Monday, May 5, 2008

Pulled Pork (sorta)

"I promise to love, honor and cherish, and go out to dinner every Friday and Saturday night, for as long as we both shall live." Or, at least, that's how I remember our vows.

When we lived in Knoxville, there was a great rib place in an old, converted barn, right in the middle of all of "the stuff of civilization". While I love a great plate of ribs, I don't like the mess when I'm out, and I don't like all the tooth work involved. Not that the meat is tough, I just don't like chewing it off the bone. One of their great dishes was "Pulled Pork". It literally was the meat pulled off the ribs, then doused in a great barbecue sauce. Served with steak fries, it was a manly dish adapted to the more delicate needs of a mess-averse girly-girl.

Since 1994, when we spent an entire summer on the road for business (literally - we left Memorial Day weekend, and returned on Labor Day, so the kids could start school th next day), my dearly beloved has refused to follow the "out to dinner" part of his vows unless we were out of town - and not happily then! So, Frid
ay and Saturday dinners for me are the ones I refuse to take much time for. On Friday and Saturday, I'm doing something that takes a while - wallpapering, sewing, new drapes, whatever - and I'm not going to waste a lot of time cooking. So last Thursday night I had made the Wall Street Journal's pork roast, but had a lot left over. Saturday I remembered the Pulled Pork, and decided I'd make a variation of it. Everyone loved it.

SORT OF PULLED PORK

2 to 3 pounds leftover pork, cut into small strips
2 cups water
3 beef bouillon cubes
1 onion, minced

1/4 cup water whisked with 1/4 cup flour
A couple of dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
3 loaves French Bread, cut in half

Boil the water, cubes and onion, and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk in the water/flour mix; stir until thickened. Add the pork; simmer about 15 minutes. Spoon into the rolls with a slotted spoon, to avoid too much gravy; add more gravy if desired. This is a very filling, and easy, meal.



3 comments:

Paula said...

This sandwich would be my son's version of manna from heaven. I can just envision him snarfing it down and then asking that familiar phrase ... "can I have some more, please?".

Marjie said...

Yes, Ryan thought he'd need more, too. Then he ate it. Full tummy. End of story (groan).

Debbie Cook said...

Pulled pork BBQ is one of our usual weekly meals. My husband and sons can't eat enough of it, and we still usually have enough left over that DS#2 gets it in his lunchbox the next day. But I make it the super easy way.

1 good size boneless pork "picnic" roast (you want it to be fatty, not lean, which is why the picnic kind is good for this)
1-1/2 C ketchup
1-2 tbl yellow mustard
1-1/2 to 2 cups brown sugar (not packed)
1 tbl molasses (for color)
1 tbl apple cider vinegar

(or you can use bottled BBQ sauce)

Remove strings/pop-up timer thingie, if any, and put roast in crockpot on high all day (6-7 hours).

When meat falls apart easily, drain grease.

Get two big serving forks and shred the meat. If it has cooked long enough, it will pretty much shred itself as you stir it around.

Combine remaining ingredients and mix into the shredded meat. Let simmer in crockpot on low for about 30 more minutes.

Done. Serve on buns or sans bread. One son of mine likes w/, the other without.

As you can see, I don't really measure anything. And my guys like sweet & sour BBQ sauce. You can add things like onion powder, garlic, pepper, tomatoes, etc. for variety.

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Congrats on DD's graduation!! Is she your oldest, first college grad?