Boston Butt

Photo courtesy of foodsubs.com

Boston butt is a delicious and economical cut of meat. Prepared properly, it makes a delicious feast. It is not from the butt of the pig as the name implies, but the shoulder. You may see it sold as "Pork Shoulder Roast". Every few months, I find it on sale for about .99/lb. With Memorial Day being so close, there are lots of meat sales to take advantage of. This is an easy cut to prepare for those of us who aren't grilling, or in addition to the grilled food. Here are a few ways I have prepared it in the past. I'd also love if anyone would share their favorite recipe or way to prepare it. I am trying a new recipe now, which I will share later this week. I like to prepare enough to have leftovers for sandwiches and fried rice later.

Photo courtesy of culinaryarts.about.com

Pork Roast can be made in the oven or the crock pot. I do prefer the oven method; but there's no way I'm going to run my oven that long during the summer in the south. It's been 90+ degrees all week.

Just marinade or season, then prepare using your method of choice.

Oven Method: Put the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan, fat side up, and put the roast in the 450 degree preheated oven. Roast for 10 minutes, then RE-SET THE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 250 DEGREES.
Continue cooking for about 50-90 minutes or until the meat registers 150 degrees on a meat thermometer. Remove the roast from the oven and set on a cutting board. Cover the meat with tin foil and let it rest for about 15 minutes before slicing it.
Adapted from: Joy of Cooking

Crock Pot Method: Place in a large crock pot on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 8-10 hours. Please ensure that the meat reaches 150 degrees.

This one is probably my favorite. The las time I made it was on a cold day, so I used my oven instead of my Crock Pot. I sliced 3 onions and an orange and placed the roast on that instead of a rack. After 3 hours at 250 degrees, I removed most of the fat and chopped the meat. I rendered a little fat in a large cast iron skillet and then heated the meat in batches to "crisp up" very slightly then added the broth and a little more cumin and simmered. My favorite Mexican restaurant back home does something similar on a flat top, and this yields a similar result.
 
Pork Carnitas - I am from Southern Cali, so I have had some of the best carnitas available. This recipe came from a friend's mom. It is on par with any restaurant. 2 pounds pork shoulder 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 large orange) 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 large lime) 7 cloves garlic (whole intact) 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon cumin 1/2 cup beef broth The Directions. Use a 6 quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the salt and cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then plop into the slow cooker. Add whole garlic cloves. Squeeze on the citrus, and pour the beef broth evenly over the top. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds quite easily with a fork. If your meat is still fully intact after 8 hours, remove and cut into chunks, then return to the crock and flip to high for about an hour or two. Shred meat fully and serve on warmed corn tortillas with desired toppings. Asian-Inspried Pork Roast
• 1 whole 2-3 Lb Pork Sirloin Roast
• ¼ cups Olive Oil
• ¼ cups Teriyaki Sauce
• Juice Of 1 Lemon
• Zest Of 1 Lemon
• 2 cloves Garlic - Smashed Or Chopped
• 1 Handful Chopped Cilantro
• 1-½ teaspoon Salt
• ¾ teaspoons Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
Combine marinade ingredients, add to large bag with roast. Let marinade a few hours or over night. Super Yummy (I couldn't thinkof a name for this, it was DELICIOUS though)
2 TBS cranberry sauce
2 TBS prepared coarse ground mustard
1 tsp Cayenne
2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 cup pineapple juice
I mixed up the marinade in a bowl, kinda smashing the cranberries as I went. Put the roast in a large bowl, sprinkled it with pepper and a dash of cayenne, rubbed it in, then spread a thin layer of coarse ground mustard over it. Then I poured the marinade over the meat. Covered it and refrigerated it for 24 hours, I turned it a couple of times during that period.
Also, check out my post on Pork Roast Leftovers.