Pork and beans

Last night I made beer braised BBQ pork butt (pulled pork) and chipolte black bean soup. Of course I deviated from the recipes, but man oh man, did they come out fabulous. (Yes, yes, I am patting myself on the back.) I used Mc Sorely's Ale for the pork (a very nice pork picnic with bone) and added more garlic and some Spanish onions to the mix. I also used some lemon juice for the marinade. I made the "BBQ" sauce as suggested, but also added some honey and reduced the brown sugar. I used both Dijon mustard and my favorite Honeycup mustard. The black bean soup was done using canned beans instead of dry and I added more chipolte peppers and some chili powder. I then took a potato smasher and smashed a bit of the soup to make it a bit thicker. All this brewed while Mike and I watched Labyrinth. (David Bowie's super tight riding breeches are just too much.)

It was so good that I brought some for lunch today with an extra special mallomar dessert.

I will definitely be making this again and hope to do so for a larger event...maybe for a summer solstice party....hmmmmm...