This recipe is best made in a slow cooker.  I always throw this in in the morning (or afternoon if I can make it home at lunchtime), set it on low, and have dinner ready when I get home from work.  It is best served on toasted wheat Kaiser buns.  Goes great with a creamy mac n’ cheese.  I will occasionally have the ambition to make my own BBQ sauce, but the way I like it, it turns out almost exactly like KC Masterpiece, so if I am feeling lazy I just use that (which is much of the time).  I will include the recipe for my BBQ sauce also, but KC works just as well as I am sure another BBQ sauce of your liking would. 

            Ingredients:     

            3-4 lbs raw pork shoulder (AKA pork butt, teehee--am I the only adult immature             enough to still giggle at that?  I think not.)
            ½ tsp salt
            ½ tsp fresh cracked pepper 
            1 tsp brown sugar
            1 tsp chili powder
            1 tsp paprika
            ¼ to ½ tsp cayenne powder
            ¼ to ½ tsp crushed red pepper

Preheat a heavy pan (cast iron if you have it) to a good high heat.  Trim the pork shoulder so that there isn’t an excessive amount of fat.   You want some on there, but it is harder to get rid of the big chunks once it is cooked so I prefer to remove the thick stuff now.  Give the pork shoulder a good rub down with the spice mixture.  Now to be honest here, I have never actually measured these spices out, so those are all guesstimates.  I usually just throw some of each in a bowl and start rubbing until the thing is pretty well coated.  These are adjustable to your tastes.  Now sear off each side of the pork in the hot pan.  Only a minute or two on each side should be necessary if the pan was hot enough when you started.  You just want to get a nice browning on the outside surfaces.   This adds some flavor.

            1 onion, sliced
            5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
            One can of ginger ale
            Enough beef broth to nearly submerge the pork shoulder
            A squirt or two of the BBQ sauce that you are using

Once the pork is seared off, put it into the crock on low heat with the list of ingredients above.  If you want it to be completely falling apart, soft, and tender, aim for a 5-6 hour cook time.  If you want it to have a little more bite to it, but still be tender (not quite as easy to pull, but many prefer the texture this way) let it go for more like 4 hours.  Once finished in the slow cooker, pull it out and let it rest in a baking dish for about 15 minutes.  Using two forks, and removing as much of the fat as possible as you go, pull the pork apart and put it into a Dutch oven (also makes me giggle) or other heavy-ish pot.  Ladle some of the juice from the slow cooker as you go so that it has no chance of drying out (it shouldn’t be swimming in it, just moistened by it.  And another side note, I usually avoid the onions, they are too mushy at this point).  This is when you get to slather it with as much BBQ sauce as you’d like.  The next step is completely optional, but it will give it a nice browning and crisp on top if you like that sort of thing.  You can put it either in a very hot oven or under the broiler so that the top layer gets a nice browning that (if you don’t burn it) will give it a more dynamic texture.  Enjoy!!

BBQ Sauce

Sauté for about two minutes:
2 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp crushed red pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
Then add in:
2 cup ketchup (only Heinz, baby! Anything else would be blasphemous in the ‘Burgh.)
2 cup water
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp mustard (I like to use whole grain)
1 bay leaf
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup molasses 

Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer until thickened to desired consistency.  This should probably take 15-25 minutes. 

Lori Horowitz was born and raised an East Ender, and still makes her home there.  She loves baking and cooking delicious stuff, dancing the night away, and anything involving the out-of-doors.