produce section marked down and decided to try it. It was better than a cabbage slaw! Mix mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, lime peel, and garlic in large bowl. Stir in cilantro and green onions. Add broccoli slaw and toss to mix evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill 1 hour. 

Taco build:
Corn tortillas
Fish sticks
Creamy Cilanto-Lime Slaw
fresh cilantro
Fresh limes, cut into quarters

For the fish part of the taco we used fish stick we found at Costco:

We also used some fish fillets from Smith's, but the fish sticks were definitely better. Warm 3 to 4 corn tortillas between 2 wet paper towels in the microwave for 30 seconds. Place 1 to 2 fish sticks in the center of tortilla. Top with slaw and fresh cilantro. Squeeze lime juice over taco.

For dessert, we had leftover desserts from St. Patrick's day and the karate movie party we went to last night with the people in our karate class. I made Caramel cheesecake brownies - they were ok- I think I overcooked the caramel. I also made mint brownies I have made before- they were good. The Pistachio cake was definitely the best!

Pistachio Cake:
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package white cake mix (yellow would work too)
1 package  instant pistachio pudding mix
1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup carbonated lemon-lime beverage

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake and pudding mixes, yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Gradually beat in soda. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 25 min or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cook completely (I stuck mine in the freezer) and then frost.

Frosting:
1 1⁄2 cups milk
1 package instant pistachio pudding mix
2 cups reduced-fat whipped topping

For frosting, combine milk and dry pudding mix in a mixing bowl. Stir until combined. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over cake. Top with chopped pistachios. (Genna and Adria liked that part the best!)  We kept our cake in the freezer- It's good frozen, but you can keep it in the refrigerator instead.

Gluten Free or Vegan desserts?

Today is Ryan's dad's birthday party. I volunteered to make dessert. The fun part of that is that his dad is gluten intolerant and his niece has decided she is vegan. I can find desserts that are one or the other, but not both. Probably because if you leave out flour- there is no gluten to be the binding agent so you need eggs, and vice versa - no eggs, you need flour for gluten to be the binder. I did find some possibilities, but I settled on doing separate desserts! I found a bunch of gluten free stuff I wanted to try anyway.

Flour-less Chocolate Cake

I've made this before- but with fresh mint leaves in it- It was delicious, so I figured this one would be good too.

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c butter
3/4 c sugar
4 eggs
1/2 c cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9in springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper cut into a circle to fit the bottom of the pan (grease it too). Spinkle the inside of the pan with sugar to help prevent cake from sticking.

Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in the microwave- about 1 min. Stir until smooth and cool slightly so you don't cook the eggs. add sugar, cocoa powder and eggs and beat well. (Original recipe said to beat the eggs first in a separate bowl until thickened and quadrupled in volume- but I didn't do that- Then add half the eggs to chocolate mixture and stir gently until blended then add the rest of the eggs.) Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool on rack for 5 mins. Then remove the sides of the spring form pan and allow to cool completely. Remove from bottom of pan and parchment paper. When cooled sprinkle with a mix of powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

**VARIATION**  For mint cake - stir in 2 TBSP freshly chopped mint with the sugar.


Orange and Almond Cake

I found a recipe for an orange and almond cake, and made my own variation based on reviews and how the batter tasted:

2 large oranges
6 eggs
2 cups almond flour
2 and 1/2 cups sugar (more or less to taste - depending on orange size)
1 teaspoon baking powder

Wash the oranges (scrub peels well to remove wax). Place them unpeeled in a pan with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and allow them to simmer for 2 hours. Cool, (I left mine in the fridge overnight) then cut them open and remove the seeds. Puree the oranges, including the peel, in a food processor.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 inch spring form pan and dust with sugar to prevent sticking.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, including the orange puree, and mix thoroughly. (This is where taste comes in- my original recipe said to add 1 and 1/4 c sugar- but the cake batter was SOOOO bitter! I added double that- maybe a little more) Pour into pan and bake for one hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took 75 mins. Cool in the pan on rack for 5 to 10 min before removing sides of pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Mix the zest of 1 orange with enough fresh orange juice and powdered sugar to make a glaze.

Coconut Lime Sorbet

This is gluten free and vegan. I got the wrong ingredients - so I had to make my own recipe (again!) FYI coconut cream is not the same as cream of coconut. Coconut cream is next to coconut milk in the asian food aisle. Cream of coconut is in the drink aisle and it's for mixed drinks. My recipe needed cream of coconut, but I got coconut cream. But it turned out really well anyway!

