What's For Dinner: Maple-Glazed Pork Chops

These Maple-Glazed Pork Chops are perfect for grilling out.

The return of summer also means a return to grilling. Of course, you can totally grill out any time of the year, but here in Northern Wisconsin it's not quite that fun to grill out when the temperature outside is subzero and there is a foot of snow on the ground. (Well, at least I am admittedly not hardy enough to withstand such temperatures; tailgating Green Bay Packers fans do so on a regular basis.)

Pork chops are a great option for grilling out. The key to delicious pork chops is a good marinade. And don't shortchange the marination period. I suggest marinating the meat for at least an hour, and up to overnight. If you like, prep extra marinade for brushing the meat while grilling; for food safety reasons, do not re-use the liquid the meat was marinating in.

These pork chops get a tasty sweet and savory flavor from a maple syrup-balsamic vinegar marinade. The marinade is super-simple, and as such, is open to as much embellishment as you'd like to add: fresh herbs or garlic would be a perfect place to start.

Maple-Glazed Pork Chops (printer-friendly version)
makes 4 servings

6 tablespoons maple syrup
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 bone-in pork chops (about 3/4-inch thick)

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
2. Pour the marinade into a gallon-size plastic zippered bag. Add the pork chops, seal the bag closed, and gently turn to coat. Place the bag in the fridge and let the pork chops marinate for at least one hour, up to overnight.
3. Remove the pork chops from the bag and discard the marinade. Cook the pork chops on an oiled grill over medium heat for 13-17 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove the chops from the grill when they reach 145 degrees. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

(adapted from this Taste of Home recipe)

What's For Dinner: Slow-Baked Bone-in Whole Smoked Ham

When it comes to cooking a bone-in whole smoked ham, low and slow is the way to go.

In the Northwoods, more often than not, "April Showers" refers to "Snow Showers." Case in point, after a lovely weekend in the 60s and 70s, last night we got 5 inches of snow. Despite what the calendar says, it definitely looks a lot more like Christmas outside than Easter. Ah, the joys of living in Northern Wisconsin.

Regardless of the weather situation, Easter is just around the corner. Most of my Easter food memories center on jelly beans and besuited chocolate bunny rabbits (the ones from Agalmesis are my favorite). But you can't eat candy for dinner. (Well, at least you shouldn't, anyway.)

When it comes to Easter dinner, ham is the centerpiece on many tables. Up until now, I'd never cooked a whole ham. Turns out, though the cut of meat might be a little daunting at first, it's actually a snap to make. My ham was a whole smoked ham that came from a pig named Scratchy (yeah, I'm a terrible farmer who names the animals) that we raised on our farm back in 2015. The downside of having a whole ham is that it feeds a lot of people. Dustin's parents were in town recently, making it a perfect time to try to cook up my first ham and have plenty of people to share it with. (However, we still ended up with plenty of leftovers: I've got a few leftover ham recipes to share in the next few weeks, too.)



I went super-simple with my first oven-baked ham. I decided to focus on the ham's flavor and opted to forego a glaze. If you are feeling particularly fancy, you could stud the top of the ham with whole cloves before baking; but again, I wanted to go au naturel with this recipe. There are plenty of great glaze recipes available on the web; for my next ham I'm thinking a maple-bourbon glaze could be a delicious combination.

Slow-Baked Bone-in Whole Smoked Ham

makes 10-12 servings 

10-pound bone-in smoked whole ham

1. Preheat the oven to 275°F. 

2. Use a sharp knife to score the skin-and-fat side of the ham about 1/8-inch deep in a diamond pattern. (Slice diagonally across the ham in one direction, and then slice diagonally in the opposite direction to make the diamonds.)

3. Put the ham fat-side-up in a roasting pan. Cover it loosely with foil and bake for 4 to 6 hours. The internal temperature should read 145 degrees.

4. Remove the ham from the oven and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.

What's For Dinner: Pork Belly Roast

 As I mentioned last week, pork is going to be on the menu a bit more often in the coming months. Why, you might ask? Meet the newest additions to Orange Dog Farm.

