The Most Delicious Smoked Pulled Pork (Family Favorite)

I love smoked food, but I especially love when my husband and I work together as a team to make a great meal. Originally this recipe was inspired by an episode of America's Test Kitchen on PBS, as you can see in our original post Lexington-style pulled pork meal. We have since tweaked the original recipe as it was almost too spicy for the sensitive taste buds in our family. This recipe below is our tried and true, one we have been using for many years.This meat has so much flavor. We never feel the need to make the barbecue sauce in our old blog post or add barbecue sauce of any kind because it is just that good.

To prepare for the smoking process, I thawed a 6-8lb Boston butt pork shoulder roast. It would probably be a good idea to take it from the freezer a couple of days before smoking to allow time for the roast to thaw.

The rub recipe from America's Test Kitchen called for 2TBSP sweet paprika, 2TBSP kosher salt, 2TBSP ground black pepper, and 2TBSP brown sugar. Unless I am baking, I never really follow a recipe exactly, so I changed it a little bit by adding 1TBSP garlic powder, 1/2 TBSP cayenne pepper, and an additional 1TBSP of brown sugar. Instead of using sweet paprika, we use smoked paprika, which adds a delicious smoky depth to the flavor of the meat.

Once all the ingredients are measured, stir the seasonings together and rub all over that meat. Give it a good massage! Allow the meat to rest with the rub on it anywhere from 15 minutes to 24 hours. We wrap the roast in aluminum foil and place on a large plate in the fridge for several hours.

Since the last blog post for this recipe, we have upgraded from smoking the roast on our Weber Charcoal grill to my husband's "Ugly Barrel Smoker", a homemade smoker made from a large metal food grade barrel. If you are not familiar with one of these, there are several YouTube tutorials that walk you through step by step process of building one. To monitor the temperature during the smoking process, my husband purchased this wireless temperature probe from Amazon that not only monitors the internal temperature of the meat, but the internal temperature of the smoker without even having to step outside.

 

The smells from the Ugly Barrel Smoker on our patio are intoxicating at this moment. Yummmm! The flavored wood chunks are placed in a metal basket in the barrel separate from the coals. Our favorite flavors for smoking are mesquite and hickory. Today's flavor, hickory it is!

After smoking for 8 to 10 hours and maintaining the temperature of the smoker between 220 to 250 degrees, we removed the roast from the smoker once it reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, we transferred the roast to an aluminum disposable pan, covered tightly with a double layer of aluminum foil, and placed in the oven for 2 more hours at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 205. This allows for the fat to render to create the most delicious, flavorful, and tender roast. 

After removing from the oven, we let it rest for 30 minutes. Remove the fat cap and set aside, then, shred the meat and discard any large hunks of fat or gristle. We reserved some of the meat, placed 1lb in freezer bags, to save for tacos or sandwiches another day. 

We hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as we do. Although labor intensive, there is enough delicious and savory meat leftover for several meals.

Rub Recipe:

2 TBSP Smoked Paprika

2 TBSP Kosher Salt

2 TBSP Black Pepper

3 TBSP Brown Sugar

1 TBSP Garlic Powder

1/2 TBSP Cayenne Pepper

Acorn Squash Low Carb Pizza Crust

Did I mention that my husband and kids (me included) love pizza! I am a carb junkie. My addiction includes breads and desserts, so I try to curb my carb cravings and at least try to reduce the amount of flour I consume.

In the last six months we have been ordering produce through Bountiful Baskets, a coop distribution of 50% fruit/50% vegetable baskets, organic produce baskets, artisan bread and sandwich bread every other week. The last week's basket was definitely bountiful and included three small acorn squashes. Instead of using sweet potatoes for a pizza crust (as we have tried in a previous post), the thought occurred to me...why not try squash and see what happens! I am hoping this experiment is a success as the crust is baking in the oven right now.

I must give credit for the inspiration of this recipe to Tina at Carrots N' Cake. I did make some modifications to her original recipe, so see the comments below. You can find my original sweet potato pizza crust recipe by clicking here.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups acorn squash roasted (1 whole small acorn squash, skin and seeds removed)
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk (pureed in blender with acorn squash)
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• Your choice of toppings

Directions:
The first step is to preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  Next, I prepared the acorn squash for mashing by cutting it in half, placing it on a cookie sheet (cut sides up), drizzling with olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper, and roasting in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until cooked through (about 30 minutes).  After the squash is cooled, I peeled it, scooped the seeds out, cut it into small chunks, and threw in the blender with a half cup coconut milk to puree. To be honest, I did this step one week ago and threw the acorn squash puree in the freezer.

