The luau theme came up only because there was a pool involved for all who wanted to partake, plus I was in the mood for just that combination of sweet and spicy that a Hawaiian menu can provide. The main course were split into two options: The Hawaiian Pulled Pork & The Spicy Mango Shredded Chicken (see next post). For sides, there was the Grilled Pineapple Salsa, 7-Layer Salad, a variety of salted nuts and party mixes, and an onion dip that would put hair on even the most hardened chest.
Due to much fun and lots of talking, there are not pictures of the whole spread or really anything after guests started arriving. What I do have to share with you is around $100 worth of food that served 35+ people. Some changes that I would make is that I would start the Pulled Pork the night before, so that it can be shredded before guests arrive, I would find a new onion dip recipe that wasn’t so strong, and would assign someone to take pictures…I truly have only 1 picture of the whole day with friends and family. Silver lining – I have some amazing people in my life and even with no pictures, I will never forget the moment where a full house of people that I love sang happy birthday to me. So very happy.
Very tasty. Just the right amount of sweet and spicy…plus so tender from all the time in the slow cooker. I doubled this batch due to the amount of people coming over. Probably would’ve been OK with the regular size recipe since there was the chicken also. I ended up with quite a bit of left overs, but used them in an awesome pizza…that recipe coming soon. Also, when doubling the recipe, I would recommend setting the slow cooker to high for the first 2 hours and then reducing to the low setting for the next 6-7 hours.
- 3 lb Pork shoulder (also known as pork butt)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 Tbsp red pepper flake
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 15oz can Pineapple, discard the sauce
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- Rolls or buns
Preparation:
- Cut the pork into 2 inch pieces and salt. Chop the onion. Place both in slow cooker.
- Open the can of pineapple, drain most of the juice and pour on top of the pork and onions.
- In a separate bowl, combine ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, paprika, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Whisk together until fully combined. Pour into slow cooker.
- Set the slow cooker to low for 8 hours. When tender enough, use two forks to shred the pork and leave in the juices so the pork gets every last bit of flavor that it can.
- Serve on buns.
Note: To save some dirty dishes, after cutting up the pork and chopping the onion, you could skip the step of mixing everything else together in a separate bowl and just dump all ingredients into the slow cooker. Eventually, over 8 hours, it will all combine together. I primarily used the bowl because I doubled the batch and didn’t want the potential overflow as the slow cooker was brimming with yummy eats.
experimentalspoon.com 