Another great find, when I was figuring out which foods were Paleo and what foods were not Paleo, was barbecued meat! I have enjoyed pork barbecue my whole life, so I decided to see if I could make it at home. I like making food at home because I can be sure I have used the best ingredients available.
I found this recipe on the Paleo Diet Lifestyle website. I bought a pork butt with the bone in from Bud’s Custom Meats in Penngrove. They keep the pork butts in the freezer so you have to ask for them. This recipe calls for a 5-6 pound pork shoulder or butt roast but I make it with a 8-9 pound pork roast because the pork is so good and you never have enough!
The recipe takes a couple of days to make, but it is worth it. There are three parts: The dry rub marination, the cooking, and the pulling and dressing with the sauce.
First defrost your pork roast if it is not already. Then make the dry rub by combining the following spices. I buy my spices at Savory Spice Shop in Santa Rosa. They have great ongoing classes you should check out.
Dry Rub Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons of smoked paprika
1 Tablespoon of garlic powder
1 Tablespoon of dry mustard
3 Tablespoons of sea salt
After you have combined the spices together, put the roast in a large roasting pan and rub the spices all over the meat. I start out with a spoon but end up rubbing the meat with my fingers. Then you put the roast in the refrigerator for at least two hours but ideally overnight. If you only have 2 hours for the marinating you can leave the roast at room temperature.
Next place the roasting pan in the over at 300 degrees for about 6 hours. To test if the pork is done, stab it with a fork and if you can pull the meat off easily it is ready. Let the meat rest while you are preparing the sauce. You want the pork to be cool while you are pulling it because pulling hot meat is not comfortable.
Sauce Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup homemade ketchup
1 cup Dijon or homemade mustard
2 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Combine the ingredients in a saucepan on the stove and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir gently a few times. The last time I made Paleo Pulled Pork I added fresh peaches to the sauce because they were in season.
When the pork roast has cooled a bit pull the meat off the roast using two forks. Similar to rubbing, I do this for about half of the roast and then I just start using my fingers to pull the pork apart. Then mix the shredded meat with the sauce in a bowl. I serve this pulled pork with Paleo Coleslaw.
