#SundaySupper Apple Pulled Pork Sandwich with Pickled Onions

OMG I am so f*cking proud of myself, excuse my french. I have a really hard time not cussing. I am a bit of a potty mouth, grew up with two brothers and a bunch of their obscene friends that I happen to fit right in with, haha. This recipe is so full of firsts!!! I have never touched, prepared, rubbed and braised a pork shoulder, pickled onions or made my own BBQ sauce. I had never even cut up a Papaya. I didn’t know there were little black sushi egg looking thingy’s inside. So, I woke up wrote out my list, the Hubster took the girls grocery shopping and brought me my supplies. Then he took one of them to dance class, the other one napped. And after that they were off to a Birthday Party. I really wanted to go but I had to finish cooking and also was really enjoying this time to myself to cook. It rarely happens!!! I had the whole day practically to myself. It was so nice!! Nice and quiet. I made the Rub, rubbed that shoulder, braised it, prepared the onions and made the BBQ sauce and now I am able to sit and let everything cook and I can type up my post. I found this recipe on The Daily Meal.

First things first…PREPARE the RUB. Put on some music and have some fun!! This is actually a really simple recipe, broken down into four steps.

THE RUB

¼ cup salt
1/8 cup black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper chili flakes
2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon coriander (I am not a fan of this so I left it out)
1 tablespoon cumin (this too)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
¼ cup brown sugar

Mix them all together in a medium sized bowl and rub that shoulder (or butt). Haha, I couldn’t bring myself to get a butt, figured the shoulder would be leaner but I don’t know maybe Pigs have really lean butts. Hmmmm…?

Love a Brown Sugar Ball.

Let is sit room temperature for 1-2 hours.

Next up Braising the Pork…

BRAISED PORK

1 pound onions, coarsely diced
½ pound carrots, coarsely diced
½ pound celery, coarsely diced
¼ can of chipotles in adobo sauce
½ gallon apple juice or cider
½ gallon water
¾ cup brown sugar
6 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
¼ cup salt

Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and place shoulder in. Then preheat to 300 degrees and cook for 5-6 hours.

I ended up chopping the onions with my handy dandy Slap Chop. I am a crier when it comes to onions so with white onions especially I have to have this bad boy.

THE ONIONS

These were so pretty! I love onions! The whole day I was making this entire recipe I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I love onions! Red, white, you name it, they smell so good and I just love the flavor. I have never pickled anything so this was super fun and really easy. I was surprised at how easy it was.

3 whole red onions, sliced into thin rings
1 cup distilled vinegar
½ cup water
1 cup sugar
½ cup salt

Boil the vinegar, water, sugar and salt for about 3 minutes then pour over sliced onions. I made them into rings. They came out sooo good! And they keep for a month.

The BBQ Sauce

1 ripe papaya, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small sweet onion small diced, preferably Vidalia
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1½ cups apple cider vinegar
¼ cup hot sauce, preferably Frank’s Red Hot
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all the ingredients into a large sauce pan and simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes stirring constantly. Remove and let it cool, then blend and pop it in the fridge.

This sauce was amazing!! My friend was over for dinner and put a spoonful on every bit 🙂

And here’s the final product, it was amazing!! I am so happy it came out so good and I really love it. I added sliced pickles because I think every pulled pork sandwich should have pickles, put on some sauce and the onions and of course the Pork and viola. Pulled Pork sandwich. Broken down into four steps, if I can do this anyone can.

I love to call my friend Teresa Howes, author of Skinnytinis all the fun for half the calories, to get a drink recommendation to go with my meals. She came up with this drink and it was so good. My husband absolutely loved it, I think he had three. It was so refreshing and went perfectly with the sandwich.

Click here for the recipe and to check out Teresa’s Blog, Eat. Drink. & Be Skinny!

Here’s our Autumn Apple Party Menu coming this Sunday, September 23!

