Southern Cooking for Dummies

So when it comes to Southern Food, I do have a favourite.  Pulled Pork, or Pulled Chicken sandwiches. Now like I said before, I'm no Bobby Flay, and no matter how many times I look into my back yard, or wish upon a star, an applewood burning smoker will just not appear lol. So until the barbeque gods grant my wish, I needed to find some way to be able to make this at home. Well as luck would have it, I did, and as the title suggests, this recipe couldn't get any easier.

This is everything that you require

chicken breast or pork shoulder

a slow cooker

ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar & slow cooker spice

So here we go, this is how simple it is. Once you have your chicken or pork, in your slow cooker,  1) In a medium bowl, combine 1\2 a cup of ketchup, 1/2 a cup of firmly packed brow sugar, 1/3 of a cup of cider vinegar, and a package of slow cooker spice mix. Mix these together well to form your sauce. 2) pour the sauce over the meat, add 1/2 a cup of water, and give everything a stir.( If you are doing pork shoulder, omit the water) 3) Put the lid on the cooker turn it to low and let it cook for 5 hours or if your short on time 2 1/2 hours on high (8 hours low, and 4 hours on high for pork), And now matter how amazing your kitchen starts to smell, and it will, LEAVE THE LID ON THE COOKER!!! you don't want any of that moisture to escape.

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Once the kitchen is filled with those wonderful aroma, and the timer has gone off, grab yourself 2 forks, and start to shred the meat. The meat should pull apart effortlessly, if you find that it is not separating, let the meat cook a little longer

And Voilà!!! Really folks that's it!!! It is that simple!! Grab yourself some fresh buns (bread people lol) and load up your sandwich. Pair this with a traditional southern side like coleslaw, which also adds an extra zip if placed on top of the meat in the sandwich, and as a second side, I have done a maple mashed sweet potatoe, which if anyone would like, I'll gladly share the recipe for that too.

Well everyone, Happy eating!!  If there is a recipe, or a restaurant that you are passionate, or curious about, please just comment on my blog, or tweet me @awat56, and I will test it out and blog on it for you.

Awat eats..... Manitoba!!!

I know it's Awat eats Winnipeg, but I had to take a quick hop, skip and a jump (yes that was an Easter Bunny reference lol) outside the city today. Why?? You ask, because its Sunday and not just any Sunday, but Easter Sunday, and like many Winnipeg families, one of my traditions is making the Sunday cruise out to Lockport.

Now I know there is a little rivalry in Winnipeg about where to eat out in Lockport, but for me there is really only one choice.

I need 3 things when I go to Lockport

An Old fashion jukebox

The Jets Wall

and the classic hot dog with home-made fries

That's right it can only be one place

and not the one by the water-slides, it has to be the original by the docks.

So just a quick shout out to my Favourite Sunday spot on this Easter Sunday, Here's to great days, good Friends and Family and to Full Bellies!! All the best

Stuff it yourself!!

I love this time of year!!  Barbecue season, and nothing is better then walking down the protein aisle of your favourite grocery store and seeing the hundreads of different types of hot dogs/ smokies that are available for the grill.  Now i'm no Bobby Flay when it comes to the grill, but I like to think that I can hold my own, so I decided why not give making stuffed hot dogs a try. So digging into the memory banks, I remember a show once on the food network that did a bacon wrapped hot dog, so here's what I did.

First find a good sized dog, usually the type that come in the 6 or 8 pack, a little longer and a little thicker then your standard 12 pack dog.  Once you have that, split the dog right down the middle like so

2nd, pick your favourite cheese. Anything will work. be as creative as you want. For this one I just went with a standard marble cheese. Slice it just thick enough to fill the space in the hot dog

Now I know these look pretty good already, and you might have the urge to just throw them on the grill as is, but what makes everything better...... that's right BACON

Now these are perfect!!!! The bacon not only being a tasty addition to this dog, also serves a dual purpose, the bacon will also help to keep the cheese in place as it starts to melt.
So there are several options for cooking these masterpieces, but for both I find there is one necessary step. Get them on a baking tray.  If you decided to grill them, preheat your barbecue, then turn one side to low and keep the other on high, place the tray on the low heat side, and use indirect heat to cook these through. remember if you try to flip these, you will lose most of the cheese. Your other option, and yes this makes them a year round treat, is to set the oven to broil, and throw them in the oven for a couple of minutes.