3 cans (approx 12- 14oz) Coconut Cream
1 cup sugar
4 fresh limes, juiced

Mix the coconut cream with sugar and lime juice. I can't remember how many I used for sure- taste it. I didn't use very much because Ryan likes coconut and I didn't want the lime to overpower it. That was a complaint the original recipe had. Chill for several hours until ready to freeze - I made mine in a 1 quart ice cream maker.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

I got the basic recipe from allrecipes. But someone said you should use balsamic vinegar instead (and red pepper - but I skipped that).

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 5 min. Then remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Vegan frosting: I used about 1 Tbsp coconut oil, mixed with about 1/3 cup cocoa and enough powdered sugar and soy milk to make frosting. Spread evenly over cake.

I made the gluten free salted caramel chocolate tart too - but it didn't turn out as well as when I made it with regular graham crackers. Gluten free ones didn't make as nice of crust. It's from Spicy Perspective. I like her recipes. And the caramel is DELICIOUS!

Brownie Bites

Once again, our ward boundaries were rearranged last month. We had a ward meet and greet on February 10th where they served desserts. Someone brought these great little dessert bites- I had no idea what they were. I emailed everyone on the Relief Society list asking if anyone knew who made and if I could have the recipe. I tried to take a quick picture at the party with my phone so I could send that in the email too. It's the only pic I have - sorry- it's really bad.

The "recipe" was made by Kathy Bitner, a very sweet lady in our ward who had been my visiting teacher in the old ward. She gave us homemade apricot syrup for Christmas. Here is her emailed reply:

Hi Genevieve,

You're going to laugh when you see how easy those brownie bites were!  

I made brownies from a box and and frosted them . . . however, too many disappeared before the Meet and Greet that I didn't have enough to bring. So I grabbed walnuts and a homemade toffee bar, dumped everything in a bowl, stirred, and made little scoops. I put a swirl of frosting on it and sparkle sugar (because what doesn't look better with sparkle sugar?).

And there you have it . . . the Bitner Best.

Glad you are still in "my" ward. 

Kathy

Now I wonder if she has a recipe for the toffee bar....

Thai Pizza and Buffalo Blue Cheese Chicken Pizza reviews

I found a recipe for a Thai pizza with sweet chili sauce instead of peanut sauce. When we made our last Thai pizza, Myles said he would like one more like the Thai pizza at Papa Murphy's, which has a chili sauce instead. So when I saw this one on the Deals to Meals blog, it caught my eye and we decided to make both of pizza recipes shown.

I'm re-posting the recipes here with a review of what we thought of them.

Sweet Thai Chicken Pizza

1 recipe homemade pizza crust (whole grain or regular crust)
2-3 chicken breasts, grilled and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained (or use fresh pineapple)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2-2/3 cup sweet red pepper jelly (you can buy this at Costco/Walmart or make your own)
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Season the chicken breasts and grill until cooked through. Dice the chicken into bite sized pieces and set aside. Roll the pizza crust out into a circular shape until thin. Spread a thin layer of the sweet red pepper jelly onto the crust. Add the toppings and sprinkle with a thick layer of shredded cheese. Bake in a 485 degree oven on parchment lined baking stone or pan for 18-25 minutes, or until the pizza is bubbly and golden brown. Garnish with extra fresh cilantro as desired.

Thai Pizza with Sweet Pepper Jelly

Our review:
- We used our regular cracker crust recipe which is par-baked before adding toppings. We made a 16 inch pizza and the amount of toppings was WAY to much. We cooked 2 large chicken breasts and had enough chicken for 4 pizzas (2 of this flavor, and 2 of the other) The amount of other toppings was good for 2 pizzas plus a little leftover on the pineapple and onion. The only topping we used the listed amount was the cilantro - we like cilantro. I didn't measure the cheese- so who could say on that. We used a sweet red pepper jelly I found at Smiths:

Too Sweet- but it's what I found

I don't know what other red pepper jelly tastes like, but we though this was a little too sweet. Overall the pizza was good, but next time we will try to find a red pepper sauce that isn't as sweet- maybe a Thai chili dipping sauce from the Asian food aisle instead of the jelly from the jam aisle.

Don't forget extra cilantro on top!

**UPDATE 3/24/17**  We tried this pizza again- but tried to make it more like Papa Murphy's Thai Chicken pizza - it was much better!  We found 2 different sauces; both are very good:

Myles liked this one better. We found it with the other wing sauce flavors on the condiment aisle.

