When I’m at the grocery store, I usually have the three criteria running through my head:

1. Can baby jack chew it?
2. Does it cost less than a million dollars?
3. Can I make it with less than 15 minutes of effort?

Last week I was staring at the butcher blankly.  I saw pork shoulder.  They were cheap.  I figured I could cook a pork shoulder low and slow and it would taste good and be tender enough for Jack.  I planned on buying a jar of barbecue sauce, but I forgot (I think this was the day Grace demanded she wear a bike helmet to the grocery store then proceeded to head butt Jack Jack with her princess helmet as we were cruising up and down the aisles.)

I got home and said a bad word when I realized I forgot the one thing (barbecue sauce) that was supposed to make my dinner taste good.  Then a quick Google search, and I realized I can make my own barbecue sauce with stuff I already had in my kitchen.  Ketchup + Brown Sugar + Worcestershire Sauce = Barbecue Sauce.  I added in some garlic and some apple cider vinegar, but I think it would have tasted just fine without it.

I literally put the entire pork shoulder in a big (oven safe) pot.  I glugged a lot of ketchup and a little bit of brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce.  A sprinkle of apple cider vinegar and some whole garlic cloves.  Then I put the entire thing in the oven for 6-ish hours at 275 degrees.  I pulled it out and shredded it with two forks.  Prep took about 3 minutes.  Shredding took another 3 minutes.  Dinner = done.

I served on thick sliced bread (recipe coming soon!) with a simple salad: tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, mint.

Barbecue Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

• 3 - 4 pound pork shoulder
• 2 cups ketchep
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 6 cloves garlic

Directions:

• Pick a large, oven-safe pot.  This can be stainless steel or copper or cast iron or . . . anything that doesn’t have nonstick coating or have plastic handles.  You also want it to have a lid to keep all the goodness inside.
• Place all ingredients in the pot.  :) No certain order other than the pork should be on the bottom of the pot. 
• Place pot in the oven at 275 for 6-ish hours.