BVC Eats: Pulled pork

This is a ridiculously complicated recipe, but only because of the skillion ingredients. The cooking part is pretty easy. The chipotle sauce is mild and smoky, and the guajillos are only a little stronger, with lots of round overtones.

5lbs or less (depends on your pot size) pork shoulder, bone in. Wash it, pat it dry. Score the fat layer quite finely.

Marinate the pork

5 T brown sugar OR 3 T dark molasses + 1/3 c white sugar
2 or 3 T Bufalo brand chipotle sauce
1 T garlic powder
1 T granulated dried garlic
1.5 to 2 t smoked paprika
1 t ground black pepper
1 T kosher salt
2 T white vinegar

Pound the dry spices in a pestle, then mix with the wet ingredients.

Pour the marinade into a gallon freezer bag, insert the clean dry meat, seal, squish the bag until the meat is evenly coated, and refrigerate it 1 day or more. Re-squish and turn the bag once or twice.

Smoke the pork

On the day you cook the pork, remove the meat from the bag. Pour the marinade into a bowl and reserve it.

1 huge sweet onion or 2 large. “Bloom” the onion(s), then drizzle them with oil. To bloom an onion, trim the stem end and peel the skins off a large onion. When cutting the skins off the bottom, trim as little as possible, or, just leave the onion skin on. You can cut most of it off with scissors, leaving the skin to help hold the onion together. With a sharp knife, make four or five slices all across the onion from the stem end toward the root end, taking care not to cut all the way through the bottom of the onion. The onion won’t fall open until it is in the oven. It’s no crisis if bits fall out while you are slicing it. Use ’em anyway.

Smoke the meat and the onion 1 to 1.25 hours 250-275 degrees w/ wet wood chips.

Remove the onion when it looks like getting pretty dry and curly-brown around edges. Chop the onion and reserve.

Braise the pork

Place the meat in a deep pan with a cover. No rack. Ensure that the cover will cover the pan securely to keep steam in.

Sprinkle the chopped smoked onion over and beside meat.

Next add to the pan:

10 smoked dried guajillo peppers

Break off the stems, break the peppers in half, shake out the seeds, and clean out the membranes.

Distribute the guajillo peppers beside the meat. Then wash your hands thoroughly before touching your face.

Pour 2¼ cups water mixed with the leftover marinade over the contents of the pan.

Cover and cook in a 300-degree-F oven for 4 to 5 hours until fork-tender falling apart.

Hint: Cook it long after it has reached 165 degrees.

Remove the meat from the oven and let it cool.

Deglaze the pan.

Correct the sauce seasonings, then put the marinade-y pan drippings and the cooked guajillos and onion bits in a blender on high speed for 30 seconds or less.

Shred the meat, plate it, and spoon the blended sauce over each layer in the serving plate.

Serve extra sauce on the side.

Serve with very cold beer and:

GRILLED PAPAYA

1 very ripe Jamaican papaya

Peel the papaya. Slice it in half.

Slice or dice one half and refrigerate the pieces, covered. Serve them cold.

Slice the other half and grill the slices until grill marks show. Serve them warm. You can smoke them, too.

SMOKED YAMS

1 to 2 lbs Japanese red yams or purple yams

Cut yams into 2” cubes or discs.

Put in a covered bowl and steam them in the microwave for 6 to 8 minutes until tender.

Stir with olive oil, salt, garlic powder, dried basil.

Smoke the seasoned yams on the grill 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve warm.

The Japanese red yams I get are purplish-red on the outside and light cream inside, sometimes with longitudinal striations along the tuber. When cooked, they turn yellowish inside. They’re less gooey and more starchy than Murcan sweet potatoes. My local grocery sells them as “yama.”

Reposted with permission from AGreenManReview.com