Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese {Week 2 of the Grilled Cheese Transformation}

Pulled pork was my find of 2013. Who knew that a reasonably cheap chunk of meat, stuck in a slow-cooker for a long time bathed in sugar could be so delicious. Well, the USA actually. Nevermind, I got there eventually. So when consulting 31 grilled cheeses that are better than a boyfriend the pulled pork grilled cheese from Closet Cooking was a natural choice. I wish I had discovered Closet Cooking when I first moved to Melbourne- an absolute fount of easy recipes that can be achieved in a fairly basic kitchen.

This was an incredibly simple dinner because the slow-cooker sorts out the meat for you and then you just whack it on some bread with cheese and sauce and toast. Great for a slightly healthier alternative to takeaway if you are tired or stressed- and I was both on this occasion.
 
I really love my recipe for pulled pork adapted from The Londoner so I used it instead of Closet Cooking's.

Saturday

I need to tell you about my Saturday. I hope that in 5 years time I may be able to look back on this post and laugh. Hopefully it makes you feel better about your Saturday in the meantime.

A 9.5 hour shift, alone, in the Wine Shop With No Wine is predictably long, tedious and reasonably depressing. But it has advantages: plenty of time to read Gourmet Traveller or whatever wine text I am browsing at the time, time to chat to some of the nicer customers, even just the opportunity to do not terribly much for a while. Just in case my manager is reading- This is after I have made sure the shelves are stocked etc (which doesn't take long enough sadly).

What is not supposed to happen is the spontaneous explosion of a bottle of beer, suicide bomber style; taking 2 of his compatriots and a bottle of shiraz with him, splattering the shop with alcohol and glass. My initial thought when I heard the pop was that it was a drive by shooting (there have been a few pizza shops targeted recently, I though the crims might be branching out). A customer less than 1 metre away from the vengeful beer was miraculously unharmed and only lightly sprayed, astonishing given the state the rest of the stock was in. I checked the customer was OK and ushered him away from the broken glass and towards his family with the poor fella repeating "It just exploded" to all within earshot.

Which Sandwich are you? {Week 1 of the Grilled Cheese Transformation}

This is terribly important!

Go here and do the quiz "Which Sandwich Are You?" The best online quiz in history (please comment below or on Facebook which sandwich you are, because let's face it, civilisations are built on this kinda stuff).

I am very proud to say I got Grilled Cheese which according to the quiz (and to me) is:

"the best f’ing sandwich in the whole entire universe." 

To celebrate this achievement I thought I might undertake a 12 week challenge. A bit like Michelle Bridges 12 week Body Transformation .....only not. I will call it the 12 week Grilled Cheese Transformation.

Have you seen the 31 grilled cheeses that are better than a boyfriend doing the rounds on Facebook? Well I have taken my favourite 12 and each week, for 12 weeks I am going to make one and take pictures and tell you about it. Quality blog content my pretties.

Caramel Mudcake with Dark Chocolate Ganache {Recipe}

So I made this:

It was not at all as hard as I thought it was going to be so I had to tell you about it. I generally am not into cooking with lots of ingredients and multiple steps. I have lost baking confidence as a result of 12 months in a share house without a working oven followed by 2 years in a teeny tiny flat with an even teeny tinier kitchen and a crappy oven right next to my fridge, which resulted in the fridge heating up and developing a large ice tumour due to stress. It was quite a thing. Anyway, I now have a lovely big kitchen with a fully functional (and rather nice) oven so it is time to jump back on the horse. Plus, I wanted to make a Belated Bookworm Birthday cake so that called for something a bit special.