Ryan and I liked this one. We found this it with the Asian foods. I mixed some fresh grated ginger in the second sauce -probably 1/4 tsp, maybe a little more.

For toppings for 2 pizzas we used:
4- 5 Green onions, chopped
1/4 Red onion, diced
1/2 Red pepper, diced
2 tiny zucchini squash, thinly sliced - 1 would have been enough
Diced cooked chicken
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

After baking it, we added fresh cilantro, bean sprouts and grated carrots on top.



Buffalo Blue Cheese Chicken Pizza

1 recipe homemade pizza crust (whole grain or regular crust)
2-3 chicken breasts, grilled and seasoned with salt and pepper
2-3 stalks green onions, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced very thin
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2-1 cup ranch dressing
2 Tbls.-1/4 cup buffalo sauce (Frank's Red Hot Sauce is my favorite)
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Season the chicken breasts and grill until cooked through. Dice the chicken into bite sized pieces and set aside. Roll the pizza crust out into a circular shape until thin. Spread a thin layer of the ranch dressing onto the crust. Slice the tomatoes and green onions and add to the top of the pizza. Add the chicken pieces to the pizza as well. Sprinkle the pizza with a thick layer of shredded cheese. Add the crumbled blue cheese on top of the pizza and bake in a 485 degree oven on parchment lined baking stone or pan for 18-25 minutes, or until the pizza is bubbly and golden brown. Garnish with extra green onions as desired.

Buffalo Pizza with tomato

Our Review:

This pizza doesn't specify what to do with the buffalo sauce.... We aren't into super spicy here, so we used a mild wing sauce and just drizzled it over the top of the pizza before we cooked it. We all decided it would have been better mixed with the ranch before spreading it on the pizzas. The other topping amounts were fine- except the chicken as noted above. We did one as written and one we used celery instead of tomatoes.  Cooked tomatoes are okay,but the celery one was better. I like blue cheese, so I though the amount on them was fine, but everyone else said it was too much! I don't think we will do this pizza again, We will stick with the recipes Ryan has made before.

Buffalo Pizza with celery - It's better this way!

Hawaiian Barbecue Pork Sandwiches

I have recently found several recipes that I thought would be fun to try. I though it might be fun to do family dinner night on the weekend instead of going out to eat. So this is the first recipe we decided to try. I found the original on Deals to Meals. She adapted a recipe from The Sandwich King. Here's my own version. The kids loved it. The girls had to eat their "salsa" separately, but they ate it. I didn't get a pic until everyone's sandwich was at least half gone!

Roast Pork:
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 boneless pork roast or shoulder (about 5 lbs.)

Sweet Chili Sauce:
1 bottle (12.7 oz) natural rice vinegar (about 2 cups)
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. Crushed red pepper (mine was skimpy - we are afraid of hot stuff around here)
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, smashed

Sandwich Build:
Mini Hoagie buns
Pork with Sweet Chile Sauce
Grilled Pineapple Relish (recipe below)
BBQ Sauce
Additional Jalapeno slices if desired

Grilled Pineapple Relish:
1 fresh pineapple, skinned, cored and cut into 1 inch slices
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 and 1/2 Tbsp. Grated fresh ginger
2 limes, juiced
½ jalapeno, seeded and diced
½ red onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste (optional - I don't think I used any)

For the pork, place the pork fat side down in a crock pot. Mix all of the pork seasonings together and rub into the meat as best you can. Put the lid on and let the pork cook on low heat for 5-8 hours, depending how large the roast is.

While the pork cooks, make the sweet chili sauce and the pineapple salsa.

Sweet Chile Sauce: Bring the vinegar, sugar, crushed red pepper, salt and garlic to a boil and cook until the sugar and salt dissolve. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, and then set aside until the pork is ready.
Once the roast is tender and cooked, remove from the pan, and shred the pork into pieces. Drain the juices from the crock pot and discard. Add the shredded pork back to the crock pot.Remove the smashed garlic cloves from the chili sauce. Pour it over the shredded pork and toss to coat.

For the salsa: Preheat a grill pan or grill over high heat. Rub the grill with a bit of oil and grill each side of the pineapple slices until dark grill marks appear, 3 to 5 minutes a side. I just put mine under the broiler - It took 5-7 min on each side.  Roughly chop the pineapple and add it to a bowl with the cilantro, ginger, lime juice, jalapeno and onions. Season with salt and pepper.

For the sandwich build: Place ample quantities of pork on the bottom bun and top with Grilled Pineapple Relish. Drizzle with your favorite BBQ sauce. Myles, Ryan and Pierce added jalapeno slices.