Game Day Recipe - Hawaiian Pulled Pork for a Crowd

I was sent products from Handi-Foil to facilitate my review and recipe. All opinions and experiences are my own.

With game day approaching, are you ready to feed a hungry crowd of fans?

Whether you like to have friends over to cheer on your favorite football team, or you just want to catch the Red Hot Chili Peppers at halftime, Super Bowl is only 17 days away. Time to start planning, now.

In my house, we are all about the game day snacks and food. The last thing I want to do is have a team of dishes waiting for me once the game ends, so I opted to use Handi-foil for my food prep and serving needs.

Now, I have shown you casserole dishes, leftover boxes and other small roasters, but have you seen the Steam Table Pans from Eco-Foil in stores? 

I don't own a chaffing dish, so the Foldable Wire Chafing Rack, Full Size Steam Table Pans and Half Size Steam Table Pans are perfect for serving game day appetites. In fact, I can cook my food then serve it all in these pans. The chafing rack, with convenient holders for sterno fuel underneath, keep the food warm during the game and is easy to assemble.

Just place water in the full size pan and it acts as a double boiler to keep the half size pans, full of food, warm and ready for your guests.

I chose to make Hawaiian Pulled Pork in mine. Yeah, when the smoker is involved it is pretty fool-proof. 

I started off with a 2 pound Pork Tip Roast. Then I gave it a general pork rub and seasoned it with a little salt and pepper. Nothing fancy.

I put it on the smoker for 3 hours at 225 degrees. Low and slow gets the best results. You know it is ready when the meat has an internal temperature of 195 degrees. That is hot enough for the meat to pull nicely. You might notice below that my pulled meat has some smoke rings on it.

I started shredding with two forks when the meat was warm to the touch. Once it cools down enough I like to finish pulling it by hand.

Then I added enough sweet BBQ sauce to cover the meat. Then I placed it back in the smoker for another half hour to warm through.

To my chafing rack I added the water under the warm pans and my meat and rice. With heat underneath you can cover the top loosely with foil and have your feast ready for guests to enjoy at their leisure.

Very convenient!

The verdict? Good food, simple clean-up and everything stays conveniently warm. I don't want to make any of my guests sick on game day.

Talk about a party foul!

So, keep it safe, keep it warm and enjoy! Ready for this super easy Hawaiian Pulled Pork recipe?

Hawaiian Pulled Pork

You Will Need:

• 2 lbs. pork tip roast
• pork rub (you choice)
• salt and pepper
• 1 bottle of NOH Hawaiian Bar-B-Q Sauce
• 3 c. steamed rice
• green onions for garnish

Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees.

Pat a room temperature pork tip roast dry with paper towels. Rub liberally with pork rub, salt and pepper. Place in a Handi-foil half size steam table pan to smoke for about 3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees.

When cool enough to handle, shred the pork and mix with Bar-B-Q sauce. Return to the smoker to heat the sauce and meat through, about a half an hour.

Place the meat in half of the full size steam table pan and your steamed rice in the other. Serve garnished with green onions.

Enjoy and have a great game!

Connect with Eco-Foil on Facebook or check out the Handi-Foil website to browse their entire collection of pans.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake Recipe

*Disclaimer - I was sent products from Handi-Foil to facilitate my review and recipe. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Are you baking yet?

This is the time of year when I see recipes and craft ideas at every turn. Grocery end-caps advertise the fun treats to be made with their products and Pinterest, well, I try not to spend too much time on Pinterest right now. I do enjoy making some fun treats, but I usually have a hard time deciding which ones to make.

My son brings home classroom and school announcements every Wednesday from Kindergarten. A call for baked sale goodies and cake walk items for the upcoming school carnival got me thinking. What in the world would be fast and easy to make, but appealing to school kids?

I tried out the Handi-Foil Pumpkin Pans & Lids with a Chocolate and Pumpkin cake. Sorry, I don't do plain or ordinary. I love the idea of a rich mixture of chocolate and pumpkin though. To the frosting I added just a hint of cinnamon along with vanilla bean paste. The resulting cake was moist and flavorful. The frosting is a real winner, not heavy like other cream cheese frosting, but still worthy of licking the beaters for.

These pans are just too cute! I love the idea of baking my cake in the same pan that I can also transport it in. That saves me time and hassle. It also means that I can save some money not buying a special pumpkin cake pan. I own far too many specialty pans as it is. How many times will I really be baking a 3-dimensional choo-choo train or pumpkin, for that matter.

I also love the idea of filling these pans with candy or other ghoulishly-good treats for Halloween.

This cake recipe isn't difficult. It does call for buttermilk, but you can always sour a bit of regular milk with a splash of vinegar, or use buttermilk powder and water. The cake itself is enough for one regular 13"x 9" pan, or two of these cute pumpkin pans.

The recipe is simple and another great place for me to use up my daily bounty of fresh eggs.

These cakes baked up well. Visually the center shouldn't move or be concave, a toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the middle. Also be sure to allow for ample time for the cakes to cool completely before frosting.

Yeah, don't harm the frosting...

