Bobby Flay's Throwdown! (24 page)

I was down in the woods of Virginia to take on decorated pitmaster Lee Ann Whippen and her pulled pork sandwich.

Lee Ann Whippen worked in hotel catering for fifteen years while perfecting her killer dry rub on the state barbecue championship circuit, including earning an almost unheard-of perfect 180 score in competition. She won the Georgia State Championship in 1996, and her pork took first place in the prestigious American Royal National Championship. Lee Ann had enough wins under her belt by 2002 to le ave hotels behind and start up her own catering and competition team called Wood Chick’s BBQ, which was soon followed by a restaurant.

Lee Ann has a few rules for her fantastic pulled pork. First, she treats her bone-in pork butt (FYI, the “butt” actually comes from the shoulder of the pig) to a dry rub before smoking it over a combination of fruit and hickory woods that have been aged for a minimum of 3 months. Her flavorful, slightly spicy sauce keeps the pork moist. This award-winning combination has won Lee Ann a spot stoking the fires under her own Food Network special called “Grillin’ Gals.” Or so she thinks.

Back at the test kitchen, we seasoned our bone-in butt with my Mesa Grill spice rub, which contains, among other things, chile powders, cumin, and coriander, and then gave it a quick sear on the stovetop to ensure a great crusty exterior. Since we couldn’t use a smoker indoors, we braised our bone-in butt in chicken stock in a low oven for 4 hours. While it braised, I made up a fresh red cabbage slaw tossed in a spicy green onion mayonnaise-based dressing and got to work on a mustard-based sauce with rice vinegar, black pepper, and honey. The cooked pork was shredded into bite-size pieces and dressed with the mustard sauce. We piled that on a soft bun with the slaw and took a taste–perfect. All we needed was some actual smoke, which we would get at the Throwdown.

We went to Virginia the night before the Throwdown to start our pork so that by the time I busted in on Lee Ann, it had already been smoking for about 10 hours. My arrival and challenge left Lee Ann overwhelmed with emotion, but this seasoned pitmaster pulled herself together and before you knew it, her game face was back on and she was ready to go. I tried Lee Ann’s sandwich and
wow
—her pork was perfectly smoked and moist, and every component, from the well-seasoned coleslaw to the sauce with its just-right amount of spice, was incredibly flavorful.

The crowd was pretty much on Lee Ann’s side; her talent and expertise just can’t be denied. I still wanted to win this battle, but it was all up to the judges. They ranked our entries on taste, texture, and smokiness of the meat. Lee Ann’s sandwich was up first and they had nothing but praise: good taste, plenty of moisture, great texture, and lots of fantastic smoke flavor. They moved on to mine and noted its unusual spice and lots of pepper flavor. It was definitely good, but different. The judges said my sandwich was really tasty but just not spiced the way that they were used to on the barbecue circuit. They announced their winner and Lee Ann had another “blue ribbon” to add to her collection.

I would qualify myself as a barbecue enthusiast, and Lee Ann—well, she’s a barbecue champion. I honestly think her pulled pork sandwich might be the best I have ever had the pleasure to eat.

SERVES 8 TO 10

1.
Place the pork, fat side up, on a large rimmed baking sheet. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Mix all the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl, and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 1 tablespoon black pepper. Rub this all over the pork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.

2.
Following the manufacturer’s instructions and using lump charcoal and ½ cup drained soaked wood chips for a smoker or 1 cup for a grill, start a fire and bring the temperature of the smoker to 225° to 250°F.

3.
Set the pork on a rack in the smoker. Cover and cook, turning the pork every 45 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the pork registers 165°F, about 6 hours. Add more charcoal as needed to maintain the temperature and more drained wood chips to maintain the smoke level.

4.
Transfer the pork to a clean rimmed baking sheet, and let stand until cool enough to handle. Then shred the meat into bite-size pieces. Mound them on a platter and drizzle with some of the Black Pepper Vinegar Sauce. Pour any accumulated juices from the baking sheet over the pork.

NOTE

Serve the pork topped with coleslaw on a hamburger bun.

Combine the vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the oil until emulsified.

SERVES 12

1.
The night before you roast the pork, coat it heavily with the dry rub. Wrap in plastic wrap or place in a plastic bag, and refrigerate overnight.

2.
Remove the pork from the refrigerator 2 hours prior to cooking.

3.
Preheat the oven to 250°F.

4.
Put the pork butt, fat side up, in a roasting pan with enough apple juice to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook in the oven until the exterior of the pork is mahogany colored, about 4 hours, adding more apple juice as needed. If the exterior is drying out, spray the pork with apple juice.

5.
Carefully transfer the pork to long pieces of double-layered heavy-duty foil. Pull up the sides of the foil, add ½ cup apple juice to the foil, and wrap so it’s as airtight as possible. Return to the oven and cook until the internal temperature of the pork is 190° to 195°F, 4 to 5 hours.

6.
Unwrap, let cool slightly, and pull the pork to the desired consistency. Top with the barbecue sauce.

Combine the salt and brown sugar in a food processor or blender, and process until well blended. Add all the remaining ingredients except the granulated sugar, and process until blended. Then add the granulated sugar and process until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

NOTE

Serve the pork topped with coleslaw on a hamburger bun.