Dry-Rub Pulled Pork Foodie Friday Bonus

To go with the February 5 Foodie Friday recipes for spicy honey -hickory barbeque sauce and vegan coleslaw, here's the pulled pork recipe for making the perfect pork sliders for your football party.

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork (prep. time 8 hours cooking time. Marinate 1 hour to overnight. Serves up to 20)

2 1/2 lb. bone- in pork shoulder

4 C. beef stock

1/2 large onion, thickly sliced

Dry Rub

4 Tb. whole pepper corns

2 Tb. smoky paprika

1 tsp. cumin

1 Tb. coarse sea salt

1 large clove garlic, grated or run through a garlic press

4 drops of hickory liquid smoke

1/4 C. brown sugar, lightly packed.

Using a spice mill or mortar & pestle, crush the pepper corns, salt and spices together. (if you don't have either a spice mill or mortar, you can use a food processor to grind the spices or just use regular table salt and black pepper). Stir in the garlic, brown sugar and liquid smoke, combining well with the rest of the spices. Rub the pork shoulder with the dry rub, coating every surface.  Allow to sit at least an hour up to overnight.

Once marinated, place the onion on the bottom of the slow cooker and place the pork on top.  Pour 4 cups of beef stock in the bottom of the cooker. It should almost cover the onions but not reach the pork.

Cook on high for about 6 hours, turning over once during cooking.  After 6 to 7 hours, test to see if the bone can be fairly easily pulled out.  Remove bone and take the pork out of the pot to briefly rest.  Blend the onion into the stock with an immersion blender or blend a little broth and the onions in a blender and return to pot.  Cut the meat into large chunks and return to the cooker.  Cover and continue to cook another 1- 2 hours until the meat is tender enough to pull. Shred the pork with two forks into the broth.  You can reduce to cooker to low and hold for several hours until ready to serve on slider rolls with barbecue sauce and topped with coleslaw and optional cheese.