Cream cheese frosting is just so good, but this batch uses less cream cheese and folds in whipped cream. The result is all the flavor without the thick consistency. The frosting has just a hint of cocoa added and a little cinnamon for added depth.

I colored most of my frosting orange, and then reserved a small portion to dye green for the stem and leaves. The cocoa powder kept the colors from being too bright. I was going for a more natural shade of orange and green.

I broke out the Wilton tips to add some leaves and tendrils to the top of my pumpkin cakes. I also used some melted semi-sweet chocolate fr accents. I was going for simple and my daughter asked me why the pumpkin didn't have a face.

So, I made a jack-o-lantern out of the second cake for my daughter.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

You Will Need:

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 2/3 c. Dutch processed cocoa
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. espresso powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
• 3/4 c. butter, unsalted, softened
• 1 c. dark brown sugar
• 1 c. sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 oz. softened cream cheese
• 2 1/4 c. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. Dutch processed cocoa
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
• 1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• orange and green food coloring gel
• melted semi-sweet chocolate for decorating

Spray the two pumpkin pans with non-stick spray. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, buttermilk and vanilla bean paste. Cream together the butter and sugars in a stand mixer, then beat in one egg at a time. Then alternate adding the flour mixture and the pumpkin mixture. Divide the batter in half between the two pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese, 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla bean paste till fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream and 3/4 c. powdered sugar. Gently fold the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture. Reserve a small amount of frosting to color green and color the rest orange with food coloring.

Frost the cakes with the orange frosting and chill for at least 30 minutes before adding any details. With the green frosting, I used a Wilton tip #4 for the tendrils and #352 for the leaves. Then I melted some semi-sweet chocolate and drizzled it over the pumpkin to accent lines or make the jack-o-lantern face.

Refrigerate the cake until serving.

Enjoy!

Connect with Eco-Foil on Facebook or check out the Handi-Foil website to browse their entire collection of pans.

Baking up a Batch of Orange Rolls with Handi-Foil

Some days you just want something a little sweet.

Not, too sweet though. This has been the curse of my 3rd pregnancy. Chocolate, even just looking at it, seems to give me heartburn every time. The same has been true of many of my favorite sweet treats. This past week I have been lingering on cinnamon rolls. The problem is they would probably be too sweet. But then I got the idea for making orange rolls.

Sweet and full of lovely citrus flavor, I couldn't stop thinking about these.

No, really. I had dreams about them.

Armed with a big box of oranges, a jar of marmalade a kind neighbor gifted us over the holidays and a desire to treat myself, I started hunting for recipes.

I didn't find any that actually suited my tastes. I wanted to use simple ingredients, whole wheat flour and real orange juice and zest. With some tweaking, I created a recipe we were all happy with.

Speaking of picky, the last thing I want to do right now is wash extra dishes. Whether we are going to a potluck or I am preparing to gift a dish to a sick friend I love using the Handi-Foil pans.

I am excited to say that over the next month or two I will have a few more Handi-Foil posts to share with you. Currently I am cleaning out my deep freeze and getting ready to re-fill it with prepared freezer meals for when the baby is born. It is my little gift to my husband. I plan in purchasing many various sizes of Handi-Foil pans to fill with easy breakfast, brunch and dinner ideas.

Today I chose a roaster/baker pan with lid. I could have chosen a cake pan, or something else, but I love how deep this pan is. It is perfect for letting those orange rolls rise and get nice and thick! Whether I'm using it in the smoker, or my oven, I have found so many uses for this multi-purpose pan.

I wanted to make this recipe in the bread machine, but you could easily use a stand mixer or mix and knead by hand. Why the bread machine? Well, I love using the dough function to mix and and knead while I work on other projects around the house. I still prefer to bake my bread in the oven, but am so grateful for this little time saver.

If you choose to use a bread machine, load the ingredients as your machine suggests. Yes, some models are different. My machine puts the wet ingredients on the bottom, dry in the middle and yeast on top.

One trick to using a bread machine is to check on your dough while it is kneading. With a spatula I can help incorporate any dry bits on the sides of the pan, or adjust if it is too dry or too wet. I also waited to add in a little fresh lemon and orange zest.

Let the dough rise, till it doubles in size, in a warm place. I like to spray a big bowl with non-stick spray then top with cling wrap and drape a flour sack cloth over that. It helps to keep it warm and moist for the yeast to do it's work.

I love oranges, but am not a fan of marmalade. This was a great chance to put this jar in my pantry to good use. I didn't worry about adding more zest because the marmalade is filled with it. To offset the slightly bitter jam, I added two tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange juice and a teaspoon of local honey.

Homemade marmalade, a little honey and orange juice make a lovely sweet filling for these orange rolls.

Don't worry if some of the filling oozes out. I just put a little back on top of each roll before letting them rise.

This pan was the perfect size for 12 rolls. Yes, they will still rise and crowd each other after an hour.

See! All perfectly puffy and ready to be baked.

Bake till they start to turn golden brown on top and around the edges. If you don't want to eat them right away, go ahead and let them cool. I love the lids so I can either keep them safe overnight, or take them to give. A big bow on top would be a nice touch. Even if these are just for myself.

