So after my fabulous pork chop and fried rice extravaganza a few weeks ago, I have been daydreaming about the sweet and slightly spicy flavor combination of pork and pineapple. There was a voice in the back of my head, compelling me to go to the store and buy another pineapple. Which I did the following week — I have no willpower. Then the following day at work, as if she had been reading my mind, a coworker presented me with a perfectly adorable little pork butt.

That’s actually not as strange as it may seem, considering I work as a meat distributor. But it was a little unusual because the pork butts are supposed to come two pieces to a pack, with the pack weighing about 12-17 pounds. Yet somehow this singly packed pork butt managed to find its way to our warehouse. It weighed almost six pounds, which was just the right size for me to take home. Clearly it was a sign.

I braised half of it in a curry, with plenty of vegetables and some farro thrown in for good measure. But I kept looking longingly at the pineapple in my fridge and suddenly I remembered I had the perfect recipe to try out. I dug through my binder and came up with this gem: Slow-Cooked Sweet-and-Sour Pork Shoulder with Pineapple.

I will tell you a little secret. I haven’t done much low-heat dry roasting before. Give me a pork butt or a beef chuck and I immediately think of braising. I know barbecue restaurants often season bone-in pork butts with a dry rub and then cook them at a low temperature until the meat just falls off the bone. But while I’ve cooked that way with ribs before, it’s never been a technique I’ve used on this particular cut of meat — and besides my butt was boneless, giving it a higher chance of drying out. So I was a little apprehensive — I didn’t want tough pork, but I knew that I had to make that recipe.

I waited a day before biting the bullet…then I got to work.

First I cut the pork butt in a spiral, so it would lay flat. Then I got together all of my ingredients for the dry rub — Sriracha, hot smoked paprika, and garlic and onion powder. And salt and pepper, of course.

After you get the pork seasoned with the dry rub, slather the whole thing with Sriracha. It will be messy, I’m not going to lie. Then roll it back up into a log and tie it with butcher’s twine. Let it marinate at room temperature.

Once two hours have passed, it’s time to get started on the pineapple. Basically cut a ripe pineapple into one inch chunks. Put them in a roasting pan or large skillet and mix in equal parts apple cider vinegar and brown sugar. Place the pork butt on top of that and stick the whole thing in your preheated oven.

This is about the time you will start to have regrets — because it already looks amazing but it won’t be ready to eat for another three or four hours.

The good news is this gives you plenty of time to drink a beer and mainline some Gossip Girl. That show is my latest obsession. I am currently in the midst of a pretty serious infatuation with Blair and Chuck.

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