Pulled Pork Turn-overs

Here we go with another left-over recipe! If you've ever made pulled pork before, you know that even the smallest roast will make three or four family sized meals. What do to with all of those left-overs? Here's one idea: Loaded Sweet Potato Fries. This particular night, I happened to have some puff pastry in the freezer, hence pulled pork turn-overs were born!

Here's a quick rundown on how to make pulled pork: put a pork shoulder in the slow cooker, top it with an entire bottle of your favorite sauce (barbecue sauce, steak or pork marinade, etc.), cook it on low for 8 hours, remove the bones and shred the meat. It's that easy!

If you've been a reader of my blog for a while, you'll know that I love recipes that you can customize. Everyone's family's preferences are different and it's nice to be able to make a recipe your own that everyone can agree with. That's why I have left the instructions intentionally open as far as the type of sauce or cheese that you can use.

Pulled Pork Turn-overs
Makes: 4 turn-overs

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 1/2 cups pulled pork
1/2 cup sauce (barbecue, sweet chili, buffalo, etc.)
1 cup shredded cheese (monterey jack, cheddar, pepper jack, etc.)

• On a floured surface, roll out the puff pastry so that it's about 1/8" thick.
• With a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the puff pastry evenly into 4 squares.
• Pile 1/4 of the pork onto one half of the puff pastry, top with 2 tbsp of sauce, then top with 1/4 cup of cheese.
• Brush two adjacent edges of the puff pastry with water.
• Fold over the puff pastry in half corner to corner so that it forms a triangle. Be careful to make sure that all of the ingredients stay inside and you have a tight seal. You don't want anything leaking out.
• Repeat with the remaining puff pastry and fillings.
• Transfer the turn-overs to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With a sharp knife, pierce two lines into the puff pastry so that the steam can escape.

• Bake at 400° F for 15 minutes.
• Allow to cool at least 5 minutes. The filling will be hot!

Loaded Sweet Potato Fries

I absolutely love sweet potato fries. I don't think there's anything better than a plate of sweet potato fries drizzled with some melted honey butter. Mmmmmm... Now, I know that sweet potatoes are really good for you and they have a lot of great vitamins and minerals. But, as the name suggests, this recipe is not meant to be health food haha! Don't say I didn't warn you! I had some left-over pulled pork so I loaded up my sweet potato fries with some of the left-overs. It was a match made in heaven!

Loaded Sweet Potato Fries
Makes: 4 servings

4 servings of sweet potato fries (that's 336g for those of you who use a food scale)
2 tsp honey
1 cup pulled pork
1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

• Cook the sweet potato fries by either baking them or deep frying them. I prefer deep frying; it makes them come out lighter and fluffier.
• Once the fries are cooked, pile them up on an oven safe plate. Then drizzle them with the honey.
• If you're using fresh pulled pork, sprinkle it over the fries. If you're using left-overs, reheat it first, then sprinkle it on the fries.
• Top the pulled pork with the shredded cheese. Place the fries under a broiler on high for about 2 minutes until the cheese is melted.
• Dive in!

Pulled Pork

If you've never made pulled pork before, it's truly the easiest thing you can possibly make. Just get a medium sized pork shoulder (sometimes it's called a Boston Butt roast), about 6 - 8 lbs, dump a whole bottle of sauce over it, then cook it in a slow cooker on low for eight hours. It's most commonly made with barbecue sauce, but you could use any kind of sauce you want. You could even make your own. For this particular one, I used Lowry's chop and steak marinade. It was really good! Once the pork is cooked, remove the bones with some tongs. Then, using the same tongs, rip apart the roast and kind of stir it at the same time so that it's eventually shredded. You could also do this with a pair of forks if you like it finely shredded (like us!).