Howdy howdy friends and neighbors!
Glad to have you all back again.
Got a right tasty motherfucker heading your way today.
This menu worked double-time when I cooked it. It’s been a ridiculously fucked-up winter, especially for LA. This weekend we got our asses handed down to us with rain and a goddamn blizzard warning…
In LA!
It’s basically been cold as fuck going on 3-4 months now.
Sometimes you need to run the oven for an extended period of time just to warm up the fucking house. This meal did precisely that. Plus it was simple to make and a right tasty motherfucker too.
Ever have a heapin’ hankerin’ for some gatdamn delicious pork but you don’t got yerself a barbecue or smoker or none of that shit?
Well shit fire. We can build on that!
Alright. I’ll officially shut the fuck up with that. That’s how an LA resident pretends to be a redneck and well shit, now I feel like apologizing.
We’re going to cater to the many readers out there who don’t have access to a yard, or a smoke house or even a smoker.
We’re going to try and que this shit up using simply our oven. We all understand the basics of “low-and-slow” an incredibly over-used term that populates about every goddamn food show about barbecue ever.
I’ve got an oven and I sure as fuck know how to cook low and slow using that.
So we shall.
I’ve featured slow roasted pork ribs on here before that started out in the oven and finished on a charcoal grill. They always turn out quite tasty. I’ve also cooked pork butt about as many fucking ways as you can count but I haven’t featured slow roasted “pulled pork” from the oven.
Until today.
Let’s pull this motherfucker in reverse for just a second, alright?
Where did you try the very best pulled pork you’ve ever had?
I’ll give you a second, also feel free to add that location to the comments since we’re all interactive and shit.
Mine?
Memphis.
Can’t really narrow down the location but it was probably Interstate Barbecue. Covering the city of Memphis is a constant haze of wood smoke – primarily hickory smoke but you will find some pecan and oak smoke as well. The entire city of Memphis smells like barbecue and it’s goddamn glorious stuff indeed.
We’ve got a couple of legit barbecue places in LA that also produce a quality pig product and it’s actually a pretty simple equation. Smoke+pig+time+a good dry rub = delicious, delicious porky goodness.
Shit, man! Everybody and their weird Aunt Dorothy has a goddamn pulled pork sandwich now. Fuck, you can get one at goddamn Applebee’s for Christ sake.
Don’t. Don’t do that. Basically don’t eat at Applebee’s like ever for any reason OK?
So, pulled pork.
I aim to duplicate the entire barbecue process today without the presence of wood smoke entering the equation.
Don’t get me wrong. Wood smoke is a really, REALLY goddamn big part of that equation but…
Without access to the smoke element let’s give this motherfucker a go anyway.
I’m not promising we’ll equal the taste of that best barbecue pork you’ve ever had but we will try to make something much easier, far more simplistic and a hell of a lot more convenient to those of us without proper barbecue access. It will also be mighty goddamn tasty.
Quick inspiration for the pig and the sauce by Delish.com. Give her a read, she does good and tasty food things.
Let’s make our ass a butt rub.
For my basic rub it’s 2 parts paprika and one part everything else. You can see some black pepper, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, dry mustard. I also used some brown sugar. No real measurements but if you want to give this rub a try use 2 teaspoons of paprika and one teaspoon of the rest. Give the brown sugar maybe 2 tablespoons.
Mix it all together.
Back in the before-time when I DID actually own a smoker, instead of brown sugar in the rub, I used turbinado or raw sugar.
Any guesses why?
That’s right! Brown sugar burns like a motherfucker if you smoke it too long.
File this away as an important cooking tip to be addressed a bit later.
Let’s bring our porcine partner to the square dance.
That’s about a 4 pound “Boston Butt” pork shoulder cut into slabs.
Rub it up liberally with the rub.
If you have the chance, complete these first two steps the day before you cook the pork. You’ll be happy you did. At least give the rub a few hours to get familiar with our little piggy friend.
Now, we’re gonna get a nice sear on there. Add a tablespoon of canola oil into a deep pot or Dutch oven over medium/high heat. Then in goes piggy.
We need a good sear but use some caution. That sugar likes to burn because sugar can be an asshole like that.
It was about 4-5 minutes per side.
Rather than cooking the pig right on the bottom of the pot, let’s build it a nice bed to rest on while it slow cooks.
