Pork Belly Anyone?

We made a trip to Jungle Jim's this weekend and I picked up a pork belly.  Like the name implies, it's the meat from the belly of the pig and it's very fatty.  I've never had it before, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  The recipe that I chose for the belly was one by Chef Anne Burrell,  Mustard Braised Pork Belly.  I think she's a very talented chef and I've made several of her dishes in the past.  Before I get into the recipe, the first thing you need to know about Pork Belly is that it has this really tough skin on it and it's very difficult to remove.  I Googled removing the skin and found a video on You Tube, but honestly, it wasn't very helpful.  I used 6 different knives trying to remove the skin and ended up butchering it pretty bad.  Anyway, if  you choose to do a pork belly definitely have your butcher remove the skin for you, you'll be glad that you did.  The good news about pork belly is that it's very inexpensive, only $10 for a 3 1/2 lb belly.
Chef Anne's recipe is very simple, but it will take you sometime.  You have to let it sit for 24 hours with a rub and the next day it will take you about 6 hours to braise.  The aroma in the kitchen and throughout the house was amazing and I was so excited about trying it.  So for the final step I put it under the broil for about 3 minutes to crisp up the fat layer.  It looked really yummy and smelled great.  But...it just oozed with fat.  The fat just coated my lips and the inside of my mouth.  Honestly, I've never experienced anything like it.  The meat under the fat layer was really tender, juicy and quite delicious.  But...it just oozed with fat.  I just don't think my palate is sophisticated enough for pork belly.  I'm glad that I experienced the pork belly, my next adventure will be foie gras.  Anyway, give pork belly a try and let me know what you think.

Happy New Year Pig and Peas

Traditionally in my family on New Year's Day my mom would make pulled pork, coleslaw and black eyed peas.  Supposedly if you consume pork and black eyed peas on New Year's Day you will be blessed with good fortune during the year.  I'm not sure if it's true, but I don't dare deviate from the tradition.  My dish today had 1/2 lb pulled pork (thawed), that I had  I pulled from the freezer that we had smoked back in the summer,  3 chorizo sausages (casing removed and broken into bite size pieces), 1 package of frozen black eyed peas, 1/2 of one red and green bell pepper chopped into small bite size pieces,  1 leek (cleaned well and sliced using only the white part, 3 cloves of garlic chopped, 1 tbsp of olive oil and S&P to taste.  I took a medium size dutch oven and heated my olive oil over med heat and added my veggies and cooked them until they were soft. I added the chorizo to the pot and let it brown, stirring frequently.  I added the peas and 2 cups of water to the pot and mixed it in, brought it to a boil and reduced the heat to med and cooked for about 15 minutes.  I added the smoked pulled pork and continued to simmer for another 10 minutes and seasoned with a little S&P.  I served this over brown rice and drizzled with a little Louisiana Habanero Hot Sauce.  Very simple, very yummy and can be served anytime of the year.  Enjoy!