Pig pickin'

My friend Michael is the best . . . he smart, funny, cute as a button, giver of the bestest advise and generous with his recipes.  If my hunny would allow me to get him a brother-husband, Michael would be my first choice. . . though HIS wife might have something to say about THAT!

I made this amazingly easy and delicious recipe for the birthday party of another awesome friend.

Pulled Pork . . . LaPaglia style!

   

To make the sauce combine:

·        6 Tbl Olive Oil

·        1 ½ Cup Ketchup

·        ¾ Cup Soy Sauce

·        ¾ Cup Canadian Whiskey (Canadian Club, Or Seagram’s V.O. ONLY, Trust Me On This.)

·        3 Tbl Brown Sugar

·        3 Tbl Yellow Mustard

·        1 Tbl. Worcestershire Sauce

·        3 Clove Garlic Minced

Plus 4-6 cloves small garlic for the pork shoulder

Start with a 3-5 bone in pork shoulder Make 4-6 little pockets in the pork with a knife push a small clove of Garlic in the hole making sure its not going to pop out. Brown well on all sides in a heavy frying pan in 3 tablespoons of oil. Put in the crock pot and cover with the sauce. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

When it’s done remove from the sauce and pull it apart. It should be cooked enough so that it will just fall apart when you pull on the meat. If you are a wimp you can use two forks instead of your fingers.  

Skim as much oil from the sauce as you can. If sauce is too thin, reduce it on the stove. It should be as thick as it was when you first made the sauce. Most times you will have to reduce it by 1/3 to ½ to get it thick enough. It’s not real thick but it is not thin either, Pay attention to the thickness when you make the sauce.   

Once the sauce is the right consistency reserve about 8 to 10 oz of the sauce and pour the rest on over the pulled pork and mix well. Serve it on a good crusty roll and have potato salad and cole slaw as sides. Put the reserved sauce in a squeeze bottle and let people add extra sauce if they want it.

I have never used it on chicken but I imagine it would be quite good.  Brush it on the chicken during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Canadian Whiskey is not the same as Jack Daniels or Seagram 7 or Scotch. It’s a rye based whiskey so don’t substitute without expecting a big flavor change. Also the cheap stuff is not worth the time. It just tastes bad. Stick with the brands mentioned above.

This will serve 4-6 hungry people with leftovers.

I have a problem with following directions . . . just ask my husband . . . I NEVER listen to HIM!  :D

This recipe, as marvelous as it is, is no exception.  Since I was making it for a party, I doubled the recipe.  And, because I double the recipe the pork shoulder didn’t fit in my crockpot.  So, I decided to cook the big, honkin’ piece of meat in my cast iron camp oven.  I cooked it in my conventional oven at 200 degrees for 14 hours.  It was falling of the bone and smelled like a slice of barbeque heaven.  I reduced the sauce  . . . and this is where I took the biggest step outside the recipe . . . I added some red pepper flakes for a bit of fire and some real honey for a bit of sweetness . . . the result was nothing short of spectacular.