Raw Pork Belly...
The Love of Skin is a deep and abiding love...
Cooked and ready for round two...
I'd eaten deep-fried pork belly recently at Taste of the Nation(http://www.theartofhunger.com/), and it got me to defrosting the pork belly I'd bought and put in my freezer a while ago when I bought my whole pig for the pig roast I had back in May (http://dailycocaine.blogspot.com/2008/05/you-me-and-bibi.html). (That store was pig central.) On Wednesday, I boiled it up in some water, then let it cool, and stuck it in the fridge. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with it, but I thought I could find a spot for it on Friday, when I was having some friends over for dinner. Unfortunately my day ran late, and I found myself at the supermarket with not much time. Lucky me, pork tenderloin was on sale, so I bought it-a quick, easy, tasty meal for 10. Put it in the oven for 45 minutes with some roughly chopped mushrooms and forget about it. Then I saw the figs-fresh figs on sale-I had to have them. My gut got it before my brain, and somehow I knew that pork belly was gonna get figged. But pork for the hors d'oeuvres, and more pork for the main dish? Yes. And yes.
Or as my constant companion said, fuck it! I separated the meaty squares (leaving some fat, of course) from the rim of fat and skin, then dropped them into hot oil. Crispy, fried pork belly. I salted them with a little lavender sea salt I always have lying around (NB-I used to sell little jars of it, and I have a few left, and they last forever), then arranged the quartered figs around the crispy bits. They looked beautiful, and they were going very fast, even before my guests arrived. I had to threaten violence to keep the hands out of the dish, and when they were served, paired like figs and prosciutto, they were going very rapidly. Luckily I had also made some 'Faux Gras', a Michel Richard recipe, that I covered in Jalapeño jelly, instead of the parsley gelée he uses (no time), and that was also a surprise for my guests, who politely gobbled it up (more on the faux gras later this week).
Ever have any surprise combinations come to you in the market? Do tell...
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Deep-fried pork belly and figs...