Well, we've been talking about it ever since we've come back, and finally, we found a butcher shop who was willing to call someone and get their hands on it. We wound up with 14 pounds of bone-in, skin on pork belly for $27. If this cut had been broken down into a rack of ribs (which is on the bottom) and individual strips of bacon (which is what pork belly is, really, a big slab of bacon), the cost would probably quadruple. At least.
Anyhow, only a grandiose dinner would suffice for our pork victory, and with that much of it, we had to enlist the help of our great friends Molly and Roy. Vanessa and set about making what I believe to be a fantastic dinner.
Vanessa made the amuse bouche, a simple and delicious little number out of the prestigious French Laundry cookbook, and also made the dessert, a wonderfully rich and chocolate-y Toblerone souffle. The souffle recipe is by Alain Roux, a French culinary legend. Certainly among the more aggressive cooking attempts by Vanessa, and both turned out beautifully!
I took the pork belly and put it with a nice rutabaga puree, with a great, sweet, bourbon-y sauce. I could go on about the pork, but I'll say simply that a few people realized what they have been missing out on all these years with pork belly. Plus the little added treat of the ribs laying in what is quickly becoming my favorite sauce to accompany pork. I hope you give this all a try.
Amuse-Bouche: Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisps with Goat Cheese MoussePARMESAN CRISPS
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
GOAT CHEESE MOUSSE
6 ounces fresh goat cheese
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
FOR THE PARMESAN CRISPS:
Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (see Sources, page 315), or use a nonstick baking sheet. Place a 2 1/2" ring mold (see Sources, page 315) in one corner of the Silpat and fill it with 1 tablespoon of the grated cheese. Using your finger, spread the cheese into an even layer. Repeat to make 8 rounds, leaving at least 1 inch between them. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crisps are a rich golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for about 30 seconds to firm the crisps enough so you can remove them with a spatula. One by one, remove the crisps and gently press each one into a hollow in the egg carton to form a tulip shape. After a few minutes, remove the cooled crisps from the carton and make 8 more crisps.
FOR THE GOAT CHEESE MOUSSE:
Place the goat cheese in a food processor and process (depending on the cheese used, it may look smooth or crumbly). Pour 1/4 cup of the cream through the feed tube and continue to process until the mixture is smooth but will hold a shape when piped; if necessary, add a little more cream. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste and mix just to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The mousse can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days; let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes to soften slightly before piping.
Place the mousse in a plastic bag fitted with a medium star tip. Pipe 2-3 teaspoons of mousse into each Parmesan crisp and serve.
Main: Spice Rubbed and Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Swede Puree and Bourbon-Ancho Chile SaucePORK BELLY
7 pound pork belly, skin on, bone-in, skin scored
3 T small handful salt
3 T handful pepper
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T chipotle powder
1 T cumin
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Rub all of the salt and spices into the skin, making sure to work it into the scored skin. Put on a roasting rack inside of a roasting tray.
Roast for 3 hours. Reduce the temperature to 250F and roast for another 1-3 hours. It doesn't really matter... it will come out fine no matter what you do. This is the most forgiving piece of meat ever.
Swede (Rutabaga) Puree
2 large swede (rutabaga), peeled
1 small potato, peeled
100 g unsalted butter
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch cumin
salt and white pepper
Chop the swedes and potato into pieces of equal size so that they cook evenly, then place them in a suitable pan with just enough water to cover. Add a pinch of salt, bring to the boil and simmer until very soft.
Drain in a colander and press gently to squeeze out the excess water. Pass the mix through a vegetable moulis and then a fine drum sieve. The puree base can be stored in the fridge at this point until required.
Return the fine puree to a clean pan and slowly beat in the butter. Season with the salt,pepper, cinnamon and cumin.
Serve the puree straight away: if it is kept warm for too long the butter can split out of the mixture and spoil it.
Bourbon-Ancho Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 cups bourbon, plus 2 T
3 ancho chiles, soaked, seeded, and pureed
5 cups Enriched Chicken Stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup thawed apple juice concentrate
8 black peppercorns
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
Kosher salt
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the 2 cups bourbon, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced to a few tablespoons, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the ancho puree, stock, apple juice concentrate, peppercorns, and brown sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, return the mixture to the pan, and reduce over high heat to sauce consistency, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons bourbon, cook for 2 minutes, and season with salt. This can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.
FINISH THE MAIN
Pull the pork out of the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes or so, while you get the rest of the components together. After it has rested, cut away the top layer of ultra-crispy skin and cut into little strips. Go ahead and eat some, because you won't be able to resist it. Cut the rack of ribs away from the bottom away and cut into individual ribs.
Cut the pork belly into individual portions now. On a warmed plate, put a swoosh of warm swede puree, place a piece of pork belly on top. Top with some sauce and put some pieces of crispy skin on top.
With the rest of the sauce, put it into a bowl and put the pork ribs in it. Serve the plates to your amazed guests and leave the bowl of ribs on the table to pass around and eat by hand.
Dessert: Warm Toblerone Soufflea little softened butter
75 g caster sugar, plus 30g for coating
200 g Toblerone, chopped
2 teaspoons plain (all-purpose) flour
7 egg whites
Brush the insides of four 3 1/4" ramekins, 1 1/2" deep, with softened butter. Put the 30g (2 1/2 tablespoons) of caster sugar in one of the dishes and rotate it to coat the inside thoroughly. Tip the excess sugar into the next dish and repeat, coating them all with sugar in
this way.
Put 140g (5 oz) of the Toblerone in a bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water isn't touching the base of the bowl. When it has melted, remove from the heat and stir in the flour.
Beat the egg whites with the 75g (6 1/2 tablespoons) of sugar until they form semi-firm peaks. Using a whisk, mix one-third of the whites into the melted Toblerone, then delicately fold in the rest with a spatula or a large metal spoon. Scatter the remaining chopped Toblerone over the surface and mix gently. Divide the mixture between the ramekin dishes. Smooth the surface with a palette knife (metal spatula) and use the tip of the knife to ease the mixture away from the edge of the dishes.
Place on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes in an oven preheated to 200C/400F. Serve immediately.
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