This weekend we had some dear friends over for dinner and since they too were from the south I thought it appropriate to have a southern feast. Lately I have been craving BBQ. Now, just to clarify, for us southerners BBQ refers to ribs, brisket, pulled pork....ect. We do not use the term BBQ to refer to the act of grilling some kind of meat on the grill, which is what my fellow north western friends call it.  So when I speak of BBQ, I speak of southern BBQ, slow cooked meat smothered in spicy sauce with all the fixin's on the side.  

Jordan and I are so very fortunate to live right down the street from Smokin' Pete's BBQ. If you live in Seattle and haven't been you must go! It's as good as any southern BBQ I've had and they have all the yummy sides, coleslaw, collard greens, baked beans, potato salad, egg salad, mashed potatoes...and on and on. So for our party I picked up about 2 lbs of pulled pork and decided to make everything else. You can easily make your own pulled pork at home but it has to cook for a long time which I didn't have much of. 

This turned out to be one of my favorite sandwiches. The spiciness of the sauce was toned down by the creamy coleslaw and nothin' beats freshly baked hamburger buns from Tall Grass Bakery. So give your friends a taste of the south and treat them to a real southern BBQ!

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Homemade BBQ Sauce and Coleslaw

          For the Sauce

• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Take it off the heat and let it sit until you're ready for it. This made enough to cover 2 lbs of meat which could serve about 6-8 people.

          For the Coleslaw

• 1 head green cabbage, shredded
• 2 carrots grated
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of green onion chopped
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise (I only used about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 TBSP cider vinegar
• 1 lemon, juiced
• pinch of sugar
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• several dashes of hot sauce if you want to kick it up a notch
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine the cabbage, carrots, red onion, and green onions in a large bowl. In another bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar. Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss gently to mix. Season the cole slaw with the celery seed, hot sauce, salt, and black pepper. Chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator before serving. Serves about 5-7 people. Enjoy!