Ree Drummond's Spicy Pop Pulled Pork and Cilantro Slaw

So, I've been craving pulled pork bbq for awhile now. There are many places that serve true NC-style pulled pork, including Smithfield's Chicken & BBQ, but many of them contain gluten (oddly enough, they usually have soy sauce in them) or are cc'd easily. In fact, in 2009 Smithfield's released that it's BBQ is the only thing on it's menu that is gluten-free, but when probed further, it is easily cc'd! They also have no allergen information readily available. They were looking into it in 2009, but as of 2012 it isn't in any of their stores!

I don't want to try to make traditional NC bbq, for fear of messing it up and being really disappointed. I saw this on Ree Drummond's website a few months back and thought it looked delicious! Then, a couple of Saturdays ago, she had it on her show, The Pioneer Woman, on FoodNetwork! I was very excited! It was definitely something that I could do! Here's the recipe she made on the show! I made it on a smaller scale (it's just Marc and I, after all), with a few changes based on the comments that I read. I'll make it tonight and we'll see if it is as good as it looks! I'm also making her Cilantro Slaw recipe, to top off our pulled pork sandwiches, and baked seasoned French fries!

For the pulled pork, all you need is a 3-1/2 pound pork butt (shoulder), 2 tbsp of light brown sugar (Domino's is gluten-free), 16 ounces of Dr. Pepper, 2 onions (quartered), and chipotle in adobo sauce (La Costena is gluten-free).

Very few ingredients needed for this one!

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F (or, if your stove is like mine, 330 degrees F - yes, I know I need a new oven; thanks to my in-laws, it will be delivered Friday). After thawing the pork butt (I did mine overnight in cold water), salt and pepper it liberally on all sides. Add the quartered onions into the bottom of a dutch oven and place the pork butt, fat side up, on top of them. Add the Dr. Pepper and brown sugar. Mix to incorporate. The last step has to do with the chipotle in adobo sauce... BE CAREFUL!

I'm not sure how your taste buds are, but chipotle peppers are just smoked jalapeños. They are spicy! The original recipe calls for an 11 oz can. A 7 oz can has 6 peppers and about 6 tablespoons of adobo sauce! I can only imagine how many are in an 11 oz can. If you like spicy foods, use the whole can! I love spicy food and even this amount is too much. My suggestion: when you get home with your peppers, open the can! Remove the seeds from the peppers. Separate the peppers into groups of 2. Cut each pair into strips. Add them to an ice tray. Add 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce (with or without the seeds) over each pair of peppers. Freeze. After 3 hours, remove and store individual cubes in freezer bags until you need them! For this recipe, defrost the chipotle cubes in cold water for about 10 minutes, then add them onto the top of the pork butt!

That's it! Now it's just a matter of time! Place the dutch oven, covered, into the oven at 300 degrees F... and wait!

Dutch oven with the pork butt and other ingredients before it goes in the oven!

After an hour or two, flip the pork. After another hour, flip the pork again - this should keep the fat on top. Once the fat is back on top, cook at least one more hour. The pork (at 3 and a half pounds) should cook for 4-5 hours. Insert a thermometer into the deepest part of the pork (not by a bone if you are using bone-in) and check for doneness. It should read about 160 degrees F if it is ready! An easier way to determine the doneness: does it fall apart? This is pulled pork after all!

Pork butt in the juice!

That's the shoulder blade! This really is "fall off the bone!"

Once the pork is removed from the oven, allow it to rest for half an hour! When you can touch it, take two forks and pull the pork apart. Place all of the pork back into the juices and cover. About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, reheat the pork! That simple!

Pulled pork - back in the juices!

My house smells wonderful as this pork is cooking right now! Hopefully, it is really good! Right after I put the pork in the oven, I made Ree's Cilantro Slaw. The recipe on FoodNetwork is incorrect. However, her recipe on her blog is closer to the one I used. Here's what I did!

I sliced half of a head of green cabbage and a half of a head of red cabbage and placed them in a mixing bowl. 

Sliced cabbage... Next time I will slice thinner pieces.
I had never made cole slaw so I didn't know!

Red and Green cabbage mixed.

The sauce was easy! I mixed one cup of whole milk, one cup of mayonnaise (many brands say gluten-free on their labels), 4 tablespoons of sugar (Domino's is gluten-free), 3 tablespoons of white vinegar (Heinz is gluten-free), 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Her recipe also calls for jalapeños. I skipped that part, but I might add it next time, sans seeds! I added the mixture over the cabbage! Be sure to refrigerate this for at least two hours before adding the 2 cups of cilantro and serving!

Lastly, I made oven-baked French fries. While I was pulling my pork and as my slaw was cooling, I increased the temperature on the oven to 450 degrees F (well, I did 475 because of my oven). I sliced white potatoes into thin strips (I left the skins on). You can use Yukon Golds or any other potato that you like. 

Sliced potatoes.

In a bowl, I tossed them with olive oil. 

Potatoes in the olive oil.

I laid them on a cooling rack placed inside a half cookie sheet. I sprinkled liberally with coarse Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can add seasoning salt, or a Cajun spice, if you'd like. I actually added a bit of cayenne pepper (since that seemed to be a theme in the food). 

Potatoes ready for the oven - I only put cayenne on half of the slices!

I baked them for half an hour and checked to see if they were crispy. Then I flipped them to the other side. Mine took an additional 15 minutes to get crispy on the other side, although not all of them did.

Before I flipped them! Make sure that they are in a single layer!

Overall, dinner was good. I wish that the pork had more flavor. I added a bit of peppered vinegar. It definitely gave it more tang. Next time, I may add more chipotle (although not many) or just increase the adobo sauce. I think I might add some vinegar and red pepper flake, as well, to give it more bite! Even Marc agreed it needed more tang! 

Served on an Udi's Wholegrain Hamburger Bun! Yum!!!

My cole slaw was also a bit bland, but I realized that I forgot to add the cilantro before I served it! It could have used a bit of a bite, as well! The fries were great, served with mayonnaise!  Yum!

Our meal...

I hope that you try this dish! Enjoy!