Two weeks ago, I told the Big Man that I was making bbq pulled pork over the weekend. It’s a dish that I know is one of his favorites. Unfortunately for him, I also had planned for about ten other things to be made that weekend, and as it was I got caught up in blogging and testing and cooking a bunch of other stuff that took ten jillion years longer than I anticipated, and I never got around to the pork.
I should have learned by now not to do the old bait and tease with him when it comes to offhandedly mentioning I was planning on making one of his favorites in the near future, but I am a heartless bitch; on Monday, as I lay in pain on the couch after a particularly rowdy Football Sunday the night before, he ambled into the kitchen and began rooting around in the back of the fridge. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he asked indignantly,
“I thought you were making bbq pulled pork this weekend?”
“I wasn’t able to get around it,” I said. He didn’t answer me, but instead began to tuck into some leftover recipe-test chicken salad, and when I asked him if he was ok, he sullenly replied, “yeah,” while sighing heavily into his sandwich.
This past weekend, with my cooking schedule a little clearer, I again told him I would be making bbq pulled pork sometime over the weekend. He looked at me suspiciously.
“Are you really making pork?” he asked. “Or are you just saying you’re making pork, like you did last week, and then I’m left to starve to death instead?” (We’re a fan of the dramatics in this house.)
Not to brag or anything, but other than slow-roasting pork shoulders and disappointing my husband, I’m really good at bbq sauce. (ok, #humblebrag) Since pulled pork is ridiculously easy, as in don’t-let-any-one-know-how-easy (or they won’t think you a kitchen genius, the shame!), this bbq sauce pretty much asserts rockstar status. I love that American bbq sauce is so over-the-top when it comes to the sheer amount of ingredients; this one, with its list a mile long, is no different.
Along with a quick-pickled slaw topping for crunch, the pork tossed in the grandstanding bbq sauce and a few soft burger buns later, Sunday afternoon saw us finally enjoying long awaited pulled pork sandwiches before watching that nail-biter of a game between the Ravens and Patriots. Let the record now show I have redeemed that status of Best Spouse Ever (till next weekend, anyway).
Bbq Pulled Pork Recipe
Ingredients
Salt & Sugar Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder
- 1.5 pounds pork butt or shoulder, lightly trimmed
- 1 tablespoon coarse ground sea salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Tangy Apple Slaw
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup grated carrot, grated on a box grater at the medium hole
- 1 cup thinly sliced radish
- 1 medium sized apple, cored with the skin on, thinly sliced (about one cup)
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoons Apple cide vinegar
BBQ Sauce
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon coarse ground sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
- 1 cup ketchup
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup agave syrup
- ½ cup hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup sweet whole-grain mustard
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
Instructions
Salt & Sugar Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder
- Preheat an oven to 330*F. Take the pork out of the fridge and let it sit for about ten or fifteen minutes. You want it still cold but not chilled. Combine the salt and sugar in a small bowl and mix together with a fork. Rub the salt and sugar mixture all over the pork, getting into the crevices and making sure all of the pork is covered in the mixture.
- Place on a baking tray lined with tin foil. Pull the tin foil up and around the pork to create a bowl. Roast in 300*F for 2 hours. Turn the oven up to 375 * and roast another 30 minutes. Flip the pork and roast another 30 minutes after that. The pork is done when the center will come apart easily when pulled with 2 forks.
Tangy Apple Slaw
- Add all ingredients together and mix well to combine. Let sit at least ten minutes before serving.
BBQ Sauce
- Combine all ingredients together, mixing well. Can be refrigerated for up to one month.
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