Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

It's not uncommon for me to wake up craving food.  Last Sunday it happened to be in the spirit of summer and BBQ's and smoked meat.  I never realized pulled pork was so easy to make, and thankfully so because my house would probably reek of BBQ sauce and I'd be many pounds heavier.  From what I've gathered through some research, pulled pork can be made a couple of different ways.  One way is with a smoker and the other is with a slow cooker.  That made it pretty easy as I only one of the two.  I searched for recipes and it seemed they were all variations of each other.  Either you use a rub first and smoke it or put in the crock pot, or you can cook it in a crock pot using a lot of liquid like root beer and BBQ sauce.  I chose to use a rub to maintain the taste of the pork meat and not create flavor by just using BBQ sauce during the cooking period.

I used pork shoulder as suggested although many recipes called for Boston Butt, I couldn't find it at my grocery store.  I used a spice rub from Cook's Illustrated since its recipes have never failed me before.  The unique thing about this rub from other rubs I have seen is the addition of cumin powder.  The cumin really helped to bring out the meat flavor.  This rub is for a 6-8 lb pork shoulder.

Spice Rub 
4 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp salt
1-2 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground oregano
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp ground white pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.  Rub on the meat. 

Wrap the meat in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours or up to 3 days.  When ready to cook, add 1/4 tbsp of liquid smoke into the crock pot and 1/4 cup of chicken broth.  Cook the meat on low for up to 10 hours. 

Done!

When meat is ready, take out of the pot and begin to shred the meat, discarding both fat and bone.  Place meat back into crock pot with 2 cups of BBQ sauce for another hour.  

Pulling the pig

This recipe was so delicious!  The meat itself was flavorful and extremely tender.  I had to stop my husband from eating all the meat before we could get BBQ sauce on it.  We definitely could have just eaten the pork alone without the BBQ sauce.  This recipe is a keeper!

Baked Custard with Fruit

It is an embarrassment of riches to have so much delicious local fruit that you just can't eat it all. Between my farm basket, sporadic visits from my in-laws, and the abundance of farmers markets, I have to come up with ways to eat all the fresh food I have in ways that are not just cutting it up and taking a bite. This is a simple recipe to utilize fresh fruit or frozen fruit. It's essentially a baked custard and it takes minutes to prepare. It will fill the house with the smell of baked fruit and is always pleasing. It is a great dessert after a long day at work. The recipe is courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Ingredients
1/4 stick of butter
1/4 cup of milk
3 large eggs
1/2 sugar
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups fruit (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, whatever you have on hand)

Set oven at 400 degrees. Put pie pan in the oven with the butter to melt it. Mix all the ingredients together except the fruit and the 1 tbsp sugar. Mix well smooth. Pour into pie pan and add fruit. Sprinkle the sugar on top and bake. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the middle is firm. Heat broiler and broil for another 2-3 minutes until the sugar on top caramelizes.