Sunday, February 27, 2011
Crispy Honey Roast Pork Belly with Onions (Marco Pierre White-adapted)
I'm a nerd when it comes to what I love. I google and research and spend all my free (yes I lie. fine, I confess. even when I'm supposed to be studying.) time on it. It being food. And I have my cooking idols too, and like any fan girl I watch all the cooking shows they do. Everyone knows the usual famous British chefs, and I love them all too, but I recently discovered Marco Pierre White. He's the original British celebrity chef, the youngest chef at his time to be awarded 3 Michelin stars, and our favourite Gordon Ramsay was trained under him. He hwas actually quite hot, albeit 20 years ago. He still has that bad boy charisma and humour to send me gushing to disinterested friends (and sisters) hee hee hee.
Watch him talk about pigs and fat women and then watch the pleasure he takes in cooking, then come tell me I'm being a fangirl. Anyway, that second video practically made me salivate and I knew I had to go roast a pork belly.
There are many different tips out there on getting the perfect roast pork belly with crispy crackling. I'm going to try them all out, not all at a go duh, but definitely a to-do thing, along with testing out the different velveting methods for perfect Chinese stir-fry meat, so keep checking back ;)
For now, I followed Marco Pierre White's recipe, but had to make changes to the roasting times and temperatures, and the glaze because people have commented it's too sweet and really quite unnecessary. i.e. What I really got out of his recipe are his tips for really crispy crackling for a roast pork, like rubbing oil over the scored skin first. A little disappointed in my new favourite chef ):
Crispy Honey Roast Pork Belly with Onions
300g pork belly, skin-on (originally 1 kg, but, I'm not feeding a whole family here.)
generous sprinkling of sea salt, black pepper
clarified butter (or you could use oil. don't use sunflower like he said.)
2 small brown onions, halved, skin-on
2 bay leaves
sage leaves (which I didn't have)
cold water
For the glaze
1 tsp coriander seeds
(2 star anise, which I didn't have)
1 tbsp honey (his recommended amount is really too much)
80 ml of water
Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees celsius.
2. Score pork belly skin (my butcher did it for me!). Rub the clarified butter or oil over the pork belly skin.
3. Pour some cold water into a roasting tray, then place the pork belly on a roasting rack over the water. Roast for 2hours at the bottom rack of the oven.
(My crackling didn't become crispy, so I turned the heat up real high to 220 degrees celsius for an extra 20-30 min.)
4. Meanwhile, bring the ingredients for the glaze to a boil and let it simmer and reduce till you get a syrupy consistency.
5. When the pork belly is done, leave it aside to rest in a warm place (It's important to let all roasts rest. It makes all the difference really. This allows the juices to return to the meat. Some chefs even recommend letting it rest for the same amount of time the meat cooks! hmmm.)
6. Over medium high heat, melt some butter and fry the halved onions, cut side down. A few minutes later, add the bay leaves, just to brown slightly, before transferring to an oven for about 25 min.
7. Boil to reduce the tray of water (plus collected porky juices/fat) by about a third, till you get a nice gravy sauce.
7. To serve, glaze the crispy skin with the honey reduction. Cut the pork belly into thick generous slices, arrange the roasted onions around it, and drizzle the meat juice gravy over.
Such a rich roast would go really well this a sharp and sweet Braised Red Cabbage with Apples, and if you don't want to do the honey glaze plus gravy, I think a Celeriac and Mustard Sauce would be brilliant too.
Crispy skin, juicy meat, with the flavour and richness of the fat running through the pork, and then that caramel sweetness of the onions and honey! Come share my joy and salivate together!
Crack
Cut
Crunch
Simple and Easy Pulled Pork : Good Food , Cheap
Ive been meaning to get to this one for well over a month, I must admit it slipped through the cracks lol . A request from a friend reminded me that I never did actually finish this post , just got as far as uploading the photos. Now , like making chili , or gumbo there are a million different ways to go about making a pot of pulled pork and I'm sure more than a few people have a very strong opinion on it :)) What I'm making here , is the simple and easy method.. just a few minutes prep and the slow cooker does the rest !!
What you will need : Makes approx 16 servings
1 Large smoked pork shoulder - $8.00 for 8lbs on sale
-- Please note , when using a commercially smoked piece of pork DO NOT add any more salt. I made that mistake once , and it was almost inedible.
5 or 6 medium red or white onions $3.00 for 10lbs = $ 0.60
2 large utility carrots $ 3.00 for 10lbs = $ 0.25
6 or 7 cloves of garlic $ 3.00 for 3 heads = $ 0.50
3 hot dried chili ( You decide the heat here ... I should have used 6 ! )
Chili Powder
Black Pepper
Hot Sauce & Worcestershire Sauce
1L of homemade Beef or chicken stock - prefer the beef ( 4 cups ) -
Total Cost $ Under $10.00 , or about 65 cents a serving
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| Assemble your ingredients :) Wash and peel the carrots |
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| I like to give the pork shoulder a good rinse first , to help remove any excess salt. Then score the fat to the meat , using about 3/4 to 1" squares. |
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| IN a hot skillet, quickly give all the sides a little colour :)) |
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| Meanwhile , back at the slow cooker. I added the rough chopped carrots , beef stock , dried chili , Lea & Perrins, and some Bourbon Street Bad hot sauce for a southern kick :) I set it to high for the first hour , then its slow and low the rest of the time! Add a tablespoon or two of chili powder too |
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| Add the pork shoulder to the pot, lol and this is my BIG crock pot. You my need to move things around a little :) |
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| IN the same pan I browned the pork in, give the onions and garlic a quick sizzle. Add them to the pot, and cover the lid. Check back in a hour. |
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| IT should look something like this , and start to smell amazing . |
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| I ended up letting mine simmer for a good 8 hours, you can get away with 4 or 6 .. but I like 8 .. makes it just fall apart ! |
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| Remove the carrots , and get in there with a couple of serving forks. Shred it well. |
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| Of course a sample is required to test the seasoning :)) |
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| Sampling the pulled pork ... plain so I can judge the flavours :))Mmmmm good!! |
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| Later I added some extras, a little red pepper, onion and mushrooms, on a toasted garlic ciabatta roll!! |
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| I also turned some into a loaded jacket potato :)) http://richfletchersgoodfoodrevolution.blogspot.com/2011/01/creative-leftovers-pulled-pork-n-beans.html |
That's it , Its only about twenty minutes worth of work , and the rest is just waiting :)) Sampling is allowed so its all good :)) So what do you think of my latest Good Food , Cheap post ? Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated :) Happy Cooking !
Mardi Gras
Last night we headed to cocoa village for some dinner and drinks. We had no idea it was "mardi gras" down there! Needless to say we had a great night. Things like this won't happen once we become pregnant, and we both know this. We are taking full advantage while we still can.
A sweet band at Murdock's. They played some surf rock jams and some reggae.
Mardi Gras parade!!! This pirate ship float was definitely my favorite. We also found the secret entrance so we didn't have to pay. Score!
After the parade we caught a blues band. They were probably the best live blues band that I've ever seen! And check out this killer bass...just beautiful!
We had a great night with great people!
Glee, House And Charlie Sheen
The last episode of House that we watched featured an annoyed Dr. House speaking at a grade school for career day. Trying to get out of the assignment, he decided to be his usual, shocking self. He described a vaginal exam for a woman who had overused her vibrator. The teacher was scandalized, but the real joke was on the one fat kid in the back of the room who didn't know what a vibrator was.
As I understand it, the last episode of Glee involved the kids all getting drunk and then performing.
Once we have properly "educated" our children and none of them are shocked any more by what they here or see - straight up pornography, drug abuse and drinking, then what?
In other news, Charlie Sheen, living the life endorsed and recommended by House, Glee, and his own show, Two and a Half Men, has completely self-destructed. No hint of irony was detected on anyone reporting the event.
Update: And, of course, a couple hundred young, fatherless men were arrested last night and sent to jail. But then again, that happens every night. What's the big deal?
As I understand it, the last episode of Glee involved the kids all getting drunk and then performing.
Once we have properly "educated" our children and none of them are shocked any more by what they here or see - straight up pornography, drug abuse and drinking, then what?
In other news, Charlie Sheen, living the life endorsed and recommended by House, Glee, and his own show, Two and a Half Men, has completely self-destructed. No hint of irony was detected on anyone reporting the event.
Update: And, of course, a couple hundred young, fatherless men were arrested last night and sent to jail. But then again, that happens every night. What's the big deal?
first time aku makan... untuk tahun ni lah
assalamualaikum wbt!
heyyo. sebenarnye kan aku sesangat mengantuk di saat ini, dan perasaan tu menyerang aku tetibe time duk gelak-gelak dgn keluarga tercinta tadi. dan aku pun sepatutnya selamat ber kroohhh krohhh atas katil sekarang, tapi aku nak tulih gak dalam blog aku yang aku gi makan kenny rogers tadi. ada rase cam nak lempang tak? lempang aaaaa. tadi bangun pagi, mama call aku *bukan men lagi dalam rumah pun call*
mama : kakak, abah tak de. kema tak de. jom kita makan luar nak? mama malas masak.
aku : okay ma. makan mane?
mama : ikan bakar ke? *dlm hati, ikan bakar lagi? (semalam aku dah makan)*
aku : okay ma. tak kisah.
then tetiba mama nak madam lim's plak. lepas tu last-last kenny rogers sebab aku tetiba sebut lame tak makan kenny roger's an. sekali jadi lak tuh, aku tataw nape aku excited lebih. and aku rasa puas hati gila dapat makan tadi, cam best aa. terima kasih lah mama sebab belanja! :D
TA DAA. pakcik kenny ayam golek sedap!
tapi sebelum aku gelojoh, aku nak cakap pasal semalam dulu. semalam aku kuar dgn BF aku, pastu an dia dah on the way ambik aku baru dia cakap nak gi Melaka sekali dengan family dia. Memula aku cam kelam kabut juga sebab last minute an, tapi sebab aku baru nak jumpa dia minggu ni since dia makin bz dah final sem, aku pun setuju je sebab ingatkan gerak awal. sekali an, kita orang sempat melantak, sempat gi carwash dalam mesin ada berus bulu-bulu automatik, sempat gi beli barang dapur lagi *eceh*. tak de ah, aku gi beli ceklat untuk anak buah dia je.
pastu dalam kul 6 camtu baru kita orang gerak, family dia termasuk suami & anak2 dua orang kakak dia - along & angah. sampai dah 9 lebih, pastu an siap berdiri lagi nak tunggu seat, macam pisang goreng panas. last-last, air dah habis 2 jugs, kuaci dah habis telan, akhirnya penantian tu memang berbaloi-baloi! kte orang dapat makan ikan bakar, udang, sotong, kepah kot, ketam. dari sudu dengan garfu, terus aku makan dengan tangan lah an. tapi memang puas hati gile! time pergi aku tak tidur, time balik tersengguk-sengguk aku tidur. haha. habis makan, terus balik KL & sampai rumah memang terus aku membuta. okay TQVM utk namin, auntie, uncle, along, angah semua! :)
OKAY BACK TO THE TOPIC,
kita orang berempat anak dara ni gi ah JJ dekat rumah aku ni gi makan. excited gila aku sebab aku rasa lama gilaaaaa aku tak makan sini. dulu last adalah waktu Finaz balik Malaysia tahun lepas.
mentang-mentang ada WiFi an, kak sally & auntie aku apa lagi.
auntie aku yang ni memang aku panggil auntie je.
wanita paling aku sayang di dunia, tiada ragu lagi.
tunggu punya tunggu, tak de la lama mana pun, sambil tu duk borak la gelak dekat orang. Cerita tentang nenek aku. Aku panggil cik. Tak silap aku memang orang Terengganu camtu. sambil tu aku duk intai-intai mana lah menu aku tak sampai lagi. muahahaha.
lepas tu sampaiiiiiiiiii. bukan main sengih aku, sampai aku makan berapa suap dah baru aku teringat nak ambik gambar. tskk. menu favorite aku semestinya lah ayam black pepper dia. paling aku suka tahu nape, sebab side dishes dia boleh pilih 3 + muffin lagi!!!
muffin aku mesti la yang ceklat :)
tengok menu aku, dah comot sebab aku dah makan dulu baru ambik gambar.
aku makan memang licin lah, puas hati if ada sesiapa berniat bawa aku makan buffet :P puas hati dapat makan tadi, Alhamdulilah. Harga Kenny Roger's ni tak de lah mahal gila, just air je mahal sikit dengan tax dia. goverment tax 10%, service charge 5% - tax je RM 16 tadi. perghhhhh. apakah? leh tak aku nak kedai makanan bebas cukai? :(
okay aku dah ngantuk gila, till then, sweet dream, buhbye!
