BBQ

Sunday was BBQ day....mostly an excuse for Colin to cook a big hunk of meat on the Big Green Egg. We decided to try pulled pork, which involves a long (really long), slow, low temperature cook. It also involves a significant amount of meat, which in turn means we need people to show up and eat! And show up and eat they did.....it was a real crowd pleaser. One of our guests hadn't eaten pork in years but kept going back for more, and more, and more. His wife looked a bit concerned. Now he's in the market for an Egg of his own!

The process started on Saturday, when I went to pick up the pork shoulder I'd ordered from the butcher. When we showed up to pick up the 10lb shoulder I'd ordered, he happily presented me with 16.5 lbs instead....eeek! (or maybe I should say "oink"!). We rushed it home, where I slathered and massaged it with mustard and various rub ingredients and stuck it in the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours at least. We started cooking it around dinnertime on Saturday night and it finished around 4pm on Sunday, so probably close to 22 hours. We had a bit of trouble keeping the temperature steady at 250F (at which point Colin kept bring up the BBQ Guru, which apparently he'd been eyeing up for some time, as in hint hint....he'd love one), ran out of charcoal once and had to bump up the temp to 300F when hungry guests were starting to circle the Egg and we still had 15 degrees to go. The effort was worth it...really tender and juicy, with a nice spicy crust. We'll definitely do this again.

The rest of the meal was rounded out by a bunch of interesting appetizers, salads, condiments and desserts, contributed by various guests & myself, and a giant pitcher of margaritas and lots of beer. The rain stopped and the sun came out, just as everyone was arriving....all in all, a perfect afternoon / evening.

Happy Canada Day!