Apple Maple Pulled Pork
I love using my crock pot! It usually gets pulled out an average of once a week during the fall/winter months. There is just something so wonderful about spending some time in the morning to put together a meal and then coming home at the end of the day to the house smelling amazing and your dinner practically done!!
After making my Apple Butter and having lots of Apples I decided to make a family favorite – Pulled Pork, but with a twist. This Apple Maple Pulled Pork (with a kick) was an awesome variation of my normal pork. The Apple/Maple flavors were there, but I wanted more. I could have easily added more Maple as well as some more diced Apples, but I was craving something else… I remembered that we had some Spicy Apple Jack BBQ Sauce made by Bonfatto’s and knew that with a splash of that the flavors would really be “amped up” – that was the perfect touch! The Maple Apple Pulled Pork is a Perfect Fall Classic Dish, no matter how you “kick it up a notch” at the end!
- 3 lbs pork shoulder/butt
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- about 4 Tbs Steak Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp ground Paprika
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1 teaspoon (or more) red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup pure Maple Syrup
- 1 apple, peeled & cored and sliced into rings
- optional sauce to finish it off
- Place the pork into your crock pot and pour in the apple cider vinegar. Add the dry spiced, garlic, onion and chilies. Drizzle the Maple syrup over then top with apple slices.
- Cover and cook on low for around 8 hours. If you are home (I wasn’t) about half way through the cooking time check on it and stir it up/break the meat apart a bit and I find this helps in coaxing into the ‘pulled’ status. About 30 minutes before you eat it and it finishes you might want to break it apart again.
- This is a good time to taste test & maybe add some more syrup (if cider/spices if it seems a bit bland – or maybe even a splash of Apple Cider).
- Serve on rolls with cole slaw or sauerkraut (my choice) or enjoy just as it is.
adapted from Behind the Skillet
One Year Ago – Pumpkin Carving 2010 (Pumpkin Carving 2011 coming soon)
And I leave you with this, today’s Question of the Day… We bought the Apple Jack Sauce on an Impulse at a Festival – what impulse buy do you find yourself using more often than you thought you would and loving every minute of it!?