It's summertime and our thoughts naturally turn to pulled pork. Well, mine do anyway! Unfortunately, my current outdoor gas grill is not up to the task; so I made my indoor version. My indoor oven-barbecued pulled pork is a variation on my braised pork shoulder (I'll post that during fall or winter). As always, I used carefully sourced pork, not from CAFOs.
I don't know about you, but I don't like to dirty up every pot and pan in the house unless I have to. So I devised this recipe to be a no-muss-no-fuss-all-in-one-pan kinda thang. It makes enough for six big sandwiches or a dozen sliders.
If you're making big sandwiches, whip up a batch of my homemade hamburger buns. If you're making little sliders (as pictured), try my homemade slider buns. Pulled pork can be made a day ahead. Just reheat, tightly covered, at 300 degrees for an hour before serving. I like mine without any extra barbecue sauce and with coleslaw on top of the meat. My husband likes his with extra barbecue sauce and the coleslaw on the side (in a separate dish, of course--he's like Monk, doesn't want his foods touching!).
How about you? Do you have any funny little food quirks? (I have a few, but I'll save them for another post!)
Oven-Barbecued Pulled Pork
(Serves 6)
2 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into about 5 strips
1 1/2 teaspoons organic canola oil
Dry Rub
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet Rub
1 tablespoon lower sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
Braising Liquid
1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 large stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1 3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce
Sauce
1/2 cup of your favorite homemade or store-bought barbecue sauce
1 Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Oil 12-inch straight-sided skillet (Mine is the All-Clad Stainless 6-Quart Saute Pan) with the organic canola oil. In small bowl, combine ingredients for dry rub; set aside. In another small bowl, stir together ingredients for west rub; set aside.
2 Cover pork strips with wet rub on all sides, then with dry rub. Arrange strips in single layer in oiled 12-inch straight-sided skillet. Roast 35 minutes; turn strips and continue roasting for 15 minutes, until well browned. Keep an eye (and nose!) on it. You want browned bits as the foundation of your braising liquid, but burned bits will ruin it!
3 Transfer strips to plate; set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Pour off all but about a tablespoon of fat from the skillet. Add the onion, celery, and carrot to the pan and cook until soft, about 12 minutes. Over medium heat, add water and soy sauce and bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits.
4 Bring to boil and add strips; return to boil, cover pan tightly with foil and lid and simmer in 300 oven for 2 hours. The pork is not completely submerged in liquid, so the crispy edges formed by the initial roasting will stay that way.
5 Transfer strips to 1.5-quart oval Corning casserole or something similar. Strain braising liquid into 2-cup glass measure, pressing out liquid from solids; discard solids. With small ladle, remove fat from top of liquid. Add water, if needed, to bring volume of sauce to 1/2 cup. Stir in barbecue sauce.
6 With two forks, shred pork in casserole, removing any large pieces of fat. Stir in sauce. Serve immediately or cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to reheat and serve.