A few days late {Slow-roasted Pulled Pork}

The Superbowl happened. That means food...snacks...good ol' pub or bar food. For the past several years, I've whipped up chicken wings. We usually do a few flavors to please all palates: Traditional Hot Wings, Garlic-Parmesan, Asian-Inspired and either a Jamaican Jerk or a Sweet-Hot Jalapeno Jelly. However, this year, I really wanted to try something different and decided that in addition to the wings (there was no getting out of doing at least some wings) we'd add some Pulled Pork Nachos.  

Although the cooking process takes some time, Slow-roasted Pulled Pork is a fabulously easy thing to make and have shredded on hand for a variety of applications.  While I do not have any photos of what turned out to be some mighty tasty nachos, take a look at this pork...delectable!

Here's how you can do this too:

Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork

• approximately 3 lbs boneless pork butt roast
• 1 tsp ground mustard powder
• 1 tsp paprika 
• 2 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste 
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar

1. In a small bowl, mix up the spices and sugar until fully mixed into a dry rub. Completely coat the roast in the dry rub, pressing the rub to stick and sort of cake up on the surface of the meat. (at this point, you can loosely cover the roast and refrigerate a couple of hours to overnight if you choose. However, I was working in a tighter time frame (read: I forgot to do the prep work ahead of time) and it still turned out absolutely perfectly.)
2. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 250-275F (this is going to cook low and slow.)
3. Place roast (fat side down) on a rack in a roasting pan (no cover) or on a rack on a sheet pan. It is important to have the roast up out of the drippings so that the entire roast will get a fabulous crust that is not to be missed.
4. Place in oven and cook for 4-5 hours or until the roast is fall-apart-fork tender. 
5. Remove from oven; allow to cool a bit and then, while the meat is still warm and super supple, shred with two forks.
6. Once the shredded pork has cooled a bit, simply refrigerate and use in a variety of ways.

The crust that the brown sugar and spices create on this pork is divine. If you're not careful, sneaky hands will pop up from everywhere to steal it off of the cutting board while you're trying to keep it in the pile of shredded goodness!  We topped homemade tortilla chips with jack cheese and mounds of this stuff and good ol' jalapeno slices for the big game treat.

 It would be equally good mixed with a bit of your favorite BBQ sauce and served up on buns or on a corn tortilla topped with some pickled cabbage for a Mexican taco flair. Stir it into your favorite pot of beans to make a hearty side or even main dish. And, I have designs on adding some to a homemade mac & cheese as well. That truly is the beauty of this simple recipe - cook once and use a number of times in a variety of ways.

What ideas do you have on how to use slow-roasted pulled pork?

Happy Cooking!

sld

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