Brown Sugar Pulled Pork

It's hard to know where to start when talking about The Pumpkin Party… there were so many wonderful women, tons of delicious food, and, when it was all said and done, everyone walked away with a carved pumpkin under their arm and goody bags full of the nights delights such as toasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin spiced caramel corn (recipes to come!).

But, we have to start somewhere.  So, I figured I'd start with the dish that had the most universal appeal.

That dish -  Brown Sugar Pulled Pork.

Now, if you've been following this blog at all you know I don't really eat meat.  But, when I considered my menu for the evening I knew I wanted to offer my guests a meat option.

I knew I wanted to offer a meat option at the Pumpkin Party and I also knew I wanted there to be something exciting, or, unexpected about the taste… I wanted something in the flavors to evoke and speak to the rest of the spices I was going to use in all the night's dishes.

Spices are such wonderful, transformative things and their power is not something I take lightly.  Since my cooking aptitude is the least developed in the area of animal flesh, I turned to the best source I knew to help me harness this great power for good.

Enter, the talented and endlessly fascinating, Chef Luke Cypher.

You may remember him from an earlier post, Reverse Bruschetta.  

This recipe came right from his beautiful brain and was an absolute hit!  Many ladies took home leftovers to share with their men and, while gobbling down a bit today, my husband said, "I could eat this every day."  Yep.  It's hungry man approved and hungry girl approved because there wasn't a soul present who wasn't pleased with their pulled pork portion.

So, for those of you who are meat lovers, get ready to have an affair with a guaranteed party pleaser.  An added bonus to this dish is the fact that you can put it in a crock pot and then walk away… you'll find this is something I really appreciate in my food.  The less I have to coddle it to mature it to great tasteness, the more I love it… cherish it… and enjoy it so.

So, without further adieu, I give you, courtesy of the marvelous Chef Luke Cypher, the recipe for Brown Sugar Pulled Pork:


3-5 lbs pork shoulder
salt and pepper, as needed
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
water to cover


Rub pork shoulder with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cinnamon.  Sear in a hot skillet till all siders are brown.  Transfer pork shoulder to crock pot with brown sugar and enough water to cover roast by half.  Turn to high and cook for 6-8 hours until pork is fork tender.  Once pork is done, remove from liquid and shred the meat.
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When I stored my leftovers, I poured a generous amount of the liquid over top the remaining meat so that it would still be nice and moist when I went to reheat it.  I would guess at least 3-4 cups worth of the liquid, but, this will depend on how much meat you're storing.

With so many family get togethers and holidays around the corner, I hope many of you will try this wonderful dish.  The sweetness of the brown sugar warms your home with it's delicate scent and it's just such a great way to feed many with one slab of meat.