Pulled Pork Barbecue for TFF

The recipe I wanted to try for this week's Tyler Florence Friday was a pulled pork barbecue recipe from Eat This Book (p 190). I've always been a big fan of pulled pork...though it's usually a summertime thing...or an awesome fall barbecue event! But hey...end of winter...why not? Tyler uses a shoulder or butt roast, a personal favorite of mine for any and every type of long, slow-cooked pork dish. Any changes that I made (there weren't many), will be written in a different color. This serves about 12 people...so turn on March Madness and serve up some fun & satisfying barbecue pork sandwiches!

Pulled Pork Barbecue

adapted from recipe by Tyler Florence, Eat This Book

serves: ~12

Dry rub:

3 Tbs Paprika

1 Tbs Garlic Powder

1 Tbs Brown Sugar

1 Tbs Dry Mustard

3 Tbs Coarse Sea Salt

1 (5-7 lb) pork roast, shoulder or boston butt I actually used 2 separate roasts

Mix all in small bowl. Rub all over pork and marinate for as little as an hour or overnight (refrigerated). I marinated overnight

Preheat oven to 300 F. Put pork in roasting pan and roast for about 6 hours it took mine 5. Roast until it is falling apart, about 170 degrees F. 


While pork is roasting, make...

Cider-Vinegar Barbecue Sauce

1 1/2 c. cider vinegar

1 c. yellow or brown mustard

1/2 c. ketchup

1/3 c. brown sugar

2 (3) garlic cloves smashed

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine all in saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring for 10 minutes, or until sugar dissolves. Take off heat & let stand until ready to use. 


While pork is roasting, also make...

Spicy Slaw 
(yield 8-10 c.)

1 head green cabbage, shredded 3/4 head

2 carrots, grated

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 green onions, chopped 

1 fresh red chile, sliced green

1 1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. Dijon mustard

1 Tbs. cider vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

pinch of sugar

1/2 tsp. celery seed i used 2 tsp.

several dashes of hot sauce

sea salt & black pepper

i also added some chopped cilantro

Combine all veggies in a VERY large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the rest of the ingredients (except s & p) together. Pour over veggies and toss gently to mix. Season. Chill for 2 hours before serving.

Okay...when pork is done, take it out of the oven and put it on a large platter. Allow meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While it's still warm, "pull" meat with two forks. Put shredded pork in a bowl and pour half the sauce over and mix.

To serve, pile pulled pork onto a bun then top with slaw and top bun w/ more sauce on the side, if you wish.

***My thoughts on this recipe: I loved the pork itself. I liked the slaw, but didn't think it was "spicy" at all. I did not care for the barbecue sauce AT ALL! I kid you not, the sauce totally burned my nasal passages...I like vinegar...but this was far too much. It wasn't much of a barbecue sauce (okay, not the kind I like) at all. But, I knew this was going to be the case when it was cooking (more clearing of the sinuses)...so, I actually only mixed up enough of the pork and barbecue sauce just to try it as written (basically). It was a very pretty sandwich...but I went ahead and mixed some of the pork with some BBQ sauce we had around the house for the rest of the sandwiches....and saved the rest of the pork for other meals. Yay! So, overall I liked the recipe...just not the sauce :( sorry Tyler.

Don't forget to head over to Tyler Florence Fridays to see more recipes from Tyler fans.