Food Blogging: Pulled Pork

Where I come from, "Pulled Pork" means a pig barbecued slowly over low heat for half a day or more, requiring constant attention. It means going to Bryant's in Kansas City, where a huge and rather scary looking guy puts a handful (literally) of meat between two slices of Wonder bread, pours sauce from a Mason jar, and wraps the whole thing in newspaper. So when I read a recipe in the San Diego Union-Tribune for "Pulled Pork" in a damned slow cooker, I was filled with doubt.

I was then filled with some of the best "Pulled Pork" I've ever had. No, it's not Bryant's, but it is wonderful and I highly recommend it.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
3 sweet yellow onions (i.e. Vidalia), chopped coarse
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp, dried oregano
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 boneless pork shoulder roast

Lay the onions in the bottom of your slow cooker. In a small bowl mix the olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Rub that mixture all over the pork roast and place it on top of the onions in the slow cooker. Nope, no liquid required. Cover and cook for 10 hours without ever removing the lid. Warning; the smell will drive you nuts.

Remove the pork roast from the cooker and put it on a plate, cover it with foil and let it sit while you deal with the sauce in the cooker.

Pour the sauce through a strainer into a bowl and put the onions back into the cooker. Separate the fat from the liquid and save the non-fat portion.

Pull the pork roast into shreds with two forks. Actually, it should be really tender and you may only need one fork, but… Put the “pulled” pork back into the cooker with the onions and add some of the sauce back to it, just enough to moisten it nicely. Save the rest of the sauce (it freezes nicely) for making gravy and the like.

Serve the pork with a spicy, garlicky barbeque sauce on the side.