Whiskey Barbecue Pork

Football season. The first Sunday of the NFL season at the Rivera house is treated with the reverence of a national holiday. Roberto has been a Cardinals fan since they moved from St. Louis in 1988, which means he has experienced thirty years of almost uninterrupted suffering, punctuated by a single Super Bowl appearance in 2009 that he still talks about like it was a religious vision. "We were there, mijo. We were THIS close." Roberto says "this close" while holding his fingers an inch apart, as if the difference between a championship and heartbreak can be measured in inches. Maybe it can.

The Rivera Super Bowl — I mean, the Rivera Season Opener Cookout — was Sunday at our house this year. I've taken over hosting duties because my backyard has more grill capacity than Roberto's, which is the only area in which I have surpassed my father and which he views with a mixture of pride and irritation. Twenty people. Two grills running. The smoker going since 4 AM with a pork butt that I rubbed with my new competition blend.

The menu: smoked pulled pork sliders, jalapeño poppers (stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon, because this is football food and nutritional responsibility takes the day off), chicken wings two ways (buffalo and my chile-lime version for Roberto), cowboy beans, coleslaw, and cornbread. Jessica made her Minnesota hotdish — tater tot casserole — which Roberto views with deep suspicion and which everyone eats three servings of. The cultural negotiations in this family continue to produce extraordinary results.

Sofia wore a Cardinals jersey that's three sizes too big and spent the game asking questions: "Why is that man running?" "Why did he fall down?" "Why is Abuelo yelling?" The last question came during a third-quarter interception that made Roberto stand up so fast his knee popped. Diego sat on the floor with a football that's bigger than his head and chewed on it. Future athlete? Future leather enthusiast? Time will tell.

The Cardinals lost. Roberto drove home in silence. Elena texted me later: "He'll be fine by Tuesday." She's right. He's always fine by Tuesday. The Cardinals have trained him for disappointment the way the fire department trained me for emergencies: through repetition and exposure.

At the station this week, we ran sixteen calls in forty-eight hours — a medical every three hours on average, plus two car accidents and a kitchen fire. Nobody hurt in the fire. The kitchen fire was a woman who left oil heating on the stove, which is the most common cause of house fires and the one that makes me the most crazy because it's so preventable. When I got home, I checked our own stove twice. Jessica caught me and said, "You just got off a kitchen fire, didn't you?" She knows me too well.

The pork butt I had on the smoker since 4 AM was the anchor of the whole cookout — everything else orbited around it. After twenty people, two grills, and a third-quarter interception that nearly sent Roberto through the ceiling, I wanted to share the version of this recipe I lean on when the stakes feel high and the crowd is hungry: Whiskey Barbecue Pork. The whiskey in the sauce gives it that deep, slightly sharp backbone that stands up to a full day of smoke, and it builds the kind of flavor that makes people go back for a second slider without even asking. If you’re feeding a houseful of Cardinals fans who need something to offset the heartbreak, this is it.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 8 hours | Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 10

Ingredients

3 to 4 lbs boneless pork shoulder (butt roast)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup barbecue sauce (your favorite bottled or homemade)
1/4 cup whiskey (bourbon preferred)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
Slider buns or sandwich rolls, for serving

Instructions

Season the pork. In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, salt, and cayenne. Rub the spice blend generously over all sides of the pork shoulder.
Build the sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk together the barbecue sauce, whiskey, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and apple cider vinegar until smooth and well combined.
Layer the slow cooker. Spread the sliced onion across the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the seasoned pork shoulder on top of the onions. Pour the whiskey barbecue sauce over the pork, making sure it coats the top and sides.
Slow cook. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours), until the pork is completely tender and pulls apart easily with two forks.
Shred the pork. Transfer the pork to a large cutting board or bowl. Use two forks to shred the meat, discarding any large pieces of fat. Skim excess fat from the cooking liquid in the slow cooker.
Combine and finish. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and stir to combine with the remaining cooking juices and sauce. Let it rest on WARM for 15 to 20 minutes to absorb the flavors.
Serve. Pile the whiskey barbecue pork onto slider buns or sandwich rolls. Serve immediately alongside coleslaw, pickles, or jalapeño poppers for a full game-day spread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Whiskey Barbecue Pork — The Recipe That Carried Our Season Opener Cookout