Ratamacue Stew: September 2010

Carolina Style Smoked Pork Shoulder

Posted by Unknown Monday, September 06, 2010 1:26 PM 0 comments
Labels: barbecue , petit syrah

I love barbeque. Plain and simple. Over the past several years, I've enjoyed experimenting with different types of meat on the smoker and learning how to create the perfect rub, the right baste, and the creation that results from hours upon hours over low indirect heat and the magical flavors that come out of this alchemy.

Recently, I have been particularly enamored with Carolina style barbecue. Or, in my terms, a yellow mustard based sauce that you mix in with pulled pork for a very tangy, smoky flavor. At work, they actually make a reasonably decent mustard based pulled pork recipe. Upon asking for and receiving the recipe, I was quite disappointed to find mass produced sauces used to make the barbecue I had come to love. No chance at repeating that recipe so I set out to find a similar one and was successful in doing so.

This Labor Day weekend, we decided to smoke a pork shoulder with the intent of making pulled pork sandwiches with my new found recipe. What resulted was a pork shoulder roast that was so good, we ate it sliced up in stead of shredded.

Start with a grill itching to go to work:

Add one pork shoulder:

Season pork shoulder with appropriate Rub:

Carolina Rub Recipe

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup paprika

You can spice up the rub by adding more cayenne pepper if you like it hot.

Smoke over low heat for four hours:

The picture does no justice to the smells this baby puts off.

Add mustard sauce to taste:

Spotted Cow Carolina Barbecue Sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup onions, finely minced

3 tablespoons sweet red pepper, finely minced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped

1 teaspoon crushed celery leaves

1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon crushed rosemary leaves

1 cup prepared Dijon-style mustard

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon powdered mustard

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 chicken boullion cube

2 glugs of New Glarus Spotted Cow beer

Plate and finish with homemade coleslaw:

Spotted Cow Carolina pork shoulder, homemade
coleslaw, and paired with a Napa Valley Petit Syrah.

Luce - San Francisco, CA

While in San Francisco recently, I took my brother out for his birthday to Luce, a restaurant lead by Iron Chef competitor Dominique Crenn. She recently competed on Iron Chef America and beat one of my favorite chef's, Michael Symon. She wasn't at the restaurant the evening we ate there and since it was a Sunday, the tasting menu was also not available. That certainly didn't deter us from having a very enjoyable meal as you can see from the pictures below.