Chicken in Coconut Milk (Opor Ayam)
1 whole chicken
4 cups of coconut milk
6 pieces of shallots
3 pieces of garlic
120 gram candle nut
10 gram coriander
5 gram cumin
3 pcs bay leaves
1 pcs lemongrass
100 gr galangal
salt and pepper to taste
Cut chicken into pieces
Grind shallots, garlic, candle nut, coriander, and cumin
Boil chicken with 2 cups of coconut milk, put in lemongrass and galangal.
When chicken is about done, pour in the rest of the coconut milk along with the spice mix above.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook until the chicken is done
Serve warm.
Chicken in Coconut Milk (Opor Ayam)
1 whole chicken
4 cups of coconut milk
6 pieces of shallots
3 pieces of garlic
120 gram candle nut
10 gram coriander
5 gram cumin
3 pcs bay leaves
1 pcs lemongrass
100 gr galangal
salt and pepper to taste
Cut chicken into pieces
Grind shallots, garlic, candle nut, coriander, and cumin
Boil chicken with 2 cups of coconut milk, put in lemongrass and galangal.
When chicken is about done, pour in the rest of the coconut milk along with the spice mix above.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook until the chicken is done
Serve warm.
Lamb and Turnip Pie, Chips and Beans
There are principally two types of savoury pie which are widely enjoyed here in Scotland. There is firstly the Scotch pie, a pie made from minced/ground lamb or mutton and encased in hot water pastry. Scotch pies are the staple half-time snack at football (soccer) matches, or are frequently eaten at home with chips and baked beans in tomato sauce. There is secondly the steak pie, comprised of stewing steak and link sausage, covered by puff pastry. I suddenly came up with the idea a few days back of preparing a fusion of the two ideas and the result is this dish: my alternative pie, chips and beans. Adding turnip was a last minute decision, to incorporate extra colour and texture and I was happy with the way it fitted in.
I have featured the way in which I make chips on this blog many times, a method based on that first suggested by the celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal. Despite being delighted with the results of this method of chip preparation, this does not mean I am not forever looking to improve on it. One of the biggest factors to consider when making good chips is the type of potato which you use. When I saw these Innovator potatoes in my local Morrison's and the claim on the bag that they are, "Excellent," for making homemade chips, I had to give them a try.
Ingredients for Two People
1/2lb diced leg of lamb
1/4 small Swede (yellow) turnip
1/2lb puff pastry
1 pint fresh chicken stock (UK pint, ie 20 fl oz)
2 large Innovator potatoes
2oz small green beans
1 small beaten egg for glazing
Salt and pepper
Method
The potatoes should be peeled, sliced and chopped in to chips. Add them to a large pot of cold water and put on to a high heat. When the water boils, reduce the heat and allow the chips to simmer for five minutes only. Drain them carefully through a colander
and put them in to a bowl of cold water for a few minutes to cool. Drain them again and lay them in a single layer in a Tupperware
dish. When completely cool, refrigerate for a minimum of half an hour.
The lamb should be quickly browned in a dry pot, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon
. The chicken stock should be added and brought to a gentle simmer. Season with salt and pepper and continue to simmer very gently for forty-five minutes. After this time, cover the pot and set aside to cool.The chips are going to be deep fried twice. When they are removed from the refrigerator
the first time, it is necessary to carefully pat them dry on a clean tea towel. They should then be placed in a deep frier
at a moderate heat for five to six minutes, until they only just begin to colour. Remove them, drain them on kitchen paper and allow them to cool. They then go back in to the Tupperware/plastic container and the refrgerator for a further half hour. 
Peel the turnip/Swede and chop it to a 1" dice. Mix it with the cooled lamb and stock and add the lot to a 10" x 7" pie dish. Roll out the pastry on a dry, floured surface until it is large enough to cover the dish with about a 1" border all the way round. Lay the pastry carefully on top of the pie dish and tuck/crimp it around the edges. Glaze with the beaten egg and do not forget to make a "+" in the centre, each arm of which should be about 1" in length. This allows the steam to escape during cooking. Place in to a preheated oven (375F/190C/Gas Mark 5) for around forty minutes, until the pastry is beautifully risen and golden.
When the lamb and turnip pie is ready, remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool a little while the chips are finished and beans prepared. This allows the lamb to rest slightly.
The chips should now be fried for the second time, at a slightly higher heat, until beautifully crisp and golden. This will take anything from five to seven minutes. When the chips are in the frier, the beans should be added to a pot of boiling, slightly salted water. The chips should again be drained on clean kitchen paper and the beans drained through a colander. The pie should be divided between two plates and the meal can now be served.
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