Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Pulled Pork Sliders



It's a biggie. My son turns legal. So many steps in his life have been filled with laughter and happiness. Most of the time! And yet those agonizing, hair-pulling moments whiz by in a blur. He has grown from an impulsive, irrepressible, mischievous kid to a quiet, kind of mature man/boy. I say that because he still looks like a kid and I know he will be carded wherever he goes!!

He invites a bunch of friends. A party in the backyard with friends, music, food and the requisite beer pong table which he has searched for tirelessly. He buys beer by the case. He stands at my side cleaning chicken legs very dexterously. He vaccumms and dusts without being told. He loads and unloads the diswasher with cutlery and crockery returned to their original spots!  Party plates are decorously assembled besides artfully arranged cutlery. Chairs in the yard are wiped down and cleaned and he is constantly asking me what he can do!! Twenty one is when he finally molts into the boy I dreamed he would be!!! 

Well, in all fairness he has been a big help putting the evening into place. I am the chief cook and bottle washer though! And as chief cook I have been busy busy busy. I make pasta with sausage and ricotta. Some roasted chicken. Kheema biriyani. A Greek salad. Roasted potatoes. Corn and black beans and avocado. And pulled pork, Rehan's favorite. 

I usually make the pork in a slow cooker but I am cooking for a horde. The recipe is one I found years ago and altered it to my taste. This time I venture to make it in the oven. It roasts for an inordinately long time. I poke and prod to feel the give. I remove fatty tissue from the pork and ladle out the fat from the sauce. The pork is completely shredded and the sauce has cooked down to a tangy flavor.

I go in search of the elusive slider buns. Elusive, because I have frequented the grocery store for the last three days and come up empty. But today is my lucky day!! 


Pulled Pork Sliders
Makes enough for  16 to 20 slider buns
DF

3 to 4 pounds Pork Butt ( bone-in)
1/2 cup Tomato ketchup
1/4 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Mustard
1 teaspoons Chile powder
1 teaspoon Chipotle Chile in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon Kosher salt 
1/2 teaspoon ground Black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Onion, diced
1/2 cup Water
20 Slider Buns

Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker and set control to high. 

Let the pork cook undisturbed for 4 to 5 hours.

ALTERNATLY ....Place the ingredients in a ovenproof dish. Cover tightly with foil and roast in a 350F oven for 3 to 4 hours.


Take the pork out of the sauce, discard bones and shred.

Return the pork back to the sauce.

Place the pork and sauce in a saucepan and bring the pork to a simmer.

Put a heaping tablespoon of warm pork on buns and serve immediately.



There is a dizzying array of booze bottles in gift bags!!! Many accouterments of drinking games make for raucous merriment. Friends love the food. Polite and incredulous compliments come my way! I get a whole day of hugs. And my son walks on cloud nine!







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