Pulled Pork and Barbecue Sauce

A few years ago on January 1st I resolved to eat more pulled pork. As tends to happen with most New Year's resolutions, I failed. I did start well -- I probably had pulled pork half a dozen times the first few months of 2012, but have since faltered. So with the new year 2014 > 2015 right around the corner, I thought I'd re-up a little. I had never made pulled pork before although it seemed pretty easy. And I did, in fact, find it quite simple. I even think my sauce turned out pretty well, which I made right in the crock pot mostly with the liquids from cooking the pork, plus a little starch to thicken it.

Start with about a 4 pound pork shoulder or pork loin -- with or without the bone. Rub it all over with a hot-and-sweet spice rub and brown the meat on all sides in some oil with onions and garlic. Then cook the pork (plus onions and garlic) in a crock pot in a tomato-and-vinegar based liquid. Shred the pork and there you have it. Use store bought sauce or the sauce from the crock pot and serve on sandwich rolls with cole slaw or other accoutrements. I'll list my precise ingredients and measurements below for posterity.

   Ingredients

• 1 T butter or oil

• 5 T brown sugar
• 1 T cayenne or paprika
• 1 T cumin

• 4 pound pork shoulder or loin
• 2 medium onions 
• 5 cloves of garlic

• 1/2 C apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 C taco sauce
• 1/4 C soy sauce
• 1/2 C ketchup
• 1 T worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 C honey

Heat oil or butter in a pan. Mix the next 3 ingredients to make the spice rub, and rub it all over the pork. Chop the onions and garlic and add to the pan. Add the pork to the pan and brown on all sides. This whole process should take about 10-15 minutes total. I did mine by sliding the onions over to one side of the pan and browning the meat in the other side.

Next add the onions and garlic to the crock pot and put the meat on top of them. Mix the liquid ingredients together and pour over the meat. It should cover or nearly cover the meat. If the top of the meat sticks out an inch or more, add more liquid.

Cook for about 6-8 hours (on low, or maybe just 4-6 on high) in the crock pot. Once it gets fall-right-off-the-bone tender, remove the meat to a large bowl or plate. Give the liquid a good stir and taste it. Decide if you want to use this liquid as your barbecue sauce. 

If you do, adjust taste by adding a bit more of one ingredient or another. Add more brown sugar or corn syrup if you want it to taste sweeter. Try adding artificial smoke flavor if you want that. Add more soy sauce if it doesn't taste salty/savory/umami enough. If you want to thicken it, mix a tablespoon of corn starch with a tablespoon or two of water (put it in a small container with a lid and shake it up). Turn the crock pot up so the liquid starts to boil, and gradually pour in the corn starch. Stir and let it simmer until it reaches desired consistency. I think I left my liquid in the crock pot for almost an hour after removing the pork since I added some more ketchup and the corn starch.

shredded pork after removal from crock pot -- before mixing with sauce

Shred the pork -- it should fall apart easily. If it doesn't fall apart then it needs to cool longer. Let the sauce finish, or use store bought sauce, and mix with pork. Serve on a sandwich roll with pickles or other desired extras.

Huge Batch of Garden Spaghetti Sauce

I just used 50 tomatoes from my garden to make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce! I pulled up my tiny little red onions that I grew -- none larger than a golf ball -- and used them as well. I also used fresh oregano and basil from the garden. I bought a couple pounds of local, grass-fed ground beef at the Phipps Farmers Market and included that as well. 

• 1 medium to large red onion
• a dozen cloves of garlic
• 8 Tablespoons of olive oil

• about 50 tiny tomatoes and 2 or 3 small ones, diced
• 5 cans tomato paste
• 5 cans of water
• 1/2 to 1 Cup sugar
• 10-20 leaves of fresh basil
• 5-10 6 inch stems of fresh oregano 

• 2 pounds of grass-fed ground beef

1. Cook first three ingredients (oil, onion, garlic) for about 5 minutes and add to large pot.
2. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, and some of the herbs. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours total.
3. Brown ground beef and add to the pot.
4. Add more herbs throughout cooking process.

I got those 3 black cherry tomatoes on the left from Tricia's garden
BEFORE I got chumped (not recently).

Solo Cookout for Game 7

Last night I cooked out alone for Game 7 of the NBA Finals. I loaded up at the Bloomfield Farmer's Market. I made my amazing chicken sauce to grill with bone-in thighs. I made my grilled broccoli recipe with goat cheese, which tasted spectacular. Plus I grilled asparagus and potatoes as well. Tremendous. I timed everything perfectly. I got the chicken on the grill during the second quarter of the game. By the time half time started I put the veggies on, and as the second half got underway, everything finished cooking. Absolutely perfect. I had a couple of fine Newcastle brown ales while I cooked.

My chicken sauce requires four ingredients: something spicy, something thick and viscous, something spreadable and/or sticky, and something sweet. Use these in roughly equal parts. For this one I used soy sauce, siracha, dijon mustard, and brown sugar. I brushed the asparagus with grape seed oil, course salt, and ground black pepper. I coated the potatoes with Old Bay seasoning and a little oil. And I tossed the broccoli with balsamic vinegar, grapeseed oil, salt, and pepper.

I use high heat on the left side and a lower flame underneath the food on the right side. Once something cooks, I move it over to the hot side to get a little char (if desired).

I sprinkled goat cheese on the broccoli. Amazing.

Cook the chicken slowly. It should take about 45 minutes for bone in thighs. Keep turning it over and spreading more sauce, over and over. You'll want to straight up lick the sauce by the time you finish cooking...

Enjoy....

Cooking Out Often Lately

I've already dipped balls deep into cookout season over here, so I want to share some pictures from recent meals. 

I'll do a full recipe post for my Amazing Chicken some time soon. You just need chicken and four other ingredients of your choice to make an amazing sauce. 

sweet n spicy chicken

I like grilling my vegetables raw, especially when I have high quality veggies. Red and green peppers, corn, and other veggies supply their own great taste when grilled properly, in my opinion, and don't need anything else.

Hebrew National hot dog grilled corn and green pepper

I make a flavorful curry paste for mixing into burgers, which I really enjoy. I use curry powder, hot sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, and a few other choice ingredients. I should do a post for that as well. When I moved into the apartment on Penn a couple years ago, and we got the gas grill, I started working on my own recipes for burgers, chicken, pork chops, etc. So I've had a lot of practice with some of these.

Joe burger with avocado and banana peppers

cheddar cheese, avocado, banana peppers

relish and yellow mustard

When I grill corn I leave it in the husk. If I have a chance, I soak it in water for a little while before grilling. I actually peal away a few pieces of husk, leaving maybe 2-4 layers rather than, say, 6-8. I firmly believe in slow grilling -- for almost everything. You can make the corn quickly in about 10 minutes, or go slowly for 20 or more.

grilled corn on the cob and Joe Chicken

sweet and spicy Joe Chicken

For an almost instant meal that takes no preparation, try grilling chicken sausages and whole red peppers. I get the peppers at Donatelli's Italian grocer in Bloomfield for like $1.19 for a bag of 8. Throw them on the grill for about 10 minutes over medium to high heat. I cook the red peppers whole then cut 'em up and serve with the sausage on a roll.

chicken sausages from the store

sweet red pepper -- perfect grilled plain