Pulled Pork Stuffed Potato

Although half of my family is vegetarian/pescatarian and I thoroughly enjoy eating meat free, the one thing holding me back is pulled pork. It’s my weakness, my kryptonite. If it is on the menu, I am ordering it. In a land full of dry dull chicken and overcooked beef, pulled pork is the easy go to. No matter what you do to that pork shoulder, you will get juicy flavorful pulled pork.

Now let me digress for a moment to talk about the wonders of slow cookers. If you do not have a slow cooker, get one. Now. They are basically the stay at home chef you always wish you had. You can pop a few ingredients into it in the morning, and you come home from work with a delicious meal. I will admit there were a few times that I would worry about getting a phone call at work letting me know that my house was burnt to a crisp and it wouldn’t have been my hair straightener for once.

But let me assure you, that will not happen (Endive and Indulge is not held responsible for any kitchen blunders). By popping that bad boy on a low setting, or some of the fancier models provide a time function which turns itself off, your dinner will be ready when you step in the door.

OK now back to pulled pork.

The other day M and I were walking around Costco on a leisurely Sunday afternoon, as you do. We headed to get some chicken breast for the week, when alas there were none to be found. We walked around dumbfounded trying to resurrect what was left of our meal planning. Then we came across pork shoulder. A light-bulb went off; I was instantly inspired. At home we were able to split the pork into four sections, which equated to about 5$ for a two person portion. So not only is this meal easy, it is also budget friendly.

There is so much you can do with pork shoulder in a slow cooker, foreshadowing. But I thought it was best to start classic, BBQ pulled pork. I know it doesn’t hold a candle to North Carolina pulled pork (please tell me you also read North Carolina in a Southern accent). But I hate to admit that I was bored of pulled pork slapped on a bun with some coleslaw. Instead I decided to recreate one of my childhood favourite restaurant meals: The Stuffed Baker. For those living in Arizona it can be found at Joe’s Real BBQ. This gem is a one pound potato, topped with all the fixing and 1/4lb of the meat of your choice.

The combination of the starchy potato, the semi sweetness of the sauce, with the fattiness of the pork is perfection. To ensure that you don’t have to wait 2 hours for your ginormous potato to cook, I would advise against the one pound potato. Trust me, you will be full enough. Not to mention if you eat the entire potato, that means skins, you will get a great amount of Vitamin C!

[kindred-recipe id=”1690″ title=”Pulled Pork Stuffed Potato”]