Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By EMILY NUNN
Cultural quiz: Do most Southerners go to sleep at night and dream about barbecue? Answer: No, we don’t.
It’s a ridiculous question — verging on offensive — because it contributes to the stereotype of those born below the Mason-Dixon line as a bunch of slow-talking, pointless storytelling yahoos dressed in costumes straight off the set of “The Dukes of Hazzard,” with nothing more to do with our time than swat flies off the dog and pass around the latest corn bread recipe. When we’re not drinking directly from the still.
Because bias is bias even if it is deserved.
But we’ll answer the question, if only because we’re the ones who asked it to begin with: No, we do not dream about barbecue. We dream about pulled pork sandwiches.
Or, at least, those of us who grew up in or near North Carolina do. Because unlike citizens of such bastions of barbecue as Memphis or Kansas City or Texas (otherwise known as Over Yonder), North Carolinians particularly like it on a bun.
And there’s the point of this meandering storytelling. Recently, we’ve been dreaming of pulled pork sandwiches. And as much as we’d love to say Chicago does everything best (at least everything that Donald Trump doesn’t do best), and in spite of the fact that there’s some pretty amazing barbecue here, there’s nothing like pulled pork from North Carolina. Unfortunately, the difference between reminiscing about the South, and actually going back there once you’ve moved away, is huge on the Emotional Pain-O-Meter. Just read Faulkner.
Which is where the idea of pulled pork from a slow cooker comes in. Here’s a recipe that blends eastern and western North Carolina style (eastern is vinegary; western is more saucy). Even though it has none of the chewy charred bits and smokiness, it has all the flavor and none of the guilt and despair. And unlike the genuine pulled pork — which requires that you park a hickory-chip-stoked smoker-grill in your driveway for a long stretch — you can make this version in your sleep! For full effect, it has to be served on a cheap white bun, topped with vinegar coleslaw, and served with hush puppies and oversweetened iced tea. If you want to add something healthy, take a vitamin.
THE MENU
Slow-cooker pulled pork sandwiches
Hush puppies
Vinegar coleslaw
Iced tea
Peach cobbler
SLOW-COOKER PULLED PORK SANDWICHES
3 tablespoons canola or corn oil
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 4 equal pieces
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup cider vinegar
3‚Ñ4 cup ketchup
1‚Ñ2 cup dark molasses
1‚Ñ3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon each: dry mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper
1‚Ñ2 teaspoon paprika
12 soft sandwich rolls, toasted
Heat the oil in large skillet over medium-high heat; brown the pork on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer pork to a slow cooker.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from skillet. Add the onion; cook over medium-high heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar; cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits, 2 minutes. Stir in ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, pepper and paprika. Cook stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to bubble, 1 minute. Pour over pork.
Cover slow cooker; cook on high until pork is very tender, 4-5 hours. (The pork can be cooked on low 8-10 hours).
Transfer pork to cutting board; shred, discarding fat. Skim excess fat from sauce; return pork to sauce. Stir to combine. Serve on buns with vinegar coleslaw.
Yield: 12 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 480 calories, 32 percent of calories from fat, 16 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 97 mg cholesterol, 43 g carbohydrates, 38 g protein, 656 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma’s “Food Made Fast: Slow Cooker.”