Mojitos, please!

In Scottsdale Cole and I had some of the best mojitos I have ever had. Some of my famous words have become, "You know, we could make this at home!" and that is just what we decided to do. 

Here's how we made them at home... 

Ingredients: Rum, tonic water, lime, mint leaves (crushed & whole),  simple syrup and ice

Squeeze two lime slices 

Crush the mint
Disclaimer:crushing the mint up too much will result in a swampy looking drink and mint all over your teeth and mouth

Measure out about a shot and a half of rum

Add about 1 tablespoon of simple syrup

To make simple syrup....Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water on stove. Bring to a boil, make sure all sugar dissolves in water, and cool in refrigerator.

After all ingredients are added (minus the tonic water) SHAKE IT! 

Pour in glass, add tonic water and anymore lime or mint leaves  you want as a garnish

...and enjoy! 

Aftermath of the mojito making station.

 Only thing that would have made these mojitos even better would have been warmer weather, a tall skinny glass & a sugar cane used a stirrer in the drink.

Homemade Gnocchi & Saltimbocca

One of my favorite things to do when I go home is cook with my dad. My parents had made this dinner at a friends house a couple weeks before I came home. 

They enjoyed it so much that my dad remade the gnocchi for him and my mom and the next night when I was home, we all made the meal all over again!

Rolling out the gnocchi dough, cutting it into pieces and rolling it along the back of a fork to give it texture

Cooking the Gnocchi

Gnocchi waiting to be cooked

Saltimbocca- chicken instead of veal, prosciutto, with a sage leaf

In Italian, Saltimbocca translates into "jump in your mouth".

Finished product! Gnocchi drizzled with a basil butter sauce and pan seared saltimbocca.

In the Sloan household, the entrees are usually made by dad, and the salad or desert is left up to my mom(if we are lucky and tonight we were!)

This is a favorite of my parents, and it is slowly growing on me. 

Butter lettuce dressed with a little bit of olive oil, thinly sliced lemon, walnuts, and topped with blue cheese. 

If there is one thing my mom never fails to compliment the meal with is flowers. We may be looking forward to a salad afterwards and be disappointed but we are never eating without some sort of my moms creativeness in the middle of the table!

Braised Pulled Pork

Braising is a process that obviously requires time, not only is it a long cooking process but a planning process as well. One Saturday afternoon, around 1:00, juicy tender pulled pork was going to be on the menu for dinner . Surprisingly, I was able to pull a recipe and grocery list together fast enough to get to the store and put the pork in the oven for it be ready just in time for an 8:00 dinner. 

< a movie while the pork was braising!>

After googling recipes for pulled BBQ pork, I finally decided that I would combine a couple recipes and I came up with a braising recipe....a)because I do not have a smoker and  b)it fit in my time frame. 

It turned out much better than I expected, especially since it was my first time cooking anything like this.

Here is the recipe I put together...

Braised Pork Butt

4 to 5 pound pork butt, bone-in

1 tbs brown sugar

2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tbs salt

1tsp pepper

1 tbs olive oil

2 medium yellow onions, peeled & cut into wedges

4 gloves of garlic, peeled

1 7 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 can of beer

1 can of tomato juice

1/4 cup Worcestershire

1 bottle of favorite BBQ sauce

Combine the brown sugar,cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, & pepper. Rub on pork and let sit for 30 minutes.

Heat olive oil in large dutch oven pot or large pasta pot, brown pork on all sides. Remove from pot.

Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, beer, tomato juice, Worcestershire, & BBQ sauce. Bring to a simmer, while scraping bottom to pick up any browned bits.

Return the pork to pot and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours in a 325 degrees oven, checking once or twice, until meat is extremely tender and pulls away from bone.

After removing the bone, it is easy to pull the pork using 2 forks (if cooked with fat on, make sure to remove fat before pulling)

After all pork is pulled, pour some of the remaining braising liquid over meat to ensure juiciness and prevent from drying out.