How to make a truly great Pork Shoulder.
I love to make this dish, in fact this is what I made for my own wedding. It is one of the lowest priced meats and can be used in a whole host of dishes. A pork shoulder can be as low as two dollars a pound.
Here is what you need;
8-10lb of Pork shoulder
5 Tablespoons of olive oil
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups beef broth
1 cinnamon stick
1 Tablespoon of Chile Powder
½ teaspoon of ground cumin
14 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1 teaspoon of peppercorns
½ of an apple cored, pealed, and chopped
Go to the butcher’s shop and get a pork shoulder. Have them cut it down with the saw into 4-6” pieces. You will not be able to cut the bones with anything short of a meat saw and the butcher can do this for you easily with their electric meat band saw.
When you get home take a large cast iron deep roasting pan or Dutch oven. I use a Dutch oven.
Turn oven to 350F
On the range get the pan hot, roll the meat pieces with a little kosher salt. Put a few table spoons of olive oil in the pan to coat the bottom. Place you meat into the pan. Keep the flame high and “caramel” brown the meat on all sides.
Remove the meat from the pan and set off to the side. Take a large wad of paper towel and blot up all the grease, fat, and oil from the pan, but be sure to leave all the tasty bits.
Add half chicken and beef broth to the pan and deglaze all the stuff stuck to the pan. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil stirring once in a while.
Place the meat back into the pan. Note: the meat should be 1/2 to 2/3 in the liquid ½ to 1/3 above the liquid. You may need to adjust the liquid by removing a cup or adding a cup of broth depending upon the shape of the pan.
Put the pan in the oven at 350 F for 3-1/2 hours uncovered. Now every 20-30 minutes the part of the meat that is not in the liquid will get crusty. You want to rotate the meat every 20-30 minutes so the part that was exposed will be in the liquid and the part that was in the liquid will be exposed to roasting again.
When done the meat will fall apart and melt like chocolate in your mouth.
This meat can be served directly as is with a little of the remaining stock (strained) in the pan poured over the top. You can shred it and pour the remaining stock (strained) over it. The shredded meat can be used in any Mexican dish requiring meat (tacos, enchiladas, etc), mix in some BBQ sauce for pulled pork sandwiches with some cold coleslaw on top. You may also use the shredded meat for making Cuban sandwiches by frying it up with some onions.
It freezes well for later use also.
Enjoy.
