Adobo Pulled Pork with Sweet Potato Mash

I'm going to warn you right now, this recipe has a little Woo-Pow!

Blame CaveBoy.

Back before he started hanging around my cave, I was a salt-pepper-garlic-paprika kind of girl (what can I say? I have Ukrainian roots).  He opened my world up to crushed red pepper, and curry, and wasabi. Then we moved to Texas - where they practically put jalapenos in the baby-formula - and my world was set on fire. CaveBoy and I have adopted Texas as our home state. It's where we got engaged. Half of our family lives there. And Texans have a generous, hard-working spirt that we appreciate.

When I get a little home sick, the smell of Adobo Pulled Pork simmering in the crock pot brings my taste buds right back to Texas. I guarantee* that after one taste, you'll wish you were a Texan, too.

Adobo Pulled Pork with Sweet Potato Mash

Ok. It looks a little like orange mush. But it tastes AMAZING!

Ingredients

5 lbs pork shoulder

16 oz fresh pineapple, diced

7 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1 cup beef stock 

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 oz can tomato paste
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
salt and pepper

3 lbs sweet potatoes, about 5 large-sized

2 heads cauliflower

5 tablespoons salted, grassfed butter

healthy pinch of salt

Instructions

For the Adobo Pulled Pork - place pork shoulder, pineapple, chipotle peppers with sauce, and beef stock into crock pot. Cover, set on high, and let cook until the pork is fork tender. About 5 hours.

Once fully cooked, remove the pork and place it in a large metal or glass bowl. Fish out the chipotles and discard. Reserve the rest of the liquid, including the pineapple chunks.

Add olive oil and diced onion to a large, heated skillet.  Cook until onion starts to turn translucent. Add the diced garlic and cook until it becomes aromatic. Add the reserved liquid from the crock pot. Bring to a boil. Whisk in the tomato paste and poultry seasoning. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir occasionally so  nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Cook down until the sauce thickens. You are making an adobo barbeque sauce, so you want it to be that consistency. Once thickened, remove from heat.

Shred the pork with two forks. Pour the thickened sauce over the pork and mix well. 

For the Sweet Potato Mash - Wash the sweet potatoes and arrange them on a baking sheet.  Bake at 400 until tender to the touch. About 55 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool enough to touch. 

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, rinse the cauliflower and cut it into chunks. Place the chunks in a large pot and cover with water. Add a healthy pinch of salt.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer until cauliflower is tender. About 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Remove the skin from the sweet potatoes and place in a large bowl. Add the drained cauliflower and butter and mash until smooth.  I like to use the flat beater in my kitchenaid stand mixer to mash well. But don't mash too long, or they get starchy - I learned that from Alton Brown.  

This whole recipe makes 15 lunch box servings - 5x8 oz pork servings for CaveBoy, and 10x4 oz pork servings for CB and I. The mash is divided equally between the 15 lunch boxes. 

*Note: I don't actually guarantee anything...

Update: Holy crap you guys, I just accidentally made the most delicious Adobo Pork Chili!

I only bought a 2 lb pork shoulder (because, ya know: cooking dinner for one, now.) and I forgot to get fresh pineapple. So I dumped a 15 oz can of crushed pineapple into the Crock-Pot instead. When I went to make the sauce, there was a lot more of it than normal, and it was thick. So I shredded the pork and added it to the sauce pot. I let it simmer for about 40 minutes to marry the flavors. And tah dah! Adobo Pork Chili. You're welcome.