Talk about mixing cultures! It shouldn’t be difficult to adapt this for the WSM:
LUAU-STYLE BBQed PORK SHOULDER (Southern Style)
This cookbook seems to be hot right now:
"The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook" (W.W. Norton, $35) shows these steps for the Luau-style BBQed Pork Shoulder:
These are steps from photos that were in the newspaper but not on the website (they’re in the book):
1. Score the pork before seasoning with paprika and salt.
2. Place the seasoned shoulder on a bed of collard green leaves.
3. Wrap the collard leaves around the pork, and tie with butcher's twine. Then wrap it in aluminum foil and bake.
4. The finished product.
8 servings
Hands on: 30 minutes
Total time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
We were a bit dubious about this unusual take on barbecue, inspired by the pit-cooked whole hogs the Aloha State is renowned for. In-stead of wrapping the pork in taro and banana leaves, the Lees use large collard leaves. We followed their instructions, without the benefit of the step-by-step photos here, and — though our package was more than a bit lumpy — the resulting 'cue was superb.
1 (6- to 8-pound) pork picnic shoulder
1 tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
10-12 large collard leaves, stems trimmed
Pepper vinegar (optional)
Sesame buns (optional)
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Set the pork skin side up on your work surface. With a sharp knife, slice the skin from the shoulder with a gentle sawing motion, working back from the point diagonally across from the leg end where the skin forms a corner. (Asking your butcher to do this for you will save time.) Leave a thin layer of fat on the shoulder. Score the shoulder all over with cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart. Mix the paprika and salt in a small bowl, and rub the mixture all over the pork, making certain to rub it into all the crevices.
Cut six 3-foot lengths of string, and lay 4 of them on your work surface in parallel lines about 3 inches apart. Center the remaining 2, perpendicular to the others. Make a large rectangular blanket of collard greens over the strings by laying down 3 leaves in a line, their stems facing down and their edges overlapping 1 inch or more. Lay down 3 more leaves in the same way, with their stems facing up and overlapping the stems of the row already on the work surface. At each end of this layer of leaves, position more leaves (2 at most), with their stem ends perpendicular to the stems already on the work surface.
Lay the scored, seasoned pork in the center of the blanket, and wrap the leaves around it, securing them with the string. Trim the ends of the string. Then wrap the pork in 2 layers of foil.
Pour 1/2 inch water in a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan. Place the pork on a rack in the pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 450 degrees, and bake for 3 more hours, adding more water to the pan when it becomes dry.
Remove the pork from the oven, and transfer to a work surface, still on the rack. Pour the water from the pan, return the rack and shoulder to the pan, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice vents in the bottom of the foil so the juices drain into the pan. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let cool. Unwrap foil and cut the string. Unwrap collard greens and discard.
Pull pork from the bone, and serve with spoonfuls of the pan juices. If desired, pass a cruet of pepper vinegar. Serve as is or on buns.
Published: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 19, 2006; http://www.ajc.com/news/content/living/food/stories/2006/10/17/1019fdstep.html
LUAU-STYLE BBQed PORK SHOULDER (Southern Style)
This cookbook seems to be hot right now:
"The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook" (W.W. Norton, $35) shows these steps for the Luau-style BBQed Pork Shoulder:
These are steps from photos that were in the newspaper but not on the website (they’re in the book):
1. Score the pork before seasoning with paprika and salt.
2. Place the seasoned shoulder on a bed of collard green leaves.
3. Wrap the collard leaves around the pork, and tie with butcher's twine. Then wrap it in aluminum foil and bake.
4. The finished product.
8 servings
Hands on: 30 minutes
Total time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
We were a bit dubious about this unusual take on barbecue, inspired by the pit-cooked whole hogs the Aloha State is renowned for. In-stead of wrapping the pork in taro and banana leaves, the Lees use large collard leaves. We followed their instructions, without the benefit of the step-by-step photos here, and — though our package was more than a bit lumpy — the resulting 'cue was superb.
1 (6- to 8-pound) pork picnic shoulder
1 tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika (pimentón)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
10-12 large collard leaves, stems trimmed
Pepper vinegar (optional)
Sesame buns (optional)
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Set the pork skin side up on your work surface. With a sharp knife, slice the skin from the shoulder with a gentle sawing motion, working back from the point diagonally across from the leg end where the skin forms a corner. (Asking your butcher to do this for you will save time.) Leave a thin layer of fat on the shoulder. Score the shoulder all over with cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart. Mix the paprika and salt in a small bowl, and rub the mixture all over the pork, making certain to rub it into all the crevices.
Cut six 3-foot lengths of string, and lay 4 of them on your work surface in parallel lines about 3 inches apart. Center the remaining 2, perpendicular to the others. Make a large rectangular blanket of collard greens over the strings by laying down 3 leaves in a line, their stems facing down and their edges overlapping 1 inch or more. Lay down 3 more leaves in the same way, with their stems facing up and overlapping the stems of the row already on the work surface. At each end of this layer of leaves, position more leaves (2 at most), with their stem ends perpendicular to the stems already on the work surface.
Lay the scored, seasoned pork in the center of the blanket, and wrap the leaves around it, securing them with the string. Trim the ends of the string. Then wrap the pork in 2 layers of foil.
Pour 1/2 inch water in a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan. Place the pork on a rack in the pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 450 degrees, and bake for 3 more hours, adding more water to the pan when it becomes dry.
Remove the pork from the oven, and transfer to a work surface, still on the rack. Pour the water from the pan, return the rack and shoulder to the pan, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice vents in the bottom of the foil so the juices drain into the pan. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let cool. Unwrap foil and cut the string. Unwrap collard greens and discard.
Pull pork from the bone, and serve with spoonfuls of the pan juices. If desired, pass a cruet of pepper vinegar. Serve as is or on buns.
Published: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 19, 2006; http://www.ajc.com/news/content/living/food/stories/2006/10/17/1019fdstep.html