Sunday, March 27, 2011

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

When the Pioneer Woman posted this recipe earlier in the week, I knew that making it would be in my near future. Her super easy  brisket has successfully fed many carnivores at my house, and this pork sounded like it was in the same vein. We ended up with a chilly weekend and no plans - the perfect excuse to slow cook a giant hunk of meat. Chris described it as "pretty good for indoor pork", which seems like an accurate description. For something that wasn't dry rubbed overnight and then smoked for hours over apple wood, the results were quite tasty.

I wish I had used the larger can of chipotles, as PW recommends. I was trying to ensure it would be toddler-friendly, but it could definitely have used a little more kick. I also wish I'd used more onions. At the end, I chopped up the onions and peppers and threw them back in the shredded pork. More onions would have been nice. Before serving, I reduced the cooking liquid to concentrate the flavor and make it a little thicker and I also added a bit of mustard. Overall, an incredibly simple and delicious pulled pork with a lot of versatility. We served on rolls with purple coleslaw, but it might end up on tortillas or in pasta sauce later this week.

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork
Serves 8-10
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
  • 1 5-8 lb pork butt or shoulder (my cut had a large bone in the center, not sure if it was mislabeled or not)
  • 1-2 large onions, cut in to wedges
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 can chipotle peppers (I used 7 oz, PW calls for 11 oz.)
  • 2 cans (or 3 cups) Dr. Pepper
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • 2 tbs mustard
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread onions over bottom or large dutch oven or roasting pan. 
  2. Season pork liberally with salt and pepper. Place over top onions. Pour chipotles and Dr. Pepper over pork. Dissolve brown sugar in a bit of Dr. Pepper and pour over meat as well.  Tightly cover pan and place in oven. 
  3. Roast for six hours (carefully turning every hour or so),  until meat easily pulls apart.
  4. Remove meat to cutting board. Pull apart with forks, discarding large clumps of fat and bone. Chop onions and peppers and mix in with meat.
  5. Pour juices in to a fat strainer. Once separated, pour about two cups of juices in to small sauce pan. Bring to simmer and reduce to about half. When reduced, add mustard.
  6.  Add juices back to shredded meat and serve.

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