This weekend Lisa and I hosted a dinner party at our apartment in our fair city of Cambridge. Since we needed to feed 10-15 people and I was working full-time, I chose to use one of our slow cookers and our dutch oven to make my contributions. Back in July, Lisa made a truly killer Banh Mi Hotdog which we served with Brooklyn Lager. The 2014 Beer & Food pairing for the month of October was pulled pork and Dunkel (a type of German beer).
Since Max and Eli Sussman have a delicious dutch oven pulled pork recipe in their book “This is a Cookbook” that calls for a can of beer (Tecate), I decided to cook the pork butt in Dunkel. It was the party favorite—I really think the Erdigner Dunkel I used made the difference; it elevated a good recipe to a great one.
Dunkel Pulled Pork Sliders:
Ingredients:
- 2 TBSP Vegetable Oil
- 4 lb Pork Butt
- Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1 can (12 fl oz) lager (the Sussman brothers recommend Tecate, here is where I used Erdigner’s Dunkel)
- 1 Large White Onion, Chopped
- 1/4 Cup Tightly Packed Light Brown Sugar
- 1 TBSP Chili Powder
Tools:
- Dutch Oven (this is ours)
- Tongs
- Cutting Board
- Chef’s Knife (this is ours, here’s a cheaper option; the important thing is to keep it sharp)
- 1/4 Cup and 1 TBSP measuring cup/spoon
- Preheat your oven to 250 F
- In a large dutch oven, heat the oil over high heat. Remove the pork butt from the butcher paper and season the paper generously with salt and pepper. Roll the pork butt on the paper to season evenly (repeat as needed).
- Place the pork butt into the dutch oven and sear over high heat, turning as needed with tongs, until a slight crust forms on all sides (~15 minutes).
- Measure and pour 12 oz (1 3/4 cups) of dunkel over the seared pork butt. Add the onion, brown sugar, and chili powder to the pot and mix well. Cover the dutch oven and place in the warmed oven. Roast for 6 hours.
- Remove the pot from the oven and use 2 forks to test the pork (it should shred easily). If not, re-cover and continue roasting in the oven for up to 1 more hour.
- Once the pork shreds easily remove it from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Shred the remaining pork butt with two forks or your hands. Toss out any big chunks of fat. Return the pot (dutch oven) to the oven and simmer with the lid off for another 1-2 hours. Serve on slider buns.
Bon apétit,
-Ryan
Suits and Spatulas 