Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen. It sounded so different and I was intrigued. Dr. Pepper is one of the only sodas that I drink so I figured it had to be good, right? I also thought the homemade coleslaw on the sandwich just sounded different from our normal and really good.

The original recipe said to cook the pork in Dr. Pepper and then towards the end of the cooking you're supposed to drain the juices and add a little bbq sauce. At the point in time where I was supposed to add drain the juices and add the bbq sauce, I tried a bite. The flavor was so good that I just couldn't cover it up with bbq sauce. I still made the coleslaw but I served it separate instead of on the sandwich. I loved this meal. The pork had really great flavor. It had a sweetness from the Dr. Pepper, a little tang from the vinegar, and a kick with the cayenne pepper. Delicious!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds Pork Tenderloin
• 1/4 whole Large Onion, Chopped
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dry Ground Mustard
• 2 teaspoons Ground Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 24 ounces, fluid Dr. Pepper (2 Cans)
• Hoagie Rolls, Split
• Butter, For Toasting

Directions

1. Place pork in a slow cooker. Add salt, pepper, onion, garlic, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and Dr. Pepper. Cook on low for 4 hours.
2. Check the pork for tenderness. Shred with the tines of 2 forks. Continue cooking, covered, for 2 hours.
3. Preheat broiler on low. Spread butter across split hoagie rolls. Broil for 3-4 minutes, or until desired toast level is reached. Make sandwiches and serve. (The sandwiches are even better when you add some of the juice to it!)

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Creamy Pork and Mushrooms

My friend made a crockpot meal last week with pork and cream of mushroom soup, something my mom made all growing up. It was so yummy and I've been craving it ever since. My only thing was that I really wanted to cook from scratch and not use a cream of mushroom soup. My mom is in town visiting and we looked up some recipes online and then came up with something of our own. I found this recipe that used sour cream, which I already had that on hand, and we just modified it to our liking. I really wanted a shredded pork but I rarely cook pork so I didn't know what cut to use. We went with Boston Butt and it worked well. This was delicious!!! I will definitely be making it again. It almost tasted like a pork stroganoff.

One thing I'll note is that there was a lot of fat that wouldn't blend into the sauce. We drained it off a little bit. My mom actually took paper towels to soak up the grease and that seemed to work well.


Ingredients

• 3(ish) pound Boston Butt Pork Roast
• Garlic Powder, Paprika, Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 8 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 8 oz sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons flour

Directions

1. Place onions and mushrooms in the bottom of a crock pot. Add Chicken Broth.
2. Season pork with garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Place on top of onions and mushrooms fat side up. Cook on low 9 1/2 hours.
3. After 9 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 170 degrees. Remove the pork from the crock pot into an oven safe dish. Place in oven to keep warm.
4. Mix sour cream and flour. Add to the juices in the crock pot. Cook on high for another 15-30 minutes on high until it's thickened and creamy. Serve over egg noodles and enjoy!

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Bratwurst Burgers

Matt and I are obsessed with the Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. One episode featured a brat burger from Town Talk Diner that looked amazing! Since we didn't see ourselves traveling to MN anytime soon to try it, we figured we might as well make our own. The original recipe is on Food Network's site. The recipe below is with our changes.

We didn't make our own brats because I don't have a grinder. Instead, we bought uncooked brats, took off the casing and formed our own burgers. Because they were already made into brats, we also didn't add the seasoning the recipe called for. The only other change to the recipe was that I didn't have juniper berries so I omitted them. This burger was AMAZING!!! I don't normally like sauerkraut but it was really good and meshed perfectly with the other ingredients. Matt said he'd add more chili paste next time but I thought it was perfect as is. We will definitely be making this again. It's a great burger to have for company.

Ingredients

Brat Burger:

• 1 package uncooked bratwursts - casing removed
• salt to taste

Spicy Kraut:

• 1 cup store-bought sauerkraut
• 1 tablespoon diced bacon
• 1/4 cup onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon garlic-chili paste

Garnish:

• 8 slices gruyere cheese
• 8 slices bacon, cooked
• Large hamburger buns, toasted

Directions

1. To make the burgers: Remove casing from the brats and form patties.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. To make the spicy kraut: Soak the store-bought kraut in water for 20 minutes, drain excess water. Render the bacon; add the onion and saute until translucent. Add white wine and cook off the alcohol. Add sauerkraut and spices and enough water to cover. Simmer for 1 hour. Cool. Mix in garlic-chili paste.
3. To assemble: Cook burger patties until medium-well. Melt 2 slices of cheeses on top of each patty. Place on toasted bun and top with spicy kraut.