Jimmie Johnson Pulled Pork Sliders

The Daytona 500 called for an appetizer that needed to feed a hungry group watching the race.  I happened to have a container of pulled pork in the freezer left over from Superbowl which helped this appetizer come together quickly.    Added a spicy cold slaw and bbq sauce and these pulled pork sliders were a hit.  

Pulled Pork Sliders

4 cups of pulled pork 
24 potato slider buns
1 cup bbq sauce

Coleslaw

1 1/2 cups mayonaise
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper
2 packages of cold slaw mix

Mix first six ingredients together in a mixing bowl, add coleslaw and combine.  Chill for one hour in refrigerator.  

Add bbq sauce to pulled pork and heat covered in oven for 20 minutes.  Add pulled pork to buns and drizzle with more bbq sauce and top with coleslaw.  Watch them disappear.  Makes 24 sliders.

Pulled Pork Tostado

Ok, not everyone has a container of homemade pulled pork in their freezer.  The last time I made pulled pork for a crowd, I made 18 lbs. of pork and put away a container for pulled pork nachos.   Tonight I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner and remembered the hidden container.  Since pulled pork nachos is is not an acceptable dinner, I created a pulled pork tostada.  All the ingredients were piled high on a toasted whole wheat flatbread beginning with arugula, a corn salsa with tomatoes from the garden, pulled pork (see link to recipe below), bbq sauce, more salsa, goat cheese and avocado slices.  Oh my, the husband was quite surprised.  Yes, this was a simple weeknight dinner that came together quickly because of my hidden container, but the tangy pulled pork, creaminess of the cheese and avocado, and brightness of the fresh salsa made this tostada a winner.  

Pulled Pork Tostada

2 cups of pulled pork

1 cup of arugula

1/4 cup goat cheese, broken into pieces

3 whole wheat flatbreads

1/2 sliced avocado

1 cup of tomatoes, I used a mixture of grape and chopped whole

1 fresh cob of corn, kernels cut from cob

Juice from 1/2 of lime

1 tsp. of olive oil

1 tablespoon of chopped red onion

Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Make the salsa by chopping grape tomatoes into quarters and regular tomatoes into the same size pieces, add fresh corn kernels, red onion, lime juice, olive oil, S&P.  Set aside. Toast the flatbreads in a non-stick pan over medium heat until lightly browned on both sides.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, place the 3 toasted flatbreads on a sheet pan, divide the arugula, 1/2 the salsa, pulled pork, bbq sauce, remaining salsa, goat cheese between the three flatbreads.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and add the avocado slices to the top and serve.  The easiest way to eat this tostada is with a knife and fork.

Serves 2-3

Pulled Pork Recipe

Planning ahead for Memorial Weekend, I needed a recipe that would feed at least 10 people.  Pulled Pork is always a crowd-pleaser.  I found this recipe online last year and have cooked it several times and have tweaked it and made it my own.  What I love about this recipe is the pork is slowed roasted uncovered for 12-13 hours while you sleep in a low temperature oven of 225 degrees F.  It gets a rich, dark crust on the outside, but the pork inside remains melt in your mouth moist.  It literally falls off the bone and shreds  easily with two forks.  What more could you ask for?   Yes, some people might want to use a crock pot, but this recipes is all about the slow roasted crust that you could never achieve in a crock-pot.

Pulled Pork ready for a crowd!

Here is the plan:  Purchase your 7-8 lb. Boston Butt with bone-in, make your dry rub and brining liquid, and brine the pork in the a.m. for at least 8 hours.  Later in the evening before bed, take roast out of brine and dry it, rub in the dry rub (leaving 1/2 cup of rub aside), put it in the oven and go to bed.  When you get up in the morning (12 hours later if your lucky enough to get that much sleep) open the oven and check the temperature of the roast with a meat thermometer.  It should read 200 degrees.  Shut off the oven and let it rest for 2 hours.  When temp is down to 170 degrees, it's ready to be pulled.   I serve the pulled pork on buns with cold slaw and bbq sauce on the side.