Tour of Fifty States: North Carolina's meal

This week’s meal was from North Carolina.  The state is known for two distinct types of barbecue – Lexington style and Eastern style; they differ in the cuts of pork used and the sauces they are served with.  Lexington style barbecue uses a red sauce made of ketchup, vinegar, and pepper.  It is most common in the Piedmont (central) and western areas of the state. This style uses only the pork shoulder section of the pig.  Eastern-style barbecue is a whole-hog style of barbecue, often said to use "every part of the hog except the squeal".  Eastern-style sauce is vinegar- and pepper-based, with no tomato. 

I chose to make the Lexington/Western NC style of pulled pork using a pork shoulder, with a red sauce.  Number one, I didn’t want to make a whole hog, and number two, I like it best!  Of course, a staple with pulled pork is creamy macaroni and cheese and some peach cobbler. 

Menu:  Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Macaroni and Cheese, Peach Cobbler

Outcome:  Well, to be honest, we all prefer other pulled pork that we’ve had – we live in South Carolina (home of the best barbecue you can EVER find) and the vinegar was a bit too much for us.   The sauce was very thin and soaked right through the buns, making us either eat our sandwiches very quickly or give up and use a fork.  I think that we shouldn’t give up entirely on the North Carolina style – when we travel through the state we’ll have to try some from a restaurant and see if it’s different.  The macaroni and cheese was very good, as was the peach cobbler.

Next up:  Bridget’s turn! She chose Arizona!

North Carolina's meal (I added pimento cheese and bread & butter pickles to mine!

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches

Prep time:  20 min. Total Time:  3 hr 20 min. 

Ingredients

PORK:

• 5 lb. boneless pork shoulder with skin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup apple cider
• ½ cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 head garlic, cloves peeled

BBQ SAUCE:

• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 Tbsp. ketchup
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• Hamburger buns, for serving

Directions

For the pork: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 º F.
2. Make small holes all over the pork skin with a thin sharp knife; this will help the skin to render during cooking. Generously sprinkle pork all over with salt and pepper.
3. Add the pork, apple cider, white vinegar and garlic to a Dutch oven or heavy-duty pot. Make sure to massage the liquid all over the pork.
   
4. Cover with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven, skin-side up, for 3 hours total cooking time.
5. After 1 ½ hours, turn the pork over, skin-side down, and baste with the cooking juices.
6. Continue to cook, covered, for the remaining 1 ½ hours. The pork should be fork tender and golden brown around the edges. The cooking liquid will have reduced and become richer in color. Let the pork rest, uncovered, in the pot. 
   

For the BBQ sauce:

1. Heat the vinegar and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Off the heat, stir in the ketchup, honey, red pepper, salt and black pepper.
2. When the pork is cooled, shred the meat, including the skin, by hand or with forks. Run a knife though the meat once or twice until the strands are about ½" long. Recombine the chopped meat with the braising juices and garlic.
3. Add a desired amount of the BBQ sauce, depending on how much vinegar you want (you will have 2 cups of sauce) and serve the rest on the side. Spoon the pulled pork on a bun.

Makes 8 to 12 sandwiches (8 cups pulled pork.)

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Prep time:  45 min. Total Time:  1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter 
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper, to taste
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste
• ¼ tsp. garlic granules
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 2 cups milk
• 2 (8 oz.) packages sharp cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
• 1 (8 oz.) packages extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded  
• 1 (16 oz.) package elbow macaroni, cooked

Directions

1. In a big skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Whisk the flour in gradually until the mixture is smooth.
2. Cook and whisk continually for 2 minutes.  Add in salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic; stir to combine.
3. Gradually whisk in half-and-half and milk.   Cook and whisk continually for 8-10 minutes or until mixture is thickened.
4. Add in half of the sharp cheddar cheese; stir.  Add in all of the extra-sharp cheddar cheese; stir until smooth.
   
5. Take skillet off stove burner.  Mix together the cooked macaroni and cheese mixture; transfer to a greased 13x9 inch casserole dish.
6. Sprinkle with the remaining sharp cheddar cheese.
7. Bake in a 350° oven for 20 minutes (may need to bake longer for a crispy top).

Serves 8.

Peach Cobbler

Prep time:  15 min. Total time:  1 hr.

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• ½ cup water
• 8 Tbsp. butter
• 1 ½ cups self-rising flour
• 1 ½ cups milk
• Ground cinnamon, optional 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.  Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. 
3. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. 
4. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
5. To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Sadly, I completely forgot to get pictures of our peach cobbler!!!