Pulled Pork Sandwich
I’ve been looking forward to Sunday dinners again. During the summer, I don’t really cook indoors–its grill or salads for us, but now its fall and I’ve been wanting to test out my brand new LeCreuset French Oven.
It’s official–kitchen gadget spending has now surpassed by clothes spending. I have a few appliances, most notable, the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and the Omega Juicer, but never really invested in cookware. I think it started with the futuristic and glisteningly eye-catching All Clad set I sourced as a prize for a game show I once worked on. It was a 16-piece chef’s set and the wonderful art department on the show did such an amazing job with the display that it became the envy and talk among the show staff and executives. So funny to be so excited over cookware, but it happened. Then came the colorful LeCreuset pots and pans that immediately sent people into drool overload. This is likely because LeCreuset is Pavlovian–the bright jewel toned pots trigger memories of tender, juicy meats, soaked in a perfect blend of spices and slow-cooked to perfection.
So, I decided to try to make at least one Sunday Dinner with a Dutch Oven each month. If there were such thing as culinary folklore, every dutch oven would have its own story and the recipes would be chapters. These cast iron pots and pans date back to the American Revolution. And I’m guessing some of the best recipes are passed down, along with these work horses of cooking. Whether its the black cast iron skillet ubiquitous to those covered wagon pioneer scenes or the colored enamel coated cast iron cocottes, when you own one, they last forever. One day my son will tell me he wants to get married, and rather than offering the ring thats been in the family for generations, I will likely offer his betrothed my cookware collection.
My first dutch oven dish was pulled pork–its very similar to
carnitas; but somehow in the dutch oven, it just seemed to taste more authentic. I’ve never made barbeque or pulled pork. There wasn’t any need–I had real North Carolina pulled pork from the source–on a trip down south with a true BBQ aficionado. My ex boyfriend enjoyed his BBQ so much, he started a chain of Carolina BBQ restaurants. The BBQ was so good, I never attempted to make it myself–until now. But I think I would’ve done him proud–my good friend Nikki, my dad (who is visiting) and my little me–all gobbled it down, licking their fingers and sopping up all the sauce until their plates were clean.
Pulled Pork with Sauce
2 1/2 pound pork shoulder (We picked ours up at our local Farmer’s Market)
4 cloves of garlic
2 medium onions, sliced
1 cup apple juice
Seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 Tablespoon Lemon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Oregano
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Coriander Seed
1 Tablespoon Paprika
Cut small slices in the pork and place garlic cloves inside.
Mix the season together and coat the pork on all sides with the seasoning.
Line the bottom of the pot with onions.
Place the pork on top of the onions and add apple juice.
Cook on 300 for 6 hours, turning occasionally.
The vinegar sauce was something I never had before. Being from Chicago, our style of ribs was the St. Louis style baby back ribs with a sweet, tomato based sauce. I was told that you know when its authentic Carolina pulled pork when it comes with this vinegar sauce. And there is a funny story to how I got this recipe, on this day that I happened to be making pulled pork.
For my friends who read my post Spring in Retrograde, and knew my BBQ boyfriend, then emailed me wanting to know if anything had happened since I heard from him again after nearly 10 years. The answer is still no, but we’ve been catching up through texts and one such text appeared on my phone as I was preparing my pork butt. I was able to worm some ingredients and slow cooked pork tricks out of him. See, like I said; everything happens for a reason…
Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce, Brother Jimmy’s Style
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon Red Chili Pepper Flakes
Put the flakes and vinegar in a jar and let marinate for a day.
Pour the ingredients in a sauce pan and boil down to 1/2 cup
About a month ago, I entered my first recipe contest and surprisingly, became a finalist. My
Sriracha sauce was up against good ol American BBQ sauce (that won). But it actually looked so good, that I had been wanting to make pulled pork just to be able to try this sauce on it. And it really is pretty delicious.
Dead Guy Sauce (from theShoeboxkitchen.com)
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS ONCE REDUCED
3 cups apple cider vinegar
2/3 cups brown sugar
2/3 cups ketchup
1 teaspoon Tabasco
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for about half hour, whisking periodically, until the sauce just begins to thicken. Serve immediately, or reserve in the refrigerator and reheat.
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