Season a package of pork tenderloins with salt and pepper. Put in the crock pot with 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup Pace Medium Salsa*. Cook on low until tender but not over cooked. Shred with knife and fork and let sit in crock pot just a few minutes longer to soak in more flavor. The only trouble I ever have with this dish is under salting it. So taste again before serving and add some if necessary.
(I don’t know why but Pace Medium Salsa works the best, I have tried many other different kinds and its not quite the same.)
Big Green Egg Pull Pork
Ingredients:
- 7-9 pound Boston butt
- Rub with Love – Steak Rub
- Coarse/Kosher Salt
- High quality lump charcoal
- 3-5 Large Hickory chunks
Meat Preparation
Before preparing meat, place Hickory wood chunks in bowl of warm water to soak.
Place pork butt on large cooking sheet. Pat surface dry with paper towels.
Cover surface of pork butt with as much Kosher salt that will stick to surface. Gently pat the salt onto the meat with hand, but do not force more salt than will naturally stick.
Cover surface with as much Rub with Love Steak Rub that will stick on surface. It is really hard to over-do Rub with Love, so be liberal. If a stronger flavor is desired, wait about 20-30 minutes after salting to apply Rub. The salt will draw out moister, allowing more rub to stick.
Grill Preparation
Make sure all ash from previous cooks is removed. I typically give the Egg a moderate cleaning all around before starting the cook. Open top and bottom vents fully. Fill firebox with high-quality lump charcoal. Light charcoal with typical methods. Allow most of the charcoal to ignite, then close lid and reduce top and bottom vents to nearly closed, 1/2-1/4″. Periodically “burp” grill to let out heat. Target temperature is 250°F. Once grill is nearing temp, place soaked Hickory chunk on coals. Install Plate Setter legs up, placing grate on Plate Setter legs. I wrap my Plate Setter in foil to keep it clean; the butt drips a lot. It typically takes me 30-45 minutes to prep, light, and get grill to target temp.
The Cook
Once the grill has stabilized at 250°F for about 10 minutes, place meat on grill, fat up. The BGE is exceptional at maintaining temperature. Very small adjustments are needed to correct temperature trends. Remember, it takes a few minutes for vent adjustments to change the temperature. It’s more about looking at trends than the exact temps. I typically make adjustments about 1/8-1/4″ at a time, and wait 5 minutes for temps to change. Again, look for trends, not temps. Check grill temperature every 30-60 minutes. About 4 hours in, flip the butt using 2 large spatulas. After flipping, start checking temperature of meat. At 4-5 hour mark, meat should be nearing stall temperatures of ~165°F. During the stall, the meat will stay around 165°F for 1-2 hours. Target internal temperature is 195°F – 205°F. It is likely there will be a 10-15°F variance in different areas of the meat. Try to get every part to a minimum of 190°F, but don’t let any part get over 225°F.
When all parts of meat have reached target temp, remove meat from grill and allow it to rest for 1 hour. After the meat has cooled, pull apart by hand or with fork. Discard large hunks of fat; there should not be many. Optionally, chop meat with large knife after pulling. Mixing the outside parts of the meat with the inside sections will distribute the seasoning and flavor throughout the final product. Meat will keep 5-7 days refrigerated.
Pulled Pork Enchiladas
I recently made Carnitas and my family got tired of the leftovers so I had to get creative. I made enchiladas with what I had leftover and they turned out really good…
Ingredients:
- Carnitas – shredded
- 1 can of enchilada sauce
- 1 can of diced green chilies
- 1 bag shredded Mexican blend cheese
- tortillas
- fresh cilantro
Directions:
- In a large bowl combine pork, 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce, and 1 tablespoon snipped cilantro. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine the remaining enchilada sauce and the diced green chili peppers. Spread about 1/2 cup of enchilada-green chili pepper mixture in the bottom of a 3-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside.
- Divide pork mixture and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese among tortillas, placing meat and cheese near the edge of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas. Place filled tortillas, seam sides down, in the prepared baking dish (place tortillas close together); top with the remaining enchilada-green chili pepper mixture. Cover with foil; bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, about 5 minutes more or until heated through and cheese is softened and starts to brown slightly.
Pork Seasoning
Pork Carnitas
4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
2 Tb fresh lime juice
2 C water
1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves
1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, including the spent orange halves and juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it simmers, cover pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours.
2. Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large foil-lined jelly roll pan. Remove and discard everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place pot over high heat on the stove and boil until thick and syrupy, about 20 minutes. You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.
3. While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces. Once the liquid has become a syrup, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.
4. Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.
Cafe Rio Pork, Lime Rice, and Cilantro Dressing
For the Pork:
1 pork loin (or a pack of 2 pork tenderloins)
2 cups pace medium salsa
2 cups brown sugar
Season the pork all over with salt and pepper. It takes quite a bit of salt! Put in your slow cooker for 6-8 hours on low. Shred and let sit for one more hour.
For the rice:
3 cups of rice
3 cups of water
1/2 onion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chilies
4 t garlic- minced
4 t chicken bouillon
1/2 t salt
1 T butter
4 T lime juice
Blend/Chop onion, cilantro, and chilies in a food processor. Then put all ingredients in with the rice and cook in a rice cooker.
