Slow Braised Kahlua Pork Shoulder

 I wanted to try a new preparation of pork shoulder, since I have been in a (delightful, delicious) rut with Mexican Pulled Pork. No complaints, honestly, as hubby and I not only gorge on it the night we make it, but eat it cold as a snack and reheated in various forms throughout the week. But my recipe is an 8-10 hour slow cooker recipe, which is stupid-simple, but not great when it's 4pm and I'm like "Oh no! I am eating out the next three nights and I have 4 pounds of pork in my fridge!"

So the following is what I came up with. It is an amalgam of several other recipes and let me tell you: YUM! We chose to have it with mashed potatoes, which isn't very inspired, but we have 3lbs of golden potatoes we need to eat up before they go bad (got 'em on sale) so it seemed a good idea. I made other suggestions in the recipe for what I would do if I had shopped for the purpose.

 Slow Braised Kahlua Pork Shoulder
4-5 lb Pork Shoulder
7 cloves garlic (3 sliced, 4 smashed)
Hawaiian sea salt
Pepper
1/2 large onion, chopped
Optional: one 3" piece of fresh ginger, minced
1 cup pineapple juice
2 cups chicken broth
Optional: one 3" piece of fresh ginger, grated
Canola oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Pour a couple Tablespoons of canola oil into a large dutch oven over medium high heat.

Cut pork shoulder into 4-5 pieces. Poke holes in pork and poke the sliced garlic pieces into the holes.

Generously coat all meat pieces with the Hawaiian sea salt and a bit of pepper. Sear all sides of the meat, then remove to a plate.

Turn stove down to medium, add a couple more Tablespoons of canola oil to hot dutch oven, toss in chopped onion, smashed garlic cloves, and ginger (if using) and cook for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add pineapple juice and chicken broth and heat through. Add pork back to dutch over, cover and place in oven.

Cook for 2 1/2 hours until pork is fork tender.

Remove pork to a large plate or bowl, shred with two forks.

Optional Step: Put shredded pork on foil-lined baking sheet and return to oven. Put on broil and crisp pork, turning every 7 minutes or so to crisp up more pieces to your liking. Try not to overcook and dry it out, just crisp some edges for exceptionally yummy crunch.

Another Optional Step: Take some braising liquid from the pan and reduce with a little butter (and a little brown sugar if you want a little more sweetness) in a pan to make a sauce for the meat.

Serve over mashed sweet potatoes or parsnips, brown rice, shredded cabbage salad, or polenta. You could also make a sandwich, putting the pulled pork on a hoagie roll or, for "authenticity" on King's Hawaiian Bread!