Pulled Pork and BBQ in a Bag

Pulled Pork

A couple of weeks ago there was a wedding at my parents-in-law acreage. For an easy lunch my mother-in-law made some pulled pork and served it with some side salad. It’s easy to eat while running around and doing some things. I was amazed by the flavour, not just of the pork but also my the soup that was left over as a result.

A couple of days after that the city of Saskatoon has a food festival called “Taste of Saskatchewan”. Local eateries set up booths in a park and serve about 3 dishes. You buy tickets and go have fun. It’s pretty neat and you get to see some restaurant which you do not know yet. One of those was BBQ in a Bag and oh boy was that ever good.

As a result I thought I should make some pulled pork myself. I have a rather small crock pot (4 Quads) but it worked out nicely. You might also use a large pot and cook it in the oven, but I’d say the crock pot uses less power.

Ingredients Pulled Pork:

– 1.5kg pork shoulder or pork shoulder bud
– salt
– pepper
– paprika
– honey
– BBQ sauce
– vegetable broth
– 1/2 cup apple cider vingear
– water
– 1-2 onions
– 2-3 carrots
– small celery root
– green onion
– 1-2 kohlrabi

Ingredients

The amount of meat you will use depends largely on how many people you need to feed. A 1.5kg should will feed about 6 adults. The amount of broth, water and BBQ sauce depends on the size of your crock pot.

Tip: A pork shoulder has more fat on it than a pork shoulder bud, I was told.

Take the shoulder, cut off excess fat, then rub it with salt, pepper, paprika, and if you like other spices. Rub it with a bit of your BBQ sauce and honey, then wrap it in plastic foil and let it sit in the fridge for 30 min to an hour.

While you wait you can work on the vegetables. You may add or leave out if you do not like some of these things. Cut the onions in strips, the carrots in larger chunks as well as kohlrabi. I rather finely chopped the celery root and green onions. The smaller the pieces will sort of dissolve due to the cooking time.

Pork Shoulder

Place the onions in the bottom of the crock pot, unwrap the meat and place it on top. Now add the broth, water, apple cider vinegar and about 500ml BBQ sauce (small bottle). Then add the rest of the vegetables and fill the pot with water until the meat is covered.

I started with the low setting and let it cook for about an hour, then turned it on high and let it cook until done, probably another 4 hours. It depends on how you timeline is. You could also just cook it on the low setting.

The pork will be done if you insert a fork and the meat easily pulls. Remove from the broth onto a plate, pull the pork apart. Now is a good time to remove more fat. Place the pulled pork in a deep dish or bowl, add some more BBQ sauce to taste and toss.

The broth or soup that is left over is a bit tangy but very delicious. You can have it as soup like it is, or add more meat, more vegetables, or use it as stock for another dish.

BBQ in the Bag

Ingredients BBQ in a Bag:

– pulled pork
– coleslaw
– Doritos chips

Use a small Doritos bag and cut it open along the long side. The chips should go on one side, then pulled pork to the other side and coleslaw sort of in the middle.

I really like the chips being crushed up a little bit and then mix all three ingredients. While the chips are still a bit crunchy the will also absorb some of the liquid from the coleslaw and pulled pork. If you wish, you can also use different flavoured chips, but I recommend to make sure they are thick cut, otherwise they will be soggy.

What is your favourite summer food?

Let me know in the comments.