MAY CHALLENGE: The Splendid Table Stumps the Cooks!

[Jenise]

So I would not know a good substitute. Nevertheless, I'm out of action for the next couple weeks. Knee surgery.

Sorry you won't be cooking with us, but good luck and take care.

Started my recipe yesterday. It should be done tomorrow, pics and all.

rwj

Started my recipe yesterday. It should be done tomorrow, pics and all.

rwj

shoot! Robert, you beat me to it. I started writing down my thoughts this weekend. Got two versions. Just trying to decide which I would go with. You're pushin' me!!!

[Jenise]

Started my recipe yesterday. It should be done tomorrow, pics and all.

rwj

shoot! Robert, you beat me to it. I started writing down my thoughts this weekend. Got two versions. Just trying to decide which I would go with. You're pushin' me!!!

Haven't started mine yet. Need to order the pork belly, apparently, stores up here carry it but it's sliced, and it comes to them that way. No chipotles in adobo, either. I have dried, will have to reconstitute some and take it from there.

I'm surprised that neither one of you commented on the fact that my recipe is taking three days to make.

rwj

[Jenise]

I'm surprised that neither one of you commented on the fact that my recipe is taking three days to make.

rwj

You know what, I didn't think about the elapsed time, triggered as I was into a state of panic about my inability to obtain pork belly (which is now even greater, since I learned since my earlier post that there is no source, zero, here in Bellingham for that cut, and according to the butcher at Haggens he can't even order it). Too, since I'm planning to do this two ways (and ultimately include one in my dish), both of which will require a bit of time, it doesn't surprise me that you are pursuing something similar. Yours is air-dried?

Hey, no collaborating!!!

RCP: Spicy pork belly served hot and cold

I'm sorry for the very late reply to the challenge. I also don't have photos. When I went to take a picture of my work in progress and the results, I could not find my digital camera--turns out it is on the boat, 40 miles from home. Not to mention the fact that I still haven't figured how to post a picture on this site. I'm not very computer savvy at all.
Anyway, I had mixed results but here's what I did:

Served hot:

Slow Braised Pork Belly with Sweet/Hot glaze on Wilted Endive.

I found lovely, very lean, trimmed sliced fresh pork belly at my local Korean Grocery. ($3.79 a pound) I sliced 6 plump cloves of garlic and studded the pork belly slices with those, then rubbed it with the Adobo Sauce from the canned Chipotles, sprinkled 1/4 cup brown sugar over it, shaved about 1/2 oz. of chocolate over this, added kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. I placed it uncovered in an All-Clad cassoulet pan and roasted it for 2 hours at 265 degrees, then covered it and roasted it an additional 2 hours at 250 degrees. Every once in a while I shook the pan to redistribute the cooking juices.
Then I let it rest for 20 min. and poured off the little fat that was in the pan into an iron skillet. A small amount of a thick glaze sauce remained on the meat.
I then rinsed the chick peas, put them in the skillet with the pork fat, stir fried them for a couple of minutes, then added about 1/2 of a minced chipotle and some salt and pepper. Removed them from the pan, and then wilted about 1/2 of the endive, seasoned with a bit of brown sugar, salt and pepper, in the hot pan. I divided the endive into two portions, topped with about 1/4 of the pork for each plate, then sprinkled some of the spicy chick peas on it. This was the warm version. It was good, maybe a bit heavy on garlic but thankfully mild in the chocolate nuances, although it could be detected. My husband liked it more than I did. I thought it lacked salt.

Next Day: Endive Salad with Mashed Chick peas and Chilled Pork Belly Slices

I had half of the glazed pork belly left over, so I wrapped it tightly in a ziploc bag, squeezing all the air out of it and forming a solid mass of pork belly. I chilled it overnight.
The next day I tossed the remainder of the endive with some EVOO, salt and pepper, a pinch of brown sugar and half of a minced chipotle. I also added some lemon juice--cheating, I know, but this salad had to have some acid component to it. I mashed a few chick peas, sliced two fresh scallions, and added those to the salad for added texture. I mounded the salad on a plate. Then I removed the pork belly from the ziploc and thinly sliced it against the grain. I placed the slices of pork belly around the salad. This was DELICIOUS, the texture of the chilled and formed pork belly was tender, faintly gelatinous and redolent of garlic, the salad crisp, spicy and bitter/sweet.

I broke the remaining chocolate into squares and had it for dessert.

Next time I will skip the chocolate, add some oyster sauce and cool and chill the pork belly after cooking, then use it for a great salade composee, in sandwiches, or as an appetizer with an asian dipping sauce. This was my first time cooking pork belly but it won't be my last.

Ines

[Jenise]

Hey, no collaborating!!!

(Whispering...) Just between you and me, that was a red-herring.

Good one Ines! I think that you did great with what was given. I love the wilted endive.

Even though the salad was a total violation I do think that it sounded fantastic. I just love these challenges!

rwj

[Jenise]

Ines, you're not late, you're the first to post. Big atta girl for you, and your dish sounds excellent.

I'll be posting after this weekend if I'm successful at finding pork belly at a Chinese market in Vancouver on Friday. I was planning to do a wilted endive, too, btw. Say, a question, and one it will be interesting for everyone to answer after we're all done, would be: if you could have had one more ingredient, what would you have asked for?

And, what did you do for a wine match?

Ines, you're not late, you're the first to post. Big atta girl for you, and your dish sounds excellent.

I'll be posting after this weekend if I'm successful at finding pork belly at a Chinese market in Vancouver on Friday. I was planning to do a wilted endive, too, btw. Say, a question, and one it will be interesting for everyone to answer after we're all done, would be: if you could have had one more ingredient, what would you have asked for?

And, what did you do for a wine match?

