This was very nearly an unmitigated kitchen disaster, and it was all my fault.

See, I checked out Jamie’s America from the library last week and, in looking for something to do with our 89.5# of pork, I hit on this delicious-sounding Southern-Style Pork and Slaw.  Pork shoulder? Check.  Crunchy tangy cole slaw? Check. Good with homebrew and thick slices of bread? Check.  Cooked over several hours and requiring minimal supervision? Check – err, wait.

If you’ve clicked through to the recipe and then clicked back to this post, you may see where I’m headed.

We had free tickets to see Coraline in 3-D this afternoon, so just before we left, I popped the seasoned shoulder into the oven at 320.  We went to the movie, came home, Shane turned on the game, and I crawled into bed for a quick nap.  About 45 minutes later, Shane woke me up, concerned that the pork was overcooking/overcooked.

But wait!  It’s supposed to be in the oven for 6 hours and it’s only been in for 4!

Oh.

The recipe called for AN ENTIRE pork shoulder, not a 3# piece. An entire pork shoulder cooked for 6 hours is one thing.  A 3# shoulder cooked for 6 hours is a dense piece of charcoal.

Fortunately Shane, in his quick thinking, had pulled the shoulder after the internal temperature topped out our thermometer (200+), and we were still able to have delicious pulled pork for dinner.  I’m pretty sure this is a testament to how forgiving this cut is – especially when topped with the tart and very green slaw.

If I were feeding a small army, I’d definitely make this again, following the full recipe, though I’m not sold on the cole slaw part.  I love cole slaw, but the addition of collard greens just made it taste too, I don’t know, vegetal?  I have a solid recipe that I love, so next time I’ll just stick with that.

Recipe:
 Southern-Style Pork and Slaw from Jamie’s America