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pulled pork

Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

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In our cook it once, eat it 2-3 times series, we have our 3rd meal using the Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork we cooked earlier this week. Our first meal using the pulled pork, was pulled pork on buns with fresh toppers. We didn’t add a heavy barbecue sauce to it so as to keep the flavours simple. We put barbecue sauce on the table for those who wanted it.

Second night we enjoyed Pork Carnitas with a variety of fresh add on’s including salsa and sour cream. We even had enough pork to send everyone to school with sandwiches and wraps that day. For our last meal using up the pulled pork from day one, we made pulled pork mac and cheese. Yum right? Cooking once and extending it into a couple of meals especially when you are busy, is a great way to get through a couple of days worth of dinners.

For this recipe I opted to crisp the pork. It went from refrigerator to fry pan to warm it up, to a foil lined baking pan. A drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt and pepper before broiling it for 5ish minutes watching it closely. You do not have to do this step but I like the change in texture and added bite. My kids were so excited about this dish it was wonderful!

What’s your favourite mac and cheese?!

Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

Here’s how we did it.

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Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese
Author: 
Recipe type: lunch, dinner
 
Ingredients
  • 4 cups cooked macaroni
  • 2 cups pulled pork
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp old bay seasoning
  • 2 cups old cheddar
  • 2 cups gouda
  • Pam
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. In a large pot on low heat melt butter. Add flour and stir for 2-3 minutes to make your roux.
  3. Whisk in your milk and turn up your heat. Continue to whisk as the liquid thickens slightly.
  4. Add salt, pepper and old bay.
  5. Drop the cheese into the pot in handfuls, stirring after each addition until all cheese has been used and melted in.
  6. Taste for seasoning and sprinkle in more salt and pepper if needed.
  7. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole with pam
  8. Add macaroni, pulled pork and pour in cheese sauce. Mix until all combined.
  9. Top with extra grated cheddar cheese or bread crumbs.
  10. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork

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Making pulled pork is as simple as putting the pork roast in the slow cooker and letting it cook all day omitting wonderful fragrances into your home. With many options out there for flavouring your pork, it really comes down to preference, ingredients on hand and what flavours appeal to you. For example husband had some Village Brewery Blacksmith (beer) hanging around. I had a pork roast. We married the two with some spices and new a pulled pork recipe was born. I purposely kept the flavours simple as I wanted to have leftover pork for pork carnitas the next day. This is why the barbecue sauce in this recipe is served on the side.

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork
Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork

Since I’m trying to be more organized with my meals, my motto for this year is cook once and stretch it into 2-3 meals. We typically make Braised Pork in the oven, however nothing beats getting your meat and/or ingredients ready, set into the slow cooker and the refrigerator the night before, to bring it out and on the next morning.

Beer Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker

Looking forward to enjoying leftover pork tomorrow in these Pork Carnitas. We “pulled”, get it pulled?! a third meal out of this dish by making Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese. A little went a long way!

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Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground pepper
  • 1 tbsp coarse salt
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 (5-7 lb) boneless pork shoulder or pork butt
  • 1 medium sized onion, sliced thin
  • 1 lime, juice
  • 1 bottle beer (2-3 cups)
  • Olive oil
  • Pam
Instructions
  1. In a bowl mix together cumin, pepper, salt, oregano, garlic powder and chili powder. Rub all over pork and let set in refrigerator covered overnight or for at least an hour.
  2. Add a drizzle of olive oil and onions to a hot frying pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until starting to soften.
  3. Using Pam spray inside of slow cooker. Add onions, pork, lime juice and beer. Drizzle olive oil over top and let it cook up to 8 hours for low or 5 hours on high. The pork is done with it flakes easily.
  4. Remove from slow cooker and let sit for a few minutes on a baking sheet. Shred with two forks and add to serving plate or bowl. Pour additional juices from slow cooker over top including onions.
  5. Serve with your favourite barbecue sauce and fresh buns.
  6. Since we didn't have a slaw to go with the pulled pork, we put out some fresh toppers including: sliced red onion, cilantro, sliced fresh jalapenos

Braised Pork

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In recent years I have admittedly tasted more pulled pork then in my entire life combined. I’m hooked and left wondering why it took so long to fall in love with braised and/or pulled pork! Truth be known my mom was a terrible cook when I was child. She would pressure cook the shit out of roasts (beef and pork) until they were so dry that even HP Sauce didn’t help. The fact I will even eat a roast these days shows well adulting lol.

It was a cold day in Calgary when I made this pulled pork, and a good reason to turn on the oven to cook the roast. Using one of our own spice rub concoctions, Bakers Spice Rub, I opted to create a home made BBQ Sauce to accompany it. Since we have different likes and dislikes in our family I tend to separate home made barbecue sauces into bowls and individualize the sauces with hot sauce, whiskey, root beer, all the things. While the kids are still developing their palates and changing their tastes weekly, it just works.

I further served the adults portion of the pulled pork with my Lemony Coleslaw. The final verdict was simply awesomeness and four thumbs up.

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Bakers Pulled Pork
Recipe type: lunch, dinner,
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup spice rub
  • 1 5lb pork shoulder picnic roast
  • 2 cups of your favourite BBQ Sauce
  • Coleslaw
  • Buns
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
  2. Take spice mixture and rub it all over your pork roast, massaging a little to get the spices into all cracks & crevices
  3. Put in a roasting pan and cover with tin foil.
  4. Bake in oven until meat is tender and falling off the bone. This could take 3-5 hours depending on the actual size of the roast and your oven (so check occasionally)
  5. Remove tin foil. Shred meat with two forks and place in a dish. You can either combine pork with half of sauce or serve the sauce on the side.
Notes
To make BBQ Sauce: In a pot over medium high heat combine 1 cup ketchup, ½-3/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp of your spice rub and 1 tbsp maple syrup. Bring to a low boil and then drop heat to a simmer. Let simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside until cool and ready to use.