Braised Pulled Pork with Maple Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Melt-in-your-mouth slow-cooker pork in beer is sure to become a favorite!

2 tsp. avocado or canola oil

3 lbs. boneless pork butt or shoulder

3 cups diced onion

1 Tbs. finely chopped garlic

1 tsp. salt

1 cup lightbodied beer

4 cups filtered or strained maple sap*

3 tsp. smoked l

paprika

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbs. coarse ground or brown mustard

1 tsp. chipotle pepper

1/2 tsp. onion powder

Rolls, optional

Heat 1 tsp. oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; sear 7-9 minutes until browned. Flip and continue searing 5-6 minutes until meat is browned on bottom. Transfer pork to slow cooker. Pour off fat from skillet. Add remaining 1 tsp. oil, then onion, garlic and 1/2 tsp. salt to skillet. Cook over mediumhigh heat, stirring, 3-5 minutes, until onion starts to soften and brown. Add beer; bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits from bottom. Transfer to slow cooker; add sap, 2 tsp. paprika and pepper.

In small bowl, whisk tomato paste, syrup, vinegar, mustard, chipotle, onion powder and remaining 1 tsp. paprika and 1/2 tsp. salt; set aside 3/4 cup barbecue sauce. Stir remaining 1/2 cup sauce into slow cooker. Cover; cook 4 hours on high.

Transfer meat to cutting board. Remove fat. Shred meat with two forks. Skim fat off liquid in slow cooker and discard; moisten meat with little of braising liquid. Serve pork with reserved barbecue sauce, on rolls if desired. * If unavailable, substitute 4 cups water mixed with 3 Tbs. dark pure maple syrup.

Servings: 8 (1/2 cup each). Cals.: 273. Protein: 19 g. Fat: 14 g. (5 g. saturated). Chol.: 69 mg. Carbs.: 17 g. Sodium: 311 mg. Fiber: 2 g. Sugar: 13 g. Kitchen time: 40 minutes. Total time: 4 hours, 40 minutes.