Eat Alberta First Recipe: Broek Pork Acres’ Pulled Pork
Photo: Nicole Liboiron-Coles
SERVES 8-10
My friend Joanne Vanden Broek shared this recipe in 2011 when I took a group of city folk to Joanne and Allan’s Broek Pork Acres farm to learn how much TLC they put into growing pasture-raised Berkshire hogs. Joanne made this pulled pork for our alfresco lunch for forty. Trust a mother of nine to have a tasty recipe like this up her sleeve. You can easily double it as well. You’ll just need either a bigger slow cooker or two slow cookers. Enjoy on fresh buns with Never-the-Same-Way-Twice Coleslaw (page 139) and a cold Alberta craft beer.
Ingredients
4–5 lb pork shoulder or rump roast
¼ cup packed brown sugar
4 Tablespoons sweet paprika
3 Tablespoons kosher salt
3 Tablespoons pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
Rinse the roast, dry it with paper towels, and place it in a slow cooker.
Combine the sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders, celery seed, and cayenne pepper in a bowl and then rub all over the surface of the meat.
Cook on high for 8 hours, or on low for 12 hours, turning once at the halfway mark. I like to throw this together in the morning and serve it for dinner. Just before serving, use 2 forks to pull the tender meat apart and let it soak up the juices that have accumulated.
Pro-tip: Substitute an equal weight of jackfruit for the pork to make this vegan, and reduce the cooking time to 2 hours.