For the dressing:
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (dry mix)
1 cup buttermilk
1/2-1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 cup mayo
2 tsp. lime juice
2 tomatillos (remove outer papery skin)
2 garlic cloves
Blend all ingredients in blender or food processor. Refrigerate.
My family calls this recipe “Sweet Pork.” You can serve this many ways. It makes excellent taco’s, burrito’s, and rice bowl’s. I like to make a salad with some lettuce, pico, guacamole, etc. I haven’t been in forever, but I think Cafe Rio puts a large tortilla in the bottom of a bowl, then rice, then meat, then lettuce, pico, guacamole, the dressing, and crunchy tortilla strips.
Pork Tenderloin
To bake tenderloin:
sprinkle with salt and pepper
wrap in aluminum foil
For a small (1 1/2 in. diameter) tenderloin bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350 degrees. Cool and slice.
For Sauce heat in a sauce pan:
1 cup pineapple juice
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Bring to a boil. In a small cup mix 2 Tbsp. cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. cold water. Stir into the hot sauce mixture to thicken.
Add sliced port to sauce and serve over hot cooked rice.
Cafe Rio Pork, Rice, and Salad Dressing
(I have two recipes for this and I usually use the other one. Find it here: Cafe Rio Pork)
3-5 lb Pork Loin or Pork Roast
1 ½ cans coke classic
1 c. sugar
7oz can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce –provides a lot of heat (or plain adobo sauce for sweeter sauce)
1 tsp dry ground mustard heaping
1 tsp heaping cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
Remove the chilies (throw chilies away) from adobo sauce add all ingredients except pork in a blender. Rinse can of adobo sauce with coke to get all the sauce out. Blend in blender until well mixed place pork in crock pot and pour sauce over it. Cook for 4-6 on high or 7-9 hours on low.
Carefully turn roast over halfway through. Cook in sauce until it is pull apart tender and shred. Put shredded meat back into sauce. Serve over rice, on a salad, or in a tortilla!
Yummy Rice
1 c. rice
2 c. water
3 cubes chicken boullion
½ tsp dried onion
¼ bunch cilantro
1 tbsp oil
1 fresh lime
Cook rice with all ingredients in pot or rice cooker. Squeeze fresh lime juice over rice and mix lightly before serving.
Creamy Cilantro Salad Dressing
1 envelope buttermilk ranch dressing
1 c. mayo
1 c. milk
½ bunch cilantro
2 tomatillos
½ serano pepper with seeds removed (adds heat)
Blend in blender, let sit to thicken. Dressing contines to get hotter when it is stored in the fridge.
Stuffed Grilled Pork Chops
4 double thick bone-in loin end pork chops
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard powder
2 cups cider vinegar, heated
1 pound ice cubes
1 1/2 cups cornbread, crumbled
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries, halved
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoons fresh sage, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
In a plastic container put the salt, sugar, peppercorns, and mustard powder. Add the hot vinegar and swirl to dissolve. Let mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes to develop flavor. Add ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice. Add chops and cover with brine. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove chops from container and rinse. Cut horizontal pockets in each pork chop for stuffing. Combine rest of ingredients, and put into piping bag that is not fitted with a tip. Pipe each chop full with cornbread mixture. Grill the chops on medium high heat for 6 minutes on each side. Turn each chop 45 degrees after 3 minutes to mark.
Jambalaya
2 Tbs. salt butter
4 c. chopped onion
2/3 c. chopped green pepper
½ c. chopped shallots (scallions)
1 Tbs. finely minced garlic
2 Tbs. finely minced fresh parsley
1 c. finely chopped lean baked ham
1 lb. lean pork cut into ½ inch cubes
6 Creole (Polish, French garlic) smoked sausages, sliced ½ inch thick
1 Tbs. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
½ tsp chili powder
2 whole bay leaves, crushed
½ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. cloves (I leave this out. It’s too overpowering).
3 cups beef broth
1 1.2 c. long grain white rice
¼ to ½ cup water if necessary
In a heavy 7 to 8-quart pot or kettle, melt the butter over low heat. Add the vegetables, parsley, ham, and pork and brown over low heat, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes.
Add the sausage and seasonings, mix thoroughly, and continue cooking over low heat, stirring frequently for 20 minutes.
Add the rice and raise the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes or until the rice is lightly browned, stirring and scraping the sides and bottom of the pot. Add the beef stock and mix gently.
Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 5 minutes, then cover the pot , lower the heat to low, and cook for 50 minutes, removing to cover to stir every 5 minutes or so.
If you notice the jambalaya getting too dry, add ¼ to ½ cup water after about 25 to 30 minutes. Uncover the pot during the last 10 minutes of cooking and raise the heat to medium to allow the rice to dry out.
(This recipe is exactly like my mom has written down. I cook it for way less than 50 minutes. Just keep an eye on the rice and stop cooking when done. For me it was closer to 30 min).
Crock Pot Pork Chops
Brown pork chops in skillet with a little oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper while browning. Place in crock pot. Sauté onions and mushrooms in skillet with oil until tender. Place in crock pot on top of pork chops. Pour 1 to 1 ½ cups water into crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours. Place on serving dish. To make sauce pour one can cream of mushroom soup into a sauce pan. Add enough water from crock pot to get desired thickness.