What a Crock!

I can honestly say that I NEVER thought I'd say this, but I absolutely LUUURRRVVEEE my crockpot. I don't use it nearly as much as I should, but I'm wierd about leaving things like that unattended (its irrational, I know, but I had a fire. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it). So, the only time I end up using it is on the weekend, typically on Sunday home games. Now, I know that this is not a cooking blog, but I made some BBQ pulled pork with coleslaw on Sunday, and I LUUUURRVVVEED it so much (as did N), that I have to share the recipes with you. Also, the Browns won, and so I'm thinking that it was the lucky meal that resulted in the win. Also, I don't have pictures, but it was yummy; just take my word for it.

Pulled Pork
2 lbs pork butt/ pork shoulder
1 jar of your favorite BBQ sauce (16-18 oz; I like mine saucy. Use 12oz if you prefer yours less saucy)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon oil
1.5 tablespoons dried thyme
2-3 gloves garlic (just smoosh these with the flat end of a knife)
4-5 small onions (just peel and cut in half)
ground black pepper
salt to taste (I actually didn't use any b/c since there was some in the BBQ sauce)
1 tablespoon oil

How to:
Turn crockpot to high. Put 1 tablespoon oil in bottom of the pot. Put in your pork. Toss in all the ingredients (except the salt; I recommend you add to taste when there's about an hour left). Cook on high for 5 hours.

At hour 4, I removed and discarded the onions, and tasted for salt. After 5 hours, I "pulled" the pork using two forks, and left it in the sauce with the crockpot turned to warm, until it was time to eat. I served these with toasted onion buns, cheddar cheese, and spicy slaw, recipe below.

Spicy No-Mayo Coleslaw
This recipe is taking from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. The man is a genius. If you can only buy one cookbook, this is it. Its like an encyclopedia of cooking, and covers all kinds of foods and cuisines, and also has a whole bunch of vegetarian recipes too. He also gives you lots of variations on the same basic recipe, which I lurve! This is my go-to book, and would be a great gift for a recent grad, someone who is new to cooking, a new homeowner who likes to entertain....you get the idea.... There's also an iPhone app, if you'd rather go that route, but to be honest, the book is waaay easier to search than the app.

Anyway, a few disclaimers:
(i)  I halved the recipe, so what I'm giving you below is a half-recipe
(ii) I took a short-cut and used grocery store slaw mix (the shredded cabbage and carrot mix), but feel free to shred your own Napa or Savoy cabbage instead. Bittman also adds 1 large red/yellow pepper and fresh parsley, which I omited.

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small clove garlic, minced (I used a pinch of garlic powder instead).
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh chili pepper(I used finger hot, but feel free to use jalapeno or serrano)
1/4 cup chopped scallion
3 cups shredded cabbage
fresh ground black pepper and salt, to taste

Make dressing by whisking together mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and chili pepper. I put mine in a clean pasta jar and shook it vigorously. Combine the cabbage with scallion, and toss with dressing.

I will be making this again for N's birthday, which coincidentally happens to be the same day as the Browns-Jets game. I can't wait!!