American Style Barbequed Pork with Beans and Rice

Here's something else you can do with cheap pork (see the previous post).

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Serves: four (depending on appetite)

Cost per serving: 95p

This is what it cost me, based on purchasing ingredients at the lowest price I could find.  This includes supermarket offers on produce and branded items as well as supermarket value-priced brands.

 Ingredients

• 400 grams cold slow cooked pork leg or shoulder
• Reserved juices from pork roast
• 200 grams (a mugful) uncooked long grain rice
• 150 grams frozen sliced mixed peppers or two sliced fresh peppers
• 1 tin baked beans in tomato sauce
• 2 medium brown onions
• 125 grams (or so) barbeque sauce of your choice
• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 1 pork stock cube
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar (or more if you like tangy flavours)
• 3 cloves chopped garlic or 1 heaping teaspoon garlic puree
• black pepper to taste
• hot chilli pepper to taste (a teaspoon is mild, a tablespoon is quite hot)

Put a large pan of water on the back burner, bring to the boil and add the rice, reduce the heat and simmer for around ten minutes.  Put a grain of rice on your thumb and stab it with your index fingernail.  If it breaks instantly, it's done.  Put the rice in a strainer, rinse with cold water and set aside.

 While the rice is cooking, chop the onions.  You can use a food processor if you have one.  I like to puree one onion and coarsely chop the other, but any size or texture will work, it's down to your preference.

Put the onions and garlic in a large saucepan and add enough pork stock to cover them.  Bring to a boil and stir in the stock cube.  Reduce heat and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Stir in the barbeque sauce, ketchup, vinegar and black pepper.  Add a teaspoon of hot chilli powder.  Taste.  If you want a hotter sauce, add more in half teaspoon increments until you reach your desired level of spice.  If you're making this to share, keep other people's tastes in mind.

Add the pork, pulling apart any large chunks.  Don't worry about fatty pieces, they'll melt into yumminess.  Stir to coat in sauce and continue to simmer.  Add the peppers and beans.  When you're sure the frozen peppers have defrosted, stir in the rice.  Serve in bowls like chilli.

If you don't have a family of four or two big starving men to feed, save the leftovers in a microwavable container to heat and eat the following day