With apologies to any Portuguese readers, Sunday’s Euro 2016 final did not go the way that this 5pm Dining blog writer would have wished.
Eder’s extra time goal was a heart-breaker for Les Bleus and it also put paid to my Euro 2016 betting balance.
However, in between cradling my head in my hands and weeping gently, there were some bright spots.
Mainly in the form of the slow cooked pulled pork which we had rustled up for the match.
Soft sticky pork
Specially Selected Pork, part of Quality Meat Scotland, had kindly sent us a pulled pork recipe along with a meat voucher which could be exchanged for a pork joint at any Scotch Butchers Club member.
A quick visit to Crombies later and we had brought home the bacon. Or rather a large chunk of boneless pork shoulder.
The original recipe used a slow cooker. We don’t have one of those so we bunged everything in a large casserole with the lid on and cooked it gently for hours.
It makes a great filling for rolls but we also ate some with new potatoes and a mix of steamed asparagus and broccoli.
The crunchiness of the fresh green veg is a good foil to the soft, sticky chew of the meat.
The initial prep takes about ten minutes and then you just need to turn the meat occasionally while it cooks.
Dead easy.
Slow cooked pulled pork
Ingredients
1.8kg of boneless, pork shoulder
1tblsp oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
150 ml BBQ sauce
75 ml cider vinegar
125 ml water
50 g light brown sugar
3 tblsp American mustard
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tblsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
Untie pork shoulder
Heat oil in frying pan and fry onion and garlic until soft
Mix other ingredients in a jug
Place the pork shoulder in a large casserole
Add garlic and onions
Pour over sauce
Cover with lid and cook for 30 minutes at 200
Turn oven down to 170 and cook for 3 hours.
Remember to turn it every half or so.
It should be ready by now although we left ours on a low heat for another couple of hours until kick off.
Shred the pork with a couple of forks and let it soak up all the cooking juices.
Serve on rolls with coleslaw.
