Oven Roasted Pulled Pork Sliders

I like a good barbeque as much as the next person. Usually it involves going to a restaurant that employs the low and slow method, and all I have to do is enjoy. But due to a miscommunication between me and the hubby (not sure how a pork roast and a picnic shoulder resemble one another).

I am ready to take on this task. I will note that we do not have a grill or a smoker, because upon moving to our new home my husband decided he didn't want to take any of that stuff along. So I was forced to find an alternative method of cooking. All I have to say is this who says you need a smoker to make some delicious Pulled Pork? Thanks to a fabulous recipe by Tyler Florence (and a lot of patience) I did it.

I was pretty excited too; I pulled that big ol' hunk of meat out the fridge and got to work. I went with a dry rub rather than a marinade or a brine; which is what I usually do with a roast. Now if there is one thing you have to consider when making pulled pork, it is the sauce. If you've been to any good barbeque places you know that every region has their own sauce. There's mustard based, vinegar based or tomato based. I tend to lean more toward the tomato based sauces because, they are usually sweeter. Tyler's recipe used a mustard base sauce, but you can use what you like. I ended up doing a combo and it was really good.


 
Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sliders

Based on Tyler Florence recipe

Dry Rub

3 tbsp paprika (I used smoked)

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp dry mustard

3 tbsp coarse salt

1 (5 -7lb) pork shoulder or butt


 
Cider Vinegar Barbeque Sauce

1 ½ cups cider vinegar

1 cup yellow or brown mustard

½ cup ketchup

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 garlic gloves, smashed

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp ground black pepper

12 hamburger buns or sliders


 

 

1. Mix the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.
   

 

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

  

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it's falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170 degrees F.

 
To make the barbecue sauce: combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

 

 
Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While still warm, take 2 forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other. I just used my hands, and sampled as well. Put the shredded pork in a bowl. Pour 1/2 of the sauce on the shredded pork and mix well to coat, then I used a good bottle sauce like Sweet Baby Rays.

 

 
Now when I have pulled pork I like coleslaw, but I used all my homemade skills on the pulled pork and one of the sauces, so I bought a bagged broccoli slaw mix (change it up a bit), but I did make my own dressing.


 
Broccoli Coleslaw

2 bags of broccoli slaw mix


 
Dressing

2/3 cup Miracle Whip

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt or celery salt


 

1. Whisk all ingredients together, pour over slaw and toss to coat.
   

 
This was my "spring into Spring" meal. Now I know that barbeque is usually a summer time thing, but spring is close enough for me. I hope you give this a try and taste a little bit of summer in the spring.

 


Be blessed and enjoy.


 

 

 

 

Roasted Chicken Salad

As the weather starts to warm up I tend to make a lot of cold salads. One of my favorites is this Chicken Salad recipe; I don’t follow the normal rules of poaching the chicken. No, I brine then roast the chicken. What is brine you ask? A Brine is a salt/sugar solution used to impart great flavor to certain types of meat, like chicken, turkey and pork. The size of the size of meat will determine how long you will leave it in the brine. I usually brine the chicken in the morning and place in the fridge until ready to cook.

My family loves this chicken salad recipe. The kids are usually eating the chicken as I cut it up. It is perfect for lunch or even dinner on hot summer evenings, and my husband has even been known to eat it right out the container. I recently brought a large container for my church’s Women’s Meeting, and there was none to bring home.

The recipe is pretty simple and well worth the wait of brining and roasting. You can make it the day or night before a party, which gives time for the flavors to really settle in. I use Craisins and red onion in my Chicken Salad, but you can use any thing you like to yours.

Roasted Chicken Salad

2lbs bone in chicken breast

1 cup of Craisins

½ cup of finely diced red onion

About ¼ cup of miracle whip or your favorite mayo (I don’t really measure, I go by creaminess)

About ¼ cup of sour cream

Brine for Chicken

1 cup kosher salt

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp ground black pepper

2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder

1tsp dried oregano

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 gallon of water

To brine Chicken, combine all spices and sugar in a large container.

Add about 2 cups of hot water. Stir until salt and sugar is dissolved.

Fill the container with cold water then add chicken and cover.

Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The longer you leave it in brine the more salt drawn into the meat.

To roast the chicken, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove chicken from brine and place on cookie sheet and pat dry.

Roast chicken for 30-40 minutes or until internal temp is 170 degrees.

  

Remove chicken from oven and let cool.

When chicken is cool enough to handle, move to a cutting board.

Remove skin and bones, chop into small chunks.

Add diced red onion and Craisins to chicken in a bowl.

Next, add miracle whip and sour cream to bowl. Add little at a time until desired creaminess is reached.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I hope you enjoy this chicken salad recipe at your next picnic or just for lunch. Be blessed and enjoy.