The main recipe here is originally from the Portland restaurant Meat Cheese Bread. It was in our local paper, in the weekly food section. I saw it, made Homer Simpson type sounds as I thought about how good it must be, and promptly decided to give it a try.

That said, I tweaked it a bit. Not so much for taste or anything, more due to what ingredients I had and the level of time on a Wednesday that I had to devote to this. Mainly, I crock-potted it while working, so that when I came home, the house would smell so good that I would almost fall over after stepping through the doorway.

One Saturday or Sunday, I will try this in the oven but it did work pretty well for me to turn it on low in the AM before leaving for work (7:00 AM) and return around 5:00 PM to a crock pot full of fragrant, porky goodness.

That said, this isn’t a complete ‘pop it in the crock pot and forget it’ kind of thing. Well, okay, actually it is, but you need to do stuff before you get everything in the crock pot. Stuff like: sear the pork and briefly saute the onions and peppers. Then you pop it all in the crock pot and set it to low.

I’ve got both conventional oven and crock pot directions below. Pick your heat source and give it a try!

Cuban Pulled Pork in Orange Mojo
Adapted from a Recipe from Meat Cheese Bread, via Oregonian Food Day, September 22, 2009
2 pounds pork shoulder
Vegetable oil
1 orange (original recipe said to use one and a quarter oranges)
1 small onion (sweet, yellow or white), quartered
1 red bell pepper, stems and seeds removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 medium tomato
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
6 garlic cloves
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 cup white wine
8 6-inch hoagie rolls (or ciabatta rolls, which is what I used)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, unless you are doing this in a crock pot.

Remove excess fat from the pork shoulder and cut crosswise into 2-inch thick pieces. When I was doing this, I read it wrong and cut it into 2-inch cubes. So, I’m here to tell you that if you accidentally do that, it will still work. Anyway, heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and coat bottom of pan lightly with vegetable oil. Sear the pork until browned on all sides.

While searing the pork, use a vegetable peeler to remove zest from the oranges. Reserve the zest and cut pith from the orange, exposing the orange pulp. I quartered my orange, although the original recipe said to leave it whole.

Oven: After pork has seared, add the orange quarters and orange zest, onion, red pepper, brown sugar, salt and pepper, orange juice, chicken broth, tomato, lime juice, garlic, cumin, coriander and white wine to the roasting pan. Stir well and cook uncovered at 375 degrees for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Check the braise occasionally to make sure it does not get too dark. If meat starts to darken, turn pieces over and push below liquid level. Remove from oven when pork pierces easily with a fork.

Crockpot: After pork has seared, remove it with tongs and add to the crock pot. Turn it on low. Return to the hot pan and add the onions, garlic and bell pepper. Saute for 3-5 minutes over medium until they start to get a little color. Add to the crock pot. You will notice all manner of tasty things on the bottom of the pan. Deglaze!

Add the wine and orange juice to the pan and use a wooden spoon to get up any brown bits.

Add all the pan contents to your crock pot. Next, add the orange zest, brown sugar, salt and pepper, chicken broth, tomato, lime juice, garlic, cumin, and coriander to the crock pot.

Put a lid on it and leave it alone for about 8-9 hours.

Oven & Crockpot, after cooking time:

Using tongs, carefully remove pork from the braise liquid and put on a carving board, allowing meat to rest for 10 minutes. Using two forks, pull apart the meat, removing any excess fat you come across. Place in a large bowl.

Purée the braising liquid (original recipe said “including the solids”, I opted to not use the whole orange pieces. After tasting the liquid, it seemed orangey enough to me), in a blender or food processor and adjust the flavor to taste.

When blending hot liquids, leave the lid insert off and cover the rimmed lid with a towel!

Add enough puréed braising liquid to moisten the meat well.

To assemble sandwiches, cut hoagie roll in half horizontally. Using tongs or a slotted spoon to allow some of the juice to drain, top bottom piece with roughly 1 cup of the pulled pork mixture. Repeat with remaining rolls. I added spinach leaves, tomato and sliced, smoked fontina cheese.

Leftovers

If you are not making 8 sandwiches, you will have leftovers. Here’s what I did — pork enchiladas!

I added some onion, yellow bell pepper, a diced jalapeno and some diced yam and sweet potatoes (all sauteed up for a few minutes in a pan with some olive oil), to the pulled pork and about 1 - 2 tsp of chili powder to the Mojo sauce.

