Take a Break from Thanksgiving Leftovers

As I reheated yet another plate of Thanksgiving leftovers, I was inspired to write about why I'm not going to write about ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers.

For one, cyberspace is loaded to the gill with ideas. Simply type in "Thanksgiving leftover ideas" in your browser, and you can spend countless hours just browsing all the ideas of how to use everything from leftover turkey to cranberry sauce.   Secondly, at some point, no matter how much you try to disguise the leftovers, you begin to grow weary of turkey, dressing and sweet potato casserole. It's time to freeze the leftovers for later use and go on to something completely different. While we are changing courses from traditional Thanksgiving fare, let's go to something that's carefree and easy to make, too. In addition to being tired of leftovers, we're just plain tired.  

Pulled Pork BBQ is an iconic Southern dish. It's customarily smoked and is cooked low and slow for hours, requiring a lot of attention during the cooking process. I have a slow-cooker version that cooks for hours, but flies on auto-pilot once you have it in the slow cooker.

This is a practical, make-at-home version which doesn't attempt to compete with authentic smoked pulled pork BBQ. The preparation is rather simple. It consists of seasoning the pork, adding it along with ingredients for the sauce to a slow-cooker. Once the pork is done, it's removed from the slow-cooker and pulled. The sauce is pureed and served with the pork. It's time to shake the leftover blues.

Slow-cooker Pulled Pork BBQ

For roast:

3-4 pound bone-in Boston Butt

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon BBQ grill seasoning (I used McCormick Mesquite Grill Mates)

Mix sugar, salt and seasoning.

Rub on pork covering all sides well.  Set aside.

For BBQ sauce:

1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped

1 pound tomatoes, chopped

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup ketchup

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon grill seasoning

 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Thrown all ingredients in the slow-cooker in order. 

Plop the Boston Butt  in the pan fat side up.

Place on the lid and cook  on high for 6 hours or on low for 8 hours until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 190 degrees.   Remove when done and set aside. Let the pork cool while you work on your BBQ sauce. You’ll have about a quart of sauce. Puree the sauce  either by using a food processor, stand blender or immersion blender. I use an immersion blender because it’s easier. I like easier. Taste it after it’s pureed and make the necessary adjustments to suit your taste. If you want a thicker sauce, transfer to a pan, place on the stove-top and cook until it’s reached the desired thickness.

Remove the fat cap and shred the pork. Serve with the sauce.  

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