Meaty Mondays -- We are definitely not vegetarians.

My interest in cooking grew a lot during undergrad -- I loved cooking for my roommates, trying new dishes with them, and exchanging recipes. Ever since Josh & I got married, I have been trying out new main courses trying to appease his need for spiciness and flavor and my picky-eating syndrome. Some have been a complete bust, but others are completely AWESOME. Half in order to share these recipes with you and half to remember them and not let them get mixed in with some of the more mediocre recipes, I began thinking about posting them (with a few pics for kicks). Some of these "Monday" posts might be full of awesomely prepared meat dishes & moments while some might tell of horrible stories I encountered in the kitchen, but Josh said it would be okay for me to write about them all as long as I don't become like Julie & Julia... which I couldn't do anyway since I have other things to do around the house besides cook, could probably not afford to cook braised duck or raspberry Bavarian cream frequently, and do not really have the stamina to cook every night of the week ;) 

The following is probably THE BEST pulled pork I have ever had in my life...


or at least in a kitchen. This is a very hard statement to make because BBQ is one of my favorite food groups (besides chocolate, of course). For not having a smoker, though, this recipe definitely tops the charts. I won't post the whole recipe (which can be found here), but it is one that I have actually used multiple times. We don't follow the recipe exactly -- I usually get a smaller boston butt & add a few more flavorings -- but this is one that my friend and I found a few years back. The whole blog is AWESOME... I am actually preparing to make the enchilada dish later this week.

Basically, you just create a brine to soak the meat in 8+ hours, dry it off and pack it with a dry rub mix, and the cook it for about 1/5hrs/lb at the low temperature of 225 F. After it has reached a temperature of 200 F (which pork normally is done at 160-170), you let it sit in the oven for a bit and then tear the meat apart. It is so easy & so delicious!! It just takes a little time preparing it and remembering to alot enough time for brining in the fridge and cooking on low in the oven.

Here is a 1 1/2 lb boston butt (we cut a 3 lb in half) brining -- it was in the fridge like this for over 14 hours!

Here it is all smothered in dry rub goodness and in the oven -- I just got this thermometer and it makes life SO much easier!

...and, viola! A few hours later (okay, maybe like 5) and the meat was shredded and on a nice toasty bun. And as for sauce, it is virtually unneeded because the pork is so juicy and flavorful! Josh eats the outside parts because it is spicy from all the, well, spices, and I get to eat the inner meat.

The pictures look almost as yummy as the actual meal was! This obviously isn't the meat, but here is an onion we picked up from Josh's garden and made into onion rings -- SO delicious and it isn't even technically time to harvest them yet. They are going to be HUGE!!

What was left of the rings...

-Sara