Recipe: Cowboy Riding the Yukon

Barbecue pork butt and baked potatoes with toppings

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 5 lb pork butt
• 4 ea large Yukon baker potatoes
• 2 cups aged cheddar cheese shredded
• 4 T sour cream
• 4 T chopped scallions
• 4 T bacon chips
• 2 cups yellow onions
• 2 cups good BBQ sauce
• Small bag of apple wood chips

Apple brine for pork butt:

• 1 gallon apple juice
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 head of garlic
• 1T mustard seed
• 1T cumin
• ½ bunch fresh thyme
• 5 bay leafs
• 7 juniper berries
• 1 ¼ cup kosher salt
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup honey

Directions:

Place all brine ingredients in a pot and boil. Chill, and then submerge pork butt in brine and place in the refrigerator for two days.

Remove pork from brine and hot smoke in smoker with apple wood chips at 200 degrees until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Allow to rest for one hour before slicing. 

Note: In lieu of smoker use a crockpot and cook brined pork with a small amount of liquid smoke (no other liquid) until meat falls apart, 6-8 hours. 

Bake potatoes and fry onions. Slice onion rings paper thin, marinate in half and half, coat in flour and fry.

Method:

Warm up sliced pork in pan with BBQ sauce (5 oz of pork per potato). Then place the pork inside the sliced, open, baked potato. Add cheese, and place in the oven until cheese is melted — approximately 30 seconds. Place the potato in a bowl, add the rest of toppings and serve.