Tailgate Thursday - 'Bama Edition

Sorry in advance for the delay, I am wrapping up a short vacation, and didn't get to this until I got back home this afternoon.  Commence Tailgate.....

In this weeks episode, Mel goes into the heart of the enemy, and cranks out some of the southern bar-b-que speciality, the pulled pork sandwhich.

I'll get you through the pork here at BSD, if you want the reciepes for the sides and other goodies, you'll need to take a few minutes and head over to Kitchen Enounters.  Thanks and enjoy.

For the Pork Roasts & Sandwiches:

2  5-pound Boston butt pork roasts, bone-in 

For the Pork Roasts & Sandwiches:

2  5-pound Boston butt pork roasts, bone-in

2  dozen freshly-baked, soft-textured, large-sized rolls (I like to use brioche rolls)

For the Spice Rub:

2  tablespoons each:  sweet and hot Hungarian paprika

2  tablespoons dry English mustard

4  tablespoons "Jane's Original Krazy Mixed-Up Salt", or sea salt

1  teaspoon cayenne pepper

4  tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

For the Vinegar Sauce:

3 1/2  cups apple cider vinegar

1  cup each:  ketchup and pure maple syrup

3/4  cup yellow mustard

6  whole bay leaves

1/2  teaspoon hickory-seasoned, liquid smoke, more or less, to taste

1  teaspoon pure orange extract

2  pounds diced yellow or sweet cooking onion

1  teaspoon "Jane's Original Krazy Mixed-Up Salt", or sea salt

1  teaspoon red pepper flakes

Step 1.  Preparing the spice rub is very quick and easy.  Just mix all of the ingredients together as listed. I like to put the spice rub in an ordinary, glass cheese shaker.  It has large holes in the top which makes it easy to apply the rub!

Step 2.  Rinse the roasts under cold water and pat dry in paper towels.  Rub, rub and continue to rub spice blend over all surfaces of meat.  It's a little messy, but you'll get into it!  Place roasts on a rack in 2 a large doubled, disposable aluminum pans (trust me, you want to be able to throw the pans away after you are done).  Set aside, about 1 hour, prior to roasting.

Step 3.  Preheat and maintain oven temp at 320-325 degrees.  Roast meat on center rack of oven 6-7 hours, or until an instant read thermometer, placed several inches into the thickest part of the meat in 2-3 spots throughout the roast, reads between 190-195 degrees.  Remove roasts from oven, cover tightly with foil and allow to rest, about 45-60 minutes prior to saucing.

Step 4.  Combine all the sauce ingredients as listed, placing them in a 4-5-quart stockpot as you work.

Step 5.  Bring sauce to a gentle, steady simmer over medium heat.  Partially cover and maintain gentle, steady simmer for 30-40 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover pot and set aside until roasts are cooked.

Step 6.  Roasts are done!!!  That wasn't hard was it?  What did you do with yourself while they cooked themselves all day? Remove the foil from pan.  Remove rack from pan.  Let the roasts drop into the bottom of the pan with all of the fat and juices.

Step 7.  The fun beings!  Pull out and discard the bones. They're going come out in two big, easy to remove pieces.  Pull any meat that remains on them off and drop the meat chunks into the pan.

Step 8.  First, break both roasts up into large chunks and pieces.

Step 9.  Second, pull the chunks and pieces into smaller chunks and shreds.  When you're done with this "pulling" step, wash those hands, and, briefly reheat the sauce over low heat, just until warmed through. Do not allow the sauce simmer or boil!  You just want it slightly warm.  You don't want to cook the meat any further after you add sauce to it!

Step 10.  Ladle the sauce over the top of the meat in pan.  Don't just pour it directly from the pot into the pan.  You really want to get even ladlefuls of the sauce and onions distributed evenly over the meat

Step 11.  Using a ladle and a large rubber spatula:  methodically, ladle and mix, mix and ladle.  Take some breaks in between too.  You want to give the meat time to absorb the sauce Remember to remove and discard the bay leaves as you go along. At the end, you want the meat to be very moist and flavorful with no sauce puddling in the bottom of the pan.

Step 12.  To serve, place a big, generous scoop of pulled-pork onto the bottom half of each roll (toasting the rolls is an option, the choice is yours).  Top with a spoonful of my recipe for: ~ Creamy Crunchy Coleslaw, and Potato & Egg Salad.

That’s all for the pork, but keep in mind there is a ton [including more step-by-step photos of the pork] more over at Kitchen Encounters.  Also, there is a Friday morning Q&A session where Mel will be able to answer any additional questions that you guys have.