Recipes Part 13: Slow Cooker NC BBQ

The 4^th of July wouldn’t be the same without a lot of meat. This recipe is great because it’s incredibly easy, incredibly delicious and makes a lot of barbeque. You just put the meat in the crock pot in the morning and leave it till dinner time and voila, you have 8 or so servings of local barbeque. Have friends with crock pots? Have them make the same recipe or alter it slightly and you'd have a TON of barbeque.

I got a Boston Butt from Windy Hill Farms and it weighed about 4 pounds which is on the small side but my crock pot is on the small side too. The original recipe calls for smoked paprika which is very expensive so, since I love spicy food anyway, I substituted more cayenne pepper for the paprika. I’ve also added my recipe for easy NC-style sauce but you could easily buy your own sauce from one of many local BBQ restaurants (I suggest Mac’s). Nova’s Bakery makes delicious dinner rolls that are perfect for this barbeque because they are just a little sour. Finally, Bell's Best Berries has a great selection of herbs so you can get fresh, local thyme.

Side note: Though I am no big fan of cooking shows, I do occasionally catch The Splendid Table on NPR on Sundays. Lynne Rossetto Kasper is so cute and just loves all things food. One suggestion she has for when you are using a lot of spices in a sauce or dish is to heat them before applying them which really brings out their flavors. Thus, I usually pre-mix the spices and stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds before applying to the meat or adding to the vinegar sauce.

NC Slow Cooker BBQ (LPO)

1 Boston Butt

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/4 cup fresh thyme, chopped

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 cup water (if you love vinegar like I do, make it ½ cup water and ½ cup white or apple cider vinegar)

1. Place the meat in a slow cooker
2. Add water then rub spices into the meat (half on one side then flip and add the other half)
3. Cook on low for at least 6 hours, flipping once
4. Remove the meat and separate with a fork, serve hot or room temperature

NC BBQ Sauce (V)

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon hot sauce (ie Tabasco)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1. Mix everything together
2. Refrigerate (overnight is best but the longer it sits the better)

I can’t eat red meat so check back next week for Corinne’s amazing local hamburgers!