Soups, Salads, Starters and Breads

Cinnamon Apple Chips- Shockingly Delicious
Apple Celery Salad- In the Kitchen with Audrey and Maurene
Mini Apple Pumpkin Pancakes – The Daily Dish Recipes
Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast- In the Kitchen with KP
Curried Apple and Leek Soup-Soni’s Food for Thought
Endive Spears Topped With Apple, Blue Cheese and Hazelnut Salad- The Hand That Rocks the Ladle
Homemade Apple Jam – My Trials in the Kitchen
Caramel Apple Butter Cheesecake Dip- Chocolate Moosey
Apple Sage and Onion Soup with Cheddar Bacon Croutons – Wine in Tampa
Caramel Apple Bread – famfriendsfood
Apple Pie Bread Baker Street
Apple, Bacon & Brie Popovers- I Run for Wine
Apple and Almond Brie Puff Pastry- Family Foodie
Apple, Leek and Gruyere Tarts- There and Back Again

Main Meals

Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Loin- The Meltaways
Apple-Glazed Meatballs- The Messy Baker
Apples & Buttons (Ham, Apples and Dumplings)- Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Skillet Pork with Sweet Spiced Apples- Mama Mommy Mom
Chicken Apple Meatloaf with Tarragon Tomato Sauce – Diabetic Foodie
Baked Tilapia Apple Crisp- Daddy Knows Less
Pork Tenderloin with Calvados Cream Sauce Sustainable Dad
#SundaySupper Pulled Pork Sandwich With Pickled Red Onions Kwistin’s Favorites

Sides

Harvest Rice- Webicurean
Wild Rice with Apples, Dried Cranberries, and Walnuts – Ruffles and Truffles
Apple Topped Sweet Potato Mash- Momma’s Meals
Warm Spice Pecan Raisin Apple Chutney- Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Desserts

Double Apple Pot Pie- What Smells So Good?
Apple Walnut Coffee Cake- The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
Apple Streusel Cobbler- Big Bear’s Wife
Apple & Moroccan Cinnamon Gooey Sticky Buns- Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends
Apple Pull Apart Monkey Bread- Gotta Get Baked
Spiced Caramel Apple Pie-Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence
Appel Pear Kuchen (Apfel Birnenkichen)- Galactosemia in PDX
Apple Strudel – Magnolia Days
Old Fashioned Apple Crisp with Caramel Sauce-Noshing with the Nolands
Apple Cheesecake- Vintage Kitchen
Caramel Apple Crumble Bars- Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting- From Fast Food to Fresh Food
Apple Pound Cake- Damn Delicious
Cinnamon Apple Dessert Chimichangas- Juanita’s Cocina
Chai Spiced Apple Pull-Apart Bread- Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again
Nutella Apple Quesadilla- Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
Apple Crisp Ice Cream- Cravings of a Lunatic
Bavarian Apple Torte- The Lovely Pantry
Streusel Apple Pie American w/ Pie Freezer Kits- Meal Planning Magic
French Apple Cobbler with Cinnamon-Maple Whipped Cream Weekend Gourmet
Chunky Apple-Apricot Bread Pudding- Comfy Cuisine
Apple Butter Spice Cake – Home Cooking Memories
Apple Pie and Custard- Happy Baking Days
#GlutenFree Deep Dish Carmel Apple Pie- Cooking Underwriter
Apple Brownies That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Rustic Apple Galette & Give-Away – Mrs Mama Hen
Country Apple Dumplings- Mom’s Test Kitchen
Caramel Apple Capirotada La Cocina de Leslie
Apple-Gingersnap Cookies- Tora’s Real Food
Apple and Cranberry Turnovers- Flour on my Face
Applesauce Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake Hip Foodie Mom
Caramel Frosted Apple Cookies- No One Likes Crumbley Cookies
Apple and Pecans Muffins- Basic N Delicious

Beverages

Spiced Apple Ale Small Wallet Big Appetite
Wine Pairings for our #SundaySupper Autumn Apple Party! – ENOFYLZ

Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper. We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 pm (Eastern) for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat where we’ll talk about our favorite apple recipes! All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat! We’d also love to feature your apple recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers!