You might want to serve this sandwich with a knife, fork, and bib.
It’s Super Bowl time, sports fans and foodies! You want to stay glued to the tube for both the game and halftime performance, right? So what should you feed the viewers in your COVID bubble? Definitely, something you can make ahead. A dish that others can serve and replenish for themselves. Pulled Pork to the rescue! Just sit back and let this meaty sandwich saunter onto the field to the cheers of its many fans.
Pulled Pork Scores a Touchdown
Few dishes are as simple, delicious, and versatile. I plop a seasoned Boston butt, or shoulder roast into the Crock-pot atop a bed of onion slices, add the roast, and top with more onions. Then I pour in a can of ginger ale, add the Crock-pot lid, and go to bed.
The long, slow cooking makes for a tender, flavorful roast—one you can shred with a couple of forks and anoint with barbecue sauce. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
A few simple ingredients. I often make slits in the roast and insert 6-8 slivers of garlic.
When you let your roast cook overnight the aroma alone will make for sound sleep, as well as the envy of your neighbors. You’ll have a meal for the next day and leftovers to freeze.
The pork, once shredded and doused with your favorite barbecue sauce, is ready to snuggle inside a a toasted, buttered bun along side a tangy helping of coleslaw.
My Crock-pot is so old, I suspect it’s now listed as vintage kitchenware. But it still works perfectly.
A “super bowl” of shredded pork awaits the barbecue sauce. Everyone has their favorite sauce. Mine is Sweet Baby Ray’s.
Pulled Pork Extra Pointers
- You want your pork roast to have some marbling, so stay away from a tenderloin. (It’s so lean that it can become dry.) Go with a pork shoulder or Boston butt (which isn’t from the butt at all, but the shoulder).
- Cook low and slow for about 10-12 hours in Crock-pot. (Slow cooking allows the protein to break down properly.)
- For cooking liquid, use a cola: Ginger Ale, Coke, Root Beer, Dr. Pepper, Seven-Up. Or beer.
- Don’t cover the roast with liquid. Just let it come up the side of the meat about an inch. More juice will develop in cooking.
- Shredded pork is not just for buns. It can be used in tacos, carnitas, with rice, beans or eggs, and atop a loaded, baked potato
- To freeze, spoon shredded pork into muffin tins (enough for a sandwich-size portion). When frozen, remove from tin and store in Ziploc bags. Or freeze pork in baseball-size chunks, or patties, and thaw as needed in microwave.
- Serve warm, shredded pork with side dishes, such as corn on the cob, coleslaw, potato salad, pasta salad, or applesauce.
Enjoy the game. Go Chiefs!!
Oh, oh, my mouth is watering! I have an ancient Sears Slow Cooker that’s going to be put to use tomorrow night for a Saturday feast. Mmmmmm-mm. There’ll be plenty to share. Thank you, Jean!