Cook - Pulled Pork and Beef with Coleslaw

In honor of our LOST-hosting duties last night we served Pulled Pork and Beef sandwiches with Coleslaw and Tater Tots. For dessert with had Margarita Cake. It was all delicious.

The Barbecue Beef and Pork sandwiches were based on a Betty Crocker recipe - Slow Cooker Beef and Pork Barbecue Sandwiches. The picture is from Betty Crocker.

1 4 lb pork shoulder (bone-in)
1 2 lb beef chuck roast (boneless)
6 small onions, sliced (we only had small onions)
3/4 c light brown sugar
1/2 c cider vinegar
2 T chili powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cans tomato paste
Cheddar cheese
Hamburger buns

1) Add onions to the slow cooker
2) Remove the skin from the shoulder if it is still attached.
3) Cut the pork and beef into as big pieces as possible but so that they all fit in the slow cooker. Add beef and pork to the slow cooker on top of the onions.
4) Mix sugar, vinegar, chili powder, salt, mustard and worcestershire together. Pour over the meat.
5) Cook on low for 10 hours.
6) Remove meat from the slow cooker, remove bones and shred meat.
7) Remove about 2/3 of the liquid (try not to remove the onions). We kept this, not sure what we are going to do with it yet.
8) Add the meat back to the slow cooker along with the tomato paste. Cook on high 15 minutes. Serve warm with cheddar cheese and coleslaw (see below, optional) on hamburger buns.

The coleslaw we made is a vinegar (not mayonaise) based slaw. It is from this recipe which is supposed to be based on the Primanti Bros recipe from Pittsburgh. Picture is from article.

Primanti Bros Coleslaw via The Washington Post

• 1 pound (about half of a medium-size head) green cabbage, shredded or finely chopped (about 6 cups) (we ended up with about 12 cups shredded from a medium-sized head)
  
• 1/2 cup sugar (we used 1 cup since we had twice as much cabbage)
  
• 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt (we used 3 tsp)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed (we used 1/2 tsp)
  
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• Freshly ground black pepper (totally forgot to add)
  

For the slaw: Combine the cabbage, sugar, salt and celery seed in a colander set over a medium bowl. Let stand at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours; the cabbage will be wilted (about 4 cups total). (We let this sit for about 2-2.5 hours and ended up with about 6 cups?)

Discard the draining liquid in the bowl; rinse and dry the bowl, then transfer the wilted cabbage to the bowl. Add the oil and vinegar; toss to coat. Season with pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (We made this the night before. We didnt want it to be too overpowering so we only used 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup oil)

In honor of Cinco de Mayo we made a Margarita Cake (also Betty Crocker, their picture). I liked it but it was a little strange (something about lime and cake seem weird to me). The general consensus was that the pretzel crust was too much of a texture contrast but I actually really liked it. Go figure.

Margarita Cake

1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels (Matty did this in the Kitchen Aid mixer)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix
1 1/4 cups bottles nonalcoholic margarita mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
3 egg whites
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed (We used fat free Cool Whip)
Additional grated lime peel, if desired (we didn't)

1) Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening and lightly flour (or spray bottom with baking spray with flour). In medium bowl, mix pretzels, sugar and butter. Sprinkle evenly on bottom of pan; press gently.
2) In large bowl, beat cake mix, margarita mix, oil, 1 tablespoon lime peel and the egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pretzel mixture.
3) Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown and top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping; sprinkle with additional lime peel. Store covered in refrigerator. (We baked it the night before and then topped with Cool Whip as we were serving it)