From chef Charlie Palmer

Recipe Serves: 4

Ingredients for the Pulled Pork

• 1 pork butt
• 10 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp Turkish red pepper flakes
• ½ cup honey
• 2 cups fresh orange juice
• 2 cups coffee (or 4 shots of espresso)
• 1½ cups ketchup
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp dry mustard
• Large buns of choice

Ingredients for the Mango Salsa

• 2 mangoes, peeled and diced
• ½ each red onion, finely diced
• 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp minced fresh jalapeno
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Recipe Instructions

Pulled Pork Sandwiches 

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Pierce the pork all over with the tip of a paring knife, and then insert pieces of garlic into the slits. Put the pork on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325°F and roast for 2 hours longer. Take out the pork but leave the oven on. Let the pork stand until cool enough to handle, which will take a good half-hour. Now simply pull the pork apart (it should shred easily) and set aside until the sauce is ready. Don’t toss the roasted garlic—put it in with the shredded meat. While the pork is roasting and cooling, make the sauce: In a stockpot, sweat the onions in the oil over medium heat along with the cumin and red pepper flakes; cook for a few minutes, just until the onions begin to wilt. Stir in the honey and cook for 5 to 7 minutes longer, stirring occasionally; the honey will start to caramelize, darkening in color. Add the orange juice and bring to a bare simmer. Add the coffee, ketchup, sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, and mustard, whisking to blend. Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes to let all the flavors come together. Mix the pork into the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven to slowly stew for 45 minutes. Check and stir occasionally; if the sauce starts to cook dry, add a little more coffee or a few spoonfuls of water.

Mango Salsa

Mix the mangos with the onion, lime juice, and jalapeño, and season with salt and pepper. Wait to add the cilantro until just before serving, otherwise the acids will wilt it and darken it.