Pulled Pork Recipe

I made this tonight (an amalgamation of a few different recipes) and it was fantastic. It occurred to me when I was cleaning up that this is free of the top 8 allergens too - Bonus! This one is definitely a keeper.

I made it in the slow cooker and served it up with steamed rice, beans, tortillas, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, salsa, shredded cabbage, and pickled red onions (an awesome recipe for another time - email me if you want it now). We had 6 adults and 3 kids (all under 6) and the amount of meat was perfect (just a little left over for quesadillas tomorrow).

Here's what I did:

Pulled Pork for 8 or so
1 - 3(ish) pound boneless pork butt (or shoulder) -mine actually had a 3 inch piece of bone in it.
2.5 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 medium yellow onion
1 - 16.9 oz. bottle of coca-cola

Mix together sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and pepper in a bowl. Put pork in a Ziploc bag and add the sugar mixture, coating the piece of pork evenly. Push all the air out of the bag and seal. Put in the fridge overnight.

Take the pork out about 20 minutes before you start cooking the next day (this will take at least 6 hours to cook, so plan accordingly). While you're waiting for it, slice up a yellow onion into half moons, about a 1/2 inch in width. After 20 minutes is up, put the pork into your slow cooker. Scatter the onions around it. Pour the coca cola around the pork.

Turn on your slow cooker to high. Cook for 6 hours total on high (or about 8 on low), turning the meat halfway.

After cooking is done, the meat will fall apart. Take the meat out (along with the onions if you want to serve them with the meal). Shred the pork using two forks. Save the fatty bits for your Filipino sister-in-law if you have one :) Pour the cooking liquid into a fat separator, and discard the oil. Put the pork back into the slow cooker and add a bit of the cooking liquid to the meat to moisten it (not that you'll need to, but it adds a little more flavor) and keep it warm.

When ready to serve, mound the shredded pork on a platter and scatter the onions around the edges of the meat.

Try not to fight each other to get to the good bits. Wrap in warm tortillas with the aforementioned condiments and Enjoy!

If you make it let me know how it turned out for you! I hope the recipe makes sense - if you have any questions about it let me know. I'm writing it while I'm still in a food coma - I'm still so stuffed I can hardly move.

G

p.s. I know this isn't true 'pulled pork' - if you wanted to go that route, I would take about a cup of the resulting cooking liquid (de-fatted) and put it in a pot on the stove. Add about a tablespoon of brown sugar, a tablespoon or two of cider vinegar, and a few tablespoons (or maybe even a quarter cup) of ketchup and heat it up until it's warm. Then I'd mix it in with the pork until it's nice and moist. Put it on a bun with some fresh coleslaw and you're golden.