Grapefruit//Pamplemousse: Superbowl 2008: Pulled Pork on Homemade Rolls

Every American knows what the Superbowl is really all about: food. Really tasty, not-very-good-for-you food. I decided I was going to make pulled pork and homemade sandwich rolls from the La Brea bread book.

My pork recipe came from Gourmet Magazine originally (here's a copy), but I wanted to do a barbcue-style pulled pork, so I adapted the recipe by adding in some smoked paprika (or pimenton), some chili powder, and one habanero. I slow-roasted a pork shoulder for hours and hours on Saturday because I'd need the oven Sunday for rolls and other tasty treats.

I chilled the pork and its drippings overnight. Here's a photo of the pork after it was chilled. You might see that it has been disturbed -- that is from Tackle Box and me pulling off the skin and a few morsels of marbled meat. It was amazing. But I could feel my arteries clog. But who cares.

Before shredding:

After shredding:

Here are the drippings from the meat that I refrigerated overnight. I didn't add anything to the pan itself but a little water.

I scraped the brown gelatinous layer off and melted it in a pot. Into that, I shredded the pork and added some barbecue sauce. I cheated and used K.C. Masterpiece. I felt like a sellout. But the pork was phenomenal. I think I'll use the fat for some hash browns.

I started working on my sesame semolina sandwich rolls at about 8AM Sunday morning. I calculated that they'd need about 5 hours and wanted them done way before 4:30PM when my dad had to go to work. I combined my flours (12.5 oz white bread, 14 oz semolina, 10 oz durum), water (5.5 oz at 70F), starter (6 oz; yes, even though it's not done yet), and yeast (0.5 tsp). I was supposed to use packed fresh yeast, but Silverton says early in the book that you can substitute dried yeast, but to use about half as much as a recipe says because fresh yeast is more than just yeast. I put this mess in my Kitchen Aid mixer and turned it to stir. I stirred and stirred, but it was really just a powdery disaster. This dough wasn't going to come together. So I added more 70F water -- maybe 1/2 cup more, which I thought was quite a lot. I was petrified of adding too much liquid, so it took me 10 minutes to get the dough to come together. Then I added the salt. Silverton says to mix on medium, but I don't think my mixer had it in him (or her?). I had it on stir and the mixer was struggling -- it was getting hot and I smelled a burning smell. Retrospectively, maybe it needed a bit more water, but I was afraid. Silverton says to knead until the dough reaches 74F, but this wasn't happening. I gave up and shut down the mixer. I put the dough in an oiled bowl and allowed it to ferment for at least 2 hours. It was supposed to double in volume -- it didn't.

Here's the before and after. They look oddly similar, don't they? It only rose a little.

Then I shaped the dough into rolls and allowed them to proof. They really didn't. So I baked them.

Needless to say, these rolls were sub-par. They were quite dry and chewy -- gave my jaw quite a workout -- but I think they looked damn good. They needed more salt, but maybe if my starter was ready, they'd have more flavor. I really need to be patient. I shouldn't have any deadline whatsoever. I have to remember that when I make my first real loaf.

The pork was great and the rolls weren't bad. When all was said and done, I only ate half of a pulled pork sandwich. Here's a list of what I served at my Superbowl party: