Cuban-Hawaiian Mashup Pork Sliders with Hatch Chile Pimento Cheese

Sometimes you just want every flavor at once, you know? Late August is so hot and steamy that I can’t get enough fresh, fruity tropical flavors… pineapple, I’m looking at you! But it’s also hatch chile season in the southwest and these smoky, delightful lil peppers are everywhere, and everyone in Texas looooves cooking with them.

I had a beautiful Smithfield Teriyaki Marinated Fresh Pork Tenderloin and I was craving a Cuban sandwich, so I figured, why not incorporate the teriyaki flavors and give it a slight Hawaiian flair by adding some sweet grilled pineapple into the mix? Then I also realized I had a bunch of the aforementioned hatch chiles to use, and thought about how much I love spicy and sweet together… and decided to give my sandwich a Texas twist by whipping up a swiss & hatch pimento cheese spread instead of your traditional slice of swiss cheese.

Then I realized that these were going to be HUGE flavor bombs and made them into little sliders instead of giant sandwiches, which was a great choice. (I also realized that making sliders meant I could use my very favorite soft Hawaiian slider rolls, and who doesn’t love that?) These Cuban-Hawaiian-Texan pork tenderloin sliders have so much delightful texture and flavor going on, little bite-size morsels are perfect. And while they might sound a little cray-cray, they don’t take all day-day (ha) to make. Even though they taste complex, they took me under a half hour from start to finish! Serve these alongside a cool, crunchy salad for a summertime dinner, or maybe as an app at your next cookout.

Cuban-Hawaiian Mashup Pork Sliders with Hatch Chile Pimento Cheese

Pork sliders:

1 Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork Tenderloin in Teriyaki
12 Hawaiian-style slider buns
12 slices of pineapple (bonus points for grilling – just throw it on for about 30 seconds each side)
12 pieces of thin-sliced ham
1 sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
Dijon mustard, to taste

Hatch chile pimento cheese:

1/2 cup hatch chiles, finely chopped
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons cream cheese
salt & pepper to taste

On these long and lazy summer days, nothing’s better than grilling your meat! So brush your grill with some vegetable oil, place the tenderloin on the grill, then cover and cook for about 15 minutes, turning every 2 minutes, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145°F. Once it’s ready, remove the pork from the grill and let it rest for about 5 minutes before thinly slicing it into slider-size chunks.

While your tenderloin is grilling, prep the rest of the slider supplies. Melt the butter over medium heat in a small skillet, then add the yellow onion slices and let them brown and caramelize while you put together the rest of the sandwich supplies. Make your pimento cheese by mixing all the listed ingredients together in a small bowl (doesn’t get any easier than that!).

Spread the top of the slider bun with a bit of dijon (I’ll leave the amount to you – some like a little, some like a lot) and layer a piece of ham on top as well. Smear a healthy spoonful of the pimento cheese on the each bottom bun and line with a pickle coin or two.

Once your pork is all sliced up, remove the onions from the skillet and layer them onto the slider bun bottoms as well, then top them with the ham-and-dijon top pieces. Now, you could be done here and it would be delicious, OR if you have a panini press, bonus points for taking the time to press each tasty lil’ slider. It only takes about 20 seconds on each side and you’ll have a more authentic Cuban press texture. If you don’t have the means, though, I guarantee these sliders will be just as scrumptious without that extra panini step!

Tip: If your slider buns came in a pull-apart pack and you’re crazy like me, instead of separating the buns ahead of time, you can make these as one big wall of sliders and cut them apart at the very end. Mmm… wall of sliders.

 

This sponsored post is part of Endless Simmer’s 2016 series as a Blogger Ambassador for Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork.