Put on your britches and get out your slow cooker, bitches. It's time for some BBQ.
Dr. Pepper stizzyle.
Ridiculous. Anyways, Dr. Pepper More than Mesquite Marinade is a wonderful, highly recommended, but not necessary ingredient. I happen to find it at a local gift shop that happen to have a HUGE variety of BBQ and hot sauces. Very handy for Father's Day. However, it might not be as easy for someone in say . . . Botswana to find any Dr. Pepper Marinade in just any old store. I found a few online stores that carry it including right
here at saucenspice.com.
Moving on, the slow cooker is a very important tool for any amateur chef. It's great for those days when you got a lot of errands to do and need a lot of food later on. It's great for roasts, chicken, rice, potatoes, soups, stews, chili, really anything. You can throw all your ingredients into it and let it cook for at least 3 hours, longer if you want it more delicious. Personally, I like to start a dish at about 4 AM (bed time) so it can simmer at least 12 hours. Plus, they're cheap. So there's really no reason for you not to have one.
For this recipe, you will need:
- 3-5 lb. pork butt roast, size really depends on the size of your crock pot or slow cooker and amount of people you're serving
- 14 oz. bottle Dr. Pepper More than Mesquite Marinade
- 24 oz. bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
- 1/2 cup spicy mustard
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 large white onion, sliced
- 2 limes
- 1 clove garlic, diced
- salt
- pepper
Wash off the pork roast and place it on a plate with a paper towel underneath to absorb the extra run off. Season the roast with salt and pepper. Transfer the roast into the slow cooker. Cover it with half the bottle of Dr. Pepper More than Mesquite Marinade, half the bottle of BBQ sauce, the green peppers and onions.
Pop the top on the slow cooker, crank it to Low Heat and leave it alone for hours upon hours. Like I said, I'll leave that sucker in there half a day, I don't even care. But if you're in a hurry, wait about 4 hours until checking how tender the roast is. It's incredibly important to leave the top on at all times and not to fuss with the temperature or anything else until the pivotal moment. Once the urge is upon you to definitively surmise that the roast is tender enough, the sauce should be gently bubbling and the vegetables should appear wilted and soggy.
Now, transfer the roast onto a pan or clean plate. At this point I usually throw away the juices and vegetables in the pot. I find that the onions and peppers completely absorb the taste of the sauces and offers no yum factor. But if you think you'd like them, be my guest.
Return the pork roast to the slow cooker. Grab 2 forks and sort of use them to rip apart the roast like a hermit crab digging into the sand. Strange analogy, I know, but it's the only thing I could think of that came close enough. If it doesn't start to rip up so easily, don't worry.
Dump the rest of the Dr. Pepper, BBQ sauce, spicy mustard, brown sugar, and diced garlic. Take the limes and roll them with the palms of your hands on your counter or any flat surface. This loosens up the juices in the limes. Cut them in half and squeeze upside down onto the roast, assuming that you've kept up with washing your hands during this episode.
Keep the slow cooker on low, let it simmer for a few more hours. After about 3 hours, start ripping it up again. Continue to rip apart the pork and let it cook for about an hour. You'll know when it's ready because you'll have eaten most of it just through "tastes", but as a general guide: the more you pull apart the pork, the more the sauces can seep into the meat and penetrate the porky flavors.
Serve it on a nice toasted bun with a slice of Colby Jack cheese and some
pasta salad (my new favorite side!).
Next week, shallots and why you'll never bother with red onions again. Ever.
Love,
Liz
