Sunday, 8 January 2012

Pulled Pork Burritos with Black-eyed Beans

I can remember back to a family vacation to Texas when I must have been 13-14 years old. One night looking for something to eat we pulled up to this run-down shack of a BBQ pit that somewhat resembled Bob's Country Bunker from The Bues Brothers, and had the clientele to match. Unlike Bob's Country Bunker, however, this place didn't serve up redneck music and warm beer* - they served pulled pork sandwiches. Not just any pulled pork sandwiches, but the best damn pulled pork sandwiches I have ever tasted. Tender meat in rich BBQ sauce- they were amazing, and this recipe really takes me back there. (*They may well have also served warm beer - I was 13, ask my Dad)
My girlfriend's family was coming up for lunch and I wanted to put something together that was simple, but still a little bit impressive. I've made this a few times now and it works so well every time - plus I love the idea of putting everything out and letting people build their own's a lot of fun. Also, both Charlie and I were a little bit hungover today, so less we were doing, the better. SO - start with a nice big piece of pork shoulder. Season your meat generously with salt and pepper and cover with about 1/2 jar of orange marmalade. I've also tried this with lime marmalade and apricot jam and both worked brilliantly.
Stick the shoulder in a baking tray lined with parchment and cover with a couple of sliced red onions, a few crushed cloves of garlic, a lemon and lime, sliced. It will look a bit ridiculous...that's're doing fine. Cover tight with tin foil, stick it in the oven at about 180C and be prepared to wait 3-4 hours.
To go with the burritos I put together some stewed black-eyed beans, which were also incredibly simple and better yet - guaranteed to make you trump. Soak about 300g of dried black beans in salted water overnight, drain and set aside. Heat a splash of oil in a saucepan, throw in a diced red onion, a couple garlic cloves and half of a red chilli pepper. 
Add 200g of diced smokey bacon or lardons and cook for a few minutes before going back in with your beans and about 400ml of chicken stock, or just enough to cover the beans. A good sprig of thyme and you're there - let it cook down for 30-40 mins and then you'll have beans good enough to make Mr. Heinz nervous.
Seeing as you have 3-4 hours to kill, you may as well make some other good stuff with which to overfill your burrito. I roasted some peppers and onions, made a coriander yoghurt (you want the recipe? chop coriander, put in yoghurt), and put together a fresh tomato salad.
 At about the 3 hour mark, have a look at the pork. You'll know it's ready when you can stick two forks in there and easily pull the meat apart. You gotta be really patient here, and stick it back in if it's not quite there. The marmalade and fruit should keep it nice and moist, but make sure to cover it back up with foil if it's going back in, and basting it with some of the liquid can't hurt either. You can see how golden and crispy the pork gets on the outside as the sugars in the marmalade caramelise...the flavour here is unbelievable.

To separate the meat, stick two forks in the shoulder and just pull apart until you have a nice pile of crispy skinned, juicy meat. Squeeze some fresh lime juice over the pile and go to town. For the record, my order is - tortilla, yoghurt, rice, beans, meat, meat, meat, roasted peppers, GREEN tabasco, lettuce, squeeze of lime. The best burritos are the ones you end up eating with a fork.


  1. Sounds Good might have to try this with the kids!

  2. i've just showed C this and he's run out of the room saying "don't show me things like that".

  3. This looks amazing - going to cook it this weekend and wanted to know what weight of pork shoulder you use - there are huge shoulder joints at the supermarket and not sure what to go for. Thanks!

    1. Hey thanks very much! I'd go for something about 3-4kg...much better to have too much than not enough, and any leftovers can be used for sandwiches or in a stir fry! Stick with the cooking times above, but leave yourself maybe an hour to be'll know when it's done, the meat just falls apart so easily. Let me know how you get on...maybe even send us a picture to my twitter @Fatboys_Kitchen, or on my facebook page!