The Last of the Leftover Pulled Pork repurposed into a Potato Casserole

Sure, why not one last Great Adventure with my leftover pulled p

ork? I'm hungry, I have leftover pulled pork, potatoes and a jar of pasta sauce. With delivery fees, I could order a pizza and drop $30 bucks.

Nawh... I'm going to break out my mandolin and slice up five small russet potatoes.

Then use the last of my pulled pork from this old post.

Then, I'm going to layer the potatoes, leftover pulled pork and drizzle the jar of marinara sauce, throughout. While reaching into my fridge, I noticed I still had some cilantro about to reach its limit. I decided I would also dice that up and sprinkle it throughout.

Protip: Do not do this! My next thought was obviously a mistake, as I am writing this after the creation. I thought it would be a good idea to dump a large bag of frozen corn on top, net weight 14.4 Oz.

Since I'm embarking on another great adventure I'm not sure what temperature or for how long I should cook this beast of a casserole. I decided to give it the good old, 400 forever method. So I stuck it in the oven on 400 degrees and checked on it every 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes past, I realized the corn was a bad idea.

The sauce, even around the edges, had not begun to boil.

I stuck a knife into the center and felt raw potato slices.

After 40 minutes it was even more obvious the corn, on top, was a poor choice. Still the sauce had not begun to boil and the potatoes remained firm.

After 60 minutes, I believe, it appeared to be done.

But, something had to be done about the corn on top.

The corn was crispy, dry and lifeless.

Back to the fridge and I emerged with sliced pepper jack cheese. I tiled pepper jack cheese, similar to a roof, and set my pulled pork and potato casserole back into the oven. I had hope the cheese would melt into the dehydrated corn topping. Perhaps it'll also create a moisture barrier. The corn trapped underneath it, might rehydrate, a little, while the cheese melts and the casserole rests.

Was it a good casserole? YES

It had wonderful flavor, between the pork, corn, potatoes, cilantro, cheese and bonus seasonings.

But, was it worth preparing in this fashion? NO

So much effort and if I was to prepare these same items again I'd just heat them all up and put it on a plate. There was no awesome infusion or marriage of flavors. The corn, oh the corn, what a mistake that was.

However, on a positive end note, the pepper jack cheese DID SAVE the dehydrated corn. All the corn's innards were gone, but what remained was moist and corny... *shrug*

Yet another great adventure, but I'll consider this a FAIL to be never repeated.