Make someone happy....just one someone happy

I'm a practical woman, really. I'm not a big cuddler. I don't pack lunches with love notes in them. Heck, I don't even pack lunches because Matt's office has a deli on the first floor so why bother? But once in a while I do something that my husband loves even more than all that (and he IS a cuddler): I smoke meat. A 5 or 6 pound pork shoulder to be exact.

I found this recipe HERE and I don't know what originally prompted me to try it (oh yeah, I do. A friends husband made a pork shoulder that was yummy). It takes a LONG time, but it's not particularly difficult. First you make a rub. It's this:

1 Tbs. ground black pepper,
2 tsp. cayenne,
2 Tbs. chili powder,
2 Tbs. cumin powder,
2 Tbs. brown sugar,
1 Tbs. oregano,
4 Tbs. paprika,
2 Tbs. salt,
1 Tbs. sugar and
1 Tbs. white pepper

Then you set up your charcoal grill. Starting at the bottom, it has to go like this:
1) put a pan of water on the left
2) put a pile of hot charcoals on the right (40-50 briquettes it says)
3) put a bunch of wet hickory chips into foil (make a sealed packet but with holes punched in it)
and set that directly on the coals.
4) Put the pork shoulder on the grate above the water so it's not directly over the coals.
5) open the bottom vent and then position the lid of the grill so that the vent on the lid is
directlyover the meat, (this makes the smoke flow over the meat before it goes out the top).
6) wait 3 hours and occasionally check it to make sure it's still smoking. The website will give you ACTUAL directions and they do a lot more checking and using a thermometer to make sure
the grill stays at a certain temperature, but I don't bother with all that.

After 3 hours, remove the roast and pan from the grill, cover it with foil, and place it in the oven at 325 degrees for about 2 hours, or until fork tender. At this point your whole house will smell like hickory and meat and your husband will start making up excuses to walk through the kitchen a lot. Make him a snack or something because it's going to be a while yet.

After you have cooked it for the two hours, you take it out of the oven, leave it covered, and slip it into a brown bag to cool/tenderize for another hour. Yep, that's 6 hour start to finish.

Last night I REALLy stepped it up (he's been doing a lot for me lately...I owe him) and made homemade french fries, the cole slaw that you are supposed to eat WITH the meat on a bun, and baked beans. Oh, and at the end of the smoking, cooking, resting process, you put warm bbq sauce on the meat. And always toast the bun. Always.