Who Pulled Charlie’s Pork
by Charlie McCarthy, Sr.
This was a staple in our household. Dad often served this over potato or rice, but would also use it the next day in Pulled Pork Peppers, or Pulled Pork "Shepherd's Pie". I'm surprised he wrote a recipe for it since it always seemed to turn out different. Often having insane spice levels one day and very sweet the next.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cups paprika
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 2 tbsp garlic
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- cayenne
- 1/4 cups salt
- 7 lbs pork butt
- 1/2 cups ketchup
- 1/4 cups vinegar
- 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 2 cups bbq sauce
- 300 g mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp chipotle paste
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- red wine
- Cabbage
- Radicchio
- Apple Slaw
- Scottish baps
Recipe
- Mix the paprika, black pepper, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, garlic, onion powder, some cayenne, and salt in a bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork butt, massaging it into the meat. While it’s fine to cook the pork at this point, you can also cover and chill it for up to 24 hours to absorb the spice rub. I put it in a Tupperware container in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
- When ready to cook preheat the oven to 500F.
- Make the wet sauce; combine 1/2 cup of brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, chili powder, 1 tbsp of salt, and 1 cup of bbq sauce.
- Place the pork, fattiest side up in a snug roasting pan. Add the left-over dry rub to the wet sauce and pour all over the pork. Put the pan in the oven and then lower the temp to 275F. Roast for 1 hour, then cover with foil and cook for a further 6–8 hours, until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
- Meanwhile, make the chipotle mayo. Combine mayonnaise, chipotle paste, honey, and wholegrain mustard in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix well.
- Once the pork is cooked, leave it covered loosely with foil and set aside to rest for up to 1 hour before pulling the meat away from the bone in chunks. Remove most of the excess fat and add the red wine to deglaze the pan juice. Mix well to break up any lumps. I use a sick hand-held blender. Once the sauce is where you want to add 1 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce (I use Diana's original) and then pour the sauce over the shredded meat. Mix well. Serve with the chipotle mayo, Cabbage, Radicchio and Apple Slaw on Scottish baps.