Pulled Pork Sandwich

This holiday weekend is the traditional kick-off of summer, as they like to say. For lots of people that means cookouts, barbecues, drinks and parties. Alas, I have no grill - my ex-husband took it with him when he left. I have no real outdoor dining area, no deck or patio. Some day I'd love a large patio with plenty of room to host cookouts. I daydream about the killer grill and smoker I'd have.

But I digress. I got pulled pork on my brain earlier this week. I may not have a grill or a smoker, but I do have a crock pot. I knew I could could cook the hell out of a pork butt in a large crock pot and with the right spice rub and barbecue sauce, I could recreate some cookout favorites right in my kitchen.

Results don't lie - this meat was tender and flavorful, and the sauce added a lovely sweet and tangy zing.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 6 - 8 lb. pork butt (pork shoulder, preferably bone-in)
• Spice Rub (recipe below) 
• 1 onion, quartered and separated into layers
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 t Liquid Smoke
• BBQ sauce - Use your favorite jarred brand or make your own. My recipe follows
• Creamy coleslaw - Recipe follows
• Buns

Directions:

1. Make the spice rub and place the pork butt in a large bowl. Coat the meat with all of the spice rub, massaging it into the surface. Wrap in a double-thickness off plastic wrap and place in a large bowl and refrigerate 12 hours.
2. Place the onion sections in the bottom of a large crock pot with the water and Liquid Smoke. 
3. Unwrap the meat and put it in the pot and turn the heat to low, cover it and let cook about 10 hours or until the meat is fork-tender and falling off the bone. For smaller piece of meat, start checking at about 8 hours. This 8 pounder cooked for a full 10 hours. Crock pots vary in how hot their settings are, so be sure to check.
4. Take the meat out and place it in a large pan - I used a disposable lasagna pan. Discard the liquid in the crock pot.
5. Remove the bone and the fat and discard. Then pull the meat into shreds with two forks, or cut it with a knife and fork.
6. Put the shredded meat back in the crock pot along with 1 - 2 cups BBQ sauce. Stir to coat and warm up on the lowest crock pot setting, ten serve on a bun with more BBQ sauce and coleslaw.

Spice Rub

Ingredients:

• 4 T paprika
• 2 T chili powder
• 2 T dark brown sugar
• 2 T table salt
• 2 T cumin
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 1 T oregano
• 2 t cayenne
• 2 t thyme
• 2 t granulated garlic
• 1/2 t smoked paprika

Directions:

1. Mix well.

BBQ sauce

• Olive oil
• 1 onion, quartered
• 4 cloves of garlic, cut into large pieces
• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with juice
• 1-1/2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup orange juice
• 6 T fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 6 T red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 T Liquid Smoke 
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 T dark molasses
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 t hot pepper sauce -I like Cholula
• 2 T chili powder
• 1 T ground coriander
• 1 T dry yellow mustard powder
• 1 t granulated garlic 
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t smoked paprika
• small knob of dried chipotle chili

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in olive oil over medium-high heat until the edges start to brown up, then add the garlic chunks and saute for another minute.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour, uncovered. Stir occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn't stick and burn.
4. Fish out the knob of chipotle pepper and puree the sauce with a stick blender or in small batches in the blender.
5. Taste to adjust seasoning, adding more hot sauce or a pinch more cayenne if you want it spicier.
6. Cool to room temperature and store, refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

Creamy Coleslaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 head large green cabbage
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 large vidalia onion
• 3/4 cup mayo
• 2 heaping T creme fraiche or sour cream
• 2 T sugar
• 2 T white vinegar
• 1 T mustard powder
• 2 t celery seed
• 1 t salt
• 1/8 t black pepper

Directions:

1. Shred the carrots and onion with the shredding disc of a food processor.
2. Put in a large bowl and add the mayo, creme fraiche, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, mustard and celery seed. Mix well.
3. Shred the cabbage with the same disc and add the cabbage to the mix, stirring well.
4. Serve.

Tweet

Haluski with Spaetzle

You read that right, that's haluski with spaetzle.

Some of you may be shuddering in horror at the thought of haluski made with anything but homemade noodles, potato dumplings or egg noodles, but the way I see it, as I browsed through recipes of "authentic Slovakian haluski," no one could agree on what noodle/dumpling/potato addition was right. So I said, what the hell, spaetzle are a noodle-type dumpling, right? I like to walk on the crazy side sometimes.

The verdict: It was fantastic!

The spaetzle soaked up all the flavor of the dish without being too doughy. I used fresh-cut slab bacon from the butcher's counter instead of packaged bacon, and I have to say, I think that made a huge difference. If it makes sense, that bacon tasted more "bacony" than any other bacon I've ever had. Its saltiness complemented the cabbage's sweetness perfectly.

Adding the caraway seed was a last-minute inspiration, but it worked. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow after the flavors have melded even more.

Haluski with spaetzle

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 white onion, sliced
• 1 head of green cabbage, cored and chopped coarsely
• caraway seed
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• caraway seed
• cooked, buttered spaetzle*
  

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon until nicely crisp, then remove to a paper-towel lined plate.
2. To the rendered bacon fat, add the sliced onion and cook over medium-high heat until they start to soften.
   
3. Sprinkle some garlic powder over the top and then add the chopped cabbage.
4. Cover to let steam. Cook for five minutes covered, and then stir to be sure it is cooking evenly. Add a little bit of salt, pepper and caraway, stir and cover again.
5. Let it cook down, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is soft but not limp. It should still have a little bit of bite to it.
   
6. Add the buttered spaetzle, and combine well. Let it cook for a minute, then add the reserved bacon pieces.
   
7. Taste to check the seasoning and then serve.
   

Spaetzle

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground caraway seed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
  

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, pepper, caraway seed and nutmeg.
2. In another mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together.
   
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the dry ones.
4. Combine well until smooth. This will be somewhere between a dough and a batter, and it will be quite thick. Let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
   
6. To form the spaetzle, press the batter through your handy-dandy spaetzle press into the water, one batch at a time, cooking for about 5 minutes, until the spaetzle is all puffy and have floated to the top of the pot. stirring gently to prevent sticking.
   
   - If you don't have a spaetzle press, you can use a large holed colander or slotted spoon over the simmering water and push the dough through the holes with a spatula or spoon.
   
7. Scoop out the spaetzle with a slotted spoon and set in a bowl to rest.
8. Add a small pat of butter and stir well.
   

Tweet