Grilled Pork Confit With Braised Rice Soubise And Roasted Figs Food

VIETNAMESE GRILLED PORK AND RICE VERMICELLI NOODLE BOWL

Steps:

• For the dipping sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar completely. Set aside.
• For the pork: Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a blender; puree about 20 seconds until smooth. Place the pork in a medium bowl, pour the marinade over the meat and massage the pork well. Marinate for at least 1 hour if time allows. Heat a grill pan, medium skillet or griddle to high and add the oil. When you see white wisps of smoke, saute the pork for about 5 minutes until cooked through.
• For the noodles: Soak the rice sticks in warm water for 20 minutes. Drain, then boil the soaked rice sticks in 3 quarts (2.8 liters) of water in a 4-quart (3.8-liter) pot for about 12 minutes until al dente. Rinse them well under cold water in a fine mesh strainer and reserve.
• Assembly: Divide the noodles into 4 separate bowls. Place the pork on top of the noodles. Sprinkle the pork with radish, carrot, roasted peanuts and scallions. Pour Nuoc Cham Sauce over the noodles and mix them well like a salad.

GRILLED PORK CONFIT WITH BRAISED RICE SOUBISE AND ROASTED FIGS

Steps:

• Three days before serving, trim the pork of excess fat and sinew, and place it in the brine. It should be completely submerged. Refrigerate the pork in the brine for 48 hours.
• After 48 hours, remove the pork from the brine. Pat it dry with paper towels, and let it sit out 1 hour to come to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Heat the duck fat in a large Dutch oven over low heat until just warm and melted.
• Carefully lower the pork into the fat. It should be completely submerged. Cook 5 to 6 hours, until the meat yields easily to a paring knife when pierced. If at any time the fat starts to boil, turn the oven down to 250°F.
• When the pork is done, remove it from the oven and let cool in the fat about 1 hour. Carefully take the pork out of the fat, and refrigerate it overnight. Strain the fat, reserve 4 tablespoons, and store the rest in the freezer.
• Light the grill 30 to 40 minutes before you're ready to cook.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Slice the figs in half lengthwise. Place the halves in a roasting pan, and drizzle them with the olive oil. Season with the thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Roast in the oven 10 to 12 minutes, until the figs are slightly caramelized and sizzling.
• Place the chilled pork confit on a cutting board, and slice it against the grain into 1/2-to-3/4-inch-thick slabs (about 5 to 6 ounces each). Brush the slabs with a little pork fat. Taste a little piece of the pork to make sure it's seasoned correctly. If not, season with salt and pepper.
• When the coals are broken down, red, and glowing, place the pork on the grill and let it sear a few minutes without moving it. Cook a few more minutes, rotating the meat, to crisp and caramelize it. Turn the pork over and finish cooking, another 4 to 5 minutes, on the second side. The meat should be very crisp with a deep golden crust.
• Spoon the soubise onto a large warm platter, and scatter the dandelion greens over it. Arrange the pork confit and figs (with their juices) over the soubise and greens.
• Crush the juniper berries coarsely in a mortar. Repeat with the allspice and then the fennel seeds.
• Dissolve the sugar and salt in 2 cups hot water (just hot enough to dissolve the sugar) in a large, very clean container. Add the juniper berries, allspice berries, fennel seeds, cloves, bay leaves, chiles, onion, fennel, carrot, thyme, and parsley. Add 3 quarts very cold water, and stir to combine all the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Heat a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the butter, and when it foams, add the diced and sliced onions, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and the white pepper. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook the onions gently, for about 10 minutes, stirring often. They should soften and wilt but not be allowed to color at all.
• While the onions are cooking, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Cook the rice 5 minutes in the boiling water and drain well. Stir the rice into the onions.
• Remove the pot from the heat. Cover it with aluminum foil and a tight-fitting lid if you have one. Cook in the oven 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let the soubise "rest," covered, about 30 minutes.
• Just before serving, uncover the soubise (it will emit lots of steam, so be careful). Heat it over medium heat, stirring once or twice. When the soubise is hot, stir in the cheese and cream. Taste for seasoning, and stir in the parsley.
• Brine the pork 3 days before serving. After 2 days, when the pork comes out of the brine (the day before serving), confit it, and chill overnight. The meat should be very cold, or it will be hard to slice. Start the braised rice soubise 1 hour and 15 minutes or so before serving. It can sit covered and then be rewarmed and finished with the cheese and cream right before serving. Roast the figs while you grill the confit. You could crisp the pork in cast-iron pans rather than grilling it, if you prefer. Heat two large cast-iron pans over high heat 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons fat to each pan, and heat another minute. Carefully place the meat in the pan, and cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. You can store the leftover fat in the freezer.

PORK LOIN WITH FIG AND PORT SAUCE

Steps:

• For the sauce: In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the first 6 ingredients. Boil over medium-high heat until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Discard the herb sprigs and cinnamon sticks (some of the rosemary leaves will remain in the port mixture). Transfer the port mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Blend in the butter. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)
• For the pork: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Stir the oil, rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper in a small bowl to blend. Place the pork loin in a heavy roasting pan. Spread the oil mixture over the pork to coat completely. Roast until an instant read meat thermometer inserted into the center of the pork registers 145 degrees F, turning the pork every 15 minutes to ensure even browning, about 45 minutes total.
• Transfer the pork to a cutting board and tent with foil to keep warm. Let the pork rest 15 minutes. Meanwhile, stir the chicken broth into the roasting pan. Place the pan over medium heat, and scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any browned bits. Bring the pan juices to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Using a large sharp knife, cut the pork crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the pork slices on plates. Spoon the jus over. Drizzle the warm fig sauce around and serve immediately.

PORK CONFIT

Steps:

• Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Add pork; turn and rub to coat well. Cover and chill overnight.
• Preheat oven to 275°F. Place onions, garlic, thyme sprigs, and rosemary sprig in large ovenproof pot. Pat pork dry with paper towels and place atop vegetables in pot. Pour enough melted lard over pork to cover by 1 inch. Cover and place pork in oven. Roast until pork is tender, turning occasionally (keep pork covered with lard at all times), about 4 hours.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to another large bowl, packing tightly. Strain liquid in pot into 4-cup measuring cup; discard solids in strainer. Allow juices to settle at bottom of cup, about 15 minutes. Carefully pour enough fat from cup over pork in bowl to cover by 1 inch. Pour juices from bottom of cup into resealable plastic freezer bag; seal and freeze to use for making thePork Cassoulet (it's also great as a sauce). Cover and refrigerate pork at least 2 weeks and up to 2 months (keep pork covered with fat).
• Rewarm pork confit to melt lard. Drain pork before using.
• *A dried herb mixture available in the spice section of many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores. A combination of dried thyme, basil, savory, and fennel seeds can be substituted.

GRILLED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH FRESH FIG SKEWERS

Steps:

• Prepare a hot fire in your grill. Brush the tenderloin with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Remove the skewers from the water. Pierce the figs through the middle with a metal skewer or ice pick to make a hole. Then thread 3 figs onto each rosemary or wooden skewer. Lightly brush the figs with olive oil.
• Place the pork tenderloin directly over the fire. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side (the center-cut pork loin filet for 5 to 7 minutes per side), turning a quarter turn at a time, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 140°F for medium and the meat is juicy and slightly pink in the center.
• At the same time, place the skewered figs over the fire, turning several times and cooking for about 5 to 6 minutes until they are heated through. When they're caramelized and soft, remove the skewers from the heat and keep warm.
• Let the pork rest for about 5 minutes, and then cut on the diagonal into 1- to 2-inch-thick slices.
• To serve, arrange 3 slices of pork with a skewer of figs on each plate, all topped with crumbled goat cheese, drizzled with 1/2 teaspoon honey, and a sprinkled with chopped rosemary.

BRAISED AND GRILLED OR BROILED PORK RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut meat into two racks if necessary; season with salt and pepper. Put oil in a large, deep ovenproof skillet or casserole that can later be covered. Turn heat to medium-high and, when oil shimmers, sear meat on both sides until nicely browned, turning as necessary.
• Add allspice, cinnamon, ginger, chiles and garlic and stir; add beer. Bring to a boil; cover pan and adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Put in oven and cook until meat is tender, 1 hour or more. (You can prepare meat up to a day or two ahead; if you are not going to grill or broil immediately, put whole pan in refrigerator after it cools a bit.)
• Light a charcoal or gas grill or heat broiler; rack should be about 4 inches away from heat source. Drain meat and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Grill or broil on both sides until brown and crisp, just a few minutes. Meanwhile, skim cooking liquid of fat, bring to a boil, and use as sauce.

BRAISED PORK ROAST WITH GARLIC AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• In a small bowl combine garlic, rosemary, sea salt, pepper and 3 Tablespoons of the olive oil into a paste; set aside.
• In a dutch oven or other oven-proof pot, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat.
• Brown the pork roast on all sides, about 2 minutes per side.
• Remove the pot from the heat and stir the milk into the pan juices.
• Spread the garlic-rosemary paste over the top of the roast and cover the pot.
• Place the pot in the oven and cook, basting occasionally with the pan juices, for 45 minutes. (If the pan juices evaporate you may add more milk, about 1/2 cup at a time.).
• Check the temperature of the roast. It is ready when the thermometer regesters 155°F.
• Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let rest for 5-10 minutes before carving.
• Meanwhile, whisk the pan juices to break up any solids (the milk will curdle during the cooking.) If the sauce seems too thin, simmer on top of the stove over high heat for a few minutes to thicken.
• Slice the roast and serve with the sauce spooned over.
• Especially good with mashed potatoes, rice or egg noodles.

SOUBISE (BRAISED RICE AND ONIONS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Drop the rice into 4 quarts of boiling salted water and boil for 5 minutes exactly. Drain immediately.
• Add the 4 Tbsp of butter to a 3-quart, fireproof casserole and place in the oven.
• When the butter is foaming in the casserole, stir in the onions. As soon as they are well coated with butter, stir in the rice and seasonings.
• Cover and cook very slowly in the 300°F oven for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The rice and onions should become very tender and will usually turn a light golden yellow.
• Correct seasoning.
• Just before serving, stir in the cream and cheese, and then the butter. Taste again for seasoning. Turn into a hot vegetable dish and sprinkle with parsley.