Shredded Pork Quesadillas

This is my second month taking part in the Secret Recipe Club.   I enjoyed it so much last month I definitely want to keep taking part, even though things are quite hectic at the moment and I’m not managing to blog as much as I’d like and am also way behind on reading other people’s blogs.   Anyway, this month I was paired with Melissa from Melissa’s Cuisine.   She has some great recipes and I couldn’t decide at first whether to try one of her steak or chicken marinades or to go with this.   In the end, as pulled pork is something I’ve been meaning to make for a long time, I decided that this should be the month to try it. Melissa used pork ribs, which I love, but I decided to get a small shoulder of pork and cook it in the slow cooker and then shred it.   This meant I had lots of pork leftover for more meals.   Always a good thing.    The barbecue sauce was really easy to make and the quesadillas were then really simple to put together.  The only thing I would change would be to make the barbecue sauce slightly less sweet, but this might just be a personal thing as I don’t normally like to mix sweet and savoury together.   Although I didn’t use the exact same proportions as Melissa, she did warn that it makes quite a sweet sauce and so next time I would use even less sugar – maybe just a teaspoon.   Apart from that, this was definitely a success and something that I will make again.   For the Melissa’s original recipe have a look here.

I am also linking this to Family Fresh Cooking.

Ingredients – serves 2

2 flour tortillas

Approx 300g shredded pork

Approx 80g grated cheese

Barbecue Sauce Ingredients

1 tbsp brown sugar

100ml ketchup

2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 red chilli, finely diced

How to make Shredded Pork Quesadillas and Barbecue Sauce

1. I put some pork shoulder in the slow cooker in the morning and in the evening it was ready.   I removed all the fat and used two forks to shred it.   You could also roast it in the oven if you prefer.

2. To make the barbecue sauce, add all the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan.   Bring to the boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes.   Mix the pork into the sauce and heat through.

3. Put a tortilla in the bottom of a frying pan.    Cover with the shredded pork then the cheese.  Put another tortilla on top.   Leave to cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes.

4. Turn the tortilla.    Slide it onto a plate.   Put another plate on top.    Flip it over quickly then slide it back into the pan.   Cook for another 5 minutes.

To see what other Secret Recipe Club members have made, click on the link below:

 

Slow Cooked Barbecue Ribs

This is my first month of taking part in the Secret Recipe Club. If you like the idea of being a secret agent then this is the perfect event to give you that feeling.  About a month ago I was sent my assignment: 365 Days of Baking.  This blog is written my Lynne, who manages to bake something every day.   Now that is impressive!   So even though she only began her blog this year there are over a hundred recipes on her site, so I didn’t have any trouble finding things I wanted to make.   I liked the fact that part the reason for her writing a blog was to have a place to keep recipes she’s been given by family and friends and one of the things I liked most about her site is that she rates all her recipes, with 1 rolling pin being the worst, and 4 rolling pins being the best.    Once I discovered this through a little secret investigation, I decided to focus on her best recipes – the ones with 4 rolling pins.

It wasn’t long before I came across this recipe for barbecue spare ribs.   It was a long time since I’d last made spare ribs, before I began my blog, and I’ve never posted a recipe for them, so I knew at that moment that what my blog was lacking was a killer spare rib recipe – and it seemed like I might have just found it.   Now, the last time I made spare ribs I made them in my slow cooker and they turned out absolutely gorgeously and the one slight issue Lynne mentioned with this recipe, was that the meat was not quite at the falling off the bone stage in some places.     As I’m going through a slow cooker phase at the moment, I decided to adapt the method but the ingredients are almost the same.

And the verdict:  They were lovely, the meat was tender, falling off the bone and full of flavour and the sauce was amazing.   According to my husband:  ‘This is the best new recipe you’ve made in a long time’.   Need I say more.   It looks like I’ll be making them again soon.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, don’t worry, just have a look at the original recipe on 365 Days of Baking.

Ingredients – Serves 2

500g ribs

1 tbsp light brown sugar

20ml  Worcester Sauce

30ml soy sauce

20ml cider vinegar

40ml ketchup

2 red chillies

1/2 tsp mustard

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Pinch black pepper

How to make Barbecue Ribs

1. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce.

2. Arrange the ribs in the bottom of the slowcooker.    Pour the sauce over the top.   Add a little extra water so the ribs are covered.    Cook for 9 hours.

3. Before serving, drain the liquid into a small saucepan and boil to reduce.   Serve the reduced sauce over the top of the ribs.

To see what everyone else has make, click on the link below: