Let's Take A Boston Butt. Option 1 - Pork Enchiladas.

Let's take a Boston butt. Contrary to what you may think, a Boston butt does not come from the pig's butt. Boston butt is a pork shoulder cut. It comes from the upper part of the shoulder from the front leg and may contain the blade bone. Barbecued or smoked Boston butt is typically Southern cuisine. As to the history of the name, in 18th century New England, the less desirable pork cuts (the lower parts such as feet, hocks, shoulder, belly, jowls, knuckles) were packed into barrels or casks which were also known as "butts" for storage and shipment. This particular cut of the hog shoulder in the Boston area became known in other regions as "Boston butt." The idiom "eating or living high on the hog" refers to the higher valued cuts from a hog, considered to be parts above the belly, like loin and ham, and is used to allude to someone being well off or living quite comfortably or extravagantly.

Here's our Boston butt. It's 8.66 pounds. That's a lot of meat for the three of us and I'm including Dixie, of course. This is one of those times you need to have a plan. And I'm forming one. I will admit, it's certainly not as bad as poor Marilyn's plight and that would be Marilyn of FoodiesUntie. Her spouse came home with 6 pounds of cooked spaghetti for her. I cannot imagine the circumstances leading up to someone bringing home 6 POUNDS of COOKED spaghetti. Oh goodness, Mar. I just looked at the date of your post - February 17. Please tell me Mr. FoodieNOT did NOT bring you the spaghetti for Valentine's Day. Back to the butt.

Here's a hint on saving lots of $$$$$ at the grocery store. Mr. Hawthorne and I go to grocery stores several times a week. Each time we check out the expiration dates of the meats. And wait. And wait. If you get there the day before the expiration date, you can get great deals. The very sad thing is that on the expiration day, you will see the perfectly good but expired meats being discarded. As in THROWN in the trash. I hate waste. They have to do this. Many a time when I've seen workers pulling out expired meats and yogurts, I have most graciously offered to carry the offending items to the dumpster for these overworked employees but so far, it hasn't worked. Fie! So that's how Mr. Hawthorne came upon an $18.97 butt for $6.67. He bought it the day before expiration.

To crockpot this butt, first trim off the fat. Mr. Hawthorne put the butt in the pot, added some salt and pepper, and about an inch of water. Mr. Hawthorne doesn't like "complicated."

Cook on "high" (have some wine) for about 8 hours.

Halfway through cooking, Mr. Hawthorne added a few shakes of Stubb's Hickory Smoke. Don't worry about the exact time on this one. You could easily start this in the morning, leave it, and it'll be deliciously tender by supper time. Now, once you get it cooked, what do you do with it? I cut off more fat and shred the pork by hand. At this point you could simply add your favorite barbecue sauce and have at it or ...

you could do Option 1 - Pork Enchiladas.

Take some of the shredded/chopped pork, tortillas, assorted pretty peppers, some onion, and your choice of cheese - mozzarella, pepper jack, Monterey Jack, Queso Fresco. And that's a jar of Marilyn's wonderful Sycamore Falls Barbecue Sauce. Unless you can get Mar of Foodies Untie to send you some, then use your favorite BBQ sauce.

Mr. Hawthorne wanted to get in some knife action.

I chopped the onion and cut the peppers and cheese into strips.

I heated ELBOO in my new skillet -that's Extra Light Bertolli Olive Oil! - and added in the peppers ...

... the onions ...

... some salt and pepper. Saute for about a minute. You want crisp-tender, not mush.

Add in the pork ...

... and a heaping tablespoon of the BBQ sauce.

Stir to heat through.

Pile a little pork mixture on top of your tortilla ...

... and some cheese.

Roll up and sprinkle shredded cheese over top. I prefer block cheeses to anything already shredded in the package. There is a big taste difference. Sorry, but I'm Semi-Ho'ing it today.

Quick trip under the broiler to melt the cheese.

Serve with the BBQ dipping sauce.

Porky, cheesy goodness. Now, let's see. I have 5 more pounds of Boston butt. Hmmm ... Stay tuned for Chiles Rellenos with pork.