We're no longer just chicken farmers, as we recently added three pigs to our little farm. Our pigs are Tamworths — a heritage breed that originated in central England. Tamworth pigs first arrived in North America in 1882. They are a hardy breed that are meant to forage in the great outdoors. They are highly sought after for their great-tasting, lean meat. Oh, and they are also super-cute. (Uh-oh.)

A couple of months ago, D took a whole-hog breakdown (butchering) class at Underground Meats in Madison, Wisconsin as a way to educate himself about pork cuts, sausage making, and dry-curing. Since we will be selling our pork (I think we only have one half unaccounted for at this point), we wanted to be able to talk knowledgeably with our customers about the whole process. (Due to USDA requirements, in order to sell the meat, our hogs will be processed at a USDA-inspected butchering facility.) Long story short, in addition to gaining plenty of knowledge about primal and sub-primal cuts of meat, D also came home with a coolerful of pork.

First up? Pork belly, a cut of meat that's becoming rather popular in the farm-to-table restaurant world. This was the first time I've ever cooked pork belly, and I think it turned out quite well. The cracklings, seasoned with peppercorns and fennel, were particularly tasty and made for an excellent addition to a quiche I made later in the week. Though I served the pork belly roast with gravy, it is also quite delicious with a little bit of your favorite barbecue sauce. (You can't go wrong with pulled pork sandwiches made from any leftovers.)

Pork Belly Roast (printer-friendly version)
makes 4-6 servings

2-3 pound boneless pork belly, skin on
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons Maldon flaky sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 stalks celery, chopped into 2-inch segments
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 2-inch segments
4-5 garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup white wine 

For the gravy:
2 cups white wine
1-2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
2-3 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
2. In a dry skillet, toast the fennel seeds and whole peppercorns over medium high heat until fragrant, about one minutes. Place them into a mortar and pestle along with the salt and thyme leaves and grind until the fennel seeds and whole peppercorns are smashed. 
3. Use a sharp knife to score the skin down to, but not into, the meat in segments about 1-centimeter apart.
4. Drizzle about half of the olive oil over top the scored skin of the pork belly. Use your fingers to work half of the fennel seed mixture into the skin, taking special care to get it into the skin and down to the meat. Repeat on the bottom side of the meat.
5. Place the chopped carrots, chopped celery, and smashed garlic cloves into the bottom of a Dutch oven or roasting pan. Place the prepped pork belly on top of the vegetables, skin side up. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the skin is golden and bubbly. Then reduce the heat to 350 and continue cooking for 90 minutes.
6. After a 1.5 hours has passed, pour 1 cup of the white wine into the roasting pan and cook for an additional hour.
7. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven to check to see if the meat easily falls apart. If so, remove the meat and place it on a wooden cutting board to rest. If not, continue cooking until the meat is tender.
8. Place the roasting pan on the stove top over medium heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of flour. Continue stirring until the gravy has thickened. Stir in 2 cups of white wine. If the gravy is thicker than you like, stir in 1-2 cups of vegetable broth. Use a potato masher to mash the vegetables into the gravy. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes over low heat, then pass the gravy through a fine-mesh sieve to strain. Remove the crackling from the pork belly, then pull apart the meat and serve with the warm gravy.

(adapted from this Jamie Oliver recipe)

What's For Dinner: Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

I've been home from Mexico for nearly a week, and yet somehow I've managed to have a taste of Mexico nearly every day this week. I think I might need an intervention.

This slow cooker pork carnitas meal, which should have taken just about 8 hours to prepare, turned into an epic three-day affair as the first day's cooking was interrupted by a small power outage (luckily near the end of the cooking period) and the following night we had dinner plans out with a friend. (I like to test new recipes first before sharing the results with others!)

