Recipe: The Terroir Pig

Out of all these months I’ve been writing I haven’t really shown you guys what I like to make when I’m cooking at home for friends and family. So after a few days of planning and seeing what’s good and in season I decided to come up with an Earth inspired dish.

I always wanted to give this a go after watching the guys on Top Chef Season 4 do a challenge which involved elements.

At the Thomas Dux Richmond (My favorite Supermarket/ Grocer) I found some.
-    Jerusalem Artichokes.
-    Fennel
-    Sage
-    Pork Belly
-    Beetroot
-    Granny Smith Apples.
-    POM Pomegranate Juice

“Terroir Pig” Crispy Pork Belly. Lup Cheong Soil, Jerusalem artichoke Puree, Baby Beets & Apples.

Sounds like a complicated and strange combo? Probably is and needs to be refined but it tasted amazing.

Ingredients

6 Medium Sized Jerusalem Artichokes
1 Bulb of Baby Fennel
Bunch of baby beetroots
1.5 kg Pork Belly
1 Tbs Fennel Seeds
1 Tbs Chopped Thyme
4 Tbs of Salt Flakes
1 tsp Cracked Pepper.
1 Granny Smith Apple
473 ml POM Wonderful, Pomegranate Juice
3 Cloves of Garlic
½ Onion (Finley Sliced)
2 Chinese Sausages
200g Bread Crumbs
50g Butter
1/4 Cup Cream
1/4 Bunch Sage
3 Cloves of Garlic

Mise en place

Cut apples into small 1cm x 1cm cubes and place in water with lemon juice.
Reduce pomegranate juice with a sprig of thyme and a clove of garlic till syrupy strain and set a side
Slice onion and fennel finely. Reserve fronds of fennel for garnish.
Steam or roast beetroots till tender and cut into quarters or wedges depending on the size.
 

Pork Belly.

Make several slits along the skin of the pork belly, this allows heat to penetrate the layers of fat easily and also lets the fat escape when its being rendered down later.

Make some holes in the flesh from the side with a knife and fill the pockets with a few pieces of sage, garlic, and fennel.

Mix salt flakes, cracked pepper, fennel seeds and thyme in a bowl until well combined then massage thoroughly into the pork belly, making sure it gets into the slits in the skin you made previously.

Place the piece of pork in a baking tray skin side down, through in some fennel and Jerusalem artichoke pieces and roast at 180 for roughly 45 minutes, or until internal temperature of the pork belly is between 60-67 degrees.

During this time start to cook your beetroot and have it peeled while you finish off the puree, next make the lup cheong soil, and follow with puree toward the 40 minute mark. 

At this point you can rest and press the pork overnight or continue on by placing the pork skin side down in a low heat pan with a splash of oil, slowly turning the temperature up over 12 minutes and rendering the fat out of the skin whilst forming crackle at the same time. Make sure the pork is flat and that all the skin is touching the pan. Weigh it down with a baking tray and stack multiple heavy things on top

Cut pork in ½ and portion appropriately, careful not to damage the crackle as it may be fragile.

Jerusalem Artichoke Puree

Peel artichokes and boil them till tender, meanwhile, sweat off some onions in a pan till completely soft, place into a blender with the pieces which have been roasting with the pork and puree both till smooth, add cream and butter and season to taste.

Lup Cheong Soil

Place 3 lup cheong in the blender with some bread crumbs and blend till they are both roughly the same consistency, you want a course soil like texture, not a puree.

Heat a pan up with a dash of sesame oil and butter and lightly toast the soil mix till fragrant and slightly caramelized.

To assemble.

Smear puree across the plate, place a portion of pork off along the puree, as well as several beetroot pieces and some lup cheong soil.

Scatter a few apple cubes around the plate and garnish with some fennel fronds.

To finish drizzle some pomegranate reduction on the plate and serve.

There you go, my first big blog recipe, "The Terroir Pig”. I  hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoyed cooking at eating it.