Homemade BBQ Sloppy Joes with Quick DIY Pickles
Menu
After growing up as an extremely picky eater and surviving on a steady diet of ham sandwiches and macaroni and cheese, the last thing Nick Chipman figured he’d end up doing was writing about food. It’s funny how things change…. As the sole writer / photographer / recipe developer behind DudeFoods.com that’s now precisely what he does and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Granted, he still doesn’t own a spice rack, but he certainly knows his way around a grill and a deep fryer!
1 pork shoulder (approximately 3 lbs.)
1 cup Head Country Bar-B-Q Sauce
1 6oz Head Country Championship Seasoning
72 slices bacon
8 ounces pasta
2 tablespoons butter
1½ tablespoons flour
1½ cups milk
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
¼ cup orange juice
⅛ cup lime juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ red cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, grated
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
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1. Season the entire pork shoulder with your choice of Head Country Championship Seasoning and place into slow cooker.
2. Top with 1 cup Head Country Bar-B-Q Sauce of your choice and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours or until pork shoulder can easily be shredded with a fork.
3. Shred pork shoulder with a fork and stir to coat with sauce.
4. On a cutting board line 6 slices of bacon vertically side by side.
5. Fold back every other bacon strip and lay a slice of bacon perpendicular to the original 6 strips. Repeat this step until your entire bacon weave is done, alternating which strips go over and which stops go under the original 6 bacon strips. Watch the video above for a how-to.
6. Transfer the bacon weave to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350°.
7. Remove the bacon weave from the oven, pat down with paper towels to remove excess grease, place an upside down bowl over the bacon weave and trace around the bowl with a knife so you’re left with a circular bacon weave.
8. Hang the bacon weave over 2 chopsticks or kabob sticks, balance the 2 sticks across 2 pint glasses and bake for another 5 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.
9. To make the mac and cheese, cook pasta according to the directions on the package. In a separate pan, melt butter over medium heat and stir in 1½ tablespoons flour. Add 1½ cups milk and reduce heat to low. Stir in cheese slowly until melted and pour over cooked pasta. Stir to combine.
10. In a bowl whisk together orange juice, lime juice, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
11. Add cabbage, carrots, and cilantro and toss to combine.
12. Assemble tacos by adding pulled pork to each bacon weave shell and then topping it with mac and cheese and red cabbage slaw. Serve with extra BBQ sauce. Enjoy!
