10.29.2012

Made | Pulled Pork & Hurricane Provisions

It's very rare that things get shut down here because of snow, so when Mike's school and conference were canceled, I decided it'd probably be best for me to work from home today. We lost power a little bit ago for a good 20 minutes, and all I could think about was all of our precious frozen foods. But don't worry, the power's back on and the work day is almost over. 

Our preparations for the storm were as follows: 
Warm drinks. We have a stockpile of coffee, pumpkin-spiced teas, and hot chocolate. And regular sized marshmallows because those dried out mini things that come in the hot chocolate packets are a joke. This is serious hurricane business, people!
Pulled pork (recipe below!). We threw this in the crock pot yesterday afternoon and had it for dinner last night and lunch today. We keep saying to each other, with mouths full of pulled pork, "Why have we never made this before?!"
May I highly recommend getting Grillo's Pickles pickled red onions and hot dills for any ventures into pulled pork territory? You won't be sorry.
Romance lighting. Last night we lit some candles and plugged in our Christmas lights and pretended like the power was already out. Because, why not? Oh, we also got candles and batteries and water and candy and the latest of The Best American Short Stories 2012. 

A Crock of Pork

2 1/2 - 3 lbs of pork tenderloin or shoulder
1 - 1 1/2 c water or chicken broth or a mixture of both!
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 clove of garlic
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp Texas Pete (the only other acceptable hot sauce to use here would be sriracha, but just get some Texas Pete already)
1 c BBQ sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's)
1/4 c white vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

1. Slice up your onions and garlic, and place half of them at the bottom of your slow cooker. Layer your pork on top of that and sprinkle with seasonings.
2. Add the remaining onions on top, then pour water/broth and vinegar on top of that. Turn your slow cooker on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours.
3. After the initial 5 or 8 hour period, open the crock pot and get excited at how delicious it smells. Then pull the pork apart with two forks until well shredded. Add the BBQ and hot sauces and mix it up. Replace the lid for another hour or two.
4. Assemble on soft rolls with cole slaw and pickled red onions. Serve with salt and vinegar chips or potato salad!

Other ways to serve it...
Tonight we're making quesadillas with the pulled pork and red onions, and tomorrow we're going to make a BBQ pizza with it! Stay tuned...

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