July 1, 2009

Carolina BBQ Pork

My brother and sister-in-law are very lucky people.  They're happily married, they're related to yours truly, my brother is about to add "Dr." to the beginning of his name, and whenever they move my sister-in-law might get to have her own real, live kitten.  More importantly, though, they live in North Carolina and get to eat Carolina BBQ any time they want.  Now that is lucky.  Since some of us are not so lucky, we have to make do.  Fortunately, making do turns out to be pretty simple.  It can be done with a few pounds of pork shoulder, a simple sauce, and a crock pot.  

Here are all the sauce ingredients. 


Actual amounts:
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp black pepper

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a big bowl and set aside.  


Here's the meat that I used - 3.38lbs. of boneless pork shoulder.  Anywhere from 3-3.5lbs. of meat should work with the amount of sauce above and will serve about 8 people.  


Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Cut the meat into three or four smaller pieces, and place them in the skillet to brown on all sides.  If you have a knife sharpener, I highly recommend sharpening your knife before slicing the meat.  It makes it so much easier.  


It will take about 10-15 minutes to brown all the sides.  


Add the meat to the crock pot.


Pour in the sauce.  


Cook on low for about 8 hours or high for about 4.  


The meat falls apart when it's done.  Remove it from the crock pot and put it on a plate or a cutting board to shred.  


How good does that look?  


Use two forks to shred all of the pork.  Discard all of the big pieces of fat.  


I could never be a vegetarian.  


Once all the meat is shredded, put it back into the crock pot and turn the heat up to high for about 20 minutes so the newly exposed surface area can absorb a little more of the sauce.  


Add a little coleslaw and fried okra to the mix, and you might think you're in North Cackalacky after all.  


Labels: ,

6 Comments:

Blogger Elizabeth said...

This looks SO GOOD. Remember the BBQ in Nashville? I'm moving to the South. Ok, not really.

July 01, 2009  
Blogger - Nicholas.Eoin - said...

Zhang!@

July 01, 2009  
Blogger slens04 said...

I was at a wedding with my best guy friend this weekend and he saw your blog when I featured it on my blog. Needless to say, he has become obsessed with making your recipes as well. He is getting ready to feature your blog on his, too.

You are going to be the next food network star!

July 02, 2009  
Blogger slens04 said...

p.s. I think the best part was we were in the middle of a conversation and he would just say, "More Cheese More Chocolate" said...

ha ha ha

July 02, 2009  
Blogger Kirsten said...

Eliz - I really do want to move to Nashville. You can come and visit and we can eat lots and lots of BBQ and although I would probably let you stay at my place, you might want to consider staying at the hotel with the red cowhide elevator walls.

Nick - Zhang yourself.

Stacey - Thanks for the comments! I never would have thought that my cooking attempts would come up in anyone's conversation. Also, thanks for the mention on your blog. Your asparagus tart looked so good - I think I'm going to have to try it.

July 06, 2009  
Blogger slens04 said...

Funny thing....Kamiah Walker was on my train back to Chicago on Sunday and she also brought up your blog and how impressed she was with your culinary skills.

You have a following!

My family and I made your homemade pizza crust recipe for grilled pizzas over the 4th and my mom is obsessed with it. She almost went up and talked to your mom about it in church.

July 07, 2009  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home