Make ahead dinner for Christmas shopping

The rush is on and your list is long. With groceries to stock up on and Christmas shopping to get in hand, there is so much to do at this time of year. Take a little pressure off your shopping day with this make-ahead favourite, pulled pork.

Pulled pork requires minimal fuss. Prep and cook a day ahead of serving or make a large batch to cool and freeze into portions for another day. It’s a tasty and filling meal you’ll enjoy when you get home with that trunk full of goodies and Christmas gifts to be stashed under the bed.

You can do more with pulled pork than serve it on a bun. Spoon it into warm pita bread or roll it into tortillas. Turn tortillas into enchiladas by spreading a small amount of barbecue sauce over the bottom of a 23 x 33-cm (9 x 13-inch) pan. Place some pulled pork on each tortilla, (6 should fit the pan) and add shredded cheese, thin sliced white onion or sliced green onion and sliced pickled or fresh peppers. Roll up each tortilla and place in the pan. Spread some barbecue sauce over the top and cover with shredded cheese. Cover with tin foil and heat in a 175°C (350°F) oven for about 30 minutes until heated through.

For nachos, spread warm pulled pork onto nacho chips, cover with shredded cheese and sliced pickled peppers. Pop it into the microwave to melt the cheese.

To make french bread sandwiches, split the bread from top to bottom, fill with the pork, wrap it in tinfoil and heat in a 175°C (350°F) oven for 25 to 30 minutes until heated through. Slice into sandwiches and serve. If you’ve cooked a batch of pork and there isn’t quite enough left over for a second meal, stretch it by serving it over rice or a cut pasta like fusilli or penne.

To freeze pulled pork, let it cool completely after cooking. Measure about 75 ml (1/3 cup) per serving (per bun for example) into a zipper-type freezer bag, draw out the air and flatten before freezing. Flattened bags will thaw more quickly.

Pork can release quite a bit of water in the slow cooker. Many recipes call for the barbecue sauce to be added at the start of the cook time however, you can end up having to fix a watery sauce. It’s better to cook the pork for the first couple of hours, remove the excess water with a turkey baster, add the barbecue sauce and then let it cook down slowly the rest of the way.

Pulled pork requires a tasty barbecue sauce. Use a bottle of your store bought favourite (Kraft Chicken and Rib is good especially if serving to kids, as is Bull’s Eye Sweet and Sticky). A 425 to 455 ml bottle will usually be enough with 1.25 kg of pork. You can “doctor” a store-bought sauce with add-ins like molasses, brown sugar, ketchup or a dash of Tabasco sauce. Otherwise, any homemade sauce can be tailored to your taste. Go easy on added salt and other seasonings as they will concentrate during cooking.

The most recommended cuts for pulled pork are pork butt or pork shoulder as they break down well during slow cooking and leave you with tender meat which will shred easily with two forks. Pork tenderloin works well, is often on sale and is easy to cut into chunks before cooking.

As a main dish, roughly 1/2 to 3/4 pound (225 to 350 grams) of raw pork per person should be sufficient – keep in mind that cooked, this will shrink to about half that weight.

Here is one simple way to cook pulled pork in the slow cooker:

Ingredients:

1.25 kg pork (tenderloin, butt, or shoulder) cut into chunks

425 to 455 ml bottle of barbecue sauce or 475 ml (1 3/4 c) homemade sauce (recipe below)

1 medium onion, sliced (optional, can be added to slow cooker or sauteed later and served alongside)

Barbecue Sauce

125 (1/2 c) plain tomato sauce

60 ml (1/4 c) ketchup

125 (1/2 c) chopped onion (optional) or 3 ml (1/2 tsp) onion powder

40 ml (2 Tbsp + 2 tsp) white vinegar

40 ml (2 Tbsp + 2 tsp) brown sugar

3 ml (1/2 tsp) prepared mustard

3 ml (1/2 tsp) Worcestershire sauce

3 ml (1/2 tsp) chili powder

15 ml (1 Tbsp) cooking molasses

75 ml (1/3 c) water

Instructions:

Combine ingredients well. Makes approximately 475 ml (1 3/4 c).

Pulled Pork

1. Grease slow cooker. Place chunks of pork evenly around the bottom. Cover and set to high for 2 to 2 ½ hours or low for 3 ½ to 4 hours.

2. At the end of this first cooking time, remove excess water with a turkey baster. Pour barbecue sauce evenly over meat.

3. Continue cooking on low for 4 hours or until pork easily pulls apart with two forks.

4. Remove to large bowl and using two forks, shred the pork, distributing sauce throughout.

5. Return to cooker to cook for a further half hour and serve, or cool and chill to reheat the next day or to freeze.

6. Serve over buns, rice, mashed potatoes, pasta or on nachos.

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