Pork Belly!

The LA Times had a recipe for Pork Belly Confited in Olive Oil. Talk about a Lipitor experience! We purchased a large piece of pork belly from McCall’s Meat and Fish. We decided to confit the pork belly and then used the preserved pork in several different dinners. Confit means basically slow poaching (we used olive oil). The meat can then be preserved for an extended time covered with the congealed fat. We had no intention of preserving longer than the one week that it would take to prepare the various dinners.

For the first dinner we decided to make a recipe that we saw in the New York Times for Yakisoba With Pork and Cabbage. Instead of using the recommended pork chop we substituted our Pork Confit.

We started with The Hungry Cat Salad that we like so much. You can get the recipe from our blog of: November 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

For the second meal we decided to make Slow Cooked Salmon on a bed of lentils. Cathy used the recipe for Lentils Braised in Red Wine from The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. She used the oil from the pork confit and some small pieces of the meat. It was incredibility rich. Just delicious.

When I went to McCall’s to pick up the salmon I saw some fresh Santa Barbara Spotted Prawns. They were huge and beautiful, filled with roe. I couldn’t resist getting 4 of them for a starter. We sauted them in olive oil and garlic. They were absolutely wonderful.
The Pork Confit is serving us well!

Recipe: Pork belly confited in olive oil
LA Times
March 4, 2010
Pork belly confited in olive oil


Total time: About 3 hours


Servings: Makes about 1 quart, enough for 18 to 20 servings


Note: Adapted from a recipe by Jim Drohman in "Charcuterie" by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn
3 to 4 pounds pork belly


10 grams black peppercorns (about 3 1/4 teaspoons)


3 grams ground cinnamon (about 1 teaspoon)


1 gram whole cloves (about 10)


1/2 gram whole allspice (about 6)


2 bay leaves


1 ounce salt (about 4 teaspoons)


5 sprigs thyme


3 cups dry white wine


3 to 4 cups olive oil


1. Use a sharp knife to peel the skin from the pork belly: Cut a corner free, then grab it firmly and pull away, cutting with the knife while keeping the sharp edge of the blade against the tough skin. When the skin has been removed, cut the pork belly into roughly 3-by-1-inch pieces.
2. In a spice grinder or coffee mill, grind the peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, bay leaves and salt to a powder. Sprinkle the mixture over the meat, add the thyme and mix well. Add the wine and mix again. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.


3. The next day, heat the oven to 250 degrees. Remove the pork pieces from the marinade and pat them dry with a paper towel. Place them in a Dutch oven in as close to an even level as possible. Cover completely with olive oil. Bring to a slow bubble on top of the stove over medium heat, then transfer to the oven and let it cook, uncovered, until the meat is quite tender, about 2 1/2 hours.


4. Remove from the oven and let the meat cool in the fat. When the meat is cool, transfer it to storage containers and pour the fat over top, seal tightly and refrigerate. The meat should be completely submerged. (The confit can be used immediately, but it's better if it's refrigerated for 24 hours.)


5. To cook, remove the meat from the container along with a little of the fat. Fry over medium-high heat, turning to brown all sides. When the meat is well browned and heated through, serve immediately.


Each of 20 servings: 605 calories; 7 grams protein; 0 carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 64 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 57 mg. cholesterol; 0 sugar; 81 mg. sodium.

Yakisoba With Pork and Cabbage
New York Times
March 3, 2010
Salt
6 ounces dried Chinese egg noodles, or 10 to 12 ounces fresh
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 pork chops, thinly sliced
1 small head Napa or savoy cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
2 carrots, shredded
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons mirin, or a bit of sugar
Few drops Tabasco sauce, or to taste
1 bunch scallions, chopped, white parts only.
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it and add noodles. Cook until just done, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and run under cold water. Toss noodles with sesame oil to keep them from sticking together, and set aside.
2. Put peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add ginger and cook, stirring, until just fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork and cook for about 5 minutes or until the pork is no longer pink and is starting to brown around the edges.
3. Add cabbage and carrots to skillet and stir; sprinkle with salt. Continue to cook until vegetables soften, adding a bit of water as needed to keep them from sticking.
4. Meanwhile, stir together in a small bowl ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mirin and Tabasco. When vegetables are soft and any liquid has evaporated, add noodles and sauce to skillet. Toss to coat everything well and cook until noodles are warmed through. Serve, topped with chopped scallions.
Yield: 4 servings.

Lentils Braised in Red Wine

Here is simple dish full of character. If it suits your taste, and the rest of the meal, you can elaborate on the basic recipe by adding bacon rind or prosciutto scraps, or a branch of thyme or a bay leaf, all at the beginning- The stingy-with- liquid method, which will remind you of risotto-making, keeps the flavors con¬centrated. We use tiny, plump black lentils or dark green French lentils, both of which are about the size of a peppercorn. If you use flat olive green lentils, they may cook more rapidly and require less liquid. In either case, using chicken stock will slow the cooking a little, but will give the dish a more complex flavor.

We serve red wine lentils with game birds, sausage, and red meat. They are also tasty with grilled salmon and meaty fish like monkfish and eel. And they are delicious with fried eggs and bacon, or spooned onto crostini and topped with a strip of anchovy and julienned roasted peppers.

If you prepare them in advance, cool, and then reheat them, they will have a mellower flavor and creamier texture than a freshly cooked batch.

FOR ABOUT 4 CUPS, OR 4 TO 6 SERVINGS:

1/4 cup mild-tasting olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced carrots (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup finely diced celery [about 2 ounces)
3/4 cup finely diced yellow onions (about 3 ounces)
Salt
1 bay leaf 1-1/4 cups lentils (about 8 ounces), preferably tiny French lentils or the black lentils sometimes sold as "Beluga" lentils
1 or 2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
1 cup medium-bodied red wine, such as Sangiovese or Pinot Noir
2 to 2-1/2 cups water, Chicken Stock or a combination
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Warm the olive oil in a 3-quart saute pan or 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the carrots, celery, onions, and a few pinches of salt. Stir for about 5 minutes as the vegetables release their moisture and begin to hiss, then add the lentils, bay leaf, optional thyme, the wine, and about a cup of the water and/or stock. Raise the heat slightly to achieve a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered, stirring as needed, as you would risotto, and adding more water or stock as the last of each batch is just about absorbed, until the lentils are nutty-tender and just bathed in their cooking liquid. You may not use all of the liquid. Allow about 30 minutes. Taste. If using water or unsalted stock, the lentils will need salt; if using lightly salted chicken stock, they may need none.

Add the extra-virgin olive oil to taste and simmer for a minute longer to bind it with the cooking liquid.