Death By Pulled Pork

I suspect we’re all learning a great deal about ourselves during this quarantine. I, for one, have unequivocally realized that time is not actually the limiting factor in my life; given sufficient time, no outside obligations, etc. etc. my house will *still* not be clean. I will never be caught up on the laundry. I’m not going to learn Italian or open an Etsy shop or get into the best shape of my life.

For a while there, I tried to rationalize this and spent a bunch of time making lists and staring moodily out the window. Then I put it in the same mental space as the fact that everyone on the Internet is funnier and more creative than I am and got the hell over it. I’m counting my days in small victories (I showered! I went outdoors! I didn’t kill my kids!) and treating myself a little more gently these days. We are living in a strange and terrible time and all that extra kindness and gratitude we’re finding for others needs to be dispensed to our own selves as well.

That being said, we’re eating like rock stars lately. I’m very displeased at the number of dishes I’m washing but dinners have, for the most part, been pretty great. Or maybe they’ve just felt great (aside from the dishwashing) because we’re planning everything out in advance – a side effect of bi-weekly grocery store trips and limited fridge space – and anticipation is just a big part of enjoyment. Maybe it’s because Anna is jumping in and helping so often; cooking with other people is something I’ve grown to love. Maybe it’s because we’re not in a hurry to get dinner going in between work and homework and practice, and can take the time to enjoy the process for its own sake just as much as we’re enjoying the food on the table. Maybe it’s the uncertainty that surrounds us making us slow down just a bit and pay attention to the flavors, also knowing that we’ve seen shortages lately that we never have before, and that plenty is no longer a given (certainly we feel this way about toilet paper).

Of course there are days that I tell everyone to eat a frozen pizza or fend for themselves. We’ve broken our ironclad rule about not eating in front of the television more times than I care to admit, and eating dinner together every night feels like a less significant unifying element when we are together literally 24/7.  On nights when I can’t face the kitchen (or the laundry or Duolingo or wearing pants, for that matter) it’s nice to know there’s something a little better than Cheerios to fall back on, and this particular recipe has kept us in lunches and late-night snacks for the better part of a week.

Last year we did a wine tour on the Leelanau Peninsula with friends. It was the first time that we’ve ever gone away without the kids, and we certainly made a celebration of it (turns out that when you’re an adult you can have Negronis and beef jerky for dinner and nobody will yell at you). On Saturday we went for a leisurely dinner at Martha’s Leelanau Table in Sutton’s Bay. There were a number of cookbooks and knick-knacks on shelves in the main dining room including the fantastically-named Death by Burrito, a Mexican street food cookbook written by a chef based out of London. I was delighted that David remembered my fascination with this particular cookbook and bought it for me for Christmas, and equally delighted that I could have pulled pork without having to excavate the smoker from the shed.

The recipe here is as written, though I doubled it based on the amount of pork we had. I was honestly a little skeptical going in, as David already makes some of the best pulled pork I’ve ever had, complete with a mustard-and-vinegar sauce to die for. This is an entirely different take, the sauce rich and tangy and just a little bit sweet, and believe me it gets even better after the first day. We had this the first night on masa sliders with a cabbage slaw and pickled onions and Cojita cheese. It’s gone into flour tortillas on its own for a late-night snack, over a bowl of rice with radishes, and on top of chips for some killer nachos. I had fully intended to freeze half of this for later but we keep picking away at it. I guess that means I’ll have to make it again. Darn.

Adapted very slightly From Death by Burrito: The Cookbook.Mexican Street Food to Die For by Shay Ola, because I didn’t want to make pork cracklings.

Death by Pulled Pork 

1 lb 5 oz pork shoulder
1 cup Dr Pepper
2 chipotles in adobo or 2 tsp paste
1 small onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
¾ cup brown sugar

Put all the ingredients except the pork into a roasting pan and mix well. Add the pork, fat side up, and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake at 275 for 5-6 hours.

When the meat falls apart at the touch of a fork, pull it out of the oven. Shred the meat with 2 forks and set aside.

Pour the liquid into a saucepan and let it cool a bit. Skim the fat from the top, blend with an immersion blender, and reduce the liquid by half over medium heat.

Stir the meat into the sauce and let stand for the longest 10 minutes of your life before serving.