**This is part two of the follow-up to my teaser post last night. Hopefully it was posted as scheduled!
You may all be wondering (or not) what exactly that lovely meal was that I served with the glorious Maple Wheat Bread you saw earlier.
What’s funny is that the original idea for the meal started weeks ago when Amy posted about her crockpot pulled pork. She multitasked with it and made tamales, but I knew I had to try something similar. So yes, Miss Jessica, that was pork you saw last night!
I couldn’t leave the pulled pork naked though, and since I found when I got home that we were out of barbecue sauce, I decided to make my own. There are a couple of surprise ingredients in each recipe… read carefully!
Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork
Ingredients
* 1 3-lb pork shoulder, trimmed of visible fat
* 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
* 1 Tbsp. onion powder
* 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
* 1 tsp. Greek oregano
* 1 tsp. dried parsley
* 1 tsp. dried thyme
* 1 tsp. dried basil
* 1 tsp. dried rosemary
Directions
Place the trimmed pork shoulder in the slow cooker. Rub with all the herbs and spices, then pour the vinegar over the top. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. After that time is up, shred the meat off the bone (if there’s a bone) and stir well. Allow to cook another hour or so.
Sweet & Hot Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
* 1 c. ketchup (organic preferable)
* 8 oz tomato sauce
* 1 Tbsp. onion powder
* 1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
* 1/4 c. dark brown sugar
* 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
* 1/2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
* 1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (or more for Biz)
* 1 tsp. Bacon Salt Original (Thanks Dot!)
* S&P to taste
Directions
Heat a small pot or skillet over medium heat. Add the ketchup, tomato sauce and vinegar to the pan and lower the heat to medium-low. Stir in the brown sugar until dissolved. Then, add the remaining spices, stir well, and simmer until darkened and thick.
Did you catch the surprise ingredients? In the pork, the vinegar helps to dissolve the tough bits in the meat to make it super tender and shreddable. Usually BBQ sauce calls for bacon or liquid smoke. Since this was a last minute recipe, I had to use what I had on hand, and this was the amazing Bacon Salt that Dot sent me months ago! I’d used it on breakfast potatoes before, but never in a dinner recipe. I usually stick with regular bacon for that! Paired with the delicious maple wheat bread, and this gorgeous fresh roasted broccoli, dinner was quite a hit!
As a thank you for putting up with my sporadic posting, I’ve got a little giveaway for you. The lovely people at MyBlogSpark and Proctor & Gamble sent me some samples of Cascade Complete dishwashing detergent along with a Pyrex baking dish with the instructions of: Bake a blueberry cobbler. Don’t wash the pan. Place it in your dishwasher and wash with Cascade Complete. Enjoy clean dishes. (or something like that). I didn’t bake a blueberry cobbler, but I did you know, cook sticky barbecue sauce. The dishes weren’t rinsed at all before we put them in the dishwasher and, lo and behold, they’re IMMACULATE. I heart Cascade Complete! I really think we’ll be buying it from now on!
The giveaway: A $25 Wal-Mart gift card from MyBlogSpark and Proctor & Gamble!
The rules: Leave a comment below about your favorite “messy” dish. You know what I mean. That meal that you dread cooking because it leaves the dishes and pans a complete mess…
Tweet about the giveaway for an extra entry being sure to mention @imadedinner and this post. Make sure to come back and leave another comment that you tweeted.
Winner will be announced Sunday, May 16.
Good luck!
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
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I’ve been thinking about making pulled pork in my crockpot for WEEKS now. That looks so good, and just confirms that I must get a pork tenderloin ASAP.
Jenn
.-= Jenn (Jenn’s Menu and Lifestyle Blog)´s last blog ..Mother’s Day Macaroni Fest =-.
If you use tenderloin, just lower the cooking time a bit, as there’s less fat to tenderize it.
I have two for ya Mara… Monster Nacho Supreme AND Adam said his homemade maple syrup. Both delicious!
I knew it!
My favorite messy dish is enchiladas. Soooo yummy.
