Brined And Braised Pork Belly And Ribs Food

SUCCULENT BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and working in batches brown the meat on all sides until a golden crust forms. Transfer the pork to a plate. To the pan add the onion, celery, and carrot and sweat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes to cook off the raw flavor and caramelize it. Sprinkle with the flour and cook another 2 minutes to cook off its raw flavor. Whisk in the wine and reduce it by half. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, then stir in the beef stock, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Add the water if liquid does not come up to the top of the pork. Do not cover the pork with liquid. Cover the pan and place it in the oven to braise until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

BRINED-AND-BRAISED PORK BELLY WITH CARAWAY

Steps:

• Two days before serving the pork, prepare the brine: In a large skillet over low heat, toast the caraway seeds. Cool and grind in a spice grinder. In a large plastic container, combine the caraway, fennel, peppercorns, coriander, salt, brown sugar, garlic, cider vinegar and 4 cups water. Add the pork, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. In a braising pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the pork and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and 2 tablespoons toasted caraway seeds to the pan. Brown the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Return the pork to the pan, skin side up. Pour in the apple cider and enough broth to cover the meat by three-fourths. Bring to a boil, then cover and braise in the oven until the pork is very tender, about 2 hours. Cool the pork in its cooking liquid and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Scrape off and discard excess fat from the braising liquid. Remove the pork and discard loose gelatin. Cut the pork into serving pieces and place in a wide saute pan with a heatproof handle. Bring the braising liquid to a boil and reduce by about two-thirds, or until it lightly coats the back of a spoon; strain. Pour just enough liquid over the pork to submerge halfway. Sprinkle with the remaining caraway seeds, then place the pan in the oven and heat through, basting occasionally. Top pork with sauce and serve with braised cabbage, a recipe for which can be found at nytimes.com/magazine.

BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Gather the dry rub ingredients and pork.
• In a small bowl, combine the salt, fennel seed, allspice, and black pepper until thoroughly mixed.
• Rub onto all sides of the pork belly.
• Place the belly in a nonreactive pan and top the meat with any remaining dry rub.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Gather braising ingredients.
• In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.
• Sauté the onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and whole tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes.
• Add the wine and cook until evaporated.
• Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, juniper berries, cardamom, clove, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
• Heat the oven to 325 F. Remove the belly from the refrigerator and place in a roasting pan .
• Place the tomatoes around the pork.
• Pour the hot braising liquid over the pork belly.
• Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook for 3 1/2 hours or until completely tender when pierced with a fork. (The pork belly can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated in the braising liquid until ready to proceed to the next step.)
• Remove the belly from the braising liquid and cool slightly. Raise the oven to 400 F.
• Cut the belly into 4 portions.
• Add a little oil to a hot skillet and sauté for 2 minutes, fat-side down. Finish warming in the oven for 5 minutes, then serve.

BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, carefully place one piece of pork in the saute pan and sear, turning once, until golden. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining pieces of pork. Set aside.
• Carefully add the beer to the drippings in the pan and cook, scraping up the cooked bits with a wooden spoon, until reduced.
• Heat the remaining 5 tablespoons of oil in a large flame-proof roasting pan over medium heat. Add the celery, onions, carrots, garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the pork to the roasting pan. Add the deglazed pan juices and enough chicken stock to cover the pork and vegetables. Add the peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves and 2 generous pinches of salt. Cover the pan with foil and braise for 3 hours. Remove the foil and roast 30 minutes more. This will allow the pork to gain a beautiful color and for the braising liquid to reduce.
• Let the pork cool in the braising liquid for 30 minutes to increase tenderness. Remove the pork from the roasting pan and strain the braising liquid. Refrigerate separately until ready to use. The pork can be served sliced or shredded.

BRINED AND BRAISED PORK BELLY AND RIBS

Steps:

• In a large container combine the sugar, salt, black peppercorns, allspice berries and 2 gallons water. Add the belly and ribs. Refrigerate 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine. Reserve spices. Cut the ribs from the pork belly and each rib from the rib rack. Remove sinew.
• Place ribs and spices in a large roasting pan. Set the belly, skin side up, on top. Pour enough broth to half cover the pork. Cover the pan with parchment and foil. Braise until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees, about 2 hours. Let cool completely. Cut into 2- to 3-inch squares.
• When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put belly squares and ribs on a baking pan. In a small saucepan heat butter, brown sugar, 1 cup braising liquid and kosher salt. Pour the sauce over the pork and heat in the oven, basting regularly, until warmed through, 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a sauté pan bring 1 cups of the braising liquid to a boil. Add the turnips and kale and braise, uncovered, until just tender. Season with salt and pepper. Onto each of 8 plates, place a rib, pork belly and some vegetables and top with a few spoonfuls of the brown-sugar sauce.

