Name: Rubbed and Pulled Pork with Coleslaw
Prep time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 10-12 pound pork butt; 1 T. olive oil; 1 onion thinly sliced; 4 T. Ancho Chili Powder (I prefer Penzey's); 3 T. garlic powder (Penzey's); 2 T. smoked paprika (Penzy's is best); 1/4 c. brown sugar; 1 1/2 T. salt; 2 bottles Heinz Kansas City Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce (use one for cooking the pork and the other for mixing into the pulled pork); 2 bags packaged coleslaw mix (I like Dole with the carrots and cabbage mixture); 1 c. Marie's original coleslaw dressing; 1/2 c. Hellman's mayonnaise; 1 T. cider vinegar; 1/2 red pepper; 1/2 yellow pepper; 1/4 small red onion; salt and pepper to taste

The smells wafting from my kitchen right now, or more specifically from my HUGE, Cuisinart slow-cooker are just unbelievable. What have I done? I’ve made my Rubbed and Pulled Pork from the Crockpot with Coleslaw. This doesn’t even smell like anything I usually cook.

I did try some new things today. I am a really big fan of Penzey’s spices for several reasons. First, they are extremely fresh. Second, they come in all different sizes so you don’t have to buy a ten year supply. Third, THE PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE ALWAYS GIVE ME ALL THESE PRESENTS!! Every time you make a purchase there (not sure what the monetary threshold is) they give you spices or extracts or whatever they say “thank you for your patronage with”.

This last time, I got a really nice bottle of all natural vanilla extract. The vanilla that is really expensive. And they just were nice enough to give it to me. I really do appreciate the quality of all the things they sell, which makes me a frequent visitor to their store. They also have a great catalog filled with some very interesting recipes using their spices and seasonings. I often find inspiration there.

Today, my local Kroger store had a sale on pork roasts if you had a Kroger loyalty card. When I say SALE, I MEAN SALE. I bought an 11-pound pork roast as big as my entire upper body for about $11.00. Now, this is ridiculous. Kroger’s was practically giving this beautiful roast away.

Pick spices that make the meat taste likes it’s been sitting for hours!

I thought about making a nice rub for it, giving it a nice massage and letting it sit for a few hours in the refrigerator so it could enjoy its spice rub. I used all Penzy’s spices and seasonings–Ancho Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, and Smoked Paprika (this is the key to this pork roast tasting like you smoked it outside all day). I also added brown sugar and salt to the rub mixture.

Since I was really looking for something easy today, I walked over to the BBQ sauce aisle. And there I saw Heinz Smoky Barbecue Sauce. Since I was looking for that smokey flavor profile (see my homage to Smoked Paprika above), I thought that would be perfect. I bought two bottles; one to cover the pork roast in the crockpot, and one to mix into the pork once it was done cooking, pulled, and drained of all the accumulated liquid.

I made enough to feed an army. I will bring the pulled pork and my favorite, easy coleslaw to my children so they will have dinner from Mom/Grandma this week. The pork is the star of the show, no one would ever guess it did not undergo hours of smoking over some rare wood. Applewood anyone?

The perfect coleslaw to marry the pork!

I wanted to make coleslaw that would not be too sweet. I prefer to buy bags of shredded cabbage and carrots. Cutting a whole head of cabbage with its inherent risk of slicing your hand off just doesn’t quite seem worth it when the bagged cabbage is just fine.

I think coleslaw should be more than just cabbage and carrots. I love the flavor that red and yellow peppers bring to the mixture. So I thought if I finely chop the peppers into the dressing they would distribute better.

This approach really worked well because the peppers give the dressing a nice fresh taste, especially with the addition of a bit of cider vinegar. Don’t overdo the chopping of the peppers and you will see that the flavor will come through. As for “cheating” and using Marie’s original coleslaw dressing instead of making everything from scratch, I tried about five different kinds of the refrigerated bottled dressings. Marie’s had a nice texture (not slimy, too sweet or too thick) and a great flavor of celery seeds which added real depth to the coleslaw. Couldn’t have done it better myself.

A great meal for all ages!

I put the pork and coleslaw on a toasted bun and persons great and small (a two-year-old!) loved it! Smoked pork all year round. No smoker necessary. No standing outside in the snow. If anything, this makes a great winter dish. Enjoy!

Rubbed and Pulled Pork with Coleslaw

The spices in the rub combine to give this pork great, complex flavor and the addition of bottled BBQ sauce adds sweetness, juiciness and smokiness

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

1 10-12 pound pork butt
1 T. olive oil
1 onion thinly sliced

For the Rub

4 T. Ancho Chili Powder I prefer Penzey's
3 T. garlic powder Penzey's
2 T. smoked paprika Penzy's is best
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 T. salt
2 bottles Heinz Kansas City Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce use one for cooking the pork and the other for mixing into the pulled pork

Coleslaw

2 bags packaged coleslaw mix I like Dole with the carrots and cabbage mixture
1 c. Marie's original coleslaw dressing
1/2 c. Hellman's mayonnaise
1 T. cider vinegar
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/4 small red onion
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Mix all rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the entire pork butt with the seasonings and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Heat olive oil in a large slow cooker or dutch oven over medium heat. Add sliced onions and cook until they are just barely cooked, about 5 minutes. You do not want to cook all of the onion flavor out of them.
Turn the heat up to medium high (about 425 degrees for the crock pot). Add the pork butt to the crock pot or dutch oven. Brown on all sides. This should take about 15 minutes. Cover the entire top of the pork with one bottle of BBQ sauce and cook in the crock pot for 11 1/2 hours on low or in the dutch oven in a 250 degree oven for 10 hours. Cooking it a little longer in the oven is fine so long as there is enough liquid in the pot. If not, add about 1/2 c. water.
When the pork butt is cooked, drain off all of the liquid and discard it. Pull the pork into shreds with two large forks, removing all of the fat as you shred it. Put the shredded pork into a bowl and while it is hot (it will absorb the sauce better at that point), stir in the second bottle of BBQ sauce. Taste to be sure the meat has enough salt and serve on buns with coleslaw.

For the Coleslaw

In a food processor, pulse until finely chopped the peppers and onion. Do not puree. Just pulse about 4 or 5 times. Add the coleslaw dressing, mayonnaise, vinegar, and salt and pepper to the peppers and onion and pulse just 3 or 4 times until blended. Do not over process. You want the peppers to be very fine but still recognizable.
Put 1/4 of the dressing in the bottom of the bowl and add half of a bag of coleslaw mix. Add another quarter of the dressing all over the mixture and another half a bag of coleslaw. Keep adding the dressing and tossing and adding more coleslaw until everything is mixed. Refrigerate the coleslaw for at least two hours but preferably overnight while the pork is cooking.