.-= Jessica @ How Sweet It Is´s last blog ..Happy Mother’s Day. =-.
yum – I love pulled pork!
Messiest dish? Probably mac’n'cheese. You have to cook the pasta in one pot, make the sauce in another, and THEN dump it in a casserole to bake! So many dishes, but so worth it.
.-= brandi´s last blog ..A Full Day =-.
Hmmm, I need to think about this one.
My messiest dish would have to be fajitas, just because there are always so many dishes and pans involved. But they are so worth it!
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Just a Typical Tuesday =-.
Home made marinara sauce with homemade meatballs over pasta !
.-= Mary @ What’s Cookin’ with Mary´s last blog ..Thyme & Sage Roasted Chicken =-.
lasagna is always the messiest dish to clean!
One of my messiest dishes is when I work with egg beaters and were warmed up via microwave. It is hard to get the melted egg to come off of the inside of the bowl or cup.
.-= amanda´s last blog ..Eating my way around a city =-.
Chicken enchiladas! So good but I make a mess
Mac N Cheese for sure!!! Gotta love it though!
Lasagna or any pasta dish are very messy in our house!
Any baked pasta dish leaves horrible dishes.
Making homemade pasta always makes my kitchen a floury mess!
Messiest dish? Lasagna has been said, and it’s messy to clean up after, I agree. Whenever I make enchiladas I seem to have plenty of dishes to wash. Oh, and I hate cooking bacon because of all the splatter!
I mess up the entire kitchen with my chili!
.-= Amy´s last blog ..He May Be Small, But He’s a Fighter! =-.
Yum, I made pulled pork in the slow cooker this week too!
My favorite messy dish is authentic fried chili rellenos. You have to roast, skin, and seed the peppers which is a process in and of itself. Then once you stuff them w/ the cheese you need to batter them, another messy process. Last, you have to fry them and I don’t have a deep fryer so it always splatters and messes up the stovetop. When I’m done cooking that I’ve dirtied like 10 plates, bowls, and pans. Not to mention there’s flour, splatters, and grease. BUT It’s J’s favorite dish so I have made the effort, usually on his bday. Lucky lucky man.
I tweeted too! http://twitter.com/DinnerAtXtinas/status/13887615863
Oh and I forgot to mention that we always use Cascade Complete!!! I never rinse and stack it all haphazard and it’s clean everytime! LOVE IT!
I make a mess when making bread. Between the flour for the kneading and the sometimes sticky dough, I have to wipe down my counters 3-4 times. But it is so worth it!
I can never get pork to be so yummy that I want to make it again any time soon. But this loooks really yummy…I might give it a shot!
Messiest dish has to be Chicken Enchiladas..so many pans and then the rolling makes the counters and your hands very messy! But ohhhhh soo good!
Yummy! I don’t know if you remember, but I’ve emailed you before about pulled pork. This looks SO GOOD!
My favorite “messy” dish is this pork chop thing my dad always used to make. It involves a rice cooker and about three different pans on top of that. It’s also messy once it gets on the plate! But gosh is it good
.-= Lara (Thinspired)´s last blog ..Let’s Talk About Height (re-post) =-.
My tagines can get pretty sticky sometimes, but lasagna is another dish I love, but sometimes dread cooking for the mess.
Eggs! Eggs for sure. They’re so yummy, though
Tweeted(used the button):
http://twitter.com/calidreamin87/status/13906093907
I love making upside down banana pecan french toast. But the pan is so sticky and hard to clean!
My favorite messy dish has to be lasagna or fried chicken. Both things make such a mess and I hate cleaning up after making them!
.-= Autumn´s last blog ..Stormy night… =-.
It would probably be cobbler. They always seem to bubble over or at least get all crusted on the edges of the dish.
I made chicken thighs last week with a great marinade but it was SO HARD to clean up after them!
I love lasagna, and I love the cheesy crust that forms on the best parts, but I do NOT like scraping the crust off the pan later!
