BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders

This is a wonderful recipe for tasty, inexpensive, and really easy pork sliders. The recipe uses pork butt (shoulder) roast and works well in the crock pot.

Ingredients

• Herbie's Thyme leaves (rubbed)  ·  2 teaspoons 
• jar of your favorite BBQ Sauce (18 oz)  ·  1 
• Williamson Heritage Shiraz  ·  1/2 cup 
• balsamic vinegar  ·  1/4 cup 
• cider vinegar  ·  1/3 cup 
• fresh ground pepper  ·  1 teaspoon 
• kosher salt  ·  3 teaspoons 
• celery salt  ·  1 teaspoon 
• Herbie's Oregano Leaves  ·  2 teaspoons 
• boneless Boston butt or pork shoulder  ·  6 pounds 
• Herbie's Allspice (ground)  ·  2 teaspoons 
• brown sugar  ·  1/2 cup 
• can of tomato paste  ·  6 ounces 
• jalapeno peppers, flesh only, no seeds, coarse chop  ·  3 
• large cloves of garlic  ·  6 
• large sweet onion, coarse chop  ·  1 
• bunches of scallions, coarse chop  ·  2 

Instructions

Cut the pork in ½ and set aside.  

Place all of the ingredients, except the pork and BBQ sauce, in a food processor and pulse till chopped and then puree.

Place the jar of BBQ sauce in the bottom of a crock pot and place the pork on top.

Pour the contents of the food processor over the meat and set the crock pot on high. 

Cook for approximately 3 hours and remove the pork to a large platter and with a knife separate it into its natural muscle sections, cutting through fat only, not the meat. 

Nestle the meat pieces back into the sauce in the crock pot and continue cooking for another 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender and will shred easily.  

If you want to speed up the cooking time you can heat the sauce and the meat on the stove top until it comes to a simmer and everything is hot and then either continue to cook it on the stove top at a simmer (do not boil) or place it in a crock pot to cook on high.  This will reduce the cooking time to 2½ to 3 hours.  

When the pork is done remove the pieces to a large bowl and, when it is cool enough to handle, “pull” into shreds with 2 forks or your fingers.

Deglaze the sauce and place in a pan and reduce by ½ and then add the sauce back into the pulled pork. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.  

Serve about ¾ cup of the hot pulled pork on a large bun.

This can be made ahead and frozen then re-heat gently and serve hot with Williamson Heritage SHIRAZ.