Sunday, August 07, 2016

Pulled Pork with red wine barbecue sauce

The finished pork, with sauce in the back ground
My cousin and her family were coming for a visit, and we wanted something special but informal for a dinner. Especially as they had a long drive, finally through the tangled mess that is Montreal's road repairs. I chose pulled pork and have a little photo essay to accompany it.

The pulled pork itself was purchased the day before. It was a 9lbs butt roast. It was coated with worchestershire(Woos-ta-shire) sauce then mustard.  "Steak spice" was used as a dry rub, patting that on, then finally sprinkling smoked paprika to finish. The entire cut of meat, including any flaps, were coated.

The meat was wrapped in plastic wrap and left to sit over-night in the fridge.

Remove the plastic wrap before you place the pork on a foil wrapped roasting tray, and slip it in the oven.

9lbs of pork requires approximately 9 hours at 250F, so I started early to make sure I could feed the folks when they arrived. In the end, the roast required only 8 hours to reach 190F, at which point it was removed from the oven, wrapped in foil and a couple of clean towels to rest. In this case I left it for 1hour 35mins, but it requires at least an hour to reach maximum juiciness.

While the pork slow roasted, I made the barbecue sauce.
Olive oil and chili flakes on medium low heat

Two large cloves of garlic, mashed flat with the side of a cleaver

Diced fresh ginger

Saute the ginger and garlic

Add a couple of cups of wine. I did this instead
Malt vinegar, bourbon or mustard, which is the
basis of many fine recipes. The wine and ginger
worked very well, and my sone said it tasted a bit
like "asian barbecue".

add a 1/2 cup of brown sugar

Add half teaspoon of smoked paprika

Add a grated carrot. This is a great trick for adding
a subtle sweetness and roundness to recipes. It also
helps tame a sauce if it is too spicy.

Reduce the sauce on medium low to
desired consistency. It took a good
3 hours for this stage. By the end, the carrot
had broken down almost completely into the sauce.

At 4 hours,  'painting' the pork with sauce.

170 degrees at 4 hours! but it took
 another 3 hours to reach 190F

Out of the oven at 8 hours, and 190F
 internal temperature 

Wrap in foil and towel and left rest for an hour.
The meat will retain its heat for several hours
like this, so you can hold it 'til guests arrive.
After resting for an hour and a half, the meat
was beautifully tender and juicy.

 
"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country."
-E.M. Forster