.-= Katie´s last blog ..Restaurant to Restaurant =-.
I have to agree with some of the others and say macaroni and cheese is the messiest dish I cook. That sure doesn’t stop me from making it almost weekly, though!
It looks fantastic! I’m going to try it on Sunday.
My favorite messy meal is Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, served over white rice. I use enough pots, pans, dishes, cutting boards, and utensils to do a whole dishwasher load. By the time it’s put together and simmering on the stove the kitchen looks like a bomb went off. It’s worth it though!
I’m going to need that recipe
I’ll say making homemade bread. The bowl where I mix the bread is always so sticky and caked with bits of dough! The counter where I need can get kind of crazy too!
.-= Ashley´s last blog ..Cold Days in Iowa =-.
Looks fantastic!
Question: What is a good price for the shoulder of pork? I want to get it next time its on sale and whip this up!
My messiest dish is probably when I’m baking…anything that I am dipping in chocolate. I have THE hardest time getting the melting chocolate off of EVERYTHING!
I got my 3 lb. one at the local produce/international market for about $9, but I’d say anything $4/lb and under would be a decent price, but its usually cheaper than that!
definitely homemade mac & cheese!
Lasagna is the messiest.
Baked lasagne
My favorite messy dish is lasagna. I end up using a ton of bowls and spoons to prepare all the individual layers, and I get sauce and cheese EVERYWHERE. But it’s so delicious, I always make it again
My favorite messy dish is definitely tacos! I love them and I don’t want to be clean when eating them…let the mess begin!!!
My favorite messy dish is lasagna.
.-= Ali @ Redhead Reports´s last blog ..A Love Song for Bobby Long =-.
It has been mentioned once or twice, but lasagna or Mac N’ CHeese.
Glad you enjoyed the BS (ha, BS
in your dinner:)
My messiest dish? I’d probably say any of my homemade mac and cheeses that require a cheese sauce, or homemeade bread/rolls….flour gets everywhere!
.-= Ally@Sweet & Savory´s last blog ..Snicker Salad =-.
hahah this is an adorable giveaway. I have to say that slow cooker pulled chicken is one of my most hated messy dish just because of clean up…and when i broil terriyaki tofu in a pan…the juices stick to the pan and gets sticky. Ick!!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Food For Thought Uncensored =-.
Baked mac and cheese at our house!! Soooo worth it though!
Messiest/hardest dish for me is after I make any sort of stuffing casserole. The combination of stuffing and soup mix always stick and make the dish a disaster to clean.
I make a veggie lasagna, there’s the pot from the pasta, the pot from the white sauce, the pots from the veggies and then the lasagna pan itself…not to mention measuring cups & spoons, cheese grater, and strainers, YEEEEESH!
It is one of DH’s favorites and usually when I cook he cleans but I am a clean as you go kind of cook so he really hasn’t seen the actual big mess it makes. I always make two pans and freeze one. Sometimes good food is just worth the mess…your pork looks awesome. I’ve made a Mexican pork recipe in my crock and it was fantastic. Can’t wait to try yours. Great pics too!
i am a messy cook/baker anyways. there are always traces of flour or butter everywhere when i’m done. i ‘know’ that when i bake tons of ingredients will be out so i’m ‘okay’ emotionally (lol) with that mess. i’m not used to the cooking mess but i love a nice pan seared steak and butter brussel sprouts and pasta. i hate the multiple pans, especially because my partner doesn’t eat the same things i do. he lives on carbs and no fruit and veg!
Bakes pasta with cheese is my favorite “messy dish”…it’s a real pain to clean baked on sauce.
My favorite messy dish is lasagna!
BBQ chicken for sure!
My favorite messy dish is Mac and Cheese! So good and messy but so worth it!
OMG Lasagne stains are the worst, but it tastes so good!!!
Shepard’s pie. So messy to clean but sooooo good! And that bbq sauce looks great, will have to try it.
.-= quix´s last blog ..Who Works 40 Hours Anymore? (Me) =-.
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