Luckily, last night everything finally came together and I was able to see the carnitas through to the end. After 8 hours (and then some, in my case) in the slow cooker, the pork is super-tender and easy to shred with a couple of forks. Ten minutes under the broiler gives the carnitas a crispy texture, while the addition of some of the cooking broth keeps them perfectly moist. I served the carnitas on corn tortillas, but they could easily be used in tacos, burritos, or as a topping to a fresh green salad. Yum!

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas (printer-friendly version)
makes 4-6 servings

1 (3-5 lb.) boneless pork shoulder, excess fat trimmed

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and ribs removed, chopped
1 orange, cut in half
12 ounces root beer (I prefer brands made with cane sugar)

1. Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker. In a small bowl, stir together the salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Gently rub the spice mixture onto the pork, coating it evenly.
2. Add the chopped garlic and chopped jalapeno to the slow cooker. Squeeze the orange juice over top the pork, then nestle the spent orange rinds around the pork. Carefully pour the root beer onto the pork, then cover the slow cooker with the lid. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
3. Once tender, use two forks to shred the pork into small pieces.
4. Set the oven to broil. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Carefully transfer the shredded pork onto the prepped baking sheet in a single layer. (If you have a lot of pork, you may need to do this part in two or more batches.) Pour about 1/4-cup of the slow cooker broth over the pork. Broil for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, and use a spatula to carefully flip the shredded pork over. Drizzle with another 1/4-cup of the broth, then broil for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove the shredded pork from the oven, drizzle with another 1/4-cup of slow cooker broth, then serve immediately on tortillas with your favorite toppings.

(Inspired by recipes from the Food Network, Pinch of Yum, and Gimme Some Oven) 

What's For Dinner: Slow Cooker Spicy Shredded Pork Tacos

Yeah, it's officially hot here in Northern Wisconsin, and without air conditioning in our vintage 1960s cottage, any desire to turn the stove on has been reduced to nil. Hence, another slow cooker recipe for you today! My original plan was to make spicy shredded chicken tacos, but all that was left in the freezer section of my favorite local natural foods store were two packages of chicken drumsticks, so I had to come up with a new plan, stat. As an alternative, I grabbed the last package of fresh pork chops and decided that my tacos would instead have pork as the featured ingredient. This recipe requires taco sauce; you can easily "cheat" and use your favorite store-bought brand, or take the extra 20 minutes to whip up your own from scratch (trust me, it's easy!).

These tacos are spicy, hearty, and definitely make for a satisfying dinner. Add an icy-cold cerveza on the side, and you've got yourself a great meal for a hot summer evening.

Slow Cooker Spicy Shredded Pork Tacos (printer-friendly version)
makes 6-8 servings

For the taco sauce:
extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño
1 cup organic tomato puree
1 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

For the pork chops:
1 pound boneless organic pork chops, trimmed of any excess fat
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon coriander
1 cup taco sauce (see above)

1. Heat 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil in a medium sauce pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until softened and golden brown. Add in the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chopped jalapeño, tomato puree, vegetable stock, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
2. Season both sides of each pork chop with salt and pepper and place the pork chops in the bottom of a 2-quart slow cooker bowl. Top the pork chops with the chopped onion, crushed garlic cloves, chili powder, cumin, paprika, and coriander. Pour one cup of the taco sauce over top everything. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours (or low for 4-6 hours), or until the pork chops reach 140 degrees.
3. Once cooked, remove the pork chops from the slow cooker and shred with a fork. Return the meat back to the slow cooker and stir to coat in the sauce.
4. Serve the spicy shredded pork with your favorite taco fixings -- my spread included flour tortillas, avocado slices, queso fresco, baby spinach leaves, salsa, and Greek yogurt.

What's For Dinner: Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Apple Chutney

Though we are now officially in the summer season, last week it was a bit chilly and grey up here in Northern Wisconsin, which led me to look to my slow cooker for some dinnertime inspiration. Pork chops are one of the few meats available fresh at our local natural foods store (they sell most meats (chicken, beef, fish) in their frozen state), so, without any meat thawed in the fridge, I knew pork would have to be the main ingredient. Growing up, pork chops were typically served alongside applesauce at our house, so my next thought went to apples. Just adding chopped apples seemed a little too boring, so I opted to make a savory/spicy apple-based chutney instead.

