Brown Sugar Pulled Pork

Several weeks ago, my husband found a ~10lb picnic shoulder (meaning it still had the bone in it) for a pretty good price, so he picked it up. I did some guess work and cooked it low and slow in the oven and then shared it with friends.

We found another one, not on sale, but I wanted to make it again... So it ended up in the grocery cart.

Here's how I prepare it, for fall apart pork that's slightly sweet an REALLY good with some Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce. It's a 2-day process, but so worth it.

First I line a large roasting pan with foil. Lots of foil, because there's a lot of liquid and drippings in this, and a well lined pan makes for much easier clean up, and then put the shoulder in fat/skin layer facing up.

Then I take a sharp, serrated knife and cut some grooves in the fat, down to the meat in a criss-cross pattern.

Then I put the rub together half of the rub goes on the meat to sit over night, the other half goes on before it goes in the oven.

The dry-rub ingredients:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp mustard pwoder
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cayenne

Mix them all up! Then rub half of the rub mixture onto the pork... make sure you get it down in the grooves, and directly on the meat on the ends, and the bottom.

Then cover with foil and stick in the fridge over night.

Day 2!

Set your oven to 275*F (low and slow, baby)

Uncover your pork shoulder, save the foil though, so you can cover it back up. Grab your rub, and rub the rest of it on the shoulder, then cover it back up and stick it the oven... For about 45 mins per pound.

My 10lb pork shoulder should be done in around 8 hours at 275. If you want to cook it more quickly, it can be done at 350 for 25-30 mins per pound. The trick is to get the meat to 180 or above for a while to break down the connective tissue so it falls apart into that juicy, shredded goodness. Make sure the internal temp is at least 160 though to be sure it's done.

When it comes out of the oven, I use tongs to remove and discard the fat layer (it should come right off) and pull the bone out (it should slide out clean). Then I pull it with the tongs and a fork and put the meat into a slow cooker on the "warm" setting to keep the meat warm. I serve it with barbecue sauce and bread and enjoy! :) Or sometimes I just eat it plain, it's really good!

(Sorry I don't have any pictures of the finished product, we had friends over and we were hungry!)

For the leftovers, I divide it into equal portions and store in freezer bags. It freezes pretty well. I use the leftovers for pork tacos or with collards. Yum.

Enjoy!
~Mandy

Butter Pecan Poke Cake

Brace yourself....

Every Friday, our little community has a cook out... So every Thursday, I bake up something I think will be scrumptious to share. It's the perfect excuse to try out a new cake or other dessert recipes without having the whole thing here for just my husband and me. Usually on Wednesdays I start looking, because Thursday is our typical shopping day. (Unfortunately due to rain, tonight's cook out was canceled... which is why I got a picture of a slice of the cake!)

On Wednesday I found this bit of drool-worthiness: Southern Pecan Praline Cake onThe Country Cook. I love just about everything Butter Pecan, so I had to check it out. When I saw that the frosting goes *into* the cake mix, and the sauce involved sweetened condensed milk, I was sold.

I had to make a few edits to fit my needs, and so I followed the recipe for the cake itself, and then made some changes when it came to the topping, and turned it into a poke cake.

Your cast of characters:

(Water and whipped topping not pictured)

Cake ingredients:
1 box Butter Pecan Cake mix
1 tub Coconut Pecan frosting
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In the middle:
1 can (14oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp butter

On the top:
8oz tub Whipped Topping (like Cool Whip)
1/2c chopped pecans

How to make it:

Heat oven to 350*F

Grease a 9x13 dish with cooking spray.

Mix all the ingredients for the cake together (except the pecans) in a large bowl. That includes the frosting! Once everything is well mixed, add in the pecans and give it a stir. (Batter will seem kind of thin)

Pour batter into prepared 9x13 dish, and bake at 350*F for 38-42 minutes. (Mine was done at 39 minutes, this takes a while to bake up because of all the liquid ingredients).

While your cake is baking, you have time to do silly things. Like take pictures of your pets with random things on their heads.

Back to the cake... it's done when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

This is where I differ from the original recipe. She suggest mixing up the sauce, and serving it over individual slices, but I had to prepare this for a gathering, and that wasn't going to work.

Because I love poke cakes, and wanted each slice to get some of the yummy topping, I poked holes in the cake, and poured the sauce (minus the pecans) over it like a poke cake.

To do this: poke holes in the cake with the handle of a wooden spoon, then melt the butter in the microwave and mix with the sweetened condensed milk and pour over the cake, trying to get it mostly into the holes.

Once the cake cools completely, spread the whipped topping over it (I do this in 2 steps - first a thin layer to fill in the holes, then a 2nd layer to pretty it up).. and sprinkle the top with 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Cut and serve! This cake is incredibly moist and rich. And SO VERY yummy.

Don't you just want to steal the fork and take a bite?

I hope you enjoy!