Thanks, Jenise and Robert. I was really pushed to work on this challenge by seeing such a lovely slab of pork belly...and I'm sure that the Asian markets are pretty much the only place to acquire this cut of meat, so you'll find it in Van. If I could have added just one more ingredient, it would have been an acidic one--some chinese vinegar comes to mind immediately, and it would have added to the complexity of the flavors. Soy sauce or oyster sauce would have been preferable to the simple salt I used. I'm going to buy another slab of pork belly today and braise it with the extra ingredients, then wrap and chill it for use this weekend, when we'll be entertaining a bunch of people in Catalina.

I wish I had pictures! And--re the wine match, we drank an older South African Merlot, a 2001 Fleur du Cap. It went very well with the hot dish. I didn't have wine with the cold version, but if I had I would have chosen a crisp Riesling.
Ines

O.k., I lied. It's actually 4 days of prep work. I'll have it finished tomorrow.

rwj

Started my recipe last night. I should have product and pictures by Saturday. I agree with Ines, each iteration of the recipe I wrote would have been improved with the addition of either vinegar, wine, lemon, lime or mustard. I also would have liked the ability to have one herb or spice of choice added to the foundation ingredients of oil, salt, pepper, etc. Had I thought about it before posting, I would have added that option as a FLDG wildcard ingredient (optional). But, c'est la vie. Let's see what happens!

Bon Appetit!

[Jenise]

Started my recipe last night. I should have product and pictures by Saturday. I agree with Ines, each iteration of the recipe I wrote would have been improved with the addition of either vinegar, wine, lemon, lime or mustard. I also would have liked the ability to have one herb or spice of choice added to the foundation ingredients of oil, salt, pepper, etc. Had I thought about it before posting, I would have added that option as a FLDG wildcard ingredient (optional). But, c'est la vie. Let's see what happens!

Bon Appetit!

That's kind of where I am, Jo Ann, just a little hogtied in trying to create contrast. However, I do enjoy the extreme challenge that is trying to get around that problem and do something that no one else might do. Still lacking pork parts, I spent part of yesterday playing with garbanzo beans for instance.

I'm confident that you'll come up with something amazing, though. As will Robert and Barb. Who else is in? Robin, you cookin' with us?

[Robin Garr]

Robin, you cookin' with us?

I'd like to, but I've been a little off my feed for a week or two ... if I get inspired, I'll jump up at the last minute.

I'm done. My final product was Adobo Glazed Pork Belly with "Mole" Hummus, Carmelized Onions, and Frissé Salad. I glazed the pork belly with brown sugar and adobo. The hummus was made by mixing chipotle peppers and chocolate with the garbanzos. The onions were caramelized in EVOO and seasoned with Alderwood smoked sea salt. I used the leftover glaze to dress the frissé. I took it to work for others to try and it met with good reviews. Everybody really liked the play between the sweet, spice, and smoke from the salt. I didn't really feel the need for acid but would have dressed the frissé with lime were acid allowed. Here is the recipe.


"You don't have to use all the quantities of all the ingredients. But, use the following to create your recipe:
1 can of chick peas (no qty given)
4 oz of 70% bittersweet chocolate
1 can chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1 lb pork belly
and a bonus ingredient
1 head of curly endive

In this challenge you are allowed to use salt, pepper, water, one member of the onion family and fat (of any sort) and you will still be cooking inside the parameters of the ingredients given".

A couple of notes: I used Billington's Dark Brown Molasses sugar, alder wood smoked sea salt, duck fat, and EVOO.

For the Pork Belly:

Rub the pork with salt, pepper and 1 Tbsp of Brown Sugar. Wrap in cheesecloth and allow to cure in the refrigerator for two days.

Unwrap the pork and submerge it into melted duck fat keeping the heat as low as possible. Allow the pork to poach for 5 hours at the barest simmer.

When the pork is cooked remove it from the duck fat, put it on a sheet pan lined with parchment, top it with another sheet of parchment and place another sheet pan on top. Put a Dutch oven or other heavy objects on top of the sheet pan so that the pork gets pressed. Allow to press under refrigeration for 24 hours. Strain and reserve the duck fat.

Remove the pork from the press and cut the edges so that it is square (or rectangular). Cut it into "dominoes". Heat the reserved duck fat over medium-high heat and fry the pork until it is cripy. Blot dry and toss in the glaze.

For the glaze:

Dissolve the remaining brown sugar in a little water and allow to thicken slightly over medium low heat. Stir in the adobo to taste and season with smoked sea salt to taste.

For the Hummus:

Pureé the beans in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Add a little of the juice from the can if you need to loosen the consistency a little bit. Add two or three chipotle peppers and two ounces of the chocolate. Add smoked salt to taste.

You all should know how to caramelize onions. Just season them with a little of the smoked salt.

Dress the frissé with some of the hot glaze and drizzle more of it around the plate and over the other ingredients. Enjoy!










rwj

Way to go, Robert -- YOO-HOO!
Between you and Ines, I was a little worried either of you would make the recipe I was intending. Nope! There is still room for creativity. Stay tuned.

Nice, Robert! Pretty much what I was thinking except that I didn't consider adding the adobo to the glaze. I had even considered caramelized onions!

Looks great - glad to hear it tasted good, too.

[Jenise]

Way to go, Robert -- YOO-HOO!
Between you and Ines, I was a little worried either of you would make the recipe I was intending. Nope! There is still room for creativity. Stay tuned.

So you're making chocolate-covered endive, too! I knew it.

[Jenise]

Robert, your dish looks beautiful, and your 'hummus' is particularly inspired.

So you're making chocolate-covered endive, too! I knew it.

Hmmmmm! Now theres a thought.

Thanks all! I really enjoyed this challenge. When is the next one?

rwj

I really like the hummous idea. True East-Meets-West.