Onion bed!
How do we get the slow, smoky flavor in something we cooked in the stove? It’s the old “Liquid smoke in the slow cooked meat” trick. That’s the second time this month!
Let’s deglaze that pan the best way we know how…
The beer will also act as our braising liquid. Feel free to go domestic here. Anything fancy or expensive will just get lost in the liquid smoke/onion tsunami that this will become.
Get that onion up in that pan.
Now load in that pig.
We’re looking at 3 hours on 300 degrees. Give a stir and a re-assessment then cover and simmer for up to another hour or as long as it takes.
We’re going to make our own sauce for this baby. Click on that link above for full details.
“1 1/2 c. ketchup
1/3 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. Dijon mustard
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce”
Starts out innocuously enough.
Then the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Yes, of course I had every item on hand.
My pantry is ready to party HARD!
Now dump ’em in a bowl.
And mix.
Refrigerate at least overnight.
How’s that pig coming along?
Holy shit! That’s what we’re droning on and on about over here.
Important cooking tip applied here!
If you were to enlarge that photo you would see a dark brown, almost molasses colored witches brew at the bottom of that pot. That would be from the pork drippings, the beer, the liquid smoke and the sugar.
/inhales
You do not want to overcook that witches brew, OK!?! You do NOT.
This is the whole trick right here!. This is how we get that smoky barbecue goodness without the smoke. It’s the rich dank, insanely intense flavored concoction that mixes with the pork and beer and sugar and onion and gives us the finish that you’re looking for.
If you do overcook that devils brew?
Ain’t no sugar-coating that bastard. Your ass is going to need a new pot.
If you’re using that fancy-ass La Creuset shit?
Get you ass online and get the credit card out.
Now. When you do get it just right and mix in all of the slow roasted porkyness with that goop at the bottom of the pot?
Magic!
Know how to tell if it’s done?
That’s one clean goddamn bone right there.
So?
Make your ass a sandwich already!.
Pork and sauce will do just fine today. Of course you can put a dollop of some homemade coleslaw on there. Shit son, you can use store bought slaw for all the fucks I give.
Get in closer.
Closer!
This is good. DAMN good. Hell, it was at least as good the 2nd day. That sauce is pretty special too although that recipe makes a shit-ton of sauce. The sauce can keep refrigerated for a couple of weeks and it’s a banging all-purpose sauce that hits all of the right notes.
The only thing I didn’t do was make the homemade buns which is a goddamn shame because they would have worked famously for this dish.
Give this a go, particularly if you need 3-4 hours worth of oven warmth to heat up your nagging bones.
Simple, delicious and a proper fucking crowd pleaser.
Get after it folks.
Thanks as always for stoppin’ by. Certainly is a pleasure and an honor to have you here.
Stay warm and dodge the raindrops folks. Springs coming real soon.
Now let me turn my oven on cuz I’m freezing my fucking ass off over here!
Until next week.
PEACE!
I wish it wasn’t spoiled by the title but @jjfozz I think you will enjoy this anyways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La7B8mBnTXs
I joined the wife’s weight loss challenge to my at the gym in January. Makes her feel better if I’m on the spot, i guess.
Long story short, I’m holding the getting until 3/1 then i want this pig.
March 25th wanna go to a Cactus lge game with me? My treat.
Heavy Metal Gorilla. Fucking awesome.
https://youtu.be/8ELyk8F9Ad8
Just dropped off middle fozz spawn for his first day on his first job.
it’s a little pizza and sub shop owned by old friends of the family.
so if he comes home and talks about shipping heroin out in pizza boxes, i”ll be cool with that.
It’s risky being it’s daylight out, but I’m still going to release the Kraken.
How long until puck/deuce drop? Looks like you’re early.
Another half hour or so. I’m always early.
If anyone else needs very DFO ingredients for cooking:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoP_IKxP6IP/?igshid=OTJlNzQ0NWM=
Here’s a battleship with a cruise ship going backwards.
San Pedro, yesterday:
https://vimeo.com/802503902
I wish I could keep it that straight in reverse! Anything longer than a parking space and I am all over the place.
The trick is not turning the steering wheel
.
THIS LADY GUMBYGIRL I CALL HER LAMAR JACKSON BECAUSE SHE CAN’T COMPLETE A SEVEN STEP DROP AND HAS TO RUN EVERYTHING OUT OF SHOTGUN.