Next, I combined all the ingredients listed above.  The original recipe called for almond flour.  It's not a staple in my pantry, so I replaced with whole wheat pastry flour instead. Those who suffer from gluten allergies could substitute with another kind of flour, such as almond or coconut flour.

The original recipe also called for garlic powder, although normally a pantry staple in my home, I was all out and did not feel like running to the store, so we used the fresh garlic we had on hand instead and grated with a micro-planer.

The original recipe also called for a pizza pan. Thanks to my wonderful MIL, I received one at Christmas. I covered it with olive oil and preheated it in the oven. I spread the dough onto the baking pan until about a 1/2 inch thick and baked for 25-30 minutes until center was firm and edges were lightly browned. Just an advanced warning, the dough will be sticky and goey and may be difficult to spread. I used a spatula to help spread the dough.

Next, we removed the crust from the oven, added toppings, and baked for another 5-7 minutes until the cheese was completely melted. My children's favorite topping of all time, "Epiphany" sausage! It is made by a local church as their annual fundraiser and is held every year on the 2nd Sunday in March. The entire parish works together to butcher 30 hogs and process their own sausage with seasonings and casings making the leanest most flavorful sausage I have ever tasted! This small town of 50 people will fill with 1000 to 1500 people in one day looking for a great meal that only happens one time a year!

UPDATE! The crust is awesome and so much better than the sweet potato pizza crust I posted earlier! My children will agree! THEY EVEN REQUESTED WE MAKE IT AGAIN SOON!

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken with Garlic and Lemon

This delicious and easy recipe is inspired by the Harcombe Diet cookbook. For any of you who are not familiar with the Harcombe Diet, it's established by the experiences and research of Zoe Harcombe, a nutritionist from the UK.  She is an author, obesity researcher and nutritionist graduated from Cambridge University. This is what I take most from her books and diet research; eat a clean diet by limiting processed foods, sugar, and carbs, exactly what I want my family to experience.

This is one of my favorite recipes from her Harcombe Diet recipe book. I have tweaked it to fit my busy lifestyle, by transferring the cooking process from the oven to the slow cooker. My family enjoys this recipe, too! Another great perk about this recipe; it's simple and so are the ingredients.

Ingredients:
one whole chicken
6-8 cloves garlic
2 whole lemons
salt and black pepper
Olive oil
2 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth

Add two cups of chicken stock to your slow cooker. After removing giblets, stuff 1/2 the garlic cloves and lemons inside the chicken. My bird is from a local producer, Maxwell Colony. I feel the quality of these birds is exceptional! 

 

I place the bird in the slow cooker upside down so the juices can penetrate the breast meat. To add more flavor to the meat, I drizzle olive oil on top of the skin and in between the skin and meat.as well as half of the garlic cloves. 

 

Season with salt and pepper. Cook on low heat all day (8-9 hours) or on high heat for 5-6 hours until the bird is cooked thoroughly. I usually serve with vegetables. This particular meal I served with steamed organic carrots from Azure Standard.

My take on chicken, beef, or vegetable Stock and broth, if you can't understand the ingredient list, don't buy it. I like buying most organic brands because when I read the ingredient list, I can understand every ingredient. When I look at a brand like Swanson's, I find autolyzed yeast extract. What is that? Well, after further research, it turns out to be monosodium Glutamate (MSG). MSG is a form of concentrated salt. Because the kind of MSG we find at the store is processed, it can cause many adverse reactions, including skin rashes, itching, hives, nausea, vomiting, migraine headaches, asthma, heart irregularities, depression and even seizures. Since MSG has gained a bad rap because of its ability to cause headaches and migraines, the food market changes MSG's name. Other names used to disguise MSG include autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed protein, sodium caseinate, mono-potassium glutamate, and textured protein. (www.naturalnews.com)


I once thought that Rachel Ray's broth was safe to use and maybe even healthy for me, until I read about MSG and its other names and forms. Why would food companies choose to use these ingredients? Because MSG can enhance the flavor of low quality foods and reduce production costs. Natural flavoring such as "natural chicken flavoring" is another ingredient I try to avoid. What is that exactly? The Sweet Beet wrote a great article about this same topic and I found it very enlightening. If you have time, hop over to read it.