August 2nd, 2011

This was the sandwich Trent had our second day in Duluth for lunch.  It was a pulled bison cuban sandwich.  Our good friend, Ryan, felt like this would be a mighty tasty meal.  I decided to try to recreate it for him and have him and Kevin over for dinner.  I ordered a bison shoulder roast from Whole Foods to take on the challenge.  And I’ve got to say, I felt fancy pre-ordering meat from Whole Foods.  I had a pow wow with Anna, the butcher, and she knew exactly what I wanted to do and walked me through it.  I picked up my bison the day before (and of course other things, I simply cannot walk into Whole Foods, grab something, and leave….I linger, which tends to scare the debit card).  The morning of, I prepared the bison in the slow cooker much like you would do pulled pork.  Kinda like this method, but you can adjust spices, sauces, and seasonings to your taste.  I put in some yellow mustard, chicken stock, bbq sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, ketchup, and pickle juice.  I did the yellow mustard and pickle juice since they are common condiments to a cuban sandwich.  I cooked the bison all day on low in the slow cooker.  Then I took out the meat and shredded it with two forks.  It was very tender and easy to do.

I wanted to add back some of the sauce to make the meat….well saucy.  But I didn’t want to add back the grease.  I don’t have one of those fat separator measuring cup thingys, but I’ve heard this trick works good.  Turns out, it does.

I put some of the sauce from the crockpot in a plastic ziploc, let it rest in a glass for a couple minutes.  Fat floated to the top.  So I took a pair of scissors and snipped a small (this adjective is very important in this method) corner at the bottom of the bag and the non-fat part of the sauce poured into the meat and I closed it with my fingers when I felt it was enough sauce.  Please trust me that it’s impossible to do this and take pictures at the same time.  I had to concentrate people.  Hot liquid, scissors, and possible fat juice getting on my labor intensive special ordered meat.  The stakes were too high.  I also added about a teaspoon of cumin to the meat to make it cubany tasting.

While I assembled the cuban sandwiches in the panini press, the men and kiddos nibbled on an appetizer I put together from ingredients I picked up at Whole Foods.  Sharp cheddar cheese with fig jam and garlic crostinis.  So simple and quite yummy.

I made the cuban sandwiches exactly like Bobby Flay's (bread, yellow mustard, swiss cheese, and dill pickles toasted in the panini press).  But I did the meat the slow cooker way and did not make my own pickles.  A lady has to draw the line somewhere.

Kevin had to help me with the panini press, every time I would pull down to smoosh and cook them, they would slide.  Kevin positioned them, held them in place with a knife, while I pulled down with gusto to get those guys ooey gooey.  It was very scientific.  If I would have asked Trent to help, I guarantee you he would want to incorporate a bungee cord.  He loves a solution that includes a bungee cord.  But in this case, a person holding a knife was better.

For dessert I made a flourless chocolate cake recipe that Michelle gave me.  It’s incredible.  It’s a great dessert if you have celiac disease or an allergy to gluten that doesn’t involve chick pea or tapioca flour purchasing.  This recipe is a keeper!

That is all.