American Ribs or Belly Strips - Oven roasted
Time: 1 to 1 ½ hours
Ingredients: American ribs or belly strips, olive oil, can of chick peas, small bunch of spinach, 1 cup sherry or white wine, salt, pepper or cumin
Steps:
- Brown ribs in fry pan with olive oil
- Add chick peas and spinach to pan
- Add sherry or white wine to pan
- Use salt, pepper and/or cumin to taste
- Cook covered in oven at 180℃ for 1 to 1½ hours
Belly - Norwegian style
Makes 4 servings
Time: Prep3 days ahead, Cooking 4½ hours to 7½ hours
Ingredients:Pork belly (1kg), water (½ cup), dark beer (½ cup), onion (1), shallots (2), garlic (4 cloves), carrots (2), star anise (2), bay leaf (2), salt, black pepper
Steps:
Preparations ahead
- Slice squares in the rind. Make sure that they’re not too small, about 1,5 cm x 1,5 cm is perfect. Make sure that you only cut deep in the fat and not in the meat
- Fill a baking tray with tall edges with coarse salt.
- Push the belly rind side down into the salt so the entire rind has contact with the salt.
Salt is the key to crispy rind - Cover it well with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.
- Let it rest for 1-3 days.
Skin is hard, the salt will break it down for crispy rind. - Wash the salt off the belly.
- Empty the baking tray of salt and wash it.
- Dry the belly with a paper towel and put a good amount of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper on it.
- Put it back in the baking tray, wrap it up in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge till the next day.
Preparations on day you are eating it
- Taking tray from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap
- Cut the vegetables and lay them in the tray with the herbs.
- Place the belly on top and pour over water and beer.
If the tray is not deep enough to ensure no foil touches the pork, use cups at the corner to ensure it doesn’t - Preheat the oven to 240 degrees fan forced
- Use 2-3 layers of aluminium foil
to minimise steam escaping. - Steam for 45 minutes.
- Take it out and remove the aluminium foil.
- Carefully lift the pork belly onto a cutting board.
- Strain out the stock and keep it
- Place the vegetables back in the tray
so you get even more stock later on. - Slice the outline of squares in the rind with a sharp knife to ensure they don’t stick together.
The lines between the squares act as a pathway for the fat to run down. This is essential to get a crispy rind. - Use aluminium foil to make sure the structure is correct.
The middle part of the pork is supposed to be higher up then the sides so the fat can render and fall into the tray. - Set the oven to 90 degrees.
- Pour water in the tray
ensure there is always some water in the tray - Put the pork into the oven (without the aluminium foil) and cook it for 3-6 hours.
When you’re cooking meat on such low heat it’s not that important how long it cooks, usually around 4 hours. The belly needs time to get juicy and the rind needs time to get warm so it pops out. - 1 hour before serving, take the belly out of the oven and turn the heat up to 240 degrees.
- Place it back into the oven.
The temperature is now so high that the liquid inside the rind starts to boil. Because of the salt that has broken down the skin, the liquid inside the rind will evaporate and it will start popping. The goal is to get an airy and crispy rind. - Cook for 20-30 minutes
Grill setting and with the oven door open to finish it off can help. Most of the time this is not necessary. If you choose to, it’s important to keep an eye on it at all times. Use a food thermometer to make sure that it’s cooked all the way through. The internal temperature should be 75-85 degrees so the marbling is cooked - The meat has to rest – When you’re pleased with the rind, take it out and place it on a cutting board. Don’t cover it!
- From the stock that’s in the tray you make an amazing sauce.
- Now the pork has to rest for at least 15 minutes.
Then the meat will be even juicier and the rind will be even crispier. When cutting the belly pork, make sure to cut between the rind.
Serve it with a delicious sauce, sauerkraut, red cabbage, mustard and cranberry jam. This makes for a fantastic taste.
Boudin Vert - poached with potato and butter browned apples
Time: 20 mins
Ingredients: Boudin vert, potatoes, apple, butter
Steps:
- Place boudin vert in saucepan with enough water to cover
- Simmer on lowest temperature for 20 minutes
- Serve (hot or cold) with boiled potatoes and apples browned in butter
Ears - crunchy crumbed with dipping sauce
Time: 2-3 hours
Ingredients:
- Ears: ears, carrot, onion, celery, panko bread crumbs, flour, egg, oil,
- Dipping sauce: mayonnaise and lime juice OR sour cream and capers, OR lemon
Steps:
- Place ears, carrot, onion, celery in a water filled saucepan
- Cook on medium temperature for 2-3 hours until soft
- Dry and clean ears, allow to cool
- Coat ears in flour, dip in egg and cover in panko bread crumbs
- Deep fry in oil until crispy
- Sere with mayonnaise + lime juice, OR sour cream + capers, OR a squeeze of lemon
Leg or loin - roasted with crispy skin
Time:
- Roast: 3-4 hours
- Brine (optional): overnight
Ingredients:
- Roast: Leg or loin roast, onions, carrot, celery, (other vegetables of choice), white wine or chicken stock, salt
- Brine (optional): 4 cups cold water to 3 spoons of table salt (6 table spoons of salt flakes
Steps:
- Place vegetables in bottom of roasting pan
- Add either 2 cups of white wine or 2 cups of chicken stock
- Pat pork dry and add salt to the skin
- Place pork on top of vegetables
- Cook uncovered in oven for 2-3 hours at 160℃
- Make sure to keep the skin dry
- Turn up to 250℃ for 30-45 mins to crisp the skin
- Let rest for 30 mins before cutting
TIP: If you let the pork sit in a brine overnight you will get an even better result)
Neck or shoulder - marinated and pan-fried
Time: 6 mins
Ingredients:
- Pork: Neck or shoulder cut, oil or butter
- Marinade: Dashi, OR sake OR milk OR brine
- Brine: 4 cups cold water to 3 spoons of table salt (6 table spoons of salt flakes)
Steps:
- Marinate or brine pork overnight
- Dry pork
- Heat a fry pan (or BBQ) to high temperature
- Pan fry for 3 mins on high heat on each side
- Serve medium rare
Neck or Shoulder - slow cooked
Time: 1-2 hours
Ingredients:Neck or shoulder cut, oil or butter, dashi or chicken stock, your favourite vegetables
Steps:
- Dice pork
- Brown in fry pan with oil or butter
- add dashi or chicken stock, and your favourite vegetables
- Slow cook on low to medium temperature for 1-2 hours
Osso bucco - slow pot cooked with vegetables
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:Osso bucco, onion, carrot, garlic, fennel, tomato, 1-2 cups red wine, salt, pepper
Steps:
- Add pork, onion, carrot, garlic, fennel, red wine, salt and pepper to pot
- Top with water and cover with lid
- cook on low to medium temperature for 1 hour.
- Serve with mash potato or polenta
Shoulder - roasted and pulled
Time:
- Roast: 4-6 hours
- Brine (optional): overnight
Ingredients:
- Roast: shoulder roast, 2 cups chicken stock or water or white wine, carrot, onion, salt, pepper
- Brine: (optional): 4 cups cold water to 3 spoons of table salt (6 table spoons of salt flakes)
Steps:
-
- Place pork, vegetables and either water or chicken stock or white wine in caserole pan
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cook covered in oven for 4-6 hours at 160℃ until tender and pulls away easily
- Pull pork apart with fork and serve
TIP: If you let the pork sit in a brine overnight you will get an even better result
Smoked boudin - pan fried with traditional sides
Time: 5-8 mins
Ingredients:Smoked boudin, butter or oil, kale, corn, potato salad
Steps:
- Using the lowest stove temperature, gently fry smoked boudin in butter or oil for 5-8 mins
- Serve with sautéed kale, boiled corn and potato salad
Swedish Isterband - fried with traditional sides
Time: 5 mins
Ingredients:Isterband, butter, beetroot, potato salad, gherkin, lingonberry (or cranberry or red currant)
Steps:
- Using the lowest stove temperature, gently fry isterband in butter for 5 mins
- Serve with boiled beetroot, potato salad, gherkin and lingonberry