did my first pork butt last night

[James Tag]

Put it on at 4:20 a.m. after getting home from the bars, pulled it at 1 p.m. after it hit an internal temp of 190+ and the bone was loose.

It turned out great

Bark had a nice smokey, but hot taste to it; even my father, who usually complains about my rubs being too hot, liked it.

Only problem I had was with the cole slaw I made; I just shredded some cabbage and carrots in a food processor, then added some of the leftover vinegar sauce I had for the meat. The sauce was subtly hot, but tangy. The cole slaw was just ok, not as good as I'd like. Think I need to add mayonnaise to it next time.

 

[K Kruger]

Put it on at 4:20 a.m. after getting home from the bars

Doesn't that take me back to my younger days!

Congrats, James, on your first butt!

For the slaw: Try mayo mixed with a little buttermilk and a touch of sour cream. You'll get the smoothness of the mayo and the buttermilk and sour cream will maintain the tang. .5 c mayo to .25 c buttermilk to 2 T sour cream. Whisk your vinegar sauce into that.

 

[Rich G]

My modified version of the Creamy Coleslaw recipe from Smoke 'n' Spice never misses, and I have even converted some died in the wool coleslaw haters with it. The dressing is:

1C buttermilk
1/2C sugar
6 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves minced
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp brown mustard
1/8 tsp salt

I use my cuisinart to shred a head of cabbage and two medium to large carrots. Mix in with the dressing. Best if you do it a day ahead. Good tang from the buttermilk and vinegar.

Hope you try it!

R

 

[James Tag]

Kevin and Rich,

Never had anyone suggest adding buttermilk before, I'll have to try that. Thanks for the advice.

 

[K Kruger]

Around here buttermilk is only sold in quarts. Usually I have enough uses for it to go through it fairly quickly but if I don't (and if you don't) it freezes well. Shake the container well then portion into small freezable containers or freeze in ice cube trays, removing the cubes when frozen to a Ziploc. Thaw what you need before you need it and whisk vigorously with a fork to blend the milk solids that have likely separated out. You can use a microwave to start the thawing process but let it thaw mostly on its own so as not to cook it.

I'm partial to just a little sugar (I use a heaping teaspoon), minced shallot, a little Dijon, a little finely minced dill and sweet pickle, just a splash of vinegar and a few drops of lime. The buttermilk/mayo mixture (in any proportion) has enough fat in it to carry fat-soluble flavor components really well. Play with it and see what you think.

 

[David Payne]

How about an exact recipe for this cold slaw that can be tweaked to our liking? I like the idea also of using buttermilk but have never used it in cold slaw. So give it up guys.

 

[K Kruger]

Sure.

I just noticed I mixed up my buttermilk and mayo measurements upthread.

For about a 2-lb cabbage head, shredded, a couple grated carrots, and a handful of shredded red cabbage I mix

1 c buttermilk

1/2 c mayo

1/4 c sour cream together till smooth. Then I add

2 T each minced sweet pickle and minced dill pickle (or so, I just eyeball)

1 shallot , minced

3 T minced fresh parsley (or so)

1 t Dijon

a splash (about 1-2 t or so) cider vinegar

a squeeze of a small piece of lime

a pinch of salt

several turns of the peppermill

Taste and add more salt to taste and sugar to taste. For me it ends up between 1 and 2 t of sugar, depending on how much sweet pickle ended up in there. All of this is tweakable, of course.


If you salt-wilt the cabbage first (like you would with cukes or eggplant) then the salt in the dressing won't draw moisture out of the cabbage and make the slaw watery, especially important if you want to prep it ahead of time.

Welcome to the board, David.