Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Yes this happened tonight. It was so yummy. Seriously one of the best things I have made in a long while, which is saying something as I’m a pretty damn good cook. This adventure started last weekend when I was grocery shopping. Pulled pork sounded really good to me and in Sacramento there isn’t a whole lot of choices when it comes to BBQ. The one really good place is a good 30 mins away and pricey. Not that I mind paying for good food…but let’s see what I can come up with. So I find a really nice pork butt roast or a Boston Butt roast as it is sometimes known and start to plot.

A little bit about pork butt…it’s not the behind! Seriously. That is where most cured and/or smoked hams come from. The pork butt or Boston butt cut comes from the top part of the shoulder. The rest is considered the picnic or shoulder roast. The Boston butt cut is preferred for pulled pork because it has heavy marbling (which means juicy yumminess) and overall a more tender and not a stringy. It works really really smoked, grilled low and slow or as I did used my crock pot. And this recipe is good for just regular pulled pork. You don’t have to make them into sandwiches. It can stand up on it’s own. Trust me. It’s that damn good.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
3-4# pork butt roast
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1⁄2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 onion chopped
8-10 hearty buns

Note: You will hear various opinions about removing the fat cap or not on the roast. I don’t. Why? Because if done right, the fat will melt into the meat making it juicy and yummy. Now if it’s too thick, feel free to trim it back some but I highly recommend on leaving some of it on. Trust me on this.

Combine all the seasonings in a small bowl. Massage the seasoning mix all over the pork roast until it coated fully. Heat a pan on high, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Sear all sides of the pork roast in the pan. Put the chopped onion in the bottom of the crock pot and place the pork roast on top (fat cap up). Deglaze the pan with a cup of water and the liquid smoke. Pour the juice over the pork roast. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until fork tender.

Remove the pork, drain juice (reserve some) discard onions (or you can shred them into the pork like I did). Shred and return to crock pot. Add a little bit of juice just to keep it moist.

Stack the pulled pork on buns, add bbq sauce, coleslaw and pickles. Enjoy!

Tangy Mustard BBQ Sauce

So in my quest for a yummy pulled pork sandwich…I need a sauce. A little something something to pull it all together. This is where it gets tricky…my husband doesn’t like a lot of bbq sauces. Most are either too sweet or too heavy on the tomato/ketchup. So I looked and looked…then it came to me. I’m trying to do this pulled pork Texas style and in Texas…they really don’t do pulled pork. That there’s beef country. So what goes well with pork…something sweet, something tangy…kinda like a Carolina style sauce…yeah that was the ticket.

Tangy Mustard BBQ Sauce
1 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
3 tablespoons butter

Whisk all the ingredients together in a saucepan until smooth. Cook on medium low heat for about 20 minutes to allow the flavors to get all nice and happy together. Store in a jar or squeeze bottle in the fridge. It’s best when it’s had a few hours to set before serving. It’s tangy with a touch of sweet and a little bit of a kick that likes to linger on your tongue. The perfect sauce to go on top of the pulled pork.

Quick and Easy Coleslaw

I’m not the biggest coleslaw fan. Most times I find coleslaw to be either too soupy or too heavy on the vinegar. But I was making pulled pork sandwiches for dinner and that is one of the few times I actually like it. So I started to research…and there are a lot of different recipes out there. And I also had to keep in mind that my husband isn’t the biggest mayonnaise fan. It makes it a bit hard but after looking around this is what I came up with…

Coleslaw
1/2 cup of Mayonnaise
1/4 cup of Sugar
1 teaspoon of White Distilled Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
14 0z bag of shredded cabbage/coleslaw mix

In a bowl mix all the ingredients with a whisk. Add the shredded cabbage mix and toss. Cover and let chill for a few hours before serving. Do not be alarmed by the amount the coleslaw condenses down to. The salt and the vinegar draws out the the moisture.

I have to admit I’m pretty stoked with the result. It wasn’t too soupy and the tang was just right. The husband approved of it as well.