Nice Butt, I mean Shoulder… Wait, What?

Where do I begin? Pulled pork. That’s it, nothing more needs to be said…

When it is done right (and there is more than one right way), I love this stuff! Can’t get enough! To the point that I don’t need anything on the side, just pile that tender, savory meat on a bun and away I go!

Pulled pork was not originally on the meal plan this week but when the refrigerator stops cooling and you have to clean out the freezer to defrost the whole thing… well, you can’t throw away 7 and a half pounds of awesome!

Most often, I buy my pork shoulder at my favorite wholesaler in a twin pack, boneless. I always vacuum seal and freeze one and the other one I do in my slow cooker. It’s so simple; I rub it with dry rub, pop it in the slow cooker on a bed of onion slices, clove of garlic and beef bouillon cube, add a cup of water and we are only 10 hours away from succulent pork! I really think the secret is to not open the slow cooker, for any reason, for 10 hours. The one we enjoyed tonight had cooked overnight, worked perfectly. This pork shoulder came from a big sale at our local grocery store and had a bone. It literally slid out of the meat when I picked it up… SO tender!

Once the meat is cooked, I pull it with my fingers. I love what cooking the shoulder with the fat on does for the flavor of the meat but I do not want to bite a chunk of that… So I discard as much fat as I can while I’m shredding the meat. And of course there is all that meat juice! I run the cooking liquid through a fine mesh strainer and put it back in the slow cooker. Keeps the meat nice and juicy for serving. Doing it this way, I was able to pack a small thermos of pork for my husband’s lunch and the kids and I were able to enjoy it for dinner.

After her third plate tonight, my daughter says “Can we have this again the day after this day?” (which means tomorrow in sweet little girl language). And the answer is, ABSOLUTELY! Because we started with 7 ½ pounds of meat! This stuff reheats wonderfully! A couple of my favorite uses for left over pulled pork; Cuban Sandwiches and Pork Tacos. If you’ve never had a Cuban Sandwich – they are delicious! I like to do mine panini style on artisan bread with ham, provolone, pulled pork, sweet pickles and spicy brown mustard. Sweet, tangy, salty, melty, spicy… hold please, have to clean up some drool. My pulled pork tacos are topped with shredded mozzarella and homemade coleslaw. The crunch is awesome! And there is something about the cold, creamy slaw mixing with the warm salty pork… oops, more drool…