Pulled Pork Sandos with Homemade Chips and Coleslaw (with homemade mayo!)

If you are making pulled pork, invite some friends over.  It's impossible not to make a lot.  Michelle has been asking me to try my hand at this for a while, so I finally decided to give it a shot.  It's definitely not an everyday meal but is perfect for Sunday night and a group of friends.  

I paired our pulled pork sandos with creamy coleslaw, baked beans, and homemade potato chips.  Crazy delicious...

I read a few recipes that called for a 5-7 lb pork roast (shoulder or Boston butt).  Mine was only 2.5 lbs and we had dinner for 4 and a ridiculous amount of leftovers.  

You'll need a few hours to roast this bad boy and:

1 pork roast (again, mine was 2.5 lbs but you can go bigger if you have a big crowd)

3 tablespoons of paprika

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of dry mustard

2 tablespoons of kosher salt

Hamburger buns

For the coleslaw:

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

4 cups of green cabbage

2 cups of red cabbage

3 carrots

2 scallions

Keep the chips super simple...  

Oil (I used canola)

2 russet potatoes

salt and pepper

For the pork, mix the seasonings together in a bowl.

Then rub all over the pork.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

While the pork marinated, I got working on the slaw.  When shopping for the coleslaw ingredients I decided to skip the store bought mayo and take a crack at making my own.  Super easy, no chemicals or preservatives, and the best mayo I have ever tasted.  

Mayo is actually pretty easy.  You will need:

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup of canola oil

Add the yolk, Dijon, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt in bowl.

Whisk everything together.

Then slowly drizzle in the oil while continuously whisking.  Easy, right?

For the slaw, shred the carrots using a box grater or food processor.

Slice up the veggies, and combine in a bowl.

Measure out the other ingredients.

And whisk together in a separate bowl.

Then combine the veggies and the dressing.  Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

While the pork marinates in the dry rub, preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Place the pok in a dutch oven or roasting pan, cover, and roast for several hours until internal temperature reaches 170.  My roast took about 3 hours.  Basically, you want to cook it until it's super succulent and falling apart.

After a few hours you should have something that looks like this.  Allow the meat to rest for 10-15 minutes, plenty of time to make some homemade chips.

Start with a couple of plain old russet potatoes.  

Give them a good rinse and then slice thin with a mandolin.

Soak the slices in cold water to prevent them from browning.

Michelle has only let me make these once before, typically we bake this type of stuff.  For "real" potato chips though, you need to fry them.  Heat some oil in a pot to around 350.  Then add the potato slices in batches, turning once with some tongs.  They only take a few seconds to crisp up.

Allow to dry on some paper towels and sprinkle immediately with salt and pepper.  Easy and delicious. I didn't do the math, but I imagine that these are better for you than store bought chips.

After the meat rests a bit and the juices redistribute, it's time for the "pulled" part.  Take a couple of forks and shred the meat.  If desired, you can place in a bowl and mix with some of your favorite barbecue sauce.  I didn't add any bbq sauce to the meat, but I did spread some on my bun.

I always toast the buns for a minute, but it's of course optional.  To serve, stack up the pork and top with some slaw.  I also had a can of baked beans that I heated up to round out the meal.