It’s a blustery storm filled day here in New York; the leading edge of the storm Joaquin is lashing along our southern shores, and the wind and rain is coming across in waves…
It’s at times like these that I can imagine hopping a train or jumping into my car with my Baby and just heading south of the border to where it’s warm and the sun stills shining; but you can’t always do those crazy spur of the moment things that your mind may dream of…
What you can do though, and what I ended up doing, is cook up a delicious meal that brings back all the pleasant memories of the sun, summer and good old southern cooking
So what I created for me, my Baby and my sweet Niece Taylor (who decided to join us) was a wonderfully tasty “North Carolina Pulled Pork” recipe with a crisp apple vinegar based “Slaw”
Just love finding ways to make certain foods in different ways, and being able to make a flavor filled Pulled Pork in the oven using parchment paper and aluminum foil amazes me…
So getting together the few ingredients needed; I prepped dinner and started it slow cooking in the oven, basting it every so often with a delightfully spicy mix of apple cider, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes...
Meanwhile I threw together a delicious Coleslaw recipe using a mix of brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, oregano, salt and parsley…
Finally after refrigerating the slaw, shredding all that tender pork and preparing both a sweet and a vinegar based sauce—I toasted up a mix of semolina, brioche and gluten free buns and served it up for all of us to enjoy….
Such a delicious down home style meal, full of such incredible flavor…
Definitely dug in to this with a gusto; meanwhile letting my mind wander to thoughts of sitting at a picnic table, sun warm on my back and hands sticky with that sweet spicy barbecue sauce….
Definitely a meal to enjoy because it is, oh so, “Definitely Delish…”
“North Carolina Pulled Pork with Vinegar Slaw”
Ingredients:
Pulled Pork:
2-3 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Red Pepper flakes
2 teaspoons plus 1 tblspn Sea or Pink Salt
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons fresh ground Pepper
1 8 pound Pork Shoulder Roast
Coleslaw:
3-4 cups mixed Savoy and Red Cabbage
2 small Carrots, grated
1 small Red Onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried Red Pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Apple Cider vinegar
1/4 cup Apple Cider (or juice)
Other:
Rolls for serving (Brioche, Pretzel, Portuguese or Kaiser rolls-personal preference)
1 tablespoon melted butter
Directions:
Pulled Pork:
1. Bring Vinegar to a boil with brown sugar, red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons sea salt and 1 tablespoon of pepper—stir until sugar dissolves, then set aside to cool…
2. While sauce cools, score pork in a cross hatch pattern (forming 1″ diamonds). Pat meat dry and rub all over with remaining 1 tablespoon of sea salt and pepper—let sit at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking…
3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit; place pork in to roasting pan and cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil, then roast for 1 hour…
4. After the first hour of roasting, baste pork with 1 cup of the vinegar sauce and continue roasting 1 hour more. After the second hour baste the pork with another cup of vinegar sauce…
5. Continue roasting, covered, about 2 hours more (if your pork shoulder has skin, cut it off at this point and place it on a rimmed baking sheet to roast separately on the bottom rack of the oven)
6. Meanwhile continue roasting the pork, uncovered, until the meat is browned (and skin is crisp, if any) about 45 minutes more…
7. Remove to set aside, on a cutting board, to cool enough to shred using clean hands and two forks to pull apart roasted pork…
Coleslaw:
1. Blanch the cabbage with boiling water for 1 minute. Discard the water…
2. Place the cabbage in a large bowl and add grated carrots, sliced onion, red pepper, oregano, olive oil, salt, brown sugar, cider vinegar, and apple cider…
3. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving…
Other:
1. Slice and brush rolls with melted butter, then toast under the broiler, being careful not to burn them…
2. Finally serve everything together, piled up high on your toasted buns with either the thickened (remaining) Vinegar Sauce used for basting or add ketchup, a touch of brown sugar and bourbon for a sweet, thick and tangy BBQ Sauce…
Drink Pairing:
1. Try a Smoked Porter such as those by the Southern Californian Stone Brewing Co. It’s crafted with a measure of peat-smoked malt that imparts an appealing smoky character, making the beer a suitable fit for pulled pork or other roasted swine. Robust flavors of chocolate and coffee contribute waves of complexity…
2. Or you can go the whole Hog, as it were, and dive right in to a bottle of Hard Cider, such as those by the Angry Orchard brewing co.—Hard cider doesn’t mean that it’s solid – it’s simply what they call the alcoholic ciders here in the US. The slam of bright, crisp, sweet apple flavor brings out the wonderful Apple flavors running throughout both the Pulled Pork and Slaw—leaving you feeling like you’re eating in a sunny field, down south, surrounded by Apple trees and warm breezes…
