Italian Pulled Pork

I wasn't "feeling the love" to cook dinner the other night.  With all this redecorating things around the house, I was too tired to even think about it!  So I popped a pork tenderloin in the crock pot in the morning, threw in some magic and made Italian Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Recipe below.

To print, highlight the recipe, click and print.

OK so here is the magic: olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, rosemary and Italian seasoning.  Use fresh if you have it, if not dried is perfectly fine.

 Make a paste from all the ingredients.

 Slather it all over that tenderloin, yes just like that!

 Let her rip on high for about 3 - 4 hours, depending on the size of the tenderloin, mine was small.

And you have yourself some very flavorful, tender, delicious pulled pork for sandwiches.  Enjoy!

ITALIAN PULLED PORK

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves minced fresh garlic

2 teaspoons rosemary

2 teaspoons parsley

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon kosher salt, or regular salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup water

1 pork tenderloin

Directions

Combine olive oil, garlic, rosemary, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Pour the cup of water into the bottom of the bowl of the crockpot.  Unwrap the pork tenderloin and place in the crockpot.  Slather on the olive oil mixture, cover with the lid and set on high.  Turn the tenderloin about every hour and make sure there is some juice in the bottom of the bowl, add a little water at a time if it evaporates. When the tenderloin is done shred it right in the crockpot, toss it with the juices and serve on fresh crusty rolls. You can also serve it topped with sauteed broccoli rabe with garlic or sauteed spinach.

This Sauce Is The Boss

I was really busy the other day, my youngest is going off to France for the whole semester of her Junior year,  and we had to get a lot of last minute things that she needed to take with her.  Whew! It's all done now and all she has to do is pack her bags. I am going to miss her terribly!  So, before we left on our shopping trip, I needed to decide what to make for dinner that would be quick.  She takes forever to shop and I new we would be out all day.  I had taken a pork loin out of the freezer the day before and had it thawing in the refrigerator.  I figured the best way to cook it, while we were out and about, was to put it in the crock pot and make pulled pork sandwiches.  This is how I made it, recipe below.

Three ingredients to make the sweetest tasting pulled pork you'll ever eat!  Pour that root beer right over it.

 Sprinkle on the pork seasoning.  It doesn't look very pretty while it's cooking, but you will be surprised at the flavor when it's done.

 It's done, and the hardest part is shredding it, which isn't really hard, it take less than 5 minutes.

 Put that pork on a crusty roll, top with provolone cheese and some slaw, add a kosher pickle and some chips and you got yourself a delightful, barely any hands on cooking, meal.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients

1 - 2 lb. pork tenderloin

1 - 12 oz. bottle root beer

1 1/2 cups of Sweet Baby Rays Honey Barbecue Sauce, more if you like it really wet

1 1/2 teaspoons of McCormick Pork Seasoning

8 crusty Kaiser rolls

8 slices of provolone cheese

1/2 lb. container of stringy cole slaw

Directions

Unwrap the pork tenderloin and put into the bowl of a crock pot.  Pour the root beer over the top and sprinkle on the seasoning. Turn the pork over. Set the crock pot to high, put the lid on and let cook for
4-5 hours.  When pork is tender and falling apart, lift it out of the bowl and onto a cutting board. Drain all but about a cup of liquid from the bowl.  With two forks, pull the pork apart shredding it.  Return to the bowl with the liquid.  Reduce crockpot temperature to low.  Pour in the barbecue sauce and toss with the pork. Let cook for another 30 minutes. Top each bun with pulled pork, provolone cheese and cole slaw.  Makes 8 - 10 servings.

Sweet and Hot Italian Sausage and Peppers

It's football season in our house, that's a big deal come the Fall.  Ever since my boys were 5 & 6 years old they have always played on a football team all the way through high school.  When the big games came on TV on Sunday, it was always a snack night for dinner because they didn't want to leave and sit at the dinner table.  I would put together a spread of finger foods they could eat.  Now that they are adults, and still sit in front of the TV, I make man size foods for them.  Sausage and Peppers is one of their favorites.  This is how I make it.

Red, yellow, green peppers and onions. Seed them and slice them down.  Peel the onions, cut in half and slice down.  Peel 3 cloves of garlic and mince.  Saute the garlic in 3 Tbsp. of olive oil.  Add the peppers, onions, salt and pepper.

Sweat the peppers and onions out.  In the meantime brown the sausages in a frying pan.  I use hot and sweet sausages.  When they are partially cooked put them on top of the peppers and onions and put a lid on them.  Cook on medium heat for 30 minutes.

Another of their favorites is Jack Daniels Pulled Pork on a crusty kaiser roll. All you have to do is warm it up!  The sauce is sweet and tangy and when it's hot, it makes the roll so soft and delicious.