"Take Over at Midnight" - Tropical Pulled Pork

on Sourdough Rolls with Homemade Pickles

Recipe (printable PDF)

The Night Stalkers #4
EXCERPT:
Tim’s father was looking at her. What was his name? John? James? Jeff? Jackson? Jackson Maloney.
“You fly with my Timmy?”
“No. Yes. Sort of.” Smooth, Lola, real smooth. She took a breath, held for a count of three, and puffed it out. It was a trick she used to re-center herself if a battle slapped her silly. Meeting her lover’s family shouldn’t be a battle.
Okay, now she was present—mostly.
“Same company, a different helicopter. But we fly on a lot of the same missions.”
He picked up a large mug of coffee a passing cousin had refilled.
“I barely understand why he does it. Why do you?”
“That’s not an easy question.” Then she looked into those bright blue eyes and couldn’t look away. “Tim’s reasons would be different from mine. He flies for you, I’d guess. To protect his family.”
“And you don’t?”
“I,” Lola considered, “I fly for myself.”
Jackson nodded as if being polite and still not understanding.
She searched for a distraction, and thankfully one arrived as large platters of food were delivered to the table, the steam wafting upward in tongue-watering layers. First the spicy edge of a dark, dark chili, then corn tortillas, so fresh she wanted to sneeze for how they tickled her nose. Eggs topped the tortillas with a sprinkle of what might be pulled pork.

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Note 1: We went through a lot of changes to figure this one out. We finally settled on creating great meat, then we could use this luscious meat in a variety of ways. Here are a few serving variations:

• On a sourdough, Kaiser, or hamburger roll. Add a heavy drizzle of your favorite BBQ sauce, or a thick schmear of Hoisin Sauce is excellent for this. There must be a crunch: shredded cabbage, julienned carrots, or pickles (see recipe below). Nothing too strong, sauerkraut and kimchi completely overwhelm the meat.
• Sprinkle shredded meat on a tostada, over an omelet or frittata (see Miranda Chase #11 Skibird – Frittata recipe, or it makes a great addition to pizza (see Miranda Chase #1 Drone – Pizza recipe).

Note 2: This may be braised for 6 hours in a slow cooker, or 3 hours in an oven.
NerdGuy Tip: If doing both of these recipes and using a slow cooker, start the pork immediately after starting the first rise on the rolls. If braising the pork in the oven, make the rolls ahead, even the night before. Once they partially cool, storing them in a plastic bag will soften the crust (which we never do, but you may prefer that).
Active time: 45 minutes / Cook time: 3-6 hours / Total time: 4-7 hours / Serves: 8-10
Ingredients for the Pulled Pork

• 2-3 lb. boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt)
• Rub:
  • 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. paprika
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt
• Braising Liquid:
  • 1/4 c. vegetable oil
  • Veggies:
    • 1 onion, minced
    • 2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
    • 1 serrano pepper or lg. jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced
    • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • Liquid (in slow cooker if using one, otherwise in a large bowl):
    • 2 c. pineapple juice frozen concentrate, thawed
    • 1/2 c. fresh lime juice
    • 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
    • 1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
    • 3 Tbsp. molasses

The Instructions

1. Dry the pork with paper towels (do not trim the fat), then rub well with spices and set aside on a plate.
2. Put oil in large Dutch over medium-low heat until shimmering.
3. Add veggies. Sauté until just softened but not turning golden. Scoop veggies into the Braising Liquid and set aside.
4. Add more oil if necessary and turn heat up to medium.
5. Preheat oven to 325°F or set slow cooker to low / 6 hours.
6. Brown the pork on all sides and ends (2-3 minutes per side). Don’t attempt to turn until it moves freely, indicating the meat has released from the Dutch oven’s surface.
7. If braising in the oven:
   1. Pour the veggies and liquid over the roast in the Dutch oven.
   2. Cover tightly. If your lid has vent holes, place a layer of aluminum foil between the lid and the pot.
   3. Place on rack in middle of oven and bake 3 hours until the pork breaks apart easily with a fork. Turn the roast once per hour, and lathe with sauce.
8. If cooking in slow cooker:
   1. Nestle pork in Veggies and Braising Liquid. Roll once or twice to moisten all sides.
   2. Add 1/4 c. of water to the hot Dutch oven and scrape to release any fond (the good brown bits). Pour into the slow cooker before it all evaporates.
   3. Cover tightly and cook on low for 6 hours until pork breaks apart easily, turning every two hours if you’re home.
9. Remove from the liquid and shred the pork, discarding any fat. See serving suggestions above.

Refrigerator Pickles
Note: These may be made in small or huge batches. We go small because they’re so easy and we don’t eat that many pickles in the two weeks they last. We do a lot of variations, which I’ve broken into 3 groups, all of which have a similar process: cucumbers, root vegetables, and jalapenos (ideal for a sharper bite, but the pickling kills most of the heat).
Active Time: 15 minutes / Ready to serve: 3 hours / Makes: 2 cups of pickles
The Ingredients

• Vegetables (choose one, or more):
  • 2 c. sliced pickling cucumbers, 1/4” thick
    and 3 slices of onion, cut 1/2” wide in pole-to-pole arcs
  • 2 c. sliced beets and carrots, 1/4” thick
  • 4 lg. jalapeno peppers, sliced thin (to reduce the heat: knock out most of the seeds or completely trim out the centers to make open rings)
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic (optional, but good)
• Brining Liquid:
  • 1/4 c. honey or sugar
  • 1-1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp. mustard seed (don’t use with jalapeno)
  • 1/4 tsp. celery seed (don’t use with jalapeno)
  • 1/8 tsp. turmeric
  • 1/2 Tbsp. salt

The Pickling

1. If using cucumbers:
   1. Place cucumbers, onions, and salt in a bowl. Toss to combine.
   2. Cover with a tray of ice and let stand for 3 hours at room temperature.
   3. Rinse and drain.
   4. Place in a quart mason jar.
2. If using root vegetables: Pre-steam for 5 minutes (or microwave on high, covered with a splash of water, for 3 minutes), then transfer to the mason jar.
3. If using jalapenos: place directly in the mason jar.
4. Bring Brining Liquid to a simmer, stirring until heated and the sugar (and salt if not used in cucumbers) is dissolved.
5. Pour hot brine over the veggies. Allow to cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate. Ready to eat after 6 hours. Keeps up to two weeks.

