Today my roommate and I continued our Barbeque Week with another fantastic recipe from the website Tasty. Not long after we woke, we made ourselves a pot of joe, and as it brewed we set about the creation of the day’s recipe: Slow-Cooked and Bacon-Wrapped Pulled Pork Sandwiches. We discussed the culinary landscape of the USA, and said that Kansas City seemed to pull together all the disciplines of BBQ to form the “Barbeque Mecca” of the nation. Texas we associated with beef, and South Carolina with pulled pork sandwiches. So we decided on using a South Carolina sauce, which tastes more of vinegar than the sweeter flavors of KC.
Although the recipe called for 3 lbs of boneless pork shoulder, all we could find at H-E-B (the grocery store that Tim Duncan- one of my favorite all time athletes- does commercials for) was a 6 lb bone-in pork shoulder. We initially hoped to cook with the bone included, as this would add flavor, but all this wouldn’t fit inside the cooker. Taking it down to size, my roommate used what he described his best chef knife- which had been bought for him as a Christmas present from his brother. Watching him cut so smoothly through the pork in the early morning hours was a soothing and therapeutic experience for me. Once we had the pork in roughly half-pound slices, we seasoned them liberally before wrapping them in bacon.
These were slow cooked for about 7 hours, even though the recipe called for 6. For lunch, we finished off our chicken sliders that we made the night before. When the pork was ready, we both shredded it with forks before broiling it for a few minutes so that it was dark and crispy. We then poured the finished pulled pork and bacon into a bowl, smothered them with the South Carolina BBQ sauce, and spooned generous portions of these into large dinner buns. We then quickly added some salad to act as a side, fearing condemnation from our little lady in Colorado. Tasty’s recipe calls for slaw as a side, but we decided not to make this as I’m not a big fan of slaw.
We ate dinner early, about a quarter to five in the afternoon. The sandwiches were so much better than I could have hoped. They were moist and succulent, and about as perfect a sandwich as I can remember ever having. I probably enjoyed these puppies more than I did the chicken sliders- although this is no great surprise, as I tend towards pork more than I do chicken. I would most definitely recommend this recipe to a friend!
I’ll leave the recipe right here:
“BACON-WRAPPED SLOW COOKER PULLED PORK
Servings: 8-10
INGREDIENTS
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ tablespoon liquid smoke
8 strips of bacon
Coleslaw
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups red cabbage, shredded
2 cups cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, shredded
PREPARATION
Quarter pork to portion into approximately ½-pound pieces. This will cut down cooking time.
Place pork into a large bowl. Add salt, garlic powder, and liquid smoke, and mix until each piece of pork is evenly covered.
Wrap each pork with 2 strips of bacon.
Place pork into the slow cooker and cook for 6 hours on LOW.
In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
In a large bowl, add the vegetables and pour over the dressing and mix until the slaw is fully coated.
Take pork out onto a baking sheet. With 2 forks, pull apart the meat into desired size.
Broil on high for a few minutes to until the ends of the pork start to crisp up.
Serve on a bun with slaw and enjoy!”
TumbleweedWrites 