Air Fryer Pork Tenderloin

I just recently purchased an air fryer! So far, I’m loving it. I’m going to probably be expermenting with it often, so I will definately be sharing any tips and recipes with you.

This first one is going to be for a pork tenderloin. It came out PHENOMNAL. I loved the extra little char on the pork. The flavor was delicious and it cooked rather quickly. Check out the recipe below. I also added the air fryer oven that I have on my Amazon items I use at the top of this page.

Air Fryer Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin, 2-3lbs
1/2 T olive oil
2 t ranch seasoning
2 t garlic & herb seasoning
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Directions: Preheat your air fryer at 400° for 4 minutes. (Note: That’s my air fryer preheat, 400° for 4 minutes you can preheat however long your specific air fryer recommends) Next rub the pork with olive oil and season with the seasoning. Rub in to make sure pork is fully coated. You don’t want a lot of extra oil on the pork. Just enough to get the nice char.

Add to your air fryer rack or basket. Cook at 400 for 18-20 minutes. Flip half way through. Remove from oven and let rest. I like my pork completely cooked, meaning very little if no pink at all. You can reduce or add time depending on your preferred doneness. I recommend you use a instant read thermometer to check temperature.

Note: Every air fryer is different. You may have to adjust the recipe to your specific type and model of air fryer. The best thing to do is use an instant read thermometer to check your pork. My air fryer is listed in Items I use on top of this page as well as the garlic & herb seasoning

Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Happy October everyone!  The summer has come to an end and it’s finally my favorite season, fall.  I love the crisp in the air, the sleeping with the windows opened and the warm and cozy comfort dishes.

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking just haven’t gotten the time to get the recipes down and posted. Life got in the way a little. I’ve been dealing with my dog, Coco who has some eye issues so that’s been the most important thing lately.  It’s been a long last several weeks.  In case you didn’t know I’m a huge dog lover.  I have 2, both rescues.  Peanut and Coco.  I can’t say it enough, RESCUE! Please!  🙂

Ok, I got side tracked, back to the food!  I have previously shared my pulled pork recipe.  Take a look at that blog post to get my recipe.  This is just an easy dish that is perfect for leftovers.   This would also be a cool item for a potluck.  All you need is to add the pulled pork (No sauce) to a crockpot, put your toppings in a bowl and everyone could make their own stuffed potatoes. I’ve only ever used sweet potatoes.  It’s perfect with the tanginess of the pulled pork, but I love a good baked potato so I’m sure this would come out just as good! How cool would a stuffed potatoes bar be, am I right folks?

Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
8 oz cooked pulled pork
2 large sweet potatoes, cooked
– Favorite BBQ Sauce, to taste
1 jalapeño, sliced
1/2 small onion, diced

Assembling directions: Cut sweet potato in half, don’t go all the way to the ends, (this will help keep the goodness inside) Add in pulled pork, top the meat with BBQ sauce, sliced jalapeños and diced onion and serve.

Note: There is no end to the other toppings you could do. When I make my pulled pork sandwiches I top the pork with a creamy coleslaw (see pulled pork recipe for my coleslaw) That would be delish on top of this stuffed sweet potatoes.

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Bacon Wrapped Dijon Pork Tenderloin

You have to make this awesome bacon wrapped Dijon pork tenderloin.  I like to experiment a lot with pork tenderloin.  They are so easy to make and you can do so many different things.  You can stuff it, wrap it, grill it, roast it and the list goes on and on.

I decided to wrap it with bacon for this recipe.  Bacon is one of the best foods around if you ask me.  I know it’s not healthy but it is delicious.  Everything in moderation right?  Give this dish a try.  It’s delicious.  I can’t wait to make again.  Also, if you’d rather omit the bacon, feel free just add the glaze on the pork and bake in the oven, no need to brown in the sauté pan. It still comes out with an amazing flavor.

Bacon Wrapped Dijon Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin, 1-3lbs
8-10 bacon slices (good quality)

Glaze:
2 ½ T light brown sugar
2 T Dijon mustard
½ T soy sauce, low sodium
½ T olive oil
2 t onion powder
2 t garlic powder
2 t paprika
2 t chili powder
Sprinkle: salt and pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°.  In a bowl whisk together all ingredients for the glaze.  Set aside.  Open tenderloin and pat dry with paper towel.  Lay out bacon on large surface close together.  Add the tenderloin on top of bacon over to one side.  Brush the glaze all over the pork.  Tightly roll the tenderloin making sure the bacon is staying in place.  Feel free to use toothpicks to keep the bacon on the pork.

Heat a large sauté pan on high heat.  Once the pan is hot, brown the pork tenderloin on all sides 4-5 minutes.  This will help cook the bacon slightly prior to putting in the oven.  Add the meat to a baking dish and cook in the oven 35-45 minutes depending on the size of the pork tenderloin.  Cook till internal temperature is 160°-165°.  Remove from the oven and tent with foil and let rest 7-10 minutes.

Carefully cut the pork and serve with your favorite sides.  Then enjoy!!

 

 

Fall of the Bone Ribs (Oven Baked)

This is my favorite rib recipe. I make it so often I’ve pretty much mastered it at this point. I started making these ribs a few years back. When I bought the slabs of baby back ribs I really had every intention of grilling them that quickly change when my grill stopped working. I had to improvise. I made the ribs in the oven low and slow for several hours. They came out so good that I’ve done it that way every single time.

This recipe isn’t your traditional rib flavors. I don’t use any bbq sauce in this recipe. The sauce I use is a different flavor than the traditional bbq sauce for ribs.

I like making these ribs in the oven because the meat literally falls off the bones. They are easy to eat and not messy at all. Don’t worry they are still ribs! 🙂 They are tender and delicious. Give them a try!! Feel free to toss on the grill after you bake them to get a char.

Fall off the Bone Ribs (Oven Baked)

Ingredients:
1 slab baby back ribs

Dry Rub:
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1/2 T garlic powder
1/2 T onion powder
1/2 T paprika
1/2 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin

Sauce:
1/2 cup oil
1 T honey
2 T low sodium soy sauce
2 T Dijon mustard (Smooth, not grainy)
4 Garlic Cloves, grated or minced
3T Rib drippings

Directions: Preheat oven 300°. Prepare the ribs by removing the silver skin on the back of the ribs. Run your knife down one of the bones and grab the white skin and pull completely off. Pat dry the ribs with a paper towel and add to a roasting dish. (I always use disposable aluminum pans.)

In a bowl mix all the spices for the rub together. Add spices liberally all over the top of the ribs. Cover tight with foil. Bake in oven for 2 hours and then check the ribs and baste with the pan drippings. Put back in the oven for another 1 hours. Reserve 3 T of pan drippings for later.

In a bowl mix together all items for the sauce. Brush the sauce over the ribs and put back in oven uncovered for anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven, add foil and let rest! Then serve with your choice of sides. The meat will literally fall off these bones. I hope you enjoy it.

Notes: You can put on grill to get the char last few minutes if you wish. I prefer not to as it sometimes can dry out the meat. Also, if you’d like to use just regular bbq sauce for this recipe just omit the sauce in this recipe and sauce the ribs with your choice of bbq sauce.

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Pulled Pork with Creamy Coleslaw

I bought a pork butt and was originally going to make pork carnitas. I had all the ingredients and at the last minute decided to switch it up to pulled pork. It was my first time making the pulled pork in my pressure cooker and with a pork butt. I’ve done a few times with a pork loin and in the crockpot but never this way.

You can definitely put this in a crockpot for low 8-10 hours or you can make low and slow in the oven. If you do in the oven it will probably take 8-10 hours as well on like 300°-325°. I used the pressure cooker because it took 90 minutes. It came out tender and falling apart and very easy to shred.