Either way, once the cheese has started to melt, and the bacon has started to crisp, these are ready to go. Usually your standard hot dog bun will be too small for these beauties, so try to look for a sub or sausage bun, again the fresher the better, match with your favourite side and ENJOY!!

Hope you enjoyed this little non-restaurant break from my travels, so now, if there is a recipe, or a restaurant that you are passionate, or curious about, please just comment on my blog, or tweet me @awat56, and I will test it out and blog on it for you.

The secret to the best sandwich is.....

Well food lovers, the wait is over, or for you sandwich perfectionists, I am about to let the secret out of the bag.  Now since I can remember, all the way back to my school days, I was a brown bag lunch kid, and the # 1 staple in that brown bag was of course... The sandwich, and in those 20+ years I have had every combination imaginable between those 2 slices of bread, from your classic Ham and cheese, or PB&J, all the way to the fancy with meats like capicola, or prosciutto, with cheeses like havarti or smoked gouda, but Tuesday I had one of the best sandwiches ever!!!!!!! (sorry mum).

Now the filling was simple, a spicy chicken mixture. Large chunks of chicken in a nice curry sauce, done almost like a chicken salad sandwich, with a slice of lettuce and tomato. Now you maybe thinking, Geez Awat, that's not that special, and you promised us the secret to the best sandwich, well folks here it is.... The secret to the best sandwich ever is not the filling!!!! It's the bread!!! and it's got to be fresh. My sandwich was made from a fresh pita, and instead of being a mere vessel to carry the chicken to my mouth, the airy freshness of the pita elevated the whole sandwich to another level. And where is the best place to get fresh bread, Well a bakery of course, and why not a German bakery, and just my luck there just happens to be one just down the street from my work. perfect for my lunch break.

The Crusty Bun, www.crustybun.com is located at 1026 St. Mary's road, just a few blocks north of Dakota St. This European bakery makes everything fresh on-site, but along with all the fresh fare, there is a 30 seat cafe for you to enjoy one of their amazing lunch specialities, like soup and a sandwich, or a Schnitzelburger, of course all made with that fresh bread that I spoke of, with either a fresh made coffee or an espresso and for dessert pick up one of their amazing pastries, like the choco-croissant. Once you sink your teeth into any of their amazing bread products, I guarantee that going forward the bread will now be the star of your sandwich.

If you have a place that you  are passionate about that you would like to see me blog on, or if you are just curious about a restaurant, and would like me to try it out for you first, please comment on this blog or reach out to me on Twitter at @awat56

A Taste of the South way up North

Years ago I had one of the most memorable trips of my life. 4 guys loaded into a dodge Magnum, and made the 23 1/2 hour drive (straight through) to our friends place in Austin, Tx.  Now why would we do this you ask, and how can it be memorable? Well it was the start of a world wind football weekend that started with  the Cowboys vs The Packers on the Thursday, and then the now 5 of us loading into that same Magnum on Saturday morning and making the 8 hour drive to Kansas City to watch the Chiefs play the Chargers. Now I could talk for hours on all the amazing stories that happened on that trip, but the one take away that I will share with you today, was the love that I came away with for the fine taste of Southern BBQ. So for years now I have been trying to replicate that amazing experience on my own grill, and now after all of that experimenting, I don't have to any more...someone else has perfected it for me. LOL!!

Lovey's Ribs & BBQ.  http://www.loveysbbq.ca/ Located at 208 Marion. Lovey's offers all of the tastes of the deep south, in the South end of Winnipeg.  So what should I have??? Well after all of these years of wanting and waiting for good BBQ, and a menu board that gives you every possible option that you can want,

There is only one possible answer.... All of it!!!!!!

  

This beautiful portrait of Southern goodness is the Lovey's Mixer, perfect for two (and yes there were 2 of us eating it!!)
It includes:  1/2 a slab of St. Louis style Ribs, 1/2 a BBQ chicken, and your choice of Beef Brisket, or Pulled Pork for the proteins, then for the sides, baked beans, coleslaw, cornbread, and your choice of potato salad or fries.

Well let me tell you, after diving head first into this wonderful mass of food, as their slogan says "We feed your soul", My soul was now at rest knowing that the long journey of trying to recreate my experience from that football trip years ago was now complete, and also in knowing that I can relive those great memories, and create new ones, any day that I want.

So please head down to Loveys, I promise that you will have a great experience in a great atmosphere with of course great BBQ!!!

If you have a place that you  are passionate about that you would like to see me blog on, or if you are just curious about a restaurant, and would like me to try it out for you first, please comment on this blog or reach out to me on Twitter at @awat56