RFJ: Apricot Ginger Pulled Pork on Pepita-spiked Brioche Rolls

Until I entered the Royal Foodie Joust, I was fairly confident it was some sort of historical anachronism society focusing on edibles. No doubt that society exists, but it ain't the RFJ. Those folks, or perhaps I should say we, make up recipes once a month based on ingredients chosen by the previous month's winner. Last month, the winner was Skinny Gourmet and she chose seriously wonderful ingredients--apricots, butter and ginger. These ingredients were not only seasonal but also edging on decadent.

I had a bazillion ideas--yes, that many and as a result we have been eating apricot food for the last ten days.

The ones we have made were:
Cornish hen, Apricot, and Goat Cheese Empanadas with a Duo of Apricot Salsas
Broiled Apricot, Ginger and Manchego Cheese Tapas
Apricot, Blackberry and Ginger Pasta Pudding
Apricot and Candied Ginger Brioche with Ginger Spiced Chai

In addition, we had dreams of making:
Lamb and Apricot Bistilla (oh, I adore phyillo)
Ginger Donuts with Apricot Filling and Browned Butter Glaze (Update: There is a wonderful donut entered this month)
Apricot and Ginger Mimosas with Beurre de Reims (a la Rose de Reims)

(Will those dream come true? Some day, no doubt.)

But, which shall I enter in RFJ? Well, none of them. We decided to go low/ high again this month with: Apricot Ginger Pulled Pork on Pepita-spiked Brioche Rolls. We paired this with butter-sauteed pumpkin seeds and microwave potato chips tossed in sea salt and chili powder.

We ate it while we packed to go out of town, but really it deserved to be a centerpiece at a barbeque.

Recipe:
Apricot Ginger Pulled Pork
The night before, marinate pork shoulder with:
6 oz apricot juice
2 T hungarian green peppers diced
3 T ginger
the top of a bulb of fennel
6 oz chicken stock
3 oz rice wine vinegar

The next day, cover the meat with ginger ale and sliced apricots. Slow roast the meat at 250 degrees for 4 hours or so.

Combine the marinade with 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 T catsup. Cook until 1/2 its original volume.

When meat seems to pull apart, remove from oven and let rest. Combine juices, apricots, etc with incipient barbeque sauce. Blend with an immersion blender.

Warm the pulled meat in the barbeque sauce and let rest while you make the slaw.

Apricot-Ginger Cole Slaw
Combine:
julienned purple cabbage, jicama, underripe apricots, hungarian sweet peppers, and a bit of scotch bonnet if you swing that way. (We did.)

Dress with:
finely minced ginger, rice wine vinegar and grapeseed oil.

Pepita-spiked Brioche Rolls
The night before, make up your brioche. For the ingredients, I followed Wild Yeast's recipe.

The next morning, turn out onto a floured surface and rest dough for 1 hour.
Shape the dough and add pepita (pumpkin seed) sliver into the top of the dough.

Let rise for 1 hour. After giving the rolls an egg wash, bake 20 minutes. (Butter in heaven.)