I used the pork as a filling (added a little Queso fresco in there as well, along with about a teaspoon of sauce). The I wrapped the filling up in corn tortillas and covered with the sauce.

A little more cheese (okay, a medium-sized amount) on top and about 40 minutes in the oven on 375 degrees F.

Delicious with some diced avocado and some sour cream!

Memorial Day Weekend. Portland. Sunny. 70+ degrees. No rain. Really, no rain. What to do? Make lamb burgers!

Wow, these were good. Juicy and flavorful. The recipe is very easy to halve and make just two burgers (what I did). I found some kalamata ciabatta rolls at New Seasons which worked perfectly with these burgers.

Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers
Adapted from a recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (you could sub flat-leaf parsley)
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup low fat, plain yogurt, mixed with 1 clove crushed garlic and 1/2 a grated English cucumber
4 crusty kalamata olive rolls, split
spinach leaves
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 tomato, sliced

In a large bowl, combine the lamb, cilantro, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Form into 4 patties.

In a grill pan, set over medium-high heat, toast the rolls, set aside. In the same pan, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil and brush it onto the pan’s surface.

Add the burgers and cook, turning once, for 5 minutes each side for medium-rare.

After the first side cooks, add some feta to each burger top. Slather each roll top with the yogurt and stack some spinach leaves and tomato slices on the other side of the roll.

When the burgers are done, place each on top of the tomato slices, place the top roll in place and nom-nom-nom!

On the side we had a salad with 1 cup cooked lima beans, some halved cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, kalamata olives, fresh oregano leaves and crumbled feta. The dressing was some red wine vinegar, lemon zest, crushed garlic and olive oil. Delicious!

So very sleepy. But, I must post about awesome panini. This was very good. We had it a few weeks ago when we ate a bunch of soup exchange soup. T’was very good.

Okay, here’s the recipe, I’m going to bed now. Goodnight.

Prosciutto and Fig Panini
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Port
1/2 cup (lightly packed) dried black Mission figs (about 3.5 ounces), stemmed, halved
1/2 tbsp dried rosemary
1 medium red onion, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 tbsp chilled butter, diced
1 cup loosely packed baby spinach
8 slices of good bread or 4 ciabatta rolls, halved horizontally
4 thin slices prosciutto (2-3 ounces)
4 oz goat cheese

Bring water, Port, figs, and rosemary to boil in small saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until mixture is reduced to a generous 1/2 cup, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

Puree in processor until smooth. Fig jam can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place onion rounds on rimmed baking sheet. Dot with butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and golden, about 45 minutes. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons fig jam on bottom of each ciabatta roll or bread slice. Top with the goat cheese, spinach leaves, prosciutto and onions. Place bread top on each.

Cook panini in panini press according to manufacturer’s instructions. Alternatively, heat heavy large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches if needed, place panini in skillet. Place large cast-iron or other heavy skillet atop panini. Fill skillet with bricks or large cans to weigh down.

Cook until bottoms of rolls are golden, about 4 minutes. Remove top skillet and turn panini over, then place skillet atop panini. Cook until golden and cheese melts, about 4 minutes longer.

Cut in half and serve.

Oh, Bobby Flay, you seem like kind of a tool but I really love all of your recipes that I’ve tried. So, I guess that’s okay. We’ll just agree to agree on food and I can still be kind of meh about you personally. Maybe in real life you’re a really nice guy, you just televise kinda jerk-y. I dunno.

Although for some reason I like watching “Throwdown”. Maybe you’ve mellowed since the days you had that one show where you would travel around, taste people’s food with noticeable disinterest and be an all-around ass. Maybe now you are a really nice guy and my “Bobby Flay is kind of a tool” intro to all the recipes of yours that I post about is untrue and kind of mean of me… Ack! I am so conflicted!

Anyway, these are awesome. I think I made my kofte kinda big, but I think that’s okay. Make the raita first and let that hang out why you do the rest. We also had some hummus with ours.

For the Apple Raita
Recipe based on one by Bobby Flay
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne pepper

Stir together the yogurt, apple, salt, cinnamon and cayenne in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.