Headlands Sourdough Rolls
Active time: 1-1/2 hours / Baking: 25-30 minutes / Total: 7 hours / Makes: 12 rolls
Note: For working with sourdough starter, see the Miranda Chase #8, White Top recipe for Sourdough Bagels. These rolls are ridiculously simple, only 4 ingredients, so why did it take me a half dozen batches to make something that rose taller than a matzoh? No idea. But practice pays and I barely have to think about making these lovely rich rolls now. This is actually much easier than it sounds once you’ve done it a few times.
NerdGuy Tip: You will want wet hands when touching the dough to avoid it sticking to you. If the dough feels just right, a little tacky, shake off your fingers after dampening them. If the dough feels a little dry, not really tacky at all, leave your fingers wet when handling the dough. That little bit of water will quickly change how the dough behaves.
The Wet Ingredients (mix together)

• 300 g. starter
• 500-600 ml. water, tepid (warm to the touch)

The Dry Ingredients

• 900 g. bread flour
• 20 g. salt

The Night Before

1. Take the starter out of the fridge. Stir and let warm to room temperature. Discard all except 1-2” of the starter, and feed with 200 g. water mixed with 200 g. whole wheat flour. Cover and let sit overnight.

The Mixing

2. In a bowl (either in a mixer or prepare yourself for a lot of heavy hand kneading), mix together the starter and 500 ml. of the water.
3. With the mixture on low slowly add the flour.
4. Test the dough. It should be dry(ish) to the touch. If not holding together, add 1/2 of remaining water and mix 1-2 minutes. Be very sure before deciding to add the rest of the water. Okay to dump out the rest of the water if the dough is holding together.
5. Mix 1 more minute to double-check wetness.
6. Cover the bowl with cling film, a kitchen towel, or I toss a lightweight lid on top. (Put the salt in your way so that you won’t forget to add it when you come back.)
7. Rest 20 minutes to hydrate flour. (Never add flour after this step, it just doesn’t work.)
8. Add the salt.
9. Mix on low speed for 6 minutes then on Speed 2 for 4 more minutes. (If you’re hand-kneading, work it for 10-15 minutes until smooth. You basically can’t over-knead by hand.)

The First Rise

10. Cover and allow to rise for 3-4 hours.
11. During the rise, you will do the following 3 times at: 30, 60, and 90 minutes after you finish the kneading:
    1. Dampen your fingers (see the NerdGuy Tip above).
    2. Gently grab one side of the dough, pull it up, and then fold it over to the center of the dough. Repeat this doing a quarter turn each time so that you’re grabbing successive sides and folding them over.
    3. At some point (4 – 8 stretch-and-folds), the dough will resist.
    4. Cover and wait for 30 minutes.

The Shaping and The Second Rise

12. After 3-4 hours, dampen a knuckle and dent the bread. If the dent remains, you’re ready to move on.
13. Prepare a couple of baking sheets with a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper with a light dusting of flour.
14. Flop dough onto a dry counter. Gently roll out into a thick log. Don’t worry if the dough is a little loose.
15. With a bench scraper, cut the dough into 140 g. pieces (we love our kitchen scale). You can snip off bits of dough and add them to other pieces to get as accurate as you want. (But always handle the dough as lightly as possible. It’s full of good air bubbles and we aren’t trying to punch them down or drive them out.)
16. Pre-shape by placing your fingers around the dough like a cage with your palm facing down. Roll vigorously in small circles on a dry counter to form a ball.
17. Let rest for 20-30 minutes.
18. Pat down into a flatish palm-sized circle.
19. Lift from opposite sides and fold inward, pushing slightly down at the center to complete the fold. Repeat in the other direction. Repeat again until the dough forms a taut ball that doesn’t easily stretch.
20. Place seam-side down on a bare counter and turn with barely damp cupped hands scooping along either side to form a neat ball.
21. Place on the flour-dusted silicone mat, leaving a couple inches between rolls.
22. Dampen a hand with olive or vegetable oil and wipe it over a piece of cling film. Loosely cover the rolls with the greased film.
23. Let rise about 1-1/2 hours until a knuckle denting through the cling film leaves a dent behind.
24. Preheat oven to 480°F. Place a 9” x 9” baking dish or similar on a rack in the bottom-most position. Place another rack at the middle of the oven.
25. Boil 1/2 c. of water. If you have a water sprayer, add room temperature water to that as well. (The steam and moisture will help get a good rise in the dry oven heat.)
26. Remove cling film. Add baking sheet(s) of rolls in first. Then pour boiling water into lower pan to create a flash of steam. Squirt water over the rolls and close the oven door quickly.
27. Turn the heat down to 425°F.
28. After 10 minutes: open door for 15 seconds to vent the steam. Remove the baking dish from the lowest rack if it isn’t wholly dry.
29. Bake 10-12 more minutes until just golden and browning on the bottom.
30. Let cool at least 20 minutes before diving in.

The crunch of the cabbage, the tangy sauce, and the sweet tropical meat on a toasted sourdough roll. A near perfect bite.

Recipe (printable PDF)