I got a pressure cooker a few years ago for Christmas and I love it. I love being able to cook foods so much faster and they come out much juicer than being in the crockpot. I just recently bought an instapot. I haven’t taken out of the box just yet because the next few weeks are super busy I want to be able to use it properly. I can’t wait though. Stay tuned for more information on that.

Now, back to the pulled pork. It came out delicious I can safety say I’m excited to eat these leftovers! When I think of pulled pork a lot of times I think of an excess amount of BBQ sauce. I honestly have very little BBQ sauce in this recipe. I think a lot of time the BBQ sauce drowns out the real flavor of the meat. So, this is what I did. It’s probably not traditional but it’s my take on pulled pork with just a simple coleslaw.

Pulled Pork with Creamy Coleslaw

Ingredients:
4-5lb pork shoulder/pork butt
8-10 large buns
BBQ sauce for topping (optional)

Sauce:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup apple sider vinegar
¼ cup Worcestershire
2 T honey or brown sugar
3 T oil
3 T ketchup
3 T bbq sauce
½ T onion powder
½ T garlic powder
½ T cumin
½ T paprika
½ T chili powder
2 T salt
2 T pepper
3 C water

Rub:
1 ½ T onion powder
1 ½ T garlic powder
1 ½ T chili powder
1 ½ T cumin
1 ½ T paprika
2 t salt
2 t pepper

Simple Creamy Coleslaw

Ingredients:
14 oz bag of coleslaw mix
¾ cup light mayo
¾ cup light sour cream
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 small onion, diced
2 t onion powder
2 t garlic powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions: In a bowl mix together all ingredients for the sauce minus the water. Mix well to a smooth consistence and set aside. Cut the pork in 2 pieces. In a bowl mix together all ingredients for the rub. Rub mixture on all sides of the meat pieces; make sure to cover the meat well. Heat pressure cooker on high heat (Or a sauté pan if your oven roasting or using the crockpot.) Add in 1 T of oil and brown 1 chunk of meat at time, brown on all sides. Remove from the pan. Use 1 T of oil and do the same thing with the second chunk of meat.

Add both pieces of meat back to the pressure cooker and add in 3 cups of water and pour the sauce mixture over the meat. Cover the pressure cooker and bring up to pressure and cook on medium high heat for 90 minutes. Let pressure release naturally. If you are roasting in the oven, add the meat to a roasting pan and only add 1 cup of water and then pour the sauce over the meat and cook for 8-10 hours on 300°. Note, you can cook it less but it won’t be falling apart and super easy to shred. For the crockpot, add meat to crockpot and add in 2 cups of water and pour sauce over the meat and cook on low 8-10. Cook until the meat falls apart.

While meat is cooking make the coleslaw. To a medium bowl add the coleslaw mix and the onion. In a smaller bowl mix together the sour cream, mayo, apple cider vinegar and the garlic and onion powder. Add that mixture to coleslaw and mix well till fully coated. Season the coleslaw with salt and pepper to taste and add to the refrigerator until ready to use. Mix well before serving.

Once meat is cooked, (In whichever method you choose) Add to a large bowl and shred the meat completely. Spoon some of the juices from the pan into the bowl and mix well. To serve, add meat to bun and drizzle with some reserved juices and top with a dollop of bbq sauce (Optional: I didn’t do this as the meat flavor was enough for me and didn’t want to change it.) Either eat with coleslaw on the bun or on the side. The choice is yours! 🙂

Note: Double the coleslaw recipe if you’re going to make for a crowd or eat all within a few days. I only made one recipe as I was only eating half now and freezing the rest. Optional: Add the leftover juices to a container or a bowl and let side until the fat starts to separate from the juices. Once that happens, remove the fat that’s collected on the top and add the liquid to the meat mixture and mix well. This will keep the meat nice and juicy especially for leftovers or if you’re freezing any of the meat.

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Cooked!

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Shredded!

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Simple Coleslaw!