That looks delicious and while I’m not likely to make it any time soon, I’d gladly take leftovers off your hands.
Drake vs Bradley seems like a contest between two law partners in Delaware to decide which name is first on the business card.
Cool Siberian music for cold Angelenos! Trust me, this rocks
https://youtu.be/CqwrwwOzVcQ
You’re my favorite deejay, Gumbygirl. Don’t tell the others – I don’t trust them.
I don’t either, they are a sketchy bunch!
Fuck that looks tasty
*cold
YR, I love you internet friend but come on. You have had light jacket weather.
Balls would still rock a parka
[Los Angeles residents feeling the effects of a slight breeze]
“God Damn it all to hell! You blew it all up! The cute vest for my dog can’t withstand this onslaught. [I’ll insist it’s a rescue but I paid 3K for it] You Maniacs! Do you realize I won’t be able to get a half-decent breakfast burrito? Won’t someone think of the palm trees that I don’t care about?”
No one better fuck with my breakfast burrito!
You’d like L.A. the most, Scotchie: You don’t have to go out to the woods to find hobos, and nobody particularly cares if you kill them.
Fuck and yes.
Kaitlin Clark just put up 34-9-9 to beat Indiana. Was a good game
I do love me some Indiana Knightenschade.
Porky goodness! That was the best thing about living in the south, soooo much good barbeque. There was a little place in Birmingham called Saws that had the best pulled pork sammiches, slobbering just thinking of them! Dreamland had my favorite sauce, and ribs were the go- to there. Miss Myra’s for chicken with white barbeque sauce ( it’s a delicious Bama thing.) Full Moon had good que. We liked Memphis, Neely’s was good, and there was a little hole in the wall, I can’t remember the name. Interstate always had too much of a wait.
Oh, and here’s a tip for anyone travelling south of the Mason- Dixon. A good barbeque place always has a pig (often a cartoon pig) on their sign. The happier looking the pig is, the better the que.
The first place I tried near Memphis was a little mom and pop shop in Collierville and I was hooked. There are 2 Neely family owned joints here in LA, mentioned below Jay Bees and JRs. In Memphis besides Interstate I’ve been to the Germantown commissary, A & R, pig and whistle, Rendezvous and the Barbecue Shop. All are excellent.
And Corky’s!
I’ve been to Corky’s, but not in Memphis. Somewhere around Nashville.
I’ve been to Rendezvous!
The best thing about living in the south was owning slaves . . . er, I mean not owning slaves.
History of the World II looks terrible.
I’ll still love it.
RIP Bill Paxton
Holy Crap! The seniors on South Carolina’s women’s basketball team have a regular season record of 121-8.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnbsxPQ/
A short history lesson
Stealing Home by Eric Nussbaum is an excellent deep dive into the story behind LA screwing over the families in Chavez ravine
CHAMPIONS OF THE ENERGY CUP, BABY!
What a game.
5 minutes.
*breathing through a paper bag*
About 15 minutes left. . .
Los Angeles lookin’ kinda pretty this morning.
United is way too passive. There’s 30 minutes left, FFS.
– flight attendant, wondering why the pilot hasn’t pulled in front of that Southwest flight that just keeps circling and circling and circling.
I guess they can at least torture and murder in Riyadh tonite – but their hearts ain’t really gonna be in it smh.
Wait, whose hearts are going to be missing?
United need to go for the kill. A goal by the Barcodes will inject life in them and give them hope.
DR. RASHFORD FEEDING ALL THE CHILDREN OF THEMCHESTER! LETS GO!
How we all doing? Are we all watching .. . .
CASEMIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
GET IN!
How’re we doing?
I assume your answer is “hard enough to cut glass”
Viagra got nuttin on this game
I was skeptical about y’all signing Theodore from The Chipmunks- but he’s been immense.
“Smoke without a smoker? Can’t be done.”
– J Gordon, ripping from a hollowed out apple.
His XFL team should totes have been the Colorado Towelie
Grandson watching Caribou with me. Righteous.
Maybe I should let him be a Men Untied supporter. Let that generation live in hope.
.. that staggering wealth is all it takes.
Well, damn. Yesterday I picked up a chicken, a duck, and a chuck roast, but no pork. But if I use bacon grease for my pot roast, I can have some honorary porcine representation!