And stay tuned, coming up is my recipe/method for making brown sugar pulled pork!

~Mandy

Milky Way Poke Cake!

Oh my goodness people. Grab a napkin for the drool and LOOK AT THIS cake...

That picture doesn't even begin to do this cake justice. You can't see all the gooey, chewy nougat and caramel in the middle, between the whipped topping and the chocolate sheet cake, but it's there, I promise.

I found this recipe at Chef In Training and HAD to make it. Because something that's chocolate and caramel and includes marshmallow fluff *has* to be amazing right? And of course, it has to be difficult right? Because nothing that looks that good can be easy, RIGHT?

WRONG! This was not very difficult to make at all. The hardest part was the nougat, and only because of the "stir constantly for 4 minutes" part... Not hard, just some standing still and stirring.

Anyway... Your cast of characters:

1 box chocolate cake mix and ingredients it calls for (The one I used called for 1 1/4 cups water, 1/2 cup oil, and 3 eggs).

Nougat Filling:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff
1 tsp. vanilla

Toppings:
1 (12 oz) jar caramel topping
1 (8 oz) tub cool whip thawed
3 regular size Milky Way Candy Bars chopped

Not pictured: Water for the cake mix.

First step is to bake the boxed cake mix as instructed on the box in a 9x13 dish.

After it's cooled for 5-10 minutes, take a wooden spoon and use the handle to poke several holes across the top. I usually do rows of 5 to make my mild OCD happy.

Once that is done, you need to mix up your nougat filling. I did this by putting the marshmallow creme into a large metal bowl and adding the vanilla first, then mixing up the nougat on the stove.

Melt the butter over medium heat, add the sugar and evaporated milk and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil and stir constantly for 4 mins. You need to keep stirring because this mixture will burn to the bottom of the pan and cause sticky clumps in your nougat.

This is the tricky part, because you have to work quickly since the mixture thickens pretty fast as it cools. Pour the hot milk/butter/sugar mixture over the marshmallow creme and vanilla and mix until smooth, then (I used 1/2 cup measuring cup to make it easier) pour the nougat mixture over the cake, filling the holes. It will sit on top, but eventually gravity will do it's thing and the nougat will sink down into the cake. Some will go down the sides, and sit on top, and that's okay!

Once you are done with the nougat, take the ice cream topping and repeat the process, saving some to drizzle on the top if you'd like. I like the squeeze bottle, but if you get a jar, just use a spoon and try to get it as much into the holes as possible, then let the cake cool. It will look something like this:

Don't worry, those holes will be filled soon!

After the cake has cooled completely, spread on the whipped topping. I did a thin layer first, and pressed down slightly with my rubber spatula to get it down in the holes, then added the rest of it. Drizzle a little caramel sauce. Sprinkle your chopped Milky Way pieces (I used the Bites because I had a coupon, and just chopped them in half), and then drizzle a little more caramel sauce (or not, I just love caramel) and you're done! :)

Then you get to dig in to this beautiful cake. Yum!

That's all for now. Enjoy!
~Mandy

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

It's been a while since I've posted! I've been a little busy, but I've got a treat to share.

This meatloaf is loaded with cheese, wrapped in bacon, and glazed with barbecue sauce. It's DELICIOUS. I modified it (a bit) from this recipe I found on allrecipes.

Mmm melty cheese, bacon, caramelized barbecue sauce...

I didn't get pictures of the whole process, because I was dealing with raw meat, and didn't want to get all that gunk on my camera.

Anyway! To make this you'll need:

2 pounds ground meat (I used beef and pork)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce (or ketchup) + enough for glazing
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, chili powder, ground red pepper (to taste)
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
6-8 slices bacon
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded (divided)

Preheat oven to 375*F

Step 1: In a large bowl, mix the meats and the wet ingredients together (Meat, eggs, barbecue sauce). Wash your hands really well, then dig in. It's messy, but it's the easiest way.

Step 2: Mix in the dry ingredients (bread crumbs, seasonings, chopped veggies, and 3/4 cup cheese) until everything is pretty well incorporated.

Step 3: Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil, then lay out bacon slices across the width, overlapping slightly.

Step 4: Transfer meat mixture to the baking pan, and form into a loaf shape over the bacon strips, then wrap the bacon strips around the meat-loaf and brush a thin layer of barbecue sauce over the whole loaf.

Step 5:  Bake for 1 hour, to 1 hour and 15 minutes... or until the middle reaches 165*F.

Step 6: Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese, and place back in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.


Let the meatloaf sit for a few minutes before cutting and enjoy!

What can I say, I like melted cheese.

This meatloaf is DELICIOUS. I will be making it again! I know the picture up there looks a bit like it's burned all over, but that's just caramelized barbecue sauce, and the crispy ends of the bacon.

Number of slices depends on the shape of your loaf, and the width of your slices. The leftovers will make excellent sandwiches!

Enjoy!
~Mandy