Pulled Pork - Oven Roasted

This slow roasted pork is delicious made into a sandwich and topped with coleslaw or eaten straight off the plate.

Having grown up eating North Carolina style BBQ, the sauce was a bit of a surprise for my taste buds. But, I thoroughly enjoyed the combination of tangy, sweet and the little kick of cayenne.

(You may of course, use whatever sauce you prefer, as the sauce is prepared separately and added to the meat prior to serving).

Step one: Brining

To insure the meat stays moist, I brine it in the refrigerator 24 hours (or at the least, overnight). The simple brine consists of the following ingredients

3/4 cup of Kosher Salt

3/4 cup of Brown Sugar

1/2 cup liquid smoke (optional)
Water

Heat about 2 cups of water until boiling, add the Kosher salt and the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Allow mixture to cool. Place your meat in a large non-metallic container and add the brine mixture and enough cold water to cover the meat. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours or until ready to roast.

When you are ready to roast the meat, remove it from the brine and rinse thoroughly in cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.

Ingredients:

5-6 lb Pork Roast - shoulder or Boston butt.

Olive Oil

Dry Rub:

3 Tablespoons Smoked Paprika

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Dry Mustard

3 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

In a small bowl mix the smoked paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, dry mustard and kosher salt until well blended.
 Coat the meat on all sides with a small amount of olive oil (enough to make the rub stick).

Cover the meat on all sides with the dry rub and place in a roasting pan on a rack. Allow the meat to sit at room temperature while you preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Bake the pork until the thickest part of the meat registers 190 degrees (the meat will easily fall apart with a fork at this point). This will take anywhere from 8-11 hours.

Remove the roast from the oven and allow it rest for 10-20 minutes. Using 2 forks, shred the meat from the bones.

Sauce Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar

1cup yellow mustard (8 ounce jar)

1/2 cup of ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar packed

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup of Bourbon (my secret ingredient, I use Jim Beam)

(If you like sauce you might want to go ahead and double this recipe, we definatley needed more sauce than this recipe makes).



Combine the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan, stir to combine well. Simmer over medium heat stirring frequently for about 10 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken and sugar has dissolved.

 This recipe was adapted from a recipe by Tyler Florence

Slow Roasted Sweet Bell Peppers Stuffed and Topped with Goat Cheese

This makes a very simple and tasty appetizer, light meal or side dish. Stuff the peppers with anything you like. I used things I had on hand, this is what I did. Ingredients Red, Orange or Yellow Bell Peppers Veggies for stuffing, I used: Sliced red onion Green Beans Sliced Fresh Garlic Cloves Sprigs of fresh Rosemary 1/2 of a Roma Tomato per pepper half, sliced the long way, seeds removed Approx 1 ounce of Goat Cheese per pepper half Small amount of olive oil Black Pepper Sea Salt Instructions Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Slice the peppers the long way and remove the seeds and the pulp, leave the stems intact. Rub the peppers inside and out with a small amount of olive oil and place on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. Clean whatever veggies you've chosen to stuff the peppers with. Place the cleaned veggies in a bowl. Season with a little sea salt and black pepper, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and toss to coat. Stuff the veggies into the peppers. Place the peppers in the oven and bake for approximatley 1 1/2 hours. Remove them from the oven. Turn the oven temperature up to 425 degrees. Top each pepper with approximatley 1 ounce of goat cheese and return them to the oven just until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5-10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and serve with a fresh hunk of crusty bread. Enjoy!