Carolina Cornbread Casserole

In the spirit of the Panthers being in the Super Bowl, I figured I'd try a fusion of some Southern favorites. This is a combination of two really simple southern delicacies- cornbread and pulled pork. Although my family and I are Yankees- we love Carolina style pulled pork. The big difference between Carolina BBQ is that the sauce is vinegar based rather than tomato based like you would find in the mid-west (think Kansas City BBQ). If you prefer the tomato based BBQ flavor you can easily substitute it in- the switch won't effect the recipe.
**Another variation is to make pulled pork and chicken (that's what I did)

This is a great dinner to serve at your Superbowl party and because you'll use a crock-pot for the meat you can start this dish on Sunday morning and forget about it until right before kickoff!!  

Ingredients:

For the meat:

Pork Shoulder--- 3/4 LBS

Chicken--- 3/4 LBS
Sweet Onion (Medium Sized)--- Half
Water--- 1/4 CUP
Worcestershire Sauce---  2 TBSP
Yellow Mustard--- 1 TBSP
BBQ Marinade--- 1/2 CUP
Liquid Smoke--- 2 TBSP
Apple Cider Vinegar--- 1/4 CUP
Sriracha Rub--- 2 TBSP
Salt & Pepper--- 1 TSP each
Olive Oil--- 1 TSP (For Baking Dish)

For the corn bread:

Yellow Corn Meal--- 1 CUP
All Purpose Flour--- 1 CUP
Baking Powder--- 3 TSP
Salt--- 1 TSP
Sugar--- 1/4 CUP
Corn--- 1 16oz Can
Milk--- 1 CUP
Egg--- 1 (Large)
Vegetable Oil--- 1/4 CUP

 STEP BY STEP:

For the meat:

• 1. In a Crock-pot,  add water & Worcestershire sauce. Add pork and chicken on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours

• 2. With two forks, pull apart pork & chicken. Reduce heat to LOW. 

• 3. Chop Onion and add to crock-pot. Let cook until onion is translucent: 20-30 minutes.

• 4. Stir in mustard , marinade, liquid smoke , vinegar, and sriracha rub  

                                   

• 5. Cook for an additional 1 Hour to allow the meat time to absorb the added flavors.

For the cornbread:

• 1. In a large bowl mix dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt) until even.

• 2. In a separate bowl whisk egg, sugar, milk and oil until mixture is smooth and pale yellow.

• 3. Add corn to dry ingredients and stir until even

• 4. Pour wet ingredients in with the dry and mix until smooth and uniform. It shouldn't be too runny but also not too though like a dough. If too runny add extra cornmeal, if too thick add extra milk

For the Casserole:

• 1. Preheat oven to 425F

• 2. Oil the bottom of a 7"x7" oven safe baking dish. My is about 2" deep.

• 3. Strain meat from the crock-pot and add the the bottom half of the dish.

• 4. Pour corn bread mix to cover the meat and the top half of the dish. It can be filled to about the rim of the dish

• 5. Smooth corn bread mix with a spatula until smooth and flat

• 6. Bake at 425F for 20 minutes

• 7. Once time has passed remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving

Serve with a side of coleslaw or collard greens and enjoy the big game!!