Carolina Pulled Pork and Cole Slaw

Summer time and the living's easy ...

if you aren't worried about what you are going to cook for dinner and aren't making the house hot with the stove and oven on all evening.

But what's a family to do? Grill every evening? I mean that is not a horrible option. Salads every night? I'd be OK with that but pretty sure Teddy would revolt. In walks my crock pot (yet again) to save the day! 15 minutes of prep and dinner is done - BAM - and the kitchen stays cool and you have the rest of the day to work on your playground tan lines :-)

A while back I told you I had a number of summery crock pot recipes to share and this barbecue is another one.

When I was growing up Carolina barbecue was one of my favorite meals. The tangy vinegar with the sweet brown sugar and melting pork. Just thinking of it reminds me of summers with my grandparents. I had always been too intimidated to make my own until I realized I could cook it in a crock pot! Now we make it ALL THE TIME!!

I've adapted the recipe to be served on baked potatoes, not served on a sandwich (healthier and GF for us) and added some killer Chic-Fil-A knock off cole slaw (not healthy but damn delicious).

If you want to take a trip down my memory lane or just have a hankering for some delicious pork barbecue, enjoy this meal!

Pardon the lack of a picture of the meal fully together. I was hungry and just started eating ... I'll add one. Promise!

COOK TIME/SERVINGS

15 minutes prep - 6-8 hours cooking / 6 -8 servings

INGREDIENTS

2–3 pounds pork shoulder butt roast (We prefer boneless but bone-in works as well)
3 tbsp brown sugar (2 used first/1 used second)
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 C apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper (depending on level of spice desired - I find 1 tsp is plenty)
1 tsp ground mustard

DIRECTIONS

Trim off any large sections of fat from pork (you cannot use frozen meat for this recipe)
In first small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and smoked paprika, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Rub spice mixture all over the roast until it's soaked in.
Place onions in a layer on the bottom of slow cooker, place roast on top.
In second small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients from apple cider vinegar to ground mustard, plus leftover tablespoon of brown sugar.
Gently pour liquid over roast. You should have about 2 inches of liquid on bottom; if not add a bit of water.
Cook covered on low for 7–8 hours, until pulled pork is tender.
With 30 minutes - 1 hour remaining remove and shred pork with fork until pork is flaked, separating fat from meat. Returning meat to slow cooker. (you can remove the onion prior to returning the pork if you would like)
Stir into liquid to incorporate flavor. Let sit for about 30 minutes, drain liquid if desired, and serve.