March 27, 2013

Pulled Pork “North Carolina Style”

Exploration ends in discovery.

When we met and became co-creators of Meg’s brainchild, The Zen of Slow Cooking,

a whole year of discovery lay ahead of us. On our first anniversary, we are celebrating a year-long exploration of the Zen business opportunities which continue to evolve.

Here are just a few of our highlights:

We were excited to co-host our first event – Sense, Slow Cook and Savor.

We’re slowly gathering a crowd of mindful followers of our website, launched just 6 months ago.

We’ve made connections with great sourcers of good ingredients, such as quinoa through Alexandra Meyer de Guevara of Andean Naturals.
We were featured on the blog Moms Kitchen Handbook, written by our talented friend and soon-to-be-in-print author Katie.

We made a splash in the Forest and Bluff Magazine and Pioneer Press.

Immersion in local food culture and making new food discoveries is one of the most desirable side effects of spending time on foreign shores. Just as in Europe where changing language – even dialect – a few miles down the road usually results in a change in cuisine and the wine, here in America it’s perhaps BBQ which best exemplifies the hugely varied regional cooking culture.

When Spanish explorers arrived in Mexico they brought with them a version of Barbacoa – Molly O’Neills “American Food Writing” recounts a fun story by John M. Duncan about navigating the customs of a roadside barbeque event in Virginia in the early 19th Century – which made its way north. Enthusiasts can talk for hours in animated debate about the best BBQ and I was keen to add my first American twist to my kitchen.

This is a popular recipe influenced by far flung spices, pleasingly illustrated by this hand painted typographic map of flavors – a collaboration by Tim Ferriss and Maptia. On a roadtrip from Chicago to Virginia, we went in search of this revered dish and after self-indulgent and thoroughly enjoyable research concluded that our preferred dressing is a North Carolina Vinegar Sauce.

Our slow cooking journey would be incomplete without sharing our great Pulled Pork recipe from Meg’s friend Maria O’Rourke which gets it’s smokey BBQ infusion from a few drops of liquid smoke. It’s simple to assemble and you can be free with your spice measurements. Traditionally pork shoulder (Boston Butt) is the preferred cut to retain moisture, if you lean toward a less fatty meat then try pork center loin cut which I always use and has equally delicious results.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time Low 6 – 8 hours
Servings 6

Rub Ingredients or Carolina Pulled Pork Zen Blend
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp celery salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried mustard powder
1/2 tsp dried minced onion
3/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

Other ingredients
5-6 lbs pork shoulder or center cut loin, trimmed of fat
1/2 cup water
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 cup cider vinegar

Carolina Vinegar Sauce
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tbsp cup brown sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
dash of hot sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper

Combine all the rub ingredients

Lay the pork on a chopping board and carefully remove any excess fat. Cut the pork into 2 inch cubes.

Combine the spices and pork in a plastic bag and marinate for a few hours or overnight.

After marinating, put the pork and spice mixture into the bottom of your slow cooker.

Pour the vinegar, water and liquid smoke over the pork. Put the lid on your slow cooker and turn to the Low setting for 8 hours or until the pork is falling apart. For the vinegar sauce, put all the ingredients in a jar with a lid (or a bowl) and shake (or stir) well to combine.

Once the pork has cooked, remove the meat from the slow cooker and shred onto a plate using 2 forks. Return it to the slow cooker and mix with the leftover juices in the bottom before serving onto a toasted bun with the North Carolina vinegar sauce on the side.

Looking Ahead
For the duration of Autism Awareness month of April, we’re shining the light on our gluten free, casein free recipes for your slow cooker.

Zen Toolkit
Toss any leftover pork in the vinegar sauce and spread over nachos, topped with avocado and shredded lettuce.

Line up your spice jars and set out dry ingredients the night before or skip this step and purchase our Carolina Pulled Pork “Zen Blend” filled with organic herbs and spices – everything you need to simplify your slow cooking experience.