Ok, so summer can officially start now. I finally made my first batch of pulled pork. Normally I don’t eat red meat, but this seemed too good to pass up. After last weekend at the Farmers’ Market, when Ben was drooling over his pulled pork and mozzarella sandwich and completely oblivious to everything going on around him, I decided that I wanted to get that reaction out of him with MY cooking! Next trip to Kroger and I found myself browsing the meat section with somewhat of a grimace on my face (ewwwww, red meat and all that FAT!) as I searched out the smallest amount of pork butt that I could find. A few minutes later, my grocery cart was 7 lbs heavier (why doesn’t Kroger make smaller cuts of meat for poor, almost-vegetarian couples- ok, wives?) and I justified the decision by telling myself I could freeze some of it.
My oh my, I could have eaten this entire crock full of magical porkiness. And I don’t even really like pork! This was so tender, juicy, and simple! Not to mention the house smelled absolutely AMAZING all day long. I cut up the shoulder the night before into large hunks, then threw it in the crock pot this morning with some garlic powder, chili powder, and jerk seasoning, added the BBQ sauce and Coke, turned it on low, and let it cook away all day! This could not have been easier.
Ok, I’ll stop telling you how it couldn’t have been easier and start telling you how easy it was! 🙂
Ingredients:
6-7 lbs pork shoulder (aka pork “butt”- hehe.)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder, medium-hot
2 tbsp Jerk seasoning (or other spice rub)
1 bottle Coke Zero (probably about 2 cups total needed)
1 bottle BBQ sauce of your choice, plus more for sandwiches
2 yellow onions, sliced
8 hamburger buns
Shredded cheese
Directions:
Cut pork into large chunks (about 5-6″ squares or similar) the night before, trimming away excess fat, and place in a large ziplock storage bag. Refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, place meat into crock pot and season with garlic powder, chili powder and Jerk seasoning. Add BBQ sauce and enough Coke Zero to just about cover the meat. Top with onion. Set crock pot to low heat and cook 8-10 hours, until meat is fork tender.
Remove pork from crock pot and discard excess cooking liquid (make sure not to pour out the onions that have sunk to the bottom, though! That would be sad.) Using two forks, pull pork apart. This should be EASY. If it’s not easy, or if you’re not salivating all over yourself, something went wrong. (I don’t know what, but don’t blame me.)
Return pulled pork to crock pot, adding more BBQ sauce if desired, and turn pot to “warm” until ready to serve. Serve over hamburger buns with shredded cheese, BBQ sauce, and coleslaw to your liking! Also great with my Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries and Honey Balsamic Slaw!
Happy summer, everyone!
Claire Tastes 
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