Post the Roast – Leftover Pork
After roasting large pieces of meat, unless you were feeding an army, leftovers are inevitable and something to look forward to. There are tons of things you can do with leftovers. Creating something brand new from leftovers is innovation in motion. It is just a matter of finding some new inspiration. After roasting a 14 pound pork shoulder we were in for some leftovers.
My favorite thing to do with pork shoulder is to do a little southern style BBQ. With some fresh BBQ sauce, slaw and hot biscuits WOW moments are not far away. Since I roasted the pork in a very simple way, I do not really have to worry about the BBQ sauce not working with the pork seasoning. An easy BBQ sauce should be in everyones repertoire. Here is one for you.
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- 2 cups ketchup
- ½ cup molasses
- 1 cup apple cider
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp grainy mustard
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp chill powder or mild paprika (smoked varieties are nice)
- Pan Juices (from the roasted meat if you have it)
- Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
- In a medium sauce pan, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent and garlic is soft.
- Add remaining ingredients except Pan Juices, salt and pepper. Mix them well, gently simmer 30 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the pan juices to taste. Using more of the other ingredients, adjust the taste to your liking balancing flavors as you like. If you like it a bit more tart, add a bit more vinegar. If you want a bit more meatiness, add a bit more worcestershire sauce, etc.
- Simmer 10 more minutes. Cool.
This is just the basics. This recipe for is a pretty classic BBQ sauce. Swapping the apple for other juices and molasses for honey and even the ketchup for fruit puree or nectar (like pepper, peach or apricot) can create all variety of BBQ type sauces that go with all variety of meats.
Nothing Brings Folks Together like a Great Slaw!
The base of a great slaw dressing is mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Start with a ratio of 1.5 cups mayo to ½ cup vinegar and add ¼ to ⅓ cup sugar to taste. Salt and pepper follow. This is easy to take in a lot of different directions. Cider vinegar is great in a slaw. Using pineapple juice or passion fruit with the cider vinegar takes the slaw somewhere totally new. All those flavoured vinegars out there are ripe for picking and making great slaw. Heck, the mayo could be traded for good oil and the slaw could be more based in a vinaigrette instead of being creamy. Herbs and spices are a sure thing.
What if a light brown sugar was used instead of white? Those molasses notes could support a lot of different additions to the slaw like ginger or fruit.
And the veggies in a slaw? Mix them up! Why use only one type of cabbage when you can use 4? Cucumber is great in a slaw as is pepper. Don’t don’t forget about other interesting additions like celery root, jicama, endive, microgreens, or tomatilla. One secret to a great slaw is making sure your leaves are sliced very thin and your added veggies are no larger then match sticks. This helps make sure all the veggies mix well. Toss liberally in the dressing. After chilling, make sure you retest for seasoning. Slaw is a real tie that binds – I have always said nothing brings folks together like a great slaw!! It is epic!
I wish you lots of leftovers!
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
What have you done post the roast? Have any leftover tips to share? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
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