BBQ Menu: Pulled Pork Sliders with Chipotle Aioli & Pickled Red Onions
for Father's Day and all your Summer grilling!
Welcome back to another Substack issue!!
If you’re brand new…..a huge welcome to you!! I’m based in the US and Jane, my fabulous friend and biz partner, is based in the UK. We write about food, motherhood, life as empty nesters and travel….always with a thread connecting both sides of the Pond. Grab a coffee (or cup of tea) and let’s chat……
If you enjoy reading, we’d love if you’d or leave a comment…..or both!!
Helllloooo from the US Side of the Pond!
If you’re in the US, most likely you’re prepping for Father’s Day this Sunday. Or you might be like my family this year and combining a Father’s Day celebration with graduation. My daughter graduates from college on Saturday (4 years literally flew by in a blink!!) and the whole family will be together, including my parents.
I can’t remember the last time I celebrated Father’s Day with my dad (honestly it was probably pre-kiddos), and it’s definitely been a few years since my hubby celebrated with our son and daughter.
We’ll be heading to brunch this year, so I’m off the hook for cooking. Which I’m a little sad about because you know how much I love throwing a party!
Speaking of parties, one of my main goals when entertaining is to be in the kitchen as little as possible during the party. I want to mingle and chat with my friends instead of spending the whole party over a hot stove. This means picking recipes that I can prep and either partially or fully cook a day or two before. Then all I have to do before serving my guests is heat dishes up, assemble a salad or whip some cream.
These pulled pork sandwiches are everything a great party dish should be! Which means, if you’re coming to my house this Summer, there’s a high probability these are on the menu…..lol!
The recipe makes enough for 8 and I’ve even served 12 (just buy smaller slider buns to make the pork stretch further!).
You can make the pork a few days ahead — in fact, the longer it sits in your fridge, the more the flavors will develop.
To serve, just heat in your oven and, to make things even easier, set up a bar will all the toppings so your guests can make their own sliders.
If you have very hungry guests, you can serve these on large burger buns instead. Whichever bun you use, be sure to butter it before toasting. Skipping the butter is not an option…..trust me on this!
PORK TIPS
The recipe calls for pork butt or shoulder, and, honestly they both work really well! The fattier the piece of piece, the more it renders into the meat to make it impossibly juicy and tender.
I’ve cooked this recipe with bone-in and boneless pork. The flavor is a little deeper with bone-in, but the cooking time is longer, too. Honestly, I don’t think you’d be able to tell the difference, so buy whatever cut is available.
If you’re worried about time, boneless is the way to go.
As always, buy the best quality meat that your budget allows. The preference is always to buy local, but if that’s not an option look for “grass fed” and “organic.”
If you don’t have access to local meat, two online sources I buy meat from and can highly recommend are Butcher Box (a subscription box - you can adjust how often you get it) and Snake River Farms.
Have a fabulous weekend, friends!!
See you next week…….I’ll be sharing one of my current hyper fixation meals that also cleans out my fridge in a seriously delicious way!!
xo
Jane and Lisa
If you make this, we’d love if you’d leave a comment and let us know how it turned out!!
Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Chipotle Aioli and Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
FOR THE PULLED PORK:
1 (2-3) pound pork shoulder or butt (for faster cooking use boneless)
4 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
1 (12 ounce) beer (I like to use a dark beer, but use whatever you have on hand)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire
One 28 ounce can of pureed tomatoes
FOR THE CHIPOTLE AIOLI
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic , minced
3 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 chipotle in adobo (from a can), finely diced (if you want it less spicy, you can use 1/2 a chipotle) — substitutions: 1 teaspoon chili powder OR a few drops of your favorite hot sauce
salt and pepper
FOR THE PICKLED RED ONIONS
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup boiling water
1 red onion, thinly sliced
SERVE WITH:
toasted slider or burger buns (brioche or Hawaiian are perfection!)
chipotle aioli
pickled red onions
fresh cilantro
Other options: sliced tomatoes, caramelized onions, iceberg lettuce
Instructions
You have a couple of options for making the pork:
Combine the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Rub all over the pork and store in your refrigerator all night. Then pick your cooking method.
OR
Add all the ingredients to your Instant Pot and set it for "Pressure Cook" for 2 hours. To speed up the cooking, cut into 1 inch cubes and set your Instant Pot for 1 hour.
OR
Add all the ingredients to your Slow Cooker and cook on High for the first 2 hours, then set on Low for 4-5 hours.
OR (this is my family’s preferred method!)
Cook in a smoker or on a grill…….Rub your pork with spices and cook 1 hour per pound. Add liquid ingredients (beer, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire and tomatoes) to a sauce pan and heat over medium heat.
When the pork is cooked, shred it and spread out over a baking sheet and pour sauce over it. Gently toss, with tongs, to coat in the sauce. If you’re doubling the recipe or don’t have a sheet pan, add the shredded pork to a large stock pot and pour sauce over it, using tongs to mix until the sauce thoroughly coats the pork.
However you cook the pork, it will be delicious!!
COOKING TEMPERATURE - Whatever method you use, the perfect cooked pork temperature to allow it to easily fall apart shred is 195 degrees F.
When the pork is finished cooking, use 2 forks to shred the meat. Keep warm in the IP or Slow Cooker.
You can easily make this a day or 2 before and store in an airtight container (or containers) in your fridge.
Before serving, put on a sheet pan, spreading it out evenly and heat for 15-20 minutes in a 300 F degree oven.
Serve on toasted buns, spread generously with chipotle aioli and top with pickled red onions and a few leaves of fresh cilantro.
FOR THE CHIPOTLE AIOLI:
Stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl and taste to check the seasoning.
If you want more spice, add some more chipotle or hot sauce. I usually end up adding another squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt.
Make this a couple of hours ahead of when you'll be serving it — this will allow the flavors to really develop.
FOR THE PICKLED RED ONIONS:
Whisk all the ingredients except for the red onion in a small glass measuring cup until sugar and salt dissolve. Place onion in a 12 ounce mason jar and carefully pour vinegar mixture over the onions.
Let the onions sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Cover and chill.
When you use the onions, use a fork to pick them out from the liquid.