First Butt of the Summer

Summer ‘12

           It has been a while since I’ve posted anything, and I do apologize for that. I have excuses, but as the saying goes “excuses are like butt-holes, everyone has one and they all stink.” But I will say, I just haven’t found any places really worth writing about... And I am working on that. Hopefully I can remedy that soon, might even have to travel outside Waco a tad more. That’s why I planned on incorporating recipes and such into my blog, alas I have been dragging my tail on that too. But have no fear, I will get my act together and this is the start!

            This past week one of my co-workers brought some homemade BBQ spaghetti to work for me to try and it was delicious. Not my first time, but was definitely better than my first time- sweet, juicy, a mean bite that crawled up on you… very good. So I decided I was gonna smoke a pork butt and make my own with any leftovers. Unfortunately “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” or something like that… all the pork was eaten in sandwiches that night rendering us with no leftovers. Least this gives me reason to smoke another pork butt and make the spaghetti that day.

This post will not contain a recipe for BBQ spaghetti, but instead I will share a recipes for; Pulled Pork, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Cole Slaw.


1) The first dish served up is Cole Slaw. I usually make this the day before or early in the morning once I have the meat into the smoker and ‘chilling’ comfortably. Now usually when I’m making this for a big group I will buy fresh head(s) of cabbage and raw, fresh carrots and do it all from scratch. But when it comes to just 4-6 people, I don’t need that much so I go the easy route and buy a bag of Dole’s, 16 ounce, pre-shredded slaw mix from HEB.

So the ingredients are:
-16 ounces or Slaw Mix
-1 Cup Hellman’s Mayo
-1/3 Cup Sugar
-1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
-2 Table spoons chopped Sweet n Spicy Jalapenos                     *Forgot to take Pics of Slaw :(*
-1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice (optional)
- Salt and Black pepper to taste

Very simple, mix together in bowl cover with lid or plastic wrap and let marinate.


2) Mashed Sweet Potatoes. To be honest, I just threw this together. I had 3 lying around and I wasn’t in the mood to bake them. So I decided to make some mashed.

Ingredients:
- 2 to 3 good size sweet potatoes, peeled and medium cubed

- 1 Apple peeled and chopped
- 2/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 Table Spoon Cinnamon
- 1 Teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Table Spoon Unsalted butter
-  ½ Cup Heavy Cream

- 2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Make sure to wash and peel the potatoes and soak in light lemon water until ready to boil. I also peeled and chopped up an apple to throw in. Boil the potatoes and apples together, and just like you would regular potatoes cook until tender. Drain thoroughly and pour into stand mixer bowl or regular bowl if using hand masher or hand held mixer. Beat/mix to mushy consistency, slowly add dry ingredients first. Once they dry ingredients are well incorporated, whip in the butter then start adding the heavy cream until desired consistency is attained.

3) Last, but far from least the mighty Boston Butt! I bought this one at HEB, a nice 8 pounder. But you can also get them at Waco Custom Meats and Waco Beef & Pork. Usually I will rub them down and let them season for a couple days before throwing them on the smoker, but if I am just gonna throw it in something like spaghetti then it really doesn’t need to season as long. 

Since I was only planning on making a couple sandwiches that night with it I cut the pork butt in half, cryovacced and saved the other half for a rainy day. Speaking of rain, when I had decided to smoke this hunk of meat I didn’t realize it was expected to rain that day, a good 50-70%. It actually poured cats n dogs the night before, but I wasn’t gotta let that stop me. Would’ve put up my EZ-Up before calling it quits, but luckily the BBQ Gods smiled good fortune on me and I only got a light drizzle early in the morning while lighting the chimney.

- Boston Butt, bone in.

- 4-6 Sour Dough buns, toasted with butter.
- Your own special seasoning, I can’t give you mine!
- I prefer to smoke with hickory and apple wood, giving it a sweeter complex.
- ¼ Cup Heated Sangria, chill the rest and enjoy with the meal.

            Smoke at 250F until at least 190F internal temp and bone pulls out cleanly. The meat should be tender enough to pull apart and shred to desired consistency. I like mine a little meaty and don’t fully shred the pork. Pour the sangria and about 2 tablespoons of your seasoning over the pulled meat, mix together and let sit covered with plastic wrap for a couple of minutes. I’ve never tried it with beer, but with room temp beer you could get similar results… will have to try that next time.  While pork is sitting, toast the buns.

Now it’s Chow Time! Pile the pork on the bun, top it off with some slaw and go to town. MY family completely devoured it, so no BBQ spaghetti this time around as previously mentioned. But ever one loved the pulled pork, and I’d love to give out the exact recipe and method I used… but I plan on using this for a competition soon so I'm keeping it under tight wraps. And one of the best things about BBQ is making it your own in the first place.

Now if you have never smoked a Boston butt before and would like more guidance, since I really didn’t dive that much into the method. Same goes for any of the recipes I post; Please feel free to contact me on my blogs Facebook page. I will be more than glad to help you out and answer just about any of your questions… if you get my drift.