I typically buy a 4 pound pork shoulder, but am loving the leftovers from this recipe so much that I will likely be buying bigger cuts so I have more to freeze. Last week I made the pork and we had sandwiches with a quick coleslaw on top. Oh man!
- 4 lb. pork shoulder (also called pork butt)
- 4- 6 cloves minced garlic (I've used fresh, and the stuff in the jar with equal success)
- 2 Tbs. white vinegar
- 2 Tbs. chopped oregano (I've used fresh and dried, and love them both)
- 1 Tbs. vegetable or olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Combine everything but the pork in a small bowl and mix well. It should make a kind of paste. You can certainly adjust the proportions to suit your tastes, and I typically don't even measure anymore. Now put the pork in a heavy zip top bag, add the delicious paste, and seal the bag well, removing as much air as possible. Next, get friendly with your pork and give it a good massage, making sure it is coated with the paste. Put it in the fridge to marinate overnight, or up to 24 hours. When you are ready to cook it, just pop it in your crock pot on low for 8 hours. No need to add anything else (no liquid, no onions, no nothing). Then, just shred it up and use on sandwiches, as a main dish, or in tacos, etc. I like to marinate the pork the day before and start it cooking before I go to work. When I get home the house smells amazing, and dinner is mostly ready. So easy and delicious!
My tips for this recipe are to remove as much of the fat from the pork after it is cooked, and before you shred it up, that you can. The liquid in the crock pot makes the pork nice and juicy, but there is a fair amount of fat in there already, so I like to cut off the rest before it gets incorporated. Also, if you stay at work late (like I sometimes end up doing), an extra hour or two in the crock pot is not going to hurt this dish, so don't sweat it.
For the quick coleslaw, I thinly sliced a small purple cabbage and added some of each of the following to make the dressing:
- Mayo
- Dijon mustard
- White vinegar
- Salt
- Sugar
- Black pepper
- and a splash of soy sauce
It was a highly scientific combination with very precise measurements... or not. I didn't really measure anything, so just use a recipe you like, or get bold and throw something together like I did. Mix the dressing up separately so you can taste and adjust before adding it to the cabbage. This will also help making sure it is really smooth. I like to have the slaw on top of my sandwich, but I'm no slaw dictator, so do as you please.
I enjoyed my sandwich with an ice cold Arnold Palmer (made with lemonade from scratch!) and grilled corn on the cob. This is a great Summer recipe, or really good for other times you might not want to slave away over a hot stove or turn on the oven.
Enjoy!
It's so good!
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