Though the resulting dish may not look all that appetizing, let me assure you that it was delicious. The chutney helps to keep the pork chops tender and moist while they cook, and it adds a delicious sweet flavor that has just a little kick from the addition of red pepper flakes and mustard seeds. Though this dish might feature the flavors of fall, it tastes just as good in the summer months as it would any other time of the year.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Apple Chutney (printer-friendly version)
makes four servings

4 center-cut boneless pork chops, 1-inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (or use 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried whole yellow mustard seeds
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped coarsely
3 medium apples, peeled, chopped (I used golden delicious apples)

1. Spray a 4-quart slow cooker bowl with cooking spray. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of each pork chop, then place them into the bottom of the prepped slow cooker bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the honey, apple cider vinegar, freshly grated ginger, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, chopped onion, and chopped dried cherries.
3. Pour the mixture evenly over the pork chops.
4. Top with the chopped apples.
5. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 to 4 1/2 hours, or until the pork chops are cooked through.
6. Serve immediately.

What's For Dinner: Lazy Girl Slow Cooker BBQ Pork Chops

Happy First Day of Spring! Apparently springtime is still a long ways away up here in Northern Wisconsin. It was -14 with windchill this morning when I took Leroy for an abbreviated walk around the cul de sac. I have to admit, as much as I love the snow (and have had fun learning how to cross-country ski; although given the bruises currently on my knees, I have a long way to go), I am SO ready for green grass and blooming flowers. I'm also considering signing up for a half-marathon that occurs in early May; I could really use some snow- and ice-free roadways, as I just cannot deal with running on a treadmill for more than 4 miles. I hear that the "mud season" lasts for quite awhile up here as all the piles of snow melt ... we shall see.

All this to say that given the cold temperatures, it appears I won't be giving up my slow cooker meals just yet. (In the warmer months, I tend to stay away from slow cooker meals and instead focus on meals that feature the fresh produce that arrives in the late spring and is available all summer long). For today's slow cooker recipe, I'm sharing a super-simple (and let's face it, super-lazy) recipe for BBQ pork chops. I made this last week when I was (randomly) craving some barbecue pork and was swamped with work. Though I have made barbecue sauce from scratch in the past, I didn't have the time to whip up a batch this time around. So instead I opted to use the bottled variety, and found a brand that had an ingredient list I could get behind (and was quite similar to the ingredients I would have used if I had made the sauce from scratch myself). To make this dish, you just pour some sauce into the crockpot, add the pork chops, and add enough sauce so that the chops are covered. Set it on low, and let the slow cooker work its magic for 6 hours. The result? Amazingly-delicious barbecue pork chops with almost zero effort.

Lazy Girl Slow Cooker BBQ Pork Chops (printer-friendly version)
makes 4 servings

4 pork chops
1 bottle (20-24 oz) barbecue sauce (I used American Stockyard Smoky Sweet BBQ Sauce)

1. Pour about half the bbq sauce into a 2-quart slow cooker bowl. Add the pork chops. Pour in more bbq sauce if necessary to completely cover the chops.
2. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.
3. Shred the meat or serve the pork chops whole. I served the pork chops over a bed of wild rice (and had some steamed broccoli on the side, not pictured, obvs.)

