Pulled Pork Sliders with Rainbow Slaw

They're magically delicious. (At least that is what a bunch of drunks said. Because what else do you do when you're stone sober and your kitchen is full of drunk people, and it is too loud to go to bed AND you have like 6 lbs of pulled pork in your fridge?!?! I guess you cook!) Seven lbs of pulled pork is a lot, so I froze half and will be making a Korean Bbq "Street Taco" Pizza later this week! The great thing about cooking a giant hunk of meat is, chances are, you will have left overs. But left overs aside, these were yummy. The fresh crisp and sweet flavors of the granny smith apples, tossed with the bell peppers in lime juice and jalapeños perfectly complimented the flavors of the pork and the garlic lime aioli. All on a sweet buttery Kings Hawaiian Roll. If that doesn't say "summer" I don't know what does. Well, except for snowball fights and carols.

There are a few elements to this dish. The most time intensive is the pork. But you will have so much leftover that it is definitely worth the effort. I don't know exactly to tell you how many this serves... Since 7 lbs of pork will serve a small army. And you can buy rolls in really any quantity. So I guess we will determine the serving size by the slaw? Slaw it is.!

Makes 12-16 roll size sandwiches?

For the Pork:

6-7 lbs bone in picnic pork/pork butt/pork shoulder

20 oz Dr. Pepper

11.5 oz orange juice

1 small can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

10-15 garlic cloves

1 yellow onion

1 bushel cilantro stems

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Generously coat the pork in salt and pepper after you have removed excess fat. (Some picnic pork will even come with a large strip of hide. Obviously remove that as well.)

2. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a Dutch Oven on the stove top and allow the pork to brown on each side, flipping it after 4-6 minutes/side.

3. Once all sides have been lightly seared on high heat, reduce the burner to a low heat.

4. Add your coarsely chopped garlic and peeled and quartered onion.

5. Turn the heat off and add the Dr. Pepper, orange juice, cilantro stems (I cut off the bottom half of the bushel that is mostly stem and no leaves), apple cider vinegar, chipotle peppers (with adobo sauce) and the cumin.

6. Put the lid on your Dutch Oven and put it into the oven. Cook for 3 hours at 200 degrees. Flip the meat and cook for an additional 3 hours at 300 degrees.

7. When the pork is cooled, carefully remove it in manageable chunks to shred it on a cutting board. (My pork was soooo tender, that I could barely take it out of the pan. The meat was falling apart on my fork. It was beautiful!) If you have never shredded slow cooked meat before it is easy. It might take you a second to get into a rhythm, but just pull at it with a fork and it will fall apart.

8. After you have shredded all of the meat, stir the juices from the pot and pour roughly 1/2 cup over the shredded meat. If the meat absorbs all the liquid, feel free to add more a tablespoon or two at a time.

For the Slaw:

1 granny smith apple

1 red bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

1 cup red cabbage

2 limes

1 head cilantro leaves

2-3 jalapeños

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. Using a mandoline, slice your apples on thin strip setting. Toss them into a large bowl that will fit all of the slaw ingredients.

2. Thinly slice your cleaned peppers into as thin of strips as possible. (This was the most tedious part of the whole process for me. I had to take my time to get little thin slices. Sorry guys. Hehe.)

3. Cut up about 1 cup of red cabbage as thinly as you can. You're basically replicating the consistency of store bought slaw. (Note: If you use red cabbage, the left overs are less attractive. The lime juice seeps the color out of the cabbage and there will be a purple liquid. So if this is something you're making ahead of time to serve to guests, maybe use green cabbage or wait to add the lime juice, vinegar and mayo until right before serving.)

4. Halve the jalapeños and scrape out the seeds and ribs. (The more of the center you scrape out, the less spice there will be.) Cut the halves into thin strips and add them into the bowl.

4. Mince of your head of cilantro leaves, adding them too.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

6. Pour the dressing over the slaw and toss.

For the Garlic Lime Aoli:

4-5 garlic cloves

1 egg

2 limes

1/2-1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tbsp mayonnaise(You can throw extra cilantro in too if you have it.)

1. In a food processor, combine the garlic cloves, egg, juiced limes, salt and pepper. Puree until smooth.