Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I've made pulled pork before, and I've even made it in the crock-pot, but oh, I had never made this before...

It was so simple. I took some large pieces of pork shoulder, tossed them in the crock-pot and poured on some Coca-Cola. I switched the crock-pot on low, and let it cook for about eight hours. I shredded the meat, and seasoned it with a lot of barbecue sauce.

I buttered and fried some hamburger buns.

I made this Cilantro Jalapeño Coleslaw.

And assembled. It was truly heaven.

Tarragon Pork Tenderloin

Life of a food blogger: when you're really hungry, a photo of the leftovers will have to do. Also, this was very tasty. It's very rich, due to the cream and crème fraîche - feel free to use lighter versions if you'd like. (Even milk instead of the cream will work well, although this will make a runnier sauce.)

Tarragon Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4 (at least)

600 g pork tenderloin, in thin strips
200 g mushrooms, divided into smaller pieces
200 ml crème fraîche
200 ml cream
3 tbsp cognac
3 tbsp chili sauce (Heinz or similar - that means thick, and without much heat)
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt, pepper
butter for frying

Fry the meat in some butter. Let it color and then remove it from the pan. Brown the mushrooms and fry until they release their liquid. Add the meat back to the pan.

Whisk together cream, crème fraîche, cognac, chili sauce, tarragon and cayenne pepper, and add to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until your sauce looks good, and the meat is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice, and whatever fresh herbs you might have.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fläskfilé i dragonsås

Crock-Pot Carnitas

I finally tried the crock-pot for the first time today! And what better to try than... carnitas! Or at least, slow-cooked pork. I call it carnitas because that's how we ate it - we fried it in a skillet after the liquid was absorbed, and ate it with tortillas, red onions, and cilantro. (And I admit, a dollop of créme fraîche on mine.) I didn't season the pork a whole lot in the pot, thinking I'd season it more at the final stage instead, and that's what I ended up doing. I have most of it stashed in the freezer, and will definitely use up some for tacos, and some for pulled pork sandwiches with lots of barbecue sauce.

Because, let me tell you, this was so good. So, so good. Amazing really. My regular carnitas are good, too, but this was so much more tender. It truly fell apart at the touch of a spoon. I could hardly believe it. In fact, for the first hour or so, I was really sceptical. Nothing at all happened, so I put my slow cooker on high for half an hour or so, until I could at least feel it getting a little warm, and then back to low for about eight hours.


Titus adored this, too.

So, a recipe? Hardly need it. Here's what I did. I took a big piece of pork - about two kilos of shoulder - and seasoned it with salt, cumin and ancho chili. Placed it in the slowcooked, and added the juice of one lime and one orange. I also added about 100 ml of water, which in retrospect probably wasn't necessary at all.

And that was that. I can't believe it's this easy to cook this good. It took five minutes of prepping time, and then five more minutes before serving. Anyone, anyone can do this.

Pork tenderloin with mushrooms

Here's a quick and easy dish that's perfect if you happen to have some leftover uncooked meat. I had pork tenderloin, so that's what I used, but you could use beef instead if you'd prefer. You can serve it with anything - potatoes or rice would be easy choices, but I wouldn't mind a good pasta either.

As you can see, this was so tasty I had to photograph the leftovers. Sorry. What can I say, I was hungry!

Pork tenderloin with mushrooms
serves 3-4

300 g pork tenderloin, in small dice
300 g mushrooms, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tbsp dry sherry
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
1-2 tsp soy sauce
200 ml cream
Salt, pepper
Fresh oregano
oil for frying

Brown the meat in some oil. Add the mushrooms, onion and garlic, and fry until the meat is nearky cooked through.

Add the sherry and let it reduce for a minute or two on high heat. Add concentrated chicken stock, soy sauce and cream and cook for a few minutes,. Season with salt, pepper and fresh oregano.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fläskfilégryta med champinjoner