sprinklefingers

i’m not one to get caught up on my age. i’ve lived a varied life with lots of eventful events happening and i really don’t feel like i’ve wasted a minute. but there are people out there who get so caught up with the whole age thing - and one of those people is turning another year older this weekend - my husband!

now, he’s only turning 38, but because i know age bothers him, i keep asking him if he’s ready to enter his forties. he doesn’t think i’m funny. not one bit. but for some reason i keep doing it.

to add insult to injury, my birthday isn’t until late july. and for nearly two entire months, i am three entire years younger than him. and i like to remind him of this fact nearly every day of the two months. i don’t know how he can stand me.

because we’re opening our new bakery in two and a half weeks, this year his birthday has been a bit overshadowed by lots and lots of work. and it’s not that i don’t know it’s his birthday or appreciate his existence - it’s just that when i get home from work after a full day of answering 3,000 questions and trying to make sense of my recipe notes, i really can’t muster the energy to be all, ‘it’s your birthday week! whoo!’ poor guy.

add to that the fact that he wants some kind of manly meal in celebration of his big day and it all equals trouble.

until i remind myself i have a slow cooker.

while i am perfectly aware that a slow cooker can’t replicate hours of smoking and tending and whatnot that traditional barbeque requires, i have to say that slow cooking a pork shoulder and turning it into barbeque pulled pork was so easy to fit into my jam-packed work life, yet will be so delicious that the birthday boy will feel super special. forgive me for saying so, but that’s a win-win.

this recipe is as easy as letting a hunk of meat marinate overnight then plopping it into the slow cooker the next morning. so easy. and perfect for birthdays.

slow cooker bbq pulled pork
from slow cooker: the best cookbook ever by diane phillips
serves 10-12

you need:

• 1/2 cup canola oil (recipe called for vegetable, i used canola)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (recipe called for red wine, but i like apple cider)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark, whatever you’ve got)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (i used low sodium)
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 T worcestershire sauce
• 5 lb boneless pork shoulder roast (i got a shoulder that was around 5 1/3 lb and it worked perfectly)

you’ll also need:

• barbeque sauce for serving
• soft, delicious buns
• cole slaw (recipe to follow)

make the pork:

1. combine the canola oil through worcestershire sauce in a bowl. whisk like crazy. 
2. put your pork shoulder in a non-reactive bowl large enough to hold the pork itself and the above marinade. pour the marinade over and cover tightly with plastic wrap. refrigerate overnight.
3. the next morning, pour the marinade into a slow cooker and plop in your hunk of meat. do your best to slosh some of the sauce up onto the meat so that it’s a bit slathered.
4. cover the slow cooker and set it to cook on LOW for 10 hours.
5. after 10 hours the pork will be fork-tender. you can either shred it using two forks while it’s still in the slow cooker, or you can remove it from the slow cooker, shred it on a platter and then mix the meat back into the saucy stuff - your choice. (for the record, i shredded it inside the slow cooker.)
6. your pork is ready to eat!

now, when i slow cook something i usually always put a sign on top of the cooker instructing curious folks to NOT open the lid to peak inside. one curious little hand lifting the lid will require you to add 30 full minutes of cooking time to your pork.

this pork can be refrigerated for five full days. alternatively (and like i did,) it can be frozen for up to two months. just put it in a glass freezer-safe container, label and freeze. then thaw in the fridge overnight when you’re ready to enjoy it again.

here’s a photo.
that’s a mustard-based bbq sauce on the pork. a sauce which i did not make because i instead got it from a great bbq place in portland called podnah’s. there’s no possible way i could recreate it’s deliciousness at home, so i don’t try.

our pork is on a brioche bun. and that’s a side of yogurt slaw - a recipe i’ll be sharing tomorrow.

happy birthday, mhc!