Ideas needed: what to do with pressure cooker pork shoulder

LissaC

LissaC

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Hi everyone, I cooked a piece of pork shoulder on the pressure cooker, but I'm not happy with the taste. I can't point the finger on what went wrong but it tastes kinda bland. The sauce had white wine, crushed tomatoes, onions and garlic and was seasoned with thyme and bay leaves, and it definitely tastes and looks bland.

I want to give a new life to this roasted pork but I'm not sure what to do. I'm very picky with food so this will definitely be a challenge. Anything with soy sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup or mustard is not an option because I don't like sauces. I've been thinking of doing a pork pie but I can't find a recipe that doesn't have puff pastry (not a fan) or hand raised dough (I never tried, but the dough seems very thick and I'm not sure if I'll like that). I've also thought of grounding the meat on the food processor and using it for pizza but I'm not sure how the texture of the meat will turn out.

Any ideas?
 
LissaC said:
Hi everyone, I cooked a piece of pork shoulder on the pressure cooker, but I'm not happy with the taste. I can't point the finger on what went wrong but it tastes kinda bland. The sauce had white wine, crushed tomatoes, onions and garlic and was seasoned with thyme and bay leaves, and it definitely tastes and looks bland.

I want to give a new life to this roasted pork but I'm not sure what to do. I'm very picky with food so this will definitely be a challenge. Anything with soy sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup or mustard is not an option because I don't like sauces. I've been thinking of doing a pork pie but I can't find a recipe that doesn't have puff pastry (not a fan) or hand raised dough (I never tried, but the dough seems very thick and I'm not sure if I'll like that). I've also thought of grounding the meat on the food processor and using it for pizza but I'm not sure how the texture of the meat will turn out.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Well, I'm a big fan of meat pies, and you don't have to use puff pastry or go to the trouble of hand-raised...just buy a package of supermarket refrigerated pie dough (assuming you have that there). That's my usual route when I want a quick meat pie.

I'd suggest maybe trying a spin on a tourtiere - French-Canadian meat pie, with warm spices like clove, so it does taste kind of Christmassy to me (that's when I make it), but really, it tastes a bit North African as well.

Or maybe do an easy pizza dough and try that, with as little sauce as you like, bump up the flavor with some seasoning of your choice and melty cheese.

Chop it fine and use it in pasta, maybe. That might work.
 
You took away most of what I wanted to suggest when you took sauces out of the equation. I was going to suggest shredding the pork and either:

1) mixing in barbecue sauce (or similar) and making pulled pork sandwiches, or
2) placing in a bun with kimchi, cilantro (coriander leaves), and spicy mayo to make a banh mi

(note how I decided to say it anyway, since I hope you will consider it)

Failing that, you could:

1) cut it up and make a stir-fry
2) cut it up and roll it in a tortilla to make a burrito
3) slice it and make sandwiches
 
You could simply make a savoury pie without using puff pastry or anything else to knead. The concept is a bit like that of a meatloaf pie, so mince the meat and mix in eggs, parmesan (or whatever cheese you like/have at hand), parsley or other herbs and add those you have already cooked. Line a cake tin with baking paper, make a layer of minced meat, then add cheese and/or ham, another layer of meat, then bake for about 30 minutes at 180 c.

Or chop it up and make a pasta sauce - to use it even for baked pasta.
 
You can make your pie using mashed potatoes as the topping. I'd probably "pull" some of the pork and reinforce your base flavors in a saute pan for the filling. Maybe add some chopped up chorizo, using the rendered fat to do the veges and add some green olives and/or capers taking it a little bit Spanish.
 
Thank you all once again for the ideas 🤩

Some are great suggestions but I am really very picky with food. I don't like cheese, or mashed potatoes, and just the smell of ketchup makes me want to throw up!

I think I will manually shred the meat, and try to cook the sauce a bit more to correct the seasoning, and make a shortcrust pastry to go it. I never made a meat pie (shame) and I'm always curious to try something new so this is an exciting prospect.
 
Pork shoulder, if cooked whole, is hard to penetrate with flavors. The flavors don't make it to the center of the roast.

At this point, I agree that you should chop or pull the pork, and mix that with some kind of sauce. If you still have your cooking liquid, you can de-fat it (put it in the fridge and remove the solidified fat), and use it as a base for your sauce.

CD
 
So I started by cooking the meat with the sauce a good 30 minutes under very low heat, to make the meat more tender, and I also added a bit of tomato paste to the sauce. I made a pie with shortcrust dough, shredded the meat for the stuffing, and baked it in the oven. This really made it better. Here's the final product.
171541622_535028914130424_6688065423752986001_n.jpg

170780238_354301365987788_2333350527531362566_n.jpg
 
LissaC said:
So I started by cooking the meat with the sauce a good 30 minutes under very low heat, to make the meat more tender, and I also added a bit of tomato paste to the sauce. I made a pie with shortcrust dough, shredded the meat for the stuffing, and baked it in the oven. This really made it better. Here's the final product.View attachment 60833
View attachment 60834
Click to expand...

It looks very good. A proper pie!
 
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