Ham and turkey salad sandwiches- perfect for a party food or light lunch

  I worked for a bakery when I was a teenager. I normally worked early (5am) on Saturday mornings. I remember the smell of  the delicious bread baking, one of my jobs was to run it through the slicer. I also frosted the cinnamon and orange rolls, and the giant sugar cookies... (Is your tummy growling yet?) One of my favorite lunch items was a ham and turkey salad sang. Some days I crave it so bad I have to drive back to the bakery and get one! Today I am sharing my best "copycat" recipe that I have come up with, to save myself from running into the bake shoppe. These sandwiches would be perfect for a bridal/baby shower or party, especially in the summer as the salad is served cold. I hope you enjoy it!

Delicious Pulled Pork for Parties and what to do with the leftovers

As you have previously read, I am the proud wife of a shiny new graduate. Along with all of the stress of the last few weeks, we have enjoyed a spending time with old friends and many family members to celebrate our new Engineer. I have been keeping track of a lot of the recipes from the parties we have had, and I can't wait to share them with you! This recipe is my Mom's and it is truly delicious. I love it so much because you can make it a day ahead, and you can change the homemade sauce a little here and there to your liking. Add a bold spice, or some extra brown sugar to make it sweeter... it's up to you to make it your own, but our family LOVES this recipe. I am sharing the large amounts we made so that you can use this for a party. Obviously you can cut the recipe down if you are just making it for your family. This pork freezes very well and if you want, you can just make the larger amount and save a portion in the freezer for another night! I will also share an idea on how to use the leftovers if you have any.  

 

Mom's Homemade BBQ pulled pork:
{Meat}

Pork Cushion roast (this has a little more fat than tenderloin and will be more flavorful)

Roast Pork in a roasting pan at 350 degrees for about an hour per pound of meat or until you can shred the meat very easily. For 20 pounds it took about 5-6 hours. Do not add any water to the meat, as it cooks it will create its own juices and brown a little on top. You can sprinkle the roasts with salt and pepper if desired. Shred the meat by taking two forks and separating. Remove any strings of fat from the shredded meat and toss.

Once meat has been shredded, add homemade sauce and heat in crockpot or in a heavy pot with a lid until heated through and ready to serve.

 

{Homemade Sauce}

**FOR EVERY 5 POUNDS OF PORK CUSHION USE THIS AMOUNT OF SAUCE*

1 30 ounce can of tomato sauce

1/8-1/4 cup brown sugar depending on your desired sweetness

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons rehydrated minced dry onions

1 teaspoon ground mustard powder

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon onion salt

1 cup Sweet Baby Rays "Sweet and Spicy" BBQ sauce

 

Important notes: I used about 20 pounds of meat to feed 50 people and had a little bit left over. We made pulled pork sandwiches on parker house dinner rolls.  My mom mentioned to me that while she did quadruple the amount of sauce to mix with the meat, she didn't have to add quadruple the amount of the spices. They stayed pretty strong even when she added more tomato sauce and BBQ sauce to make a larger amount. I would say once you have made the base sauce, if you need to double, triple or quadruple the sauce amount, just start by adding more tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire and sugar, and then add the spices little by little from there until you get your desired flavor. THIS SAUCE IS GLUTEN FREE just make sure if you use a different brand of BBQ to check the label for gluten free if you are making it for a friend or family member with Celiac disease.

If you make this pork and freeze it, you will likely need to make more sauce to add to the pork as it will absorb most of the sauce as it freezes.

We served this pulled pork to our guests on Parker House dinner rolls. You could also slice a large loaf of French bread and add the meat to it, and slice into sandwiches. Another option would be to use this pork on a salad or in a Mexican dish... all delicious!

 

I hope you try and love this recipe like we do. After our afternoon party, we had our friends come back to our house for a backyard fire and marshmallow roasting. I ended up heating up the left over pork and serving it on buns at 11:30pm to our friends around the camp fire. It was so much fun and they tasted so delicious!

 

If you need another idea for your left overs...

I made a delicious Grilled Swiss cheese and pulled pork sandwich... kind of the "fanciest" version of a grilled cheese possible.. and it was sooo tasty.  

 

Recipe:

Bread of your choice

Garlic powder

Swiss cheese

Left over pulled pork

Room temperature butter for spreading

 

Take two slices of bread (I used bran bread) and spread lightly with butter. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder on one slice of bread. Place into a fry pan on low to medium heat. Top with Jarlsberg Swiss cheese slices, and some of the warmed up left over pulled pork. Then add your second slice of bread on top. Let the bread grill until golden brow, then flip to brown the other side. The Swiss cheese should be melty over the pork. Let cool for a minute or two and SCARF IT UP!

Black forest Ham and Swiss Sliders with mustard poppy seed topping

 

  This past weekend I threw a baby shower for my good friend. The food turned out delicious and I wanted to share the menu with you. My next few posts will be dedicated to some of the best dishes I have found to share at your next party or family/friend get together... hope you enjoy!  

Recipe: Black forest Ham and Swiss sliders
Recipe source: Emmy in her Element

2 packages Hawaiian sweet rolls (white or wheat are both delicious!)

1 package deli ham (I used black forest from Costco)

Swiss Cheese sliced (Jarlsberg is always my favorite swiss)

 

Poppy seed topping:

1 stick melted butter

1 teaspoon Worcestershire

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 tablespoon poppy seed

 

Slice the tops off of the rolls and set aside. Add 1-2 slices of black forest ham, and 1 slice of Swiss cheese on top. Replace tops of rolls and add the sandwiches to a cookie sheet close together. Prepare topping by whisking together ingredients and spoon over the tops of the rolls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and let the topping set while the oven warms. Cover rolls with tin foil and place in oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is all melted. Remove the foil for the last 2 minutes of baking time to crisp up the tops. Serve warm.

 

 

 

I imagine this recipe could be played around with as far as fillings go... maybe turkey and Swiss or cheddar? Gouda.... oh my!