Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Pineapple-Poppy Seed-Honey Mustard Coleslaw

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Pineapple-Poppy Seed-Honey Mustard Coleslaw

Pulled pork has to be the ultimate game-day food for us. I mean, it requires very little work and you just pop it in the oven for 6 hours and you have amazingly fatty shreds of porkiness in front of you. Even better, you can stretch it into different meals for days. On Sunday, I'll post a recipe for some of the best Pulled Pork Waffles that you've ever seennnnn. In the meantime, I made a different version of some BBQ sandwiches... and they involve a kinda-crazy coleslaw... made with pineapple. Yes, I realize that might sound odd, but it's strangely delicious. The dressing has a bunch of ingredients, but it mainly involves a homemade honey mustard sauce with prepared horseradish, poppy seeds, and crushed pineapple. It's tangy, sweet, yet has a nice "zang" to it. It's the perfect topping to any sandwich and I think it would go great with a pulled chicken sandwich as well. If there are any Alabama fans out there reading this, it would be a great recipe at your tailgates this weekend since the Crimson Tide plays Arkansas. But, don't worry... this isn't only for us 'Bama fans!! Enjoy :)

For the Dry Rubbed-Pulled Pork:

2T Salt

4T Brown Sugar

4t Garlic Powder

4t Onion Powder

2t Ground Cumin

2t Chili Powder

2t Black Pepper

1 5lb Boston Butt

For the Pineapple-Poppy Seed-Honey Mustard Coleslaw:

1 16oz Bag of Coleslaw Mix

3 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced

8oz Crushed Pineapple (squeezed of all excess juice)

3T Mayo

2T Dijon Mustard

1T Grainy Mustard

3T Honey

1t Creamy Horseradish

1T Poppy Seeds

Salt & Pepper, To Taste 

For the Sandwiches:

Toasted Buns

Warmed Pulled Pork

Your Favorite BBQ Sauce

Prepared Coleslaw

Pickled Red Onions, For Garnishing

Pickles, For Garnishing

Directions:

1. To Make the Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork: Mix together all of the seasonings and rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate the pork overnight, covered, in the refrigerator. The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for 6 hours, or until an instant-read thermometer registers to 170 degrees. Remove the pork from the oven and transfer to a large platter and allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While still warm, take two forks and pull the meat to form shreds.

2. To Make the Pineapple Coleslaw: In a medium-mixing bowl, whisk together the mayo, drained pineapple, Dijon mustard, grainy mustard, honey, horseradish, and poppy seeds. Toss this mixture with the coleslaw and green onions until completely coated. Set it aside until ready to assemble the sandwiches.

3. Assemble the sandwiches by stacking the pulled pork, BBQ sauce, pineapple coleslaw, and other toppings onto toasted buns and enjoy!