Pulled Pork Stew
It’s a miscarriage of a name. I know it. You know it. No one has ever said “I can’t wait to tell the waiter I want his stew.” I don’t know why you’d be talking to yourself at a restaurant. Also, “his stew?” Yikes, what’s wrong with you…
Despite the horrible name this is a wonderful meal. It’s also dirt cheap. And so easy to make. If you went back in time and were trapped in the middle ages, you could make this and they’d call you a god. Or maybe a witch. They didn’t like witches, did they?
Anyway, like I was saying, this is an easy recipe. I’m a lazy guy so I’ll take any chance to do less work. And I love cheap things. So this really is a match made in heaven. Or Valhalla/Nirvana. Or whatever special breed of fairy tale afterlife your religion affords you.
Ingredients
(For the pulled pork)
-
1 whole bone-in pork shoulder
Yeah, the whole thing. And don’t do anything to it. If I wanted you to slice it or cube it or some shit I would have said that. The last time I ordered one from Amazon Fresh the bone was sticking out and it had the skin on. If you can find one like this you’ll thank me. -
Water
Don’t get fancy here. Just use plain fucking tap water.
(For the finished dish)
-
Some pulled pork.
Enough for two people. I don’t know how big or small you are. Use your best judgement. -
Pork Broth
(Reserve some of the liquid from the pulled pork recipe). -
Kosher Salt
Don’t be stingy here. Use enough to make it taste good. If your doc told you to watch your sodium, chances are you’re getting too much from the four Jimmy Dean turkey breakfast sausages you’re starting each day with, not from the salt you cook with. And don’t use regular iodized salt. -
Canned Chipotle peppers
You’ll find these in the “Ethnic” aisle in almost any grocery store. The sample place you find the salsa and hard taco shells every May 4th. -
Stale bread
Sure, fresh is fine too. Don’t use sliced loaf bread. Get a baguette. Or Italian bread. Something with a little more interest than Wonder Bread. And no seeds. Bread shouldn’t have seeds. You’re not a goddamn bird.
Recipe
(For the pulled pork)
- Put the pork shoulder in a pressure cooker. Put enough water in to cover it. But make sure your pressure cook's big enough. They usually tell you not to fill it past 2/3rds of it's capacity. Heed that rule. I don't want you dead. [OR DO I?!?]
- Pressure cook on high pressure for 2 hours.
- Depressurize the pressure cooker and strain out the liquid. (Reserve this. It's basic pork broth and it is wonderfully gelatinous.)
- Break up the shoulder into chunks of meat. No, I don't need to tell you how to do this because it doesn't matter. Just break it up into smaller chunks. If you're making the stew now, reserve some for that and freeze the rest. This stuff freezes up nicely. I vacuum seal extra pulled pork, freeze it, and then pull it use it in everything from scrambled eggs to risotto.
(For the finished dish)
- Add enough pulled pork for two people, the bread, broth, salt, chipotle peppers, to a medium sized pan. If you want to get specific, anything from 1.5qt to 3qt is fine for two people. Have bigger? Not a problem. Smaller? It'll be tight but don't stress.
- Warm everything over medium to medium-low heat. You're not looking to cook anything here, just warm it up.
- Put it in warmed bowls. Yeah, I warm my bowls and you should to. You ever put food in a bowl and it's cold by the time it's on the table? Cold bowl and hot food makes for a shitty meal. Nuke your bowls for a minute or two in the microwave. You'll thank me.
- Eat it. (I don't think I need to put this in here but I'm sure someone out there will get confused and email me some horror story about how they didn't know what to do after they cooked and plated it. I don't know, maybe not. People are weird.