What's For Dinner: Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork Chops

This coming Sunday marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, and though I am not looking forward to losing an hour of sleep (I suppose I could just go to bed earlier...), I am so looking forward to more light in the evening. Rule #1 of food blogging is using natural light for photography, and since I typically don't start cooking each evening until the sun has begun to set, I have been failing at this rule all winter long. (Many food bloggers prep all their posts over the weekend, I, ahem, am not quite that organized ... and/or I'd rather spend the weekend cross-country skiing, catching up on sleep, or running errands (aka, making the 45-minute drive south for a chai latte) -- perhaps that is why my blog isn't yet a household name? Hmmm...) All this just to say that the other night I cooked up a batch of sweet and sour pork chops in my slow cooker, and though the post-sunset photograph (above) doesn't do them any justice, the resulting pork chops were actually quite delicious. The last time I made pork chops in my slow cooker, I was pining for a more substantial sauce, and the thick sweet and sour sauce in this recipe definitely does the trick.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork Chops (printer-friendly version)
makes 4 servings

4 boneless organic pork chops
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons corn starch

1. Place the pork chops in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, honey, ginger, soy sauce, ketchup, and garlic.
3. Pour the mixture over the pork chops, covering them evenly.
4. Cook on low for 4 hours, or until the pork chops are tender and cooked through. Prior to serving, stir in the corn starch to thicken the sauce.
5. Serve over rice.

 (adapted from this recipe)

What's For Dinner: Slow-Cooker Pork Chops

Work officially got in the way of blogging last week -- hence my radio silence following last Monday's post. After working over weekend, I also worked for several hours on Monday (a company holiday), and then proceeded to work 12- and 13-hour days on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was not fun, but our project schedule demanded it. Sleep took precedence over blogging -- but hopefully last week was the worst of it, and I should be back to my regular Monday, Wednesday, and Friday posting schedule this week. We shall see.

Meanwhile, last Monday was D's birthday, and later this week I'll share some fun cupcakes I baked up for our little celebration. I stopped by Golden Harvest last Monday afternoon to find some inspiration for his birthday dinner -- I ended up picking up a 10-oz grass-fed steak and a package of pasture-raised pork chops. D chose to grill the steak, so I made pork chops for dinner later in the week. Given my crazy-busy work schedule, I knew that a slow cooker recipe would be my best option. A quick Google search resulted in finding a well-reviewed recipe on Allrecipes.com, and after determining I had most of the ingredients on hand, I decided to go for it. I made a few changes to the original recipe, including subbing in a variety of herbs and spices for the called-for poultry spice mix. The pork chops cook in a herby broth which makes a delicious sauce. You might want to consider stirring in a tablespoon or two of cornstarch into the broth at the end to make a gravy to ladle over the cooked pork chops.

Though pork chops might conjure up thoughts of a super-tough cut of meat, this preparation results in  meat that is fall-apart tender and full of flavor.

Slow-Cooker Pork Chops (printer-friendly version)
makes four servings

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon ground marjoram
1 teaspoon ground rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 boneless pork chops
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients but the pork chops in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour into a 4-quart slow cooker bowl.
2. Use a sharp knife to get 3-4 small slits in each side of the pork chops. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Place the pork chops in the slow cooker, making sure that they are covered by the liquid.
3. Cook on high for four hours. Baste occasionally with the cooking liquid.
4. Serve over rice.

(adapted from this recipe)

What's For Dinner: BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Memorial Day signifies the beginning of the summer season. Though I don't particularly associate summer with my slow cooker, I had the urge to make pulled pork sandwiches for my parents while they were in town, so out it came.

After brunch on Sunday we headed to Whole Foods, where I picked up some pork shoulder (aka pork butt), a can of Whole Foods root beer, and a few other items to go along with our sandwiches, including a tasty cucumber-tomato-onion dill salad and cole slaw.

Apparently Food & Wine magazine was reading my mind, as Sunday morning's F&W Daily email featured a recipe for slow cooker barbecued pulled pork. I was intrigued by the recipe's addition of onions to the slow cooker at the beginning of the cooking period. I opted to caramelize the onions before adding them on top of the pork in the slow cooker. And, since I had a head of roasted garlic in the fridge, I decided to add those roasted cloves to the slow cooker as well.

