In the last year or so, Jim and I have had a bit of a love affair with pork belly. We love pork belly, and we love chefs who love pork belly, like Kevin Gillespie at Woodfire Grill, and Shaun Doty of the now-defunct Shaun's (his pork belly steamed buns will be missed). Our favorite, though, is the pork belly with ever-changing accompaniments at Craftbar, the Tom Colicchio restaurant where Adam Evans serves as Chef de Cuisine.
Flipping through Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef, I spotted a recipe for Braised Fresh Bacon that sounded like it could be the base for our beloved Craftbar pork belly. So with much anticipation and a little trepidation, I embarked on the three and a half hour project. (Hey, it was a snow day.) I browned the pork belly in a skillet, cooked some vegetables, then braised it for a couple hours with the vegetables and broth, then finished it with 20 minutes of roasting.
The result was pretty close to what we get in the restaurant (they fancy it up with pears, ginger and other accompaniments, depending on the season). Crispy on top, tender and succulent inside, and worth every hour of cooking time.
To stave off a heart attack at the table, I served the pork belly with two salads: a roasted romaine with blue cheese and a chickpea-dried cherry-basil salad, inspired by the much beloved one at Leon's Full Service restaurant in Decatur. (I usually grill the romaine for 3 minutes on each side, then drizzle a white wine viniagrette and blue cheese over it, but given the weather I just threw it into the oven for a couple of minutes while the pork belly roasted.) All in all, it was a pretty decadent meal, but I promise that the salads were large and the pork belly small.
As it happens, yesterday marked six months that we have been married(!). I can't think of many better ways to celebrate...
1 comments:
Sigh.... I pretty just want to eat at your house every night. Please don't turn me away if I show up on your doorstep one evening bowl in hand :)
Post a Comment