Chef Stephanie's February Treat: Barbecued Pulled Pork

I've been down with mono so I'm a bit behind blogging on Notions! Chef Stephanie of Nourish treated us to her best meal in February, I'm just a little late sharing it with you. It looks to be as yummy as all the other recipes she has shared with us.


February 27, 2009 – Barbecued Pulled Pork
During the winter, I love my slow cooker! But I find myself a little bit limited, because I don’t like the way chicken comes out of it – I find it a little bit dry and stringy. So I usually just slow cook beef and pork. I have a great recipe for Guinness-Braised Beef Brisket that I love (maybe I’ll share that one with you soon – I do have a can of Guinness in the fridge waiting to be used), and this is one of my other favorites. With a couple more months before I put my slow cooker away for the summer, I thought I would share this recipe with you now. And actually, now that I think about it, this recipe would also be perfect for a summer get-together. Who doesn’t love sloppy, saucy barbecue for a summer party?
There is very little prep involved in making this dish, which is great when you want dinner to be ready for you when you get home, but don’t have a lot of time in the morning. All you have to do is trim the meat, chop one onion and one pepper, put a spice rub on the pork and pour the (store-bought) barbecue sauce over the meat. Voila – you are done and dinner is waiting (and making your house smell really good) when you get home from work or from running errands with the kids. Definitely get a good-quality barbecue sauce, since that provides a lot of the flavor of the dish. Here in Chicago we get Frontera Grill sauces at Whole Foods, which I like because not only are they delicious and come in lots of varieties, but they also have no high fructose corn syrup in them, which most barbecue sauces are loaded with. (And despite what the Corn Refiners Association wants you to believe from their commercials, I don’t think anyone should be consuming a whole lot of HFCS.)
I usually serve this over rice or with flour tortillas, but it would also be great on a bun for a pulled pork sandwich (add a little coleslaw on top and yuuummmmm). Bon Appétit!

Barbecued Pulled Pork

Ingredients:
3 to 4 pound boneless pork roast (shoulder or butt)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground red pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium green pepper, sliced
1 jar (18 ounces) barbecue sauce
Cooked rice and flour tortillas (optional)

Preparation:
Trim excess fat from pork. Combine salt, cumin, paprika, black pepper, and ground red pepper in a small bowl; rub over pork. Place onion and bell pepper in slow cooker; add pork. Pour barbecue sauce over meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours (or on high for 6 hours). Remove pork from slow cooker and shred with two forks, discarding any fatty pieces that are left behind. Return pork to slow cooker to combine with sauce. Serve over rice with tortillas, if desired

Makes 4 to 6 servings.