Reason for tonight's menu: I chose this pulled pork recipe because it sounded the easiest (and had great reviews), the baked beans have been something I've been craving since my mom made them for me two weeks ago and since I have yet to find a decent bottle of BBQ sauce I decided to try out this simple sauce recipe (it all seemed rather no-fail to me).
Pulled Pork: I pulled this recipe off the allrecipes website, where I find most of the recipes I tend to test out. I made two minor changes (feel free to keep my changes or do as the recipe says), the original recipe called for 1Tbsp of liquid smoke I thought that sounded a little excessive (liquid smoke is some strong ass shit!)...so, I threw in a little less than a tsp and I followed that with a heaping tsp of Worcestershire Sauce (I could kiss whoever invented this stuff!). The second minor adjustment I made was at the end, after I shredded the pork I strained out most of the juice (left about a cup in the slow cooker pot)...I've never been a fan of overly-juicy meat making my bread all nasty soggy.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 3 pounds boneless pork roast
- 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups of water
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- Cut the pork roast into large chunks (trim excess fat). Season generously with the Cajun seasoning. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork, brown on all sides. Remove from skillet and transfer to a slow cooker.
- Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook for a few minutes (until tender). Stir in the water scraping the bottom to include all the browned pork bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the whole mixture into the slower cooker with the pork. Stir in liquid smoke and Worcestershire.
- Cover and cook on High for 6 hours or until meat is falling apart when pierced with a fork. Remove the pieces of the pork from the slow cooker and shred. Pour all but a cup of the juice through a strainer (put the onion and pork bits back in the remaining cup of juice). Return meat to the slower cooker to keep warm while serving.
Ingredients:
- 1 can (28 oz) of Bush's onion baked beans
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 6 strips of bacon (I use center cut...less fattening)
Directions:
- In a bowl mix baked beans, brown sugar and ketchup. Pour into a 9x9 baking pan. Lay slices of bacon evenly over the beans.
- Bake for 30-45 min (depending on how crispy you like your bacon) at 400 degrees.
BBQ Sauce: I'm pretty picky when it comes to BBQ sauce and finding the perfect bottle sauce has turned out to be impossible. This recipe sounded the most appetizing and it had really good reviews on allrecipes.com. The only minor change I made was to cut the amount of liquid smoke in half, the original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 onion, minced (I used a food processor)
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced (I used a food processor)
- 3/4 cups bourbon whiskey
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 Tbsp salt
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp liquid smoke
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 tsp hot pepper sauce *optional*
Directions:
- In a large skillet over medium heat, combine onion, garlic and whiskey. Simmer for 10 minutes or until onion is translucent. Mix in the pepper, salt, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and hot pepper sauce.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce.