It should be a Special Guest Star credit. Let’s coordinate a Zoom to discuss residuals and leftovers allocation.
–SAG-AFTRA
You would think cole slaw and barbecue is universally known, but my wife’s family (and wife herself) in Morgantown had never seen it before. It was at a holiday get-together* and they had barbecue sandwiches. So I put together a sandwich, and her folks were all, “What are you doing!” Uh, cole slaw on a bbq sandwich. You folks haven’t tried this? For those of them that had the guts to try it, it was a revelation.
WCS might know this one as well: pepperoni rolls. Not a thing in the southern of West By God. A revelation on my part.
*Pre-internet days. Some bowl game was on, and Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas were on the same OSU (Oklahoma State, not THE…) team.
I know a lady from Huntington who makes a killer cole slaw but is not into BBQ. The waste…
BT’s brisket reuben would like a word with your wife’s family.
I would absolutely buy her one of these sandwiches.
I just checked in on Jackie and she’s awake and getting a nice little break from the snow.
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone as much as I hated Ashton Kutcher and then it turned out that they were actually a pretty decent human being. I wish I would turn out to be that wrong for people like Tyreek Hill, Deshaun Watson, Matt Gaetz, Brett Ratner…
Climbing up is the easy part; getting back on terra safely is the trick.
You can’t just tease and not give it away. What are the two BBQ places in LA you recommend?
Are we talking Bludsoe’s and Cripsoe’s?
yeah…
You got the first one right. JRs and JayBees would also be in the conversation. Hopefully JayBees still exists. Also worth a visit to Compton.
I am reminded of Chris Rock’s bit about Martin Luther King Drive always being in a black area, so white people know where to go to get good ribs.
Obama Blvd is actually one of my favorite roads to drive on in Los Angeles; there’s barely any lights on it and they’re almost always green, so it’s like a freeway without the traffic.
This here London Derby I call it the Six-Day War, because the visitors done pissed off the Yid Army and quickly regretted it.
Guess I know what I’m getting for lunch. Skol indeed!
Last year we talked on Sunday Gravey about vegetable gardening, a major aseptic of the culture here. I half assed agreed to give updates but figured it would be better to start at the beginning. Which is the dirt. Yesterday I started the garden by fertilizing the soil. In our growing zone you do that now, you’ll need to check for yours. There are actually two other soil prep steps I do but they are not really essential. I burn wood in October and spread the ashes in the soil. And in November I take the previous years mulch and turn that in the soil. So if you want to give it a go this year… it’s soil prep time.
Ooh, I’m excited to hear about this!
Too many people think you put stuff into the ground and voilà ! Soil prep is crucial. Looking forward to hearing the rest!
I know it isn’t that simple, which is why Hippo no do it.
Hippo:
I have the Black Thumb of Death. We have a little succulent of some sort in one of those Mexican sugar skulls, and we have kept that little fucker alive for a couple of months now, plant parents of the year!
I’ll take it step by step and let you all see the “crops” as they come in. Next step is planting, depending on the weather… around mid April. I do not grow from seed, not that hard core. I plant saplings from a great garden center we have. By my estimate the low cost of soil prep (6 x bags of organic cow dookie) and plants saves me 10-15 times on veggies store brought.
I have a bunch of ashes from the fireplace that I accidentally left out in the rain; maybe I’ll spread some in the garden plot that’s coming free soon and see how happy it makes my soil.
It’s a technique we adopted from the native Americans. But don’t use charcoal from a grill. That shit will screw up yer dirt. Wood (untreated) or paper do the trick.
I used to bring our fireplace ashes to the dump until I noticed how enthusiastic they were about having me drop it into the materials they were composting. Now I mix it in with the grass clippings, leaves, and other crap out back that we slowly turn into soil.
Finally got a sifter last year and some garden boxes. Dug to the bottom of 25 years of compost, ran it through the sifter and got tons of cherry tomatoes and peppers. The bigger tomatoes did not do anywhere near as well, which I suspect we due to a significant drought.
Ciao Buddy. I’m a huge KC BBQ fan myself but it’s always been store brought or restaurant fare. I’ve noticed it tends to be dry at times, probably why I’m reluctant to cook it from scratch. But this looks like a plan. I guess the trick is keeping a close eye on it to avoid overcooking it.