Slow Roasted Pork Belly With Fava Bean Purée

Having some day's off gave me a chance to fire up the smoker. Pork belly is a cheap cut of meat that requires a long cooking time. You can of course make bacon out of pork belly, but frankly there is such delicious gourmet brands out there that the the time spent is not worth it. However, smoked pork belly is another matter. It is so delicious that you will become addicted. A little goes a long way. I paired the dish with fresh seasonal fava bean purée. The season for fava beans are so fleeting that you have to get them quick. Peeling them is a time consuming affair. After they are peeled little effort is involved. So have patience you will be rewarded for your efforts.

First thing is that you will have to marinade the pork belly. The following is the ingredients.

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of good scotch whiskey
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger
1 minces Fresno chile
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 large garlic clove minces
1 teaspoon of onion powder

Vacuum sealing is best. But if you do not have one just suck out as much air as possible from a heavy duty plastic bag. Marinade overnight in refrigerator.

Drain belly from marinade and place marinade in sauce pan. Boil marinade for a minute or two. You will use this to brush on your belly every thirty minutes.

Fire up your smoker and bring the temperature to 250 degrees. I used apple wood. Alder would also be good. Make sure your water pan is always full. You can even fill the water pan with apple cider. Smoke for three and one half hours. Pork should be about 195 degrees. Make sure to check your smoker every thirty minutes to see if you have enough chips and moisture. At this time you will baste with marinade. Allow the fully cook belly to rest before cutting.

To make the purée you will have to peel your beans. If you have never peeled fava beans it requires a fair amount of time and effort to peel. The first peeling removes the heavy outer shell. Then in salted boiling water place these beans in the water for thirty seconds. Drain and remove the second shell. To make the purée you will place some olive oil in a sauce pan. Place the beans and one minced clove of garlic. Sauté until tender. Place in a food processor with a little bit of stock. Purée. Now add salt, pepper, fresh thyme leaves, smoked paprika and a splash of lemon to your taste. 

Gribiche Sauce and the Swiss Kitchen Witch

Sauce gribiche is traditionally served with cold seafood and meats. It is also superb with steamed or roasted vegetables. The word gribiche is an old Swiss French word meaning witch. The tradition of an ugly witch who scares kids into eating vegetables and stuff. In the Nordic countries you will see a kitchen witch in many homes. I do not think you will need a "Gribiche" to get any one to eat this sauce.

They made a silent movie in the 1920's with the name. It was about a small boy being adopted by a wealthy lady. The little boy becomes bored and gets into all kinds of trouble....

To make the sauce you will need to hard boil an egg and have one cup of fresh herbs. I used basil and this is not traditional. But very good. Traditionally tarragon, chervil and parsley were used. Having none of these on hand I used basil. You will also need some capers and cornichions.


Take the yolk from the one hard boiled egg and pass it through a sieve. Cut the whites into tiny cubes. Mix 11/2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard with 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt into the egg yolk. Now whisk in drop by drop 1/3 cup of safflower oil and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Now fold in the egg whites, two tablespoons of capers, 1 tablespoon of minced cornichions and 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar. Now add in the minced herbs and taste. Adjust for salt and pepper to your liking. The sauce will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

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Madeira Cake and "The Perennial Tea Room"

Wandering early morning in the Pike Place Market is a ritual. In the early morning the market is at its best. The venders  are just setting up and the crowds are not there. In a little nook there is a tea shop called the Perennial Tea Room. I was buying some Keemun tea when I noticed a tea cook book. It was written by Anthony Wild. He is from Yorkshire and the buying agent for his sisters company. The company is Taylor's of Harrogate the famous tea company.

Spending time in the company of East Indians you will come to love high tea. The book has recipes for all the necessities for a high tea. Like Tinker's Cakes, Barm Brack and even Fat Rascals. The Madeira cake looked especially good. It is a sugar crusted cake soaked in lemon syrup. There is not a drop of Madeira in the cake. It was meant to be eaten with a glass of Madeira in the 18th century.



The cake is very easy to make. You will need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer you will place:

1cup plus two tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar

Beat until it is light and fluffy. Now add five eggs one at at time. Then sift 2 1/2 cups of cake flour with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and two teaspoons baking powder. Gradually add to you batter. Then place the mixed batter into a prepared loaf pan.

Bake for one and one quarter hours. For the syrup heat 4 tablespoon of lemon juice, two tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of light corn syrup. Skewer the warm cake all over and pour the warm syrup over the still warm cake in its tin. Chill the cake to form the sugar crust.

I may try the courgette and double ginger cake next. It has been very warm here in Seattle and a lot of us will have plenty of courgettes ! The blossoms are so lovely. They make a nice complement to cheese ravioli with lemon.