Thursday, June 25, 2009

Dulcet Cuisine and Cuban Sandwiches

Let me start by saying that I found an amazing company called Dulcet Cuisine and would like to share with my fellow foodies. I actually located them on foodbuzz.com under some of our favorite brands. If you would like to take a gander at her site. Pam Kraemer is the owner of Dulcet Cuisine. Pam and her company make earth friendly, 100% natural ketchup , mustard , seasonings, marinades, dressings and sauces. You can find Pam's products in whole food stores all over the country. She is very talented. I used her Creole mustard and Creole seasoning mix to make a Cuban with a twist. My husband loves spicy and he also loves Cubans....It turned out amazing. I paired it with my homemade spicy pickles that I canned a few weeks back. It turned out very very good.
If you are interested in Dulcet Cuisine visit Pam @ http://dulcetcuisine.com/ . Pam's dedication for food differently shows in her quality of work. I am not a huge fan of mustard and I could of dove head first into her Creole Mustard. It has so much flavor.

You know me...When I find great products I love to share them with everyone. I hope you enjoy.


MY SPICY CREOLE CUBAN


I used a pork shoulder and covered it in Dulcet Creole Mustard. About 4-6 Tablespoons

I then covered the pork shoulder in the Creole seasoning.




(This pic did not turn out to good...There was steam everywhere) I browned both sides of the pork shoulder.




I then put the pork shoulder covered in a 350 oven the first hour and then 250 for most of the day until it fell apart. I would keep checking on it and adding water if necessary.This was the end of the shredded pork... Now for assembling this amazing sandwich.


I cut a cuban bread loaf in half. I added more of the creole mustard and my homemade spicy pickles.
I added two slice of swiss cheese to both sides of the sandwich. And then I added pork to the bottom of the bread and on top of that I added good quality ham.
I then put the sandwich in the Panini Sandwich maker until everything is melted and oozing out. Last but not least...I cut it in half and served it. Then my husband devoured it. YUMMY.
I hope you enjoy my recipe and I hope you visit my friend Pam.

Hydroponic Lettuce?




Another cool find at the farmers market that I would like to share. It is Hydroponic Bibb Lettuce!!!! You can actually bring it home put the roots in some water and it will continue to grow and prosper! How cool is that? Anyway, I bought 4 heads for 3 dollars. An awesome price!!! Next Wednesday they will have Hydroponic Red Leaf Lettuce (which is my fav) I will be there with bells.

Tomato Sauce with Farmers Market Tomatoes

I grew up in a very VERY small farm town in Ohio. I lived near my uncles cattle farm and Meat market. My mother had an amazing garden and grew every vegetable you could think of. But what was more spectacular is I remember as a kid she would can all of the vegetables for the winter. She would can the green beans, stewed tomatoes and jams. Our basement was full of the amazing fresh vegetables my mother canned. I truly wish I could do this, but living in FL you only have limited ability at what you could grow. Yesterday I went to the farmers market and they had these AMAZINGLY beautiful tomatoes for $2.oo for a huge basket. Of course, I bought two baskets with fresh tomato sauce in mind. I called my mom when I got home and she told me to just dump boiling water on top of the tomatoes and the skin will peel right off. I was very skeptical. It could not be that easy....Needless to say, it was. I actually had my four yr. old Alexandra pulling the skin off as I seeded and cored the tomatoes. I do not think I will buy canned tomatoes again.....We shall see, but this sauce was so refreshing and good. I cannot put into words how this made my taste buds danced....What a difference. I hope this inspires other people to try this. It was very easy. Enjoy



I washed and scrubbed the tomatoes. I would say there was about a dozen tomatoes. I then boiled about 4 gallons of water. I then dumped it on top of the tomatoes.


As you can see, the skinned pulled right up. My four yr. old pulled the skin of all the tomatoes in less then 15 minutes. I adore my little helper.



This is the pot of seeded, cored and skinned tomatoes. After Alex took the skin off I rinsed the seeds out and cored the tomatoes.



I put the tomatoes on medium heat with a little salt and pepper.


I totally could of ate the entire pot of sauce with just the salt and pepper that is how amazing it tasted.

This is what the final product turned out...I did not add to much to the sauce. I made it simple because I did not want to alter the amazing taste of the fresh tomatoes....
The recipe: FRESH Tomato Sauce
12 whole tomatoes cooked down (I cooked for about 2-4 hours)
salt and pepper
2 TB olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cp. fresh basil
1/4 cp. fresh oregano
Optional: 2-4 TB tomato paste
1. When the tomatoes have cooked down. Saute the onions and garlic in about 2 TB of olive oil in s separate pan. When translucent add the stewed tomatoes that are cooked down. Add the basil and Oregano. If the sauce (ONLY IF you need )add a little tomato paste.
ENJOY A VERY VERY FRESH POT OF TOMATO SAUCE
2.