BRAISED COUNTRY-STYLE PORK RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Pat the ribs dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2
• tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the ribs
• on all sides, working in batches if needed. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add
• the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven and reduce the heat to medium.
• Add the carrots, celery, onions and some salt and pepper and cook until soft,
• about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add
• the tomato paste and cook, stirring, to remove the raw flavor, about 3 minutes.
• Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and then add the red pepper flakes and bay
• leaves.
• Add the ribs back to the pan and add enough stock to reach
• halfway up the sides of the ribs. Bring the pan to a simmer, cover and place in
• the oven. Braise until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. During the last
• half hour, uncover to allow the liquid to reduce and the pork to brown.
• Serve the ribs with Creamy Polenta, spooning the sauce on
• top, and garnishing with parsley.
• Spray the insert of a slow cooker with cooking spray (for easier clean up) and preheat on high.
• In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of the half-and-half, the milk, 1 tablespoon of the butter and the polenta. Season with salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly to keep the mixture lump-free. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours, stirring once or twice per hour.
• Once you are ready to serve, open the slow cooker and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the remaining 1/3 cup half-and-half and the Parmesan. Salt and pepper conservatively since the polenta will be served with a robustly salted dish.

BRAISED PORK RIBS

Steps:

• Sprinkle separated ribs liberally on all sides with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
• Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Brown ribs in the hot oil on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Add enough red wine to almost cover the ribs. Cover, reduce heat, and let simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in onion, carrot, and celery. Continue to simmer for 45 minutes more, adding more wine or water if sauce is too thick.

CRISP CIDER-BRAISED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Day 1: Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Place all the ingredients except the pork and sunflower oil in a flameproof pan that will fit the pork snugly - a casserole dish is ideal. Season, bring everything to the boil then turn down the heat and slide the pork into the pan. The pork should be totally submerged - if it isn't, top up with water. Cover the dish with a lid or tight tent of foil and place it in the oven for 3 hrs undisturbed.
• When the pork is cooked, leave it to cool slightly in the stock. Line a flat baking tray with cling film. Carefully lift the pork into the tray and make sure you get rid of any bits of vegetables or herbs as they will end up pressed into the pork. Cover the pork with another sheet of cling film and cover with a flat tray or dish - the tray must be completely flat as any indentations will be pressed into the pork. Weigh the pork down with another dish or some cans and leave to cool in the fridge overnight. Strain the juices into a jug or small saucepan, cover and chill.
• Day 2: Unwrap the pork and place on a board. Trim the uneven edges so that you have a neat sheet of meat. Cut the meat into 4 equal pieces and set aside until ready to cook. Lift off any bits of fat from the braising juices and tip what will now be jelly into a saucepan, then bubble down by about two-thirds until starting to become slightly syrupy. Add a few more drops of vinegar, to taste.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot, then turn the heat down. Add the pork to the pan, skin-side down - be careful as it has a tendency to spit. Sizzle the pork as you would bacon for 5 mins until the skin is crisp. Flip it over and cook for 3-4 mins until browned. Place a small pile of cabbage on the side of each plate and sit a piece of pork on top. Place a spoonful of mash on the other side of the plate, drizzle over the sauce and serve.

BARBECUED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• If you have time, season the pork all over with 2 tbsp sea salt a few hours before cooking - this acts as a dry brine but it isn't essential. If you don't have time, simply salt the pork all over. To make the rub, toast the peppercorns, cumin seeds and fennel seeds in a dry, hot pan, then grind them with the bay leaves. Mix thoroughly with the other rub ingredients. Will keep in an airtight container for one week.
• Set a lidded barbecue up for indirect cooking with a foil drip tray (see tip below) on the coal-free side. Light the coals and wait for them to die down to ashen. Put the lid on, then arrange the vents so a small stream of air is coming through. The temperature should be around 110C - stick a probe into the lid vent to get a reading if your barbecue doesn't have a thermometer.
• Pack the rub all over the pork. Throw a few new coals on the barbecue, add a good scattering of woodchips on top, then put on the grate. Sit the pork bone-side down over the drip tray and put on the lid, with the vents over the pork. Leave the pork to cook for 5-6 hrs, topping up with more woodchips and coals a few times during the smoking. After the initial blast, you want a slight, steady stream of smoke coming out of the vent.
• While the pork is smoking, make the BBQ sauce by mixing all the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved. This is a thin 'mop' sauce for basting. If you want it thicker, gently bubble the sauce in a saucepan for a few mins. Will keep in the fridge for one week - the further ahead you make the sauce, the better it will taste.
• When the pork reaches 85C on a cooking thermometer, brush it all over with the sauce and continue to cook. Once the sauce has glazed onto the meat, remove the pork from the barbecue and rest for a while before slicing it into rib-bone-thick chops and serving with more sauce. For an extra kick, get the barbecue going again with a layer of hot coals, then put the chops back on the barbecue with some more sauce until the exposed fat is sizzling and the sticky sauce has charred on all sides.

BASIC PORK BRINE

Steps:

• Mix water, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Stir in garlic and ginger.

BRINED AND ROASTED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Combine sugar, salt and spices in a large pot. Add 4 1/4 quarts water, and bring to a boil. Cool, then transfer to a large bowl and add pork. Let stand, loosely covered, for 3 days in refrigerator.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place onions in a roasting pan. Rinse pork, score skin with a sharp knife and place on onions. Rub skin with a bit of olive oil, and season lightly with sea salt. Roast, uncovered, 1 1/2 to 2 hours; do not let burn. Skin should be crisp; if not, transfer to hot broiler. Cut pork in thick slices, and serve with onions.