Yea, I know we’ve been layin’ it on pretty thick with the chocolate and the pork butt; however, I just had to share this one with you.  Confession:  I’ve NEVER made my own BBQ sauce.  There are just so many good ones on the market to satisfy my diners, and to be quite truthful, I’ve never been much of a fan….until now!

 

Anyhoo, I had about 2 pounds of pork butt left over from a crock pot dish I made last week and was planning to make a chili with a nice cup of coffee in it for this series.  Then, out of the blue my husband says, “Hey, how about a pulled pork sandwich instead with coleslaw and everything?”  Um, yuk!!  Well, he is pretty cute and he did change all the HVAC filters and lift a few heavy things this weekend, so well, why the hell not?  BUTT: I’m not going to the grocery store again so we’ll make due with what we’ve got.  This is improvisational cuisine.

If you know me at all, you’ll understand that by the time I dug through my pantry looking for potential partyers to throw into the pool….I needed a few glasses of wine.   By the time I got creative and brave enough to attempt this feat of sauce, I, ahem, forgot to write down the ingredient quantities.  At least I left all of the dry ingredients on the counter top ~ here’s how it came together with guestimates. 

Crock Pot Pork Butt with Carolina BBQ Sauce

2 Pounds Cooked Pork Butt (Obviously, traditional Carolina is smoked…but this is my world and you’re playing in it!)  This Pork was slow cooked with mire poix, 4 garlic cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 8 whole cloves, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

For the Sauce: (remember – quantities are estimated)

1 1/2 Cups Ketchup

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 t. Garlic powder

2 T. Dried, Minced Onions

1 t. Crushed Red pepper

2 t. Chile powder

1 t. White pepper

1 t. Celery seed

1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 Cup Orange juice

1 Cup Fresh Brewed Coffee – Village Coffee Roastery Harrar Blend

 

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the ketchup and all other dry ingredients.  Whisk together and let come to a strong simmer.  Add the vinegar, juice and coffee and bring to a boil.  Let cook a few minutes and reduce heat so the sauce is bubbling just a little (low simmer).  Cook until thickened – back to that consistency of ketchup. 

PUll the pork apart and add to the sauce.  Stir until incorporated and you’re ready to serve.  Oh, by the time I was ready to make the coleslaw, the wine kicked in, so I served this dish over a baked potato – how much fun is that??

Harrar

The depth of flavor that comes with this blend lends well to the sweet and tangy side of the sauce. 

This coffee is noted for its resemblance to a dry red wine and full bodied presence. The flavor is amazingly layered with subtle hints of berry and mocha with an earthy backdrop.