The Other White Meat

I first got the Pulled Pork craving after reading this post on Pioneer Woman. I started an internet search that led me to several variations and techniques. I used a couple yummy recipe ideas and adapted all these to my own taste. See originals here:

Serious Eats.com

We Are Never Full.com

I learned that Pork Shoulder is the same as Pork Butt or also can be called Boston blade roast or Boston- style butt. Some recipes call this Pernil. All these make me laugh. What shocked me most was how CHEAP pork shoulder/butt is. At my Randall’s it was just over $1 a pound. Wow! I found some good info at The Other White Meat.

For the “mojo,” put all this into your cuisinart and blend well:
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 garlic cloves
5 tsp salt
5 tsp ground pepper
4 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 ½ cups OJ

1. After you wash your pork in cold water, take your pork shoulder and cut slits (1/2 inch long by 1/2 inch deep) all around the pork. This will allow the marinade to get into the meat.

2. Place the pork into a large zip top bag and pour the mojo into it, then massage the mojo into the pork. Allow it to marinate overnight or at least 6 hours in the fridge, but the longer you let it marinade the better it will taste.

3. Take the pork out of the fridge for a half hour before placing it in the oven.

4. Place in roasting pan or dutch oven and add a couple cups of water (I added almost two cups), season water well too. Cover and roast pork at 300 degrees for several hours, turning once every hour and spooning some of the liquid drippings over the meat. (I read somewhere that cooking time is about an hour per pound)

I cooked for about four hours and the meat was so tender it broke in half as I was pulling it out of the dutch oven.
5. Allow the pork to rest 15-20 minutes before slicing. Using two forks, shred away!

I'm proud of this pyramid of pork I have here. In case you were wondering, the picture below is the bone from the pork shoulder/pork butt...just in case you were wondering.

This is what my dutch oven looked like when I pulled the pork out. I couldn't let all the drippings go to waste, so I put this on the stove and boiled until there was about an inch of liquid left. Then I poured 1/2 glass of merlot into the boiling liquid and stirred it up from the bottom. I let this reduce a little more until I had about a cup of thick sauce.

To go along with my pulled pork tacos I sliced up an onion and tossed over high heat with a little olive oil until they were caramel in color.

Here is my assembly line. Flour tortillas, my homemade tomatillo salsa, pulled pork, wine au jus, caramelized onions - oh my! These were SO good. Not pictured is the sour cream.

My plan is to make pork verde enchiladas with the left overs. I love re-purposing meals!