Cuban Style Sliders

When my Instant Pot arrived, I sat it in a chair in the kitchen. We stared at each other for days. I am a stainless steel pan and a grill girl. Or so I thought! After reading all the literature and checking out the parts, I started to get excited! I still have memories of my parents using a heavy metal pressure cooker with the hissing disc on top. That thing truly scared me! I would not go near the kitchen if it was on the stove. My goal with this recipe was to use multiple features to get a real feel for the greatness of this product. What would have been a 3-4 hour cooking process was completed in less than half the time. About this recipe: I visit my Dad regularly in the Florida Keys. We love a good “Cubano” and there is a place close to him that makes authentic delicious sandwiches. I wanted to do a party-style slider and this is what wowed the crowd!

Cuban Style Sliders
by Susan Ritchie-Hubbard

For the Mojo Marinade:

1 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed or store bought
Zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, about 3 limes
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, or 1 Tablespoon dried
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 Tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
2 pound pork shoulder roast, tied
1 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

For the Mustard Cheese Sauce:

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk at room temperature, I had 2% milk on hand
8 ounces grated Gruyere cheese
1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons coarse grain mustard (Grey Poupon has a nice one)

For the Sliders:

Slider rolls, sliced in half, I used potato rolls
Melted butter or canola oil
Bread and Butter pickle slices
1/2 pound very thinly sliced, good quality deli ham, I used Boar’s Head

Make the Mojo marinade by combining the first 8 ingredients is a zip-top plastic bag. Using a paring knife, make 1/2-inch deep slits all over the pork roast, pressing in pieces of the chopped garlic as you move around the roast. If you do not use all of the chopped garlic, place the remaining garlic in the zip-top bag with the rest of the Mojo ingredients. Add the pork roast to the bag, squeezing out all of the air to completely immerse the meat in the marinade. Place the bag in a shallow bowl and refrigerate at least 8 hours. Overnight would be best.

Allow the roast to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking. Remove the roast from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the marinade. Discard the remainder. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté, normal heat. Add the canola oil. When the pot is hot, add the roast, searing on all sides until lightly browned. Turn the pot off. Add the reserved marinade, cover the pot and set the pot to Manual 70 minutes. NR. Transfer the roast to a plate and cover with foil and allow to cool enough to handle.

Discard the cooking liquid, clean the liner and return to the Instant Pot. Set the pot to Sauté, normal heat. When the pot is hot, add the butter and as it melts add the flour, whisking constantly until the flour cooks, and develops a nutty fragrance. Approximately 3-4 minutes. Add the milk and whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. Turn off the pot. Add the Gruyere and whisk until the cheese melts. Add the mustard and whisk to incorporate. This sauce will be on the thick side. Remove the foil from the pork and shred the meat with 2 forks. Cover with the foil.

Using a grill pan (or skillet) on medium heat, brush the rolls with the butter or oil and grill until the rolls are golden brown.

It’s time to assemble our sliders! The number of sliders will depend on how much deliciousness you want each guest to enjoy. I got a little carried away. On the bottom half of the roll, add a nice layer of the pork, top that with a few pickles, now it is time for the ham. I made a little mound with each slice. Spoon the mustard cheese sauce on top of the ham. Place the other half of the roll on top and secure with a short skewer or solid toothpick.

These sliders have incredible flavor and with the Instant Pot, so easy to make! The Instant Pot really cut down the cooking time and I had only one pot to clean when I was done.