Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Slow Cooker Barbecue Pork Shoulder

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 10 comments » / pork, slow cooker

Are you feeding a crowd for the Super Bowl this year?  A bunch of hungry men perhaps?  Well you might want to give some thought to this easy pulled pork.  You can prep it the night before, let it cook over night, and the majority of the work is done, leaving you free to prep some appetizers or dessert.

I found this recipe using the Epicurious App on my iPhone.  I read a lot of the reviews, and many people mentioned the sauce/juice was thin, and to reduce it.  So once the pork was fully cooked and shredded, I set a colander over a medium sauce pan, poured the entire mixture in, and pressed the pork to strain the juice out.  I returned the pork to the slow cooker, and then reduced the sauce on the stovetop for about 45 min until it was pretty thick.  Once I did that, the sauce was much improved, and mighty delicious!  You can either mix it back into the pork, or serve alongside it.

Also, just a little note, the recipe calls for the jalapeño WITH SEEDS, you might be a little worried about this being hot.  But I PROMISE YOU, as someone with a low-medium heat tolerance, I couldn’t sense the heat at all.  I promise you.  If you’re a bit wary, you can always remove the seeds, but I suggest keeping them in.

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Slow Cooker Barbecue Pork Shoulder

adapted from Epicurious
makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons hot chile powder
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco), or to taste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped (with seeds)
1 garlic clove, minced
3 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes including juice
1 bay leaf

Directions:

In small bowl, whisk together sugar, tomato paste, mustard, vinegar, chile powder, hot pepper sauce, and salt. Set aside.

In heavy, medium skillet over moderately high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onion, pepper, jalapeño, and garlic, and sauté until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Scrape into slow cooker.

Add pork cubes, bacon, tomatoes and their juices, and bay leaf and stir to combine. Pour sauce over mixture. Cover and cook on low until meat is very tender, 8 to 10 hours. Remove bay leaf and use fork to break up meat.

*Optional, but recommended: Separate pork and juice. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Reduce sauce for 30-1hr depending on thickness you want. (I went with 45 minutes.)

And now… for something I hope to remember to do more often, LINK LOVE!

If you’re looking for more ideas for the Super Bowl, here’s some great ideas from my blog, as well as from other blogs!

• A very recent post of mine, but perfect for a Super Bowl Party, Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers.
• Tequila Bars, a DELICIOUS boozy dessert I made for the party I went to last year.
• Need something to wash that Tequila Bar down with?  How about more tequila in the form of Touchdown Tea from Liesl’s Confection Dissection?  I can personally attest to it’s deliciousness!
• For a healthy spin, try these Garden Vegetable Pinwheels from TheNoviceChef.
• What’s a Super Bowl Party without queso dip?  I’ve been drooling over this version on One Particular Kitchen.
• Another dip worthy of tortilla chips, this SUPER colorful guacamole from Ezra Poundcake.