Recipe to Riches Winning Entree: Pulled Pork Sandwiches

The Recipe to Riches  Entrées episode was a really nerve-wracking one. All three recipes sounded delicious! I  have to say that my husband was confident that the pulled pork sandwich recipe was going to win. We had a friendly bet going on (as we do each week for Recipe to Riches). He was rooting for the pulled pork. I can't say I don't blame him. It's such a "manly man meal"! BBQ meat and a dish  you can eat with your  hands while chatting with friends on the deck? Oh, yeah!

As an official Recipe to Riches blogger, I had the amazing opportunity to recreate the winning Entrée recipe.
I have to tell you that I'm one of those people who needs to get everything sorted and organized before I start cooking. I mean really sorted. Like lining up all ingredients, prepping and putting things in a particular fashion before I get started.

For Rob's pulled pork (Hubby really liked the name Bobby's Bodacious BBQ Buns), I first collected all my ingredients.

 I lined everything up. Yes, my friends think I've got issues...particularly a Watkins and PC brand obsession. I looooove PC products!

 Is it just me, or is this not beautiful?

All the colours and fragrances of the spices were just beautiful! In a bowl, I mixed the paprika, brown sugar, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, freshly ground pepper, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, and ground cumin.

Now, that's a lot of flavour right there!

I then rubbed the spice mixture all over the bone-in pork shoulder picnic roast. I reserved 2 Tbsp of the spice mixture to add to the sauce. I put the pork in a metal pan and tightly wrapped it in foil. Into a 325 degree oven it went!

I initially wanted to cook it for 6 hours, but ended up taking it out at 5 hours. The house smelled amazing! My toddler kept asking, "Is it suppertime yet? I'm hungry!"

Sorry, kid. You get a glass of milk and honey on toast for a snack while Mommy is cooking :)

 Once the pork was cooked to perfection, I unwrapped it, pulled the pork off the bone, and I began shredding the pork with two forks.

 The meat was so tender, so juicy, and it just fell off the bone.

While the meat was cooking, I did two other things. I made the coleslaw and sauce. For the coleslaw, I made the slaw with the cabbage and other ingredients in the food processor. You can also buy ready-made slaw and add ready-made coleslaw dressing. If you're like me and have a mother-in-law who is a farmer, you'll want to make your coleslaw from scratch. It's actually easier and faster to make than you think. Plus, seasoned farmers' wives would frown upon buying coleslaw when it's something very commonplace in rural areas. Hey, if you're in a pinch and don't have time, just buy the mix! I won't tell! ;)

For the sauce, I combined ketchup, apple cider vinegar, cola, maple syrup, and the reserved spice mixture. I boiled the sauce mixture in a pot on medium heat for about 25 minutes.

 Pour half of the sauce mixture over pork and combine. Use the other half to put on the sandwiches. "The secret is in the sauce!" Ha! Ha! I don't know why I've always wanted to say that.

The Assembly:
Slice bun in half, slather sauce on top and bottom (cut ends) of bun, top with pork, mound coleslaw on top of pork, place top bun lid. This recipe makes 8 servings.

I have to say that Robert Luft's pulled pork sandwich is delicious! My husband asked if I could make it again next week! As a Mom, I just had to serve this up with a fabulous salad. Hubby insisted that the coleslaw counted as a serving of veg though. :) Right.

Would I purchase the President's Choice version of this dish? Yes. Absolutely. We've made it a weekly habit to test out all the winning recipes! Though this recipe wasn't overly difficult, it was time consuming. Getting the meat so tender, soft, and juicy takes hours of cooking! The way Rob did it on the show looked even more labour intensive. He also didn't use forks to shred the meat, but used his hands to "pull" instead. 

If you don't have a lot of hours to spare to make a scrumptious dinner after a long day at work, then buy the PC product. I'm a PC lover and everything I've ever bought from them has been a hit in our home.

Congrats, Robert! Now, Canadians get to vote for their favourite recipe and for the winner of the $250,000 Grand Prize! It's the largest prize in Canadian TV history!

For Robert Luft's complete pulled pork sandwich recipe, visit the Recipe to Riches website and click on the pulled pork sandwich recipe link.

Recipe to Riches airs on Wednesdays at 9 pm on Food Network, and Saturdays at 8pm on Global TV.  The Entrees episode was the last one before the big competition. Next week is the Recipe to Riches marathon! 

Find them on Facebook and on Twitter to join in on the fun!

Disclosure: As an official Recipe to Riches blogger, I  have been compensated for recreating the winning recipe and writing a review post. All opinions on this blog are honest and my own.