Pulled Pork Quesadillas

Back in March, I ran across this recipe.

A Pulled Pork Quesadilla?

And with pickles inside?!?

I'd never heard of such a thing, 

or even thought about it,

but man it sounded good!!!

I was quite intrigued,

so I made a mental note to give it a try,

and not too long after I did just so!

Wow you guys - it was really good!

So good that I thought about it many times the next day,

and even made it for dinner for a second night in a row!!!

Not only are they really tasty,

but they're super easy to make too.

Let me show you how!!!

First things first - make your pulled pork.

I've used many different recipes over the years,

but this time I followed this recipe and loved it!

Cook your pork in the crock pot,

and then shred it using two forks.

Add your favorite BBQ sauce...

And mix it up with the pulled pork.

Now that the pork is done, it's time for quesadillas!!!!

The Goods:

BBQ Pulled Pork

Flour Tortillas

Cheddar Cheese

Pickles

Red Onion

BBQ Sauce

Get all your goods prepped:

Shred your cheese.

Dice your onion.

Chop your pickles.

Now the fun part - assembling the quesadilla!

I started with one tortilla

and a nice layer of cheese.

Then I added pulled pork,

threw on diced red onion, 

then lots of chopped pickles

and finally another layer of cheese!!!

Heat your grill pan over medium-high heat

and then spray it with oil cooking spray.

Carefully place your assembled quesadilla on the grill pan,

then top it with a second tortilla to complete your quesadilla.

Keep an eye on the quesadilla while it's cooking

and once it has nice grill marks, flip that baby over!

Continue cooking until the cheese is melted

and both sides have a nice color from the grill pan.

Let rest a minute and then slice for serving.

Now dig in and enjoy your yummy quesadilla!!!

I personally have only tried the pulled pork version,

but this could also be modified to use whatever meat you like.

My mouth is watering just thinking of the possibilities!

Pulled Pork Quesadillas

1 Pack Flour Tortillas

Pulled Pork

Cheddar Cheese, shredded

1 Red Onion, diced

Pickles, chopped

BBQ Sauce

1. Make your Pulled Pork.
2. Shred your cheese, dice your red onion and chop your pickles.
3. Assemble your quesadilla as follows: tortilla, cheese, pulled pork, onion, pickles, more cheese and finally a second tortilla.
4. Carefully place assembled quesadilla on preheated and sprayed grill pan.
5. Once cheese begins to melt and bottom tortilla has grill marks, flip the entire quesadilla over.
6. Continue to cook until cheese is melted and both sides have a nice color from the grill.
7. Remove from grill, let sit a minute or two and then slice to serve.

Homemade BBQ Sauce & Spice Rub

I recently made ribs for a couple girlfriends.
When planning, I went to this post where I made ribs with Elina.

While it looks good, it isn't entirely helpful.
Yes, it has some useful information,
but not measurements or anything for the rub and sauce.
I apologize. Really - I do.

Because I wasn't 100% happy with the other ribs post,
I decided I needed to share the sauce and rub recipe that I recently used.
I've made the sauce twice and don't think I'll ever made any other sauce again!!!
It's THAT good!

Now - let me share the delicious sauce and rub I recently made for ribs.

For the sauce, I used this recipe and made little changes to make it my own!

The Goods:
1 1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Tobasco sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 sprigs fresh oregano

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer 5 to 10 minutes.

That's IT!

Super easy and super tasty.

When making the sauce - it smelled so much like McDonald's BBQ Sauce.

AND it tasted a little like it too, but with a kick!

I don't know about you, but that's for sure a winner in my book!!!

Now that the sauce is made, let's talk about the rib rub.

I used this recipe (rub only, not sauce) as a starting point, 

and again made little changes to make it my own.

The Goods:

1/4 cup coarse sea salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cayenne peper

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix everything together and store in an airtight container until ready to use.

The above recipe will make enough for  between 2 and 3 racks of ribs.

Now go, go make yourself some delicious ribs!
I followed the cooking instructions from my previous rib post.
I'm sure the sauce and rub would be great on grilled or smoked ribs as well.

Elina and Robyn Make...RIBS!

If you follow my blog, I'm betting that you already know how much I love to cook and bake! I love the process, but I think I love the outcome of the tasty food even more. And recently, I've discovered that cooking and baking with one of your best friends is a whole lot of fun!!!

In the last year or so, I've made quite a few delicious things with my neighbor Elina, who also happens to be one of my best friends. I love cooking with her and I think we make a pretty good team! I've blogged about a few things we've made in the past, but after some thought I decided to start a new section called "Elina and Robyn Make...".

So without saying much more, I hope you enjoy reading about what we make and take a look at the first post of this awesome new section:

Elina and Robyn Make...RIBS!!!

While we were trying to decided exactly how we wanted the ribs to taste, we looked up many different recipes. We didn't use one specific recipe, or even two, but instead we used multiple recipes as inspiration to come up with our own homemade rib rub and homemade BBQ sauce!

The Goods:

2 Racks of Baby Back Ribs

Cayenne Pepper

White Pepper

Brown Sugar

Salt

Cumin

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Smoked Paprika

Chili Powder

Ground Nutmeg

Cut each rack or ribs in half.

Measure out the spices for the rub mixture.

Try some measurements similar to  this, or research a few like we did!

And combine them well. 

Generously rub the mixture...

o!n both side of the ribs

And wrap each half rack in foil. 

Line the wrapped ribs up on a cookie/baking sheet to catch any drippings. 

Put the ribs in the oven that has been preheated to 250 Degrees.

Cook them for 2 hours to start.

While the ribs are in the oven, it's time to start on the sauce!

The Sauce Goods:

Apple Cider Vinegar

Vegetable Oil

Cumin

Honey

Brown Sugar

Chili Powder

Worcestershire Sauce

Frank's Red Hot Sauce

Ketchup

Diced Onion

Minced Garlic

Mince the garlic and dice the onion.

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and let simmer for 30 minutes. 

Strain the onions and garlic from the sauce...

so it looks smooth and delicious!

After the ribs have cooked for2 hours,  it's time to add the sauce!

Unwrap the ribs from the foil...

Lay them out on a foil lined cookie/baking sheet...

And brush the sauce on both sides!

Return them to the oven and cook 30 more minutes.

Add sauce to both sides ONE MORE TIME and return to the oven.

After 30 more minutes in the oven, they should be falling off the bone and ready to devour!

Yup - READY for eating!!!

And serve with something equally as delicious!

We enjoyed our ribs with homemade french fries, grilled apricot/goat cheese salad and corn bread.

YUMMMM!