Please don't think that I'm straying from my Texas roots by including pork in the 'barbecue' category. I'm just expanding my horizons a bit, spreading my wings. For those of you who don't understand what I'm talking about, pork barbecue is more of an 'east of the Mississippi ' thing, whereas most barbecue in Texas is beef. In fact, I didn't even know about pork barbecue until I was in college and visited my brother in North Carolina. I know, I lived a (relatively) sheltered life. Anyway, this recipe mainly comes from Emeril on the Food Network with a few tweaks here and there. It's great in barbecue, but could also be Tex-Mex'ed up and served in tacos (minus the barbecue sauce, of course). Talk about a winner! And the Emeril's Essence Creole seasoning would be great on grilled chicken legs (which is exactly what I plan to make later this week).
1 pork shoulder roast (Boston Butt or Picnic roast), about 6 to 8 pounds
4 teaspoons Essence, recipe below
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 whole onion
2-3 cloves garlic
2-3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2- 1 cup chicken broth
Homemade Barbecue Sauce
10 to 12 sandwich buns
Remove the pork from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before proceeding. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil (you could also use a dutch oven). To begin, just throw the Essence, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and brown sugar into a food processor or blender. Cut one onion into quarters and put it in the food processor with the spices. Blend mixture until totally combined and then pour it over the pork shoulder. Now thoroughly rub over the meat. Place a roasting rack inside the roasting pan and place the seasoned pork on the rack, fat side up. (I don't have a roasting rack so I just rolled up pieces of foil and lined them up in the bottom of a baking dish, just enough to lift the roast off the bottom of the pan - it worked great. If you have a slow cooker, you could use that to; it comes out so tender - it literally falls apart!) Then place the pork into a roasting pan or Dutch oven and pour chicken broth in the bottom of the pan/dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 6 hours, turning once every hour. (If you're using a slow cooker, use a little less chicken broth and cook on high for 6-8 hours.) When it is fork tender, turn up the heat, remove the foil from the roast and continue to bake about 15-20 minutes until the fat on top becomes crispy. Remove the pork from the oven and set aside to cool slightly. Remove any excess fat from the roast and discard if desired. Using 2 forks or your hands, shred the pork into bite-sized pieces.
Serve with sauce and buns to make sandwiches.
Number of Servings: 12
*adapted from Emeril's (on foodnetwork.com) and Pioneer Woman's recipes.
Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
Yield: 2/3 cup
I would also like to shout out to my mom-in-law, who bought, and my mom, who brought to us, this giant bag of brown sugar which has made all of this week's barbecue yumminess possible. Seven (yes, you heard me) pounds of brown sugar! Notice I placed pen beside the bag so you can see how monstrous the thing is. I love it!
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