The resulting pulled pork was quite savory and was a hit with my parents. I think this may just be my go-to pulled pork recipe from now on.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches (printer-friendly version)
makes enough for 8+ sandwiches

2-3 lbs pork shoulder
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 can of root beer
1 onion, chopped
8-10 roasted garlic cloves

1. Place the pork shoulder in the bowl of a slow cooker. (I used the 4-quart bowl.)
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour a can of root beer over the pork.
4. Add in the roasted garlic cloves and caramelized onions.
5. Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 6-7 hours.
6. Use a knife and fork to shred the pork. Drain off the liquid.
7. Stir in about 1-2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce. (I like to make mine from scratch.)
8. Serve immediately with buns and a selection of sides.

What's For Dinner: Dr. Snap Pulled Pork Sandwiches

As I mentioned the other day, I (kind of randomly) decided to make pulled pork sandwiches for dinner on Sunday night. Inspired by a Pioneer Woman recipe that used Dr. Pepper, I picked up a can of Whole Foods' version of the drink (Dr. Snap, though I think it would be funnier if it were named 'Snap, PhD') to make up a batch of pulled pork. Though I had a bottle of BBQ sauce in the cupboard, I decided to make up a batch of my own anyway -- the stuff that's made from scratch just tastes so much better. I picked up a variety of rolls for our sandwiches; pictured above is a yummy pretzel roll.

Dr. Snap Pulled Pork (printer-friendly version)
makes enough for 8+ sandwiches

2 lbs pork shoulder (our pork shoulder came from Simply Grazin', a farm located in NJ, and had a Whole Foods animal welfare rating of 4 (pasture centered)
freshly ground black pepper
fine sea salt
1 12-oz can of Dr. Snap

1. Place the pork shoulder in a slow cooker. Season both sides liberally with salt and pepper.
2. Pour a can of Dr. Snap over the pork. Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 6-7 hours.
3. Before you shred the meat, use a spoon to ladle off some of the fat. You can also remove any residual fat on the meat as well.
4. Use a knife and fork to shred the pork. Drain off the liquid.
5. Stir in about 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce.

What's For Dinner: Pulled Pork Sandwiches

For the finale of Meat Week, I opted to make pulled pork after being inspired by a feature on the dish in a recent issue of Food and Wine magazine. Instead of using the recipe in the magazine, however, I opted to use a different one I found on the Internet -- there's no way I could pass by a recipe that involves root beer! I purchased a couple of pounds of pork shoulder at Whole Foods in Fort Collins and I sourced a bottle of root beer made with natural ingredients at Big Hollow Co-op here in town. Though I was considering just buying a bottle of barbecue sauce to finish off the pulled pork, I decided that would be a bit of a travesty given the provenance of the meat, so I took advantage of an afternoon teleconference and made a batch from scratch. It took a lot of ingredients, but not too much time, and I think the results definitely rival what can be found bottled in a grocery store.

Pulled Pork

makes enough for 8+ sandwiches

2-3 lbs pork shoulder

1 12 oz bottle Virgil's root beer

1. Place the pork shoulder in a slow cooker.

2. Pour a bottle of root beer over the pork. Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 6-7 hours.

3. Use a knife and fork to shred the pork. Drain off the liquid.

4. Stir in about 1-2 cups of barbecue sauce.

5. Serve immediately. I served the pulled pork along with hamburger buns, potato chips, and vegetarian baked beans.

Barbecue Sauce (adapted from this Food and Wine recipe)

makes about 3 cups

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

fine sea salt

1/4 cup Maker's Mark whisky

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup water

1 cup Simply Heinz ketchup

1/4 cup organic molasses

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

2. Add in the chopped onion and garlic along with a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

2. Pour in the whiskey, and simmer for two minutes.

3. Add in the chili pepper, black pepper, allspice, and cloves. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until the spices become fragrant.

4. Stir in the brown sugar, water, ketchup, molasses, mustard, cider vinegar, and hot sauce. Reduce the heat to low/medium-low and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

5. After the sauce has thickened, use an immersion blender to puree the sauce. (Alternately, use a blender, but allow the sauce to cool a bit first before pureeing.)

6. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to two weeks.

{bbq sauce ingredients -- chili pepper and allspice partially hidden, water and veggie oil MIA}