BBQ Rub Pork Butt

Before I get started, let me just say that I am not from Texas. I am not from Louisiana or Alabama or any of the Barbeque states. I don't pull a smoker around hitched to the back of my car. I don't own overalls, make bathtub gin or say Yee Haw! Barbeque in my world is a verb, not a noun. So with that disclaimer you can rest assure that I am no barbeque genius.

Truth is I love real barbeque. I love the sloppy sauce, the smoke ring, the bark... It's pure heaven. As a matter of fact when my friend Jill's dad visits from Austin, TX (my surrogate home town) I am praying that he pulls his trailer sized barbeque grill all the way out here so he can feed me. I am also secretly hoping that his grill is manufactured in the shape of a pig...

So, what I am trying to do here is to create a barbeque like flavor and feeling in a paleo world. There are a few things that have to be eliminated to make barbeque paleo friendly. The big one of course, is sugar in all of its forms. So I made up this little dry rub and slapped it on a pork butt. Let me just say it came out so delicious it never made it to the plate. My husband and I, once again, scarfed dinner while standing over the stove like mad jackals devouring a zebra. When we were done we actually laughed out of embarrassment. It was quite a feeding frenzy.

And so with the barbeque god's pardon... here is my recipe for a nice little paleo friendly pork butt.

What you'll need:

3 pound pork butt (shoulder)

extra virgin coconut oil

a heavy cast iron skillet or dutch oven

for the rub:

1 3/4 T chili powder

1T paprika

3/4 T black pepper

3/4 T garlic powder

2 tsp Herbs de Provence

1tsp onion powder

1tsp mustard powder

1tsp cumin

1/4tsp cayenne pepper

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix the rub spices together in a bowl. Take out your pork butt and coat it with the rub. You can use the entire amount of the rub or you can go a little lighter. The flavor is strong. We used the whole thing and loved it. Now give that pork butt a massage and work those spices in there!

Get your heavy pan going with a couple of tsp of coconut oil. When the pan is hot sear the pork butt on all sides. You're not cooking it here, you're just making a crust on the outside so just a couple of minutes per side at the most. When you are done searing, cover the pan with the lid or heavy aluminum foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are up, turn the pork over and turn the oven down to 250. Cook the pork at one hour increments (turning it after each hour). It took me a total of 3 hours to cook ours. You will know that the pork is done when you can easily shred it. It will literally fall apart. The smell this puts off while it's cooking is out of this world. No wonder we scarfed the whole thing down in five minutes flat!

This is not a typical Primal Mama 15 minutes and you're done recipe, but it is worth the time if you have it to spare on the weekend. Sometimes I really need barbeque and this recipe satisfies that need. Let me know what you think!

Enjoy