North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork with Macaroni and Cheese and Baked Beans

Hi everyone, Sarah here -

So I've been meaning to post this blog entry for a few weeks, since I made all of this over Memorial Day weekend.  Last year, a couple of my friends and I took a trip down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (and we're going again next weekend!), and we stopped at this little hole-in-the-wall barbecue joint called Pigman's Barbecue.  They have some of the best pork barbecue I've ever eaten in my life.  Eating there gave me the motivation to try to make pork barbecue on my own, and I've found that it's actually quite easy to do.  So over Memorial Day weekend, I ended up making some for Becca and I, along with some delicious baked beans and macaroni and cheese as side dishes.  There was so much food...we ate it for days.  But it was totally worth it.  Anyways, here goes:

North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork (recipe courtesy Tyler Florence)


Start by making your spice rub.  Combine: 3 tablespoons paprika, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon dry mustard, and 3 tablespoons coarse salt.

Next, you'll need one 5-7 lb pork roast, preferably pork shoulder or Boston Butt.

Coat the roast with the spice rub, making sure to firmly pack it in on every part of the surface.  Allow the pork to marinate in the refrigerator for as long as you've got time, at least one hour and up to overnight.

After the pork has marinated, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Place the pork in the oven and roast for about six hours, or until it's falling off the bone and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part measures at least 170 degrees F.

Meanwhile, make the barbecue sauce.  Chop a couple of cloves of garlic.

In a large saucepan, combine garlic with one and a half cup of apple cider vinegar

And one cup of spicy brown mustard and half a cup of ketchup.  (Sorry, no pictures of these steps.)  Then add in 1/3 cup of brown sugar.

Finally, to the mixture add in 1 teaspoon of salt.

And one teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

And about 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper.

Mix everything together and bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

After the pork has been roasting for about 6 hours, is falling off the bone, and registers at least 170 degrees F at its thickest point, remove it from the oven.

Place the roast on a clean surface and use two forks to shred the meat.

This will take a very long time if you're working alone, or not very long at all if you have some helpers :).  But, here are the results!

Mix the pork with the barbecue sauce, and it's done!  Enjoy.

But what is barbecue without the side dishes?  That's why I also made baked beans and macaroni and cheese!

Baked Beans (recipe courtesy Paula Deen)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Start by cooking a few slices of bacon in a large skillet.

Once the bacon is crispy, remove to a plate covered with paper towels to drain off some of the excess fat.  Preserve the bacon drippings in the pan.

Once the bacon has cooled slightly, crumble it into small pieces.

Next, dice one large onion.

Saute the onion in the leftover bacon drippings until soft.

Next, open two 16-oz cans of baked beans.

Combine the baked beans and onions in a large, oven-safe pot.  My pot was probably a little too large, but my smaller ones weren't oven-safe.

Add in three tablespoons of yellow mustard.

And one quarter cup of brown sugar.

And one quarter cup of maple syrup.

And four tablespoons of ketchup.

And one tablespoon of lemon juice.

Finally, add in the crumbled bacon, and stir together.

Bake, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes.  Enjoy!

Macaroni and Cheese (recipe courtesy Alton Brown)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Stir in half a pound of elbow macaroni and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat two eggs.

Add in six ounces of evaporated milk and half a teaspoon of hot sauce.

And 3/4 teaspoon of dry mustard.

Finally, add in 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Whisk everything together and set aside.  Once the macaroni is cooked and drained, put it back in the pot.  Melt in four tablespoons of butter.

Slowly pour in the egg mixture and combine. (Sorry, no pictures of this step.) Be careful not to let the eggs cook and become scrambled eggs.  Finally, add in 10 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded.  Stir it into the macaroni and allow to melt.  Enjoy!

North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork

Dry Rub:

3 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

3 tablespoons coarse salt

1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce:

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar

1 cup yellow or brown mustard

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 hamburger buns

Mix the paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl.  Rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours.  Basically, roast the pork until it's falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170 degrees F.

