For about a year I have been making this “Overnight Roast Pork”. We love a good Bar-B-Que sandwich made from pull pork and, quite by accident I discovered a way to have pulled pork sandwiches which are just as delicious as those you might get at a Bar-B-Que place anywhere in the deep South.

I was trying to strategize how to organize myself for a week of home cooked meals when I noticed a book by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, A New Way to Dinner with the tag A playbook of recipes and strategies for the week ahead. In perusing the book I found a recipe which, lazy me, was just my style. It is “Overnight Roast Pork”, page 165.

A pork Boston Butt is also called a pork shoulder and it is a traditional cut of pork used to make “pulled pork”. In the book a boneless pork butt roast is recommended, but, I am not that picky. Once cooked the bone slides right off. Luckily, my local Publix market often features the Boston Butt roast at a discount which provides me with an excuse to stock up on pulled pork.

So what do I do with 5 pounds of pulled pork? I simply freeze portion size bags of it and, presto, once defrosted and heated, we have sandwiches for lunch!

Ingredients:

1. 5 pound boneless or bone in Boston Butt roast
2. salt & pepper to taste
3. 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4. 3 tablespoon maple syrup
5. 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
6. 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
7. 3 large cloves garlic, minced
8. 1/8 -1/4 teaspoons chilly powder

Place roast on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper

PRE-HEAT OVEN TO 450 DEGREES!

Combine the sugar, syrup, mustard, thyme leaves, garlic, and chili powder and stir to mix.

Slather the roast liberally with the mixture.

Nestle the pork with the FAT SIDE UP into a roasting pan just large enough to hold it. It would be good if you had a roasting pan with a cover on it. If not, you will need to use foil to cover it.

The oven will be very hot. Place the roast in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes.

At the end of 15 minutes, take the roast out, either put a cover on the pan or cover it with foil.

REDUCE THE HEAT TO 200 DEGREES! leave the roast overnight (8-12 hours)

Remove the pan from the oven the next morning, and check to make sure that that it is brown enough. If not, raise the temperature to about 350 degrees for about 10 minutes without the top on. Turn off the oven and let the roast cool.

There should b a lot of delicious pan juices.

Place the roast in a large bowl and, using two forks, start “pulling” the pork. Moisten the pulled pork with some of the pan juices after skimming off the fat.

The roast will make about 12 sandwiches weighting 4-5 ounces.

Place enough for one or two (or 4!) servings in an airtight container and freeze. When you are ready to make another pulled pork sandwich, simply thaw and heat.