Slow Braised Honey and Cider Caramelized Pork Belly

So many recipes to try, so little time to do it in... Life had just made a turn to crazy in the past few weeks and even though I was doing well with cooking and taking picture of my creations, posting has proven to be a challenge. I'm going to try and make up for a lost time and post some of the dishes I've made recently, starting with Slow Braised Honey and Cider Caramelized Pork Belly. So, pork belly is not necessarily on my diet plan these days, but I saw this recipe and couldn't resist. It's fairly hands off as the most of the time spent is braising in the oven. When selecting pork belly make sure there is as lean as you can possibly find it as the sauce will absorb most of the fat. If you feel that there is too much fat, refrigerate it overnight and remove the solidified fat from the top. The recipe calls for beer cider, not cider vinegar, so be sure that you use the right ingredient. I was able to find beer cider in liquor store fairly easily. The honey makes the sauce sweet on its own, but paired up with mashed potatoes balances the flavors very nicely.

Slow Braised Honey and Cider Caramelized Pork Belly



Ingredients:

* 3.5 lb (Organic) pork belly, with rind removed but the fat on
* 2 large white onions, peeled, halved and sliced
* Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Braising Liquor:

* 1 qt Beer cider
* 5 oz Clear honey
* 1 Beef stock cube
* 1 Star anise
* 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
* 4 Sprigs fresh thyme
* Sea salt

Directions:

1. In a frying pan, dry-fry the onions until caramelized.

2. Heat an ovenproof cast-iron pan. Season the pork belly and dry-fry on both sides, fat side first, until golden brown, ensuring that all sides of the meat are sealed. Remove from the pan and set aside to rest for 3-5 minutes. (Most of the fat should have been released during this stage.)

3. Preheat the oven to 350°c.

4. Lay the onions on the pork fat residue in the ovenproof pan and cover with the pork belly.

5. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the braising liquor. Pour over the pork belly and cook in the preheated oven for 2 hours.

6. Occasionally remove from the oven and baste the pork with the reducing sauce, this will help to build up a lustrous glaze when finished.

7. Remove from the oven, lift the meat out of the pan to rest for 10 minutes and set aside. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon.

8. Carefully reduce the remaining liquor to the consistency of a sauce.

9. Serve with olive oil mashed potatoes.

BBQ Pulled Pork

This is a great recipe that practically makes itself. I found pork loin on sale last weekend and was searching for a recipe to make something delicious that my 4 year old would like to eat. It is made in a crock pot and only has 4 ingredients. I have to admit, I was sceptical about it but the finished product exceeded my expectations. Olivia had a pulled pork sandwich for dinner tonight and she cleaned her plate, which almost never happens...She came to me after dinner and said:" Mommy, thank you for dinner! You really know how to make the yummiest food" This is a ringing endorsement from 4 year old if I've ever heard one. Give it a try if you're looking for hands off dinner.



* 1 (4-5 pound) pork loin
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle root beer
* 1 bottle favorite barbecue sauce ( I used Bulls Eye Original)
* Hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

Place the pork loin in a crock pot and pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 8 hours. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns.

Honey-Gingered Pork Tenderloin with caramelized mushrooms and mashed potatoes

Here is a quick dinner idea...I like pork tenderloin because it is tender & lean and there are a lot of different ways I can prepare it. Today I grilled it and served it with caramelized mushrooms and mashed potatoes. This recipe comes from Gourmet magazine, August 1998 issue.



* two 3/4-pound pork tenderloins
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1/4 cup oyster sauce
* 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger root
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 tablespoon ketchup
* 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pat pork dry and arrange in a shallow dish. In a bowl whisk together all remaining ingredients and pour marinade over pork. Turn pork to coat well. Chill pork, covered, turning it once or twice, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
Remove pork from marinade, reserving marinade, and arrange on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals. Grill pork, basting with reserved marinade and turning it every 3 minutes, 10 minutes total. Discard marinade. Continue to cook pork, turning it every 3 minutes, until a thermometer diagonally inserted 2 inches into center of tenderloin registers 155°F., about 10 minutes more. Let pork stand 5 minutes before thinly slicing.