Barbeque Pork Tenderloin Wraps

May 1, 2013 by 3 Comments

Years and years ago my family would go to an annual wine festival in Ohio. I was a little too young to sample the wine, but there were other fun festival type things to keep my occupied. And there was the food. Not your typical FRY EVERYTHING festival food, but good food!

One of the wine festival foods that really stuck with my family were the pork tenderloin wraps. Sweet goodness these are filling and fresh. Juicy tender pork with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheddar cheese, barbeque sauce, and ranch dressing, all wrapped in a warm fresh tortilla. Yes, you read that right, barbeque sauce AND ranch dressing. Don’t be scared. It sounds weird, but it works.

My family loved these wraps so much that they became a regular at summertime family gatherings. In fact, these wraps were sort of a pork game changer for me. At one point in my life I didn’t think I liked pork. Then we started having these regularly and I couldn’t wait for my mom to say we were going to my aunt’s house for pork tenderloin wraps. I still love them and I hope you will too!

P.S. These tortillas were homemade, too! Recipe coming soon!

 

Barbeque Pork Tenderloin Wraps

Ingredients
1 lb pork tenderloin, dry rubbed, cooked, sliced on the diagonal (see recipe below)
Chopped lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Diced onions
Shredded cheddar cheese
Barbeque sauce
Ranch dressing
Flour tortillas, warmed

Directions
Fill tortillas with desired fixings. Top with BBQ sauce and ranch dressing. Enjoy!

Barbeque Pork Tenderloin Rub

Ingredients
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
dash cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dry onion flakes

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine all ingredients in a small dish. Rub generously over pork tenderloin and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Place tenderloin on lightly greased baking sheet. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 145 degrees. Cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing on a diagonal. Alternatively, you could grill the pork tenderloin.

Here are a few of my other favorite pork recipes!

Island Pork Tenderloin
Garlic and Herb Crusted Pork Loin
Shanghai Stir-Fried Pork and Cabbage
Coffee Chipotle Pulled Pork

Filed Under: Easy Weeknight Dinner, Grill, Pork, Sandwich Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Buffalo Chicken Sliders

May 17, 2012 by 2 Comments

As I said earlier this week, I have always been a huge fan of Spicy Buffalo Sauce. So when the craving hit, I knew I would need to act on it. The first step was sauce, which turned out be a great success. The second step was to decide what to do with the sauce one I made it (other than dipping random vegetables and an occasional finger in it).

As much as I love Buffalo sauce, I am not a huge fan of eating meat off of bones. Every once in a while I’ll get a craving for traditional wings, but usually I like to stick with the boneless variety. Keeping that in mind I tossed around a few ideas and finally decided that what I really wanted was Buffalo chicken sandwiches. More specifically, crispy coated chicken, with a balance between spicy sauce and cool creamy ranch, a few blue cheese crumbles, all on top of a soft and somewhat sweet bun. I don’t think I can even describe to you how much this meal hit the spot.

 

Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally then cut again into chunks *
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
heaping 1/4 tsp onion powder
heaping 1/4 tsp garlic powder
heaping 1/4 tsp paprika
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil, divided, plus more if needed (alternatively you can reduce the oild to 1 Tbsp and oven bake the chicken)
Slider buns
Buffalo sauce
Ranch dressing
Blue Cheese crumbles
Thinly sliced red onion

*I was going for sliders so I cut mine into about 2.5×2.5 inch pieces, about 5 from each breast. The key is to make sure each “chunk” is about the size of your slider rolls and no more than 1/2 inch thick.
 
Directions
In a shallow bowl, mix together the panko, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoon canola oil. Place the egg in separate bowl.

Coat the chicken by dipping into the egg first, then the panko mixture.

To cook by pan frying, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in batches, so as not to over crowd the pan, until all of the chicken is cooked through, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Add additional tablespoon of oil in between batches and as needed if the pan becomes dry.

To cook by oven baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by placing a wire (cooling) rack over the tray and lightly spraying with non-stick spray.. Place the coated chicken on the wire rack and bake for about 10 minutes, or until a piece of chicken cut in half is no longer pink inside, rotating pan halfway through.

Serve on top of slider buns with Buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, blue cheese crumbles, and thinly sliced onions. Goes well with oven fries and celery sticks.

Breading/Coating recipe slightly adapted from the recipe I use for fish sticks, originally from Elly Says Opa.

Filed Under: Chicken, Dinner, Sandwich Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Sloppy Joes

May 3, 2012 by 5 Comments
 

I have a confession to make. I’m a little intimidated by my new kitchen and supermarket. Baking has been going just fine, but my creativity in the dinner department has been somewhat lacking. Partially because my new kitchen isn’t as well stocked as I’m used to (though time will hopefully take care of that) and partially because going to the supermarket makes me a little nervous. It’s set up differently than I’m used, I can’t read the packages or labels, and I’m just generally being a big chicken about it.

One thing that makes me feel like I’m regaining my sense of control in the kitchen is to go back to somewhat classic meals. When Jesse and I were newlyweds, something that we had far more often than I care to admit was sloppy joes. Of course in the very early days it was a can of Manwich. Now that I’ve become more aware of the foods that I’m eating and have tried to make more and more things the homemade way, it was time to revisit that classic and give it a new homemade twist.

This Sloppy Joe recipe was just what I needed. I just slightly adapted it from the Pioneer Woman, using what I had on hand and slightly upping the veggie count. The result was a hearty, filling, warm-belly feeling, kind of dinner that was Jesse approved. It went perfectly with the Brioche Buns I made earlier in the day (only in a non-whole wheat version) and I went with Mac and Cheese for the side.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients
1 Tbsp Butter
1-1/2 lbs Ground Beef
1/2 medium Onion, Diced
1 Green Bell Pepper, Diced 
1/2 cup Carrot, Grated
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 cup Ketchup 
3/4 cup Water
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
3/4 tsp Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp Paprika
Pinch Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
Worcestershire Sauce, to taste (optional)
Dash of Tabasco Sauce (optional)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Brioche Buns (Hamburger Buns)



Directions
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted, add the ground beef and cook until brown. Drain excess fat and return to the pan. 


Add the onion, green pepper, carrot, and garlic, cook until the vegetables start get tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the dry seasonings and ketchup. Stir to coat the ground beef and vegetables. Stir in the water and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire and Tabasco, if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. 


Serve hot on a bun (toasted if you like!)


Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Filed Under: Dinner, Easy Weeknight Dinner, Sandwich Tagged With: , , , ,