I don’t have an image of it all stirred together. In your head, just take the apple picture above and stir in the yogurt and spices. That’s what it looked like…

Turkey Kofta
Recipe based on one by Bobby Flay
6 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 small red onion, finely grated
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne powder (I used a pinch)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey, 90 percent lean
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 pound baby spinach, washed and dried
Pita or flat bread, lightly toasted
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
diced tomato and crumbled feta cheese for garnish

Whisk together 2 tablespoons of the oil, tomato paste, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the turkey and parsley and using your hands, gently mix until combined. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors meld. This can be made 8 hours in advance and refrigerated.

Heat the grill to high. You can also just do this indoors on a grill pan. That’s what I did. Get the pan on some med-high heat.

Divide the mixture into 12 equal portions and roll into balls. See, I only did 8 balls, but I was kind of shy of the 1.5 pounds of turkey. Gently press down on the top of each patty to flatten slightly. Brush the patties on both sides with 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper.

Grill the kofte until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.

Put it All Together

Whisk together the lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the spinach and toss to lightly coat the leaves in the dressing. Fill each pita with 3 of the patties, top with spinach, red onions and raita. Since my kafte were kind of big, I sliced them in half before I put them on the sandwiches.

Our kofte here is show on a slather of hummus. I highly recommend this. T’is tasty!

But we ate them instead. Damn, these were huge. But so very good. Instead of baguette, which I thought would be too hard for the fish, we used 2 sandwich rolls. They worked quite well. Basically, look for bread that is of like size and shape to your fish and you will be fine.

The herb-mayo that I made included a few hamburger pickles that we had in the fridge, giving it more of a tartar sauce appeal.

You will get this on your plate and think, man, there is no way that will fit in my mouth. Well, you will be right, but I found turning it on its side a bit and approaching it like a taco worked. Also, it looks like a lot of ingredients below, but it’s really not. You probably already have half of them, just go get the fish and rolls! You will not be sorry. Ah, and I bet this would also work just fine with cod, if that’s what’s available to you.

Awesome and Huuuuge Halibut Sandwich
Adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence
Fish:
3/4 - 1 lb of wild halibut fillet, sliced into 2 pieces of the same size
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Herb-Mayo:
1 cup mayonnaise, store-bought
1 lemon, juiced
1 handful fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 handful fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1 handful chives, finely chopped
Optional: 3-4 dill pickle rounds, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sandwich:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 sandwich rolls slightly bigger than your fish pieces, sourdough if you can get them
2 handfuls arugula leaves
1 ripe avocado, cut in thick slices
1 beefsteak (or other variety, for instance, we used 2 romas from the garden) tomato, cut in thick slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and put a large sheet tray in oven and heat it for 1/2 hour.

Begin by patting the halibut fillet dry. Set up a breading station with flour, beaten egg and milk, and bread crumbs in separate containers. Season with salt and pepper. Dip each fillet into the flour, egg mixture, and then panko.

When I bread, I like to use gloves so I don’t end up with egg/breadcrumb mittens…

Set aside on a tray at room temperature to let the coating set. I let mine set for about 5 minutes.

Pull out sheet tray from oven, add a 2-count of oil and transfer breaded fish to tray. Sprinkle with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes and flip over. Check after another 10 minutes. If fish doesn’t seem like it’s goldening up enough, increase oven temperature to 400 and give it 4-5 more minutes. I was super happy to discover after cooking this way my halibut was perfectly cooked! I was afraid I was going to dry it out trying to get a bit more color but it was perfect.

Split the rolls in half horizontally, but leave it connected by a hinge on one side. Open it up and toast it in a hot oven until just warmed through, about 2-3 minutes, while you finish cooking the fish. Remove the fish and bread from oven.

Combine lemon herb mayonnaise ingredients in a bowl and blend until well combined. For a creamier mayo, you can also put all the ingredients in a food processor and *whir* *whir* for a few seconds. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Smear each half of the bread with lemon herb mayonnaise and stack up arugula, tomato on one half. Top each with a crispy panko fish fillet and avocado. Fold over with the other half of bread. Serve with more lemon-herb mayonnaise on the side.

jwa models his tasty halibut sandwich

See — it’s huge! I made it through about 2/3’s of mine before I gave up and just ate the fish, avocado and tomato off of mine.

***

Trying…..so…hard…not…to…post…anything…political….but….I can’t stop myself anymore: FactCheck.org *

Plus, I think it goes without saying, but Tina Fey is so awesome.

*The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels. They are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases.