Figure Skating Competition Recipe Swap

On Sunday I put two pork roasts on the grill to absorb as much hickory smoke as I could get into them. I scented the entire neighborhood with my cooking and then my house, too. Did I mention homemade sauce? To die for.

Making barbeque pulled pork is usually something I make for a figure skating competition, not just for the family. Of course, on Sunday I found myself making my usual huge quantities, but this time I put half in the freezer instead of a Crockpot destined for the judges’ room.

This weekend I’ll work on a batch of scones to put in the freezer for an upcoming test session and I won’t stop freezing scone dough until late September. The scones are popular, but kind of a pain to make. If the dough didn’t freeze well and go from the freezer right to the oven, I wouldn’t bother.

I’ll give you my recipe for Competition Pulled Pork, but I can’t give you the scone recipe. It’s from Cooks Illustrated, if that helps, but it’s theirs and they sell it. Copyright issues are something I want to respect. However, if you look it up in one of their cookbooks in the library, it’s from the July 2007 issue and is called “Blueberry Scones.” Very fussy (frozen, shredded butter), but amazingly good.

Ice Mom’s Competition Pulled Pork

I always double this. I can’t bring pulled pork to a competition and not leave some at home. I’m sure Ice Dad would change the locks if I did.

Crockpot version:

Note: I start this two nights before the competition.

• 3 smoked ham hocks (You must use these to have any smoke flavor at all)
• 4 pounds boneless pork (I use tenderloin or boneless pork chops – whatever’s on special)
• 4 tablespoons of chili powder (don’t worry – the heat dissipates)

Dry rub: 

• 4 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 cups chicken broth

Sauce:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• Shot of Tabasco
• Shot of Liquid Smoke

 

• Hamburger buns
• Extra store-bought BBQ sauce

Mix the chili powder, paprika, salt, and brown sugar together. Cut the tenderloin into 2-inch slices. Coat the meat with the dry rub, put everything in a zip-top bag, and refrigerate overnight and the rest of the day.

Before bed the next day, place the smoked ham hocks at the bottom of the Crockpot.  Pour in chicken broth. Put pork and spices on top. Set Crockpot to low and go to bed (eight hours).

In the morning, turn off the Crockpot. Remove all the meat, including the ham hocks and bones and put on a cookie sheet. Let the meat cool.

Strain the liquid in the Crockpot through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan and spoon off as much of the fat as you can. Simmer the liquid for 30 minutes or so, or until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, and cider vinegar to the liquid. Really, I eyeball this stuff. Taste and see if you need more sugar, ketchup, etc. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes and remove from heat. The sauce shouldn’t be thick. Add a shot or two of Tabasco, if you like some heat and some Liquid Smoke, too. Do this off the burner – both of these are heat sensitive and will evaporate or change flavor if heated.

Pull the meat from the ham hocks and discard the bones and fat. Discard the fat from the pork chops, too. Cut the meat – it should be very tender. Put all the meat into a large bowl and add some of the sauce. Keep adding sauce until the meat is soggy and you’ve broken it up into fibers. Let it rest 15 minutes for the meat to absorb all the sauce.  It’s ready to eat – you can serve the rest of the sauce on the side, if you have leftover sauce. If you have leftover sauce and you’re planning on serving the pulled pork at a competition, go ahead and mix the sauce in. Yes, it’ll be soggy. No big deal.

Day of the competition: Place the meat in a clean Crockpot on competition morning. Turn the Crockpot on high. Add about 1/2 cup of liquid (water is fine or leftover sauce is better) to the meat and stir. Put the lid on. Check it around 11 a.m. or so. If it’s bubbling, turn the heat to warm. Add more water if the meat looks dry.

Grill version:

I have a charcoal grill, so I can’t write instructions for gas grills. Sorry. If you have instructions for a gas grill, please share it in the comments!

