When you slow-cook pork in a delicious braising liquid, two awesome things happen – the pork becomes so tender it literally falls apart, and the meat absorbs all the juiciness and flavor of the liquid. When that liquid is coffee… it’s magical. If you dry rub pork with coffee grounds then braise it,  you’re basically making a luxurious coffee bath for your pork. I am on a mission to popularize cooking more things with coffee. This coffee pork is a great start.

Guessipe

• 3 lb pork butt

Dry rub

• 1/2 cup coffee grounds
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 TBSP salt
• 2 tsp pepper

Braising liquid

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 7 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt

Combine all Dry Rub ingredients.

Cut the pork into 3 pieces. Coat all sides of each piece with the dry rub mixture. Refrigerate overnight.

Brown all sides of the pork with the olive oil in a large pot.

Add the rest of the Braising Liquid ingredients and anything left in the marinade container. Stir and cover. Turn the stove down to the lowest heat and braise for 4 hours, turning the pork over after 2 hours.

The pork will be falling apart when it’s done. There will also be a bunch of tasty liquid, along with all the fat that has cooked out of the pork.

Here’s a tip I learned from my mom – lift all the meat out, then pour the liquid into a container. Refrigerate the liquid – the fat will rise to the top and solidify, where it is very easy to scrape off with a spoon and dispose of, leaving you with a container of scrumptious sauce which you can heat and use for an incredible coffee pork sandwich au jus.

You can use this yummy coffee pork for tacos, sandwiches, and the like, if you can keep yourself from just shoveling it all straight into your face.