Bruschetta, Carolina Style

OK, so typically I am a wee bit leery of convenience products, usually because they are full of salt and/or preservatives. I do however like a product that is carried at Whole Foods. It is a pre-smoked pulled pork. It is local for us Carolinians, no hormones, antibiotics, animal by-products,etc...and is very neutral in taste. Basically, you can just heat up the pork, add your favorite BBQ sauce, and voilà! Its about $3 and some change per pound, and a pound goes a long way. Today I used this pork to make a Carolina Style Bruschetta.

You will need:
Olive oil
2T butter

1lb onion, thinly sliced

1 baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices

2 cloves garlic smashed*

1/2 lb pulled pork

Your favorite BBQ sauce

Salt and Pepper

Chives, minced for garnish

*To smash a clove of garlic, lay the clove on your cutting board. Turn the blade of your knife to lay flat against the clove and turned away from you. With the heel of your hand, hit the knife. Pull away the peel and you will have literally smashed your garlic.

Heat butter and 2T of olive oil in a large pan. Add onions and let them cook until dark brown. This will take a while. The larger surface space you have, the faster they will cook. Only turn occasionally, turning them too often will increase your cooking time (no need to babysit-they will not go anywhere).

Warm your pork with a small amount of BBQ sauce, just to moisten. You will add more later. Lay your baguette slices out on a baking sheet. then brush them with olive oil. Rub the garlic clove over the slices and season with salt and pepper. Grill (or broil) the bread until golden brown. Assemble the bruschetta by piling a heaping spoonful of the pork on top of the bread. Drizzle with BBQ sauce, then top with onions. Garnish with chopped chives and serve.

Good idea for a meat-lovers appetizer, or make a full size sandwich.