This pork belly recipe by Mark Dodson marries the classic flavours of apple and pork together in a remarkable roulade. The sauce for the braised pork is made in part from the braising liquid, further compounding the richness of the pork in this dish.
Braised pork belly
1.8kg of pork belly, skin off
1 carrot
1/2 celery
1 large onion
3 bay leaves
8 cloves
5 star anise
Pork sauce
1l of Veal stock
1 tbsp of clear honey
salt
Red cabbage
100g of dark brown sugar
150ml of Red Wine Vinegar
1 red cabbage, finely shredded
Apple compote
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp of caster sugar
Confit shallots
24 shallots, peeled
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
700ml of olive oil
Pomme cocotte
12 belles de fontenay potatoes, peeled
50g of clarified butter
250g of unsalted butter
6 garlic cloves, skin on
salt to season
1 .If possible, buy the pork belly pre-skinned and rolled. If not you will have to remove the skin, roll and tie with butchers twine. Large dice the carrot, celery and onion and add to a large pot with the bay and spices
2. Place the pork belly on top of the vegetables and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 4 hours. Remove from the heat and allow the pork to cool in the liquid. Once cooled, strain and reserve the braising liquid. Leave the pork belly to set overnight in the fridge
3. For the sauce, skim off as much fat as possible from the braising liquid. Combine one litre of the liquid with the veal stock, return to the heat and reduce to 400ml. Season with salt to taste and add the honey to finish
4. While the sauce is reducing, start on the cabbage by combining the sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and add the cabbage. Cook for about one hour until the cabbage is tender (if there is a lot of residual liquid, strain and reduce down to a thin syrup and add back to the cabbage)
5. For the confit shallots, peel and leave the shallots whole. Place the goose fat in a medium saucepan and melt on a low heat. Once the fat has completely melted, add the shallots and thyme and cook for 45 minutes. Leave in the fat to cool
6. While the confit shallots are cooking, start the pomme cocotte by turning or cutting the potatoes into short round oval cylinders. Melt the clarified and unsalted butter in a cocotte or heavy based saucepan. Leave on a medium to high heat to achieve a buerre noisette
MAKING A BEURRE NOISETTE
Add the butter into a steel or copper pan on a medium heat. As the butter melts and begins to foam, use a spatula to make sure the milk solids do not stick to the base of the pan. As soon as the butter begins to brown slightly add the required ingredients or remove from the pan and into a bowl over ice water
7. Reduce the heat to medium, add the potatoes and garlic and cook for a further 20 minutes until the contents are golden brown. Be careful not to burn the butter mix while cooking. Remove from the pan and season with salt
8. For the apple compote, add the diced apple to a pan with the sugar and 120ml of water. Cover with a cartouche and cook on a low heat until tender to resemble a chunky apple sauce
9. To finish, slice the pork into eight even pieces. Heat a little vegetable oil in the pan and sear the pork belly until golden and crispy. Add the shallots and pommes cocotte to the pan with a little of the pork sauce to heat through
10. Place the hot cabbage in the centre of the plate, followed by the pork belly and the vegetables. Drizzle the pork in sauce and finish with a quenelle of the apple compote.
Recipe from greatbritishchefs.com
