Dutch Oven Pulled Pork with Pineapple and Apricot

Last weekend, Jodi gave me this recipe for a really simple pulled pork roast that turned out really good. I tried to do some cool sides along with it, but they didn't turn out as well. Actually, the potatoes did, but the rice and beans, not so much. I had a lot of things I was trying to do in addition to cooking, and it just didn't do too well.

The recipe was originally for a crock pot, so I modded it a bit for dutch oven, but not really too much.

Pineapple Apricot Pulled Pork

12" Deep Dutch Oven

12-14 coals above

10-12 coals below

• 4-6 lbs of pork roast (I had two loin roasts that I think were 2.5 - 3 lbs each)
• Liberal shakes of salt, pepper, thyme, parsley

• 1 can pineapple chunks, with juice
• 1 jar apricot preserves
• 3 apricots, sliced thin
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup Mustard
• More salt and pepper
• Liberal shakes of cinnamon*
• Juice of 1 lemon*

I started by putting the spices in the first set on the roasts and rubbing them in a bit. Then I put them in the 12" deep dutch oven and roasted them. I pretty much went with a "low and slow" approach to the heat. I kept the coals replenished, but always on the low side of the counts. I wanted it to take a longer time to cook, and just to take it easy. I actually roasted for about 3 hours.

When the thermometer said they were done, they looked really, really good just as they were. I thought about just slicing and serving them as is. But I pulled them out and shredded them with the fork. I put them back into the pot. In retrospect, I probably would've removed about half of the liquid that was at the bottom of the dutch oven first. Not all of it, but some. It did end up a bit gloppy and I had to add some flour to thicken it up at the end.

I put the dutch oven back out on the coals, but this time in more of a baking configuration, with more heat on top. I added all of the ingredients in the second set. Actually, those marked with the * were not included. I thought about those later, as I was eating it. "Wow, this is really good! It would've been even better with...*" So, if you make this recipe, I recommend you try those ideas.

The potatoes were really cool.

There are some dishes you do fancy things to that make it taste better, and then there are some dishes you do fancy things to because it simply looks better. This one, really, is both.

I got the idea from Medium Rare, Please. He's a fun blogger to read, 'cause he takes a lot of pictures along the way as he's cooking.

So, these are basically just seasoned baked potatoes, but with a twist. You slice them, thin, most of the way through. Then, you slide some garlic slices in between some of the potato slices. Finally, you coat the potatoes in olive oil, and sprinkle on spices. He suggested black and white sesame seeds. I couldn't find any of those, but I thought I'd choose my spices as much for color as taste. So, I did salt and pepper, of course, as well as white sesame seeds, then for a bit more black, I did poppy seeds. Finally, for a touch of red, some paprika.

The rice and beans... Well, we won't talk about those until I can pull them off... But really, with the meat and the potatoes, some veggies would have gone better anyway, and maybe some tortillas. Just a thought... I need to learn more about menu planning.