Another Saturday Night and I've got a Pork Shoulder.

So I had the plan to make this chile-braised pork shoulder for cinco de mayo but i didn't get around to it until saturday, catorce de mayo. But you know what they say: Pulled pork is always worth the wait.

I came home from wegmans equipped with a pork shoulder and 4 pork tenderloins(the cashier didn't even need to ask me how much i love pork). The latter will be brined into canadian bacon... post to follow. The former was about to get a little chile sauce rubdown.

So i hit play on the freshly downloaded bruno mars CD (i know, i'm approx 700yrs late to the b.mars party, but it's still poppin') and set to work.

The rub:

--4 large dried ancho chiles, stemmed seeded (rehydrate these pups in a lil boiling water. it said it would take around 30min. I found they were soft enough in under 10)

--1 small can chipotles in adobo sauce. The recipe called for 2 lg dried chiles de arbol or japones. I used the chipotles in adobo because i had them on hand. The adobo sauce was enough liquid for the rub. If you use the dry chiles, save about a cup of the soaking liquid from the anchos.

--2Tbsp sugar (i used dark brown sugar because that's my favorite color.)

--1Tbsp. fresh lime juice

Put these ingredients in a food processor and let 'er rip.

For the meat:

The recipe called for a 5lb Boston butt (boneless pork shoulder). I used a 9lb bone-in pork shoulder. I don't think there would be much difference except the boston butt said it would take about 2.5hrs. Mine took about 5.5hrs. I had 3 season finales of CSI on demand though so the extra 3 hours didn't really bother me.

Now take the piece of meat and rub generously with kosher salt. I just read that kosher salt has less sodium than real salt (funfact).

Now massage gently with chile mixture. Cover and set in fridge for about an hour to 1-2 days.

Spices:

--2Tbsp oil. Heat in skillet.

Add:

--1 lg onion, chopped

--2 lg garlic cloves, chopped

--2 bay leaves

--2 tsp dried oregano (use the mexican if you got it. I've never seen mexican oregano in the spice aisle, so i just used an unidentified herb from the garden)

--2 tsp ground coriander

--2 tsp ground cumin

--1/2 tsp ground allspice

--1 bottle dark beer (i used stout homebrew, the recipe called for negro modelo.)

By now, your pork should be waiting in a large oven proof pot with a cover. Pour the spice mixture over it, cover and place in an oven at 350. Baste with pan juices every so often. When pork starts to fall apart you and are almost there.

When done, transfer meat to a large platter, pull apart with two forks and pour pan liquid over it.

I served it on heated corn tortillas with a dollop of sour cream and a couple of lettuce leaves.

You could also use coleslaw, fresh cilantro or salsa. Maybe go dinobbq style and cook up some baked beans and corn bread. The possibilities are endless and that's what is beautiful about the world of pigs.