PW's Spicy Pulled Pork, Beans and Cornbread

OK, so I guess I am still cooking out of the Pioneer Woman cookbook. Tonight we discovered that Pioneer Woman's idea of spicy..., not spicy. But it still is really, really yummy pulled pork.

Oh, and warning, after you rub down the roast, your hands will smell like garlic and onions ALL DAY, no joke. So I would recommend using plastic gloves or saran wrapping your hands.

Also, I made the beans the night before, as well as the rub for the roast. On a weekend, I could make it the day of, but I don't have that luxury during the week. Also, because I leave between 6:30 and 6:45am, the roast was in the crock pot around 6:15 and we ate around 7 - so 12 hours roasting. It was super tender.

Spicy Pulled Pork
(but don't let the name fool you,
this isn't spicy)

Ingredients:
5-7lb pork shoulder (I only used a 2lb, I was feeding three adults and 1 child and we had plenty left over)
1 whole onion, cut into quarters (I cut into eighths)
1 T chili powder
1/2 c brown sugar
4 garlic cloves
1 t oregano
2 t cumin
1-2 T salt (I misread this one, and only added 2 t)
Freshly ground black pepper
3 T olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar (I only had red, so that's what I used)
Lime wedges
Flour tortillas

Instructions:
Mix everything but the pork, limes, and tortillas in a food processor. This will be your rub.

Spread the rub all over the roast, cake it on.

PW recommends placing the roast in a roasting pan or dutch over. Add 2 cups of water, cover and bake at 300 for 6-7 hours, turning over the roast each hour. Once the roast is cooked, turn the oven up to 425 and roast uncovered for 20 minutes.

As I mentioned, I cooked this in a crock pot. I cooked it on low for 11 hours, and on high for the last hour. I cover the roast in the rub. I then put the remaining rub in the bottom of the crock pot and added the 2 cups of water.

I am not sure if it is because I used a smaller roast, but I don't think 2 cups of water is necessary. Though the roast was incredibly tender. I tried to take of picture so you could see how it just fell apart. I also like how you can see the steam coming off the roast in this photo.

Beans

Ingredients:
4 c dried pinto beans
4 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 t salt
2 t black pepper
Chili powder, optional (I used 2 T)
Cayenne pepper, optional
Garlic powder, optional
Oregano, optional (I used 1 T)

Instructions:
Rinse the beans well.

Put the beans into a large stock pot with the bacon. Fill with water until it just covers the beans (about 2 inches above)

Boil for 2-3 hours, checking about once an hour to be sure there is still enough water. (I cooked mine for 2 1/2 hours and added water only once. I refrigerated them overnight, and then reheated them on low for an hour before serving.)

Add extra seasonings you desire before serving (I added mine while cooking so the flavor would be well absorbed into the whole pot.)

Skillet Cornbread

Ingredients:
1 c cornmeal
1/2 c flour
1 t salt
1 T baking powder
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c milk
1 egg
1/2 t baking soda
1/3 c + 2 T shortening

Instructions:
Preheat the over to 450.

Mix the cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder together.

In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, milk, egg and baking soda.

Mix the dry with the wet, but don't over mix.

Melt 1/4 c shortening in the microwave (I've never done this before. It took over a minute for mine to melt all the way.) Add to the batter until combined well.

In your iron skillet, melt the other 2 T shortening on the stove top. Pour the batter into the hot skillet, and cook for 1 minute. Then put the pan into the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. (mine was done after 20 minutes, I'd almost recommend cooking for only 18 minutes, the bottom was pretty dark.)

You can kind of see the dark bottom.

If you don't want to make cornbread, you can eat the meat and beans with tortillas. You can add green chilies to the beans for a more Latin flair.

It was really tasty, but again, it wasn't spicy.

Enjoy!