• 125 charcoal briquettes
• 4 cups hickory chips
• 4-lb pork roast (boneless Boston Butt or tenderloin is fine)

Dry rub:

• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Sauce:

• 2 cups ketchup
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons molasses
• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• Shot of Tabasco
• Shot of Liquid Smoke

 

• Hamburger buns
• Extra store-bought BBQ sauce

Soak the wood chips for 15 minutes and drain. Make two foil packets to enclose the chips. Punch six or so holes in each foil packet. Clean the grill and open the bottom vents all the way. On the bottom grate, place one foil packet and pile about 50 briquettes on top. Your charcoal should not stretch to the other side of the grill. Place the other foil packet on this pile. Light a charcoal chimney starter full of briquettes – about 75.

While you’re waiting for the charcoal, dry the roast with paper towels and put it on a cookie sheet. Mix the dry rub ingredients together and coat the roast with it.

When the coals are hot and covered in white ash, pour them over the unlit pile. Make sure that your charcoal doesn’t go past where your top grate will lie and doesn’t cover more than half of the grill. Put the top grate on, wait five minutes, and scrape it. I oil my grate with grape seed oil to keep food from sticking and to make it easier to scrape. I put maybe a quarter cup of oil in a glass, tear off about three sheets of paper towels, wad them up, and shove them in the glass. Use a grill tongs to rub the oil on the grate, being careful not to drip oil on the coals (flare up). Put the roast on the cold side of the grill (no coals) and cover with the grill lid. Open the grill lid’s vents and place the vents over the roast, so the smoke draws across the meat.

Leave the roast alone for an hour, then flip and cover with the grill lid. Leave it alone for another hour or until the neighbors start coming into your backyard. If the roast starts to blacken, remove it from the grill early.

Preheat your oven to 325. Bring the roast in from the grill on a cookie sheet. Enclose the sheet and roast with foil. Bake the roast another 90 minutes in the oven. Meanwhile, start the barbeque sauce.

Add the ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, and cider vinegar to a saucepan and heat over medium low heat. Really, I eyeball the ingredients. Taste and see if you need more sugar, ketchup, etc. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes and remove from heat. The sauce shouldn’t be thick. Add a shot or two of Tabasco, if you like some heat and some Liquid Smoke, too. Do this off the burner – both of these are heat sensitive and will evaporate or change flavor if heated. Let the sauce cool to room temperature.

Remove the roast from the oven after 90 minutes and let rest, still covered with foil, for about 30 minutes or as long as you can stand it. Your house will be barbeque scented at this point. Cut the roast up with a knife and fork and put the pieces in a large bowl. Add sauce and stir and mash the meat until it has broken up into fibers. Add a bit more sauce and let sit for 15 minutes or, again, as long as you can stand it.

Day of the competition: Place the meat in a clean Crockpot on competition morning. Turn the Crockpot on high. Add about 1/2 cup of liquid (water is fine or leftover sauce is better) to the meat and stir. Put the lid on. Check it around 11 a.m. or so. If it’s bubbling, turn the heat to warm. Add more water if the meat looks dry.

So, Ice Moms! Let’s start swapping recipes. What do you always bring to a competition or test session? Are you known for your chili? Do you make amazing banana bread? Are you more the bag-of-chips, two-liter-of-soda parent? That’s cool, too!

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Do you have a question for Ice Mom or the Advisory Board? Is there a post you’d really like to read, but I haven’t written about it yet? Are you interested in writing a guest post? Terrific! E-mail me at icemom.diane@gmail.com

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  Photo credits:
Grill Starter: Jacob Bøtter on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Anniversary Gift: Grill [cover on]: Christopher Schmidt on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Hot Grill: Stephano A on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Anniversary Gift: Grill [cover off]: Christopher Schmidt on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Firing up the Grill: AleGranholm on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Anniversary Gift: Grill [with charcoal starter]: Christopher Schmidt on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Grill.: Ashley R. Good on Flickr.com Creative Commons