To make the barbecue sauce, combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat.  Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter.  Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes.  While still warm, take 2 forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds.  Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other.  Put the shredded pork in a bowl.  Pour 1/2 of the sauce on the shredded pork and mix well to coat.

Baked Beans

1/2 pound bacon strips

1 large onion, diced

3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup light brown sugar

4 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crispy on both sides.  Remove to a plate layered with a paper towel to soak up the excess fat, and let cool slightly.  Reserve the bacon drippings in the pan.

Dice the onion and saute in the bacon drippings until soft.  Once the bacon is cool, crumble it into small pieces.  

In a Dutch oven, mix onion, baked beans, mustard, maple syrup, light brown sugar, ketchup, and lemon juice.  Top with the bacon pieces.  Bake, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes.

Macaroni and Cheese

1/2 pound elbow macaroni

4 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

6 ounces evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh black pepper

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain.  Return to the pot and melt in the butter.  Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper and mustard.  Stir into the pasta and add the cheese.  Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Peach-Basil Chicken Breasts

Hi everyone, Sarah here:

I'm still alive!  I know I've been majorly neglecting the blog lately, I've been so busy and have barely had time to cook or post.  Anyways, it's almost officially summer and it definitely feels like summer in DC, which means two things: I've got lots of peaches and fresh herbs around.  So in order to use some of my peaches and fresh basil, I decided to make Peach-Basil Chicken Breasts (recipe courtesy of Southern Living magazine).

I've planted an herb garden for the past three years in a row, but for both of the past years I've killed it off accidentally, mostly because I kept forgetting to water it.  This year, I am determined not to kill it, and it's actually doing really well so far.  See?

Anyways, tonight's dinner involves both fresh basil and peaches.  Enjoy!

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Next, start prepping the ingredients.  Cut the ends off a shallot and peel it to separate it into pieces.

Finely chop the shallot, or just pulse it in a food processor for a few seconds until it is minced.

Next, grab a piece of fresh ginger and cut off a piece about one inch long.

Peel the ginger.  If you're like me, this will be exceptionally difficult for you.  Every time I try to peel ginger, I end up dropping it at least twice and nearly peeling my finger off in the process.  So if you have any trouble doing so, just know that I am probably having similar issues.  Just get it done.  Success!

Pulse the ginger for a few seconds in the food processor until finely minced.  Or chop it by hand, but in my opinion this is much easier done with a food processor if you have one.

Smash and peel a couple of cloves of garlic.

Finely chop the garlic, or just pulse it in the food processor too.

Next, grab 3 to 4 ripe peaches.

Peel the peaches and slice them into quarters.

Finally, cut off about 10-12 basil leaves.

Stack the basil leaves on top of each other.

Roll the basil leaves up like a cigar.

Slice the basil widthwise.

Then slice it a few times lengthwise.  Set aside.

Now, grab some skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on the both sides of the chicken.

Heat some olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet.

Saute the chicken breasts until browned, about two minutes per side.

Remove the chicken breasts to a plate.  Add the shallots into the skillet and saute until soft, 2-3 minutes.

Add in the ginger and garlic and saute for about a minute more, until fragrant.

Pour in one cup of chicken broth.

Add in the peaches and basil.

Finally, add the chicken back into the pan.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve with couscous, rice, or some other kind of grain.  Enjoy!

Peach-Basil Chicken Breasts
1 shallot, minced
1-inch piece of ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 to 4 peaches, sliced
12 basil leaves, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peel and mince the shallot.  Cut off a 1-inch piece of ginger, peel and finely chop it.  Smash and peel two cloves of garlic, and mince it.  Peel the peaches and slice them into quarter.  Stack the basil leaves and roll into a cigar-like shape.  Slice them widthwise, then lengthwise several times.

Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken breasts.  Saute the chicken until browned, about 2 minutes per side.  Remove to a plate.

Saute the shallot in the same pan for about 2 minutes, until soft.  Add in the ginger and garlic and saute for another minute, until fragrant.  Pour in the chicken broth, peaches and basil.  Add the chicken back into the pan and turn to coat.  Put the pan in the oven for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.  Serve with couscous, rice or quinoa.