Frost when they are cool or just before serving so the roll remains delicate and not soggy.

My Orange Roll Recipe

You Will Need:
For the Rolls - 

• 1 1/4 c. room temperature water
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. natural orange flavoring
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. bread flour
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. dry milk powder
• 1/2 c. potato flakes
• 1 Tbsp. orange zest
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast

For the Filling - 

• 1/3 c. marmalade
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 1 Tbsp. honey

For the Glaze - 

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 1 Tbsp. milk

Add all the ingredients according to your machines instructions. Set for dough cycle. Remove before the first rise and place in a lightly greased bowl, covered, to rise for at least an hour. It should double in size.

Roll out the dough to a 16"x12" rectangle. Mix the filling ingredients and spread over the dough. Leave the edges around your dough free from the filling mixture. Roll and slice into 12 rolls. If you have extra filling, spoon that over the top. Space them out in your pan and cover to rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the rolls for about 22-24 minutes. Let them cool slightly in the pan before glazing, so the glaze doesn't just melt off. If you don't plan on eating them right away, wait to glaze them so the rolls stay fresh.

Whisk up the icing and drizzle over the top of the orange rolls before serving.

Enjoy!

Take to bake, bake and take or freeze to enjoy later, Handi-Foil gives me so many reasons to enjoy baking and sharing my creations. Connect with them on Facebook and browse their entire collection of pans on the Handi-Foil website.

*Disclaimer - This post is brought to you thanks to Handi-Foil, the most trusted name in recyclable container foilware products, made 100% in the USA. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Getting a Hand with Holiday Cooking from Handi-Foil

Mmm.... the holidays bring back some of my favorite childhood recipes, smells and memories. Now as a Mom I have my own food traditions to uphold. I enjoy the love I can put into my food and the chance to spend the holidays with my family. That doesn't mean I look forward to the mountains of dishes I will create.

Whether you are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner, throwing a holiday party or sharing your holiday favorites with friends, wouldn't it be nice if the cooking, taking and storing of your food was hassle free?

Handi-Foil is a great option for saving time. Handi-Foil offers a whole range of pan options to have all of your favorite holiday dishes covered. From simple storage containers for leftovers, to cake pans and roasters, there are even  Eco-Foil options that made from 100% recycled aluminum. I was sent an assortment of pans to use for some of my favorite holiday eats. I made an herb roasted bird and rosemary  potato rolls for my family.

The herb roasted chicken is a classic my Mom likes to make. My husband has never been a big fan of turkey, so this is my compromise. Simply dressed with an herb compound butter, the meat is tender, juicy and aromatic. Really, the recipe couldn't get much simpler.

I grabbed whatever herbs were still lingering in my garden. Some thyme, rosemary, chives, parsley, garlic and lemon will add big flavor without a lot of salt or preservatives.

I made up my compound butter ahead of time, it just needs to come to room temperature before dressing the chicken.

Herb Compound Butter

You Will Need:
1/4 c. unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon, zested
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 c. herbs, a combination of your choice
Olive oil to
Salt & Pepper to taste

Chop the herbs roughly and grate or press the garlic cloves. Add all the ingredients to a food processor or heavy duty blender, such as a Blendtec. Add enough olive oil so it will mix together. Refrigerate until you need it and let it come to room temperature before preparing the bird.

Preparing the actual chicken, or turkey with the compound butter is very easy. You can see how I do it from start to finish in my video.

Herb Roasted Chicken

You Will Need:

1 small chicken

Herb compound butter

2 onions

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1/2 lemon

1 roasting bag

1 Handi-Foil roasting pan

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Let your chicken and compound butter come to room temperature for 15 - 20 minutes. 

Gently separate the skin from the chicken by slipping your fingers between the two. Work compound butter under the chicken skin and then on top of the bird. Tie up or poke legs back into the bird to keep them tight to the body. (Check out this slick, no-string trussing trick in the video)

Place your bag inside the roasting pan and create a layer of vegetables and herbs. Set the bird on top and close the bag. Pull the bag away from skin if possible.

Bake at 450 degrees for around 25 minutes. Then turn down the heat to 350 degrees for an additional 35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Cooking times will vary depending on the size of your bird.

It was moist, juicy and simple. The herbs gave it a nice flavor to enjoy on it's own after roasting, but won't overpower the leftovers in case you want to use them in quesadillas or burritos later. That would be my husband's favorite way to enjoy that after turkey day stash.

Since the Handi-Foil pans were so easy to use, I also decided to make my husband's favorite potato rolls. I used one of the stuffing pans and it was the perfect size for one batch. I will be using my remaining 3 pans to make more rolls to freeze ahead for the holidays. That recipe I will share with you in my next post where I will also be able to give away Handi-Foil pans to two lucky readers. Stay tuned!

Be sure to check out the Handi-Foil website for a complete list of products to make your holidays easier. You can also connect with Eco-Foil on Facebook for more great recipes and ideas.

Now I want to know, what holiday dishes would you create up in your Handi-Foil pans?

*Disclaimer - This post is brought to you thanks to Handi-Foil, the most trusted name in recyclable container foilware products, made 100% in the USA. All opinions expressed are my own.